Montaluce Wine and Food Conclave

So, when I was one of many folks invited to the wine and food conclave at Montaluce Vineyards, I was wondering just what we’d be there to do. I don’t know about you, but the word conclave creates visions of sealed rooms filled with elderly men of one race gathered to discuss how to further their iron fisted rule of the world. I am, much to my disappointment, not one of those men, even though I think I’d make a good one.

Well, the original intention, or so I believe and thus write, was to gather food and wine bloggers for a day of food, wine and discussion of relevant topics. To quote Robert Burns, “the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley“, which means things rarely go according to plan. Due to inclement weather, we arrived about an hour late. Our day began in the winery, with vineyard manager Oliver Asberger going through some of the details of how the fruit becomes wine. The short version is: fruit comes in from vineyard, gets sorted, goes into de-stemmer, down sorting table, into crusher and then if you are white wine, into the press, if you are red, into the open top fermenter. If you want to learn more, contact the winery. You are also welcome to come and observe or even help out during harvest and crush, again, just contact the winery direct.

We proceeded deeper into the bowels of the winery, down to the cellar area where the fermenters, storage tanks and barrels are kept. There we witnessed Oliver demonstrating how to crawl into the fermenter, as is required when it comes time to clean out the leftover must (skins and other plant material). I don’t know how many shots of Oliver in this compromised position were taken, but he was a good sport about it. In addition to explaining more about the wine making process, we were able to sample some wines still in tank, a Seyval blanc that was about 2 1/2 to 3 months away from bottling and a Viognier that was, I’m assuming a little further along. Umm…well…yeah…unfinished wine is obviously suited for those who make wine and understand the progression of the product. For me, they were interesting. It was especially difficult to understand the Seyval blanc because I’ve never had a finished one. The Viognier showed some signs of where you expect the product to go, with the additional tidbit that the 2009 release would be drier than the 2008.

Our final destination, where we would spend the next seven plus hours, was a beautiful private dining room on the top floor of the building. It gave us a great view over part of the vineyards and we were seated along a massive row of tables that had been assembled for us. I’m glad I didn’t have to move those suckers, as they were solid and heavy. I think the wood was 3 or 4 inches thick and crafted to last forever. Oliver continued to answer questions and an interesting point about vineyard managers and wine makers came up, which will be the topic of a future post. Introductions were started and it was nice to see both familiar faces and to connect faces with those more bashful Twitter folks who aren’t so clear in their avatars. Then came, lunch. No ordinary lunch, but a tour de force 5 course menu that paired each dish to a different Montaluce wine. It…was…awesome.

chicken liver mousse, house made pickles, lavosh

Course one: liver mousse, house made pickles, lavosh paired with 2008 Montaluce Chardonnay: A dish that proves butter makes everything better, this 2 to 1 ratio of chicken liver and butter was outstanding. The livers are cured overnight in sugar, salt and aromatics. The next day, they are passed through tammis, poached at 65 degrees Celsius, whipped with butter and then formed into the pictured cannelle, topped with fleur de sel. The “pickles” were actually an assortment of pickled veggies, including cucumbers, carrots and cauliflower. Their tart acidity made a perfect foil to the rich flavors of the mousse. The lavosh provided a textural component to contrast that of the livers.

The Chardonnay had put on a tad more weight since last time, with a slightly rounder mouthfeel. It still retained its acidity, though not quite as much as I seem to have recalled. The clean citrus flavors worked well with the dish and this still remains a solid example of what unencumbered by oak Chardonnay can taste like.

smoked steelhead trout, boiled peanuts, fennel, meyer lemon, sweet tea froth

Course two: smoked steelhead trout, boiled peanuts, fennel, meyer lemon, sweet tea froth paired with 2008 Montaluce Risata: Whoever came up with the concept of smoking meats should have their own international day of celebration. I was smelling the smoke on my hands (yes, I picked up a small piece of fish with my fingers) for a long time after this course had disappeared. The meyer lemon sauce provided a nice lift of citrus and sweetness, with the peanuts enhancing the smokiness of the fish. I didn’t get much out of the sweet tea foam, but my wife loved hers.

