Case Club Dinner at Nashoba Valley

Dateline: 08/17/98

Nashoba Valley Winery is located in Bolton, Massachusetts and has won many awards for their fine fruit wines and ports. Some have a distinctive fruit flavor, like the delicious after-dinner peach, while others have a more "grapey, mellow" flavor, as in some of the apples. When Nashoba Valley offered their dinner-with-wine for case club members, I eagerly signed up with my boyfriend and two other friends.

Jerome's Restaurant only opened a short time ago, so we were very impressed with the room's elegant but comfortable decor. Richard himself greeted us and seated us. All through dinner the wait staff was extremely courteous and attentive. I think the only amusing gaffe was when we sipped the first wine (a dry Pear) and commented that it was very smooth tasting. "That's a Chardonnay," commented the waiter walking by.

First came cream of alligator soup, paired with that Dry Pear. The soup was delicious, a mild flavor with an interesting, ribbed texture to the alligator. The pear was a good match for this, mild and slightly flavorful. Next came a Caesar salad with strawberry- rhubarb dressing, also very tasty. My boyfriend doesn't like dressing, and they were quite helpful in bringing him a dry version. That went with a Cider, gently bubbly and a good counterpoint to the flavors of the salad.

Our next dish was sea scallops in a spicy tomato sauce. We all eat a lot of Indian and Thai food and thought "spicy" was a bit overstated, but the scallops were delicious and arranged nicely in real shells. The drink was Baldwin, an apple wine which was mellow and subtle, very nice.

The main course was a combination - kangaroo au poivre and sliced duck breast with raspberry sauce. We of course started with the kangaroo, curious about its flavor. It had an "organ" taste - not very "sharp" or spicy, but dull and gritty. The duck was delicious, as was the vegetables that came with both. This dish came with either a dry blueberry or a vidal blanc. We got a glass of each. The blanc was refreshing, but the blueberry was my favorite. Very rich and flavorful. Of course, my favorite wine by Nashoba Valley is the blueberry port "Azule", so I am slightly biased on this.

All in all this dinner was quite delicious, and the wines served were well matched to the dishes. I would recommend anyone in Massachusetts watching for future notices of Nashoba Valley events!

Link to the Nashoba Valley Webpage

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