I'm known in the business as a rather tough customer. Mark and I will go to the ends of the earth for our guests, but that also means that we are quite demanding of our suppliers. We buy fewer than 1% of the wines we taste during the course of a year.
So in April 2003, when my friend Martial asked me to meet a winemaker for lunch in Manhattan, I was less than enthusiastic: In big tastings, you can power through 200 wines in an afternoon, all in the hopes of finding just one or two to buy.
A wine business lunch with a single producer takes time-- and, if the wines are horrible or even just not good enough, you're still committed to a couple of hours or more. Lord knows I love to while away time at table with friends and family; but a wine lunch with a producer whose wines you have realized in the first five minutes that you're not interested in: Now that's painful.
But Martial knew me well, and he knew my palate, and then he played the Irish card as well (this winemaker was born in Belfast). Before I knew it, I had committed to lunch.
Well, I was never more pleasantly surprised, oenologically speaking, in all my life. The winemaker was David O'Reilly, a wonderful, soft-spoken, charming, and witty man. He showed me ten wines that day and I fell in love with most of them. His wines were not available yet in NJ, but I could not wait to start carrying them.
Despite distribution problems over the years, we've brought you David's wines whenever we could. David has visited and hosted wine dinners in the past, but the current portfolio is the best collection of wines he's ever had.
We love that this charming and talented man has agreed to come help us celebrate the close of our 19th year and the dawn of our 20th! We will begin with an hour tasting, followed by a sit down dinner.
Stage Left 19th Anniversary Wine Dinner
The Wines of David O’Reilly
Special Guest: David O’Reilly
Friday, May 20th 2011
Tasting 6:30 PM; Dinner 7:30 PM
Hors d’Oeuvres & Tasting
Pinot Gris 2009; O'Reilly's; Oregon
Syrah Ex Umbris 2008; Owen Roe; Yakima Valley, Washington
Cabernet Sauvignon 'Sharecropper's' 2009; Owen Roe; Columbia Valley, Washington
Cabernet Franc “The Keeper” 2009; Corvidae; Washington
Cabernet Franc “Slide Mountain Vineyard” 2009; Owen Roe, Yakima, Washington
Long Island Oyster Pan Roast
Pinot Gris “Crawford Beck” 2008; Owen Roe; Willamette, Oregon
Griggstown Quail
Stuffed with Black Beluga Lentils and Foie Butter
Sinister Hand 'Grenache - Syrah - Mourvedre' 2009; Owen Roe; Columbia Valley, Washington
Braised Suckling Pig
with Berkshire Pork Belly, Sun-chokes & Toasted Hazelnuts
Abbot's Table Red 'Zinfandel - Sangiovese - Cabernet Sauvignon - Syrah - Grenache ' 2009; Owen Roe; Oregon
Nature Veal Sirloin
with Local Morels and New York State Cayuga Polenta
Cabernet Franc 'Rosa Mystica' 2007; Owen Roe; Yakima Valley, Washington
House-Made Shortbread Lemon Curd and Indyk Farm Strawberries
$129 per person
To reserve, call 732.828.4444 ext 200
or email [email protected].
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