A Wine Weekend
I recently took part in an eventful weekend for wine lovers here. It was the New York City Wine & Food Festival, organized by Southern Wine & Spirits, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2. Wine Spectator co-sponsored five dinners around town. I attended the Ai Fiori dinner, where chef Michael White and his team dazzled the 70 hungry attendees with a six-course menu paired with wines chosen by Palm Bay International's VP of fine wine development, Laura DePasquale.
The dinners are for charity, with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting both Food Bank for New York City, fighting hunger in the five boroughs, and Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit organization working to end childhood hunger in America.
My favorite of chef White's dishes was the mare e monte, a combination of scallops, bone marrow and black truffle served in the hollow of a bone. It was matched nicely by the freshness and mineral essence of Feudi di San Gregorio's Fiano di Avellino Pietracalda 2009. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the evening was the Ferrari Brut Trento Perlé 2004, a rich, toasty sparkler that went down very easily and only costs $25.
Sunday night, it was downtown to Restaurant Marc Forgione, where Krug Champagne hosted a dinner honoring master sommelier Roger Dagorn for his 40 years of service in the hospitality industry.
Dagorn, one of 180 master sommeliers in the world, started his career in 1966, working part time at his father's New York restaurant Le Pont Neuf. Today he is the wine director at Porter House New York. In between, he paired great Burgundy with upscale Chinese cuisine at Tse Yang in midtown and for 16 years, oversaw the wine program at Karen and David Waltuck's Chanterelle in Tribeca.
More important, Dagorn has mentored countless members of the wine industry, young sommeliers in particular, transmitting knowledge, teaching, tutoring and exuding a passion that inspired many who have gone on to achieve success in the restaurant and wine world.
Several were on hand Sunday evening to recall their "Roger moment." Half-tribute, half-roast, all had been touched in some way by Dagorn's passion and commitment to his craft.
My "Roger moment" was a balmy April evening back in 1999. Dagorn had invited me to a sake dinner at Chanterelle. (Did I mention he is also a Sake Samurai, an honor bestowed by the Japan Sake Brewers Association?) I arrived early, with a colleague of mine from Cigar Aficionado. Dagorn seated us at the far end of the dining room and asked if we would like an aperitif. He disappeared, and then I saw him returning with a bottle in his hand, tipping it from end to end as he walked. What the????, I thought, as he approached the table. It was my first exposure to Nigori, an unfiltered sake with a cloudy, or milky appearance whose sediment must be mixed before serving.
We went on to enjoy nine courses, each paired with different sakes. I'll never forget that meal, because it is one of the best I have ever had.
