Winemaker's Event: Dirk Niepoort in Montreal 13th April

[Frederick Blais]

It is with great pleasure that I can finally announce the last details about a great event that will take place in Montreal on the 13th of April 2008.

I've convince Dirk NIepoort to come to Montreal for a fantastic evening with great wines and fabulous food pairings. I'll post the link here and translate the french menu :

http://frederickblais.com/niepoortCCP.html

For reservation, please contact Lambert Vincent of Club Chasse et Pêche at 514--861-1112 or trough email at lambert@leclub-mtl.ca

Don't hesitate to contact me for futher details, comments, questions. I hope to see many FTLOPers there for a blast of Douro shining wines/port that we'll be enhance with the most exciting cuisine in town.

You've probably know already much about the quality of Niepoort's wines and Colheita. I've made a selection of the most interesting release they have made so far and I'm please to have them all on the same table with each a specific food pairing. On the other hand, the restaurant Club Chasse et Pêche(fishing and hunting club) is the most exciting restaurant in Montreal for quality food. It is on every lips and the restaurant have been full since the launch with no publicity, not even a display with the name on the front door. The quality of the food and the exquisite layers of flavours that each meal can offer is simply addictive.

The first service is scallops grilled in olive oil with lemon infusion. You taste some fresh and flavourfull scallops with a great retro of lemon. Served with the Tiara that has clean acidity and yet fresh palate with zesty flavours and ripe pears.

2nd Service is a decadent wrap of tuna with shitake mushrooms in the middle. Served with a light juice of beef, truffles and foie gras. It is just so tasty, truffle has strong flavours so we'll put wines with strong character yet delicate and fresh. Again, key here is the acidity of the wine to cleanse the palate and enhance the wines.

3rd service will be a deer piece of meet. Key to make this meal to perfect is precision on the cooking. The chocolate gravy will be perfect to go with the ripe fruit of the Redoma. 2004 and 2001 are for me the 2 bests releases of Redoma, it needs game meat to fully express its character. This type of meat is also perfect to balance the tannins and the acidity in the wine.

4th service Foie gras. If one meal is perfect each time I go to Club Chasse et Pêche, it is the foie gras. They manage to grill it perfectly with the right amount of fresh and candied fruits. An aromatic, fresh red wine with great fruit purity and a touch of sweetness will be perfect to balance the complex flavours of this foie gras plate. A touch of portuguese marmalada will complete another exquisite confection.

5th Service is desert. The ingredients have been chosen and we are currently experimenting to make the best dessert we could do to match the 95 colheita. Apple, Maple Syrup, chedar are all typical Quebec ingredients that are matching all togheter and have been for many generation. Our sweet tooth history will provide a fantastic match the Niepoort's Colheita.

[Todd Pettinger]

Frederick,

Sounds like a fantastic night! I wish I could make it, alas I will be travelling just prior and just after this time period. I am sure everything will go well for you, but I am regretful that I cannot be there to meet Dirk Niepoort.

Todd

[Frederick Blais]

Thank you for the kind words Todd. I know one day we'll meet around a very good bottle of Port in a great mood!

[Todd Pettinger]

You'd better believe it Frederick.... and when we do, it will be epic!

[Frederick Blais]

Today is the last day to reserve your place for the Niepoort event. If there were some hesitating, its time to take a decision.

[Roy Hersh]

For US citizens, getting anywhere this weekend is going to be a nightmare. Two major airlines and at least a few of the smaller ones are in serious cancellation mode with flights all across America being shut down with over 1,000 flights removed yesterday and today it should be worse.

My bad luck to be flying late tonight to FLA. If only I did not have to check luggage. ; )

Fred, please send my best regards to Dirk if you remember. Your event sounds amazing, the food great ... but with all that going on, I hope Dirk brings a great Colheita or VP to finish the night off. Somehow a '95 Colheita does not seem to fit an evening of this stature. I do realize that there are slim pickings up there. The good news is that Mr. Niepoort is very generous and the odds are that he'll surprise you with something amazing. That or you are already knowing and not telling us.

Have a great time this weekend!!!

[Frederick Blais]

I don't know yet if he brought something or not. He's having a big week in Montreal. A small visit for a dinner was transformed into a week of promotion at the moment. Hopefuly he'll still have energy left, and maybe a good bottle.

Thank you for the cheers, I'll pass him your salutations.

About the 95 Colheita, this was chosen to fit the menu, the price, and the fact that his colheita are unique and very hard to get in Québec. It will be a pleasant discovery for many I'm sure.

I'll probably do an article about Food and Douro wines resulting from this! Get ready for a guest corner