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.