Red White and Wine Gala March 10th

This week is all about shameless promotion and a chance to party with the stars! I want you to come to an event with me next Saturday night, March 10th for the 2nd Annual Red White and Wine Gala. This year’s event will be held at Terra Blanca Winery on Red Mountain, just outside Benton City Washington. Consider this my personal invitation!

So, what is the event all about? It is an event that was created two years ago by my friends Chef Jesse and Susanne Ayala at Tuscany Grill in Prosser. They have been working very hard to help the poor and needy in the region, and have taken on the monumental task of feeding many of the poor during holidays, not to mention many regular days of the year.

The Ayalas have built a wonderful annual event to help fund this program. The Red White and Wine Gala is an all out “Red Carpet” event featuring a six course dinner prepared by Chef Jess, and paired with wines from Terra Blanca, Martinez and Martinez, Mercer, Desert Wind, Airfield Estates, Coyote Canyon, and Gamache Winery. There will also be beer by Horse Heaven Hills Brewery.

The menu for the event includes Dungeness Crab and Artichoke Cockail, Baked Brie with Washington Fruit, Antipasto Skewers. And that’s all before you sit down to dinner!

The seated portion of the meal will offer butter lettuce, squash shooters, Swai with Laguistino, and Tenderloins with mushrooms and Gorgonzola. Desert will feature a Dark Chocolate Creme Brule with cherries.

As a very special course there will be three more wines and pairings for people who wish to purchase VIP tickets to the event. These will offer a chance to meet and visit with Keith Pilgrim, the owner and winemaker of Terra Blanca. Keith is a fantastic guy, and if you haven’t had a chance to spend time with him I recommend it.

The cost of this event is fantastically low! Seats are available for $75 each. VIP tickets are $100. For a table of eight, the cost is $525, with VIP eight tops for $700. I know that we are taking an entourage to the event ourselves. I recommend that you bring your buddies too.

Music by the amazing Eddie Manzanares and Cafe Blanco will keep you dancing into the night, and a silent auction with several bottles of wine, including some pretty nice magnums will occur during the event as well.

Oh, and did I mention red carpet? Part of my contribution to this great event this year is that I will be taking pictures of everyone as they enter the event on the red carpet Oscars style! That’s worth the price of admission alone! Just imagine having your picture taken by the amazing Onerichwineguy. Pictures will be available for no additional cost for download from my business website after the event, or you can purchase prints and the proceeds will go to support the event.

Let me ask you this. When was the last time you got really dressed up, went out for a fantastic dinner and dancing, and just had an absolute blast? If it has been a while I really do want to see you at the Red White and Wine Gala! Call Susanne at 509-205-9466 to get your tickets to this great annual event.

See you there!

Winemaker’s Dinners Leave You Feeling Like Royalty

I think I’m finally figuring out how the other half lives, and I think I like it. To say the least I would admit that I feel a little spoiled. To say the most, I feel like a fat king on his Eastern Washington throne.

Last Sunday was the dinner at Wildhorse Resort with Long Shadows and Forgeron wineries. I wrote about this dinner a few weeks ago in this column, and was pleased to see several of you there. Chef Brian and team did an amazing job pairing local foods with the skilled enology and presentations of Gilles Niccault and Marie Eve Gilla. If you are not a member of the Plateau Wine club then I suggest you need to call Jeff at the Plateau and get signed up.

This most recent Sunday was spent with my friends at the Tuscany Grill in Prosser. Jessie and Susanne Ayala opened Tuscany in January and have turned their little 6th street Italian diner into a spectacular eatery.

Jessie, a 5 star executive chef, who has developed restaurants throughout the region over the years, and his beautiful wife Susanne decided last winter that it was time to open a place to call their own. With a lot of hard work and great family support they are doing it fantastically well. One of the things that they are really excelling at is doing winemaker’s dinners.

On Sunday, Jessie and Susanne joined forces with Apex Cellars and Master Sommelier Angelo Tavernaro. The Ayalas provided the amazing food, Denise from Apex provided the wine, and Angelo offered pairings and advice to the fun-loving crowd.

To begin, a well adorned cheese tray was paired with Sparkling Syrah and Brut from Apex. I love a good sparkling Syrah, and this one truly hit the spot. A slight amount of residual sugar brings out the fruit in the wine to balance with the yeast in the bubbles, finishing smooth and dark.

Jessie then offered a delicious smoked salmon canapé with olive tapanade. Ayala’s tapanade still has my mouth watering. The beautiful, slightly fatty salmon dish was paired perfectly with an 2008 Apex Pinot Gris to cleanse the palate. This semi-dry wine offers up flavors of apple, pear, and melon throughout.

The second course was a Gnocchi Puttanesca. Jessie and his assistant chef made beautiful Gnocchi by hand in the kitchen, and coated them liberally with Ayala’s spicy Puttanesca sauce. Tavernaro paired this dish with the 2008 Apex Chardonnay. The Chardonnay uses 30% stainless and 70% mixed oak fermentation program. This leaves the wine citrusy on the mid-palate and butterscotch flavored on the finish.

After a short break with a homemade Limoncello Gelato, Ayala brought out an amazing Pork Osso Bucco. This was paired with the 2006 Apex Merlot, which offers up dark cherry and cocoa flavors.

The dinner was finished in most galiant fashion with a moist chocolate cake topped with genache and a homemade raspberry chipoltle gelato. Denise, the General Manager of Apex offered a very special 1992 Apex Tawny Port for the occasion. This port is truly a must buy while it lasts at $35/bottle from the tasting room.

Isn’t it time that you got to feel like royalty? Well, here’s your chance. The next winemaker’s dinner at Tuscany is next Sunday with Davenlore winery. Call Susanne to get your hands on these very limited tickets. Her number is (509) 786-7600.

Enjoy!