On Sunday we joined about 40 other members of the Tasters’ Guild in Maryland at the Elkridge Furnace Inn in Elkridge. The atmosphere was festive and the one Tasters’ Guild event that most people dressed up. We had four wines paired with a four course brunch. Executive Chef and Owner Daniel Wecker wowed the members and their guests.
Upon arriving we were given a glass of Gruet Brut. This sparkling wine was a straw color with small bubbles. It offered an apple aroma and taste with citrus on the cleansing finish. It was good as an aperitif while people were chatting with each other. The sparkling wine paired quite well with the first course. Our first course was a plate of appetizers: gravlax, miniature spinach quiche, canapés, blue cheese and apple served in a tartelette shell and folded crapes with confiture. The appetizers were quite tasty and the brut was very helpful with cleansing the palate between easy taste.
First course
The second course was a thick cut French bread toast topped with foie gras finished with sweet and sour berries. My piece was about two inches thick. The wine paired with this course was a Kirchberg de Barr Riesling Grand Cru, 2011. The yellow colored wine had a petro aroma and taste and was dry. There was an undertone of peaches on the taste. It paired with the dish; however, the petro was a bit overwhelming for me and I would have liked to see a touch of sweetness on the Riesling.
Second course – not like the French bread we make at home.
The third course was our main dish. It consisted of dorade finished with a lemon thyme sauce. The fish was served with wild mushroom and potato galette, housemade sausage, brioche and haricots verts. Yum! The dish was paired with a 2012 Joseph Drouhin Pouilly Fuisse. The Chardonnay wine was a yellow color with notes of pear, apple and caramel. The pairing was fine; however, a Pinot Noir sparkling wine would also have worked.
Third course
Our dessert course was a pithiviers paired with another sparkling wine a Cremant D’Alsace Brut Reserve. The wine was a blend of mostly Pinot Blanc with Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Riesling. The straw colored sparkling wine had tiny bubbles and had apple on the aroma and apple and citrus on the taste. It went quite well with the pithiviers.
Dessert
The food was wonderful as were the people attending. My favorite wine food pairing was the Gruet Brut with the appetizers, although several others liked the brut with the pithiviers.
Cheers,
Terry
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IWINETC Media FAM Members Produce Multiple Articles Even if it Snows
The media group attending the 2014 International Wine Tourism Conference, IWINETC, in Tbilisi Georgia is taking shape. As of this writing there are 21 people in the group. Each have different publications where they will write articles about the conference, winery visits, wines and foods. There is so much to cover on the trek to Georgia, that one article will not sufficiently cover all experiences.
Oliver and Terry talking about wine at Franc Arman Winery in Croatia.
I am reminded of this as I enjoy a glass of 2009 Franc Arman Teran. We visited with Oliver Arman at his winery in the Istria area of Croatia a few days before the 2013 International Wine Tourism Conference in Zagreb, Croatia. The dark ruby colored wine is made from the Teran grape, called Terrano in Italy. This wine had dark fruit notes, especially plum, along with licorice for the aroma. The taste also had plum and dark fruit notes with tobacco hints. The crisp finish had fruit yielding to oak influences and tannins. I have had the bottle in my wine cellar for nine months and notice more licorice now than I did when tasting at the winery last winter.
This wine helps warm the body. We have been gripped by a cold spell which saw nighttime temperatures fall to -10ºC to -16ºC. Cold has infiltrated the body and attached to the bones. If we were in the setting for Game of Thrones, we would say, “Winter is coming.” Wine helps. It also reminds me of the snow storm that Kathy and I drove through last March driving through the mountains from Istria to Zagreb. On our first evening with the media group, we took a walking tour of Zagreb, in the snow.
The 2014 IWINETC is a little later in March. For the last two conferences, the media group experienced snow in Italy and in Croatia. Will it snow the last week of March in Georgia? If so, I am heading to Vino Underground in Tbilisi for some qvevri-made wines. Let it snow!
Cheers,
Terry