Gilbert's Garden Party

We’ve been working feverishly on our backyard garden for months. We let it die during the drought and decided to create a happy space for us to sit and visit. This dinner party was a celebration of the (almost) finished product.

We started with cheese from Carmel-by-the-Sea, crackers, grapes, nectarines, and this really cool bread-cake thing made out of figs and nuts, and we opened a lovely Sobon Estate, 2013 Tannat for pre-competition.

The next appetizer was bite-size chunks of barbecued tri-tip

Dinner was a potato bar with big fat Russets (chives, maple bacon, shredded cheese, butter and sour cream)

And barbecued ribs and chicken thighs to go with the potato

Dessert was a slice of New York style cheesecake surrounded with seasonal raspberries and blackberries

I called for a petite verdot, but it was too difficult for them so I settled for a blend with petite verdot. Sadly the strength of one of the blends arm-wrestled and won, but we came in second! The Pessimist, 2013 red blend out of Paso Robles from the Wade’s came in first, our Modus Operandi, (one of my favorite wineries) 2012 petite verdot came in second, and the Shetler’s Justin, 2013 red wine out of Paso Robles came in third. They were all super yummy. 

Chocolate!

So when Mark and Melissa told us to bring a bottle of wine that would pair with chocolate, I questioned them. “So you want a dessert wine?” But no . . . they were preparing a four course meal, each made with the ingredient of cocoa in it. I've honestly had little experience with cocoa in regular food, other than Mole Negro.

The first course was the cheese platter. The one that knocked my socks off was the Mt. Tam triple cream brie with dark chocolate balsamic glaze drizzled over it. I really dug into the orange spiced cocoa glazed mixed nuts. Okay Heidi stop eating. Gotta save room for dinner.

The spinach and pecan salad was gorgeous. I think salad can be gorgeous, but then again I love food. This was tossed in a chocolate-based vinaigrette. I bet they got the balsamic at the olive oil store up in Murphy’s, in Calaveras County. I use a chocolate balsamic mixed with espresso balsamic and chipotle olive oil to marinate filet mignon. They placed fresh thinly-sliced pears around the plate. Perfect.

Dinner was so pretty I forgot to take a picture! Asparagus tossed with prosciutto and cocoa nibs, mushroom cocoa ragout on crostini, and a little mountain of Italian Dolce Forte over Casarecce Pasta. Talk about an all-out assault on the senses. Not only did I not know what to think of the food flavors, but I couldn’t settle on a wine.

Then dessert. By then I was stuffed, but I managed to eat most of it anyway. They’d made this really dense low-flour brownie and stored it the freezer. According to Mark, they had taken a bite of the brownie while was still frozen, and loved it! So voila, that’s how they served it, with chocolate sorbet and fresh raspberries.

Each carafe of wine changed with each course, and with each portion. I changed my mind several times and ended up adding up the winning vote from each course for a grand total. The  2010 Klinker Brick Zinfandel held its ground through each course and Mark and Melissa took the Gold. Gamba Zinfandel 2010 came in second, and Bjorn Barbera came in third. Each wine was outstanding in its own right, but paring with the food was the competition.

Next Wine Tribe event is at our house. Based on our recent visit to Italy you can guess what it will be J

French Theme at the Cabin



The cabin



We were nervous, but it was our turn to produce the feast. My Step-Mom, Kathy, inspired me with another French dish; tourtiere (meat pie). We followed what is becoming tradition and invited the Wine Tribe to the cabin in Calaveras. We were a little worried about snow, but it stayed clear for us. Snow to look at, but not to slosh through. Plenty of firewood, food, and wine.



Cheese



We found a French wine to serve with the hors d'oeuvres. I decided to be serious about the cheese and chose only French creations (Grand Affinage Compte Herie Mons Affinage, Explorateur Triple Crème Brie, and Young Mimolette Isagny St. Mere). I set out salami rolled in herbs de province and another in crushed pepper. Imported mustard from Dijon France for dipping (Trader Joes).



Goat cheese layered with beets



Joe and I were at a winery in Sutter Creek and I found a recipe on a postcard for beets layered with goat cheese. I don’t know if that is a French dish, but it sure was fun to make as a sort of salad.



Tourtiere



I made a practice run with the tourtiere and fell in love with the softer flavors of allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon. After much trial and error I decided on carrots glazed with whiskey and brown sugar, and toasted Brussels sprouts tossed with balsamic reduction and craisens (dried cranberries).



Dessert is NOT my forte, so I bought little French tarts and a late harvest Zin from Villa Toscana which never got opened. Even we have our limit.

Ah, the wine you ask . . . We chose Merlot for our tasting. When I first started tasting wineback in the 80's Merlot was a “transition” wine from rosé to red. It was light and fruity. Now it is returning to its ancient roots as a big bold varietal with almost no tannins. It was hard to find a truly traditional merlot, but HourGlass in Napa created a great bottle, so we bought it. Mark and Melissa brought Twomey, Dan and Denise chose Ehlers Estate.

Of course it was a close race, as always, but we won. The gold medal is hanging in my kitchen until the next gathering.

When we go to the cabin we extend the festivities to Saturday night, and I cook my spaghetti. This time Denise made her homemade crackers (amazingly delicious) and Mark made this chocolaty cake with a chocolate sauce drizzled over it. We put out the challenge to come up with the best wine to pair with the spaghetti. This may sound easy, but its not. My spaghetti is spicy. It wasn’t easy, but we had 3 spicy, firm wines to choose from. Believe it or not Michael David’s Seven Deadly Zins won over some pretty expensive wine. It just goes to show that American spaghetti is a truly peasant meal!