Comtesse Thérèse vineyard and bistro owner, winemaker and lawyer Theresa ("Tree") Dilworth is a contributing author to Dan's Papers.
- Dan's Papers, September 3, 2011, Inside an East End Home Wine-Tasting Party
- Dan's Papers, August 8, 2011, Two Words: Wine and Chocolate
- Dan's Papers, August 5, 2011, A Lost Classic in Long Island Wine Country by Tree Dilworth
- Dan's Papers, July 14, 2011, All Hail the Queen of White Wine by Tree Dilworth
- Dan's Papers, July 7, 2011, Midsummer Nights of Shakespeare & Wine by Tree Dilworth
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Inside an East End Home Wine-Tasting Party
September 3, 2011 by Tree Dilworth
Labor Day Weekend in the Hamptons is all about celebrating the best the East End has to offer—and that includes Long Island Wine Country. One of the best things about Long Island wine is that you can go visit a vineyard to enjoy your vino, or you can bring the experience home to you. So when it came to getting the low-down on how to host a wine tasting at home, we asked Theresa (Tree) Dilworth, the owner of Comtesse Thérèse Vineyard & Bistro in Aquebogue, for her expert insights.
Writes Tree Dilworth: Dan’s Papers asked if I was interested in writing about organizing an in-home wine tasting. Coincidentally, I was asked to conduct an office party wine tasting at an East End weekend home, so I decided to write about it.
1. How many people attending?
BEFORE: The hostess told me 30, from the NYC office of one the big firms. I’m actually an alumna of the firm, having worked there for about 10 years.
REALITY: I only knew a few party guests. But we did have a common connection and a good rapport.
2. Standing up or sitting down?
BEFORE: Standing up. The dynamics are different than a sit-down. Need to shepherd them in a little more; sometimes it’s hard to be heard over a crowd of 30 chatting drinkers. Wonder whether to bring my portable public address system, i.e. microphone and speakers.
REALITY: Brought the P.A. system, but didn’t use it. The wine tasting was on a sheltered deck, just the right size, and the audience very attentive and polite.
3. Will food be served?
BEFORE: The hostess said a local North Fork chef would prepare the dinner. She wanted finger foods with the wine tasting, so I developed a short menu to complement the wines.
Goat cheese. Good with Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Catapano Farms in Peconic is a good, local option. A contrast to the stark acidity of the white wines, especially the Sauvignon Blanc.
Manchego cheese. I remember Andrea Zimmer, formerly of Windows on the World, saying at a class at the French Culinary Institute in New York that this cheese is good with almost any wine.
Nuts. Brings out the toasty and nutty components from the oak barrels. A simple finger food for standing around and wine tasting.
Prosciutto – good complement to Rosé wine; also reds.
Thin-sliced smoked local duck – the smoky, meaty and fatty goes well with reds.
Crudites – green and fresh to complement the fresh qualities of the wine (especially whites), and a good offset to the fatty meats and cheeses.
REALITY: The hostess followed the appetizer suggestions to a T. Delicious black figs wrapped in prosciutto. Two goat cheeses, a Stilton that was great with the red wines, a unique cheddar with cranberry bits, interesting crackers. Several types of flavored nuts.
4. How many wines?
BEFORE: My hostess suggested either three whites and three reds, or two whites and two reds. I’m thinking six – Sauvignon Blanc, Russian Oak Chardonnay, Rosé, two Merlots and a Cabernet Sauvignon.
REALITY: Six was a perfect number.
5. How much wine is needed?
BEFORE: Each person doesn’t get a full glass of each wine, they get a taste. I pour small amounts so people focus on listening. Figuring 6 ounces times 30 people, that’s 180 oz. or between 6 and 9 bottles. Figuring 8 ounces total per person, that’s 10 bottles.
REALITY: My estimate was about right. We went through a bottle, bottle and a half of each wine. A lot of people showed up late, either midway or near the end of the tasting. Also, not everyone drank wine.
