I was no April Fool and started the month at the Wine and Food Festival at Disney California Adventure.
For a full report on this month long event go check out the Weekly Disneyland Resort Update for April 4-10. This will give you all the ins and outs as this is a major event. I will focus on wine tastings and pairing them with food in this article.
The Festival Market
Along the corridor between The Carthay Circle Restaurant and the entrance to Paradise Pier are eight booths. Five of them offer food and wine pairings. The remaining three booths are Wine Flight, Beer Flight and Mexican Food with Michelada. I focused on the food and wine pairings. Disney has paired wines with the food for you and I followed their choices until I got to the dessert. I also attended the Silverado Wine tasting event held on the Sonoma Terrace adjacent to the Wine Country Trattoria.
I went on the first day so there was a learning curve. I heard they ran out of food at some booths but my timing was fine and I had no problem. The cast members were not yet sure of their products. Make sure you order the full name and varietal of wine. The first wine I ordered I just said the name of the white grape; “Grüner Veltliner” and she repeated the name of the red wine on offering. I corrected her by saying “I would like the white wine; the Zocker Grüner Veltliner, please” She quickly changed my order. Also keep in mind that if you want to try many wines and don't want to drink the listed 5 oz. pour you may also ask for the unlisted 3 oz. pour. Disneyland pours 5 oz. at the The Wine Country Trattoria and I noticed that the Food & Wine Festival offerings are priced a few dollars less than what they are priced at the restaurants. Many of the wines offered at this event are served at the Disneyland Resort but there are also offerings from many winemakers not represented currently at the parks.
My training has always stressed the adage; Wine is food. While all wines are fine on their own they are meant to enhance the food and vice versa. All good sommeliers know food and all good chefs know wine. Since I have recently moved down south from San Francisco I thought it was fitting that I started with the booth entitled.…
By the Bay
Chilled Shrimp and Snow Crab Cocktail with Zocker Grüner Veltliner. Photo by Todd Pickering.
Grüner Veltliners are not as popular in California as they are in Austria where they hail from. The California versions tend to be a lighter and less floral stye than their delicious European cousins. So I was delighted to get a peachy and honey-suckle nose but I was disappointed in the palate of the wine which was quite crisp and citrusy. I suggest tasting the wine before the food and then pair it up to taste the difference. The cocktail seemed rather smallish but it had a great deal of shrimp in it. The crab claw was a lovely presentation but a bit hard to eat. I was glad I was in the shade away from the booth as I made a bit of a mess getting all of that delicious meat out of the claw. I felt like there was too much onion biting into the cocktail but the Grüner Veltliner with it's crisp, clean acidity did cut nicely through that flavor. A nice pairing after all. The next booth I hit was.…
The Farm
Roasted Vegetable Thai Curry over Jasmine Rice with Trimbach Gewürtzraminer. Photo by Todd Pickering.
My next stop was at The Farm booth and I got to talking with the woman in front of me. We both chose the Vegetable Curry and the Gewürtzraminer. So we compared notes. The Gewürtzraminer was more complex than the previous Zocker I had tried. It had a tasty toasty and vanilla nose that reminded me of a french pastry shop and maybe that was because this wine is a French Alsacian wine, one of the few that isn't California I found on my Adventure. My dining companion thought the curry was a bit hot but I found it quite mild. The shaved coconut over the top went nicely with the wine's vanilla flavors and the floral qualities of the wine also paired nicely with the Jasmine Rice. This was a very good pairing we decreed.
Raja Fasheh and Diana Campos dressed for the opening day. Photo by Todd Pickering
Then I met Raja and Diana, who were dressed in the style of Disney's Ratatouille ( the film, not the dish!). They had purchased all of the food from The Farm booth and that is another way to go too. Diana made their chef toque and ears and it was great fun seeing people dressed up. So I had to get their picture and they were happy to oblige. Raja is holding the Tenderloin Slider with Smoked BBQ Sauce while Diana happily shows off her Meyer Lemon Macaron. (Up until this article I didn't know that Macaron was a variant of Macaroon. Never too old to learn.)
Silverado Wine Tasting
Before the wine tasting. Photo by Todd Pickering.
There are three tastings (either wine, beer or spirits) on Fridays and four on the weekend days. I attended the tasting hosted by Silverado winery which was started by Ron Miller and Diane Disney Miller in the 1970s. These tastings are all priced at 15 dollars which I think is a great deal for a seminar and three tastings. Reservations are strongly recommended, and you can make them on line. Sitting in the shade and sipping wine was definitely a nice respite.
Winemaker Jonathan Emmerich. Photo by Todd Pickering.
