Mount Washington Alpine Feast

I arrived in Campbell River to visit my parents on Friday evening, expecting a relatively uneventful week perhaps filled with simply some fishing and some reading, but as we sat down with beers upon my arrival, my vigilant providers of life put a copy of the local newspaper in front of me. It was open to a page with an article/press release about the Alpine Food & Wine Festival happening at the local Mount Washington ski resort just a few minutes drive inland... my heart skipped a beat at this fortuitous happenstance. I'd arrived too late to catch the Wine Tasting that evening, but apparently they were hosting a six-course, wine-paired dinner on Saturday night. I called the reservations number immediately and practically begged them to have room for my parents and I. I didn't sleep all night, visions of syrah plums dancing in my head.

So the next afternoon I received a call back from Colleen, who said she had 4 seats left. I was worried that they might not allow a party of 3 to throw off the feng shui of the room and leave that one seat open, but she said it was no problem at all. I had to clarify one more thing though. "So, tickets are $100 for the six courses, yes? And wine is extra, right?" No, in fact, a flight of six paired local wines was included in the $100 (no tax) tab. Get out of town.

After a short drive up the mountain, overlooking beautiful alpine meadows to arrive at the lodge atop the mount. Colleen greeted us warmly outside the banquet hall, where we chose one of round tables of eight to sit down at. The two couples already seated were quite pleasant and conversational, so I chose to restrain my more controversial political viewpoints and keep it superficial. Talking about wine and critiquing food is not something I ever choose to censor, however. And thus began the meal!

First Course: Prosciutto Wrapped Smoked Cheddar

Served with a grapefruit and apple puree, as well as a currant compote on the side, this dish was a simple, but very well executed and composed amuse. I was expecting an oyster and 2oz of pinot gris, but here we were presented with quite a labor-intensive work of art and a 4oz glass of bubbles. The wine: Elephant Island Pink Elephant, which looks like a brut rose but its actually a sparkling dry cider, with the addition of blackcurrant. Very crisp and clear green apple and blackcurrant flavours, fine bubbles, bright acidity... pretty straightforward. Impressive though, for a fruit wine. Apparently produced in the methode champagnoise traditonnel, which would explain its finesse despite its origins in the orchard. Most impressively though, was the synergy with the amuse bouche. The bitter acidity of grapefruit and character of green apple from the sauce was echoed seamlessly in the wine, with the additional nod toward currant found in the compote. The saltiness of prosciutto well balanced with acidity from the brut, and the richness of the cheese well tempered by the body provided from the wine's mousse. This was a very fortuitous indication of a fine meal ahead.

Second Course: Dungeness Crab Cake

Perfectly golden brown, but lazily presented with some baby mixed greens and a slice of lemon, this was a mediocre crabcake. Sure, it was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, but that is where the textural interest stopped. I need a crab cake to have recognizable pieces of crab for my palette to play with, but this filling was overmixed into homogeneity. It may as well have been crab-flavoured mashed potato. The flavor was good though, the smoked paprika mayo had an effective balance of sweet and sour to drive home the universally enjoyed flavor of chipotle... but the baby greens were a lazy presentational afterthought. They may have well have saved their money and kept them in the cooler, if they served a purpose it was only to try to distract us from the failed texture of the crabcake. The wine, however was a delightful example of a local semillon - from Lake Breeze Vineyards in the okanagan. This one was much like a sauvignon blanc stylistically, though closer to a medium body, and exhibiting some waxy, wooly aromas behind the grapefruit and gooseberry that dominate the nose. Cool wine with varietal character, but I don't think this crabcake was giving it alot to bounce off of.

Third Course: Butternut Squash Ravioli

As soon as this arrived at the table I had to restrain my anger, lest I embarass my parents. I first noticed that these looked like they were made of puff pastry. The edges are golden brown, and the dough is filled with air bubbles. Something that looked like thousand island dressing congealed on top is the only thing that could explain the tomato and cucumber garnish... is this shitty ravioli, or a shitty greek salad with russian dressing? So I'm conceptually very confused... and then I made the mistake of taking a bite. I had to first cut it with my steak knife, the dough was such a rubbery mess, and the overly sweet filling was much more like Cactus Club than it was like Lumiere. There is a way to bring out the subtelties of butternut squash, and there is a way to make it too sweet and bland, and this was the latter. There was nothing culinarily valuable about this dish. If they had called it a perogy, I would be less harsh in my critique because it would be closer to the truth.. but still, a shitty perogy. I loved the wine though; Noble Ridge Chardonnay '09, a heavily oaked and creamy, yet tart and mineral green-apple driven chardonnay. I love these oaky, tart BC chards, with butterscotch and vanilla aromas, reminiscent of a candy apple in a glass. Oaky chardonnay, however, is a no-brainer with butternut squash ravioli and maple cream, and would have been a delightful synergy if the ravioli wasn't worthless.

