Friday, December 5th from 5:30 pm to close, the Washington Duke Inn has a lovely event titled Bubbles : Sip into the Season. This event will feature a flight of four sparkling wines including a Brut, Cava, Rosé and a Lambrusco. I embrace all fine wine, bubbles and cocktails so I was more than excited to participate in this event. Prior to this experience, I honestly had not indulged much in sparkling wines, except for my time studying in Spain and Italy where I sampled Cava’s & Lambrusco’s.
If you have ever attended a wine or beer tasting, you will find a large assortment of items to sample and if you are fortunate you may find one or two samples that you may like. To my surprise, each sparkling wine presented was delightfully delicious. The Washington Duke staff strategically placed each of the bubbles with an hors d’oeuvre pairing. Obviously, each bubbly started from left to right….light to heavy as to not overwhelm the palate and ensure you are able to actually “Taste” each of the sparkling wines.
The wines featured included Gloria Ferrer Brut from Sonoma, California, Segura Viduas Cava Brut from Penedas, Spain. Also included were the Simmonet Febvre Cremant de Bourgogne Brut Rosé from Chablis, France and the Mionetto Il Lambrusco from Emilia Romagna, Italy. Each sparkling wine was paired with a delicious creation from Washington Duke Chef Jason Cunningham. The brut was paired with a duck confit with NC gala apple butter on a Fairview cheddar biscuit. The Cava was paired with a tomato aspic with burrata and micro basil on a Guglhupf baguette. I was enamored with this hors d’oeuvre, a spin on a bruschetta …but better. The tomato aspic, a medley of tomatoes and herbs formed into a gelatin, stole the show for me so it was hard to move on to the next station, but I did. The rosé was paired with a truffle Dijon custard with micro celery on foie gras buttered toast and the Lambrusco was paired with NC prosciutto with fig puree and bleu cheese fondue on rye toast. The foie gras an Rosé combination was explosive and truly memorable.
All of these bubbles are a favorite of mine and it has been difficult to pick a favorite! However, I plan to purchase these featured sparkling wines from the Hope Valley Bottle Shop to help me a little more and determine my favorite. These bubbles also will be great for holiday dinners and make great hostess gifts for those upcoming holiday parties. I also plan to buy some of these as gifts for those persons that are hard to shop for on my Christmas list…after all, who doesn’t like a nice cold bubbly. Even if the above does not apply to you, this event is a great way to start of the weekend, whether it’s with your significant other or a group of friends. For more information, visit the website below. You can make your reservation online or call 919-493-6699.
http://www.washingtondukeinn.com/Dining/special_events.asp
