Alfresco Wine Dinner with Tercero Wines

 Saturday, May 21, 2022

First Alfresco dinner at Dave & Louise's for this year.  38 people in attendance in the backyard.  Guest wine maker was Larry Schaffer owner and winemaker at Tercero Wines. Nice to see people from last year's dinners. 

Started out with a Ahi Poke and Avocado Tower with Crispy Wontons. Very light appetizer and good flavors. Paired with a 2021 Tercero Trilogia. A new white blend of Grenache Blanc, Clairette Blanche and Gewurztraminer. Went quite well with the food but I would not be able to drink more than one glass of this on it's own. I think it is the Clairette Blanche grape that throws me off. 

Next is a Puree of Roasted Corn and New Potato Soup with a Parsley, Pecan Drizzle.  Excellent. Louise takes and roasts the corn.  Makes a broth with the ears after cutting the kernals off.  Adds roasted baby new potatoes and purees everything together. One of the best, flavorful soups I have ever had. The crushed parsley with the drizzle just added a bright element to the dish.  A 2016 Tercero Grenache Blanc was the wine selected. Good pairing and this wine is one of the ones I like best from Larry's portfolio. 

Third course is a Portobello Mushroom en Croute with Wild Mushroom Sherry Cream Sauce. Another excellent dish. Rich flavors from the mushrooms. Paired with a 2021 Tercero Nouveau Mouvedre. Another of Larry's newest wines. I was not a fan of this wine at all.  I would have preferred his standard Mouvedre instead. It would have been a much better pairing.

Entree is a Pepper Crusted Filet Mignon with Horseradish Butter, Broccoli and Potato Gratin. Meat was grilled to perfection, the horseradish butter was exceptional and  the gratin was so creamy and good.  Two wines with this dish. A 2021 Tercero Pommard Clone, Pinot Noir which is a new wine for Larry. Grapes sourced from Kessler Hawk. A nice Pinot. Also a 2019 Tercero Whitehawk Vineyard Syrah. Excellent wine and a great pairing for the steak.

Dessert is a Strawberry Meringue Roulade with Meyer Lemon Curd. A nice light refreshing end to a great dinner. 

No dinner in June as Dave and Louise will be in the UK visiting Louise's relatives. Next dinner is July  with Wes Hagen. 

Margie's Monthly Wine Dinner at Issara Thai Restaurant

 Saturday,  June 14, 2022

14 of us tonight for the June dinner organized by Margie. It has been a few years since we have met here. New Chef, new owner. 

II started out with a couple of appetizers.  Issara Chicken Wings with house special chili sauce. Had these before and remembered they were good. Not disappointed. 

Then onto Fried Calamari with two sauces, hot & spicy and sweet & sour.  Preferred the sweet and sour. Nicely cooked calamari rings.  I have had better but then I have had a lot worse. These were just average. Good.

Soup was Tom Yum Hot Pot with shrimp, tomatoes. lemongrass-kaffier lime broth, fresh mushrooms and cilantro bird eye chili. A very nice soup. Just enough tang to keep it interesting. Loads of flavor.

Main was Pompano Chu Chee. Whole Pompano fish, deep fried with red curry in coconut milk. Good flavors. Nice light white flesh on the fish and the sauce added a nice punch. 

Side was a plate of Tom Yum Dumplings, steamed in a spicy Tom Yum broth with egg noodles, coconut milk, chili paste, lime juice, crushed peanuts and green onions. This dish was mild compared to the other dishes I had. 

A wide assortment of wines tonight, most pairing well with the food. Have no idea what others ordered as we were each ordering off the menu individually.   I brought a 2020 Tercero, Outlier which is a dry gewurztraminer.  Pairs well with spicy foods. 

Other wines brought tonight:

2020 Broken Earth , Albarino - nice, clean wine

2020 Emma Reichart, Dry Riesling - did not taste

2021 Joel Gott, Sauvignon Blanc - did not taste

2013 Double Bond, Pinot Noir - did not taste

NV   Collet, Blanc de Blanc, Premier Cru - nice, light bubbly

2014 Kosta Browne , Koplen Vineyard, RRV, Pinot Noir - very good

2017 Kremstal Reserve, Riesling - did not taste

2018 Williams Selyem, Vista Verde Vineyards, Gruner Veltliner - did not taste

2020 J.Lohr, Grenache, Rose - did not taste

2019 Carol Shelton, Coquille Blanc - did not taste

2015 Guyomar, Monsigner Blend - interesting wine 

2021 Tablas Creek, Patelin de Tablas Rose - nice light wine

2021 Vento . Vermentino - went well with the food

2019  Connachigria Resilienza Benevutano, Falanghina - paired well with the food

2017 Doamine Sylvain Bailly, La Louie, Sancerre Rose - excellent wine