Second Harvest Food Bank Fundraiser

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Met up with friends at the Crystal Court at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. The Second Harvest Food Bank has a fundraiser twice a year at this location. This is the 7th year I have attended. For $40 you get to taste beer, wine and food from from the local restaurants with the proceeds going to charity.

You sign in on the main floor and the vendors are set up on the 2nd & 3rd floors. They were some of the old locals but a few of the regulars from the past were absent. And of course some new restaurants were providing food. Morton's, The Carvery, Khyber Pass, Antonellos, had some of the better food. There was a restaurant that will be opening on the 3rd floor that had Sushi, along with Sake and Sparkling Sake. I do not remember the name of the establishment, but I did manage to get two pieces of Sushi which was excellent. It was either Ahi or Toro. The sparkling Sake was quite unique and I really liked it. I will have to look for someplace that carries it. It was clean and refreshing.

One of the "rep's" was a female that I had seen at the fundraiser for diabetes at Newport Beach a few months ago. At Newport, she came in considerably late, looked very bored and left early. At Thursday's event the table with the winery's name on it was empty for close to an hour after opening time. When she did arrive she put her items on the wrong table, wrote a note that she would be back shortly because the wines needed time to chill. When she did show up to pour, I went and got her name sign and brought it to her. She was there for an hour and then left. I wonder if the winery she rep's knows how inefficient she is. Of course maybe they don't care since she is young, cute, nice bod and blond.

McKeon-Phillips Winery was pouring a nice selection of their wines along with a barrel sample of the 06 Baileys Private Reserve Cabernet. I had a barrel sample of the wine in February. I will say it has evolved very nicely since then. The fruit is really starting to show well. I did have some concerns but that has gone away after tasting it again on Thursday. I bought a case of this wine on futures before I tasted it in February. At $18 a bottle against the $42 when it is released next year, it is a bargain.

There was a new winery pouring. "Ovene". The owners live in Orange County and have a place in Santa Maria where they make their wines. This is their second bottling. I did taste their Syrah and the Sta.Rita Hills Pinot. I asked what vineyards the grapes were sourced from but both of the vineyards I was unfamiliar with. The Pinot was light, a nice wine but not worth the $42 price tag. I will try and look them up the 23rd when I'm in the area and see what else I can find out about the winery. Maybe I will get a better feel for their wines, if I can get more than a 1/2 ounce pour.

This was a nice mid week break and I'm looking forward to the next one in October which will feature more micro-breweries than wineries.