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+--- Thread: Ken Wright Wine Dinner at Fig Tree Restaurant, Charlotte (/thread-6388.html)
- wondersofwine - 04-26-2010
This event was Thursday evening during the Charlotte Wine and Food Weekend. I was lucky to be seated across from Ken Wright for the first two courses of the dinner (then he moved to another table) and to my right were Colin and Ruth Shaw, sponsors of several of the weekend events. (He is on the board of directors for this charity event.) I can't find my notes from Thursday evening. I hope they weren't on the form I turned it to get two bottles of Pinot Noirs signed by Ken. We had Veuve Cliquot Yellow Lable Champagne to begin before sitting down. A Ken Wright Cellars Chardonnay accompanied the first course of lobster thermidor with zucchini marmalade. Two Pinot Noirs from marine sediment (basalt) soil accompanied the goat cheese beet napoleon with pistachio pesto with fried shallots and tarragon oil. The first, the 2008 Freedom Hill, was my favorite of the evening. It seemed more substantial and complex than the 2008 Abbott Claim. However, the Abbott Claim paired better with the beet dish. The next dish was prosciutto wrapped Burgundy Helix snails with morels in Gorgonzola cream sauce over crostini. With this dish we had two Pinots from grapes grown on volcanic soil--the 2008 Canary Hill and the 2008 Carter Vineyard. I liked the Carter Vineyard wine almost as much as the Freedom Hill. With a lamb shank dish we had 2005 Tyrus Evan Claret Del Rio Vineyard and 2006 Tyrus Evan Syrah Walla Walla. (This is a venture using the middle names of Ken's sons.) Some at my table really liked the Claret but I was more entranced with the Pinots. We could order bottles of Pinot Noir to be signed by Ken but couldn't specify which vineyard. I ordered two and ended up with the Canary Hill and a bottle of Savoya which we didn't taste that evening.
I chatted with Ken Wright about what his older children are doing (one has a connection with Nomacork in Zebulon, NC.) We talked about skiing at Mt. Bachelor in Oregon (I skiied there once with friends who rented a condo in Bend) and I learned that he and his wife have turned to snowboarding instead of skiing. He talked some about Kentucky (had lived there for several years) and I expressed the hope that he would get to see some of the azaleas and dogwoods around Charlotte and not just the interiors of hotels and wine shops. James Corbin, who works for the distributor, was escorting Ken around to the different events.
I had dined at Fig Tree once before when it was decorated for Christmas. It is in the Lucas House which dates from 1913. It has several small upstairs seating areas but were were on the ground floor this evening. The food was superb on both occasions. It is now one of my favorite Charlotte restaurants and I heard others say that this and Barrington's are most consistent in providing excellent cuisine.
- dananne - 04-27-2010
Thanks for the notes, and there's a great deal of jealousy coming from these parts. I've said it before, Ken Wright is our favorite producer by a country mile.
- wondersofwine - 04-28-2010
Dan, Ken's now one of my favorites as well.