Entertaining Life Daily

Wednesday wine dinners at Tastings always provide a great environment to try delicious wine paired with fantastic food. This past Wednesday was no different. Not only was Michael David Winery the featured wine for the evening, but the food theme was inspired by the winery's well known (and delicious) 7 Deadly Zins. Plus, there is quite a story to Michael David winery. Tom, the regional sales manager, gave a few tidbits about the grapes, history of the brothers and research from UC-Davis that brought this winery to where it is. Quite interesting - I encourage you to do more research on the varietals as each wine has its own story.

I apologize for photo quality - all I had was my phone as I left my camera at home by accident. Really, the photos don't do the wine or food justice at all.

First Course - 2008 Symphony served with Spicy Tuna Tartare with Edamame Hummus

This first course blew me away - great pairing due to great components. The wine was subtly sweet with tropical flavors while producing a clean finish. The hybrid grape is a flavor that I've never experienced, and this could easily be shared by all wine lovers for any occasion. Plus, the simplicity of the bottle marketing created enough interest that I couldn't wait to try. Paired with the wine, a siracha-infused tuna tartare that was freshened with cilantro and lime sat on top of the best hummus I've ever had. A wasabi-edamame hummus was at a perfect level of spice without the expected horseradish taste. I can't describe how much I wanted a bowl of this right then and there, not to mention the next morning for breakfast. Providing a further bite crunch and spice to the tuna were cayenne roasted cashews - I could have eaten these by the handful. A ginger soy glace brought all these great components together with a salty finish. Fried rice noodles finished the dish with a perfect crunch. If this is wrath, I'll take it any day. A shout out to the new culinary woman in the kitchen - she did a great job and I look forward to seeing more from her in the future.

Second Course - 2009 Seven Heavenly Chardonnay served with Caramelized Pear Tart
This wine was the redemption to the brother's 7 Deadly Zins, and a very pleasant one at that. Full bodied, the wine was creamy in all the right ways of a Chardonnay with tones of oak. Slight vanilla flavors also played on the tongue, and with the subtle oak, was a perfect combination. I may have found a new Chardonnay for my collection. The pear tart really cleaned and balanced the wine, bringing the two together for a great pairing. Roasted anjou pears were rustic in flavor and lightened with some lemon and sugar. Subtly sweet caramelized onions were layered on top of a creamy and dominate Taleggio cheese layer of flavor. The puff pastry, always rich and buttery, was the vehicle for the cheese and layered with a nutty, gruyere heavy arugula-comte' pesto. Overall, the tart was rich and savory, cut with the sweetness of the pears - perfect for the creamy Chard and perfect for envy.

Third Course - 2008 Incognito Red Blend served with Sausage and Quail Gumbo

I've tasted the Incognitio blend before, and it was as delicious as I remembered. Sharp in taste and fruit forward (blackberries and blueberries on my tongue) with sweet tannins. Delicious blend of grapes, once again, paired with a spicy Southern dish. The gumbo was rich in the anticipated creole flavor, subtle in spice and thick with sausage - three varieties to be exact. Duck, buffalo and turkey flavors mixed perfectly with the basil steamed Basmati rice. A rue and the holy trinity of cajun cooking (diced onion, celery and carrot) were the basis of this dish and proved great things can happen with the combination of paprika, garlic, thyme and other herbs and spices in this style of cooking. On top, a beautifully crisped fried piece of quail breast. Perfectly tender from buttermilk and salty like fried cooking should be - I'd be proud of this dish too.

Fourth Course - 2008 Earthquake Petite Sirah served with Chocolate Braised Pork Belly
Almost purple in color, the Sirah was perfectly dry in the center of the tongue. A stunning label, this full bodied style of wine had a touch of berry and floral taste. It couldn't have been matched any better than with pork - especially pork belly. This fine piece of meat was a slow braised Berkshire Farms pork belly - the best of the best. Slightly seasoned, the meat spoke entirely for itself. The fat added some amazing flavor to perfectly cooked meat - it really was divine and didn't need anything. But of course Steven didn't disappoint by presenting it with an amazing sauce to slather the meat in - a chocolate-blackberry BBQ sauce. The dish smelled of dark chocolate, so I was very surprised to taste a smokey and sweet BBQ flavor. A touch of honey, balsamic vinegar and blackberry jam were added to a basic BBQ sauce to give it all that flavor before dark chocolate was melted into the mix. Oh my, divine. This was all on a bed of velvety Seahive Cheddar grits. Best dish ever. Period. I'd be a sloth in a minute if I had this pork belly.

Fin - 2007 Earthquake Zinfandel served with Stuffed Doughnut Bread Pudding

Another fantastic label, this Zinfandel was a surprise to me. It was intense in fruit with smokey and spicy notes. Bold and intense,like a good cup of coffee with a sweet dessert - nothing what I was anticipating but everything that would make me come back for more. And when you have a bread pudding made out of cinnamon and powdered sugar doughnuts, the wine was everything I needed to cut that sweetness. Imagine sitting in your favorite donut shop (why hello Dunkin!) and enjoying your favorite donut holes (or munckins) by dipping them in a beautifully warm vanilla-cream cheese glaze. That is what this dish was, but you were given a bit more flavor with a blueberry and cherry filling. Glutony at its finest.

