This was a tough post to write. In our Riding Dirty tasting at VINE, Chris and Stephen stepped up, and really shocked us. Here was a restaurant that had covered some tough ground, changes in ownership, and had finally gone from overcoming a zero star review, to earning two stars. After tasting, and hanging with Chris and Stephen, this was a place I wanted to come back to- these guys get it.
The tough part of this post, is unfortunately, VINE closed this past Saturday.
Pairing
Food: Ginger Creme Brulee
Wine: 2007 Cloudline Pinot Noir (USA, Oregon)
An intriguing pairing. A rich, sweet, spicy dessert with a dry, light bodied wine. When pairing wine with dessert, the standard rule (which can be broken) is to make sure the wine is sweeter than the dessert- Otherwise the wine gets lost in the mix. In this pairing, the rules were broken, and the results were borderline psychedelic.
As Chris mentioned, a lot of OR Pinot Noir is packed with notes of ginger-- the ginger in the wine, and in the dessert, piggy-backed on each other to create an incredibly powerful build up of ginger flavor. Not only did it create a strong taste, but the way it built up with every bite and sip, was a real trip.
This was such a treat, and I wish I had given them a chance much earlier.
After their Riding Dirty entry, Chris brought out another treat- Truffled Popcorn with chives, and Petit Sirah- Another insane combo. I love popcorn and Champagne, but this combo would have never crossed my mind (especially not with Petit Sirah!)... The earthy, borderline funky, popcorn, and the big, young, ripe, muscular wine, just slapped you silly with a velvet glove.... Man...
Wherever Chris Reid and Stephen McGuffin show up next, I'm going.
