Opolo Wine Dinner

Friday, March 27, 2009

Delius Restaurant hosted an Opolo Wine dinner tonight. As usual the menu was outstanding. This dinner had been sold out since December. Opolo has a very large following. Their wines are good and priced right.

As a single I was seated at the table with one of the wineries winemakers. This is always good as usually you can get an extra pour if there is something you really like. It has its advantages.

Appetizer was a pan seared scallop with roasted pineapple, thinly sliced fennel (which is the only food I dislike) and a lime beurre blanc sauce. Scallop was cooked perfectly. This was served with 1 2006 Opolo Central Coast Viognier. A perfect pairing. The Viognier was not too floral. Nice and clean and crisp.

Second course was a Cream of Parsnip soup with crispy prosciutto and a mixed herb pesto. I did not know what to expect with this but I was thoroughly taken with this soup. This was served with a 2005 Opolo Grand Rouge (blend) Again a great pairing,

Third course as pan roasted duck with dried cherries, toasted bricohe and micro arugula. Chef Louise is a master with duck and this did not disappoint me. The wine served was a 2005 Opolo Central Coast Pinot Noir. The winemaker went out to his car and brought in another wine , a Zinfandel, which he felt went with the dish a little better. To me it was a tossup.

Fourth course was Braised Pork Cheeks with Israeli cous cous, blackberry-red wine reduction, baby carrots, thyme & micro celery. I have never had pork cheeks before but it is now a definite favorite (along with braised pork belly). Its hard to describe how good this dish was.

Somewhere in here the winemaker went out to his car again and brought in an Opolo Petit Syrah and a dessert wine (zinfandel) to go with the Rhubarb & Strawberry Crumble with English custard ice cream.

So a 5 course meal with top notch food, 7 wines for $85. Hard to beat. And of course we got inning to inning details of the winemakers son's baseball game by cell phone. His team won. A good evening.