Finbars' & Italian Wine Dinner

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Susan,  the  rep for the Italian wine  importer kept after me to sign up for this wine dinner. It was inexpensive enough and a decent selection of wines. Finbars is an OK restaurant. Nothing outstanding but really nothing negative either. And is was fairly close to home.

Appetizer: Shrimp Pesto Castllemare - grilled shrimp with pesto, fresh buffalo mozzarella, tomato, roasted peppers, pine nuts and basil.  Everything was good except the tomatoes. Hot house, no color, no flavor. The wine served was a 2010 Castellani Vernaccia Di San Gimignano. I first came across this wine in Italy a few years back.

First Course: Tricolor Al Greco Tropical - baby field greens, papaya, golden raisins, candied walnuts, beets, red onion, feta cheese with a raspberry cider vinaigrette. It is a salad. Decent enough. Wine paired was the Vernaccia.

Second Course: Stuffed Shells Brookalena - pasta shells filled sausage, ricotta & parmagiana reggiano cheeses and fresh spinach. Filling was good. Some edges of the shells were hard from being exposed with no cheese or sauce on them. Wine was a 2010 Casal Moro Rosso Del Veneto.  My second least favorite wine of the evening. Went ok with the food but that was it. Just OK.

Main Course: I selected the Petite Filet Mignon with Madeira Mushroom Sauce, Scallion Red Mashed Potatoes, Sauteed Fresh Green Beans & Carrots. The other choice was a Salmon dish.
Paired with a 2008 Barbera Fermo Torti.  I also got them to pour me the wine they paired with the Salmon. A 2009 Morellino Di Scansano Tomaiolo. I preferred the Barbera. Better wine.

Dessert was "Assorted Mini Pastries of Cannoli, Tiramisu & Eclairs". From the description I thought we were going to be served a plate with one of each. No - we had our choice of one. Very deceptive in their menu wording. The wine was the worst of the evening. A 2010 Casaleggio Sparkling. Horrible. Most people did not take more than a taste of it.

It was festival seating and I was lucky enough to get a good group ay my table. Dinner was OK. Wines were OK. But I did buy a couple of bottles of the Vernaccia and of the Barbera.