Secret Sans Liege Dinner in Orange County

Event Planner - Online or Offline
1

Any Berserkers going to this? I will be there. Sounds like a good time.



Dear Fellow Vagabonds and Adventurers,

If I gave you the chance to drop everything and spend an evening indulging in a 6 course meal with me at an exclusive location in Orange County, would you come?

The Low Down:
What: 6 Courses + 6 Wines + 1 Winemaker + a crazy venue you’ll never get to see otherwise + a chance to buy sold out Sans Liege wines at the event
When: Saturday, October 16 @ 6 pm
Where: Somewhere exquisite in Orange County, California (You will receive a confirmation email before the event with the address and location)
How Much: $150 per person.
Reserve At: http://www.roomforty.com/new/purchase.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (Please note: LA event is unavailable)
Deadline to Sign Up: OCTOBER 10TH.

2

these pop up type restaurants are “popping” up all over socal nowadays. Not sure how I feel about them. Let us know how it is =)

3

I guess he is doing one in LA on Friday. I will let you know how it goes. I like his wine so I’m hoping for the best.

4

Great guy and sounds like a cool time.

5

Please report back; I’ve never gone to one, but have been tempted by many of the Room Forty events.

6

I love the Sans Liege wines. Give us a report afterwards.

7

My friend and I had a great time at this event. Room Forty runs a first class operation and Steve, the owner of Room Forty, is a great guy who makes sure everyone feels at home. This event was held in San Clemente in a beautiful home. Unfortunately, it was raining lightly so the dinner was moved inside. It was very elegant inside but the backyard was all set up and it would have been fun to have it in an open air environment.

Curt and Kara Schalchlin are an awesome couple who are more than happy to talk to anyone and share their experiences. I guess the only thing that caught me off guard about the event is that the age range was older than I was expecting. I thought it might be a bit younger as the whole mysterious location etc… would draw a younger crowd. I’m 33, so really not that young, and was definitely one of the youngest people there by 5-10 years and that is being conservative. Due to this fact my friend and I befriended Curt and Kara and had a lot of fun talking with them as they are our age. I thoroughly enjoyed every wine that was poured and think that Curt does a fantastic job. The food was first class and the presentation was top notch. Below are the courses and wines paired with each. I did not take any formal tasting notes.

Assorted Hors D’ oeuvres
-Tuna tartar
-Chicken salad on crackers
-Potato Parmesan soup with truffle on top (in a shot glass)
2008 Cotes du Coast, Central Coast
(Viognier, Rousanne, Marsanne)
-Amazing white! By far the best I’ve had all year! Such a great blend.

Crudo. Harnachi. Heirloom Tomato. Breakfast Radish. Shiso
2008 Sancha, Derby Vineyard, Paso Robles
(Marsanne)
-Very good. I liked the Cotes du Coast so much though that this was overshadowed by it.
http://sansliege.com/sansliege09sancha.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Seafood Bisque. Shrimp. Scallops. Clams.
2008 Pickpocket, Grenache, Paso Robles
-I really enjoy Curt’s grenaches that I’ve had. His Groundwork grenache is very good to.
http://sansliege.com/sansliege08pickpocket.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ravioli. Butternut Squash. Pomegranate. Hazelnuts. Bacon. (Tasted amazing!!)
2005 The Offering, Central Coast
(Syrah, Grenache)
-Curt’s flagship wine that is very well put together with great fruit.
2008 The Offering, Santa Barbera county
(Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Vionier)
-This was more complex than the 2005 with the addition of the other varietals. Young but very approachable.
http://sansliege.com/sansliege08offering.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Prime Beef Ribeye. Matsutake Mushroom. Potato. Carrot
2007, 2008, and 2009 Transendentalist, Central Coast
(Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache)
-I was a bit intoxicated at this point but it paired great with the Ribeye and everyone enjoyed it.
http://sansliege.com/sansliege070809transcendentalist.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Bread Pudding. Nutella. Tahitian Vanilla Bean.

All in all a great dinner with fantastic wines. Very happy that I had the opportunity to talk to Curt and Kara they are great people. I look forward to all of his wine releases and recommend if you haven’t tried any of them yet to try to get your hands on a couple.

8

Thanks for posting a review! Who prepared the dinner?

The “Cotes du Coast” sounds like an intriguing white blend; will keep an eye open for it.

[cheers.gif]

Brett

9

That was a nice review, I’m hungry after reading it. :slight_smile: I’m going to have to keep my eye out for any other Orange County gatherings around here!

10

Brett,

Room Forty has their own staff. I do not remember the name of the chef but he was very talented. Definitely try hard to get your hands on a bottle of the Cotes du Coast I thoroughly enjoyed it. We were able to order the wines there but most of them, because of the small production, were a 2 bottle limit or I’d share. Looks like a few places sell them on wine-searcher.

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/cotes+du+coast/1/usa" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chris

11

Thanks!