My loving husband, bless his soul, knew that the only way to help me come to grips with my monumental birthday was to wine and dine me! And he made a spectacular choice. Nothing could have been more perfect than our Harvest Winemakers Dinner at Fox Run Vineyards on November 1. You can see by the photo that it was an enchanting evening! From the picture perfect setting in the old wine making room to each course and glass of wine to the company, the evening was spectacular!Jim and I entered the Fox Run Winery at 6:00 pm sharp and proceeded to the front wine tasting room facing Seneca Lake. Hors d'oeuvres abounded: crab cakes, bacon wrapped scallops, shrimp, cheese galore and more. You could sample any of the wines to go with them. We were approached by a gentleman who asked what wine we wanted to try and of course our first response was "Riesling" . He suggested the semi-dry as we were having the Dry Riesling with one of our dinner courses. We got chatting and the gentleman introduced himself to us as Peter Bell (the winemaker!!!) We had a great conversation about NY State wines, fun wine gatherings (especially our "Try the Tierce" party) and kids in college and otherwise. Then it was time to eat...
The group all went downstairs into the candle-lit Barrel Room and took our seats at the beautifully set long table (There were 30 of us). As we were taking our seats and chatting to the people around us, Peter came over and sat next to me! The owners of the winery, Scott and Ruth Osborn sat down at the other end of the table. Scott got up and introduced himself , his wife, Peter, executive Chef Frank Caravita and then spoke a little about the winery and the dinner and what to expect.
Peter then got up to tell about the first wine/food pairing:
Celery Root Soup with Bacon and Green Apple along with Fox Runs 2006 Chardonnay. Delicious! Our next course was a mixed Baby Green Salad topped with Fried Brie Cheese and Walnut Dressing. This was paired with their exquisite 2007 Dry Riesling. Course 3: Cheese Raviolis with Pumpkin and Sage Sauce paired with the 2007 Reserve Pinot Noir. The fourth course was Roasted Pork Loin with Root Vegetables and Pear Chutney paired with the 2006 Lemberger (very much like a Shiraz) and finally dessert - Normandy Apple Tart paired with Tawny Port. PHEW! Everything was out of this world. In between courses, we had plenty of time to learn about how wine glasses influence the wine's taste, what good things are in wine that keep us healthy, what "umami" is (google it!) and mostly about the wonderful wines this winery produces (and has produced for the past 15 years). Fox Run has been chosen as one of the top 100 wineries in the world by Wine and Spirits Magazine and Peter Bell is considered one of the top 22 winemakers in the United States! This dinner is proof positive of why they are so successful.
After the dinner/feast we were able to purchase some wines, so we happily left with a bottle of 2006 Lemberger (which we have already enjoyed with Jim's famous smoked pulled pork) and a bottle of the 2005 Reserve Cab Franc that we will save for an occasion. We also had time to chat with the Scott and Ruth and let them know what a fantastic time we had at the dinner.
Fox Run will host another winemakers dinner in February (Valentine's Dinner) and Jim and I are already looking forward to it!
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