Wine and Chile Throwdown at Coyote Cafe

Sep 22, 2011 4 Replies

Just went to a throwdown at the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta. 4 chefs, 2 master somelliers and 2 wines with each course. First course Corn and duck salad with herbs. Wines 2010 Terrebrune Bandol Rose and



2009 Nigl Grüner Veltliner. Winner Terrebrune though I preferred the Grüner. Second Salmon pinwheel with creamy cucumber, herb salad and blood orange beurre blanc. Wines Cristom 2007 Reserve Pinot and 2008 Argos Katerina Santorini. Winner was Cristom though I preferred the Argos an Assyrtiko. Never had this one before but bone dry and minerally. 3rd course was short ribs and foie gras though it was more of a short rib foie gras wellington. Wines 2009 Domaine Sang des Cailloux Vacqueyras and 2007 Produttori del Barbaresco. Winner was the Vacqueyras and I agreed on this one for the pairing. Final dish Merlot poached Seckel pear with raspberry mousse, Chimayo caramel sauce and almond tuille. Wines 2010 Terra da Vino Moscato d'Asti and 20009 Jaboulet Muscat de Beaumes de Venise. Winner easily was Moscato d'Asti. All and all a great tasting and fun lunch.

That sounds like great fun, Larry, and a nice collection of foods and wines to try. We get the catalog for the Fiesta every year and your event was the one that stood out in this year's catalog. I'm glad to hear that it went as well as it did.

Cheers! Mark Lipton

Lot of fun and always good to talk to master sommeliers.

Larry...when you say "winners" are you referring to the best match for the pairing or the wine itself? Just curious how the 2009 Baumes de Venise was showing?

The winners were decided by audience vote with 100 in attendance and the vote was for best pairing. The Baumes de Venise was a bit too acidic for the dessert but was still an excellent wine by itself. The Terra da Vino was seductive and near perfect example of Moscato d'Asti for me.

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