Slipstream - March 2006

Mavericks Become Winos
By Tinker Edwards
The social team of Tracey and Ed Gross took us to Tony’s Wine
Warehouse for a Wine Tasting and Gourmet dinner February
2nd. It was a sold out event with a wait list….way to go guys!
Part I
I’ve been to several wine tasting over the years – some too technical
to enjoy the class, some were a joke – this one was fun, learned a few good
tips about sparkling wine storage and wine glasses. The Wine Master kept
it light, humorous and a quick pace introducing us to approximately 20
wines…hey, after 10 tiny tastings I lost count…starting with a sparkling
Spanish wine, then to the whites, ending with the reds. While sampling
Photo by Wendy Shoffit
Everyone enjoyed themselves immensely.
Photo by Wendy Shoffit
Our Wine Master for the evening.
tasty. The bestest part is yet to come …Wendy, get ready…the Former
White House Executive Pastry Chef (Roland Mesnier) joined us – not
planned - for stories of his time at the White House, chefs he has trained
in Dallas and elsewhere, his travels AND……Wendy and I are both
lovers of chocolate… drumroll…two of his creations (several plates) are
placed on the table for us to eat….bread pudding drizzled with
chocolate…to die for…and a chocolate mousse creation that was
awesome. Side note: The day after the tasting I received my copy of Sur
La Table Spring Culinary Class Preview and guess who is featured as a
Celebrity Touring Chef for one of their classes….Roland Mesnier.
Thanks again Tracey and Ed for a very fun evening…and did I hear
y’all say there would be a fall tasting?
the wines, we had trays with ample amounts of paté, several cheeses, fruit
and bread.You would think that would be enough but ooooh no….wine
is poured, salad is served, wine is poured, slice of quiche is served, wine
is poured, pasta with chicken is served, at this writing several days later
I’m thinking we had a wine with a sampling of dessert but who’s keeping
track at this point…..and 30 out of 45 of us indicated we would stay for
the gourmet dinner when RSVPing..…
Part II
Most ended the evening after the tasting, some bought wines to
stock their wine cellars – ask Claire Lewis how she got home since Bob
bought a case of wine and they drove the P-car. The rest of us stayed for
dinner including the Lewises. The group dwindled down to about 15
who stayed to enjoy the restaurant menu. Even though I wasn’t in need
of more food my curiosity was peaked… Tony’s set up a table for us
among the boxes of wine…cozy. Orders taken, food served, I didn’t hear
any negative comments, I can tell you my crab cake appetizer was very
Photo by Wendy Shoffit
14
The wine flowed like water and the food was amazing!