Penfold's Wine Dinner at Arte Cafe

 Monday, November 22, 2021

I was surprised how many people showed up on a Monday night for a wine dinner. Especially Thanksgiving week.  Not completely sold out but a very good size group at Arte Cafe in Cerritos.  Penfold wines from Australia and CA were featured. The wine reps name was Scott and interestingly he was from England not Australia. Penfold's started in Australia in 1844. 

Did learn that the number on the label indicates what variety of grapes and where it is grown. I will have to research this more because I really can't remember what went where. An 8 is Shiraz driven and a 7 is Cabernet driven

We started out with a very large grilled Prawn over a spaghetti squash salad with a Thai basil cream vinaigrette. Excellent flavors. That basil cream was exceptionally good.  Paired with a 2018 Penfold Max's south Australia Chardonnay. $20.   A bit oaky but not buttery. It did pair very well with the salad.

Our appetizer was crispy pork belly with a plum and red wine reduction over a bed of spinach.  Pork belly was a bit too greasy for me. I am finding as I get older, I have less tolerance for certain things. It was good pork belly but I always compare to Louise's dish at Delius. She made the best pork belly I have ever had.  Maybe not a fair comparison, two different chefs and two different cooking methods. A 2018 Penfold Bin 600 California Cabernet-Shriaz blend.  $45.  Scott said coming from the Alex Trebeck property. I really liked this wine and since we were offered a really nice discount, I bought 3 bottles of it.

Our entree is an Aussie Shepherd's pie. Great flaxy crust. A bit of a bite to the ingredients. Paired with a 2018 Bin 28 Barossa Valley Shiraz. $30.  A good combination.

The main is a Grilled lamb with garlicky Swiss chard and spiced couscous. Lamb was looked perfectly. The Swiss chard was really garlicky and the couscous had a real bite to it. Very nice composed dish. Wine was supposed to be a 2018 Bin 389 Cabernet-Shiraz, $55 but the warehouse shipped the wrong wine.  Instead, we were served the 2019 Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon, $75. Cellars in 50% American oak and 50% French Oak. Excellent wine. 

Dessert is a Sticky fig and pecan pudding cake with toffee sauce. Decadent. Served with a scoop of Pistachio ice cream. A NV Penfold's Club Tawny Port, $13 was selected. Not overly sweet. Nice pairing but basically, I am not a sweet on sweet person. A bit much for me. But I did devour the dessert.