Since we've been having this oppressive heat for the past several days, the Mrs decided to visit Vino - mainly for their AC but also to sample a new themed menu - Maui Onion Sicilian Style. I assume it stemmed from the annual Maui Onion Festival and I know that DK's restaurants on the Valley Isle usually enter the recipe contest. For the evening, the Maui onion specials looked like this:
Home-made Pizza
with caramelized Maui onions, Hamakua mushrooms, basil & chili oil
Maui Onion Risotto
with grated beef tenderloin & roasted Maui onion jus
Maui Onion Ricotta Ravioli
with shredded braised short rib, Swiss Chard & port wine demi
We actually all sampled all three of the specials along with several samples of wines including 2 ounce pours of the:
2011 Neyers Chardonnay "304"
2010 Movia Sauvignon
2009 La Canciette Rosso Bello (Montepulciano-Sangiovese)
2009 Leon Barral Faugeres (Carignane blend)
2010 Chateau Fontanes (Cabernet Sauvignon)
2011 Clos La Coutale Cahors (Malbec blend)
I was tempted to order more of the Barral Faugeres since it is so hard to find in the 50th (Chuck said the last vintage he received was 2002). The La Canciette and the Clos La Coutale were also very nice wines that paired nicely with all three dishes. My favorite dish of the evening was the ravioli... not the ravioli itself but the shredded short rib and demi that accompanied the ravioli. Rich and hearty! The dish that exemplified the Maui onion best was the risotto and the grains were perfectly cooked (not too al dente, not too mushy).
Of course Chuck let us sample a mystery wine that had loads of pepper almost like charred shishito peppers with good acid. Since I asked for an Italian wine, I assumed it was from Italy but green pepper like this had to be a Cabernet Franc... which usually isn't grown in Italy. Low and behold, it WAS a Cabernet blend from Italy - a 1997 San Leonardo which routinely garners Tre Bicchieri ratings.
And since I sampled the Movia Sauvignon, I also had to uncork a 2009 Radikon Slatnik. It gives new meaning to the term "orange" wine. It was the color of aged Sauternes with a nose of orange peel and white blossoms and loads of complexity on the palate. Some honey, some stone fruit, earth. baked citrus with definite tannins and a long finish.
We also were blinded on another wine that Chuck said don't even try guessing. I thought it might be a Chinon with some vegetal aromas but it turned out to be a German red wine - A 2008 Lemberger.
The Mrs finished the evening with a Tiramisu.
While I had the barkeep mix me a Negroni.
And we did manage to leave before other patrons or staff members (we normally close Vino). A last minute visit but a nice visit to Vino none the less.
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