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At the annual Judges Dinner, I enjoy seeing friends from throughout the wine industry. Come join me, on the 25th floor of the Hotel Nikko, for some food, wine and fun!
If you’ve read my previous post about this year’s San Francisco International Wine Competition, you may remember that I’m judging on “Panel D,” with Wilfred Wong of Beverages and More http://www.bevmo.com/, Ron Siragusa of Kuleto’s Restaurant http://www.kuletos.com/, and Debra Del Fiorentino of Russian River Vineyards http://www.russianrivervineyards.com/. And if you’ve been following my posts in general, you’ll know I believe that wine’s main purpose is to make good food taste even better.
A nicely balanced Chardonnay from Clos du Bois to start our dinner. Cheers!
So for me, one of the biggest joys of judging the San Francisco International Wine Competition http://www.sfwinecomp.com/ each year is the Friday evening Judges Dinner. It’s a banquet-style affair, presided over by the Competition’s Executive Director, Anthony Dias (“Andy”) Blue www.bluelifestyle.com/, that caps our first of three days of wine judging.
Held on the 25th floor of the Hotel Nikko http://www.hotelnikkosf.com/, with spectacular views of downtown San Francisco, the Judges Dinner starts with a walk-around sushi-and-Champagne reception, then segues into an elegantly presented, multi-course seated dinner.
From the first welcoming glass of bubbly to the final sip of dessert wine, the Judges Dinner is a perfect way to reconnect with long-term friends and colleagues, some of whom live so far away that I see them only once a year.
My kind of menu ~ Seared ahi tuna and rack of lamb!
The Judges Dinner features a series of wines from the “Winery of the Year,” an honor based on the previous Competition’s judging results. Tonight the spotlight was on Clos du Bois http://closdubois.com/, a well-established and highly respected winery in Sonoma County.
And as we sat down to our first course ~ seared sushi-grade ahi tuna, still deliciously red at the center ~ a chilled glass of the Clos du Bois 2008 Russian River Reserve Chardonnay was already waiting for us.
My tablemates and I agreed that the pairing worked really well: the wine’s pleasant tartness and fresh, citrusy flavors enhanced the fish in just the same way that a squeeze of lemon would.
Mmmm, Rack of Lamb ~ a *huge* double chop!
Our server was particularly gracious, so when I noticed rack of lamb (just about my favorite cut of meat) on the menu as our main course, I asked if he could find a rare portion for me.
Well, it turned out that “rare” also meant “huge,” since the double chop had been cut from the thickest part of the rack. I enjoyed every bite, right down to the bones. Then I gnawed on those too.
Now *that* is what I call *rare*! Just the way I like it.
With our lamb, we drank a pair of uncommon red wine varietals, both from the 2008 vintage ~ a Touriga (best known as a Portuguese grape, but now also planted in California) and a Petite Sirah (also fairly unknown, and sorely underappreciated). Both came from Jeff Runquist Wines
http://www.jeffrunquistwines.com/ in the Sierra foothills.
Then, with dessert ~ an assortment of bite-sized mini-cupcakes ~ we sipped on a rich, honey-like 2007 Late-Harvest Riesling, called “Fleur,” from Clos du Bois. This would have been a lovely ending to a lovely evening.
But it was still fairly early, and some of my out-of-town friends ~ Jim McMahon (a prolific wine author and radio show host http://www.wine2000.com.au/ from Sydney, Australia); Jim Harré from New Zealand (who, with his wife Wendy, owns the five-star The Gates Country Lodge http://www.thegateslodge.co.nz/), and Bob Silverstein of Venice Beach Wines http://www.venicebeachwines.com/, near Los Angeles ~ wanted to go out for a touch of San Francisco nightlife. They asked me to come along with them to a favorite bar of theirs, Bourbon&Branch http://www.bourbonandbranch.com/, an authentic, old-fashioned speakeasy a few blocks away.
For dessert, mini-cupcakes and "Fleur" Late-Harvest Riesling from Clos du Bois. Afterwards, a visit to a nearby speakeasy...
From the moment the guy at the door asked for the password (it’s “books,” by the way, which always-savvy Bob knew), I felt transported back in time to the 1920s. The place was, in fact, doing business during the Prohibition era ~ supposedly as a cigar shop ~ with secret underground tunnels for customers to escape in case of a police raid.
Bourbon&Branch’s longish list of House Rules includes both the simple, polite “Please Speak-Easy” and the cheeky, in-your-face “Don’t Even Think of Asking for a ‘Cosmo’!” Despite the “old-time saloon” atmosphere, the crowd was mostly young and hip-looking.
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"Speak easy" when ordering drinks at Bourbon&Branch. (It really *was* a "speakeasy" during Prohibition.)
Dimly lit, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, Bourbon&Branch serves up hand-crafted cocktails both classic and creative. Mine was a frosty pomegranate-and-ginger concoction in a martini glass; Bob and the two Jims ordered manlier libations.
Then it was back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep and an early-morning wake-up call. Saturday, after all, would mean a full day of wine judging for all of us.
Next up: More “Meet the Judges” ~ plus Sunday’s “Sweepstakes Round,” when we taste the best of the best, and award the Grand Prizes.
Until next time ~
Cheers,
Rosina
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