Friday we attended the Guest Chef Luncheon and Live Auction at the Eldorado Hotel. It all started with passed Hors d’Oeurvres - bacon-wrapped shrimp, a skewer with grape tomatoes, cheese, and salame, Jerked Pork on Polenta, and Thai Chicken Satay by Tony Smith, chef at the Eldorado. It was all enjoyed while wandering around socializing and sipping a tasty NV Veuve Cliquot Champagne Rosé. the rest of the wines were from Ponzi in the Willamette Valley. Then we took our seats, while a nice 2006 Chardonnay Reserve was poured. Next we got plates of Nancy Silverton’s creamy buffalo mozzarella on micro greens with lemon zest. The chardonnnay was quite nice with the mozzarella. Then we got a tasty 2007 Pinot Noir to go with Mark Kiffin’s slices of Hudson Valley duck breast, seared rare, on a sweet potato-Spanish chorizo hash with a chanterelle and black fig juice. The Pinot and the duck dish were very good together. Next a 2006 Pinot Noir Reserve was poured - it was richer, fruitier, and overall bigger than the previous. It, however, wasn’t big enough to pair well with Dallas’ Kent Rathburn’s smoked lamb loins, with a chipotle-cilantro oil and grilled corn & blue cheese grits. I don’t understand why people pair lamb with pinot. In any case the lamb was quite tender and flavoful, but siginficantly salty. I had only a couple bites of the lamb and enjoyed the rich Pinot with the grits. Then for dessert Laura Werlin from San Francisco presented three lovely cheeses - River’s Edge Chevre ‘Sunset Bay’, Ancient Heritage Dairy ‘Scio Heritage’, & Rogue Creamery ‘Rogue River Blue’. The were quite good with a Ponzi Vino Gelato, a late harvest Riesling.
All during the meal, 33 lots of wine, trips, and dinners were auctioned off by David Reynolds. Dinner for six at our home went for $1400.