THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9504270037
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F8 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: THE HUMBLE STEWARD
SOURCE: JIM RAPER
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
THE LUCKY STAR Restaurant in Virginia Beach threw quite a party last month to celebrate the fine wines of Napa's Joseph Phelps Vineyards.
It was memorable for several reasons, one of which was the flight of Phelps wines we were served. They ranged from the cranberry-clean 1993 Vin du Mistral Grenache Rose ($10) to the mature and rich 1988 Cabernet Sauvignon Backus Vineyard ($30).
The food, too, was anything but dull. While guests milled about in the dining room, sipping wine and chatting, the wait staff streamed from the kitchen - steadily, for a full 90 minutes - delivering trays of tasty finger foods.
Bustling in the kitchen were four of the region's best chefs: the Lucky Star's own Amy Brandt, Todd Jurich of Bistro! in Norfolk, Sam McGann of The Blue Point Bar and Grill in Duck, N. C., and Meredith Nichols of the Kitchen at Powhatan Plantation in Williamsburg.
Brandt and her partner, Butch Butt, invited the three guest chefs and plotted an evening of kitchen creativity. The starter trays, for instance, cradled cornmeal pizza with garlic, greens, bacon, tomatoes and fontina cheese.
Among the offerings were marinated frog legs with curry mayonnaise, Oriental barbecued duck on sushi rice, sauteed rabbit liver, grilled wild mushrooms on polenta with smoked tomato aioli, barbecued rabbit, and carpaccio of venison with enoki mushrooms.
The smokey, gamey and earthy flavors of the creations mated well with the robust reds of Phelps, which were presented by Tom Shelton, the winery's director of sales and marketing. In addition to the the Backus cab, we tasted the 1992 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley ($20) and the 1990 Vin du Mistral Mourvedre ($14). SMELLAVISION IS HERE
Did you ever wonder when you sniff a cabernet sauvignon whether you're smelling the aromas of bell pepper, cherry and cedar that the experts say is there? Do you hold your stem up to the light and examine the color of your wine, never sure what you're looking for?
If your answers are ``yes,'' I have news for you: SmellaVision.
The apparatus furnished by St. Supery Winery in the Napa Valley is in Hampton Roads to educate us about the appearances and aromas of wines.
SmellaVision displays various colors of a particular varietal, such as cabernet sauvignon, and squirts whiffs of aromas, such as cedar, to help us identify styles of wines and their smells.
Broudy-Kantor Co., the Norfolk-based wine distributor, is hosting SmellaVision until early July. The apparatus will be at East of Napa wine shop (call 463-0212) in Virginia Beach from May 1 through May 14, before being moved on to Williamsburg, Richmond and Charlottesville. by CNB