On November 6, Stu Smith from Smith-Madrone Winery and Vineyards, visited Boise and we were honored to go to dinner with him at the Cottonwood Grille. From the Smith-Madrone website, there is a link Here, we read that “Brothers Stuart and Charles Smith are the vineyard managers and winemakers of Smith-Madrone Winery. Their family lineage includes the Fetherolf family, German farmers from the Palatinate region, who came to America on the Good Ship Thistle in 1730 … He is an active member of the G.O.N.A.D.S. (the Gastronomical Order for Nonsensical and Dissipatory Society), founded in the early 1980s by a group of Napa vintners who meet for lively monthly lunches, chronicled in James Conaway’s books Napa: An American Eden and Napa: The Far Side of Eden … He enjoys barbecuing for guests at the winery; favorites are the (Smith-Madrone) Cabernet-marinated butterflied barbecued lamb and (Smith-Madrone) Cabernet Risotto (made on a camp stove as people gather around).” Here are some photos from the evening. Enjoy! We did. Be sure to Left-Click the photos to see enlarged. The photo here is the hearth at the Cottonwood Grille. Cheers!

Stu Smith and Robin

Cristi Takeda from The Buzz in Boise, joined us for dinner and a lively discussion. Thank-You, Cristi for being there.

Also joining us for the special event, were Peggy and Eric Behrens. Peggy helps out at The Buzz at their Monthly Wine Dinners. Glad you and Eric could make it, Peggy.

Stu was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the 2006 Fraser Vineyards (ID) Cabernet Sauvignon. We pulled these three from our cellar to have a comparison tasting with the Smith-Madrone 2010 Cab. All of these wines were awesome.

Stu brought with him the 2011 Smith-Madrone Riesling and the 2012 Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon. These were two excellent wines. Thank-You for sharing, Stu.

For appetizers, we each selected an appetizer we wanted and then shared it with the wines. Here is a cheese plate, CG Cheese Plate. An assortment of cheeses served with crostini, fruit, candied walnuts and crackers

And Crab Cakes, Fresh Pacific crab mixed with shallots and Pernod, cooked
crisp and served with lemon beurre blanc. We also had Croquetas, Traditional Basque fritters made with creamed béchamel and served with rumescu sauce

One of us had this Tomahawk Chop. Yum!

We also had North American Elk, Premium elk loin, sautéed, sliced and served with a green peppercorn sauce; Northwest Premium Buffalo, Fresh buffalo sirloin sautéed, sliced, and served with a rich Cabernet Sauce. It was over cooked. Lemon Roasted Chicken, All natural chicken roasted with rosemary and lemon pepper, served with a lemon scallion cream sauce. Different soups were also on out table. Overall, a good dinner, with few exceptions, and some terrific wines. Oh, almost forgot to mention. We opened the evening with a 2010 Pend d’Oreille Chardonnay from the Vickers Vineyard at Sunny Slope.