Down Under

Another great wine dinner at Mosaic, this time with our friends Jon and Barbara. The menu featured wines of New Zealand and Australia along with Chef Mike’s fabulous food. For a starter, we were treated to champagne mango (a sweet and somewhat lighter mango than what we typically have) wrapped in proscuitto di parma, with micro greens and a yummy passion fruit vinaigrette, topped with corn stalk shoots. An Australian sparkling wine from Seaview, made from a combination of pinot noir and chardonnay, complemented the flavors nicely. The first course featured New Zealand green lipped mussels in a curried tomato broth with basil, served with a delicious 2004 Omaka Springs Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region of New Zealand. This is about the 4th or 5th Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough that we’ve tasted recently and they have all been tremendous. Following the mussels, we had a huckleberry-glazed ostrich filet with a sweet potato croquette, flavored with lemon grass. The tart huckleberry glaze was delicious with the other flavors, and the ostrich was very tasty, though somewhat firmer than what I expected (having never eaten ostrich before). The sweet potato was a nice complement to the ostrich, both in flavor and texture. With this course, we drank a wonderful 2002 Torlesse Pinot Noir. The main course featured a grilled Australian Barramundi filet with gingered risotto and braised baby bok choy, served with an Australian Grenache/Shiraz from Hill of Content. The fish had enough body and flavor to stand up well with this tasty red wine. We finished the meal with a wonderful, light, and delicious Pavlova served with a tart lemon sorbet, fresh fruit, and a small amount of tart lime confit.

Robert Peters, the wine maven from the Ardmore State Store, who did a great job of pairing the wines with the food, told us that my two favorite wines from this dinner, the Sauvignon Blanc and the Pinot Noir are both available in the specialty stores, but that the other two wines are sold out. The Omaka Spring Sauvignon Blanc is a steal at $9.99, and is offered as one of the PA LCB's Chairman's selections, which if you haven't checked out, you should.