Winemaker's Dinner at Domus, May 5th [General]

2008 Apr 8
Hey all,

Domus *kind-of* has the information available on their web-page now, but I'll copy-parse-and-paste from another post I saw on the web (www.localwineevents.com) to give more information:

"Flat Rock Cellars - Comparing the Clones - Winemaker's Dinner at Domus.

"Meet premium Winemaker Marlise Beyers from Flat Rock Cellars. Learn about this unique gravity fed and sustainable winery and it's unique twist on Canadian wines. Features of the evening include pours of four different clones of Pinot Noir including the award winning "Gravity" Pinot Noir. Chef John Taylor will compliment with a five course tasting menu. Also Sweet Revenge Ice Wine."

Love that sentence at the end. The cost is $125 per person (excl. tax and tip)

Now, I'm intrigued all-over intrigued to see if they're going to pour only the four Pinots (clones 115, 667, and 777, plus the "Gravity" blend of the three) and the Icewine. I visited Flat Rock last year and really loved their Pinots, but I'd be upset if they didn't get our engines started with a Riesling or something.

I called Domus today to make my reservation (613-241-6007).

2008 Apr 8
Momomoto - Ah man, you are in for a real treat! In addition to eating at Domus, you are going to taste some great wine (but alas you already know that). Flat Rock is one of my favourite wineries in Niagara... besides making really good wine, they have a fantastic location (fabulous view), unique winery architecture and the gravity system, PLUS great people who work there!

If you are really really lucky maybe there will be some white wines offered to kick off the dinner (that has been my past experience at another winemaker's / chef's dinner - unadvertised hors d'ouvres and a glass of wine as a cocktail to start, while people were arriving / mixing). The Riesling is very good, but then so is the "Twisted" a lovely combination of Riesling & Gewurztraminer, or even the "Rusty Shed Chardonnay". OK, I got my fingers crossed for you on getting to taste something not listed.

PS... If the winery happens to bring along any of their flavoured vinegars do buy one (figure they may do because this is Domus afterall). I forget the exact story, but they are an extremely GREEN winery and do their best to use all the product in an eco-way. They discovered they could use somepart of their leftovers (grape skins I think) to make vinegar. Then the vinegars are infused with local flavours... peaches, raspberries, maple, etc. They are really good on simple summmer salad greens, used as a marinade / tenderizer, or to deglaze a pan. I own both the Maple and Raspberry ones, and anytime I use them I get lots of raves.

2008 Apr 8
Flat Rock struck me when I got there as being a lot like Stratus, or Clos Jordanne, or Tawse: very focused wine offerings. The difference here is that their prices are a bit lower, meaning that you get to take home so much more wine for your money.

I liked *everything* I tried there, and I think I tried almost all of them (it was the end of the tour, what can I say?) That's the prime reason why I hope that they give us more than just Pinots and Sweet Revenge.

(Hey, when you were there were you able to get any information on why it was called Sweet Revenge? My buddies and I have a bet going on whether it's due to jilted love or due to a winemaker's partnership gone sour.)


2008 Apr 8
Momomoto - There are currently 59 wineries listed in the Niagara Winery Guide, and I still have a significant number to visit. When we go touring we try to select a variety of biggies, mediums and family run, and we try to spread them out over the region so we get to see a little of everything in the way of what everyone is doing, and what tastes are coming forward from various areas. (It sounds scientific, but it really isn't... we just do some research before we go, including who has a great lunch or dinner, go with a DD, and then we just let our senses do the rest for us).

We see about 5 or so wineries a day, and always go back to wineries that made our short list from the year before (to restock, LOL).

That said, I haven't been to any of the 3 you mentioned: Stratus, Clos Jordanne or Tawse. (LOL, hard to believe but true).

My current favourite Niagara wineries would be:

BIGGIE - Hillebrand or Jackson Triggs
MEDIUM - Flat Rock or East Dell
SMALL - Mountain Road or Crown Bench
ICE WINE - Royal DeMaria (Continually # 1 in the World)
And
TWO WHO DON'T WORK WITH THE LCBO - Featherstone or Hernder

These remarks are based on the wine, the willingness to share, the people, and in some cases the whole experience including food.

2008 Apr 8
Our tours are a bit more focused: we rent a driver from Crush on Niagara, and go to four wineries (five if we have time.) The first two years we did the Niagara-On-The-Lake side, so last year we did, and this year we'll continue to do, the Beamsville side.

The second day of our wine tour we drive ourselves to Stratus and Strewn, and usually end up getting panini from Tony DeLuca's little cheese shop right beside Stratus. I like the royal treatment you get at Stratus—we've got a good rapport with the people there—and we're barrel club members at Strewn.

If it makes you feel any better, it may be a while until Clos Jordanne becomes open to the public. They don't have a winery built yet.