Fourth Course: Chicken with Apple, Walnut, and Roquefort

I'd tasted the wine before the chicken arrived, and I must have spent the next 15 minutes with my nose down that glass. So lush and expressive for a BC Pinot Noir, let alone something from Vancouver Island! This was the 2007 Reserve Pinot Noir from Alderlea, in the Cowichan Valley, and this was so much more than strawberries and vanilla. This was fruitcake and twizzlers. Eucalyptus and cabbage! Medium bodied on the palate, with nearly medium but quite ripe tannins providing some premier cru structure... this is an outstanding example of BC Noir at her best. With so much going on, I couldn't much find the leather that was suggested by the sommelier's notes, until I tried it with the chicken. The blue cheese and walnuts waltzed off down my palate with the fruit and spice in the wine, leaving leather behind to fend for itselfThere wasn't much to say here about the chicken. Deep fried things are tasty (as this was), and blue cheese and walnuts are tasty with green apples. I didn't even have to take a bite of the wild rice pilaf to tell that it was overcooked, but I ventured one anyways and found that it was also underseasoned. I didn't take anymore, but I definitely finished the chicken with the pinot noir, an incredibly harmonious affair. Too bad you can only get this '07 reserve from the winery, and its production was very limited. That does explain, however, its exceptional nature. I applaud the sommelier for bringing this experience into my life.

Fifth Course: Bison Short Ribs

This dish was quite nicely done. Or maybe I just love short ribs. Sure, they were a little bit undercooked and tough, and sure, the couscous was the consistency of polenta (I could, at this point, tell you with some certainty that the starch guy was the weakest link in this kitchen), but the flavours all worked really well together. Having four glasses of wine already definitely helped to relax my seemingly unattainable demand for perfection in dish composition and execution -- I should mention that these were not 2oz tasters, but they were serving full 5oz glasses with each course. The dried fruit in the braisage was quite nice against the deeply savoury bison, and a little sweet plum jelly on the side of the plate echoed the insistence of dark plum from the wine quite aptly. Hester Creek Cabernet Franc 2008 was, once again, an impeccable pairing for this dish. The bouquet was full of concentrated plum and black currant, with plenty of spice and greenleaf, but I was really blown away by the intense black pepper that was not given away in the nose. With a long, mild vanilla finish, this is the best BC Cab Franc I've ever had. And with the complex and well-balanced spicing of the couscous, another incredible synergy was attained. At this point in the meal, I am in complete awe of the sommelier's choices. I have never had such a well chosen array of great quality local wines.

Dessert: Cheese Plate

Sommelier Jason Hyde

I had to sneak outside to attempt a photo of the blue Vancouver Island Mountains in a fading twilight, so I missed the sommelier's descriptions of the cheese course as well as the moment to attempt documenting the attractive platter before it was torn apart by my merry tablemates. Great opportunity, though, to introduce myself in all my socially lubricated glory to this sommelier I'd grown to so admire over the last 3 hours. The wines were all chosen by the Alpine Lodge's resident expert, Jason Hyde. Turns out his capability has been well earned, most notably with some time spent at Whistler's crown jewel, Araxis. I was not hesitant to express my delight at having experienced such wonderful nectar, such impeccable pairings... and so generously at such a price! I also learned from him about the wine and cheeses of our dessert course. All of the cheeses were from Little Qualicum Cheeseworks, and included their Bleu Claire, Qualicum Spice (with prominent caraway), Rathtrevor (firm swiss with a little ammonium bite), Raclette (my first time having this classic swiss apres-ski cheese, very much like my favorite, Gruyere), and Dalala Hot Dill (with caramelized onion). They were all very nice, and each complemented the Averill Creek Cowichan Black 2010 blackberry dessert wine in its own unique way. I wasn't paying too much attention, because at this point I was quite potted I must admit. But I was very happy. And very impressed, ultimately; for a $100 six course meal at a backwoods ski lodge, you'd be hardpressed to find a better experience. Jason did all the heavy lifting, though, and the wines alone were enough to turn this into a meal to truly remember. Bravo, Mr. Hyde.