Toast the Holidays with Wine Friends
By Kathy Ward
The annual Enological Society Holiday Party featured Northwest
wines, Rocha Port and catered food courses.
Holiday
Party Tasting Card
Food Courses by Peter Marschalk
Gourmet at Home
Entrance Wine
Assorted Rieslings
Pinot Gris Selections
Chinese Chicken Salad
in Baked Wontons
Merlot Selections
Two Phyllo Cups
Wild Mushroom
Caramelized Onions and Gruyere
Syrah Selections
Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
with Grilled Chicken
Port and Chocolate
1994 Porto Rocha Colheita
Porto Rocha 1995 Vintage Port
(Sparkling Wine substitute
for those who prefer)
Truffettes de France
Millstone Coffee
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A variety of Pinot Gris, Merlot and Syrah selections
were poured, accompanied by complementing foods by Gourmet at
Home. Other than a brief description of wine varietals and an
entertaining Port primer, there was no formal presentation, just
friendly chatting with tablemates. Extra seating was planned for
this popular event.
Enological member Gerry Warren, who joined in 1976, has helped
organize every wine competition sponsored by the Society, beginning
with the very first one held in the dining room of a committee member.
He described how the Rieslings, Pinot Gris, Merlots and Syrahs were
representative of wines judged at our Northwest
Wine & Food Festival each year.
The Ports
Todd and Bernice Cromwell talked about celebrating and entertaining
with Port wines. Owners of Wineworth Importers, they did
our November 2001 program on Portuguese
varietal wines. A delightful audience participation "pop quiz"
rewarded correct answers with bottles of Port wine.
| A Colheita (col-YATE-ah) is the rarest of
Port, making up less than 1 percent of all Porto made. Aged
in wood at least seven years, it’s bottled just before
shipping. Ruby Ports are aged in wood only two or three years
before release. |
On the tasting card was a ‘94 Rocha Colheita, a vintage-dated
Tawny, from a singularly fine year cited as “Vintage of the
‘90s” and top of the century. Bottled and released this
year, it has the ripe fruit of a Ruby, but definitely finishes as
a Tawny, Todd notes.
The Rocha 1995 Vintage Port, also from a highly rated year,
is a classical young Ruby Port with rich fruit and deep color. Todd
notes that with a chocolate finish it makes an ideal pairing with
the truffettes.
Those who prefer Sparkling Wine rather than Port could choose bubbly
pours for this flight.
Party Fun
No chestnuts roasting, but there was plenty of cheerful toasting
from the podium. Program Chair Andria Bovey read favorite
holiday toasts sent by members, and the best entry received a bottle
of Port wine.
Fabulous Door Prizes!
Additional fun during the evening included some extraordinary door
prizes.
• Champion Wine
Cellars packaged up a six-bottle gift box assortment of French
wines and Warre's Porto.
• Millstone Coffee
put together a gourmet gift basket. And complimentary Millstone
coffees was available throughout the evening.
• David LeClaire, “Talk of the Table” columnist
and wine director at the new Library
Bistro (formerly the Painted Table), offered a BV (Beaulieu
Vineyard) wine tasting that he will host in a home or office for
30 people. He also shared some tips on restaurant corkage etiquette.
We’ll e-mail updates on future program events. To get in
our address book, send a message to EnoSocMsg@aol.com.
Your Personal
Chef
You've probably seen Peter Marschalk at
past programs as a volunteer server. He’s also done wine
handling and served on judging committees for several Fairs
and Festivals and spent four years on the Board of Directors.
This 10-year member of the Enological Society was our personal
chef for the December program.
Combining business and pleasure in his new Gourmet
at Home company, Peter rescues busy families from
the chore of preparing nutritious and delicious nightly dinners
by shopping, cooking and delivering dinner to their doorstep.
He’s also a “surrogate” cook for Month
of Meals, a co-op of people planning and preparing family
meals run by Kay Conley.
A self taught chef, Peter was a short order cook in college
where he majored in art. “Cooking is my own attempt at
art,” he says. “It’s so much fun to put together
ingredients and create a dish.”
As a U.S. Navy pilot, Peter’s military career exposed him
to foods of other countries and cultures such as Japan and the
Philippines. He believes wine and food belong on the table together.
“In military terms, wine and food are a ‘force multiplier’
as they each enhance the other for a larger total effect.”
Here’s the power in Peter’s Holiday
menu food and wine selections:
•
Served with Pinot Gris, the mildly spiced Chinese Chicken Salad
with a touch of citrus and a touch of sweetness balances the
acidity in both wine and food.
•
Merlot and wild mushrooms are a natural earthy match. The lightly
sweet caramelized onions would pair nicely with a Syrah or Zinfandel,
but by blending in Gruyere cheese, the combination works dynamically
with Merlot.
•
Sweet and smoky, the roasted red peppers blended with mild spices,
pasta and grilled chicken enhance the spicy characteristics
of Syrah.
A member of the Personal Chef Association, Peter networks with
other professionals to share recipes, locate rare ingredients,
address special dietary needs and participate in local charity
events.
Peter says a personal chef should be “the other important
PC in your life.” Based in Woodinville, WA, he’s also
on the Web at gourmetathome.biz. |
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Click here to
see a list of past Seattle Programs
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