2008 Apr 8
Momomoto - Lucky for us we have a member of our foursome who doesn't particularly relish wine (a glass now and then at dinner). So we the wine lovers get to indulge and not have to worry about the driving part (escorted tour must add to your overall costs).

Although the pours are not very large (as you know) by the time you add on a 3 course gourmet lunch with a wine flight the alcohol can add up. (LOL when you said you got to Flat Rock at the end of they day... I know what you mean). The whole secret to enjoying a Wine Vacation in Niagara is learning how to pace yourself (that and a nap before dinner).

2008 Apr 8
Anyone been to Daniel Lenko? That's the one I'd like to visit but unfortunately wasn't open during our last trip (it's pretty small - you used to have to call ahead but I think they have limited hours now). I've only been to a handful but Malivoire, Flat Rock and Thirty Bench are the ones I like. I buy a lot of Henry of Pelham and Cave Spring back here and like both of those as well.

2008 Apr 8
The sad part of it all, F&T, was that we *all* had been pacing ourselves exquisitely, and none of us had gotten the least bit ridiculous. Silly, sure, but far from ridiculous. When we got to the end of our fourth winery, we still had an hour left, so Charlie (our driver, bless his soul and his replaced knees) suggested we head to Flat Rock.

Then the wheels fell off.

The other thing that I've noticed is that, if you show up as part of a Crush on Niagara Tour, you get roundly told that your money's no good there and all of your tastings are gratis. This makes it well worth the $90 or so (after tip) per person that the tour costs.

2008 Apr 8
For my grandparents anniversary we did little wine tours and hit the Maid of the Mist as well.
I have to agree with F&T. I love their Riesling but the Twisted is a beautiful blend of my two favourites! I hope they serve that.
If there wasn't a $125 price tag attached I would say I'd 'see you there' but I've had to take a lot of time off work to study for exams!! aaarg!
Enjoy!

(here's some pics of Flat Rock Cellars)


2008 Apr 8
^
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Lots of Clay as you can see

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Gravity Fed!

2008 Apr 9
Momomoto - My experience is such that we rarely pay to taste. If you come in knowledgeable and interested, they tend to waive the tasting fee. They are afterall looking for buyers. I think the fee is there to cover their costs for the "usual crowd" of tourists, University Students, etc on the circuit.

Sadie Lady - Love the pics! And I agree I am a "Twisted" kind of girl, LOL.

$ 125 sounds steep, but considering what the tastings are (the Pinot Clones are not cheap) and the fact that this is Domus afterall is tempting. Maybe if I am really really lucky I can convince "The Man" that this research is required!

2008 Apr 9
We're using it as an excuse to celebrate my fiancée getting her paper published.

Actually, it's the first-tier celebration, where we use it as an excuse to celebrate her getting all of the figures written up. Baby steps!

But, yeah, it is a bit steep, but not much steeper than when the last time we went to Domus.

2008 Apr 9
We are so taking over on wine. Haha...

I do enjoy the Mountain Road. Part of me wants to order their Chardonnay. And I've heard good things about Featherstone.

All this talk makes me want to pile into a car right now and head down to Niagara. I'll be sure to post looking for help/suggestions when it comes time to tour.

2008 Apr 9
I've been thinking about wine a lot, not only because of the Official Ottawa Foodies wine tasting coming up tomorrow (woo woo!), but also because we're heading down this weekend (woo woo!).

Small tour, though: just Stratus to pick up our allotment of 2005 Stratus Red and White, and Strewn to eat at the restaurant, take baby pictures of our barrel (awww! It's almost her third birthday!), and probably snag some of their high-end Chardonnays.

2008 Apr 9
Nanook - We've been going for several years now, and have our wine tour vacation down to a "science" now (for lack of a better word). I'd be glad to give you some tips if you like. Just let me know before you go.

I love Moutain Road (really really tiny) and Featherstone (plan a lunch here) and I can tell you lots of other gems if you like.

Cheers!

2008 Apr 27
Momomoto - According to Rod Phillips column today (Sunday, April 27, 2008) in the Ottawa Citizen, you will be pleased to know:

"Marlise Breyers, winemaker at Niagara Peninsula's Flat Rock Cellars winery, will showcase four pinot noirs from the "Clone Research Project" at a five-course dinner at Domus... There will also be white wines and a dessert wine..."

So Momomoto, your wish comes true a chance to taste a good variety of Flat Rock's offerings.

BTW, the date you've listed here as the Subject Line is incorrect, the actual dinner is scheduled for Sunday, May 4th (just so you know and LOL, show up on the Monday)

;-P

2008 Apr 29
I saw that, too. It sounds wonderful.

Thanks for the offer of help... I may take you up on it later this spring. :)

2008 May 1
Ha! I wonder where I got that improper-and-very-crappy date. No, I do plan on showing up on Sunday. I will be the dude embarrassing my fiancée because I've brought a big eff-off camera to the dinner.

