Fine Dining Restaurant is Awarded Five Diamonds
They’re toasting one another at the posh Addison at the Grand Del Mar as this signature fine dining restaurant has earned one of the most coveted awards of all: a Five Diamond rating from AAA. It was not too long ago that I visited the brilliant young Wine Director at the Addison, Jesse Rodriguez, who launched the ambitious wine program there.
Jesse gained fame as lead sommelier at the renowned French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley. He’s now a non-stop advocate for Addison and its 21,000 wine collection. It’s not unusual to see a coveted 1961 Mouton Rothschild on the list and a large number of French Burgundies to enhance Chef William Bradley’s creations, featuring an artisanal approach to French style cooking with seasonal influences.
Since opening in October of 2006, the 30 million dollar dining venue has enjoyed critical acclaim from the major wine and dine publications. The five diamond accolade is the first one for a San Diego restaurant, proving the high level of excellence and service that Addison displays.
I recently renewed my friendship with Jesse at the San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival, where he was selected to be one of the sommeliers on a Blind Tasting panel designed to show expertise in breaking down a wine’s components and identifying it by visual, nose, palate and taste evidence. Jesse and the others elected were able to pinpoint the country of origin, region, varietal and vintage of the wines selected for analysis.
I always marvel at the wine wisdom these sommeliers possess. It’s a devotion to wine nurtured by many hours of research, tastings and notations of what they have learned. When it all culminates in a world-class rating as in the Five Diamond award, this devotion to excellence deserves our applause and our dining loyalty. For more information, visit the web site www.thegranddelmar.com.
More Food/Wines for Holiday Tastings The Pinnacle restaurant on the grounds of Falkner Winery in Temecula is a Thanksgiving experience with a special menu and wines including roasted turkey and all the trimmings. Falkner’s Amante Super Tuscan is worth ordering, with mostly Sangiovese, some Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc and Merlot.
The ’04 is amazing with the ’05 giving it a run. $39.95. www.falknerwinery.com. Try the #1 wine in ’08 awarded by Wine Spectator, Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta from Chile. A lovely red. $75. Pinot Noir always adapts to whatever is served as the main entrée, from turkey to fish and I have two for you: 2006 Joseph Drouhin from Beaune France, a great Burgundy appellation ($20); and 2007 Gioia (“joy” in Italian) from Santa Barbara County, a small handcrafted wine vineyard, aged in French oak with a deeper ruby color than most. $38.
Over at Wine Street, Carlsbad, they debuted the latest Chiaramonte Sicilian Nero D’Avola, a 2006 for $16.99. A different style of Italian red, it had rich cherry fruit with strong acidity. Excellent wine! R Collection 2006 Monterey Chardonnay. Gotta have one Chardonnay in the mix.
This one is out of Raymond Vineyards of St. Helena, Napa Valley. Exhibits tropic fruit overtones, an old style of Chardoannay. $14. If you’re counting calories, wine is kind to your waistline. Roughly 3.5 ounces about a third of an average stemmed glass is 76 calories for a white wine and 44 calories for red. This compares with 200+ calories for a similar size glass of beer. Still another reason for making the switch to wine.
Wine Bytes
• Bacchus Wine Market downtown San Diego has its occasional “Drink Yourself Blind” tastings Friday, Nov. 28 from 4 to 8pm for $15 ea. Try 8 wines that are bagged and guess the grape. Prizes for closest calls. Call 619-236-0005.
• Bernardo Winery in Rancho Bernado presents the Ira Liss Big Band Jazz Machine Sunday, Nov. 30 at 6pm in the Winery Courtyard. 17 piece music that’s FREE to all. Food and beverages available. Call for more at 858-487-1866.
• Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido has a couple of heavyweight tastings: first one is Thursday, Dec. 4 from 5:30-7:30pm with a Port Wine tasting for $25 ea. Next one is Thursday, Dec. 11 when Holiday presents a Napa Valley pouring from Jarvis. Try Chardonnay, Merlot, Cab and more. $25. Call 760-745-1200.
• Callaway Vineyard & Winery in Temecula is planning a Candlelight Dinner on Saturday, Dec. 6 from 6:30 to 9:30pm. A sparking wine and hors d’oeuvres followed by a four course gourmet dinner prepared by their new Meritage Restaurant with chef Mike Henry. Each course has a perfectly paired Callaway wine. Live holiday music. $100 pp. RSVPs at 951-676-4001.
Frank Mangio is a renowned wine connoisseur certified by Wine Spectator. He is one of the top five wine commentators on the web. Reach him at mangiompc@aol.com.
10631 Vinedale Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352 - Phone (818) 767-3413 - Fax: (818) 767-1410
