This was the second time this year that I have been the guest chef at the Carlton Winemakers Studio in Carlton, OR the winery I was paired this time was Bryce Vineyard. Bryce Vineyard is a small vineyard located in the Ribbon Ridge AVA, in the town of Newberg in the Oregon Willamette Valley wine region. Marcia Bagnall makes a wonderful Pinot Noir, she focuses all her attention on one grape and makes just one wine per year making her wine a very special, limited wine to be able to enjoy.
Marcia’s 2006 Pinot Noir, which is what we had for the dinner, has a wonderful flavor profile that includes notes of cherries and chocolate. Wonderful. Delicious. Tasty wine. Marcia has just 4 acres of grapes planted and chooses to err on the side of producing less than the Oregon average/acre to preserve quality. She lovingly takes the wines from the field to the pressing room at Carlton Winemakers Studio and ends up with a great Pinot, one that sells out very quickly due to the short supply that she makes each year. I was very lucky to get to work with Marcia and her 2006 Pinot!
Because she only produces one wine we ended up using it to pair the main course and the dessert – a tricky feat – pairing with savory and quickly followed by sweet. For the first course we chose to use the Viognier from fellow winemaker, Patrick Reuter of Dominio IV. He just released this wine in the end of April and what a wonderful wine!
Before I could write the menu for this dinner I had to go and taste Marcia’s and Patrick’s wines since they had both just recently been release and I had not gotten a chance prior. In order to do that I had to make a trip up the Carlton for their annual Memorial Day tasting. The event brought all the winemakers at the Studio, all together there were 48 different wines to taste…not a bad day on the job at Heidi Tunnell Catering Company! And, one great benefit to being a chef at the Studio – we all got into the event for free (entry fee was $20-30/person).
We got the chance to meet all the winemakers and taste *almost* all the wines… think we came pretty close to trying all 48! I got the chance to talk to some of the winemakers about coming down and being the showcased winery at our Barn Dinners (more on these in another post). It was a very cool experience, getting a chance to really connect with each winemaker there at the event. Just some of the winemakers interested in making the trip down and be showcased at the dinners include: J.Daan, Boedecker, Dominio IV. So exciting!
Back to the menu. So after tasting Marcia’s Pinot and Patrick’s Viognier this is the menu I came up with:
FIRST COURSE
Grilled Asparagus
Paprika Oil, Fleur de Sel, Pecorino
MAIN COURSE
Tuscan Chicken al Mattone
Potatoes, Greens, Grilled Lemon, Olive Persilliade
DESSERT
Goat Cheesecake
Strawberries, Hazelnuts
The menu went over really well. The dinner was oversold! And, everyone seemed to appreciate pairing the Pinot with the main course and then the dessert.
A little detail about the menu:
- Chicken was marinated with paprika, garlic, rosemary, thyme, red wine vinegar. Then, cooked under a brick on the grill at the Studio for a crispy, delicious skin.
- Potatoes were roasted with Red Pepper Flakes, Paprika, Fennel Seed, Thyme, Garlic and sauteed at the event with lemon juice and parsley.
- Cheesecake was made with hazelnuts in the crust, fresh strawberries picked just the day before and first of the season!
