Saxon Brown Wines at Taste in Long Beach

Sunday,  August 20, 2018

Sold out dinner at Taste in Long Beach. www.taste-wbk.com.  Small restaurant holds maybe 36 people.  Saxon Brown is a new winery for me. In the Sonoma area.  Jeff the owner, winemaker and jack of all trades was in attendance.  The name Saxon Brown came from a female character in a Jack London novel "The Valley of The Moon".

Interesting evening. One person at my table became ill and had to leave. An elderly lady sitting at the family style table slid off her chair/stool and landed on the ground She seemed to have partially pass out. It was hotter than normal tonight inside and I had asked them to crank up the air because of the stale air. Perhaps the stagnant air that was the cause of both incidences.

We started out with a Savory Fig Tart,. goat cheese mousse, toasted hazelnuts, local honey and vanilla vinaigrette. This was damm good. Interesting combination.  Paired with a 2012 "Fighting Brothers" Semillon.  Good wine, a bit too cold at the beginning but really blossomed as it warmed a bit. A little on the "sweet" side but it was a perfect pairing.

Second course is a Shrimp Bisque with Poached Lobster, crispy pancetta, tarragon, Joelle olive oil. Just wish I had a large tureen of this instead of a bowl. A 2012 "Green Acres Hill" Chardonnay was the choice. Way to oaky for me. Not my preference in Chardonnays

Third course is a House Smoked Pork Tenderloin, market plum sauce, Grist & Toll polenta, arugula salad. Removed the rabbit food from the top. Flavors were very good, pork was tender and moist but I like my pork with a pink color inside. The wine was excellent. a 2013 Ferrington Vineyard Pinot Noir. Best wine of the evening.  Balanced, dark cherry and dark fruits, soft tannins,  velvety mouth feel.

Next we had a Lamb Shoulder Ragu, pappardelle pasta, tomato-red wine sauce, pearl onions, bacon.  Good home cooking style flavors, Pasta was perfect. I had a few bites and had them box it up for me. Will eat the rest for lunch tomorrow. Paired with a 2009 Parmelee-Hill Camp Block Syrah. Nice wine but it didn't knock my socks off.

Dessert was strangely good. A Spiced Chocolate Cake with summer berries, fresh bay leaf ice cream and zinfandel syrup. The chef has a bay leaf tree in his  yard and these were fresh from that tree. Way better flavor than those dried things in the stores. An odd combination that worked really well together.  A 2013 "Fighting Brothers" Zinfandel was the wine. Went extremely well with the spiced cake.

Another good dinner at Taste. They will not have another wine dinner until the end of the year because of the wine grape harvest coming up. Winemakers are busy at that time of the year. Taste always likes to have the owner or winemaker in attendance. Not just a rep.