Ancient Peaks Wine Dinner at Prime Cut Cafe

Friday. May 2, 2019

Car pooled with a few others to Prime Cut in Orange .www.primecutcafe.com.  for the Ancient peaks wine dinner.  Just saw Mike Sinor  a  few weeks ago for a wine tasting. Mike is the consulting winemaker for Ancient Peaks.  I have bought wine from Mike since the early 2000's. Tonight we will have other reps from the winery.  Ancient peaks is in Santa Margarita. Huge cattle ranch in existence since the mid 1800's. The vineyards were planted in 1999.

Our group lucked out when we got to the restaurant. Since they had a 8 party cancellation we were given the private room off the main dining area. Much quieter.

Started out with a couple of appys.  A salmon mixture on cucumber. This seems to be a favorite of restaurants. Why I don't know. Have not yet met a wine that pairs with cucumbers and  the salmon was very fishy. Then some concoction , a crostini with a soft style cheese, slice of apple and a grilled red pepper on top. Actually it had good flavor.  I give a score of  3 out of 10.  They poured a 2016 Ancient Peaks Sauvignon Blanc.  I did like this sau blanc, not too citrusy. A softer style wine.

An Artichoke Encrusted Salmon with fennel and herb salad with minted tomato concasse. Concasse is basically peeled tomatoes, chopped up without the seeds,  I suspect farm raised salmon because of the light color. Decent taste. I would give this a 4 out of 10. Paired with a 2016 Ancient peaks Chardonnay. A good chard. Not too much oak for me and the fattiness of the salmon cut that.

Second course is a Tuscan Pot Pie with proscuitto, roasted vegetables and burrata.  This dish I really liked. Good flavors, I ate the entire thing with gusto. A 8 out of 10.  A 2016 Ancient peaks Cabernet Sauvignon was the wine selection. Dark fruits and a hint of chocolate. A meaty style wine. A really good pairing. 

Third course is a Pork Osso Bucco with glazed baby carrots and gorgonzola risotto. Again very good flavors.  Score of 7 out of 10. The risotto was excellent.. I don't know why they are called "baby" carrots when they are not. They are small, shaped carrots. These are made from mis-shapened carrots which are machine peeled to a certain conformed size. Thus we have "baby".  Growers don't waste anything if they can make more money having people think they are getting "baby". A 2016 Ancient Peaks Zinfandel was poured. A very good wine. Loads of fruit, a touch of pepper. 

Next was a Sliced Tenderloin of Beef with mushroom dijon demi-glace and roasted poblano gratin potatoes. Beef was tender and had nice flavor. The potatoes were killer. The demi-glace was excellent. Overall a very good dish.  7 out of 10.  One of my favorite wines from Ancient Peaks was poured. The 2016 Renegade. A blend of Syrah, Zinfandel, Malbec, Petite Verdot and Petite Syrah

Dessert  is a Callebaut Chocolate Bread Pudding with toasted pecans and macerated berries.  Rich and decadent. 8 out of 10. Paired with a 2014 Ancient Peaks Oyster Ridge This is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Petite Syrah and Malbec. Excellent wine - excellent dessert - but they did not go well with each other. A big mistake on the pairing.

Dining companions bought a fair amount of wine. There were no discounts because the prices quoted were the same as at the tasting room.   They really should have offered a discount.  I can work a better deal.