IVWA Dinner: Kensington Riverside Inn

On Wednesday night, the IVWA crowd headed to the Kensington neighbourhood in Calgary to have dinner at the Kensington Riverside Inn. And it was a truly great evening.

We were joined for the evening by Paula Oreskovich from the Wine Institute of California and representatives from several California wineries and Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP). In attendance was Rebecca Robinson from ZAP, Kevin Lefort from E&J Gallo Winery, Camille Seghesio from Seghesio Winery, Scott Montgomery from Delicato Family Vineyards and Tannis Elliott from Bonterra.

We spoke to a few of our judges, to get their impressions of the wines brought to dinner by the California vintners. Some standouts were the Bonterra 2008 Sauvignon Blanc and the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, the Sonoma Cutrer 2005 Pinot Noir, the 337 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon and the Seghesio Rockpile 2007 Zinfandel.

As for the food, the Kensington Riverside Inn shortened the menu and upped the options. There were three courses, and diners were able to select their first and second course.

First course: Artisan Greens - beef carpaccio, candied pecans, shaved manchego cheese, citrus vinaigrette

or

Albacore Tuna Tartare - cucumber gelée, avocado, lotus root chips, yuzu soy dressing, micro shiso

Second course: Fillet of Certified Angus Beef - agria potato roesti, sautéed rapini, roasted king oyster mushroom, tomato confit, truffle essence

or

Yukon Arctic Char - organic quinoa, haricot vert, niçoise olive, fresno prepper, saffron vinaigrette

Dessert: Pineapple Tarte Tatin - sable pastry, mascarpone sorbet

The Wine Access staff favoured the tuna tartar and the angus beef, but some of us had the artisan greens and the arctic char.

Overall, everyone really enjoyed their meals. The consensus was that the food was well-prepared and creative - it was also nice to see some beef after a lot of lamb.

To see more photos from the Kensington Riverside Inn dinner, visit the Wine Access flickr page.