6. How long does the wine tasting last?
BEFORE: My hostess suggested 1 1/2 hours.
REALITY: It took 1 1/2 to 2 hours. That’s including my spiel, answering questions from the audience and the guests socializing amongst themselves between pours.
7. Will there be enough wine glasses there, or should I bring some?
I have a couple of racks of wine glasses that we occasionally use for liquor store wine tastings. Each rack holds 36 glasses. However, the hostess told me she had enough.
8. What did I talk about for 1 1/2 hours?
REALITY: Lots of stuff, like my overall framework for wine styles and wine tasting, vintages, what’s it like to be a vineyard owner, the times of year that the grapes ripen, stainless steel, barrels, oak forests, barrel and bottle aging, the weather and varmints that attack the grapes. I really enjoyed it!
A resident of Manhattan and the North Fork, lawyer/vineyard owner/winemaker/restaurateur Theresa (Tree) Dilworth is the owner of Comtesse Thérèse Vineyard & Bistro in Aquebogue. www.comtessetherese.com.
Two Words: Wine and Chocolate
August 8, 2011 by Tree Dilworth
Wine and chocolate is a trend now. Several North Fork wineries have been holding wine and chocolate pairings, but I was skeptical. Wine with chocolate? I didn’t think they went together! We’ll be holding a chocolate tasting at my Bistro this fall, but chocolate only—no wine.
I asked “Chocolate Sommelier” Roxanne Browning of Exotic Chocolate Tasting to explain the mystique behind wine and chocolate pairings. Involved with chocolate for years, she recently traveled to a cocoa cooperative in Ecuador’s Amazon rain forest to learn chocolate making from the cacao pod to the bar.
According to Browning, wine goes as well with chocolate as it does with cheese, and she claims even the skeptical are quickly converted. Both chocolate and wine are mood enhancers. Wine lovers love the wine angle and chocolate lovers love the chocolate. Everyone’s happy!
Do some chocolates pair better with white wines and some pair better with red wines? Yes. White wine goes well with white chocolate. The creaminess of white chocolate, which is almost 100% cocoa butter, cuts through the acidity of the white wine. What a revelation! Just like white wine goes well with creamy chevre and other creamy, high-fat cheeses. Like cheese, chocolate has a high fat and butter content.
For a specific pairing with white wine, Browning recommends a white chocolate with bits of cocoa nibs, from the Philippines.
Dark chocolate goes well with red wine. I never would have put the two together, but now I get it. Bitter, dark chocolate, combined with the bitter tannins of red wine. According to Browning, cocoa has tannins. Makes sense! Oak has tannins, grape skins have tannins, nuts have tannins. No wonder chocolate tastes good with nuts! Walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds. And the cacao beans, if I’m not mistaken, are roasted, just like coffee beans, and just like the interior of the oak wine barrels are toasted.
You can’t just pair any dark chocolate with any red wine—you need to experiment. But certain guidelines apply. For example, a lighter red wine like a cool-climate Pinot Noir might pair better with a lighter chocolate, such as one with a 63% cocoa content, while a heavier, fuller-bodied red wine like a warm-climate Shiraz might be a better match for a chocolate with 75% cocoa.
As a general rule, the wine should be sweeter than the chocolate. So if the wine is dry, which is the only way I drink my red wines, the chocolate had better be even drier (more bitter, less sweet)!
Each chocolate is different, though, depending on the region, cacao bean variety, the chocolatier and how it’s made. So a 63% chocolate from Madagascar could in some cases be “heavier” than a 70% from Ecuador. There’s an art and a science to it, just like with wine varietals, regions and winemakers.
As I write this article, I recall the first occasion that I had chocolate cooked in a main dish. It was venison with chocolate sauce that Chef Arie cooked at my Bistro for a special customer. While I know that Mexican cuisine uses chocolate (mole) sauces with meats, the idea never appealed to me and I had never tried it before. While skeptical at first, I paired it with one of my reds, a Merlot, I think. The combination of meat, chocolate and red wine was actually pretty good.
