The Grateful Palate

I had another wonderful night of food and wine. Please say it will continue this way indefinitely! This time it was wines imported from Australia by The Grateful Palate held at the newly reopened Chef's Table in Iowa City: http://www.chefstableiowacity.com/
Eric McDowell is a talented chef, who holds a warm spot in my heart because he agreed to donate a meal for my oldest son's Eagle project, which was serving a meal a week over a summer to hospitalized children and their families. Eric made a gorgeous meal and he was as gracious as can be about doing so. I love his new place, and have had some memorable food that he has created.

Pair that food with some great wines and you have an evening that cannot miss. We have had two great meals in people's houses this past two weeks, and so with two restaurant meals as well, it has been pretty painless to be home from Rome. I am going to highlight the three very affordable wines that we tasted. Overall, I was very impressed with the wine we had, but some of it was in the $20-50 range, which is definitely out of the range of a "house wine" for us. So more longitudinally interesting were the wines that were quite good and also quite affordable. The whites are both under $10.00 and the red a bit more than $10. The first wine was Marquis-Phillips 2008 Holly's Blend, a white wine made up of 55% Verdelho, 29% Chardonnay, 9% Riesling, and 7% Semillon. It has a very fruity flavor, and a richness that paired well with the three different cold seafood dishes it was served with. I liked it more than my spouse, but the entire table enjoyed it.

The second white is the Darby + Joan 2008 Chardonnay. It is a very lightly oaked chardonnay, a wine finishing style that has reminded me just how much I like this grape varietal. The wine was paired with a large seared scallop (delicious caramelization on the top and bottom and the center was uncooked--perfect) topped with trout roe, pomegranate seeds, a sunchoke veloute, and tomato-fennel chutney. The wine was a brightly flavored contrast to the richness of the scallop, and it popped nicely with the slightly salty sea flavor of the roe and the slightly sour fruitiness of the pomegranate.

The last wine I am going to highlight is the Marquis-Phillips 2008 Sarah's Blend. The wine mixes Shiraz, Merlot, and Cabernets. Very yummy rich fruitiness in the wine that makes it great to drink alone, and an excellent accompaniment to food. This was served with roasted duck breast, sliced and set atop a wild rice, cranberry and pecan pilaf, with surprisingly delicious turnips and some broccolini on the side. We ordered several of each variety to have at home, so I will have a chance to see if they hold up to food made in my kitchen.