2008 May 3
Momomoto - "Film at 11" I can't wait!

2008 May 4
Neither can I! It's been months since I've been to a "nice" restaurant. Looking forward to the food tonight, believe you me.

Also looking forward to tasting the Nadja's Vineyard Riesling, since I didn't taste any of their Rieslings when we visited last summer.

2008 May 7
Here we go! Strangely, when Apple Mail sent it to work, it converted it to a bitmap. Hopefully they show up OK.

Domus was booked exclusively for this event, with a large central table set up in the middle for those who wanted to get close, and satellite tables set up for those who preferred to stay in the groups in which they came. We definitely sat at the big table ;)

It was very pleasant, and very personable. Here's just a boring ol' shot of Flat Rock's winemaker, Marlize Beyers, flanked by (L) Vic Harradine and (R) Rod Phillips.

To kick off the night, we were given a glass of their 2004 Chardonnay. It's done half in stainless steel tanks, and half in oak barrels, which means that it's a decent aperitif as opposed to being the night-cap that so many all-oaked Chardonnays are. Mineral and citrus and apple.


2008 May 7
First course: Québec foie gras "boudin blanc", with apple cider and foie gras emulsion.

I think this was our favourite of the night. A sausage, made with foie gras and some-other-white-meat-that-I-didn't-know, with highly reduced apple syrup and more foie gras sauce. Savoury and delish.

Served with 2006 "Sweet Revenge" Vidal ice wine. Classic combination, and one that I do quite enjoy. It seemed pretty dark and flavourful for a Vidal ice wine. Not sickeningly sweet, either.

2008 May 7
Second course: House-cured and maplewood-smoked Ontario rainbow trout, with pickled ramps, Ontario cucumber crème fraîche, and baby arugula.

This hardened my resolve to eat more smoked fish. Herring, trout, whatever. So long as it's hot-smoked . . . I think that's the one where you get a slab of fish, rather than a slice of fish? It does wonders for the texture.

And my first experience with ramps, too! Delicious, concentrated garlicky goodness. Great counterpoint to the smokiness of the fish, as was the cucumber crème fraîche.

Served with their 2006 "Nadja's Vineyard" Riesling. Cold and steely, with a lot of lemon and mineral. (Those who had the Cave Spring Reserve Riesling at the wine tasting have a good comparator. This one's less lemony, and more mineral than that one.)

I am nerdily proud to say that I dreamed up a similar combination when I served that smoked trout/horseradish cream salad with a tart, steely Riesling. It works so well.


2008 May 7
Third course: Pan-roasted Ontario bobwhite quail breast, with a selection of "Le Coprin" mushrooms, quail leg confit, and red wine gastrique.

So good. Confit anything is good. Red wine reduction is good.

Served with 2005 "Gravity" Pinot Noir, their flagship Pinot. As the name implies, it's all done by gravity flow, which is supposed to keep the wine from, I dunno, I want to say "dying quickly"? Anyway. It's delicious.

2008 May 7
Fourth course: A "study" of Alberta Foothills lamb. Roasted rack, Niagara "Pingue" prosciutto-wrapped sirloin, and spiced sausage.

That green, leafy bad-boy is the leaf from a ramp. Like chives on steroids.

At the end of the dinner, Chef Taylor came out and described his methodology and his intent. He praised Alberta lamb quite heavily, and I can see why. Based on some of the other lamb I've had, this one was a bit more delicate and thus lended itself better to being roasted. If I want lamb in a curry, you'd better believe I want the biggest, most gamy flavour possible. But when you're serving it with wine you don't want to overpower it too much . . .

2008 May 7
. . . Which is why this lamb was a bit more suited to being served with Pinot.

For those of you keeping track at home, that first Pinot represented glass four or five, I think. I started holding back after that. The first wine on the left is "Gravity" Pinot left over from the quail course. The next three are the clones that are blended to make "Gravity": 115, 667, and 777 (I think that's the order they're in?)

It was interesting to taste all four, because you can tell which components from which clones make up the whole "Gravity" one. I was too busy enjoying the wine to micro-pair each preparation with each clone, so I won't be much help here, sorry. They were all good.

2008 May 7
Yeah, we definitely had a lot to drink.

The dessert course was a sticky lemon pound cake, with spring rhubarb and vanilla ice cream. Coffee and tea were proffered, and I opted for coffee.

That and another glass of Sweet Revenge.

Oh! I should have also mentioned that Sweet Revenge was (to the knowledge of everyone there) the first ice wine to be closed with a screwcap!

