Saturday, April 29, 2017

Waterline Restaurant and Joseph Phelps Wines

Friday, April 28, 2017

The Waterline restaurant at the Balboa Bay Club hosted Joseph Phelps Winery tonight. Unusual to have a wine dinner on a Friday which is usually a busy night for most restaurants. As I was waiting in the lobby area I noticed numerous people heading for the restaurant only to be turned away because of the private dinner. They even closed the bar area to the public.

At 6:00 the doors opened and we were shown our assigned tables and then informed that the reception would be held outdoors. Wasn't too bad in spite of the heavy winds. We walked out and there was no table set up for wine and or glasses.  I spied a small table on the far side and snagged two glasses that had been poured and gave them to my dining companions. I went back to get a glass and a younger man poured me a real heavy dose of the 2015 Joseph Phelps Sauvignon Blanc wine. He was seven sheets to the wind.  I then found out that is was a private pre-wedding dinner group.  No barrier or signs to indicate. Very confusing. No information seemed to be forthcoming on where to get your wine. I assumed later that you went to the bar when you first came in.  Absolutely no information or guidance from the staff.

I never saw anyone pouring wine for our group at the beginning. Later the wine rep came by with some  bottles.  I feel this was very poorly handled. Confusing for something so simple. In the meantime I went inside and asked where I could get a refill (didn't want to invade the wedding party again). One of the staff took me to the bar where I asked for another pour. Someone remarked that there would be plenty of wine at the dinner. My retort was dinner was a long way off and that I do a lot of wine dinners and never have a problem with getting additional pours. A one hour reception with only one pour of wine is not acceptable to me. Either pour more wine or shorten the time to 30 minutes.

Back in the patio area the appetizers were coming out fast. A really good selection. Favorite was the raw oysters with a drop of a caviar.  We had a nice conversation with Bill Phelps, the current owner. His father Joseph Phelps founded the winery in the 70's.

At 7:00 we were told to be seated for dinner. After at least ten minutes they got around to pouring a 2014 "Freestone" Chardonnay ($55) . A bit oaky, heavy viscosity, a little buttery. Not my style. But I felt it would pair well with the first course of a Lobster Bisque which showed up at least 15 minutes after the pour. The bowl had the lobster, mussels, caviar and sea beans in it. The staff then came around and poured in the broth. This was a very good soup. Loads of flavor and the seafood was very fresh. And the wine did pair well.

By 8:00 we had only had the soup. Very slow service. The wedding party was seated in the back area with one long table. They did get served first. Which was probably a  good idea.

Finally the second course came out. Wild King Salmon, seared with the skin on, morel mushrooms, spring asparagus ( I have never seen such tiny asparagus) and wheat berries. Salmon was good, I felt is was slightly overcooked, I was comparing it to the Scottish salmon that I had a Chianina a few weeks ago, No comparison. Chianina's  was far superior. Mushrooms were wonderful. This was a well composed dish. A 2014 "Freestone" Pinot Noir ($55) was the paired wine.  I did not like this Pinot. Had an off taste to me.

The main course came out of the kitchen a little quicker. A prime filet of beef crusted with ground coffee, cauliflower (micro), gnocchi (1) and a huckleberry BBQ sauce. An excellent cut of meat. Extremely tender and flavorful. Sauce was very good.  I had them box it up to take home as I had reached my saturation point. And there is dessert. Two wines were poured for this course. A 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon ($75) and a 2013 Insignia ($250).  I liked the Cab much better especially after it opened up. I was very disappointed in the Insignia. This is their flagship wine and it fell short. Maybe after 6 or 7 years of aging it may improve. I thought it was too simple, too light and lacked good structure. No tannins so I don't know how well it will age.

Dessert came out - a Apple and Marscarpone Mille-Feuille.  Green Dragon apples, mascarpone cream, phyllo and apple sorbet. A very nice, light, refreshing dish. I really liked the apple sorbet. They also had a micro thin sliced, dried ( fried or baked)  apple as a "sail". That had a nice apple tartness to it.  They poured a 2016  "Eisrebe" Late Harvest Scheurebe ($40). This wine was slightly sweet, had good acidity and a nice tart apple underlying taste. Besides the Cab it was the next best wine.

They then presented each of us with a box that held 6 house made candies.  Have not tasted them yet but I am assuming they will be very good. I thought that this was a very nice touch to the event.

Food was good, service was good. Ambiance was great. Kitchen was way to slow. A definite lack of information and organization by staff.   I will probably do the Far Niente / Nickel and Nickel dinner next month at the Waterline - see if the same things happen.  Just because you are a high end resort does not mean you have your ducks in a row.

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Utopia Spring Wine Dinner

Thursday, April 20, 2016

First wine dinner of the year at Utopia in downtown Long Beach.  Their dinners are nice, not spectacular but reasonably priced. $55 against $125 that most others charge.

