A few announcements have hit my email for wine dinners in the next few weeks that look intriguing. Here are a few opportunities to taste around town.
May is Oregon wine month…who knew? Celebrate one of the best as Grace Restaurant hosts Domaine Serene on May 24th for the unveiling of the new Domaine Serene Grand Cheval. From what I understand it is a blend of their stunning Willamette Valley Pinot Noir with Syrah, a beef and potatoes wine with complexity and character. Domaine Serene Southeast Sales Manager, Ginger Dollins, will be on hand to walk guests through the tasting of Domaine Serene’s beautiful wines paired with a succulent menu prepared by Chef Blaine Staniford. More information and reservations available at 817-877-3388. Full menu and pairings here. (more…)
Dan Redman is lucky salesman. He sells Damilano wine from the Piedmont region of Italy. His biggest problem is not selling wine. The biggest bump in his job is that he never has enough wine to sell. Last week Dan’s Mosaic Wine Group brought Brand Manager, Barbara Levi Cavaglione, to Dallas to showcase the wines. It was the last stop of her 7- day 6-city tour. I was an invited guest at the tasting, which took place at the Dallas epicenter of Italian wine: Jimmy’s Food Store.
The dates for one of the area’s most interesting events is set. On August 12- 13, the Four Seasons Resort & Club Dallas at Las Colinas will host the 8th Annual Texas Sommelier Conference. The three-day conference includes educational sessions, wine tastings, and social media workshops. The 2011 TexSom conference featured the largest contingent of Master Sommeliers at a public event. This year should be no different. However, you don’t have to be any kind of sommelier to buy a seat. Some of the names you can rub shoulders with include:
Scheduled Master Sommeliers include James Tidwell, Drew Hendricks, Wayne Belding, Brett Zimmerman, Guy Stout, Tim Gaiser, Laura Williamson, Keith Goldston, Nate Ready, Melissa Monosoff, Brian Cronin, Cameron Douglas, John Szabo, Geoff Kruth, Laura DePasquale, Jay Fletcher, Andrew McNamara, Peter Neptune and Greg Harrington. The speaker lineup also includes James Beard Award Winners Rajat Parr and Paul Grieco, Master of wine Christy Canterbury, wine marketer Paul Wagner, Union Square Hospitality Group Wine Director John Ragan, and Leonetti Cellar Owner Chris Figgins.
The seminar topics, times, and various ticket prices are listed below. For more information or to register, click here. Like, fast. (more…)

Wolfgang Puck's donated dessert course: Vanilla bean panna cotta with a blueberry shot + blueberry white cheddar crumble (photos by Carol Shih)
John Cox, Ray Skradzinski, Oliver Sitrin, and Heather Dorris may not be names that trip off your tongue. But if history is any guide they will be big-name chefs in Dallas in the next few years. They were the four winners in this year’s Rising Star Chefs Contest: Heather Darris (Bolla), Oliver Sitrin (Marquee), Ray Skradzinski (Five-Sixty by Wolfgang Puck), and John Cox (Hyatt Regency) Former winners have included Andre Natera (now execuchef at The Pyramid Restaurant), J. Chastain (now sous chef at The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek), Omar Flores (now execuchef at Driftwood) and Anthony Bombaci (now execuchef at Nana).
Jump for photos and the rest of the story. (more…)
James Tidwell, Master Somelier and Beverage Manager at the Four Seasons Las Colinas, takes a lot of wine-related trips. Each time he visits an area he usually discovers a new or off-the-radar winery making a special wine. Last year on a trip to Washington State, Tidwell ran across Côte Bonneville, a family-run winery centered around their DuBrul Vineyard which the Shiels family planted in 1992. Kerry Shiels, winemaker and daughter of the founders, came to town and Tidwell contacted the Texas distributor, Hear Hear, and arranged a a dinner featuring Côte Bonneville wines at Café on the Green at the magnificent Four Seasons Resort and Club in Irving. I was an invited guest, which gave me the chance to digest two birds with one stone, so to speak. Besides tasting the wines from Côte Bonneville, I also got to taste new chef Jonathan Rivera’s cooking.
In simplest terms, the ideal way to enjoy a glass of wine is paired with the cuisine of the region the wine is from. In early days of wine making, wine was intended to be the drink enjoyed with food during the daily meals; even before you could safely drink water there was wine. If you ask most winemakers, they will agree their wine is made with thoughts of the food pairing in mind,. Think about how “California Cuisine” was created in the heart of Napa in the 1980’s and early 1990’s by chefs like Alice Waters, Michael Chiarello, Thomas Keller and Cindy Pawlcyn who focused on local products meant to highlight the flavors of the area and pairing well with wine coming from the valley; it is also why you enjoy a hearty, beefy Malbec in Argentina while feasting on smoky, barbecued meat, pork and lamb at an afternoon Asado; why tomatoes are one of the hardest things to pair, yet Chianti is always the ideal match for pasta with marinara sauce; and why artichokes and asparagus can give a Sommelier a headache when they see them on a pairing menu except in Spain, where the ideal pairing can range from a crisp, acidic yet still fruit forward Cava or racy, dry Fino Sherry.
