This past Wednesday I drove into the city early to attend an event featuring wines from the Rhône Valley, hosted by the Rhone Valley Wines of France in a large event space on Mulberry St. On the email invite, it was explained obscurely as a "journey of the senses" and something about a "3D Box." The weirdness of the invitation made it a gamble to take the 1.5 hrs drive that day, but luckily my gut was dead on. The event ended up being the most bizarre and fantastic experience i've ever had as a professional in the wine industry. The fact that it was free was icing on the cake! (｡♥‿♥｡)
It started out very mysteriously as a dark room with curtains. A man led me through to a white room or shall I say.. "box" with intense red lighting. It felt eerily like the last episode of Twin Peaks, sans the pimped-out midget. All the boy staff at this event were definitely male models working a banquet gig! I was given a pashmina and red sunglasses for no apparent reason. I took a seat at our rectangular dining table and waited curiously.
I felt a little like him at the beginning of all of this...
The mysterious "3D Box."
Here is where we all realize their are massive projectors on the outsides of these white "walls" which were actually enormous screens surrounding us. The fun begins!
Our yummy cultural clash of a menu… Their plan was to take us on a tour of each season in various nations, paired perfectly with Rhône wines to show their versatility as wine pairings with many different cuisines. Mexico/Summer was my favorite!!
It's snowing in Scandinavia! (We were all wondering what that wet basin on the floor was for…)
Mountains and houses surround us as we enjoy our amuse bouche and the first course.
Scandinavia/Winter: On the plate below are the amuse bouche. They are Rye and Bulgar crisps with fat, butter and ash. Also malted wheat dirt with pickled Brussels sprouts. The first course (above) was a perfectly poached egg with parsnip, nettle whey and farmsted cheese. These were paired with Luberon, Maison M. Chapoutier, La Ciboise, 2013 (white) and Costières de Nimes , Michel Gassier, Michel Gassier-Nostre Païs, 2011 (Red). The latter of the two wines had a funky, cheese like scent that overpowered everything else about the wine, but once paired with the egg and farmstead cheese, the wine was happy and at home… the funk settled and the complementary pairing worked wonders.
I am so in love with these gorgeous cherry blossoms! As well as the classic NYC lady facing the camera.
This photo catches the sakura blossoms fluttering away in the wind. These were not just static projections of pictures… these were full on animations (2 scenes per country/season) that go from morning to evening with the help of lighting and snow/rain machines. !!!
It's raining in Kyoto. Ahhh! :D
Japan/Spring: For this course, they presented the dish beautifully on circular textured plates with chopsticks. They featured Kombu Cured Tuna, Rice, Egg, Pickled Vegetables, Nori, Smoked Kombu Broth, and Fermented Tofu. The wine was Côtes du Rhône, Paul Jaboulet Aîné, Parallèle 45, 2011 (Red) and Crozes-Hermitage, Vidal Fleury, Lavau, 2012 (Red). These wines both went particularly well with the pickled vegetables and grapes. Matching the higher acid components to the acid in the wines helped them to express themselves aromatically a bit more.
The rain and dark lighting in Kyoto segued into a bright summer's day in Mexico. Don't you love all these industry snobs chilling out in their red sunglasses?
Mexico/Summer: My favorite course of all! (And Chef Russell Jackson's speciality). Deconstructed Mole: Poultry Roulade, Smoked Grains and Seeds, Rose Petal Mole, Tcho Bitter Chocolate, Pepper Raja and Chèvre Tamale. Served with Gigondas, Louis Mousset, Les Trois Couronnes, 2011 (Red) and Lirac, Ogier, Notre Dame de Cousignac, 2012 (Red). This was the best dish of the entire menu and the Louis Mousset Gigondas was the tastiest wine of them all. Although the wine/food pairing here did not knock my socks off, both the Gigondas and this dish sang so splendidly on their own I didn't mind the lack of pairing prowess.
Ahhh… beautiful! Fall in NYC! I was busy socializing as lovely leaves fell in the middle of the room, so I was only able to catch the vivid backdrops and the wet leaves floating after the fact…
NYC/Fall: Yum! So glad they decided to create dessert for my favorite season. No pumpkins! But some bourbon soaked apples were reminiscent of the season! The 3 dessert sections (From left to right) consisted of Modern Apple Pie - Wood's Hudson Bourbon Barreled Maple Brandied Cured Apples, Cinnamon Crumble, Malt Vinegary Creme & Citron Confit. Then a SCDNYC Almond Black & White Cookie and lastly the Modern Cheese Cake with Cheese Cake Curd, Vanilla Bean Gel, Graham Cracker Dust & Dehydrated Custard. Paired with Muscat de Beaumes de Venise Fenouillet, 2012 (White). These desserts were OUTRAGEOUSLY good!! The Muscat was the obvious sweet Rhône wine to pair with this dish, although it left me snoring. This combo didn't wow me, but the desserts alone did, so ultimately it was a success!
This unbelievable, painstakingly planned and EXPENSIVE production was an honor to be a witness of! This is part of a campaign funded by the European Union to emphasize and heighten our awareness of the quality of Southern Rhône wines (mostly Southern Rhône wines were featured, but no Châteauneuf-du-Pape). I suppose the Northern Rhône has already proved itself, with heavy hitter AOC's such as Côte Rôtie, Cornas and Hermitage. With this kind of effort to thrill and impress us wine buyers, we can't help but spread the word about how excellent and diverse Rhône Valley wines really are. But hey, when has pomp and circumstance ever failed to impress?