Now that I know a little more about chocolate with wine, I’m just about converted, and ready to start eating more chocolate with my wine!
A resident of Manhattan and the North Fork, lawyer/vineyard owner/winemaker/restaurateur Theresa (Tree) Dilworth is the owner of Comtesse Thérèse Vineyard & Bistro in Aquebogue. For more information on the upcoming chocolate tasting, see www.ComtesseTherese.com.
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A Lost Classic in Long Island Wine Country
August 5, 2011 by Tree Dilworth 
Owning a vineyard and now also a restaurant—Comtesse Thérèse Vineyard and Bistro in Aquebogue—has forced me to learn a lot of interesting new things over the years.
I recently had the pleasure of being introduced to Joseph de Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-George, by violinist Gabriel Kastelle, who is performing at my bistro on occasional weekends this summer. Son of a French aristocrat and an African slave in the French colony of Guadeloupe in the 1700s, the handsome and multi-talented Boulogne impressed Queen Marie Antoinette, President John Adams and the Prince of Wales, among others. His father, George Boulogne de Saint-George, a sugar plantation owner, sired a daughter with his wife at almost the same time as the son was born to the slave. The entire ménage-à-cinq moved to Paris after the elder Boulogne killed a man in a drunken duel, when the son was in his teens.
In Paris, the young Chevalier traveled in elite circles, since his father was an intimate of King Louis XV, father of Louis XVI. The tall, handsome, athletic, exotic mulâtre was described by poets as a “French Hercules,” a “veritable Mars” and a “rival to Apollo.” John Adams, then Ambassador to France, wrote in his journal: “St-George is the most accomplished man in Europe, in riding, running, shooting, fencing, dancing, music. St-George will hit the button, any button on the coat or waistcoat of the greatest masters. He will hit a crown-piece in the air with a pistol ball.” He could shoot a wine cork thrown into the air by his valet, and could swim across the Seine with one arm. Adams was so impressed, he allegedly formed his radical liberal views favoring freeing the slaves in America, 100 years before the idea became a reality.
In addition to being an officer in the French Army, Joseph de Boulogne was France’s finest violinist and the foremost composer of his day, composing violin quartets, sonatas, symphonies and operas. He was music director for one of the two great symphonies in France, which commissioned the writing of the “Paris Symphonies” by Franz Joseph Haydn; the Chevalier himself traveled to Vienna to deliver the commission.
Mozart, who visited Paris at the age of 22 when the Chevalier was 33, borrowed many musical ideas from the Frenchman. If you listen to the Chevalier’s music, you’ll hear the resemblance to Mozart. The Chevalier, in fact, was nicknamed “Le Mozart Noir” or Black Mozart.
Boulogne’s father held the highest expectations for him, and pushed him to succeed. But there was racism in the 1700s, and slavery was still commonplace and legal in France (and America). Black people were regulated by Le Code Noir, or Black Law. The Chevalier had to wear three layers of make-up so he wouldn’t stand out so much at the court of King Louis XVI.
Queen Marie Antoinette, Louis the XVI’s wife, became enamored of the young musical celebrity, and he became her music tutor. Rumor was that more than music lessons went on underneath the harpsichord! Due to the backlash against her showing favoritism toward a “nègre,” ultimately Antoinette was forced to drop the Chevalier’s acquaintance, and she thereafter gave him the cold shoulder.
The queen herself got her head separated from her shoulders in 1793.
The dashing Mozart Noir had a reputation as a lover and allegedly had numerous other liaisons and dalliances at court, but when one of the noblewomen gave birth to a baby with unusually dark skin, it was left to die.
