Starmont Wines at Arte Cafe

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Arte Cafe in Cerritos Town Center hosted another wine dinner. They do try for once a month.  This months winery was Starmont which is a sub label of Merryvale.  The restaurant was decorated for the holidays and a very large decorated tree was out in the "plaza" area   A good crowd of people tonight buit not sold out. Probably too close to the holidays and people are shopping.  I do my gig early so I can enjoy the extras that come with the season

Tables were set with the standard white tablecloths but bright red napkins in lieu of the normal white. Just added to the festive vibe.

We started out with a battered calamari and lemon aioli. Aioli was good.and the calamari was tender.  Paired with a 2016 Starmont, Carneros,  Sauvignon Blanc.    A decent, crispy Sau Blanc. But a bit too acidic for my personal tastes.  As is the "custom" several glasses of white are always poured. Not so much for the reds.  

Second course set before us is a Seared rare Ahi Tuna with candied walnuts and heart of butter lettuce. Ahi had great flavor, was cooked perfectly. The butter lettuce was good but a tablespoon of dressing is not much for such a large serving.  A 2015 Starmont, Carneros,  Chardonnay was the wine. Oaky, Oaky Oaky.  So much wood. Gave my glass  away. This is a personnel thing with me. I just cannot handle, oak, vanilla, butterscotch in my white wine. Destroys the whole experience for me. Only if I have dish that has lots of fat, butter or cream in it will I drink an oaky chard.  This Ahi was great but the pairing was not. 

Main course is a slice prime rib with Brie toast, potatoes, squash, brussels sprouts and baby turnips. Finally a beef dish that is not cremated. Mine  was actually medium rare.  Richard is great with seafood, duck, lamb but on beef he usually overcooks it.  Heavy salt on the crust. Paired with a Starmont, Carneros, Merlot. Decent wine but I just was not overly taken with it.

Dessert is a Chocolate Mousse cake with almonds. Very light, deep, dark chocolate. A nice end to a meal. Not heavy but very rich.  A 2016 Starmont, Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon was the selection.  Again a decent wine but I found it to be lack luster. Could get some chocolate and toast out of it but absolutely  no tannins. I considered it a weak wine. For a 2016 it should have drunk very different.

But these wines are a second label and not expensive so you can't expect too much from them. The dinner price is $49 including wine. So a bargain in todays market.  Had good converstaion with numerous people I knew that attended also.  The wine rep, Dina gave away numerous gifts. Chopsticks, canned wine ( I got Pinot Grigio) and they had a lot of raffle prizes. I did win a bottle of chardonnay which I gave away.  Chardonnay is not my favorite white grape and I do prefer Chablis in lieu of California Chard's.  But  a good time was had by all - nice to have some cheer in the season with  so much discontent going on around us.