Silver Oak and Twomey Wines at Arte Cafe

 Thursday, August 12, 2021

Dinner is Al Fresco  tonight - too much heat today. It was pushing 100 in the inner areas.  Everyone who came decided to sit outside in the patio area at Arte Cafe.  It was a pleasant evening.  Five of us at the table tonight. Wines from Silver Oak and Twomey.

First course is called a Heirloom Mosaic - fancy name for a variety of heirloom tomatoes with mozzarella balls, oil,  vinegar, avocado and garden herbs. Ate a few of the tomatoes, When they are the heirloom and small I can handle a few. These are not as acidic as a regular tomato. Good flavors Paired with a 2020 Twomey Sauvignon Blanc. Decent Sau Blanc, nice fruit and not overly acidic. 

Then onto cured salmon with black beans ,  quail eggs, creme fraiche, bibb lettuce and housemade potato chips.  Salmon is raw but this was a bit mushy for me. Not sure why. It was cold so it was not that is sat out too long. I ate most of it but the last few pieces I left on the plate. I eat a lot of sushi so raw fish does not bother me like it does some people.  A 2018 Twomey Russian River Pinot Noir was the wine selection. Not impressed. Wine seemed flat, not much going for it.

Third course is a Duck Confit salad with grilled stone fruits, goat cheese and candied pecans. Duck was excellent. Moist and loads of flavor. The grilled fruits really made the dish. Wine paired was a 2019 Twomey Anderson Valley Pinot Noir. This wine was good, Very vibrant, nice, clean well balanced. Dark Cherry with just a hint of cocoa.

Main course is a Grilled "Bistro" steak. Have no idea what the Bistro refers to. But the streak was moist and cooked perfectly to medium rare. Nice char on outside. Loads of flavor, Served along with grilled shallot, duck fat Fingerling potatoes and broccoli. Potatoes were excellent. Biggest disappointment tonight for wine. A 2017 Silver Oak, Alexander Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon.  Wine was way too warm. Flat. Nothing to it.

Dessert is a lemon bar set on a bed of pureed raspberries, topped with vanilla ice cream and fresh raspberries. A nice touch to the meal.

You would think that the rep from the winery would know better than to serve wines at room temperature when at 7:00 in the evening it is 85*.  So not overly impressed with the reps nor the over priced wine. To me there is no excuse  for this oversight.