2018 September PASO Magazine
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TASTE OF <strong>PASO</strong><br />
Winemakers’ Cookoff:<br />
A Judge’s Perspective<br />
T<br />
he Winemakers’ Cookoff<br />
tops the list of my favorite<br />
Paso food and wine events.<br />
So I was honored to be invited<br />
by Gary Eberle, the event’s mastermind,<br />
and his wife Marcy<br />
to join the judging panel for a<br />
second time.<br />
There was no lacking in creativity<br />
at the 20th Annual Cookoff<br />
presented by Paso Robles Rotary<br />
at the Event Center. The themes<br />
went global ranging from Peruvian,<br />
Spanish and Italian to Greek<br />
fare presented by toga-clad servers.<br />
All culinary dishes were, of course,<br />
paired with local wines and brews.<br />
There was no lacking<br />
in creativity at the<br />
20th Annual Cookoff<br />
presented by Paso Robles<br />
Rotary at the<br />
Event Center.<br />
Inside the judge’s enclave I was<br />
joined by fellow judges Robert<br />
Whitley, Brigit Binns, William<br />
Bloxsom-Carter and Michael<br />
Cervin as we got ready for an onslaught<br />
of sliders, tacos, ribs and<br />
burgers — a daunting albeit delicious<br />
task of savoring some 20<br />
dishes, one small bite at a time.<br />
We were handed two sets of lists<br />
with descriptions of the dishes,<br />
but not all included the name of<br />
the chef or restaurant. There were<br />
nine professional chefs and 11 in<br />
the amateur category. Each dish<br />
accompanied a local wine or beer.<br />
Starting with the professional<br />
category, a highlight was chef<br />
Jeffry Wiesinger’s pairing with<br />
Diablo Paso Winery, a delectable<br />
chicken and sausage paella accompanied<br />
with albariño-poached<br />
shrimp, to which the mustard<br />
cream/pesto drizzle added an extra<br />
kick. Diablo Paso’s 2014 tempranillo<br />
crafted from Napa Valley<br />
fruit proved to be a perfect match.<br />
The sensory experience went up<br />
a notch with the accompanying<br />
smoked chocolate mousse, a<br />
luscious dessert with a lingering<br />
smoky finish.<br />
Rio Seco Winery’s take on<br />
the Mardi Gras was a zinfandel<br />
accompanying chefs Brandi<br />
Mathews and Jacob Bartunek’s<br />
classic Cajun crawfish tail cream<br />
sauce layered on pasta and smoked<br />
andouille sausage, topped with a<br />
cheddar jalapeño hush puppy that<br />
titilated my palate with one-two<br />
punch and crunch.<br />
The Earth & Fire Brewing<br />
Company teamed up with<br />
Pappy McGregor’s to whip up<br />
mini-burgers made from homegrown<br />
lamb fed with spent grain<br />
from the brewing process.<br />
Chulos Cafe’s chef Luis Ruiz<br />
delivered a spoon-sized creation of<br />
Japanese-spiced tuna tartare resting<br />
atop lime-scented potato purée —<br />
which impressed us all. The dish<br />
was close to perfection savored with<br />
Derby Wine Estate’s 2014 albariño<br />
and grenache blanc blend.<br />
The sensory experience<br />
went up a notch with the<br />
accompanying smoked<br />
chocolate mousse, a luscious<br />
dessert with a lingering<br />
smoky finish.<br />
Penman Springs Vineyard<br />
paired its 2014 petite sirah with<br />
chipotle sauce-lathered twicecooked<br />
baby back pork ribs by Odyssey<br />
World Cafe chefs Jill Cook<br />
and Wilbur Saucedo; and CaliPaso’s<br />
chef Christopher Krotke added<br />
a crunchy twist to the classic<br />
Cannoli by stuffing it with smoked<br />
oxtail and pork belly paired with<br />
CaliPaso’s tempranillo.<br />
Among the amateur category,<br />
we sampled chef Jason Joyce’s<br />
Calcareous wine-marinated and<br />
deliciously caramelized spareribs<br />
nestled atop a Greek salad, served<br />
with the 2016 Calcareous Lily<br />
Blanc, a white Rhône blend.<br />
Gary Eberle’s flame-kissed Paso<br />
paella was cooked over oak flames,<br />
redolent with fragrant saffron and<br />
loaded with chunks of chicken,<br />
shrimp, pork and three types of<br />
sausage served with Eberle cabernet<br />
sauvignon.<br />
Chef Brenen Bonetti’s offered<br />
bite size spicy potato chip topped<br />
with smoked brisket, queso foam<br />
and grilled pineapple served with<br />
Tooth and Nail Winery’s red<br />
Rhône style blend.<br />
Gelfand Vineyards had a Blues<br />
Brother theme going with chef<br />
Dan Meineke’s grilled pastrami<br />
on a slice of toasty rosemary sourdough<br />
— flavors that were sweet,<br />
hot and smoky in one bite. And<br />
Glunz Family dished up a taste<br />
of Chicago in the form of pizza<br />
puffs served with grilled sausage<br />
and onions with Gelfand’s Dusi<br />
Vineyard zinfandel.<br />
Overall the dishes were<br />
ambitious and impressive<br />
After two hours of judging, my<br />
palate reflected mostly hits and<br />
few misses, for example, a dish<br />
begging for a hint of acid here or<br />
tweaking of spice there, but overall<br />
the dishes were ambitious and<br />
impressive.<br />
In the professional category<br />
we voted Diablo Paso and Jeffry’s<br />
Wine Country BBQ as the winner,<br />
followed by Derby Wine Estates<br />
and Rio Seco in third place,<br />
with honorable mention for Earth<br />
& Fire Brewing Company.<br />
42 | pasomagazine.com <strong>PASO</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong>, <strong>September</strong> <strong>2018</strong>
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