Winemaker's dinners have really taken off in the last few years. You see them advertised regularly and I mention them here from time to time.
They offer something for everyone. On the commercial side, they bring people into a restaurant and give the chef a chance to showcase dishes and attract some repeat diners. They give wineries the opportunity to show older vintages, wines not yet released, or wines not readily available through the LCBO/Vintages. And they also get to show their wines with food, which is how most are consumed.
Winemaker dinners carefully orchestrate dishes and wines so as to bring out the best in both.
So the benefits to restaurant and winery are clear. But how about the consumer who pays anything from, say, $80 to $100 for a pre-dinner wine and a three- to five-course meal with a wine matched to each course?
In my experience, the prices are well justified. I'm rarely disappointed by the food at one of these events and you get good value in the wine, too — whether you think in terms of volume, or the opportunity to taste wines not easily available. You also get to hear why the chef paired the wines and dishes, and you have the opportunity to hear the winemaker introduce the wines and tell you a bit about each one.
Public speaking has become a winemaker's job now, but not all of them like it. I ran into one winemaker in the street in Toronto a couple of years ago, the morning after his winemaker's dinner. He told me he really hated public speaking.
Others clearly enjoy it and are very good at it. Australians seem to rally to it, like Peter Gago (Penfolds), Wayne Stehbens (Katnook) and Hamish MacGowan (Angus the Bull). For Ontario, Jean-Pierre Colas (Peninsula Ridge), Angelo Pavan (Cave Spring Cellars), Derek Barnett (Lailey Vineyards) and Ron Giesbrecht (Henry of Pelham) make regular appearances in Ottawa. (A reminder that Creekside's Craig McDonald is holding a dinner at the National Arts Centre on March 10; call 947-7000 ext. 589 for information.)
Does the winemaker have to be there? I'd say it's not a winemaker's dinner without the winemaker, just as I'd say it's not a winemaker's dinner without the food. But sometimes an owner or other principal can step in more than adequately.
I remember an excellent dinner in Ottawa with Adolfo Folonari of Italy's Ruffino winery. He dealt stylishly with one writer's excruciatingly embarrassing behaviour (more about this in my memoirs) and talked eloquently about his winery and wines.
Then there was the memorable lunch with Australia's iconoclastic Peter Lehmann and a typically idiosyncratic dinner or two with Wolf Blass. Neither is an active winemaker, but each is an icon in his own way.
Are winemaker's dinners worth trying? Yes, they are, but make sure you know who's going to be there and make sure it's a winemaker or a principal who can talk knowledgeably about the wine. The wine and food might justify the price, but the chance to hear about the wine and ask questions are the added values that make these events really worthwhile.
Today, a mixed bag of wines from four different regions.