On the Road with the Grape Guy
Report from - Huffs 6 Barrels for 6 Chefs July 8, 2010
10 Jul 2010- Details
- Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
“We read your blog today about the 2007 event to find out what to wear,” the man in the long khaki pants told me, the woman with him, in a black knee-length dress, nodded in agreement.
“Had I known it was gonna be this hot I would have told you as little as possible,” I responded. It was a hot evening here in the County, where Huff Estates Winery welcomed 6 chefs to pair food with 6 barrels of new unfinished wine. For the record, I was dressed in shorts, a golf shirt and sandals.
“We’ve gone from one extreme to another,” said owner Lanny Huff, referring back to last year’s torrential downpour, “but it adds a different dynamic every year.”
This is the fourth year that Huff has hosted this fabulous In-the-Vineyard walk around dining event for wine and food lovers. The concept is simple: Huff invites 6 chefs from different parts of Ontario to match a dish with 6 unfinished, still in barrel, County wines – 3 Chardonnays (Huff) and 3 Pinot Noirs (Norman Hardie). It’s an informal walk through the vineyard dine and drink event. Followed by dessert and coffee back on the winery patio. This year’s dessert was supplied by The Bloomfield Carriage House Restaurant (Gooseberry Turnover with Elderflower Cream along with Fifth Town Cheese (who brought three varieties along) and all were paired with Huff’s 2007 First Frost ‘dessert’ wine. What a decadent night, and all without having to put on a tie and dress pants.
The chefs in attendance this year were Michael Potter (Picton), Ryan Crawford (Niagara), Steve Mitton (Ottawa), Chris McDonald (Toronto), Bryan Steele (Strafford) and Hiro Yoshida (Toronto). The wines were pulled out of different barrels with different toast levels, of different ages and from different cooperage houses – but all were French – and all were meant to show the difference a barrel makes on the same wine (all the wines were from the 2009 vintage and all were made using 100% County fruit).
The Food …
(to read on and see pictures of the event click here)
