Every once in a while my boss sends us out to our monthly wine dinners. These are great opportunities to meet our customers, try some of our wines, enjoy amazing dinners prepared by well known Chef’s in the area, and best yet, try our wines paired with food.
These dinners are usually a lot of fun, but you end up leaving very stuffed (which is definitely not a bad thing if the food was great…and usually it is!!).
This week I attended our Annual Cassoulet Wine Dinner at Mediterranee in Great Falls, VA. Mediterranee is a very well known restaruant in the area and the Chef is definitely one of the most creative, and innovative Chef’s I’ve met. He’s adventurous and puts foods together in dishes that I would never even think of!
Cassoulet, in case you didn’t know, is a very rich, slow cooked bean stew that originated in the south of France. It usually contains meats like sausage, pork, duck, goose, and always contains white harricot beans. I have only had cassoulet once before, and I had heard so much about Chef Jacques Cassoulet so I knew I was in for a treat.
The restaurant itself is small and cozy and resembles a quaint restaurant in the south of France. I feel at home for some reason as soon as I walk in. The atmosphere is very warm and welcoming.
The dinner starts with some introductions from the 2 wine importers, and of course the Chef and owner, Jacques Imperato.
I have to say I was pretty excited to try Jacque’s Cassoulet after hearing so much about it, but the first and last course looked pretty amazing as well!
Jacque started the night with a Goat Cheese Lasagna with Eggplant topped with a Tapenade of Breadcrumbs, Mesclun Salad, Homemade Red Wine Vinegar, and Sun Dried Tomato Chutney.
This particular dish was paired with a very light Rioja and wine that was a little bit heavier from Provence region in France. The dish was absolutley incredible. Very thin layers of noodles with just the right amount of goat cheese, and the entire thing had a nice combination of savory and sweet. I preferred the dish with the Rioja Laukote.
The Main course and the star of the show was Chef Jacque’s Toulouse Cassoulet. I can’t even tell you what was in this, but there were about 4 different types of meats, and all of them just fell right off the bone. It was hearty, thick, and absolutely delicious.
And in case you can’t see it as well…here is a picture with flash. This was definitely a dish you needed to take your time with.
The Cassoulet was paired with a Ribera Del Duero and a Minervois from Domaine Pierre Cros. I thought both wines showed extremely well with the dish. They weren’t over powering, but they held up to all the meats and complimented them well.
Our last and final course was the dessert. Chef Jacque put together one of the most unique desserts I’ve ever tried, and probably one of the best. This was a Chocolate Fondant, with Onion, Rosemary, and Prune in Phyllo dough with Fig Sauce, Croquet of Dark Chocolate and Red Coulis.
I mean look at this dessert…really look at it!
The onions inside were sweet and caramelized, there was a hint of rosemary, and the chocolate just brought in the most pleasant cocoa flavor to the entire thing. It was such an interesting blend of flavors in my mouth, but a truly wonderful sensation. This dessert was paired with the same wines as the Cassoulet, and to be honest they worked in perfect harmony. It was outstanding.
Chef Jacque always does such an incredible job preparing these dinners, and I was truly honored that I was able to attend. It was a fantastic meal!
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