TEXXXAAAASS Wine Dinner at Mayfair & Pine

Everything is Bigger in Texas, but their wines are actually pretty subtle..

Charlie Adler, TasteDC and Andrew Stover, Vino 50 Selections

Andrew Stover of Vino 50 Selections presented some really great wines from his Texas portfolio at the TasteDC 6-Course Texas Wine Dinner at Mayfair & Pine on Saturday, March 2nd, 2013. Andrew is a well-known Sommelier and wine broker in the Washington, D.C. area who has a passion for American wines. My first question to Andrew prior to the event is how could Texas make great wines when the grapes have to suffer through such high heat and desert conditions. His reply was that hot dry weather is actually perfect for grapes – in fact, the dryness also prevents pests and allows the winemaker to actually make more natural/organic style wines. As far as we know, this was the first Texas wine dinner in the history of Washington, D.C. and thus an introduction of McPherson wines and Duchman Family wines to the dining public.

<Note: We have an Upcoming Anchor Beer Dinner on March 27th, 2013 at Mayfair and Pine>

Andrew Stover – Yee Haaahh!

The Dinner was my second at Mayfair and Pine, the first being the Champagne Dinner I attended in December at the restaurant. Chef Emily Sprissler is a Top Chef alum from Season 2 and she knows how to handle the heat! This event was held on a Saturday night which had the restaurant bustling both upstairs and downstairs – a real challenge for the chef.

Here’s the menu, the dishes and some comments about the dishes and wine pairings – Enjoy!

Welcome Amusee Bouche – Pork & Beans!

1st Course

Herbed Johnny Cakes with Citrus Butter & Micro Green Salad

McPherson ‘Tre Colore’ Mourvedre/Carignan/Viognier Blend

Anything wrapped in bacon is great, and these little oysters were nicely nestled in this crunchy chewy porky goodness. This wine was a classic Rhone varietal blend and the slight earthiness of the Mourvedre and Carignan is nicely balanced by the fruit and acidyt of the Viognier – this just goes to show you that America can produce French style wines that are just as good if not better than the originals – American wine ingenuity!

Halloumi Cheese & Radicchio Enchiladas

4th Course 

Halloumi Cheese & Radicchio Enchiladas

Duchman Family Sangiovese

Sangiovese is the grape of Chianti and so many spaghetti Italian dinners and it was a pleasant match in this wineries rendition. The slight spicyness of the sauce (almost like an Italian marinara) was tastefully offset by the roundness of the wine and created a nice marriage. Another fallacy is that traditional Mexican foods don’t go with wine (Cerveza!), but this again proved that wine is a great bedfellow with Mexican and authentic American cuisine.

Wild Boar Swedish Meatballs

5th Course

Wild Boar Swedish Meatballs

McPherson ‘La Herencia’ Tempranillo

These were some spicy meatballs! The Tempranillo grape is grown in the dry hot regions of Spain, so this wine really shined..Probably my favorite wine of the night..well, except someone brought a 1o year old McPherson Syrah that was really Super!

Bacon Chocolate Pretzel S’mores

6th Course

Bacon Chocolate Pretzel S’mores

Coffee & Tea

It was overall a very nice meal and Texas wines will now be one of my Go-To staples – I’ve learned (over and over again!) that you should never assume with wine – just because you think a State is too hot, or cool, or whatever to produce wine, well then they’ll start producing wine, and you’ll be surprised. According to Andrew, Texas is the 6th largest producer of wine in the U.S. What other states are producing wine in the 7th to 50th positions? Who knows!?

Charlie “I Drink on the Job” Adler