Our November Wine Dinner Getaway is coming up, and this time I was invited to be a part of the "choosing of the wines!" What fun. I was so excited, looking forward to it all. The experience did not disappoint.
Rick Lewis, from the Madison Wine Shop chooses the wines for our Wine Dinner Getaways. I like it that way. The way I see it, I'm the novice who enjoys wine, and he's the man with all the experience and knowledge and passion about wines, so I should sit back, watch and listen.
When it came time to make the plans for our upcoming November 5th Wine Dinner Getaway Rick surprised me with an interesting twist. "What would you think if we featured all French Wines?" My response was something to the effect of "Great! If that's what you'd like to do, I'm all for it. What wines are you going to introduce us to this time?"
Rick has invited Alain Blanchon, an importer of fine French wines, to join us for the wine dinner. He and Rick will together introduce the wines, course by course. A few weeks ago I was invited to meet M. Blanchon at the Madison Wine Shop. Alain Blanchon brought a selection of wines from which I expected that Rick would choose the six that we would serve.
What actually happened was this: Rick, Pat and Mike, from the Madison Wine Shop, another wine rep who happened to be in the shop at the time, and I gathered around the shop's tasting area for a private tasting. Alain Blanchon set out an array of many wines ... I lost count. How will we choose from all of these, I wondered. There are so many!
Alain and Rick guided us all through the process. Alain grouped the wines, mostly in threes. We would taste each group, and a selection would be made from the group. Course by course we tasted, commented, and selected. They even asked me what I liked and didn't like. (Wow! You're asking me? Thank you for the opportunity to be here and to learn from you. I did not feel worthy to offer an opinion. Yet I was encouraged to comment every time.)
For the first time, I have now had a tasting preview of the chosen wines for our wine dinner, and I can tell you, one and all, that those who will be here are in for an amazing treat. Among one group of wines two were equally as appealing. We didn't want to give up either one. Rick then decided to leave the choice to the wine dinner participants. "We will offer a side-by-side comparison tasting for that course," he said.
One of the wines that Rick and Alain chose right at the beginning was a total surprise to me with regards to where it was going to be served in the sequence of courses of the wine dinner. - Another lesson for me to learn. - I can't wait to taste it paired with the food.
The last surprise of the wines that will be served is one that we did not taste because of its scarcity. It is a wine that Rick is featuring from his "opportunity of a lifetime, unloading the loft" series. There are only 6 bottles, and one will be opened for tasting at the wine dinner. That leaves only 5, and no others available of that vintage. Alain and Rick were so excited about it, that the ancipation has me thinking about it often ... and smiling ...
As we tasted and selected, course by course, I asked Alain and Rick for their guidance for food choices. Based on their suggestions a menu was planned and I set out to arrange for some fine French cuisine to compliment these specially selected wines. Are you curious? ... sorry, but no more previews. You'll have to either come to the wine dinner yourself or wait for a future blog entry when I post the wines and the food pairings for you to enjoy vicariously. As for me, I'm looking forward to November 5th.
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