3 Food and Wine Pairings from last week

[SamSam]

I'v e always enjoyed reading the dining reviews posted here and have found them to be very helpful in planning future trips. IMHO the Wine Pairing dinners are the best deal of the festival. They feature wines which are usually picked by the winery, then a chef prepares several courses to compliment each wine. What a treat they usually are. I'm going to list two that were held at Coral Reef ($35 a person) and one from Le Cellier ($30.00 a person).

Nov. 5, Coral Reef, The wines were from the Guenoc Vineyards and the food was prepared by Chef Joe Klienschmidt.
We started with a Tomato and Melon Gazpacho w/Chiffonade and Basil paired with a Langtry Meritage White '01. Dh and I both gave this a big thumbs up. Delicious combination
Grilled Scallop over Lobster Spaezle with Black Truffle Sauce paired w/Guenoc Genevieve Magooon Chardonnay. What can I say, it was 'to die' for. I've never been a big scallop fan, but this was fantastic.
Next was Blackened Venison - Wild mushroom, sun dried tomato risotto, Currant syrah reduction. This was melt in your mouth delicious. Blackened did not mean too hot to eat, just a wonderful flavoring. This was paired with Guenoc Petite Sirah '00, both Dh and my favorite of the evening.
The finish was Chocolate five spice cake with white chocolate deco cherry ice cream and vanilla sauce paired with a Langtry Meritage Red '99. A perfect finish to a perfect meal.

Nov. 6, Le Cellier. Several of the Hartford Wine representatives were seated next to us, so we had a pleasant time visiting with them. So...it was teh Hartford Wines with Chef Brian Piasecki.
Selection 1 - Seared Scallop w/spicy green and citrus salad w/a mango syrup paired with an '00 Chardonnay.
Selection II - Sterling Salmon w/tomato, anchovy and olive puree over aged goat cheese mashed potato. Paired w/ 'Sonoma Coast' Pinot Noir '00.
Selection III - Beef Short Ribs Confit, dried mushrooms risotto, zinfindel reduction and truffle oil paired w/ 'Russian River' Zinfindel '01 (my favorite of the evening).
Every course missed the mark of being delicious only because I found each dish to be too salty. The pairings were good and the food would have been top rate with a little less salt.

Back to Coral Reef on Nov. 7. This was the Kenwood Vineyards paired with food prepared by Chef Dennis Thompson.
- Butter Poached Maine Lobster - lobster risotto with Mascarpone and English peas. This was melt in your mouth delicious, a fantastic blending of flavors . Paired w/Valley of the Moon Pino Blanc '02, worked well with the lobster but not something I'd care for without the right food.
- Heirloom Tomatoes - Opal basil, balsamic drizzle and asiago paired with Valley of the Moon Sangiovese '99. Delightfully refreshing; both the dish and the wine.
- Seared Atlantic Salmon - French beans, fingerling potatoes, watercress, mustard vinaigrette, olive emulsion. Paired w/Kenwood Pinot Noir '01. Perfect!
-Grilled Pork Tenderloin - creamy polenta, chantarelles, hen of the wood mushrooms and red wine reduction. Paired w/Lake Sonoma Dry Creek Zinfindel '00. Wow! What a blending of delightful flavors .

Typing this out, I am missing WDW soooo much. With the exception of too much salt at Le Cellier, the dished were prepared to perfection. In a way I really hope that the Wine Pairings remain a 'hidden gem', so I will be able to get ressies at the next Wine and Food Fest.
We also ate at many booths around the world, but those have been posted so I won't list them here. If you have any questons, please ask.

 

[ghidorah97]

WOW! Thank you very much for the reviews. All three dinners sound wonderful, even with the "salty" issues at Le Cellier.

I've never had hen of the wood mushrooms before and would have loved to try them.

Brad

 

[jann1033]

those meals sound fabulous and down right cheap!!! are they only held during food and wine, how far ahead can you make ressies and what about food allergies..do you get a choice of dishes or do they tell you up front just in case?
Thanks

 

[BCV23]

Great reviews. Thanks for sharing!

 

[SamSam]

Jann, The past couple of years, mid July had been when ressies are being accepted for the Wine and Food Fest events. You have to watch these boards (or others) so you know the exact date that you can make ressies, then be ready to call at 7am(eastern time) to try and get the events you want to book. The Wine Pairings are only available during the Wine and Food Festival and they truly are a bargain.

 

[SamSam]

Jann, I forgot to let you know that I'm not sure of the food allergy issues. Perhaps if you mention any problems when you book, they would work with you on it. I know that at Marrakesh (I didn't review this one), the chef asked if anyone was a vegetarian. Disney generally is willing to work with food allergies, etc.; I'm just not sure how they handle it for the special dinners. Does anyone else know?

 

[betterlatethannever]

I was at the Coral Reef on Nov 7 also (just got back last night ) and couldn't agree more with SamSam on the whole experience.

The food really did bring out the best in the wine IMO. Similar to SamSam's post, one wine in particular I really didn't care for by itself, but when it was paired with the food it was great.

I asked the hostess "Who had overall say (winery or chef) on what was served?". She said that the winery sends a bottle of each of the wines and the chef has overall control (responsibility) to match the food with the wine however he/she sees fit, even using the wine in the recipe.

We sat with another couple and while talking about the F&W festival realized that both of us took off from work that Thursday in August to make sure we called at 7 (she had to call at 6). She didn't say she read these boards. Imagine, there really are people out there who know about Disney who aren't Dis'ers

SamSam - did Chef Thompson come out to the seminar? I don't remeber him being introduced. He really does deserve a round of applause.


Ed

 

[jann1033]

Thanks I will mark this somewhere for next year!

 

[SamSam]

Ed, no the Chef did not come out that night. The other Wine Pairings we attended the Chef came out and discussed each dish which we found very interesting and added a little special touch to the evening. He did a great job and it would have been nice to let him know. It was still a wonderful dining experience and we will certainly book all we're able to next year.