GINI Wine Tasting

After a day of tasting … actually more like couple hours to be correct…we went to Tony de Luca restaurant in Niagara-on-the-lake downtown for dinner. After an unsuccessful attemp to find Tony under a Bell Canada’s broadcast antenna, we finally found him a block down the road in the Oban inn. Expectation was high as Tony got the concept of offering multi-course tasting menu which show case the chef’s best dishes from Thomas Keller of The French Laundry. The tasting menu has optional wine pairing with all Niagara regional wine.

The bread was very dense, chewy, sweet tasting. A little floury taste…just a little under cooked? It was good but a little less dense would be even better. 

~ Amuse Bouche – Kushi oyster ~

~ Hillerbrand Estate Winery Trius Brut ~  

From Fanny Bay, BC. Cup shaped, opened quite salty, rather creamy but not as creamy and sweet tasting as Kumamoto. Steely finishing. Wine – Little on the nose, taste of lemon, lemon zest, refreshing.

~ PEI Lobster / Bearnaise / Leek Riopelle Fondue ~

~ Angels Gate Riesling 2005 ~

The lobster claw was more firm than expected.. usually they show a mushy texture but here it was nice and chewy. The leek underneath was very salty. I guess it was a heavier dish so more salt was added to cut through the fat… but it was a bit too much. The Riopelle is a cheese from Quebec with taste of cream, butter and a just a little mold.. sort of like Gorgonzola but not as pungent. The Bearnaise sause give a supporting sweetness to the whole dish. Tasty but a tad heavy. To some this combination probably overwhelm the lobster. Wine – Again little on the nose, palate of granny smith apple, light body and relative short finish. The acid in the wine did help cleansing some of the fat.

~ Parsnip Sip / Truffle Foam ~

~ Stratus White 2004 ~

Creamy, sweet from the parsnip. Not much truffle but strangely some orange citrus taste to it. Maybe just some lemon juice added to the soup. The parsnip was not blended fine enough leaving some coarse bits in the soup. It felt a little heavy or cloying at the end, probably from too much cream. Maybe a little more salty would help. Wine – One could feel there is too must liquid with both the soup and wine together… but I guess no one would complain there is too much wine! The wine was floral, predominately tropical fruits, peach. On the nose main influence of Chardonnay and some riesling. It was full bodied, very dry. High in alcohol, quite concentrated with a nutty medium finish.

~ Seared Sea Scallop / Tempura Bluefoot Mushrooms / Banyuls ~

~ Lailey Chardonnay 2005 ~

The scallop was very fresh, delicately sweet. No sand in the scallop, at least for my piece. The crust was not as crispy as the best seared ones can be but cooked just right. There were some pan fry mushrooms underneath, earthy and tasty, just like Shiitake mushroom. Except the tempura was a joke. I’m sorry but it really was a joke…thick batter, hard and cold (pre-prepared). Either not call it Tempura or purchase those pre-mix tempura batter from Chinese supermarkets. I guess most Japanese would agree that it is an abuse of tempura. Wine – Nose of grapefruit, some other vegetal smell. Palate of mainly apple with lively acidity, some hazelnut, medium body and finish. The wine went very well with the earthy mushrooms. Nice pairing.

~ Intermezzo – Raspberry lemonade ~

~ St. Ann Quail, Turnips Sauce Foyot ~

~ Vineland Cabernet Franc 2005 ~

The quail was crisp on the outside, slightly gamy. Meat was a bit dry, slightly over-cooked. On the side was bacon fried lentils. Bacon was lean, probably peameal, which went pretty well with the lentils. Sauce Foyot is hollandaise sauce with meat glaze…but I already cannot remember how it tasted after all the wine haha… Wine – Plum, some pepper, rather spicy with the smell. Sweet entry, light tannin. The gamy quail brought out some cherry from the cab. franc.

~ Cumbrae Farm 30 day beef ribeye / Butternut Squash / Pomegranate ~

~ Henry of Pelham Unfiltered Merlot 2002 ~

The ribeye was lean, with nice beef flavours. They never asked us how we’d like the beef to be done, but nonetheless, they came out just right. Medium rare to medium. Although cooked right, the cut was a bit tough. The pomegranate sauce was rather tasty. It gave you refreshing breaks between the chewing exercises. Wine – Lots of plum, currant, vanilla, smoke and sweet tobacco. Quite bordeaux like nose. Very ripe on the palate, plum and date. High in alcohol and almost port like. Too much alcohol and slightly sweet.

~ La Sauvagine / Walnuts / Crostini ~

Sauvagine also came from Quebec. Semi-soft, like brie but it was very salty. Crostini was crispy but too greasy. Walnuts were very crunchy and you dip them into the honey in the spoon. Interesting but I still prefer the Chinese version amber walnut (sugar-coated walnut). No wine pairing for this course… A glass of port would be nice. Not sure if there is any port styled wine made here in Ontario.

~ Vanilla Creme Brulee ~

~ Konzelmann Late Harvest Vidal 2005 ~

Vanilla Creme Burlee, sugar coated ‘Timbits’, Vanilla icecream, pear puree, raspberry coolies. Creme Brulee was thin crusted, very creamy and rich, melt-in-your-mouth. Just enough sweetness which is a plus. Great. But the fact that creme brulee was presented in the tasting menu probably indicates Tony is lacking a good pastry chef. Wine – A very good late harvest. Honey on the nose and lots of peach in the taste. Finished with strong dry fig. Balanced acidity.

Overall a good dinning experience. The ingredients were fresh and the wine pairing charge was reasonable. Some of the pairings was nicely done, like the scallop with Lailey Chardonnay, quail with Vineland cab. franc. Portion was right although some people may find it just a little small. But to fully compete at this level, there are still rooms for improvement.  (April-7-2007)