There’s a wine dinner happening this week that readers should find interesting.
La Vie en Rose in Brea, the home of French country dining, is presenting a Director’s Cut Wine and Food Dinner on Thursday. The wines are from Academy Award winning director and winery owner Francis Ford Coppola.
It’s interesting how Coppola became as well known for wines as for directing. But the history of his winery is even more interesting. A sea captain and Alaskan fur trader, Gustave Niebaum, founded Ingle-nook Winery in Napa Valley in 1880. He was an erudite and well-read man who envisioned creating wines in America that were as respected as those of Europe. During the next many decades, Niebaum turned Inglenook into that serious vineyard.
As an immigrant himself, Coppola was drawn to Niebaum’s story and purchased the old Inglenook property in 1975, renaming it Niebaum-Coppola.
Located in Rutherford, one of California’s magical cabernet sauvignon growing regions, the estate needed much work, which Coppola was willing to undertake. Today it is one of the most beautiful places in Napa Valley.
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Coppola zinfandel: La Vie en Rose holds Director’s Cut wine dinner |
Coppola restored the original feel of the property and vineyards and updated the original winemaking facility with the latest in vinification equipment.
Niebaum-Coppola rocketed to international fame with its flagship Rubicon wine, which garnered attention for its taste as much as it did for its famous owner. In deference to that easily recognizable name and the quality of this wine, Coppola renamed the winery once again, in 2006, to Rubicon Estates.
It was also in 2006 that Coppola extended his wine influence with the purchase of the Ch & #226;teau Souverain winery buildings in Sonoma (the vineyards were not for sale) and he began to make a new line of wines called Director’s Cut.
The wines have gotten good press and fine tasting reports. Certainly, it is what’s in the bottle that’s the bottom line, but this particular series also has eye-catching labeling. Coppola, in keeping with the director of films theme, designed a long and narrow label that encircles the bottle twice, representing a zoetrope, which produced the illusion of moving pictures in the 19th century.
The evening at La Vie en Rose begins with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Before getting into the Director’s Cut wines, Coppola’s Sofia Ros & #233; sparkling wine will be poured with the small bites of savories.
The first course of the dinner is a match of filet of sole stuffed with shrimp and topped with lobster sauce and Director’s Cut Chardonnay. The main entree is a duet of buffalo with red currant sauce and roasted duck breast with Calvados cream sauce, along with the Director’s Cut Zinfandel.
In the European manner of having a good digestive after the main course, a curly endive salad with both the wonderful St. Agur bleu cheese and Ektori Basque cheese will be served, matched with the Director’s Cut Cabernet Sauvignon.
Finally, the sweet essence of the evening unfolds with a pear clafouti enrobed in an English cream sauce spiked with pear liqueur. To sip with that will be the Sofia Blanc de Blanc Sparkling wine.
The evening is affordable at only $75, plus tax and tip. Call (714) 529-8333 for reservations. La Vie en Rose: 240 S. State College Blvd., Brea.
Monday Night Wine
In another good deal for the public, Five Crowns in Corona del Mar is offering special Monday Night Wine Menus. Making belt-tightening a little easier after the holidays, Five Crowns is offering a supplemental Monday night wine list with discounted prices. This list includes selections that have been dropped from the main wine list due to dwindling supply, surplus bottles from wine events and bottles that arrived with a missing or damaged label at a 20% to 40% discount.
Yet another nicety is that there are more than 20 half bottle choices covering some excellent sparkling and still wines.
The Monday night wine menu, which includes vintages aged five years to 10 years, is different from the main wine menu, and is one of the eatery’s best-kept secrets. But it’s my job to let the word travel.
Five Crowns is one of our restaurants with seriously cellared wines and a good supply of sommeliers. During a typical night, a knowledgeable wine captain is on duty in every room of the restaurant to answer guest questions and provide the wine service. There are currently eight sommeliers on staff.
Of course, many of us have come to rely a lot on Wine Captain Tommy Martin, a staffer for more than 40 years, to introduce us to the right bottle of wine. The wine connoisseurs are familiar with a little wine list called Tommy’s Top Ten Treasures that is inserted in the Captain’s List of unique and very special wines.
Five Crowns recently updated its menu using the best of new products and ingredients to lighten individual items and reflect the trend toward using local growers and organic and seasonal products. Fish and meat products from naturally raised, environmentally sound sources have been included in both classic and new dishes. In addition to beloved dishes that remain on the menu, there are now a series of small plates that encourage tasting and sharing. Other new menu items give us even more contemporary dishes that delight in both presentation and flavors.
Five Crowns remains the charming respite that is fiercely loved and it manages to also be a source of contemporary, comfortable food. It competes with the best new restaurants on every level.
Five Crowns: 3801 E. Coast Highway, Corona del Mar, (949) 760-0331.
