Another event in the Wine Cellar with guest chef Todd Whitney from J. Betski's in Raleigh. (I was a bit disappointed that the wines were not from top producers but that may have kept the cost down a bit--still plenty pricy.)
We were greeted with Tilman Secco a sparkling rose' wine described as half-dry. It is blended from 85% Muller-Thurgau and 15% Pinot Meunier grapes. Quite refreshing.
The amuse bouche was a demitasse-size cup of chilled tomato and juniper soup (sort of like a less spicy gazpacho.) It had some cucumber and juniper berries in the blend.
With a sausage assortment of Knackwurst, Bratwurst and duck sausage we had lingonberries and mustard toppings and were served a clear (almost no color) Spaten Premium beer.
Smoked trout and potato pierogi had a creamy sauce that all seemed to agree paired very nicely with the 2008 Hauck Riesling Spatlese, Rheinhessen. The dish was rather salty but the slight sweetness of the wine helped. (I thought it could have done with less salt.)
Pork Jaeger Schnitzel was served wtih 2007 GWF Domina Qualitatswein, Franken, Germany poured from the Bocksbeutel (squatty green bottle) http://www.hofgut-hoerstein.de/assets/i ... eiss02.jpg
that I have rarely seen since leave Wurzburg, Germany way back when.
The Domina grape is a cross between Portugieser and Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir).
A palate refresher of Grand Marnier sorbet with one fresh raspberry and orange zest followed. Very nice.
Another meat course followed but I went easy on it since I wanted some room for dessert. It was a Beef Rouladen with Spatzle (little egg noodles). The wine was a 2007 Oberbergen Pinot Noir (Spatburgunder) from Baden, Germany. Servers also brought a dark beer, the Beck's Dunkel Bier. Some thought this paired better with the Rouladen than did the red wine but I disagreed. The wine had berry flavors with some spice notes and some depth and I prefered it to the Domina wine.
Dessert was white peach strudel with a small glass of 2008 Peter Mertes Nachtgold Eiswein, Rheinhessen. I looked up the wine later and found that it is blended from Sylvaner, Scheurebe and a couple other grapes, not Riesling (but I'm not sure the note was for the 2008 vintage and the composition may vary.) I'm also not sure it is made in the traditional German way where grapes are picked when frozen because the cost ($21 or $22 for 500 ml. bottle) doesn't sound right for traditional Eiswein and it would be tricky to have all the different varieties of grapes ripen at the same time and then freeze at the same time. However, I enjoyed the wine with the strudel. I first detected pineapple flavor, a gentleman said grapefruit and I could agree with that, also some peach, sugar and maybe honeysuckle. Others found it quite sweet but I though it was balanced with sugar and tangy pineapple or grapefruit. Another nice evening at the Wine Cellar, Angus Barn, which is celebrating 50 years in business this year.
