Make Time for Calgary’s Vine and Dine

I finally got the chance to go to Vine and Dine the other night and was suitably impressed. For those that might not be familiar with Vine and Dine, this is a series of year-round Calgary dinner events hosted by CBC Radio’s Linda Garson. Vine and Dine puts together an evening centered around a multi-course meal that is paired with appropriate wines.

I’ve known Linda for years, but she finally had spots (her events routinely sell out) and I had an opening in my schedule. We were in.

So Tuesday, June 29 the Wine Access Managing Editor Abby Miller and I were off to Escoba for our inaugural Vine and Dine experience.

Coaxed to arrive at around 6:30, we were early and had a chance to see how things work from the very beginning. Linda was the consummate host, welcoming familiar faces as they arrived (most seemed to be returning guests or frequent attendees) and just before 7 pm, we started getting settled.

For the benefit of the new people, we were quickly walked through the plan for the evening and introduced to the restaurant owner, the servers we had for the evening, and with a flurry of activity, the first wine was poured and the first course brought out.

The Menu at Escoba

Spinach & Feta Spring Rolls with Sweet Chile Aioli and Calabrese Wrapped Prawns with Grainy Crème Fraiche paired with Tin Roof Rose (around $17)

In my humble opinion, the Tin Roof Rose is a tough wine to pair, but stood up well as it warmed up to the spring rolls, while the Calabrese wrapped prawn virtually killed the wine.

Escoba Signature Mushroom Soup with Parmesan and Herbed Croutons paired with Cooralook Pinot Noir (around $21)

The mushroom soup is worth keeping an eye out for – incredible with the pinot noir, which itself was delicious. I am not the biggest fan of mushroom soup, but our whole table was raving about it.

Grilled Salmon with Couscous and Tropical Fruit Salad with Los Vascos Chardonnay (about $17)

The salmon was spectacular, and even better with the Los Vascos chardonnay from Chile. Definitely my standout pairing for the evening.

Marinated & Grilled Flank Steak with Arugula Salsa alongside Kingston Estate Petit Verdot (about $16)

The flank steak was very tasty and just beat the hell of the Kingston Estate, which seemed to lack the mid palate demanded by the very flavourful meat. The steak was very good though.

Braised Bison Short Rib Linguini, Wild Mushroom & Truffle Demi-Cream paired with Batasiolo Barolo (about $35)

Delicious, absolutely delicious. Both the wine and the dish were rich, earthy, and flavourful.

Chocolate Franjelico Cheesecake, Raspberry Coulis and Hazelnut Cigar with, what else? Franjelico.

Sadly, I have a hazelnut allergy, which meant that I had to stare at this course rather than try it. The others at the table seemed to enjoy it and I had no problems sharing it.

The courses came out in good time, with great presentation and most importantly, tasted delicious. As with any wine and food pairing events, there is some disagreement over which are the best matches, the pretty good matches and the ones that might not be the best.

Linda puts on a great show with the perfect blend of wine knowledge, some great pairings and a complete lack of snobbery or wine mystique. I would highly recommend these events, they’re perfect for a night out or a special occasion and I hope to attend another Vine and Dine in the near future.

See you there!

Tom