Dining with J and S

About once a month a good friend and I make dinner together, my husband is inevitably invited. The friend, J was a chef a highly acclaimed restaurant in San Diego and with his help dinners always prove exceptional. Additionally, all three of us work in the food and/or wine industry in some form or another so we have continuous access to amazing wines. This particular evening we had four wines-- all gifts from proprietors or wine makers (lucky us!)--That we wanted to open so the fare was chosen to pair with them.

2003 d'Arenberg, The Last Ditch, viognier, McLaren Vale

2003 Villa Creek, Avenger, Rhone blend, Paso Robles

1989 Adelaida, zinfandel, Paso Robles

2002 Four Vines, Port, zin/syrah, Paso Robles-- all three Paso wines are west side Paso.

For the first course we went with an endive salad with oranges, caramelized walnuts, feta cheese and citrus vinaigrette. I finished the dish with a sprinkling of dried chives and fresh cracked black pepper.

As we worked to prepare the dinner we decided to first open the Avenger. A little tight at first, as many wines are, it opened to a very fruity bouquet of blueberries, cassis and a bit of spice. My first thought was white pepper. On the palate it was very subtle, almost too much so for me as I love big chewy wines. The fruit stayed through but was most prominent on the beginning, the middle and the end revealed hints of clove, nutmeg and pepper.

We snacked on a wedge of Morbier cheese as J prepared the main course. This particular form of the cheese had a soft light orange rind, and a line of ash down the middle. Soft and creamy it smelled similar to a blue but on the palate was very mild with a hint of mushrooms and earth, as well as smoky thanks to the ash. Exceptional!

The Avenger and the Morbier paired wonderfully, but cheese has a way with wine so take that with a grain of salt.

For the entree J prepared a jerk rub made of white onion, thyme (quite a bit), cinnamon, Nanami Togarashi-- an Asian blend of assorted chili peppers, and fresh ground nutmeg, all spice and cloves. This we rubbed, excessively so, on pork chops. The pork chops were grilled over an everyday Weber kettle grill.

To finish off the pork chops J hand sautéed sliced pear over medium heat in a light oil. They were placed over the top of the chops.

The Morbier cheese that we had been snacking on went into a batch of polenta, about one half pound of the tasty dairy product.

We sat down to dinner with the first course (the endive salad) and The Last Ditch. Unfortunately it was a bad pairing but would prove to be of an asset with the polenta. A creamy viognier it presented starchy flavors combined with a little spice (very subtle). After some careful thought we came to the consensus that a verdejo would have been a better match.

For the entree we had chosen the 1989 Adelaida. A present from a friend at the winery, J was kind enough to share this enticing treat with us. The nose was AMAZING. Big aromas of Bing cherry with slightly syrupy or baked undertones. Vanilla and almond extract made a nice middle with meat and spice showing their colors as it began to open up even more. Venison and cigar box are what I thought of. The palate's performance was strikingly similar to the Avenger in that the nose far outweighed the palate. The Adelaida was very subtle with little of the fruit but all other elements shinning through. Though tasty in its own right it was an okay match with the pork chops. Luckily for us the Avenger fit the bill perfectly. And as I said earlier the viognier was spot on for the cheesy polenta.

The final dish was an easy pairing, Port and chocolate.
Chocolate soufflé with chocolate sauce and fresh whipped cream along with a side of pears cooked in a honey whiskey mixture with a little bit of flambé. I used Ghirardelli chocolate in the soufflé and Knob Creek whiskey for the pears. The earthy elements of the syrah showed through on the palate and complimented the flambéed pairs nicely while the zin profiles with the bitter sweet dark chocolate soufflé were a match made in heaven.

Toasting to a low-income bracket (two students and a young winemaker) and fabulous dining we finished stuffed and satisfied.