Berserkers, Foodies and Winos,
A small trio of members of the Toronto Wine Elitist Cabal ™ consisting of myself, Jay Shampur and Michael Wright dined at a special “Iron Chef” style dinner last night at Victor restaurant in Toronto where the chefs were challenged to use the ingredients of coriander and chili in a five course tasting menu.
Unlike last time where we informed the staff what wines we were bringing and they worked around them, this time they were so confident of their abilities to rise to the challenge that they informed us they did not need this info beforehand this time and challenged us instead to find some nice wines to pair with the ingredients.
The results were two growers Champagnes, a very nice Montrachet, and – using my own foodie experience and cooking skills to bank on the fact that chocolate would be a main component of dessert out of necessity due ot the secret ingredients – I contributed a great Recioto della Valpolicella. On to the usual tasting notes and food and wine porn pics:
BARON-FUENTÉ 2006 GRAND MILLÉSIME BRUT CHAMPAGNE – This was a classic champagne with a greatly complex and aromatic nose of green apple and baked brioche, deep golden color, and extremely long and flavorful classic green apple and brioche flavors which only got richer and richer as the night wore on.
However, it should also be noted that the wine got sweeter and heavier as well and as Michael put it, it was starting to become work to drink by the end of the evening and became harder to pair with the food. Still, it was very classical and as I noted is exactly what I’d use if I wanted to add in some Creme de Cassis or icewine for a sparkling wine cocktail.
The wine was paired with a jalapeno popper stuffed with buffalo cheese and coriander. Unfortunately, the jalapeno killed everything including the wine dead so not really a good match.
PIERRE PAILLARD GRAND CRU BRUT CHAMPAGNE – This non-vintage Champagne wine was absolutely incredible. It had the lightness and airiness of an Italian Prosecco wine with flavors of Asian pear and a very slight touch of toastiness. Refreshing and incredibly food-friendly. While it also got a touch sweeter as the night went on, it never lost it’s light and airy body. Honestly like drinking a liquid cloud and really made me reconsider what French Champagne is capable of. I could’ve actually finished this bottle all on its own. A killer steal of a value at $50 CDN as well. 1st WOTN candidate.
This was paired with a beautiful tuna sashimi topped with olive oil and rock sea salt, coriander micro salad and a fresh serrano chili salsa cruda. I kept it throughout the remainder of the courses.
FERNAND & LAURENT PILOT CHASSANGE-MONTRACHET VIDE BOURSE 1ER CRU – This beautiful Montrachet was decanted for about 30 minutes before serving. Bright golden color and aromas of honey, white peach and toast immediately informed me this was going to be another one of those Chardonnays the guys keep introducing me to get me to turn in my ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) charter membership card. It’s working, too.
The wine’s most notable feature was an outstanding creamy mouthcoating texture that pretty much contradicts its bright white peach and green apple flavors. In fact, it was very similar to the 05 and 06 Nicolas Joly Coulée de Serrants I’ve had recently which also had that same complex contrast of a creamy olive oil like body with really bright and acidic fruit flavors. 2nd WOTN candidate and this one got my personal vote. Jay tied it with the Pierre Pallard.
This was paired with a fantastic flash-fried salmon steak that was then pickled afterwards (the exact reverse of what I would expect the process to be) that was then served on top of a pickled chili and fresh coriander salad.
Both wines were then kept for the fourth and last savory course, a green chili and coriander chicken served on top of Thai basmati rice pilaf.
ZENATO 2006 RECIOTO DELLA VALPOLICELLA – I first purchased two bottles of this amazing Recioto two years ago. It has undergone quite a change since I opened the first bottle. With two more years of aging for a total of 8 years spent in bottle, the tannins have completely receded, leaving the wine with a silky smooth texture and fantastic room-fililng aroma that could honestly be used as an air freshener if you just a left a small glass out in the open.
Deep aromas of dark chocolate and ripe Bing cherries, a dark purple red in the glass, full-bodied, and rich flavors of ripe sweet cherries, chocolate, vanilla, coffee and tobacco. Another WOTN candidate and this actually got Michael’s vote for WOTN.
The dessert this was paired with was a chocolate brownie topped with chili chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries and blackberries dressed with coriander-infused simple syrup.
Fun way to start the weekend. Now on to some wine bottle porn:
