And they are off...
Preakness Dinner and Wine Pairing
For hors d’oeuvres we had Tomatoes Fried Maryland Style, Bacon Roll ups, Shrimp, and Hipiti Dip. The Tomatoes were excellent. The Hpiti Dip was awesome but is really on our “Easter Menu”. We had had a hectic week and never got to test the Maryland Stuffed Ham and at the last minute substituted the bacon rollups which are both easy and always a crowd pleaser. Also we were slated to have Bay Shrimp with Bay Seasoning but after a pre-tasting we decided to scrap that recipe and go to a tried and true shrimp recipe that we had served over Polenta – I think for Oscar Night which was far tastier. So next year back to the drawing board for more Maryland recipes.
For First Course we had Maryland Crab Balls served with a Orange horseradish sauce. This was paired with a White Grand Cru Bordeaux - Chateau Carbonnieux a Graves from Pessac Leognan 2004 which has a good color, one-third new oak, fresh, evocative, a touch of honey to the wood. Firm, pithy, structured palate, with an attractive style. Grippy and full. Appealing. This is another good example of the success of the white Graves in this vintage. 70% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Semillon.
Our next course was a Strawberry and Brie and Toasted Almond Salad with Poppyseed Dressing – we were to have Maryland Beaten Biscuits but due to lack of prep time stuck with regular biscuits. was paired with a California Sauvignon Blanc Quivira (pronounced "Key-VEER-ah!") a Sauvignon Blanc 2007 from The Fig Tree Vineyard. Quivira vineyards was founded in 1981 by Holly and Henry Wendt who are from the Philadelphia area and whose daughter Laurie was a class behind me at Agnes Irwin. This vineyard which is located in the heart of Sonoma's Dry Creek area. Wine Enthusiast (WE) rated this wine 92 points and said “it has an affusive nose of lime blossom and pink grapefruit."
Dinner was Maryland Fried Chicken, Fried Polenta aka Fried Mush and Sweet and Spicy Squash. This was paired with the California Martinelli Zio Tony Ranch Pinot Noir 2001 rated 90 – 92 points by Robert Parker and 91 points Stephen Tanzer Wine Spectator. According to Parker, "Another impressive effort is the dark ruby-hued 2001 Pinot Noir Zio Tony Ranch. Sweet cherry, raspberry, and spice box as well as a mineral component are present in this dark ruby-colored wine. Full-bodied and nicely layered with good purity, depth, and equilibrium."
Once again I made a phone call to our local wine guru Rob Peters to put his stamp of approval on our wine choices. If you are having a big event or an important dinner – Rob is the go to guy for purchasing your wine. You can find him at the Ardmore store 610-645-5010.
Dessert was Homemade Blackberry Cobbler served with our traditional homemade lemoncello. Next time we are going to try Baltimore Peach cake and Smith Island cake.