Pigs and Pinot in Orange County

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

On a mini take off of the Pigs and Pinot event in Sonoma every year, Charlie Palmer's at South Coast Plaza hosted their "Pigs and Pinot" dinner. www.charliepalmer.com . Reception started at 6:00 with 30 wines being poured and appetizers being passed. I tried to taste wines I was unfamiliar with. Came across several that were interesting and worth looking into. My one negative on this reception was there were 2 bottles of each wine set up. 140 plus people. The servers were pouring much heavier than necessary. With 30 bottles and the wine at dinner you only needed a small one ounce pour to taste.

About 7:00 they started seating for dinner. There were six of us and 3 others at out table. In the course of the early conversation we found out that the people were winemakers and wines from two of them were being poured at dinner. George Levkoff, www.georgewine.com and Mike Sullivan, www.vmlwine.com. I had tasted VML's "Earth" pinot earlier and was quite taken with it. Unfortunately it is sold out. The other winemaker gave me her card. Sylvia Hurst of Truett-Hurst, www.truetthurst.com. I did not see any of those wines listed on the tasting.

Started out with Beeler's Pork Terrine and Asparagus, cornichon, pistacho, crispy pig ear, pinot noir reduction and mustard vinaigrette. Served with 2012 Benovia, Tilton Hill, Sonoma Coast, Pinot Noir and 2012 Benovia, Martaella, Russian River Valley, Pinot Noir.  Wines were nice and the terrine was excellent. I liked the crispy pig ear touch and all the flavors went extremely well together.

Second course was actually my favorite. I just wished there were several scallops instead of just one. Chorizo Crusted Diver Scallop, mussels, saffron aioli, chervil and romesco sauce. This dish had so much flavor and the scallop was cooked perfectly. It just melted in your mouth. Wines were  a 2011 George Wine Co., Leras, Russian River Valley, Pinot Noir and a 2012 George Wine Co., Buena Tierra, Russian River Valley, Pino Noir. Two very different styles of wine. The 2011 was edgy and the 2012 was soft. It would be interesting to check these out in a few years after some aging.

Third course is a Beeler's Pork Shank Tortellini, french onion soup consomme, button mushrooms, gruyere cheese chips. Flavor was excellent but I thought the tortellini itself was just a bit "tough". Almost like the dough had been overworked. The consomme flavor was very good. The two wines were a 2012 VML, Moon Celestial Series, Russian River Valley, Pinot Noir and a 2012 VML, Stars Celestial Series, Pinot Noir. Good wines but they did not compare with the "Earth" that I tasted earlier.

Main course was a Duo of Beeler's Pork, tenderloin, cheek, banana parsnip puree, baby bell pepper, beluga lentils and truffle pork jus. At this point I was full and we did have dessert coming. The tenderloin itself was very tender and had good flavor but I had two bites and had them pack it up to take home. A 2012 Papapietro Perry, Sonoma Coast, Pinot Noir and a 2012 Papapietro Perry, Peters, Russian River Valley, Pinot Noir was served with this course.  I like this winery and have bought from them in the past. 

Dessert is served - a Dark Chocolate Mousse, candied bacon (yum) blueberries, bourbon maple ice cream. This was a yummy dessert. That is why I always save room for dessert. The only non Pinot wine was served. 2009 Soliste, Out Of The Shadows, Bennett Valley Syrah. Excellent pairing and excellent flavors.

Our dining companions had left the table to mingle so the server boxed up their desserts and gave them to me to take home, minus the ice cream which I grabbed with a spoon before he took them off the table.

A very good evening. I do hope that they repeat this next year. It seemed to be a really big hit with everyone.