Jonathan Emmerich was the wine maker, and he poured three wines which were all sold in the park. He was down to earth and very easy to talk to, and answered many questions. These were definitely more of a beginner wine tasting but the couple I waited with had an extensive cellar and they said “You always learn something at every tasting” After the seminar he stepped aside to pass out cards and invite people to the winery and we had a nice chat about baseball, the Bay Area restaurant scene, and wines in general. He really took time with everyone and overall I think this is the best deal at the Food & Wine Festival.
The wines we tasted. Photo by Todd Pickering.
These are the three wines we tasted with some quick notes (easier than trying to read my placemat).
2014 Sauvignon Blanc — Very crisp and clean and definitely a quaffing wine. No herbaceous or citrusy flavors typical with a Sauvignon Blanc. Aged in steel and does not sit in oak barrels.
2012 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon — Smoky and cherry in the nose. Soft tannins with even lighter strawberry and violet flavors. For a Cabernet I found it to be very soft and not very complex even though 2012 was an excellent year. I will say that this is a great first time wine for stepping up into a Cabernet Sauvingnon.
2011 Fantasia, 60% Sangiovese and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon — This was a much more complex wine with tobacco and earth notes and oak and big jammy blackberry fruit. A lot going on. Delicious. And the name of the wine is not pronounced like the Disney movie but in a more correct Italian manner Fahn-Tah-SEE-Ah. Who knew?
After the wine tasting. Photo by Todd Pickering.
And now back to the Festival Marketplaces. I resumed my tastings by another aptly named Bay Area booth.…
Gold Rush
Triple Cheese Mac with Smoked Chicken and MacMurray Ranch Pinot Noir. Photo by Todd Pickering.
The MacMurray Ranch Pinot Noir had almost no detectable nose. Granted the smoky and cheesy aromas coming from the food was getting in the way of my sniffer so I gave up and drank the Pinot Noir. It was very light with bright cherry taste. I could have tossed that back. The Mac and Cheese was good with some very rich and nutty cheese flavors and the smoked chicken certainly elevated the dish. A nice couple across from me at the table began discussing the over exposure of Mac and Cheese and we all three sort of concluded that maybe it was time to retire this dish. They also found the Pinot Noir to be a bit light. We sort of dubbed this Mac and Cheese and Kool-Aid pairing. We laughed, ate, and drank. And then we all sort of came around and decided that this pairing brought out the kid in all of us and after all we were at Disney California Adventure. Sharing food and wine at these stand up tables near the booths really added to the whole experience and I was really in full swing and enjoying myself. Now it was off to…
Wine Country
Zinfandel-braised Wagyu Beef, Blackberry Galette and Oro-Black Pearl Red Wine Blend. Photo by Todd Pickering.
The wine was an 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Shiraz blend from South Africa. It has a nice spicy nose with blueberry and peppery notes. It was a perfect complement with beef especially braised in wine. I didn't really get any wine braised flavors in the Wagyu but it was tender and juicy and the bed of polenta was cooked perfectly with the just the right amount of creaminess. I believe the green dolop was pea puree to enhance the fresh peas of the dish. The galette looked more tart-like than galette-like. The cast member called it a tart and seemed confused by my order. The pastry shell was chewy and flavorless and the while the blackberries were bursting with flavor it was just fruit in a shell. The rosemary blended in with the fruit was a nice touch. I was very disappointed with this so had to try another dessert over in…
LA Style
Milk Chocolate Caramel Tart and Mellowood Vineyards Syrah. Photo by Todd Pickering.
Here I went off book and ordered the Mellowood Vineyards Syrah with my Chocolate Tart. The wine had a nice blackberry fruit and came across the palate bold but then finished soft. Not terribly complex but I hoped that it would pair nicely with the tart. Sometimes after a meal I want some wine and dessert but feel that despite the many lovely pairings of dessert wines and pastry, I find I don't want that much sugar. One of my favorite pairings is a regular(not dessert) red wine with a chocolate dessert. They complement each other beautifully. I prefer dark chocolate but a true gourmet milk chocolate is rich and full and this tart did not disappoint. The Syrah cut into a beautifully balancing the end of the day perfectly.
Remember there are no wrong choices. One of my amazing sommelier friends always says “Drink what you like” Don't be afraid to mix and match and try different things. Some of the most memorable tastings I have had have made me say things like “Hey, I don't like overly oaked wines” or “I don't like red wine at all”. This is the kind of thing you can learn about yourself at Food and Wine Tastings and you may even make a friend or too. Bon apetit and Cheers!