In 1793, Boulogne was accused by the Revolutionary Council of misappropriation of public funds (from the military) for personal use. Though exonerated, he was later arrested for corruption, and spent 18 months in jail, then cleared his name again. He survived two assassination attempts, and died in poverty in 1799, at the age of 54.
After the French Revolution, Napoleon and French cultural institutions in general deliberately ignored the work of Saint-George. The Chevalier is virtually unknown in France, and in the world, today.
The music of Joseph de Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-George, is beautiful. Similar to Mozart, but with a slight bit more, how shall I say, depth? soul? heart? feeling? color? (No pun intended). Listen to some of his music. I’ve bought a few of the CDs and intend to play them at my bistro, which was built in 1835 and has been renovated in the Napoleonic style.
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Comtesse Thérèse is the only Long Island vineyard that also owns a restaurant,Comtesse Thérèse Bistro inAquebogue. A resident ofManhattan and theNorth Fork, lawyer/vineyard owner/winemaker/restaurateur Theresa (Tree) Dilworth discusses chardonnay—growing it, making it into wine, aging it, and pairing food with it—eastern Long Island style.
All Hail the Queen of White Wine
July 14, 2011 by Lenn Thompson
The chardonnay-disdainingABC (Anything But Chardonnay) movement really just proves the opposite—Chardonnay is the dominant white grape around. It’s by far the most widely-planted white grape on eastern Long Island since the industry began here four decades ago. Though sauvignon blanc, viognier riesling, gewürztraminer, pinot gris, pinot blanc, chenin blanc, muscat, tocai friulano, malvesia bianco and other white wine grapes are grown on Long Island, chardonnay production far outweighs all the others put together.
The grape, originating in the Burgundy region of France in the town ofChardonnay,Saône-et-Loire, is used in theFrench regions of Chablis, Burgundy and Champagne, as well as being in California, and is grown in both warm and cool climates in many countries from New Zealand to Italy to England. A grape that consumers are familiar with, it’s a safer marketing bet than the more esoteric varieties, especially in new, emerging wine regions.
Wooded or unwooded, chardonnay is a versatile production. It can be aged in stainless steel tanks for a lean, dry, citrusy, crisp, green and/or minerally style, or aged in a barrel for a more golden, smoother, mellower, rounder, fatter, and more powerful style, or many variations in between, including those using oak staves or chips, or made into a Methode Champenoise-type sparkling wine.
Depending on the fruit ripeness, aromas and flavors can range from lean, crisp and lemony with high acidity, to green or fruity or ripe or with a touch of baked apples and pears, to a more honeyed and tropical fruit lushness or even a hint of baked bread nuttiness or yeastiness. The winemaker can influence the result by choosing to stir the lees or not (and how frequently if so), add sugar or acid, use new and/or used barrels and/or allow it to go through the acid-softening secondary (malolactic) fermentation, among other options.
For my own chardonnay, the Comtesse Thérèse Russian Oak Chardonnay, we grow the so-called “Dijon clones” (originally brought from France). I barrel-ferment and barrel-age in Russian oak barrels—the oak is the same species as French oak, but grown in the Caucasus Mountain region ofRussia, near Georgia. While barrel-aged, the oak is not overpowering, and there is also a citrusiness to it. What I am trying to achieve is balance—neither too oaky, too fruity, too citrusy, too sweet, nor too sharp–with no single element dominating the flavor. If I had to pair chardonnay with food from my restaurant,Comtesse Thérèse Bistro inAquebogue, this is what I’d pair it with and why:
North Fork Mesclun Salad with Herb-Encrusted Goat Cheese—the creaminess of the goat cheese goes well with the slight creaminess of the barrel-aged chardonnay, while the chopped nuts in the salad dressing complement the hint of toasted hazelnut emanating from the oak barrels.
North Fork Asparagus Soup, in the spring—like the goat cheese suggestion, the cream in this soup, combined with the green of the asparagus, complements the elements in the wine.
