Hey there Red Newt fans! Red Newt recently teamed up with Taverna Banfi to create an evening of innovative cuisine and perfectly paired wines. It was my great fortune to be invited to the Red Newt table to enjoy said evening.
I must say I’m a bit of a “nerd” when it comes to wine and food. There are few things that I enjoy more than having a dinner and discussing how the food and wine works together. Also, the only way to be proficient at creating your own food and wine pairing is to… practice, practice, practice. Yup, you must suffer through the process of trying foods with wine. Aha, what more could you want from life?!
Enter the first course… A delicious salad with sauteed pears, hazelnuts, and chevre with the RNC 2009 Dry Riesling. As a team, we made short work of the course. It was subtly elegant and expressive of our local bounty. Unfortunately I didn’t pause long enough before digging in to take a picture, but it was a beautiful presentation.
The second course consisted of the butternut squash ravioli was paired with the 2007 Sawmill Creek Vineyard Gewurztraminer (WS rated 90!). I personally wasn’t sure about this food and wine pairing, but upon tasting it…I was a believer! The ravioli seemed a little understated at first, but when the Gewurztraminer came into the picture it was perfect. The wine didn’t outshine the food and vice versa. This course I went through a little bit slower having taken the edge off my hunger and really savored the delicacy of the ravioli.
Stage right, the third course of Venison stuffed with pecans, currants, sausage, and apples with some winter root vegetables is paired with the 2007 Sawmill Creek Vineyards Cabernet Franc, a staff favorite of Red Newters. This was by far my favorite course. For those of you who haven’t had venison, I suggest taking a page from Banfi’s book and preparing it the same way. I opted for a little bit more wine to go with this course. One glass of Cabernet Franc is NEVER enough! This wine has it all, forward fruit with some nice spice and perfectly structured tannins. I was now ready for the encore of dessert.
The grand finale of maple-gingerbread layer cake with vanilla ice-cream and paired with a warm spiced cider cocktail. Although I was full, I put on a game face and finished the dessert (can’t let good food go to waste) and cider. Now fully satiated, we sat and chatted for a bit longer and then donned our winter gear and headed down to the cars.
Not only is it a nice evening because of the meal, but its also a great opportunity to reconnect with my fellow workers. Red Newt is family owned, but the staff is really one large extended family, and its always nice to sit down with the family for dinner.
Phew, and that’s my review of the Banfi dinner. When the opportunity comes along in the spring, I hope to see some of you readers there to enjoy the dinner along with us Newters.