Sunday, March 23, 2014

Fox Run’s Winemaker’s Dinner Returns with a Bang!

March 23rd.  I’m looking outside at the snowflakes swirling around the house and thinking about how much it feels like February! When will this winter end? My mind starts to drift back to February – Valentine’s Day and the phenomenal Winemaker’s Dinner we enjoyed at Fox Run.
The Barrel Room softly lit with strings of white lights… the long table decorated warmly with grapevines and candles… the tantalizing aroma from the kitchen…. It was so good to be back at Fox Run Vineyards for a winemaker’s dinner!  Chef Brud Holland created a 5-course dinner to knock the socks off the Valentine’s Day guests.  Winemaker Peter Bell paired the perfect Fox Run wines with each course.  This dinner was exceptional!
As we entered, we were greeted warmly and given a glass of sparking wine by Scott and Ruth Osborn – the winery owners.  Locally made cheeses (Muranda Cheese Company, Waterloo), breads (Wide Awake Bakery) and sausage selections (Autumn’s Harvest, Romulus) filled the appetizer table. The 30 guests chatted, renewed friendships, and claimed their places at the table. 
We sat down and met our surrounding dinner companions as the first course was served: Autumn’s  Harvest Cornish Game Hen and a Biscuit with Riesling and Sweet Onion Gravy.  The earthy, rich flavors of the game hen paired beautifully with the Fox Run 2010 Reserve Chardonnay.  I might have thought that Riesling would have been served as there was Riesling in the gravy, but the Chardonnay was the perfect savory match.  Peter spoke of “umami” in his wine description and it was clearly evident in this pairing. (Check out Umami –the “beautiful taste, Jon Rowley’s discussion of the meaning of umami at http://jonrowley.com/2010/09/02/umami/).  This wine and this food pairing enabled both to be the best that they could be! I could have stopped right there, but there was so much more to come!
            Course 2: Scallops with Freekah Risotto, Verjooz glaze and Micro Greens paired with the 2012 Gewurztriminer.  Again a home run!  The floral notes of the Gewurztriminer didn’t give a hint as to how well it paired with the richness of the scallops, “risotto”, and tangy Verjooz.  Verjooz is a product created by Tina Hazlitt (Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards) and the late Deb Whiting of Red NewtCellars from half-ripe Cabernet Franc grapes.  While “verjus” has been around since the Middle Ages and is used world–wide, there are only a handful of producers of it in the U.S. It can be used in recipes calling for  gourmet vinegar, lemon or lime. When used as a replacement, it becomes harmonious with the wine served due to it’s pH level.  While various grapes can be used to make verjus, Verjooz uses Cabernet Franc grapes because they are food friendly. This article gives a great overview of  Verjooz: http://www.fltimes.com/arts_and_entertainment/article_62115342-9abf-11e1  The “Freekah” Risotto is made from Freekah, which Brud Holland describes as “a green wheat which is harvested, sundried, toasted and cracked to cook faster.  It cooks up like barley and is high in fiber.” He substituted it for the arborio rice used in risotto – thus the name! Delicious and local.
            Course 3: Duet of Tenderloin- Herbed Beef (with fresh thyme) and Pork Tenderloin (with dried rosemary), and Farmer Ground Polenta.  The meats, cooked to perfection, paired scrumptiously with the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon. (a fantastic year for Finger Lakes reds).  I couldn’t decide which herbed meat combination I liked better, they were both so delicious! I savored each taste of the wine, the meats and the polenta.
            Course 4:  Finger Lakes Caesar Salad, which was a wonderful marriage of Finger Lakes Fresh Hydroponic Romaine served over oven roasted root vegetables with just the right amount of Caesar dressing and Muranda Asiago-Provolone cheeses.  Now what would you pair with this? Riesling maybe? Probably Pinot Noir wouldn’t be your first choice but with the root vegetables to bring out the earthiness, the 2010 Pinot Noir was perfect.  
            OK by this point I was ready to be rolled home – so much good food!  But there was one more surprise to end the evening: Trifle, Truffles and Tuiles!  This was Chocolate Raspberry Trifle – Chocolate Cake, Raspberries Dark Chocolate Truffles and Tuiles  (Crisp Wafer cookies).   Throughout the evening, Brud was assisted by Chef Christian Thirion, (described by Brud as a “Renaissance man” who originally trained as a pastry chef in France) The Tuiles was a successful joint effort of recipes, measurements and alliteration!  Such a decadent dessert combination was made even more so when paired with Peter’s Fine Old Tawny Port.  An absolute firework finish to a fabulous meal.
            Wow – what an evening! There was a wonderful sense of community throughout - from using locally sourced ingredients to new friendships forged at the table.  And isn’t that what great food and wine relished and shared among people is all about? We are so blessed in this area to have such talented, creative artisans who share their gifts with each other and (thank goodness) with us! Thank-you Fox Run! Cheers!


P.S. A special thank you to Brud Holland for his help with the culinary details of this post.  Brud, a “Renaisssance Man” himself, is very approachable and can be found at various food and wine pairing events in the Finger Lakes.


Many of the locally sourced products used in this dinner were obtained through Finger Lakes Farms

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