Tonight, after a meeting about our Wine Trail Rides, I decided to run over to Per Bacco Ristorante with my camera and snap some shots of their first Wine Maker’s Dinner which, this time around, featured Aleksander Estate Winery

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The meal was a creative 6-course dish which owner Ennio and Executive Chef Dominic DiBartolomeo worked together with Mark and Izabella from AEW to carefully pair with 5 of AEW’s wines.

It was a nice, intimate setting which encouraged the guests to speak and ask any questions they had in regards to the food or the wine. Unfortunately because I received an urgent call from some friends explaining how they desperately needed a goalie for their hockey league game last night, I was only able to stay for three of the courses.

The first course I was able to see created was the Blackened Tuna Served on Watermelon with Arugula, Crème Freche and Salmon Roe.  This dish was paired with AEW’s 2008 Chambourcin.

Course two was a Golden Goat Cheese Rounds with Roasted Red Pepper Coulis and Mixed Greens paired with AEW’s 2008 Vidal.

The last dish I was lucky enough to see before I left, course three, was a Homemade Tagliatelle Topped with a Poulet Foie and Truffle Beurre Blanc. This was paired with AEW’s Cabernet Franc 2007. The food looked and smelled and, from the reactions of the Wine Maker’s Dinner guests, tasted absolutely incredible. Now that I think about it, why on earth did I leave to go play hockey? At least the good news is that the next session is going to be in January 2010 as part of the Winter Bites festivities.