Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/793596
18 / the tasting panel / march 2017 THE MESSAGE Wine Director Philip Dunn pours the Château Palmer 1979 at Spago in Beverly Hills, CA. I n truth, I had never heard of Australia Day until recently attending a wine-paired dinner at Gwen in Hollywood, CA, on the eve of said holiday. But after the experience, it will never be forgotten. The dinner consisted of four protein-centric courses and a fifth dessert course, "made with passion fruit that I actually grew myself," said Chef Curtis Stone. If you've not seen the strapping Aussie on Top Chef Masters, go see him in person at Gwen, but be prepared to get a kink in your neck. Not to worry though, his formidable size is counterbalanced by a gentle, lighthearted carriage. After a warm welcoming, Stone jokes, "It's not a difficult job being an ambassador for something you love as much as your own country." The landscape of the table changed from a traffic jam of melt-in-your-mouth (housemade) charcuterie into a clean, citrusy Glacier 51 Toothfish (a brand of seabass), to Thomas Farms South Australian lamb Denver ribs, which, for me, immediately became a new benchmark version of the dish. All of these were paired thought- fully with Australian wine, poured blind, only to be revealed at the end of the meal. The Voyager Estate 2012 Chardonnay from Margaret River went swimmingly with the fish, just as the Tyrrell 2013 Vat 9 Shiraz from Hunter Valley did with the lamb shoulder. "We worked with Fahara [Gwen's Sommelier, Fahara Zamorano] who very carefully selected this wine to go with all this won- derful cuisine," said Aaron Ridgway, Head of Americas Market for Wine Australia. The most intriguing pairing of the night: a beef tartare with cured egg yolk, shiso and focaccia made with Thomas Foods South Australian Angus pure beef paired with Pressing Matters 2012 R9 Riesling from Tasmania— both offering an incredible depth of complementary flavors, both tinged with diesel. —Jessie Birschbach The meat and charcuterie counter at Gwen, most of it imported from Australia. Extra Extraordinary T hose who've dined at Wolfgang Puck's Spago in Beverly Hills know it's already a very special dining experience, unparalled in Los Angeles. But somehow, Wine Director Phillip Dunn has found a way to make it all the more extraordi- nary. Two, maybe three times a year, Dunn gets together with a winemaker or winery representative and, of course, the chef to create a six-course meal pairing for an intimate group of about 20 of Spago's wine VIPs. In the back half of 2016, Dunn and Château Palmer's European Export Director Chris Myers did just that, center- ing around Château Palmer's 1970, 1979, 1990 and 2000 vintages, in addition to Palmer's Alter Ego and their rare white unicorn wine, typically only sold at the Château (usu- ally made from Muscadelle, Lauzet and Sauvignon Gris— atypical for a white Bordeaux). Says Dunn, "Palmer is truly an amazing property. As a third growth, it certainly drinks above its station. The '79 was probably the biggest surprise for the room. The first vintage of Palmer I ever had was '79, and when Christopher Meyers mentioned this as being one of his favorite vintages of Palmer, I knew this was something special. It's a vintage that is often overlooked in Bordeaux. That said, all of the wines showed really well. In a way, it was almost like serving four decades of Palmer." As for what's in store for the future, says Dunn, "It'd be awesome to bring Piero Antinori and Chef Wolfgang Puck together, or do something like a Champagne Pol Roger pair- ing serving only Cuveé Sir Winston Churchill." I swooned at these prospects, simultaneously jealous of those lucky enough to receive the invite. —J. B. Meating Australia