German Wine Dinner at Delius

Friday, August 26, 2011

The Wine Country in Signal Hill and Rudi Wiest Imports co-hosted a German wine dinner this evening at Delius Restaurant. The dining room was booked with a waiting list of 18. hey even had 6 people in the Wine cellar room for the dinner.

Toby and I sat at the table with Randy from the Wine Country and Nancy from Rudi Wiest Imports. Even though they circulated the room talking with people when you sit at their table you get a lot more information.

We started out with a glass of 2009 Von Buhl Riesling Brut Sket, Pfalz. This was a nice dry wine with just a touch of sweetness. Pleasant enough for me to buy some.

First Course: Smoked Salmon with  Red Onion, Cucumber, Micro Herbs and Cream Cheese Foam - The salmon was smoked in house that morning. This was a really good dish and paired extremely well with a 2009 Ziiliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling Kabinnett, Saar. The cream cheese foam was thick and held its texture.  I feel it was my favorite of the night as far as pairing well. Also this was the only dish of the evening that had micro greens on it. Past dinners have had almost all the dishes enhanced the "micros" and it was starting to get old.

Second Course: Braised Pork Belly with Spicy Green Papaya, Cliantro, Mint and Yuzu Gelle. As for the meat itself I like the pork belly and on the appetizer menu in the dining area better. I feel it is much more tender. This pork was good but not quite the same. The "salsa" that it was served with was superb. The wine paring was a 2007 Von Hovel Oberemmler Hutte Riesling Spatlese, Saar. Again and excellent pairing.

Third Course: Duck Breast with Duck Confit-Swiss Chard Terrine, Beet Gelee and Crispy Fried Beets. I thought the Terrine was the showcase of this dish. The breast was good but the Terrine really stood on its own. Add the crispy beets added just the right touch. We were served a 2009 Becker Estate Pinot Noir. Again a good pairing. The German Pinots are not big so they tend to go very well with food.

Fourth Course: Roasted Lamb Loin with Sweet Potato Spaetzle, Braised Cabbage and Lamb Jus. Wine was a 2008 Salwey Red Wine Blend, "16 Degrees", Baden, a Pinot and St. Laurent Blend. I did not taste this dish at the dinner. If I wanted dessert I would have to forgo something. I had Fred pack the plate up before it even got to me. I ate it the next day and it was excellent. Especially the Sweet Potato Spaetzle. I did drink the wine without food. It was my least favorite of the night. I got a strange, odd taste in my mouth from it. Perhaps it would have been better with the food. But that is not what I did. So it would be hard for me the venture an opinion.

Dessert: Black Forest Cake, - dark chocolate cake with cherry gelee and caramelized white chocolate foam. Delius has a new pastry chef so it will interesting to see what comes out of the kitchen in the next few months.

I did purchase the sparkling and the 2 Rieslings. I felt they were the best wines of the evening.  Dinner again was excellent. A couple of minor things that personally for me weren't there. But I would do it again with no complaints. Rieslings are underrated wines in the United States. A lot of people consider them "sweet" but the run from very dry to very sweet with a lot of levels in between. Excellent food wines.