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.