wine dinners - part II

so off we went to the Saturday night wine dinner in the Forks and Corks weekend of wine events.  We had a lovely meal with friends Mary Ann and Gene, and Francesco from one of the wineries pouring last night.

The meal was very good- with four courses after passed hors d'oeuvres -

from the reception area = these garage style doors are raised for entry to the dining area-

rounds of eight were set with all our glasses ready for the evening-

the menu is located under the glass charger so you can make reference to it over the evening- (I took it out to photograph)

then we began our leisurely paced meal-

the menu as published-

the wine-makers attending and pouring-

we bought a bottle of the unusual dessert wine which is twice fermented- once as wine and a second time with the juice of fermented sour cherries- seemed like it would be good with ice cream and berries

we also bought a couple of bottles of the Pecorino (named after the sheep not the cheese LOL) which was something different in white and lively for warm weather-

Francesco told us that the wine was named because when the grapes came to bud it was time for the Pecorino sheep to go up in the mountains to graze and when they came down it was harvest time LOL so they were the calendar for the cycle of production for this wine- hence the name

Today off to the ballet some exciting performances- so more to follow- stay tuned!

wine dinners part I

so this weekend is Forks and Corks weekend - a big deal in Sarasota each January.  The Grand Tasting is held at the Ringling Museum on Sunday mid day with more than a thousand guests (too many) after doing the Grand Tasting for a year as regular admission and two or three years as VIP admission we decided to no longer fight the crowds and just to the weekend wine dinners.

So last night we went to a Friday night event at Blue Marlin in Bradenton Beach. The whole big deal is run by an organization called Sarasota-Manatee Originals (SMO)which is an association of locally owned restaurants.  So Blue Marlin being a SMO member was called upon to host a wine dinner and invited us (as known wine folks) to join in.  We had already booked for Saturday night at Michael's Wine Cellar dinner with friends Gene & Mary Ann - which will be part II...

Off we went for the 6:30 event and were greeted by the usual suspects- actually everyone we knew on the staff was there except Vicki.  Dan was pouring and Kelsey was as well, Max was overseeing the food delivery and Adam (the owner) was checking on pretty much everything...  We were seated with another guy from the Chicago area named Ken and a couple named Bob and Nancy, from various places including Louisville/Pittsburgh/Kokomo/State College...LOL

the craziness of F&C grand tasting

and last night's lovely meal-

the carpaccios were served family style and passed before I took a photo but I thought the portobello carpaccio was the single best dish of the evening but they both would serve as the best course!

they also served lovely oysters with sparkling and a mid meal course of veggie sushi with tuna tartare topping... the dessert was from Andrea Spring of Mermaid Pie Company - a nice evening of good food and good company - maybe not the best wines we have ever had but it always interesting to taste things you don't know because you might find some new things to like- the WOE was definitely to my mind the Viognier... which as funny because it was the WOE for the Outstanding in the Field dinner as well - there it was from our buddies Paul Gerrie and Steve Dorner at Cristom...

so tonight off for Italian wine and dinner at Michael's Wine Cellar... usually a wonderful time - we will report back later...

perfect weather!

Was such a nice change from last year's rainy evening... we have now attended three years (all three years) Wine Walk to Ca d'Zan the Ringling mansion and estate. For those of you who know us or have attended the IPNC (International Pinot Noir Celebration) with us in Oregon, the ALL three years will not surprise you. My IPNC attendance -at ten plus years- and Phil's -at closing in on- 20 years would indicate that we are loyal to our wine events LOL....

here were the good and bad things about this year's Wine Walk

THE GOOD:

• Number One thing - the weather was perfect
• Number Two thing - the terrace at the Ringling was the VIP Lounge and was an absolutely perfect spot to - well - lounge around waiting for the sunset and finish off the eating path that takes you from the front door to the Bay... 
• Number Three thing- although I found nothing fabulous in the extra wines poured for the VIP ticket holders - it was a nice idea to have some extra stations along the way
• Number Four thing- several of the food stations were wonderful! The France one was my personal favorite but the American and the Spanish also had some good eats as well. 
• Number Five thing- the band was really good and well located so the music could be heard but wasn't overwhelming.
• And a shout out to the Cake Zone for the fabulous cup cakes!