The idea of eating and drinking regionally is fully embraced by the Spanish culture, as was evident on my recent trip as a guest of Segura Viudas. Wine lists were filled with selections from throughout Spain’s diverse regions paired with menus containing lavish selections of seasonal veggies, fresh seafood and shellfish, lots of pork and locally produced olive oil flavoring everything. (more…)
If you love the feisty, difficult, rebellious, beautiful, seductive, sultry Burgundian grape that has made wine makers weep in both joy and sorrow, pay attention as there are some great opportunities to enjoy a glass of Pinot in the coming weeks.
Earlier this week Andrew Chalk noted the wine dinner next Wednesday night, April 25, at Abacus with owner/winemaker Mac McDonald of Vision Cellars, pairing his wines with produce from Farmer Lee Jones of The Chef’s Garden. I want to add a bit to the notes on this dinner as it really isn’t one to be missed. The first time I tried Mac’s wine was at a similar dinner thrown by Kent Rathbun pairing Mac’s single vineyard Pinot Noir wines from Russian River, Marin County and Santa Lucia Highlands with his Southwest inspired cuisine, and at first sip I knew I had found a friend. Not only are Vision Cellars wines interesting, layered and distinct with character and personality, the passion, joy and humor within Mac McDonald is contagious. I am honored to call Mac and his lovely wife, Lil, friends and know with one taste of his wine shake of his hand you will feel the same way, especially when paired with fresh from the garden produce from The Chef’s Garden. There is nothing about Rosemary Roasted Niman Ranch Pork Loin, Roasted Baby Cauliflower Wilted Root and Tropical Spinach, Mustard Cream paired with Vision Cellars Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Rosella’s Vineyard 2008 that doesn’t sound inviting. The dinner starts at 6:30 at Abacus, reservations required -214-520-0151 (more…)
Viader is a boutique California winery nestled in the foothills of the Howell Mountain Region of Napa Valley. This week they brought their wines to Dallas for a tasting. I was honored to be invited to the dinner and tasting which took place at Bijoux, Scott and Gina Gottlich’s gem of a restaurant in Inwood Village. Predictably, the dining room was packed, reflecting the local following for both Viader and Bijoux. Guest of honor was Janet Viader, Director of Sales and Marketing for Viader and daughter of founder Delia Viader.
Let’s taste. (more…)
There are several noteworthy wine tastings happening in the next couple of weeks. Get your calendars and get tasting.
April 20th Pappas Bros: “An Evening With The Super Tuscans”. Details here, but it’s basically a walk-around tasting of 15 of the wines that changed the way the world regards Italian red wines.
April 21th Bistro Watel’s: 4:30pm. Taste 8 Cabernets retailing from $50 to $150 for only $20 per person.
Limited space, reservations required by reply email, or at 214 720 0323.
April 24th Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek: 7:15pm. Wine dinner featuring wines from California’s Continuum Estate and Hirsch Vineyards. Mingle with Carissa Mondavi and Jasmine Hirsch and enjoy a reception and four-course menu created by Executive Chef Bruno Davaillon. 214.443.4747
April 25th Abacus: Vision Cellars Wine Dinner. 6:30pm. Please call Abbey Close at 214-559-3111.
April 28th, 7pm at Café on the Green at The Four Seasons Resort and Club in Irving has a wine dinner with Côte Bonneville wines and winemaker Kerry Shiels (972) 717-0700. The take: check out this rising star winery from Washington State. It is going to get a lot more national coverage in the next few years. New chef at the Café is worth checking out too.
May 1st Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse: “US Release of Penfold’s 2007 “Grange”. Details here, but it’s basically a national release party for one of the top ten wines in the world at 59 Ruth’s Chris steak houses across the country. The Dallas location hosts the dinner in north Texas.
As I continued on with the Cava assemblage experience, as an invited guest of Segura Viudas in the Penedes region of Spain, my traveling companions and I were introduced to Winemaker Gabriel Suberviola, who is hands on throughout this whole Cava making process for Segura Viudas. We spent day two with Gabriel, introducing himself to each of us, his students, with a warm handshake and glint of excitement in his generous eyes. Eyes that exuded wisdom….the kind of wisdom that only comes through dedication and experience. For Gabriel, this encompasses decades of experience, three of them with the Freixenet group, owner of Segura Viudas.
The raging trend of underground dinners, secret supper clubs, and pop-up restaurants continue. The most recent chef up, I should say under, is John Tesar. While he waits to finalize details on Spoon, the restaurant he plans for Preston Center, he’s keeping in culinary shape by hosting a series of underground dinners. Last Saturday night, Tesar popped up at The Milestone Culinary Center where a sell-out crowd of around 55 people got up close and personal with JT. The menu was classic Tesar with a few novelty acts thrown in. The wine was classic Scott Barber.
