Sommelier Showdown -- fun food and wine event

The wine store/catering business in O'Bryonville called Art of Entertaining hosts cooking classes, wine tastings, grill-outs (in good weather) and all sorts of other parties, but for my money the best thing they do is an occasional "Sommelier Showdown" in which three local wine experts compete to see who can devise the most harmonious wine pairings with an array of dishes produced by the Art of Entertaining chef and assistants.

Charles Redmond won the night!

This week was the first such competition this year -- they did a couple last year -- and the owners promised to make it quarterly in 2012. I had attended the final one of 2011 sometime in the fall and had such a grand time, I knew to sign up right away for this one.

Mary Horn (two-time defending Sommelier Showdown champ), Jennifer Stewart and Charles Redmond were the wine experts who delighted a house full of participants on January 24th.

FIRST COURSE, in photo: Fennel and orange salad with poached lobster and tarragon vinaigrette (best wine pairing went to Charles' 2008 Raventos Reserva Cava) --
SECOND COURSE: Pan seared trout with pickled grape, corn puree, daikon and ginger (Charles selected a Kabinett Riesling that was the winner with this course)
THIRD COURSE: Seared duck breast with cherry demi, Brussel sprouts, bacon hash and star anise (Mary's 2009 Catena malbec won this round, but I preferred, and bought a bottle of, Jennifer's Austrian red wine called St. Laurent, a cousin to pinot noir).
FOURTH COURSE: Braised short rib with celery root horseradish puree (Charles took the honors again with his 2009 Domaine de Fontsainte Corbierres).

The champ for the night was Charles Redmond -- who currently delights diners at Orchid's restaurant downtown -- with Jennifer Stewart coming in second and Mary Horn losing her crown, at least for now.

Be sure to contact Art of Entertaining to get on their mailing list if you'd like to know when they do this again. My friends and I thought it was a grand time!

Sommelier Showdown -- we have a winner!

Last night at Art of Entertaining/Uncorked, the wine store and catering company/cooking school, they held the second Sommelier Showdown (I missed the first one).
A team of chefs created a four-course, sit-down meal for dozens of wine lovers, and three sommeliers each picked a wine to pair with each of the courses. Attendees then ranked each course pairing according to how well the specific wines complemented the dishes.
After all the votes were tallied, the race was extremely tight and actually required a tie-breaker to select a winner. (More on that below.)

First, the players:
Master of Ceremonies & very knowledgeable & personable Master Sommelier Matthew Citriglia
Advanced Sommelier (and director of sales for Wine Trends) Mary Horn
Certified Sommelier and co-owner of La Poste restaurant, Bryant Phillips
Certified Sommelier of Orchids at Palm Court Charles Redmond

The courses with their wines: (all French wines for course #1)
COURSE ONE: Mixed greens, granny smith apple, manchego cheese, radish & pomegranate vinaigrette
MH: Domaine Salvard Cheverny Blanc (my fave this course)
BP: Gerard Bertrand Cremant de Limoux Rose
CR: Guenard Chignin vin de Savoie

COURSE TWO: Smoked trout, fingerling potato, chili-lemon reduction served with warm frisee (my favorite dish)
MH: Matchbook Chardonnay, Dunnigan Hills CA
BP: Hermann Moser "Gebling" Riesling - Austria (my fave this course)
CR: Von Schleinitz Trocken Riesling "Apollo" -- Mosel, Germany

COURSE THREE: Scallop with cauliflower puree, curry vinaigrette, golden raisins and pine nuts
MH: Yealands pinot noir, NZ (my fave this course)
BP: Domaine des Aubuisieres "les Girardier" Vouvray demi-sec
CR: Abbazia di Novacella Kerner, Alto Adige, IT

COURSE FOUR: Ginger and pineapple crepes with lemon caramel
MH: Godon Brothers Late Harvest Gewurz, Columbia Valley
BP: Elio Perrone Sourgal Moscato D'Asti, Piedmont, IT (the big winner for the dessert course)
CR: Grand Maison Monbazillac, France

And -- drum roll -- the winner ended up being Mary Horn, who successfully defended her title from the first sommelier showdown last fall. Get on the Art of Entertaining mailing list if you want to be invited to the next one. We enjoyed the heck out of it!

PHOTOS:
Top one shows Mary, Charles, Bryant and Matthew
Middle shot is of the smoked trout course
Bottom is the crepe dessert

Fridays at Art of Entertaining (O'Bryonville)

Most Friday nights, the caterer Art of Entertaining and their wine store, Uncorked, hosts an end-of-week party at their location on Madison Road in O'Bryonville. They pour three white and three red wines and accompany it with a nice array of foods, all well paired with the featured wines. The cost is $22 per person, tax and gratuity included.

Here's a shot from the tasting of Friday 9/11. There's a nice outdoor patio leftover from the days of the restaurant Chateau Pomije in that space--a wonderful place to enjoy the wine and food while the weather holds.

Recommended!