One of the highlights of the Richmond food and wine calendar is Carver’s Winemaker’s Dinner at the Executive Hotel. The local steakhouse is well known for its great cuisine and personal service. But this special dinner was the icing on the cake!
Thanks to manager Michael Hajdukovich’s charm and organizational skills and chef Boban Kovachevich’s culinary talents, guests were treated to a stunning five-course gourmet dinner.
And with Inniskillin Okanagan winemaker Derek Kontkanen’s winemaking skills, we enjoyed five local wines that matched the food superbly.
Originally from Ontario, Kontkanen’s love of biology and chemistry and his parents’ penchant for fine wine combined to spark his interest in winemaking at an early age.
With experience as vineyard assistant at Inniskillin Niagara and a graduate degree in winemaking, he moved out to B.C. in 2004 to become assistant winemaker at Jackson-Triggs. In 2014 Kontkanen graduated to become winemaker at Inniskillin Okanagan. And his skills were amply displayed at the dinner.
The first course set the bar high for the rest of the evening. A grilled B.C. scallop and prawn with roasted strawberry, goat cheese cake, spinach, and roasted pistachios and cashews was teamed with the 2014 Inniskillin Pinot Grigio ($11.99).
The wine’s lively apple and citrus aromas and tropical flavours were a perfect foil for the elegant seafood.
The organic chicken breast, with quinoa, cranberries, almonds and pomegranate molasses, was paired with the Inniskillin Reserve Riesling ($12.19).
Off-dry with aromas and flavours of fruit, apricot and petrol and a stunning crisp acidity, the wine lifted a delicious course to greater heights. Riesling is a very underrated food wine.
Next we switched colours and savoured the Reserve Merlot ($14.79) with the breast of Fraser Valley duck with arugula, potato leek mash, and red pepper jelly. Merlot is probably B.C.’s best red and the Inniskillin version proved how good it could be with it’s toasty oak and plum flavours and a rich body and finish.
The fourth course was a charbroiled peppered strip baseball steak. Served medium rare with full bodied texture, seasonal veg, balsamic reduction, marsala sauce, red pepper emulsion, and potato gratin, it was paired with the Inniskillin Discovery Series Zinfandel ($22.49).
Zinfandel is California’s unique red wine, but Kontkanen’s team makes a delicious B.C.version. I loved its savoury and raspberry/ boysenberry character with cinnamon and licorice bundled up in a smooth texture.
A stunning climax to this gourmet evening was the Inniskillin Riesling Icewine ($30.49 200 mL bottle) and a Chilliwack Dairy Farm Cheese and Fruit Plate. Icewines are expensive! They can only be produced when the winter temperatures are −8 °C. To wait for temperatures to drop that low, the grapes are often left on the vines for several months after the normal fall harvest.
It’s a risky business leaving grapes into the cold season. And because the water in the grapes freezes, each grape produces only a drop of juice and therefore wine production is small. But the expense is worth the experience. Expect layers of intense honey, baked apple, sweet citrus, and apricot bouquet and flavour before giving way to an elegant and sweet finish.
Because of the icewine’s rich character, the chef was wise to serve the icewine with local cheese, pear and peach in a blackcurrant jelly. A dessert that is too sweet would diminish the icewine’s noble character.
It’s too late for this year, but it’s not too late for you to experience next year’s Carver’s Steakhouse Winemaker’s Dinner. In the meantime, pay a visit to enjoy their cuisine, wine, and hospitality.
Eric Hanson is a retired Richmond teacher and local wine expert. He can be reached at [email protected].