Pumpkin Chardonnay Soup from local North Fork pumpkins, in the fall—if a dish has wine in it, ‘tis often a good idea to pair the food with the same wine. While I don’t have his exact recipe, my chefArie Pavlou puts a little chardonnay into the pumpkin soup.
Local Long Island Fluke,Scallops, or Cod, served almost any style—for example, freshly-caught fluke would be great either á la Grenobloise (with lemon, butter, and capers), like Chef Arie sometimes makes it, or with a different, creamier and mellower sauce. Actually, it’s not worth worrying—you can’t go wrong with chardonnay paired with any fish. Bon appétit!
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Midsummer Nights of Shakespeare & Wine
July 7, 2011 by Tree Dilworth
The quintessential pairing used to be wine and cheese. Wine and roses. Wine, women and song. Food and wine. On the North Fork recently, wine and jazz, wine and rock, wine and chocolate. Now, wine and Shakespeare?
Northeast Stage, a group based in Greenport, which specializes in Shakespearean productions and classical actor training, is holding six free outdoor Shakespeare events on the North Fork this summer. The first three will be in the wine garden at the Comtesse Thérèse Bistro in Aquebogue, and the remaining three at Greenport’s long-standing annual Shakespeare-in-the-Park at Mitchell Park (Bring picnics, blankets, lawn chairs). The three Greenport performances, on Friday through Sunday, August 5, 6 and 7, will be Romeo and Juliet. About 400 people turn out for each performance. J.P. Groeninger is the co-creator of the Café Shakespeare program and he plays Lord Capulet in this season’s Romeo and Juliet. A.D. Newcomer is the stage director, actor, and a board member of Northeast Stage.
At the Bistro performances, which include Café Shakespeare (random scenes and soliloquys from a variety of plays) on July 17 and a full production of Romeo and Juliet on July 31, people can sip a free glass of local merlot while they watch the Shakespearean actors. I think wine and Shakespeare go together perfectly, and here’s why:
1. Good wine quotes
“In vino veritas.” In wine, (there is) truth. Meaning, when you’re drunk, you’d best refrain from going on Twitter and Facebook and sending out naked photos.
Actually, the quote is from Pliny the Elder; the Roman who died in 79 A.D. attempting to rescue a friend after Mount Vesuvius erupted and destroyed Pompeii. (The full phrase is, “In vino veritas, in aqua sanitas”, i.e., “In wine there is truth, in water there is health.”) The version attributed to William Shakespeare is “The wine-cup is the little silver well, Where truth, if truth there be, doth dwell.” Get a man (or woman) drunk if you want to know what they’re really like.
But, wise Shakespeare also wrote, “I am falser than vows made in wine.” (As You Like It).
Here’s another quote from Shakespeare: “Good wine needs no bush.” What does that mean?! Does it have something to do with peeing outside? Is it a slang reference to a certain part of the female anatomy? It appears to derive from one of the maxims of Publilius Syrus, a first century A.D. wit – “You need not hang up the ivy branch over the wine that will sell”—meaning, if the wine is good you needn’t go overboard with marketing,
2. Shakespeare and wine both engage the mind.
When people describe wine, they use sophisticated words and subtle concepts. Like, “this silky and intelligently done almost corpulent Pinot Noir sports finesse and finish with a modicum of understated mango and buttered scones.” Or “rounded but equally hedonistic Cabernet Franc attacks with raspberry, cigar box, fir, delectable melted chocolate, French-oaked smoked bacon and strong-willed earth.” Or “Sturdy and almost sassy full-textured Merlot throws off thyme, cassis, loganberry, unripe coffee and weak stewed prune. Drink now through 2012.”
Millions of words have been written about wines. Shakespeare also wrote millions of words.
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.”
“A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!”
«Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say good night till it be morrow.»
“Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo? Deny thy father, and refuse thy name.»
“To be or not to be: that is the question.”
«Nothing can come of nothing.»
“What’s in a name?”
“Now is the winter of our discontent.”
“Beware the ides of March.”
