Simple Hedonisms

I was one of the fortunate 120 or so who had tickets to the sold out ‘Mardi Gras Gumbo Smackdown” this Saturday at Kendall-Jackson’s Wine Center. I love this facility, which also hosts other events including the Annual Heirloom Tomato Festival. (Stay tuned for the pre-event tomato sale coming soon!)

I was lucky enough to catch wind of this event when I visited the Center during the Winter Wineland event a few weeks ago, where I had a tasting of K-J’s small production Highland Estate wines.  As luck would have it, these  very best of Kendall-Jackson wines were to be paired with four of North Sonoma’s top chefs. Now THIS is a true Simple Hedonisms event! I had tasted Jeff and Susan Mall make amazing New Orleans dishes before, and could not wait!

For wine club members, this event was a mere $10, and still a value for outsiders at $25.

The ‘smack down’ competition was a face off between K-J’s  own Executive Chef Justin Wangler, head to head against Chefs Jeff and Susan Mall of Zin, Josh Silvers from Syrah, and Jeff Reilley of Equus.

The concept was simple: each prepared their own unique gumbo recipe, and paired it with a limited release K-J wine. Attendees had a string of purple Mardi Gras beads, and awarded their favorite to the table/chef they liked the best.

There were also cooking seminars each hour, with topics including sausage making,  the importance of a good roux, and pairing wine with spicy food.

We started with Jeff Reilley’s creation: an especially dark roux, with smoked chicken, andouille sausage, and an unusual but tasty topping of cajun breaded popcorn shrimp sprinkled on top. This savory mix was paired with 2006 Kendall-Jackson Highland Estates Seco Highlands Pinot Noir. This wonderful pinot was a perfect match for the extra heat in Jeff’s bliss in a bowl.

Next up was Justin Wangler’s table. His gumbo was a blend of dungeness crab, duck confit, shrimp, andouille sausage. This heavenly concoction was paired with newly released 2006 Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve Malbec. A big wine that meshed with, instead of competing against, Justin’s creation.

After a a break and some crowd mingling, we dove into Jeff and Susan Mall’s creation. I have been blessed to have this before at a fundraiser at their very special farm, and it was just as amazing. Dark and a bit more brothy than the others, Jeff ‘brew’s this in a big simmering cauldron, melding together Liberty Duck, gulf shrimp, and a beautiful dark roux. This mouth watering bowl of heaven was paired with Mendocino Zinfandel (only 9 cases left!) I liked the zin so much, especially paired with the gumbo, I begged a second pour, and I am generally known as a Burgundian or Rhone wine guy.

Last, but by no means least, was Josh Silvers and his ‘All Saints’ creation. Josh’s was hand prepped in front of you, sprinkling spices and an yummy jalapeno vert sauce on top.  Josh’s gumbo was the only one with crawfish, in addition to the ‘usual’ gumbo components. This yummy melding of food was paired with 2005 Kendall-Jackson Highland Estates Alisos Hills Syrah. I LOVE this syrah. Lots of structure, this release will lay down nicely for years, is enjoyable today, without the over extracted body and tannins we sometimes find in California syrah.

WHO to pick to win….I wish we had beads for everyone. After much deliberation, we gave one to Jeff Mall of Zin, and one to Justin Wangler of Kendall-Jackson, but kudos and compliments to all! Hopefully this week we will see the final winner, as well as the recipes! Edit 2/8/2010 – Jeff Reilley was the winner, by a single bead!  (You can find pics on the Facebook Fan site here.)

I will be watching for next years advance ticket sales and be sure to pounce early.

cheers! (and congrats to the Saints!)