Amazing and satisfying, I couldn't have been more happy when we were finished (that is, unless I could repeat it all over again). As always, service was fantastic, food was epic and the wine was an utter indulgence. We were able to stay a bit longer and sip some more, and I think I found my favorite Michael David - Petite Petit. Exploding with black fruit flavor, the purple colored wine was a fantastic ending to my evening. It was dense with flavor and full bodied - truly a great mix of sirah and verdot. I've never left Tastings as satisfied as I did on Wednesday, and I'll be checking shelves for the Petite Petit next time I'm in the wine aisle. Not to mention, I would plan a visit to Lodi, CA just to visit and sip my way through that vineyard.

Thank you Tastings (Steven - you and that pork belly - nom!) and Michael David for a truly epic evening.

Tastings: A Wine Experience
50 West Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204

Michael David Winery
4580 West Highway 12
Lodi, CA 95242

One last note, I'm shifting restaurant reviews over to my new blog, City Nom Noms! I hope you join me as I nosh through the city one bite at a time! One of these days, I'll nosh on Tastings small plates from their menu and City Nom Noms is where that review will be!

Since our first holiday season together six years ago, I have given my loving hubs 25 delights each holiday season. His own personalized advent calendar is planned out (I usually start in late October, early November) focused on holiday cheer. Unfortunately, my travel schedule for work is slightly crazy this holiday season, so I've had to get creative with the planning process, especially incorporating events that are already on the calendar (holiday gathering, etc.)

You see, I over program hubs. But, he is so amazing that he goes along with it. This is one time a year where he knows he'll be programmed every day for the month, but looks forward to it (I believe he does, right hubs?!)

With his Movember 'stache, hubs and I at our first Colt's game this past weekend. Don't be confused, we are both die hard Packer fans being from the state of Wisconsin. I got that shirt for $5 and it normally stays in my pajama drawer.

Yesterday was day one, December 1. The "gift" of the day was a "Lights & Delights" evening. We were driving downtown to enjoy the Indy lights on the circle and then dinner at Tastings, where Italian was the evening's theme. This review of Tastings will be a bit different from previous review formats - just to showcase the evening delights to give you a taste of our first advent revealing!

Apertif - Cantina Del Taburno Falanghina
A glass of white wine that had a strong apple smell, but was light on the palate. It was a good thing no food was served with this wine, as I believe it would have been buried by any food flavors.

First Course - Mandra Rossa Fiano with Citrus Tuna

A stronger white wine was served with this dish, which was great as it stood up to the flavors without overwhelming. Notes of citrus were strong and it brought out the citrus of the Ahi tuna. Seared rare, the tuna was served on top of a roasted eggplant cous cous (the cous cous was essentially cooked in pureed eggplant), half wheat and half regular, then a tomato-cilantro brodo was poured over. The dish had a subtle heat and a pleasant addition of cilantro that wasn't overwhelming. It finished with a pleasant citrus taste on the palate.

Second Course - Colognolo Chianti Ruffina with Red Wine Pasta with Roasted Mushrooms & Greens

The deep smell of a Chianti was apparent, but the wine seemed like a basic Chianti to me. I loved that the wine was used to half cook the ditalini pasta (it was used to finish them to al dente after being partially cooked in salted hot water first) - brought great flavor to the dish. The basil roasted crimini mushrooms were fantastic, rich in olive oil and Italian seasonings. The chili-garlic sauteed swiss chard and Italian kale brought out the rustic element of the dish - and the aroma of the Parmesan was fantastic from the minute it was placed in front of you.

Third Course - Andrea Oberto Nebbiolo with Italian Braised Beef

A great pairing, this deep red wine stood up to the braised beef. A slow braised chuck roast, the sauce which it was cooked in was pureed and added back in to give it the most flavor. The highlight of this dish was the creamy roasted garlic polenta topped with shaved asiago. Oh gosh, highlight to it's finest. It was creamy, thick, buttery, delicious - from everything that gives those flavors (think butter, mascarpone, etc.) - I was saddened hubby was still recovering from a cold and didn't have his full taste buds to enjoy that polenta.

Fin - Tedeschi San Rocco Ripasso and Italian Cheese Tasting

My favorite dish (shocker - it has cheese) was the tasting of a creamy fontina, a slice of gorgonzola dolce and chunks of parmigiano reggiano. Two homemade jams, one rosemary-fig and the other cranberry-vanilla, were served so you could mix and match with or without the warm ciabatta toasts. It was a great tasting wine too, cleansing the palate between each cheese but really bringing the flavors forward. Fave thing? The crunch of the parmigiano reggiano in the teeth - you know it is aged well when you get that. Fave combo? The cranberry-vanilla jam with the gorgonzola dolce - divine.

Overall - a great first day of Tim's holiday advent calendar. Tonight is an Ahrens' tradition - any guesses what it may be?

Entertaining Life Daily

Entertaining all aspects of life, one day at a time.

Michael David Winery & Deadly Sins

25 Days of Christmas - Lights & Delights