“It’s Greek to me.’’
“Brave new world.”
“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”
3. Shakespeare liked wine better than beer.
Wine is a beverage that you sip when sitting around, eating some good food, and talking with your friends. You could do the same with beer, but it doesn’t conjure up the same image. When I think of beer drinking, I think of a bunch of college aged guys in T-shirts, whooping and throwing TVs out of dorm rooms.
When I think of wine, I picture white tablecloths, Riedel glasses, sophisticated dinner guests, and artful conversation. . . . Shakespeare fits in perfectly with that image. “Come, come, good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used; exclaim no more against it.”
Shakespeare liked wine better than beer.
“I will make it felony to drink small beer….
God save your Majesty!
The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.
Nay, that I mean to do.”
A resident of Manhattan and the North Fork, lawyer/vineyard owner/winemaker/restaurateur Theresa (Tree) Dilworth is the owner of Comtesse Thérèse Winery & Bistro in Aquebogue, the only Long Island vineyard with a restaurant.
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Dan's Papers, June 2, 2011, Local Wine Pairings by Tree Dilworth
Local Food and Wine Pairings from East End Vineyard Owner & Restaurateur, Tree Dilworth
Comtesse Thérèse is the only Long Island vineyard that also owns a restaurant, Comtesse Thérèse Bistro in Aquebogue. Vineyard owner/winemaker/restaurateur Tree Dilworth shares thoughts on which wines she’d pair with her food and why.
Bowl of Olives
Our olives are house-brined and tossed with olive oil and herbs from the Bistro garden. I’d pair with the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc. Why? Two reasons. First, both olives and sauvignon blanc are light, not too filling, and good for “starters.”îSecond, the wine’s crispness and acidity complements the tart olives. The year 2009 was a cool and rainy growing season on Long Island, not a hot dry one, so it brought out a hint of healthy, light green vegetable aromas in addition to the fresh citrus characters, the perfect complement to olives.
Escargots with Garlic and Parsley Butter
We serve the escargots broiled with sizzling butter, garlic and parsley. Spring, summer and fall, we use our own parsley. Before broiling, Chef simmers the escargots in our own rosé and herbs and spices for quite a bit of time to soften and infuse them. I’d pair with our 2008 Rosé. Refreshing and off-dry, the rosé goes with just about anything, but I think it especially good with salty, savory appetizers – like smoked salmon, prosciutto and charcuterie. We make it from bleeding off the white inner juice from cabernet sauvignon and merlot grapes.
Pan-Seared Montauk Sea Scallops
Our chef, Chef Aristodemos (Arie) Pavlou, makes Montauk day-boat pan-seared scallops with various accompaniments and occasionally broils them as well. Last night I had them with some lightly seasoned rice and a vegetable ragout of zucchini, tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. Our Russian Oak Chardonnay is an obvious choice with fish. We only make one style of chardonnay, and this is it. It’s barrel-fermented, but crisp and not overly oaky – particularly the 2008, which we just released. The tiny hint of hazelnut and vanilla from the oak complements those luscious, charred brown, slightly sweet, pan-seared edges, which are my favorite part of the juicy scallops.
Local Duck Leg Confit
Chef Arie makes classic, falling-off-the-bone-tender confit de canard from Crescent Farms duck leg, along with North Fork potatoes from Kozak Farms, local spinach from Schmitt’s Farm and a sauce that includes herbs from the Bistro garden. The soft, fatty, rich, meaty and juicy duck goes well with a ripe, soft, fat, easy-drinking wine – which merlots generally are. I’d pair with our 2005 Traditional Merlot. Aged in French oak, I am trying to replicate say, a Bordeaux Third Growth. The 2005 was a good, ripe vintage where we had hot sunny weather all summer, albeit 19 inches of rainfall the week of harvest, that ruined a lot of the crop. There is some power and richness to this merlot, along with scents of walnut skins and tobacco.
