Taste of Massachusetts 2000
Nashoba Valley Winery

Saturday dawned with heavy rainclouds, but the tents were set up and the gazebo decorated for a feast of wine and food. As noon rolled around, the sun shone through the clouds, and the crowds descended apon Nashoba Valley's Winery and Orchards. What a delightful treat awaited them!

The event featured Nashoba Valley's wines paired with offerings from many local restaurants, as well as cooking demonstrations and winery tours. TJ Wheeler & the Smokers played blues and jazz from the gazebo while children danced and adults clinked glasses together. Toes tapping to the music, we decided to dive into the food.

We began with goat cheese cups with olive oil marinade, from the Crystal Brook Farm, in Sterling. This was creamy and mellow, paired with Dry Pear wine. Next was a fresh pesto from the Herb Lyceum at Gilson's, in Groton. This had a touch of sweetness, created by sauteeing the summer squash in salt, pepper, and carmelized sugar. Quite a treat with the Cyser. Their risotto was even better - made with mushrooms and herbs, it was full bodied and rish. This went well with the Baldwin wine.

Next, the Wachusett Village Inn in Westminster offered their Wachusett Apple Chicken dish. This was a chicken breast in a delicious cream sauce, topped with thin apple slices and cheese. Paired with the Cranberry Apple, it was a light meal that served well both warm and cool. In fact, Wachusett brought the same amount of food as last year (when they had excess at the end of the day), they ran out before 3pm and had to shut down!

Ellen Gugel is served gravlox

One of our personal favorites was offered by Atlantic 101, from Boston. Chef Clarke Congdon was on hand to serve his house cured gravlox on cucumber rounds. This salmon had been cured with salt and sugar, along with dill and lemon. The flavor was wonderful, and the salmon/cucumber combo made it an excellent appetizer. This was recommended with Nashoba's Chardonnay.

Congdon gave a demonstration of this dish at 2pm, which was enthusiastically received by the crowds present. He explained how the juniper berries added flavor to the dish, and suggested we try vodka as well. He discussed how the salmon dish would work well with many citrus ingredients. The printed recipe called for lemon, but he demoed with orange and suggested the audience experiment with what they liked best.

Another dish high on my list was the tuna sashmi from Veronique, also in Boston. This was served on a crispy wonton with a wasabi creme fraiche topping. The tuna was lightly seared on the edges, and the wasabi dollop brought out the flavor in the tuna. Even better, when Veronique ran out of supplies due to the high demand, the chef improvised and prepared a mix of tuna, tamari, sesame oil and sesame seeds with the same creme fraiche topping. It was even more delicious! The texture counterpoint of the soft tuna and crunchy little seeds was great. Vidal Blanc was suggested here.

We moved along to Bolton Orchards, which offered small apple pies, apples dipped in fudge, and assorted cheese plates. By 3 they had already been cleaned out of their cheese, although they had samples left for tasting. We grabbed some plum wine and tried them - an Irish cheddar as well as two domestic sharper cheddars. What a great combo! We ate quite a bit of these before moving along. The plum is sweet and fruity, and would be great for a sweet wine lover. Bolton also suggested Maiden's Blush and the Cranberry Apple with their cheeses.

It seemed time for a snack. Nashoba Brook Bakery, in Concord, was offering Asian Gazpacho and assorted brownies. We grabbed two of the brownie styles - a simple chocolate brownie as well as a combo carmel/nuts/coconut blend. Nibbling these with the Raspberry wine was pure heaven. The brownies were each a delicious experience, and the raspberry brought out the chocolate flavor nicely.

We were next tempted by the Baked Wellfleet oysters from Nashoba Valley's own J's restaurant. Derek, one of the chefs, was delightful to talk with as he explained the details of this fantastic dish. First, Wellfleet oysters (his personal favorite) were selected. He used Cranberry Apple, After Dinner Peach, fresh lemon, herbs, shallots and creme to make the sauce. To this he added a stuffin with Vidal wine, onions, and shallots. The oysters then get Vermont cheddar, feta cheese, toasted almonds, olives, and sometimes even marinated mushrooms. The hard work shows - these were amazingly good! The line for the oysters stretched across the tent.

By now it was time for the creme brulee demonstration, given by Glen Lord of J's. He gave an extremely informative presentation, explaining how to mix hot and cold liquids, and how eggs and sugar mix, and even discussed how carmelization works. The most interesting part for the audience, however, was when he pulled out the propane torch and set to work carmelizing the dish. You need to cook the top evenly, holding it around 6" from the torch just at the tip of the flame. Hopefully the intrigued members in the audience all have smoke detectors in their homes!

Soon the afternoon was drawing to a close, and the lines in the wine shop grew long as visitors selected a case to bring home with them. We spoke with Rich Pelletier, owner of Nashoba Valley Winery, about how well the day went. He was extremely pleased, commenting how many more people had attended than last year, even with the iffy weather. With so many visitors attending even on a cloudy day, the restaurants will have to double their food plans for next year, as the reputation of this event only gets better and better!

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Dateline: 08/11/00

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