Whisky Lovers Live Large

Every summer, the Whisky Lovers gather in our back yard for the culinary high point of the season: the Whisky Lovers Ball. Red meat; red wine; some smoked seafood from the Bullet; cigars; and of course, good whisky. But Friday night, for the first time, and one hopes the first of many such occasions, the Whisky Lovers gathered for a wintertime Ball. Scheduling difficulties had postponed the Wintertime Ball until the first day in April, but even though the calendar suggested springtime, here in Rochester, it still felt like winter.

Where else to convene the wintertime Ball other than the Chophouse? And why confine ourselves to a couple courses, when Janine and the Chophouse staff could whip up seven courses with wine pairings? And so, we sat for five hours, through the aforementioned seven courses, and tasted a selection of wonderful wines to accompany what can only be described as a spectacular dinner. I know I’m going overboard with the superlatives here,but really, there’s no other way to describe the meal we had.

Let me hit the high points for all my readers. The second course was a grilled quail and smoked duck breast salad, accompanied by 2005 Hitching Post – Highliner Pinot Noir. This was the pinot about which the movie Sideways made such a fuss. And, I’m pleased to report, with good reason. We have become fans of Carneros Pinots, but Hitching Post comes from Santa Barbara, an area well south of Napa – in fact, as far as I can tell (and I know almost nothing of California geography) close to LA. But what’s the difference? This pinot was excellent. More earth, more character than most Californians; closer to the taste of a Burgundy.

The best pairing of the evening was a pan seared foie gras, with poached pear, served with an outstanding Gewürztraminer. We’ve always been a fan of Gewurtz, which I find more interesting than most whites, but this wine was unquestionably the best we had ever tasted. Apparently Gewürztraminer translates as sweet and spicy, and this combined more of those two tastes than the usual offering. We found the spicy lingering in the finish of the wine, just like a good lowland scotch; and the sweet came from the particular vintage, when according to Janine, a touch of botrytis had developed, causing the grapes to shrink; the sugar content to grow; and the wine to have a bit more sweetness. It may not sound as though it was appropriate for the foie gras, but in fact, the pairing was spot on. The best of the night. And that’s saying a lot for a table full of red wine lovers.

The entrée course was veal three ways, hash, osso bucco, and chop, accompanied by two vintages of Beaucastel Chateauneuf-de-Pape. 2005 and 2008. The latter was a bit green and tannic, but the 2005 was terrific, big and earthy, a deep rich Rhone, my favorite region on the planet. The Chateauneuf was excellent with the rich flavor of the osso bucco, which in my opinion needs to be added to the Chophouse menu. It’s not a summertime dish, so I may not persuade them to do that until the fall, but I plan to work on it.

We had a dessert course paired with a sweet wine from Chianti, something different for sure. And then we polished off the evening with some scotches from my own collection. Chophouse has good whisky, but I thought this dinner merited something other than the usual offerings. So I Ballechin #2, Bladnoch, Talisker 175, and Van Winkle 20 for Dr. Ron. Janine put out a tray of cheeses, chocolates, candied nuts, and who knows what else. By then, I was on a liquid diet.

Today, it feels like spring, so our thoughts will soon turn to the barbeque pit, the Bullet, and the many opportunities we’ll have all summer to fire up the grill. But for the end of winter, what better way to celebrate than five hours at the Chophouse with fabulous food and wine? It almost enough to make me look forward to next winter’s lousy weather.