The Risata had improved from my previous tasting, shedding some of the herbal green notes it once carried, exchanging them for sweet smelling red fruits. Make no mistake, this wine is dry, but not super dry like some of the French roses we tend to lean towards come the summer months. An excellent patio wine that is well suited for easy sippin’, cheese and crackers or outstanding fish dishes like this.

coppa di testa, apple mostarda, cider braised cabbage, apple

Course three: coppa di testa, apple mostarda, cider braised cabbage, apple paired with 2008 Montaluce Cabernet Sauvignon: Most of my regular readers and those who know me personally know that I’m part German. I’ve reflected upon this fact when it comes to German Riesling and how I think they are the most perfect still white wine (and I do emphasize still since Champagne is and always will be my favorite wine). This dish also appealed to me and not just because it was a perfectly cooked piece of pork, but the overall combination of sweet and sour demonstrated an understanding of German cuisine. Granted, I’ve only eaten at one German restaurant and honestly, how many of these are even in existence, but this dish was easily my favorite. The crispy earthy toned centerpiece of the dish is the coppa di testa, which is actually an Italian version of headcheese. It uses the yummy parts of the pig’s head and is a testament to the philosophy of using as much of the animal as possible, a key tenet of the farm to table sustainable movement as I understand it. The meat was tender and so porky in flavor, with the bright acid in the cabbage and apple mustard providing the perfect foil.

The Cabernet worked well with the dish, though I believe there was some disagreement on that point between a few folks. The Cabernet was also better than I remember, but still a very medium bodied wine with decent acid and tart red fruits. I think I was so overwhelmed by the quality of the food that I barely even remember the wine, but it was good enough.

caramelized chicken thigh terrine, baby carrot, cipollini, celery leaf, jus

Course four: caramelized chicken thigh terrine, baby carrot, cipollini, celery leaf, jus paired with 2008 Montaluce Merlot: As one other blogger put it, comfort food. This was a good lead in to dessert, as the dish wasn’t heavy and had several layers of sweetness, with every component of the dish (save the celery leaf) contributing its own sugary stroke.

The Merlot was actually my favorite wine, which surprised me because last time we were up here, it was the Chardonnay and Risata that took the top two spots for me personally. Again, don’t look for ripe California or South American plummy fruit wrapped in toasty oak. This wine is lean and could have many detractors, especially if you just opened it up and started drinking without the proper food. It would be like pairing Meryl Streep and Pauly Shore in a movie, a bad combination doomed to failure. This wine receives a bit of oak, in the form of chips, that were in contact with the wine for one month. This provided a touch of spice that really stood strong against the lusciousness of the terrine. I was surprised how well this worked and while I stilled felt like the coppa di testa was the dish of the day, the Merlot won in the wine category.

butternut cup custard, maple gel, oat crumble, buttermilk espuma

dessert: butternut squash cup custard, maple gel, oat crumble, buttermilk espuma paired with 2008 Montaluce Viognier: Everyone loved the presentation. Look at it. Dessert in a jar. Oliver, who was seated to my left at one end of our enormous row of tables, commented he thought they should bottle the Viognier in the jar and sell it like that. I said, you never know, people here may just buy it for the novelty. Put it into little 4-packs and you may have yourself a winner! Back to the food. I don’t know about you, but I love butternut squash. My wife makes a puree of it that is stunningly good with pan seared scallops. I admit, this was the first dessert I’d ever had featuring the pale orange gourd, but it was a total winner. Light and packed with fall flavors, it was the perfect way to end the meal, as it hit a high note without laying the smackdown on you. I actually would have liked a little of the crumble on the top to provide a bit more crunch, but outside of that niggly detail, it was a great dessert.

The Viognier made a good choice, as their 2008 has a touch of residual sugar. I just felt like a cup of coffee would have worked better. I think the Viognier is a great cocktail, drink during the summer on a hot day sort of wine that provided nice tropical flavors and just the right amount of residual sugar to be soft, but not cloying. Rob, one of the Beecham boys who own Montaluce, thinks Viognier could be the star of Georgia wine country. I don’t know about that, but if they can get the balance in R/S to acid right and really get the tropical fruit to burst out of the glass like a pig bursts at a luau, he may just be onto something there.

Overall, this was an awesome day. The trees had a thin layer of ice on them from the night before inclement weather, a hauntingly beautiful fog slowly settled over the vineyards during lunch and the day was barely half over. Our extremely generous hosts, Rob and Brent Beecham, had arranged for two distributors to show us some more wines. Those will come in a later post. I still can’t believe how good the meal was and I really take my hat off to Executive Chef Steven Hartman. Be on the lookout for this young man, he’s got some serious chops. I highly recommend visiting Montaluce and having a meal there, otherwise you’d be missing out on one of the finer dining experiences available to those in Atlanta and north Georgia.

I also have to say it was nice to meet @RandomeOenophile, @biskuitATL, @atl10trader, @BlackTieBBQ for the first time. There were also several other folks there, some of whom I’d heard of, some of whom I just now checking out. I look forward to future gatherings of Atlanta foodies and winos.

Here are some other links to the events of the day.
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RandomOenophile

Video put together by David, aka atl10trader.

