Tercero Wines at Bacchus Kitchen

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Since this dinner at Bacchus Kitchen in Pasadena, www.bacchuskitchen.com, was on a Sunday I  finally have an opportunity get to check out the establishment.  Jolie frequents this restaurant for dinner and music. But she lives in the area so it is a much easier drive for her.  For me it was about a 45 mile drive. Fortunately with the holiday traffic was moving really good on the freeway.

Tonight's featured winery was Tercero and the owner/winemaker Larry Schaffer was there with others.

Larry had posted on Facebook about the dinner so Jolie made the reservations.  But Larry posted a start time of 6:00 and when we got to the restaurant we found out it was 7:00. They did let us stay inside because "Baby, It's Cold Outside".  They also kept us supplied with wine . Both were cudos for them in my book.

We started out with a house-smoked Colorado trout with white frisee, tarragon whole mustard. Trout was cooked nicely and had a very light crust to it. Paired with a 2014 Verbiage Blanc, a blend of roussanne, viognier and grenache blanc. Normally I am not a fan of white Rhone varietals but I have bought this wine in the past. A nice blend and paired quite well with the trout.

Second course is salad of marinated yellow beets, carmelized goat cheese, charred scallions and chevil sauce. Excellent. Beautiful flavors A 2017 Rose of Mouvedre was the wine with this course. I do like these Rose's. They are not wimpy and sweet.

Third course is a pan seared duck breast with roasted sunchokes and black truffle marsala. Duck is sweet and tender. I really liked the sunchokes. Do not see them on menus too often. They have great flavor. Too bad more chefs don't use them. I really get tired of the same old veggies all the time. Paired with a 2016 Carignane.  Good pairing.

Next is a oak-smoked pork loin with cheesy grits and Carolina BBQ sauce. Carolina sauce usually has a vinegar base. Pork was tender and had very good flavor and the sauce was not overpowering. A 2012 Larner Vineyard Grenache was the wine of choice. \

Fifth course I had one bite and had them box it up to take home. I had reached the saturation point and if I wanted dessert something had to give. It was a Prime New York with potato bacon latke, carrot ribbons and demi sauce. I really like the ribbons of carrots. A very different way of making an ordinary vegetable special. The wine poured was a 2012 White Hawk Vineyard Syrah.  Big wine and really good.

Dessert is a Chocolate Surprise x 4 - Four small bites of decadent chocolate in different forms and flavors.  A really big wine was poured but went very well with that decadent chocolate. A 2011 "The Climb", blend of syrah and petite syrah.

A very good dinner. Hope to be able to come back to Bacchus Kitchen if they have something on a Sunday. No way can I drive from work to make it on a weeknight.  I would like to try a few items on the menu which looks good. A very talented chef.