|
Home
About Us
Event Schedule
Event Schedule
Event Registry
Membership
Guidelines
Hostess Checklist
Member Info
Useful Links
|
 |
Melange Cafe, Cherry Hill, NJ
The Evening Reviewed, by Beth Sheligo |
Hot off the presses! Here is Beth's recap of the Melange Cafe event:
Hats off to Meryle Melnicoff and Mary Bak for organizing this tremendous event! You both did a GREAT job (so did chef Joe Brown) --we should plan an annual return! :-)
Beth Sheligo
Oenophile posted March 15, 2000 02:31 PM
Last night the Cencibel descended on Melange Cafe in Cherry Hill, NJ, a fun, funky BYO that features Cajun and Italian cusine. Chef Joe Brown outdid himself on a splendid 6 course meal, with wine matches provided by the members.
Our welcome wine was NV Roderer Estate, a California sparkler that was mildly yeasty, slightly oaked and clean flavored. Good for calibrating palates.
Openers: Marinated red peppers and Asiaggio cheese.
1994 French Creek Ridge Vineyards Vidal Brut, an interesting effort from Pennsylvania. Full bodied and mature, with licorice and spice flavors. Good with
the peppers.
1996 Josmeyer Pinot Blanc had a subtle nose of violets, a creamy mouth feel with flavors of melon and a touch of lemon. Good balance, nice finish. Great with the cheese.
First Course: Crabmeat Cheesecake with caramalized onions, wild mushrooms and a cream reduction sauce. Everyone wanted this recipe! The two wines paired actually worked well as a flight.
1996 Mount Eden Chardonnay vanilla nose, buttery flavor (slightly sweet), clear, rich and full. Good length to the finish. Worked well with the pecan crust.
1990 Koberner Weisenberg Riesling Auslese, Freiherr von Schleinitz Minerally nose with a hint of apple blossom, highly extracted fruit flavors, very focused, backed up by strong acidity. Slight hint of licorice and spice brought
out the pepper in the dish. Lip smacking finish.
Second course: Okra Soup
1998 Gruner Veltliner Kabinett trocken, E.U.M. Berger Mineral and slightly grassy nose, hints of mint, rosehips and white pepper flavors overlaid with a mild honey quality. Crisp but not acidic, very ripe impression. Best
match with the soup and one of the top food matches of the night.
1997 Cain Monteray Venata Vineyard Musque Sauvignon Blanc Grassy nose, flavors of deep, ripe melon, oaky and buttery, giving an impression of some rs. Good start, but the finish faded quickly.
1988 Andre Lorentz Gewurztraminer The nose was more mature than the flavors, showing some spice and mild oxidation. Rich, ripe, fresh lychee flavors, not a hint of bitterness in the finish, this was a decadently enjoyable wine, and the
second best match for the soup.
Third Course: Crayfish salad with Gorgonzola cheese and balsamic-leek vinaigrete. The crayfish were batter fried, and didn't seem to blend with the cheese, the only dish that didn't work 100%. Still, we gave it a passing grade.
1995 Talbot Vintage Chardonnay A big, oaky, California Chardonnay, but in a nice way. Tons of butterscotch and toffee, but with a good acid balance. Nice length to the finish, no bitterness. Great with goronzola.
1998 Calloway Vigonier This wine developed in the glass more than any other served. Initially, the nose was grapefruit marmalade, flavors of honeysuckle midpalate and a finish of pineapples. As the wine sat, the grapefruit
qualities ran more to the orange spectrum, and the pineapple to more exotic tropical fruits. A nice surprise.
1998 Caymus Sauvignon Blanc Mildly oaky nose, marzipan almond flavors with mineral and herbaceous underpinnings. Went best with the bitter greens.
Fourth Course: Wild Mushroom and Duck Gumbo with Grilled Andouille Sausage, paired with the flight of the evening:
1997 St. Francis Zinfandel A bit young, good fruit in the nose (plums, cherries) with a smokey oak component. At 16% alcohol, the wine is almost ripe enough for dessert. Rich fruit coats the palate and lingers through a satisfying
finish. Great with the duck.
1994 Rafanelli Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley Very raspberry nose, ripe, gorgeous fruit in the mouth, beautiful balance, clean, blueberry finish. A lovely fruity expression of the grape, and a personal favorite among zinfandels for me. Gotta love that Hamilton cellar . Wonderful counterpoint to the spicy sausage, and picked up on the sweetness in the gumbo sauce.
Dessert: Sweet Potato and Chocolate Ravioli with Bourbon Pecan Sauce (And yes, it was ALL THAT!)
Yalumba Museum Muscat Hard to go wrong with this dependable workhorse. Rich almond nutty sweetness that defines the word "sticky" when applied to dessert wines. Well balanced, clean finish, excellent match for the Bourbon Sauce.
1990 Tokay Aszu 5 Puttonyos, Royal Tokay Company Nose of honey and mead, flavors of apricot nectar with very good acidity for a wine so rich. Well balanced, nice length to the finish. The Muscat was a better food match, but this was an excellent dessert wine in its own right.
Four hours, six courses and fifteen wines later, we applauded the chef, paused for a Kodak moment, gathered our belongings and headed to the parking lot, fuller, wiser and ready to tackle the next gustatory challenge. In our 11 month existence, we have grown from a tentative group of 5 to a robust mailing list of 50 and a consistent participation rate of close to 20. Congratulations
and thanks to Deb Denis, for her vision, inspiration and enthusiasm.
Return to Top |
|
|