Brad’s (aka biskuitATL) photos, which are awesome and tell the tale of the day.

Savory Exposure photos.
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Once again, many, many thanks to Rob and Brent for organizing and hosting such an amazing day, plus kudos for Oliver and Steven in teaching us more about wine and feeding us what was probably the best lunch of my entire life. If you are looking to get away from it all for a day (or a weekend), you must pay a visit to Montaluce. As the Georgia wine industry grows, I think you’ll find this to be a premier destination for food and wine.

Haiku
A gem in those hills
Bloggers given royal treatment
Go Montaluce

Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read what I have to say. Please share this with friends and family, leave comments or email me suggestions and questions. I love to hear from people.

Yesterday was the first time I’d ever attended a TweetUp. For those who are social media challenged, a TweetUp is nothing more than a live gathering of folks who are on / use Twitter. The even was organized by the nice folks at Hello North Georgia, a directory to all things in north GA. Our hosts were the Beecham boys, the owners / operators of Montaluce Winery and Estates.

It was a gorgeous day, filled with sunshine, the golden colors of autumn leaves, traffic, wine and new friends. When you arrive at Montaluce, you know there is more than gold in them ‘thar hills. The property is quite beautiful and you’ll drive by some of their developments on your way to the winery. You can read more about what they are doing here and I highly recommend you read the article, as they are doing some neat stuff in terms of green building. They should partner with HGTV in one of their Green Dream Homes. Just a thought.

Upon arrival to the tasting room, you know you are in for something special. You can see all the lovely photos on their website if you don’t believe me. We were lucky in that we arrived early, having only caught a bit of the traffic backup that caused many folks to be a bit late. While we waited for the other attendees to arrive, we spent some quality time talking with Rob and Brent Beecham the owner / operators of the winery. Rob is a monster wine fan and has some great stories, just be prepared when you talk to him because there isn’t a bashful bone in his body. I would also like to say, if you are looking for a wedding site or place to have a conference, you should contact Rob and pay the winery a visit to check out the digs. You won’t be disappointed. I also got to meet Ed of Wine Tonite, another local wine blogger who does an excellent job.

We started with the full flight, a $15 cost for 5 samples. I didn’t take any formal notes, but here are the impressions I had from yesterday’s tasting.

2008 Risata: My second favorite and for quite a few folks, the best of the lineup. One thing to keep in mind is that most of what they are making comes from purchased fruit. In a couple of years, they’ll be primarily estate fruit. That should come as no surprise to most folks, since most wineries don’t grow their own grapes. Anyways, this is a rose made from Sangiovese. It is bone dry and easy to drink on its own or with any summer or lighter foods. Vegetarians would do well to try this with a variety of dishes that feature herbs, as the finish is quite herbal.

2008 Chardonnay: My favorite and the one I ordered a glass of. I told Rob I couldn’t remember ever ordering and paying for a glass of Chardonnay. It is a 100% non-malo and 100% stainless steel fermented wine, with 10% Viognier blended in to provide a bit of body. The wine is crisp, tangy and a delight to drink. No oak, no butter and light on its feet, with bright green apple and tart stone fruit flavors, with a tangy finish. My kind of Chardonnay.

2008 Viognier: A bit closed up compared to the Chardonnay, I wasn’t digging this up in the tasting room. Later on, while we were in the wine making part of the facility, Rob and Brent brought some chilled bottles to share and this showed much better, with a rounder mouth feel and nice stone fruit flavors. For those who prefer a rounder and less zingy wine, this is a good choice. Just make to sure to serve it on the cooler side.

2008? Merlot: Honestly, I can’t remember if the vintage on the reds were 2008 or not, but we’ll go with it for now. This had a nice smokiness on top of the plum aromatics. On the palate, it was obvious you weren’t drinking California or new world Merlot, which tend to be more plum and chocolate. I think this wine need some time in bottle to fill in, but it wasn’t bad for what it was. I think they are on track with this and in a year or two, this will be much better, you just have to be patient with it.

2008 Cabernet Sauvignon: A lighter bodied, very European styled wine. You have to keep in mind, this will never be as plush as what you are used to drinking from California, Washington, Chile or Argentina. The wines just don’t get that ripe here, but their strength is in their ability to pair with food.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of wine that we found. Granted, the setting and company were spectacular, but that is another part of wine’s magic. It brings people together. After all, it was the reason we were there, to meet other folks and listen to TarynP give a brief and information packed talk on social media and networking. I think everyone enjoyed her insights into the newest marketing venues that social media provide, which are especially invaluable to small businesses. I also got to meet a fellow wine blogger, along with making a few need friends that I look forward to seeing again.

It was truly a glorious day and even the heavens agreed.