LWS Christmas Dinner

Tonight is our annual Wine Society Christmas Dinner at Flint Hill's Century Kitchen, starting at 6:00 pm with a tasting of Flint Hill Vineyards wines, followed by dinner. We will taste the 2007 Chardonnay, 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 Chambourcin, 2006 Syrah, 2006 Synergy, and 2006 Crushed Velvet.

Chef Sean Wehr has planned the following menu:

Fresh Salad Greens with Dijon Sage Vinaigrette dressing

Roasted Striploin of Beef with Cabernet Demi Glace - Served with Flint Hill Vineyards 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon

Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes

Haricots Verts

Chocolate Mousse

[Jenise]

Nice menu! Most of us have never had a North Carolina wine, I hope you'll report on the event tomorrow.

Mmm. I'm wondering what grape(s) the Crushed Velvet is made with. Let us know, okay?

Here is the report on the wines and food. I don't do tasting notes, but here are my impressions. The chardonnay was all stainless, very light and a little fruity. My husband found it to be mineraly as well. The cabernet sauvignon was pleasant enough, somewhat light in body and bearing a little of that tell tale NC taste. This may be better with some age on it. We kept a bottle of the '05 for about 15-18 months and it was much better than at the tasting. The syrah was OK. I don't like chambourcin so I only took a sip. The synergy is a new one and I think they said it's a blend of vioginer and either syrah or chambourcin (don't remember which). The crushed velvet was a sweet wine made from chambourcin. It's not as sweet as a desert wine and not as sickly sweet as some Eastern NC wines.

The food was very good. The salad was fresh mixed greens, cucumber & tomato slices with a Dijon Sage Vinaigrette dressing. The dressing was nice but a bit strong if you got a lot in one bite. The beef was tasty if a tad more rare than I would choose (and I don't like over done steak). The Cabernet Demi Glace was great with the meat & potatoes, but tasted alone it was a little salty. The rest was mashed potatoes and green beans. Dessert was chocolate mousse served in wine glasses with a rosette of whipped cream and crushed ginger cookies. With this they brought out fresh sliced strawberries. It was a lovely dinner.