THE BAD:

• The very first station was not at all ready and had no food or wines out despite it being more than five minutes after the opening time when we arrived  - hence no review of the German station except to say I would recommend against using this caterer as they clearly can't get their shit together...
• None of the wines were fabulous- and now I know that we have been seriously spoiled at the IPNC over the years with fabulous tastings of wines up to and including the Madame Bize-Leroy's wines, but seriously, this is a one night event - not a three day festival and yet a higher per hour cost than the IPNC.... 
• On a beautiful night like last night NOTHING should be held inside like the American station was last night - not that I don't like the circus museum but with such stunning weather - this part should have not been in a dark hall inside - and they too had issues - no one there to serve the beer they were hyping (not that it matter to me)  and the security woman was way over the top officious at that location - she clearly had the "gun and badge" syndrome...

However- nothing could have put a damper on the lovely evening - a great way to spend a few hours!

here are links to the two prior years:

http://semifreelife.semifreelife.com/2014/03/we-walk-walk.html

http://semifreelife.semifreelife.com/2013/04/march-madness.html

the entrance - you can see the blue sky weather we were blessed with!

the bay side of the house-

 
as the sun set the windows reflect its glorious hues

the menus-

an interior view

this would be an impressive thing to win-

because you can see the view of the tower in this aerial shot of the mansion-

and here is the menu that we missed because they weren't ready despite the security forces holding everyone for five minutes past the opening hour- I would definitely skip having these folks do any catering for you!

all in all a lovely evening but with some execution of logistics issues that made it just a shade under perfect...but hey, not everyone can be Pat Dudley! (the woman who ran the IPNC for many years) and so we continue towards our season's end- up tonight Itzhak Perlman at the Van Wezel. Stay tuned for more...

the main event

yes- you already know it sold out in 2 minutes and 20 seconds - as big an event in these parts as a Stones concert according to one of the organizers- Forks & Corks Grand Tasting.  we had VIP tickets and so had an hour of only five hundred people versus the full 1500 that had tickets for the noon start time...

it is a large venue and can hold lots of folks but still it is wall to wall people- as you will see in the few photos I bothered to snap- juggling wine glass and food plates and a bottle of water- LOL as well as greeting folks along the way (shaking hands- LOL an acrobatic act, hugging without spilling something on the hugee- another... no wonder we are so close to the circus museum- LOL)

YOU CAN SEE THIS GUY WAS TIRED OUT FROM THE WINES AND FOOD!!!

anyway it started with a champagne reception in the retail area while the hordes of VIPs redeemed their vouchers for wine before the remainder of participants arrived an hour later-

we bought enough to use up our vouchers (two types of Italian wines) and headed out of the claustrophobia inducing crowds of the retail tent and into the claustrophobia inducing crowds of the food and wine event... I have only a few photos but the food was excellent for an event for 1500 people and really -  lots of variety and good quality- the wines not so much to my taste- waaaaaay waaaay too many California wines and far far far too little French wines - only a smattering of Italians...

the layout of the courtyard for the event- every dot is a booth of food or wines- it's HUGE!

this is just ONE of NINE pages of wine listings for the event- it is just overwhelming -

as you can tell from the ongoing photos on this blog- we are into French (especially burgundy - white and red) and Italian with the US market being our Oregon pinots and sparkling- but with the inventory in the cellar as high as it is we aren't buying these days anyway- so NBD!

the weather was absolutely perfect! unlike last year's rain - this year we had sunshine and blue skies and in the low to mid 60s- perfect!!!!

we came and went between the food and wines and with CBGB and without - and finally met up about three hours later on the shady side of the porch and had some water and then headed home... fun day- only wish they would limit the number to more of the IPNC level of 600-650.... just too too too many people for me...after a dozen years for me and two decades of IPNC for Phil and 5 or 6 for CBGB- we all are spoiled by the approachable size and winery visits and fabulous al fresco meals of that event-  but you do have to devote a whole weekend to it- here it is one (day) and done...

here is a bonus the recipe for the fab chocolate dessert shown above!

so our next wine event is an evening at Bern's with CBGB and others- and then in March the Wine Walk to Ca d'Zan-

and hopefully a few more wine dinners at Michael's Wine Cellar... time flies and now that it is "season" we have a busy busy calendar... friends arrive from Chicago tomorrow and we have plans for theater and museums with them for the next four days- then four concerts that Phil has us booked for -  more theater and my two USF classes--- never a dull moment!

Have I mentioned lately that I love being retired? LOL