PRESS/MEDIA Lunch for STARS of California Food & Wine on June 23rd
VIP PRESS LUNCH INVITE – FUTURE STARS OF CALIFORNIA WINE -
June 23rd – Wilshire Restaurant 12:00pm to 2pm
Ian Blackburn, CEO of LearnAboutWine.com organized a special lunch with a few top wine personalities and a selection of the best new California brands. Lunch was held on the lovely patio at Wilshire Restaurant in Santa Monica.
The Lunch was in the Press Panel format, which included 3-course-meal and 3-wine-flight.
Following winery owners and wine makers joined the lunch and showed their latest wines.
- Casey Flat Ranch – Capay Valley
- Presqu’ile – Santa Maria
- Rarecat – Napa/Sonoma
- Starlite – Alexander Valley, Sonoma
1st Flight
2009 Casey Flat Ranch Capay Valley Sauvignon Blanc: Hinted by 7% Viognier, this wine is more of nice silky body rather than crisp fresh style usually seen in Sauvignon Blanc. It has aroma of hot climate fruits such as lychee, Asian pear and YUUBARI melon.
2009 Rarecat Lionheart Series Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc: This wine is a blend of 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Chardonnay fermented in French oak barrel. This wine also carries a unique round and mild finish attributed to Chardonnay. It has aroma of citrus and lily followed by tropical fruits such as mango.
2009 Starlite Sonoma County Viognier: Very nice balanced Viognier with great minerals. It has a glamorous aroma of summer flowers and tropical fruits.
1st Course
House special crab cake with mandarin orange green salad
Crabcake with full flavor of herbs and lemon is well paired with Sauvignon Blanc and the crispy outside sautéed with butter was perfect with Viognier.
2nd Flight
2009 Rarecat Russian River Vally Chardonnay
This is a French Meursault type creamy mild Chardonnay with long finish. It has a balanced acidity and has aroma of crisp apple, grapefruit, and European pear, hinted by flint character.
2009 Presqu’ile Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay
This wine carries a great complexity reflecting the terroir characteristics of Solomon Hills and Bien Nacido. It has a great aroma of melon, peach compote hinted by cookie spices. Great with any kinds of food.
2009 Presqu’ile Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir
This is a very elegant Pinot Noir with great mouth-feel, with complex flavors of wild strawberries, cranberries, red currants followed by aromatherapy scents such as sandalwood. Great pairing with Soy Sauce.
2nd Plate
Miso black cod with crispy rice, shitake mushroom salsa
Both Chardonnay pair very well with the grilled cod with miso sauce with natural sweetness. The sauce and shitake mushroom are perfect with the Pinot Noir.
3rd Flight
2006 Starlite Alexander Valley Zinfandel
Beautiful garnet color Zinfandel with great aroma of raspberry compote, prune, black cherries with hint of darker chocolate. Very juicy wine with round tannin, making the finish long and silky.
2007 Casey Flat Ranch Open Range Capay Valley Red Blend
A unique blend of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Mourvedre. The wine has a very complex aroma of forest fruits such as black berries, mulberry, and wild strawberries and the acidity of dried orange peel.
Dessert
Orange mousse chocolate cake
Great pairing with both Reds. The orange on the top makes friend with the nice acidity in the wine and spice and cocoa components paired well with the rich chocolate.
Blog and Photo by Alice Hama