Below, every picture tells the story. (more…)
No matter what your holiday weekend brings, whether it be a casual back yard cookout or more formal Easter Sunday brunch, these wines will be sure to please the palate. From light and lively to rich and hearty, consider pouring one of these at your Easter table. Some selections were sent for editorial consideration.
Yarden wines from Galilee are the perfect wines for Easter, coming from the northern most part of Israel, what is considered the best area in the country for growing grapes. Grapes flourish in rich volcanic soil in vineyards with elevations ranging from 1300 to 3900 feet. The 2011 Yarden Mount Hermon white blends Sauvignon Blanc with Chardonnay, creating a aromatic wine filled with citrus, white flowers and stone fruit with good minerality and herbal notes. A delicious wine paired with grilled white fish, steamed shellfish and roast chicken. (more…)
One of the titans of California, and later, Oregon, winemaking is Tony Soter. After successes consulting to Araujo, Niebaum-Coppola, Shafer, Spottswoode, Viader and Dalle Valle he scaled back to focus on his Californian venture, Etude and, more recently, his Oregon property Soter Vineyards. Last week his winemaker at the Oregon property, James Cahill, worked the crowd at Bailey’s Prime Plus in the latest in a series of impressive wine dinners that the restaurant has hosted.
I was an invited guest and had the opportunity to talk to Cahill directly about some puzzling questions that surround Oregon wine. For example: In Europe, the most successful Chardonnay is found growing in the same region as the most successful Pinot Noir (the French region of Burgundy). Yet in Oregon, world-class Pinot Noir has been accompanied by generally average to forgettable Chardonnay. Cahill agrees with this widely leveled view. He attributes the situation to early plantings of the wrong clone of Chardonnay grape. He explained that early growers took a lot of their cues from California Chardonnay growers (who, after all, were a model of success). That included the Wente clone of the Chardonnay grape. It did poorly in Oregon’s cooler climate. Later plantings using Dijon clones, he noted, had started to produce impressive Chardonnays. (more…)
Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery has produced fine wine in northern California for a quarter of a century. This week Dallas wine lovers had the chance to sample some of the winery’s offerings at a four-course meal at Marquee Grill and Bar in Highland Park Village at which I was an invited guest.
Winemaker, Aaron Piotter talked about the winery’s history and philosophy, and discussed each wine. Highlights for me among the wines were the 2009 Lazy Creek Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, Mendocino County, California (Lazy Creek is Ferrari-Carano’s Mendocino property). A firmly textured Pinot with dark fruit flavors. Pride of place went to the 2008 Ferrari-Carano Trésor, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California. This wine is a blend of mainly Cabernet Sauvignon fruit that comes from the vineyard adjacent to the famous Silver Oak Alexander Valley wine. It is grippy but approachable now with complex fruit in the mouth feel and a long dark fruit finish. (more…)
Jim Richardson (J.R. as he is known) is a living practitioner of the axiom that to make a small fortune in the wine business one should start with a large one. He and his wife founded Oak Cliff Cellars in 2008 in California’s Napa Valley. J.R. spent a year finding the right wine maker. He eventually picked Bruce Regalia, a winemaker at Madrigal who was trained by Chico State University and Duckhorn Vineyards. They named the winery after their home town because Snooty Duck seemed too ridiculous.
J.R. hosted an Oak Cliff Cellars wine tasting and dinner at The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek last week (one location where his wines are on the list) and invited me as his guest. Bruno Davaillon, Mansion execuchef, prepared a menu to pair with grape varieties as diverse as Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Mourvèdre, and Petite Sirah.
Let’s get this party started.
I used to think that wine and cheese went together because cheese ameliorated some of the deficiencies in wine. It turns out I was wrong. This weekend, two experts in cheese and wine pairing presented a fascinating seminar, “The Perfect Pairing of Wine and Cheese,” to raise funds for the American Institute of Wine and Food. The event took place Saturday afternoon at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek. The cheese guy was Rich Rogers. He and his wife founded Scardello Artisan Cheese in Dallas three and a half years ago. The wine guy was Michael Flynn, wine and beverage director of Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek. He also contributed to the 2011 book A Food Lover’s Guide To Wine. So these guys have a lot of experience to contribute to this subject. And I learned more than I possibly thought I could.
Jump for the pairings. (more…)

Mike Richmond and Eric Swindle (left); Bouchaine Estate Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Bouche d'Or Late Harvest (right)
Mike Richmond, an Oak Cliff native, speaks romantically about wine. He’s the general manager of Bouchaine Vineyards, a winery tucked into the hills of southern Napa Valley near San Francisco. While the sun set over Greenville Avenue on Tuesday evening, Mike was kind enough to share his love for wine at The Grape, where Brian Luscher’s cuisine and Bouchaine Vineyard’s wines sang harmoniously together for the Winemaker Dinner I was invited to.
Jump for some mouth-watering courses. (more…)