The Knights of the Vine (KOV) Lake Tahoe hosted an innovative food and wine pairing event at the home of Commander Ernest Grossman in Truckee, California, on the snowy evening of May 4, 2024. Billy McCullough, former owner/chef of the Dragonfly Restaurant, crafted the menu, presenting creative cuisine with an Asian flair, and I had the honor of pairing the food with delicious wines for the evening.

Ernie, in his thoughtful and generous manner, gifted a couple of bottles of the 2003 Lafon-Rochet Bordeaux from his personal cellar for a mini-educational event. The 20 year old wine was kept at 60 degrees to help lift the acid and show the brightness of the fruit. Gratefully, we found the corks to be pliable with no evidence of leakage, so we carefully decanted to remove any sediment. Then, the deeply colored wine was poured into glasses to rest for several minutes and to allow any reductive aromas to blow off. It was indeed an old beauty in the glass. Deep ruby/purple core fading to a more garnet hue at the edges, an initial whiff of raisin faded to ripe black plum, blackberries, licorice, acid was medium plus and alcohol was still well integrated in the wine. The finish was surprisingly long. It was a delight and a great educational experience to show patience when opening old beauties!

Moving to the appetizer course, the Pommery Royal Champagne NV was amazing with the poke spoons and dumplings. The Champagne showed lemon chiffon and creme brulee aromas, very fresh lemony fruit, and the lightness of the sparkling wine on the palate was a perfect pairing for these amazing nibbles.

Next came the Cod…

A beautiful, creative presentation of perfectly prepared, almost blackened, cod smoked on cherry wood and presented with grilled vegetables and strawberry salsa. I paired this with a Chateauneuf du Pape drawing toward the smoked cherry wood and strawberry salsa, and of course, with consideration as to where it stood in the line-up of dishes for the evening. The Grenache element in this wine definitely sang to the smoked and fresh strawberry elements, and the Cod itself was meaty so the weight and texture also worked beautifully.

Tea smoke Quail came next, surrounded by Quail eggs, with mushroom stuffing completing the Quail, all on a bed of polenta. The Premier Cru Burgundy from Domaine Albert Morat absolutely sang with this dish, drawing to a pepper element in both the food and wine. This proved to be ‘off the charts’ amazing and I believe it was the favorite pairing of the evening.

To play to an educational moment, we had both the Chateauneuf and the Burgundy poured at the same time so that guests could try each wine with each of these two courses. It was fun to find that everyone liked the pairings presented, but appreciated the opportunity to try it themselves. We also talked about the depth of color of the Chateauneuf vs. the Burgundy, pointing out that often people think the darker the color the more aromatic the wine. However, while the Chateauneuf du Pape was ruby/purple and more intensely colored, that was due to the thick skinned grape varieties like the Syrah which is part of the blend. The Burgundy, on the other hand, while it was ruby/garnet but had less depth of color (typical of thin skinned varietals), was intensely aromatic, as much so as the Chateauneuf.

I generally skip dessert, but not tonight. This was an amazing combination of texture and flavors as well as candy for the eyes. All seamlessly paired with the delicious vintage port from Graham’s and most of us went back for more. While quite the hearty dessert, Chef Billy spoiled us all by bringing plates of additional ‘cookies’ to each table for our enjoyment, not to mention second pours of the lovely port wine.

It was a fantastic dinner as well as an educational opportunity, tainted only by a rouge spring snowstorm that kept many of our friends home due to road closures. While we we missed them dearly, this will be a dinner to remember as well as ‘snowageddon’ which came out to play when not invited.

If you love wine and food and want to surround yourselves with like thinking people, I encourage you to check out the Knights of the Vine (KOV) at: http://www.kov.org

There are many chapters around the country and more organizations to check out through the F.I.C.B. organization at: https://winebrotherhoods.org/en/

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