Event Reviews and Photos 2011

In last added order... (for 2010, ClickMe)

Holiday Wine Exchange at Portland Prime, December

The Gold Medal Dinner, November

Sauvino Sunset, October 30

Walla Walla Event, October 22

1982 Bordeaux Event, September 24

1997 Cabernet Event at Trader Vic's, September 10

Summer Garden Party, August 13

La Vie en Rosé, July 23, 2011

Bastille Day, July 9, 2011

Wine Crawl, June 25, 2011

Pinot Envy, June 11, 2011

Barolo Dinner, March 12, 2011

WFSO member, Greg Bunnell, hosted this event at Davis Street Tavern.

Greg provided the wine list to Katy Millard, Davis Street Tavern's new chef, to create a menu that would showcase not only the wine, but the food. We started the evening with a couple bottles of the NV Deltetto Extra Brut Rose to go along with a Dungeness Crab and Avocado Salad. We moved on to the second course by first sampling a 2005 Marques de Murrieta Capellania with Artichoke Soup with Aged Gruyere and a Black Truffle Crouton. This dish may have stole the night in terms of a crowd favorite. More than one person requested the recipe as memory has it. The flavor of the soup played so well with the wine as if they were meant only to be shared together. After really wanting seconds (not an option unfortunately), we pressed on to taste, first standing alone, and then with food, a vertical of the 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999 Borgogno Barolo Riserva. All of these wines were very tannic and somewhat dusty. They were just starting to open up when the Duck Confit and Farro Risotto in a Parmesan Broth hit the table. The wines showed much better with the food as one might expect. The third course, a Braised Veal Cheek Bourguignon with Potato Puree, was paired with four Barolo's from the 2004 vintage, an Azeila Barolo Bricco Fiasco, E Pira Barolo Cannubi, Elio Atare Barolo, and a Paolo Scavino Cannubi. These wines, even though much younger than the first flight, were showing extremely well without much tannins at all. They were very approachable and well balanced. We finished the evening with a Monte Faustino Recioto Della Valpolicella to go with a Dark Chocolate Cream dessert. At the end of the dinner, our appetites had been satiated. It was yet another fun evening with friends and exception food and wine.
Thanks again to everyone at Davis Street Tavern for making this such a memorable event!

!Oba Restaurante¡ outdid themselves for our May 22, 2011 Argentine Wines event, serving a great four-course dinner in their hacienda-style Havana Room. The Argentine wines went great with the food and with price-points ranging from only $12 to just under $33 while boasting Wine Advocate ratings of 90+, they're insanely great values worth purchasing by the case. Jim and Mara discovered a 2009 Catena Alma Negra Sparkling Rose Malbec ($17 retail) they enjoyed at an earlier Argentine wine tasting, so they bought a couple of bottles to share with event guests for a pre-function treat. For a Rose of Malbec it was surprisingly very light pink in color with a dry, strawberry and citrus peel taste. Argentina's unique white 2010 Crios de Susana Balbo Torrontes from the Salta Region (served with our spicy-sweet coconut shrimp appetizer) was the evening's surprise pleasure with its floral nose and fruity taste while being dry to the palate as it revealed a refreshing acidity. If you've never tried an Argentine Torrontes put one (or 12) on your list to purchase: it's refreshing by itself, paired with fish or shellfish, or any spicy and aromatic Indian, Chinese and Thai cuisine. Two Malbec's were served with a choice of grilled Portuguese-style Kobe beef or macadamia nut crusted Pacific swordfish: a $33 2005 Bodega Monteviejo Malbec blend; and $24 2006 Riglos Gran Malbec. A clear favorite didn't arise as some found the blend to be superb while others chose the 100% Malbec. Malbec's from Argentina's Mendoza Region are intense, complex and very dark in color--almost black, with intense tannins very suitable for oak aging. Malbec's pair well with red meat, grilled meat of any kind or meats with spicy and aromatic sauces, marinades or rubs, hard cheeses and pasta-tomato dishes.

Thanks! Jim Galbraith

ChateauNeuf de Pape Dinner

April 9

Waterfalls and Apple Blossoms Gorge Wine Tour

April 30

Jacob Williams Winery

Marchesi Winery

CHATEAU MONTELENA DINNER

March 26

Saturday, March 26, 2011 Winemaster Ed and Sue Kingzett hosted a Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon vertical dinner at the Heathman Hotel assisted by former Membership Chairman Mark Lindau. Our evening started with hors d'oeuvres and two 2008 Chardonnays, a Newton Red Label and a Chateau Montelena, the '72 version which famously won a blind tasting in France against White Burgundy, the story portrayed in the movie "Bottle Shock."

We then tasted arguably the best 8 consecutive vintages of Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon if not in the history of Napa, 1990-1997. As a special treat, Chairman Jim Atwood opened a 1978 Centennial Cabernet Sauvignon, released in 1982 to commemorate Montelena's Centennial 1882-1982. It was by far the favorite wine of the evening. Of the wines in the consecutive vertical, the group preferred the '97, complex, powerful and with beautiful balance between fruit, tannin and acid. The next two favorite wines were '91 and '90 with many comments about how the wines changed from taste to taste, sometimes the '90 showing better, other times the '91. We were impressed with the consistency in taste from vintage to vintage, the Montelena house style showing through in all cases.

The meal prepared by Chef Terry Baker of the Heathman was well matched with the wines: roast baby beet salad, Roast Rack of New Zealand Venison (Steelhead with risotto for those not favoring meat) and Chocolate Gourmandise dessert paired beautifully with Chateau La Tour Vielles Banyol Reserve, a nearly perfect match with chocolate. Finally, Dick Stinson treated us with a '74 Chateau Montelena Johannesburg Riesling which was historically interesting but oxidized and unfortunately past its prime.

Mark Lindau

Valentine’s Live Lobster Dinner

February 19, 2011

Strohecker’s