I hope this finds everyone well. I’ve just come back from this year’s annual Winefest, and have lots to tell. First, for anyone who doesn’t already know, I won the Mohegan Sun player’s club Winefest weekend, which included roundtrip limo from my house, two nights at the Mohegan Sun hotel, an invitational dinner, an invitational brunch, and tickets to the Celebrity Chef Dine Around. We left on Friday via limo and checked into a lovely room on the 23rd floor of the hotel overlooking the river. The river was frozen solid at the whopping 20 degrees it was outside, so it was extra nice to be inside for a few days. Friday night’s dinner was a high roller invitational gala, with food all prepared by different celebrity chefs. My personal favorite was Jacques Torres’ caramel whisky fountain with various dip-ables, followed by Todd English’s emilia style onion soup with mozzarella panini, and then Jasper White’s smoked whitefish salad. Yummy! On Saturday we started with the grand tasting, where I was horrified to discover that they had eliminated my much-loved spirit rooms. That’s right, just wine & beer – so disappointing! This threw me a bit off kilter, so I didn’t take notes as well as last year, but for the combined two days of grand tasting my final list was this:
Wines: Rosenblum Desiree Chocolate Dessert Wine – unbelievably, fabulously yummy! Like drinking your dessert. My #1 pick from this year’s Winefest!
Barefoot Bubbly – this series of sparkling wines from California are all quite tasty, but my personal favorite was the White Zin
Cockburn’s 10 Year Old Tawny – a super-smooth port without that overwhelming cherry flavor
Twisted River Last Harvest Riesling – like the ice wine you’ve never had (their regular riesling is more dry but also good)
J Lohr Late Harvest Riesling – so good you’d think it came from Germany instead of California
Goodnight Zinfandel – a nice, easy drink
Aliwen Carmenere – a nice version of this Chilean exclusive wine. Interesting side note is that one of the pourers was Cristian Munoz, who did a motorcycle marketing tour with this wine from Chile all the way to New York back in 2005
Valley of the Moon Pinot Blanc – usually wines with super-cool names are a bit lacking in quality, but this one is nice & crisp. Makes you think of summer, and has a beautiful bottle to boot!
Menage a Trois Red – surprisingly tasty blend of three grape varieties
Beers, etc: Woodchuck Draft Cider – I liked the pear best, but any kind is quite nice
Long Trail Hibernator – excellent beer with an adorable label
Dos Equis Amber – what a surprise to find out I liked this classic Mexican beer!
Twisted Tea Midnight – made with an earl grey base, this is y far the most flavorful of the twisted tea lineup
X Rated Fusion – Yummy! Yummy! Yummy! Fruity goodness with vodka makes a fantastic liqueur
Aliki Foods – the king of frozen pizza. Try their spinach feta or their margherita pizzas
Wicked Good Foods – wonderful dips and jams, including a caramel mustard that I brought home two jars of
Back to Saturday night and the Celebrity Chef Dine Around, which included not only gourmet food prepared right in front of you, but also specifically chosen wine pairings to complement each food item. Probably the best wine I tried of these was the Rubicon 2004, but not worth the $125 a bottle it costs. Anyway, the food and pairings were amazing, and it was great fun to try everything. My personal faves were Christina Pirello (host of Christina Cooks Naturally), Ishan Gurdal (owner of Formaggio Kitchen), and Robert Irvine (host of Dinner: Impossible). Many thanks in particular to Ishan for introducing me to a crystallized honey paired with stilton bleu cheese that rocked my world. 🙂 Sunday’s brunch included such delicacies as lobster & caviar omelettes, black cherry stuffed french toast, and tiramisu cake, and gave us the chance to actually eat with the celebs who had impressed us with their cooking all weekend. Top it all off with a nice limo drive home and you have one pretty excellent weekend!