Southwest Connecticut Wine-Jed Steele Wine Dinner

ed Steele is a California winemaking legend.  He learned his craft working for 10 years at Edmeades, then a small independent winery in the Anderson Valley of Mendocino County and then for the first 9 years as the founding winemaker at Kendall-Jackson. Since 1991 he has headed up his own winery, making a dazzling array of highly acclaimed single vineyard wines, bringing fruit from California’s great growing districts to his Lake County, winery an hour north of Calistoga.  He also makes both a Chardonnay and Pinot Noir winemaker’s blend of carefully selected lots from around the state.  Our dinner starts with an unusual but delicious sparkling Syrah from his Shooting Star label.  The Chardonnay pair matches the flagship Steele Cuvee blend, with the Duprat Mountain single vineyard in Mendocino.  Next, Steele’s Carneros Pinot Noir pairs up with the Durell Vineyard Pinot Noir, a warmer site in the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains.  The final match is not really a pair, but two exceptional examples of Steele’s winemaking craft. The Stymie designation is reserved for Steele’s highest quality, small production wines. These two wines, Syrah and Merlot, are the inaugural vintages of the Stymie tradition.  For dessert we’ll take a quick trip to France for a delicious Muscat.  Please join innkeepers Frank and Marsha Whitman for an evening of special wines and a mouth-watering menu by Chef Matt Stein.  Craig Gonsor of World Wide Wines will lead the discussion of the wines.  Take a mid summer break with wine, food and friends at Silvermine!