Stolpman Wine Dinner at Taste

Tuesday. June 19, 2018

Good dinner, good wines, fiasco with reservations. I made my reservations at Taste several months ago for this wine dinner. www.taste-wbk.com.  Made it for 3 people. Maria made reservations within a few days also. Asked for her party of 2 to sit with me.  I even checked about a month later and asked them to make sure that the 5 of us would be sitting together. Another couple made reservations two weeks ago and asked to sit with me. So what does the restaurant do. Has us at a table next to the wall (I really dislike this particular table), that seats 6. Maria's reservation is not connected to mine for whatever reason. This dinner is sold out and its crowded So 5 of us are at this crappy table, Maria and Tim are at a table for 2. This is not what we were looking forward to and this is not what we expected making reservations far ahead of time and double checking on them. Someone really dropped the ball on this one.  

Taste is a very small restaurant that seats approximately 30 to 34 people. Last night I knew 15 of the people dining there along with the wine rep Wes and Peter Stolpman.

We started out with a Tea Smoked Lamb Loin, blistered Calliope Eggplant, and garlic soy sauce. This dish was over the moon. Meat was exceedingly tender and the smoke flavor was spot on. A couple behind us do not eat certain meats so the restaurant substituted mushrooms. They said is was really good and I think it probably was. I can see the smoke on the mushrooms. Paired with a 2015 Ballard Canyon Sangiovese that will not be released until October. Excellent food and wine.

Second course was Red Cooked Pork Belly with sticky rice, scallions and Szechaun peppercorns. Pork was cooked perfectly with just the right amount top cap fat. Meat was succulent and very tender. Again a great dish. Wine was a 2011 Ballard Canyon Petite Syrah.  I do like Petite Syrah and this wine paired well with the pork belly.

Next dish is a Asian-Style Black Cod, garlic, ginger, chilies, lime, spring onions and soft herb salad. This dish had a bite to it. Cod was moist and cooked as it should be. Lots of flavors in this dish.  A new wine for me was poured, a 2016 "The Street" SLO, Riesling. As many years that I have bought Stolpman wines I never knew they made a Riesling. Apparently very small production and sold to the Michael Mina restaurant group. Wine was not overly sweet but had a rich flavor to it. Killed to spiciness of the dish. I liked this wine enough to buy 4 bottles of it.

Fourth course is a Lo Mein Noodle Stir Fry with local summer tomatoes, farm eggs, purple basil and cilantro. Not only am I not a fan of basil, cilantro and don't particularly care for fresh tomatoes the noddles were over cooked and on the soft , mushy side. Big disappointment. Paired with a 2012 Kimsey Vineyard Grenache. This wine is made from grapes that were grown, harvested and made into wine by Ruben Solorzano the vineyard manager and supervisor. Tom Stolpman gave his foreman 4 acres of the vineyard for his own use.  Wine was very good.

Ruben is the product of an immigrants dream. Came from Mexico with his wife, Tom Stolpman gave him a job, sponsored them. After awhile Rueben became manager and branched out to take care of a few other properties. He now has his own vineyard management company, employs 1,200 people and still lives in his own house on the Stolpman property in Ballard Canyon and still manages the Stolpman Vineyards. A very loyal person.

Dessert is Honey Poached Plums, almond cookie crumble and Star Anise ice cream along with a fortune cookie. Strange how all of our fortunes ended up with the words "in bed". Nice light dessert. Not overly sweet and surprisingly went well with the 2012 Ballard Canyon Estate Syrah.

Aside from the reservations fiasco and the mushy noodles this dinner was a huge success. Looking forward to the Saxon-Brown dinner in August.