I would like to say thank you to Guy Hatif for such a fun educational night. We would also like to thank all of the guests that made it out to the event. It was a great success. We heard nothing but ooo's and aaa's at the table. The food was outstanding and when paired with the wine it was exceptional.

The first course to come out was mussels provençal. It was paired with a Sauvignon Blanc from Domaine Fouassier in the Loire Valley. The Chefs made a wonderful broth for the mussels. It was made with just the right amount of garlic, tomatoes and herbs de provence. To make things blend even better, we gave the kitchen a bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc to put in the sauce. When tasting the food, the flavours melded wonderfully in your mouth. The sauce brought out a nice crispness in the wine. It was a great pairing.

Next came a Bourgogne, matched with French Escargot. This was a amazing creation from the kitchen. They were trying to think of a different way of serving escargots. It's always cooked in tons of butter and we wanted to come up with something new and exciting. They came up with a grilled portabella served on a bed of savoury jus topped with escargots and finished with grated Comté cheese. It was a hit!!! Every one taking part in the event loved the escargot. We also featured the escargot as a dinner feature that night and sold another 12 orders. I found that the meaty portabella went nicely with the acidity of the wine. trying the wine with a escargot and trying it with some portabella yielded quite amazing flavours. This dish might replace our existing escargot on the menu. We are going to feature it for the next little while to get some feed back.

The third course was definitely the best of the evening. The servers brought out these beautifully decorated bowls with a glazed duck leg au confit on a bed of fennel salad. It was perfectly matched with a wine from Château Ninon in Bordeaux. The Bordeaux was medium bodied and had a nice nose and finish. I was absolutely amazed when I took a bite of the salad and had a sip of the wine. It was the first time that i have ever tasted a red, that when paired with food, brought out flavours of grapefruit and melon. The duck was so succulent and cooked to perfection. It was cassis glazed and came served over the salad. which had just the right amount of vinaigrette and was accentuated with fresh black currents and blueberries. This one is going on the menu for sure!! I was absolutely blown away with a flavor.

The Main course was a duo of lamb, shank and rack chop neatly stacked on the plate. Served with a bit of grilled asparagus and fingerling potatoes. The lamb duo was finished with a Dijon foam. I have never seen a Dijon foam come out of the kitchen so I'm pretty sure we've never done it before. The way it was presented, with the way it tasted, you'd swear that we've  been doing it for years.   The Dijon foam had  good form to it and held up nicely on the plate. It had great flavor to it and when tasted with the lamb it was amazing. We paired this course with a wine from the Côtes-du-Rhone called Domaine des Bacchantes. The wine had a lot more body than the Bordeaux and come up with smoke and mild spice tastes on the tongue. I personally felt that the other wines where better paired with food but the other guests loved it.  I guess it depends on your tastes.

I know i said that the third course was good but I have a big sweet tooth. When it comes to chocolate and cheese I can't say no. We brought out of retirement our famous Inferno's Lava cake. To make it even better we infused it with triple cream french brie.  All i have to say is Wow Absolutely Stunning! I could eat ten of them. The dessert came with a glass of Port from the Languedoc/Roussillon area. Port and chocolate go well together, port and cheese go well together. All three combined and I was in paradise.

It was a great evening and we plan on doing another wine dinner in the end of January.

Look forward to seeing some new faces.

Inferno's Bistro presents....

Guy Hatif

Winnipeg's Wine Guru Extraordinaire

Join us at Inferno's as we take you on a tour of France. Guy and the Chefs have selected five wines and have expertly paired them with five succulent dishes.

Thrusday November 19th

Starting at 7:00 pm

Ticket Price is $95.00 plus taxes

Please look at the menu

visit the events section for more information.

I would just like to thank all of the people that came to the Manitoba Opera food & wine event. It was a great success, everyone raved about the food and the wine. Chef Fern amazed us with great food which Marlies perfectly paired with wine. Here's how the night unfolded

We started off with a glass of McWilliams Hanwood Estate Riesling. It was paired with lobster potstickers served on a bed of sweet chili cream sauce drizzled with a saigon sauce. The flavours mixing together was absolutely amazing. My mouth is watering now as i think back on the taste.

