View Cucina Wine Dinner

by Angela

Last night I decided to treat myself and go to the View Cucina Wine Dinner.  This great deal happens every month for only $49 for a 5 course meal with wine pairings. (It’s the third Thursday of every month) I must admit I walked in there and I didn’t know anyone and I ended up knowing everyone, the staff and all the guest were very nice.  The atmosphere is wonderful on Victory Parkway overlooking the river in this quaint little restaurant. Enough about the people and the atmosphere lets get down to the Wine and the Food Pairings.

This month’s Wine Dinner was A Night of Pinot Noir. The Chef integrated the wines in each food pairing.

1st course – 2009 Cantaluna Pinot Noir, Maule Valley, Chile served with seafood ravioli, mornay sauce (which was made up of  Nutmeg and Parmesan cheese). The wine leathery, jammy, and spicy like a Pinot Noir should taste but pair it with this food pairing and bam it knocks your socks off. My 2nd favorite wine, excellent Chilean wine thats great with food or enjoying with friends.

2nd course – 2008 Robin K. Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands Central Coast served with Endive, Pear & Pecorino salad with Honey balsamic dressing. Okay, not the best pairing, I mean the wine was great and so was this salad but they didn’t compliment each other. The wine had hints of oak that was creamy and had tastes of black cherry. The salad was wonderful, the pears and the Parmesan with the balsamic dressing melted in your mouth. It is on View Cucina’s regular menu, I suggest order it and indulge.

3rd course – 2008 Treasure Hunter Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma, CA – Wow, big Pinot with tastes of raspberry, oak, and leather. My suggestion is decant this bad boy for a good 30 minutes before drinking. This was served with Veal Involtini, pistachio risotto. Oh my goodness the veal was wrapped around asparagus…the asparagus was so crunchy and fresh. The veal tender and the sauce that was a made with this wine, I thought I was going to lick my plate. I hope they decide to go with this sauce instead of the regular sauce that goes with the veal. Best food and wine pairing of the night.

4th course – 2007 T.W.O. Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills, CA served with Pork Shank, Butternut squash-mashed potatoes and pan drippings. This dish won 2nd place for best entree in the Taste of Cincinnati, I can’t believe this dish didn’t win! It was awesome the pork braised for 4 1/2 hours with white wine, sage, and prosciutto and the butternut squash mashed potatoes were so creamy/buttery. The wine was very jammy and peppery worked excellent with the pork.

Last course – 2007 Fiddlehead Cellars Lollapalooza Pinot Noir, Santa Ynez Valley, CA served with Sfogliatella. An Italian dessert that has a flaky pastry served filled with Ricotta cheese atop blackberries and fresh whipped cream. Another bad pair up but both were delightful! Excellent wine my favorite of the night and the dessert was to die for, the blackberries were so juicy and sweet. This dessert deserves a great cup of espresso or coffee not wine. The wine was jammy with tastes of plum and had a creamy/buttery taste. The wine maker is a female who won the Winemaker of the Year Award a couple of years back.

What a great night at the View Cucina, it’s definitely a wonderful restaurant that I will frequent again. I can’t wait till the next wine dinner in October…so why don’t you join me.

Angela