No picture was taken, because I completely forgot to. It was near the end of the night, what can I say?

After that, we were also treated to a barrel tasting of the 2007 vintage of the three Pinot clones. I should have gotten a picture of the bottles, with their stubby Stelvin closures and no real labels. Just a hand-written little scrap of paper on each. They were young, to be sure, but I'm sure they will turn out just fine.

(I say this because I have no idea how to tell what a wine will taste like after a year or so of age.)

All told, it was a fantastic, friendly, intimate evening. Cost after tax and tip was $160, and I think it paid for itself by chatting with other people at the table and being able to get extra tastings of wine ad libidum.

On the whole the wine pairings were good. I wouldn't say that they were spectacular or ethereal? But they didn't hamper the tastes of each other at all.

I'm keen to go to more winemaker's dinners now. You get treated quite well.

2008 May 7
Momomoto - For all of us who were unable to attend let me say THANK YOU so much for sharing the descriptions and the food porn (great photos BTW).

I love Winemakers / Chefs Dinners they are so much fun!

FEEDBACK

1st Course - Looks delish! The combination of flavours (and smells) must have been fantastic!

2nd Course - I'm not usually a big fan of smoked fish, but I think I would have liked this course because the Trout appears thick enough not to be totally dried out. And the trimmings tasty. I wasn't familiar with ramps (had to look them up on Wikipedia... evidently they are a wild cross between leeks & garlic, and grow in Quebec, and oh ya, very popular on the "black market" with Ottawa Restaurants (no kidding that is what it said). But I imagine that if they can grow across the bridge, they can just as easily be found growing here too.

3rd Course - I agree, confit anything is good, with red wine reduction can only be better.

4th Course - Lamb looks yummy! What is the side (some mashed veggie base?) Drizzled with au jus... Ya had me at HELLO!

Dessert - Lemon Pound Cake, Rhubarb and Ice Cream... nice ending.

Wine - Man-o-man there was some serious (and fantastic) wine going on. I love Flat Rock Wines (one of our favourite Niagara spots). I'm glad you got the chance to taste so many (and their best stock too). I bet the Pinots went well with the Lamb.

So lets see by my calculation, that is Chardonnay (1) - Ice Wine (1) - Riesling (1) - Pinot (4) - 2007 Preview Pinot (?) - Ice Wine (1) = Bet "the wine guys" (Rod & Vic) were in heaven.

I think I just figured out why their Ice Wine is called "Sweet Revenge", LOL
(Did you ask?)

Cheers!

2008 May 8
Glad you enjoyed it. Let's see what questions I can field:

2nd course: I heard from a friend that it's illegal to pick ramps in Québec, which means that they are a bit black-market. Don't know about the Ontario status, but I agree that there are probably plants growing on this side of the river.

4th course: The side is mashed potato. Since it felt pretty loaded with butter and cream, I'd graduate it from "mashed potato" to "pommes purées". Hee hee.

Wine: We did ask whether or not it was called "Sweet Revenge" due to some sordid back story, and Marlize stated that there was no story. How unfortunate. I did read somewhere, however, that urban myths persist because even denial of an urban myth is interpreted as confirmation. So there ya go.

Ten different wines, and free refills (!!!):

2004 Chard
2006 "Sweet Revenge" Vidal Ice Wine
2006 "Nadja's Vineyard" Riesling
2005 "Gravity" Pinot Noir
2005 "Clone #115" Pinot Noir
2005 "Clone #667" Pinot Noir
2005 "Clone #777" Pinot Noir
2007 "Clone #115" Pinot Noir
2007 "Clone #667" Pinot Noir
2007 "Clone #777" Pinot Noir

I also thought that it was neat that their position on the bench was warm enough that they didn't have to use those windmilly-things in the winter. I guess it's true that I didn't see any in the vineyard when I was there.

I'm so thirsty right now. :)

2008 May 8
Momomoto - Thanks for all the info. Your right I didn't see any wind-milly things at Flat Rock, BUT there were a lot of those shot-gunny things going BANG the day I was there in late August. This was the first winery where we had encountered them, and boy did I jump the first time they went off! Evidently birds are a big problem as the grapes mature and the sugarload increases (hence the netting that comes into play from late summer onwards). Someone said that the birds are a bigger problem the farther you go away from Niagara-on-the-Lake and "higher" up the bench closer to the actual ridge of the escarpment (towards St Catherines) it was explained to us because of the proximity of the forest (which in many cases is literally RIGHT THERE) which is a natural habitat for Blue Jays and such.

PS... I'm with you on the possibility of a "Sweet Revenge" story... besides it is my understanding that there is a sort of ice wine war in the region, but alas, I'll save that juicy (pun intended) story until the chance that I can share it with you someday at a wine tasting.

Cheers!