The wines were all private label from a tech firm in the south bay area. A different take and very different bottles.

One problem at Utopia is that they never offer bread or rolls. You have to ask for it. I suppose it does save money.

First course was a warm French brie cheese with spicy mango chutney, crisp bread and thin strips of pickled red peppers. Peppers looked pretty but that was it. Brie and chutney were a nice combination They poured a  2016 "Summer Water" rose. A blend of Grenache and Syrah. Very Provence style. Not too thrilled with it. Strange back palate taste.

Second course is a arugula and mixed green salad with cherry tomatoes, roasted walnuts, goat cheese and a house made  balsamic dressing. Not over dressed which was nice for the wine pairing. A 2015 Field Theory Lodi Albarino, Andrus Island Vineyard. This was a good wine.

Third course is  grilled  lamb chops with a port reduction sauce, spring vegetables (two small this slices of zucchini) and mashed potatoes.  The chops were at least pink in the middle but I doubt if they were more than 5/8" inch  thick.  Paired with a 2015 Field Theory Paso Robles Blaufrankisch, Pomar Junction Vineyard. I did like this wine. It is a an Austrian grape varietal.  Not a heavy red but still had some punch to it.

Dessert is a vanilla ice cream with Trentadue chocolate port. A light dessert which was welcomed.

Amir also gave our table a glass of the port.

When we were seated they waitress asked if we wanted still or sparking water. We opted to the still. It came out in a blue bottle with a screwcap. The meal was prepaid. She brought a bill for $13 for two bottles of water. That is why some people had pitchers of water on their tables. We were never told there was a charge to begin with. Told her next time I would bring my own damm water in and that Michaels and Chianina only charge $2 and they are much higher end restaurants.

Next time I am in Utopia I will talk with Amir about the deception.  Do not like that kind of service. I can tell by the dinner that he is trying to hold the prices down and not raise them in spite of everything going up in price. But I would rather pay $60 and have him go back to what the dinners were.  Next wine dinner at Utopia is in June.

Antica Wines at Chianina

Tuesday. April 18, 2017

Really looking forward to this dinner. Have been out of the social scene for close to three weeks due to whatever creepy crud that is making its way around the nation.  Have not had a taste of wine in that time also.

Chianina in Naples,  www.chianina.com,  hosted Antica wines tonight which is the US operations of Antinori from Italy.  Michaels restaurant hosted a tasting earlier in the day for these wines. Had to work so I could not attend but two of my dining companions went. They did taste wines that were not on tonight's menu.
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When the basket of bread came out I limited myself to one. A salted honey roll. I could make a meal out of the bread they make here along with the marscapone butter

We started out with a glass of Proseco and an Amuse Bouche not listed on the menu. Chianina is always good about little extras. The trio consisting of braised pork meat on a mini crostini, mini lasagna bite and a foie gras laudron.

Then onto the menu.  First course was a roasted scallop, fennel, PEI mussels, fava beans and saffron emulsion. Excellent flavors. A good start. Paired with a 2014 Chardonnay. A little oaky, heavy viscosity. Did pair well with the scallop but not my style of chardonnay.

Next was a spring pea agnolotti with prosciutto, fennel and parmiggiano. Nice that they gave you a spoon to get all the flavors of the broth that was poured onto to the dish tableside. A 2014 Pinot Noir was the selection. It was ok but again not to my taste. Just did not knock my socks off. It was Burgundian style but had a strange back palate taste.

Third course served is a superior farms lamb lion, green garlic, fiddlehead ferns and ramps. Ramps have a garlic taste to them so this dish was my kind of  good. Lamb was very tender and had great flavor. Two wines were paired. A 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon and a 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2004  was best by itself and the 2013 went with the food. Both very nice wines but pricey

Main course consisted of ribeye with roasted mushrooms, yukon gold potato confit and crispy sweetbreads. Perfectly cooked. Very good dish.  Paired with a 2012 "Townsend" Cabernet Sauvignon. Best wine of the night but also the most expensive.

Dessert was a pistachio sponge with a preserved bing cherry, candied ginger and ricotta ice cream. Glad I only had one roll at the start of dinner. Portions are always small but the food is always on the rich, decadent side so when you are close to the end you are starting to feel very full. The served a 2013 G & G Soracco with the dessert. Not overly sweet and a nice pairing.

Along came another small plate of tiny cookies. Chianina loves tiny cookies.  A lavender maccaron, honey, earl grey tea and meyer lemon cookie and a toffee truffle cookie

A really good dinner again. My taste buds are still off I found out. So hopefully by next week when I do the Joseph Phelps dinner at the Waterline restaurant at the Balboa Bay resort they will be in better shape.