The Restaurant Guys

Antiquum Farm Wine Dinner

Antiquum Farm Wine Dinner

 

A Family Making Exceptional Wines in Oregon

 

Thursday, November 15

 

7:00 pm

Last year, one of our most surprising discoveries was Antiquum, run by the Hagan Family.  Last year's dinner was a smashing success. The wines are as extraordinary as the people who make them.

Stephen and his wife Niki planted every single vine on their property...by hand...themselves. They use horses for 90% of the work and they manage the soil with a collection of sheep, dogs, chickens and geese, sourcing all fertilizer from the property. Their children, Daisy and son Juel, are actively engaged in the growing and making of Antiquum Farm wines. Daisy is a competent horsewoman and responsible for all daily care of their equine partners. She also manages the poultry flock. Throughout the growing season she scouts the vineyard on horseback almost daily.

Juel has forsaken horses for skateboarding. However, he is keenly interested in shepherding, wine growing/making, and cooking. He has a pretty decent palate for a 10 year old and has recently been learning to run farm equipment and take part in blending trials for the wines. I was barely managing my paper route at twelve. Two words for the Hagans and their kids: Mad Respect...and the wines are fantastic.

 

Menu

 

Hors d’Ouevres
★ Pinot Gris ‘Daisy’ Rose 2017

Bouillabaisse w/ Crawfish Toast
★ Pinot Gris ‘Aurosa’ Rose 2017

Lion's Mane Mushroom
Maitake Risotto
★ Pinot Noir ‘Juel’ 2017

Wagyu: Cheese Steak, Tartare, Flatiron
★ Pinot Noir ‘Passiflora’ 2017
★ Late Harvest Pinot Gris ‘Daphne’ 2016

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Brownie
Nutella Ice Cream

 

$139 Plus Tax and Service

Reservations@StageLeft.com or 732-828-4444

 

Wine Dinner with Gaetano Bertani

Dinner With
Gaetano Bertani

An Amarone Legend

October 25, 2018 at 7 PM

if you don't want the whole story, skip to the menu and reservations below

We are over-the-moon thrilled to welcome one of the most important Italian wine families to Stage Left in October. Here is a story of love, loss and redemption. Amarone kicks um...I mean Amarone is unlike any other wine. The best grapes (primarily corvino) are raisinated on mats and then crushed to produce Amarone, a concentrated dry wine like no other. The Valpolicella is made from non-dried grapes and the Ripasso is a Valpolicella that rests in an Amarone barrel for a year, being nurtured and taught by its big brother. The Veneto is unlike any other wine-producing region in the world.

I remember when I first tasted Amarone back in 1987. It just blew me away. That was a 1976 Bertani Amarone. It was unlike anything I had ever tasted or smelled before. The nose jumped out of the glass. It was powerful. There was the hint of the raisins it was made from along with leather and orange peel and sweet spices. The texture was rich and silky. It felt like I was drinking wisdom.  Thus began my love affair with Amarone and Bertani. Wines like that are what made me go into this business.

Over the years, classical, old-school Amarone became harder to come by. In this country it fell out of fashion except for a notable few cult producers. Amarone producers kept cleaning up the wine, making it less truly Amarone, and turning up the alcohol. Their response to falling out-of-fashion was to try to be come what they are not.  That never works in the long run.  The Bertani firm, I am sorry to say, made more and more middle-of-the-road wines. It made us sad.

In 2011, Gaetano decided to split from the commercial company that Bertani had become. He negotiated a buy-out in which he and his sons maintained three of the family’s most prized vineyard sites while selling the name Bertani to a pharmaceutical company. The transition, which started in 2013, becomes complete in 2018.  Finally, Gaetano Bertani, great-grandson of founding brother Gaetano, and his sons, Giovanni and Guglielmo, are back to their core business: making great wines from the unique terroirs of the Veneto.

I was at a tasting in New York recently and before looking at the label, I commented, "My God, these taste like old-school Bertani. I haven't had a wine like this in years!"  Good palate Francis <sprains his arm patting himself on the back>!

Our love has returned! I never thought I would see wines like this again. Come dine with Gaetano and some of the best wines The Veneto has produced in a generation.

 

 

Menu

Tenuta Santa Maria di
Gaetano Bertani
October 25, 2018 at 7 PM

Hors d’Oeuvres
Veronese ‘Pragal’ 2016

Crabcake
Fermented Shallot Aioli
Soave ‘Lepia’ 2017

Truffled Veal Birds with Polenta
Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2016
Valpolicella Ripasso 2015

Venison with Mushroom Ragout
(non-game lovers can sub Flat Iron Steak)
Amarone Riserva della Valpolicella
 
Chocolate Chip Date Cake
Vanilla Ice Cream

$149 per person plus tax and service

Reservatins@Stageleft.com or 732-828-4444