House-Smoked Local Duck Breast
We have two small smokers in which Chef Arie smokes the duck breasts using local hickory and cherry wood branches harvested by a friend in Southold. The sweet, earthy smokiness imparted to the rich duck meat by the fruit and nut woods is similar to the smoky oak tannins imparted to the wine by the oak barrels.
The duck breast, flavorfully browned on the outside but still rare and juicy on the inside, looks and tastes almost like a tender steak. So it is a good choice for those who think of red meat with merlot.
I’d pair with our 2005 Hungarian Oak Merlot. The Hungarian Oak barrels make this easy-drinking wine stand out. The long, earthy, dark espresso finish complements the dark-smoked, slightly charred brown exterior of the duck breast, while the plum and dark cherry flavors complement the pink, juicy, soft interior of the duck breast.
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Dan's Papers, May 27, 2011, Sommelier Stress by Dianne Delaney
After the server has introduced herself to the table, and shared the many seasonal specials of the day, the Sommelier approaches the table to assist in a wine selection. What follows is an actual verbal exchange that I engaged in one evening:
“Good evening, may I assist you in a wine selection?” says the Sommelier.
“Yes, I would like a French Prosecco,” says the well-dressed female diner.
“I’m sorry we do not have Prosecco, we do have our own local Sparkling Wine we label as Isle,” explains the Sommelier.
“No, I don’t want Sparkling Wine, I will have a glass of French Champagne instead,” says the diner.
Sommelier then explains, “We offer only award-winning North Fork of Long Island, Comtesse Thérese wine.”
The diner then spat, “Fine, I will have a glass of Pinot Grigio!”
Sommelier replies, “I’m sorry we do not have Pinot Grigio.”
“Then WHAT do you have?!” says the diner clearly annoyed.
“Please take a look at our Comtesse Thérese wine list,” Sommelier politely suggests.
Diner looks at page 2 of our menu, “If you are sooo local why do you have wine from Hungary and Russia?”
Sommelier then stifles a laugh and explains, “We use Hungarian, Russian in addition to French, oak barrels to ferment and age our wines.”
“Hmmm, you have many Merlots, I don’t like dry wine, is this Russian Merlot dry?” Diner is now visibly frustrated with the Sommelier. Mind you this exchange is during the height of service on a busy Saturday night!
Sommelier offers, “Let me help you complement your dinner with the perfect wine, what are you going to enjoy for an entrée?”
With a visible roll of her eyes, diner says, “fine, I will have the scallop special.”
Sommelier replies, “Wonderful, we have the perfect wine to complement that dish.” Pan-seared scallops made in a curry and sauternes reduction infused with saffron served with herbed basmati rice and sprinkled with fresh pomegranates. A seasoned Sommelier can almost predict a person’s palate. “Here you go, try this, a taste of our ’08 Blanc de Noir, off-dry 1.5% residual sugar, salmon in color and has a nose of full ripe peaches.”
After the diner took her first sample sip she replied, “WOW, this is really good, why didn’t you just tell me about this wine in the first place?!!”
Sommelier at this point wanted to use the corkscrew in her pocket to drill a hole in her head to release the sheer frustration of dealing with these fabulous diners. Lesson being: your Sommelier is there to assist you in your wine selection, we want you to enjoy a fine dining experience, complementing your food choice with the perfect wine. “Trust your Sommelier, we are there to insure you will enjoy a ‘fine DINING experience,’ not to have a wine DUELING experience.”
Dianne Delaney is the Sommelier at Comtesse Thérese Bistro, 739 Main Road, Aquebogue. 631-779-2800. reservations@comtessetherese.com
She has made her “passion her profession” since living in Spain as a teenage foreign exchange student. Prior to that her food experiences were Hamburger Helper, Hi-C, frozen veggies in a bag and Pop Tarts. Wine experiences were stolen sips of Riuniti “on ice, that’s nice” during adult gatherings.
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