In between snowstorms, we received an invitation from Capital Grille’s sommelier, Todd, to attend a wine dinner featuring the Huneeus Vintners family of wines at the Capital Grille, to include Illumination, Faust, Flowers, and Quintessa. The host of the dinner was Charles Thomas, Quintessa’s Director of Vineyards and Winemaking. What a lovely evening, and what great pairings the Capital Grille chef made with the wines!

To start, Charles introduced us all to the Illumination Sauvignon Blanc 2012 from Napa. Yes, Napa apparently has some very good spots to grow sauvignon blanc in cool areas such as hillsides very close to the San Francisco Bay. The chef paired the wine with a chilled Maine lobster that was served with mango, avocado and fennel and a citrus vinaigrette over a really interesting beet puree. The wine was grassy yet had a hint of sweet floral notes. It was not too acidic, full bodied, and it went absolutely great with the pureed beets! The sweet, grassy notes were lovely, and the wine had a light, flowery finish. It was a great way to begin the evening. It is interesting to note that it is apparently a bit difficult to get this wine in parts of Maryland, so we almost did not have an opportunity to taste this wine. We were very glad that all the logistics were worked out!

The next wine was Flowers Vineyard Pinot Noir 2011 from the Sonoma Coast. Charles described the vineyard as being quite high along the coast where the Russian River empties into the Pacific, and one can see the ocean from the vineyards (can you imagine working in such a lovely place?). The chef paired the wine with a planked salmon and a pinot noir berry sauce served with sautéed mushrooms, spinach, and shallots. This was a great pairing. One doesn’t usually see salmon paired with a pinot noir; however the sauce along with the dusty leather and fruity taste of the wine was perfect. The scent was mossy with a hint of pepper and then the lovely red fruit. The taste also was fruit forward, along with a very nice complexity. Did I mention that this was a great way to spend an evening after a hard day at work? (A little more on that later…)

The next wine was another from Flowers Vineyard, this time the Perennial 2011 also from the Sonoma Coast. This wine is more medium bodied than the first Flowers wine, as it is a combination of the pinot noir, syrah, pinot meunier, dolcetto, and 1% chardonnay. The scent was pepper, moss, and red fruit. The medium body along with the black pepper, and mossy red fruit stood quite well with the petite filet and mascarpone risotto with which it was paired. Together the combination was absolutely wonderful.

The next wines were the higher-end wines of the evening and definitely quite wonderful. Charles served us the Faust Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 from Napa (which runs about $50 per bottle). This is a very nice wine, definitely the full-bodied cabernet with dark fruit, lovely tannins, and quite complex. Over time, the tannins amplified quite a bit. The wine went quite well with the chef’s porcini herb-crusted lamb and 12-year old balsamic over the melted leek potato puree. A lovely combination.

Yet we were in for even more of a treat - Charles gave us the opportunity to try both of the Quintessa jewels - the Quintessa Blend from both 2009 and 2010 to compare! He described 2009 as a cool year; yet 2010 turned out to be even cooler than 2009. The scent of the 2009 Blend was “sweet” with black fruit, coffee, and peat. It had an almost sweet taste with a lot of emphasis on the fruit, and well-balanced tannins. In contrast, the 2010 Blend had a scent of dark fruit, leather, and coffee without the “sweetness”. It was very full-bodied, nice black fruit flavors, great tanning, yet a lovely smooth finish. It was interesting that the 2009 seemed to fade a bit as we lingered over our food and the wine, whereas the 2010 stayed quite strong and complex. Both are fabulous wines - they range at around $150 per bottle. We highly recommend either - they are just wonderful wines. Just for fun, Charles took a poll at the dinner to see which vintage everyone preferred - there were lots of strongly-voiced opinions regarding the favorite.

And the absolutely best way to finish the evening was with a flourless chocolate espresso cake with blueberries and blackberries (to get our antioxidants!). And back to why these wine tastings are so enjoyable after long days at work - the people who attend the tastings are all wine lovers, so it is great fun to discuss the wines and debates the merits of each without raising your blood pressure because of philosophical, social, or political differences! And the staff are just wonderful - so helpful and knowledgeable. What everyone brings is a desire to share and experience new flavors and taste what magic the vintner has created, and the dialogues are always focused on the good memories that people have had with other wines and food. It’s a great time for both the tastebuds and for the soul.