Kansas City Bailliage

Please join local members of the Societe Mondial Du Vin as we welcome to Kansas City Lani and Tim Holdener, winemaker & owners of Macchia Vineyards in California. Tim Holdener, a self proclaimed “Zin Fanatic” has been making wines for about 12 years, his first being a Zinfandel. His passion and knowledge has increased over the years, earning Best of Class, a 4 star Gold and 3 Best in Region awards for his wines. Sample wines with names such as: “ Bodacious”, “Adventurous”, “Generous”, “Delicious” and “Amorous”!

The tasting will be held at Milano Restaurant (Street Level, Grand Street side) at Crown Center. A light sampling of foods will be served to match the wines, including a Port wine. Our own Chaine des Rotisseurs member, Kelly Toboja, Maitre de Table, will serve as our Host at Milano.

As an added treat, the UMKC Student Jazz Combo from the Conservatory of Music will play for our listening pleasure!

Come and enjoy fine wines, food and music on Thursday, April 20th, 2006 at 7PM.

Syrah Around the World
February 18, 2004

Shiraz Restaurant
320 Southwest Blvd.
Kansas City, Missouri

Joyce Angelos Walsh led the blind tasting and discussion on Syrah wines from around the world.  Ms. Walsh is a wine professional with over 20 years experience in the wine industry. She has been teaching wine classes for the past five years and is a member of the Society of Wine Educators. She holds a certificate of accreditation from the Court of Master Sommeliers and writes a monthly wine column for a national trade publication, Restaurant Start up & Growth.

Also during the tasting and discussion, Shiraz provided a sumptuous feast that included their incredible Paella!
 

Madeira and Sherry tasting
October 9, 2003

40 Sardines
11942 Roe Blvd. (in Hawthorne Plaza)
Overland Park, KS

Chef-Owners Debbie Gold & Michael Smith presented a specially chosen tapas array that accompanied a discussion on medeira and sherry. Mondial member Stuart Bitterman was also on hand with some of his own fine chocolates.

Tequila Tasting
August 21, 2003

Panzon's Restaurant
87th & Lackman
Lenexa, KS

Tequila, Mexican Beer, Margarita & Mexican wine tasting plus sampling of tasty Mexican foods.

A representative from Jose Cuervo was on hand to lead a discussion on the history and production of tequila.

Beverages with make-your-own pizza
June 19, 2003

Jasper's Restaurant
1201 W. 103rd Street
Kansas City

Chef Jasper Mirabile prepared several pizzas including:

White Clam
Proscittto fontina and pear
Roasted pepper and Sicilian fennel sausage
Roasted artichoke and Roma tomato
Grilled eggplant with three cheese
Pizza Margerita
Wild mushroom and roasted garlic
Calabrese chicken and Asiago cheese
Wild greens and toasted pignoli

There were tables with assorted Sicilian olives, coppa salami, cheeses and fruit.

Beer selections included:
Morretti, Morretti La Rosa (dark), Peroni and Manabria from Italy.

Gene Parker from Parker Wines sampled wines from Piedmonte, Toscano, Sicily and Fruilli and led a discussion on each of the selections.

Finally, Chef Jasper served a light fruit tart and Limoncello for dessert.

South African Wine Tasting
May 8, 2003

Loch Lloyd Country Club
16750 Country Club Drive
Belton, MO


Vice-Echanson's event wrapup:

Ryan Bennet and his staff at Loch Lloyd Country Club did an outstanding job pairing South African foods with some incredible crafted beverages from the unheralded but rapidly improving South Africa wine regions. Equally incredible was the turnout considering the weather. But read this about the Mondial event:

Arguably the favorite wine of a long list of appreciated wines was the 2002 Helderberg Steen. Wisely the hosts, Kathy and Brewster Ellis, did NOT disclose any prices considering the Steen cost $5.99 a bottle. Not bad!!! Another big hit was the interesting Fairview "Goats do Roam" 2002 white, an interesting blend of crouchen blanc, clairette blanc and muscat de frontignan. Anyone ever had that collection from the same bottle? This stunner cost a whopping $8.99 a bottle. The final white offering was the 2001 Rudera Chenin Blanc. A rival to the Steen (Chenin Blanc and Steen are the same thing but the South Africans seem like confusion), the Rudera was also a big hit. And at $14.99 it too was another "WOW"!

Pinotage is a native South African varietal. It is a clone of Pinot Noir and Cinsault. The Warwick 2000 and the Simonsig 2000 Pinotage pair went well with the South African meatballs..that is not what they call them but we can't come up with any other moniker. Those wines cost $14.99 and $12.99 respectively. The Bordeaux blends were the Morgenhof Premier Selection 1998 and the Glen Carlou Grand Classique 1999. At $19.99 and $16.99 per bottle, they would go well with any lamb or meat dish as they did this wonderful night. The Glen Carlou might be better yet in 8 to 10 years but we were not willing to wait.

To finish the evening off, we were treated to a 1997 Master Cape Vintage Reserve Port. Another steal at $34.99, this was a collection of ports made by some of the pre-eminent producers of port in South Africa. Their collaboration made for a wonderful tasting, easy drinking next to last beverage......and then came the climax.

Amarula is made from the fruit of the elephant or marula tree. The trees cannot be cultivated so the fruit must be harvested in the wild. Imagine competing with a herd of elephants for it? Apparently they really like the fruit...a lot. This wonderful beverage was referred to by our South African tour guide, Gerry Buckley, as "something like Bailey's." After tasting it, our host announced that it was more like Bailey's on steroids! It really did taste good and thanks to Stuart Bitterman we all got to enjoy it with some delightful Ghiradelli chocolates! (Oh, forgot to mention: the Amarula cost a whopping $17.99!)

Mondial events are always an adventure and this one was no different. The food, the beverages and the presentation of South African tour possibilities by Gerry made a few of us want to get on a South African Airways flight to Joberg right away for the train ride to the Stellenbosch and Paarl wine regions.

Join the Mondial ... our next adventure is June 19th at Jasper's. Members need to make reservations with Kathy Ellis. Non-members will need to join or beg a Mondial member to bring them as a guest!

Champagne, Vodka & Caviar tasting
March 20, 2003

Hannah Bistro Café
39th Street & State Line Road
Kansas City

A representative from Dean & Deluca will be on hand to lead a discussion on the caviars.

Italian Wine Tasting
November 14, 2002

Jasper's Restaurant
1201 W. 103rd Street
Kansas City

Various Italian wines to be sampled along with delicious "small plates" food pairings.

Spanish Wine Tasting & Tapas
July 25, 2002
featuring wines by Robert Noecker of Corkscrew Wines
event catered by Iliki Café


LOCATION:
at the home of Brewster and Kathy Ellis
Leawood, KS

Wine and Chocolate Pairing
May 19, 2002
featuring Mike Holton, wine buyer at Meiners


LOCATION:
at the home of Brewster and Kathy Ellis
Leawood, KS