Smile Politely

Last night’s wine dinner at Hamilton Walker’s was pretty amazing

My spouse and I did a little splurging last night and attended a wine dinner featuring Duckhorn Vineyards at Hamilton Walker’s. It was $140 a person, so certainly not something we can do every week (and they obviously don’t have these every week), but the indulgence was worth it. 

Photo by Julie McClure.

The meal was five courses, prepared by Chef Zach Schweig, that were painstakingly paired with the five wines presented by the rep from Duckhorn. Schweig pointed out that each dish was specially prepared just for this dinner. They are not on the regular menu, and likely will not be. The pinnacle of the meal was a Wagyu steak that was perfectly medium rare, but my photo just couldn’t capture how wonderful it was. Preceding the steak was a seafood pot pie with a flaky and buttery puff pastry over a broth filled to the brim with about seven different kinds of seafood, and a decadent mushroom “lasagna” with flour tortillas in place of noodles, and Brussel sprouts topped with pork belly. 

Photo by Julie McClure.

Photo by Julie McClure.

Chef Zach went a little wild with dessert, which was a black truffle custard topped with bitter chocolate. It had a mixed review with the group overall, some loved it and some not so much. I do love black truffle, but I couldn’t decide if I was a fan of it in my dessert. 

It was a fun evening, with good company, and I am now realizing I really should have cleared my schedule today because I overdid it in the best sort of way. 

Top photo by Julie McClure.

Staff writer

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