Okay, so this winery was largely responsible for the timing of my visit this month. And, rather than coming during normal tasting room hours, I am here after hours for dinner. … a lobster dinner. Provenance announced its first lobster feed at the winery and I decided to give it a try. Lobster and wine … what’s not to like? Upon arrival at the tasting room, you are signed in for the dinner, then directed into the cellar where you get your first taste of wine. Then you hang around in the tasting room chatting with other guests, or you can try your luck at a ring-toss game set up to give away a couple bottles of wine. Once dinner is ready to be served, all of the guests are brought outside under the new crushpad roof (which ensured a measure of protection against any rain). Each guest was then served a small baking tin replete with one medium-sized lobster, a few shrimps, potatoes, and some green vegetables. Each table was staged with sourdough bread that outshined the meal itself. (I would have been nearly as happy to enjoy the wine and the bread alone.) The one element that the open crushpad could not protect against was the wind, which had whipped up briskly just in time for dinner. I was grateful to be wearing a leather jacket.
 |
| Provenance Vineyards at dusk. |
As I usually sober up during dinner before the long drive home, I had to carefully monitor my intake of wine at Provenance. So I set my sights on quality to resist the quantity. Upon arrival, two wines were being poured, the 2013 Malbec Rose and the 2011 Sleeping Lady Cabernet Sauvignon. (Because of the magnitude of the event, they were pouring into small wine glasses rather than the usual varietal-appropriate stemware used in the tasting room, so I borrowed one of the tasting room glasses and transferred my wine there.) Next, I chatted briefly with the assistant winemaker who suggested I should taste the 2011 Hewitt Cabernet Sauvignon (which was not one of the wines being offered), so he poured me a taste from one of the last bottles open from the day’s tastings. With dinner, I enjoyed the 2011 Cabernet Franc and the 2011 Winemakers Blend. My favorite was clearly the Hewitt, but all these red wines were amazing (especially considering the nature of the vintage). I did notice that they were very careful not to pour any other vintages, thus avoiding comparisons with the richer 2009 and 2010 red wines. I enjoyed these wines over two and a half hours and was good to drive by the end of the event.
A full review was written already about Provenance Vineyards during my visit on February 8th, 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment