Last weekend I went to the Taste of North Garden Winemakers Dinner with my mother in law! Here’s the recap.
I love a theme dinner!
This past Friday night, I took my mother in law to the Taste of North Garden Winemakers Dinner as a belated 70th birthday gift! She lives in North Garden, where Thomas grew up, so this was the perfect setting for us to enjoy dinner together!
The dinner paired wines and ciders from Wisdom Oak Winery, Loving Cup Vineyard & Winery, and Albemarle Ciderworks along with food prepared by local North Garden Chef, Ian Rubenoff. Ian and Thomas were elementary school classmates!
Taste of North Garden Winemakers Dinner
We arrived at Albemarle Ciderworks on a cool, foggy evening and were greeted with a glass of brut d’albemarle.
Hors d’Oeuvres
Smoked Alaskan salmon dip on a rye cracker with cherry compote.
Wine Pairings
Paired with the brut and the sparking rosé brute nature from Wisdom Oak.
Remarks
We heard some remarks from the winemakers and toasted to the North Garden community.
First Course
Blue crab stuffed roasted portobello with baby greens (from Ian’s mom’s garden!) and an avocado and cherry tomato salad on top. Loved this and ate every bite!
Wine Pairings
Paired with the Loving Cup White and the Royal Pippin Cider.
Second Course
Crispy pork belly with chipotle honey served with a charred leek and mushroom tamale and garlicky greens. This was one of the best pork belly dishes I’ve ever had! I love tamales, too.
Wine Pairings
Wisdom Oak’s Cabernet Franc and the Loving Cup Red. I loved both reds, as they were “very Virginia” in the best way!
Dessert Course
My favorite course!! We were served a walnut buckwheat toffee cake with a rhubarb dulce de leche and a cream cheese ice cream. The ice cream was perfectly melty and tasted like cheesecake! I was obsessed and wish I could have it on the regular.
Wine Pairings
With the toffee cake we enjoyed a Virginia Maiden Cyser, which is a cider meade collab with Black Heath Meadery out of Richmond.
Such a special dinner – I hope we can do it again next year!