The second course was a pear and goat cheese salad. It came accompanied with a Argentinean sauvignon blanc made by Chakana. This wine had the best bouquet out of the five we tasted. It smelt of sweet pink grapefruit, peaches and minerals. Trying a bit of goat cheese with the wine turned out to be an amazing combination of flavours. But when you added some pear or lettuce with vinaigrette it totally changed. We had so much fun trying out all the different combinations. This course was paired perfectly and I will be looking into putting this wine on our list.

Next we had the best dish served last night.  Fern had pan seared some halibut, laid it over a wedge of goat cheese potato gratin. Smothered it with a fresh wild mushroom cream sauce. The comments coming from the tables were fantastic. There was one lady who hates halibut, she enjoyed hers so much that the plate was scraped clean. Her husband had mentioned to me that she never eats halibut and that we really outdid ourselves for her to eat everything. This course was paired with Sterling Vineyards Pinot Noir from California. The red wine mixed with the mushroom sauce was outstanding. Adding a bit of the potato made it even more divine. Finishing with a perfectly cooked halibut made it priceless.

The main course was a bacon wrapped bison petite tender. It was served with cherries jubilee and drizzled with a blue cheese crème fraîche.  Marlies had chosen the Punto Final Riserva Malbec from Argentina. Fern fell in love with this big bold malbec right away. It was rich in tanins and had some subtle tones of black current on the nose.

Dessert was a lemon hazelnut torte and came with a sparkling white from France made by Dom Brial. It was simply called  "Fizzy" and turned out to be scrumptious. Dom Brial really put together a nice fun looking label for the bottle. I could see it doing well in the stores. 

It really turned out to be a great event at Inferno's. Fern and I are looking forward to the next wine dinner on Thursday November the 19th. The wines have been selected and the menu is almost done. We will post more information as soon as I get it.

Fern and I were lucky to experience quite a few vineyards.  Here's a rundown of some of the stops we made:

First stop was definitely the most exciting and memorable. Calona, Sandhill and Peller Estate are situated a couple of blocks north of downtown Kelowna. The wine from the three wineries are all made in the same complex. Fern and I knew Howard Soon,  the winemaker, and he took us on a tour of the vineyard.

The Wineries awards at the 2009 Fall Okanagan Wine Festival

There were an additional 8 wines that won bronze for Sandhill/Peller Estates

CedarCreek Estate Winery

Cedar Creeks "Desert Ridge" vineyard property near Osoyoos.

Cedar Creek was also one of the "must see"  vineyards. A customer had turned us on to Cedar Creek Platinum Chardonnay a few years ago. When we saw that they won Best White Wine for their 2008 Riesling we knew that we had to taste it.  The Riesling was just as good as the judges said. So we picked up a couple of bottles of Riesling and some Platinum Chardonnay. They gave us a sample of a fortified wine product they called "M". It was made in the medeira style and was absolutely fantastic (also priced at a whopping $65.00 a bottle). We did grab a case of it to put in our cellars. Cedar Creek also won Gold for it's 2008 Ehrenfelser,  2008 Pinot Gris and  2008 Riesling.

Quail's Gate Winery

 Sign at the front gate

Grapes still on vines at Quail's Gate

View from Quail's Gate wine shop's balcony

Quail's Gate Winery is absolutely beautiful. The restaurant's patio would be one of the coolest lunch spots during summer in the valley. We didn't have to much time at this vineyard but I was glad that I was able to stop and take some pictures. The Quail's Gate Gold medal winner that we bought was their 2008 Chasselas, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris blend. They also won Silver for the 2008 Chenin Blanc, 2007 Stewart Family Reserve Pinot Noir and 2008 Pinot Noir.   We were excited to go to the Old Vines Restaurant in Quail's Gate Vineyards. When we arrived we found out that between 2:30pm and 5:00pm they only serve a limited Tapas menu. It was a little disappointing, but we ate a few tapas that were really good.  I would like to go back and check out the full menu on my next trip to the Okanagan.

More to come.....

 Chris