Victory Tavern in Dallas’ Victory Park hosts lively Jordan wine dinner Thursday night

by Teresa Gubbins

Marc Lee

Rare 1983 late harvest white from Rivere Russe

DALLAS — Victory Park may be down lately but it's not out -- at least, not at Victory Tavern on Thursday night, when owners Patrick and Catherine Colombo hosted a lively dinner featuring the wines of prestige label Jordan Winery.

Although the Tavern has hosted a number of brewmaster events, this was its first big wine dinner, other than a smaller one in April featuring Artesa wines.

Jordan was deliberately chosen because it's such a huge Dallas favorite, said general manager Victor Rojas, but the staff was still pleasantly surprised that the event drew 70 people. There are already plans for a similar event on July 16, starring wines from Rombauer Vineyards, another popular high-end label.

After a reception with champagne and hors d'ouevre, the crowd descended into the dining room for a four-course meal with appetizer and dessert, each accompanied by a Jordan wine. Tables were set up communally, allowing the opportunity to connect with oenophiles such as Sing-yi Feng, Collin Goto, and Robert Wiebe, a trio of pediatric emergency physicians from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center who traded opinions about the wines, with Feng and Goto doing a nifty job of documenting their thoughts on neatly cribbed notes. (As a matter of fact, any insight as to the personality of the wines expressed in this story should probably be credited directly to them.)

One of the high points of the meal was the course of poached lamb loin with parsnip quinoa and rhubarb glaze. The lamb was gorgeously medium-rare and the sides were rare in a good way. You don't see parsnip used that often; in this case, they'd been cooked until soft and chopped into nibs that were stirred into the quinoa. Rhubarb has a sweet-tart thing going on that added complexity.

This was also the course in which two different vintages of the same wine were served: 2000 and 2001 cabernet sauvignon from California's Sonoma Country. The 2000 seemed more appealing up front. It was more balanced (thank you, Dr. Feng), and ultra-concentrated (thank you, Dr. Goto). But, as the 2001 opened, it became more friendly and ended up surpassing the 2000 (thank you, Dr. Wiebe).

The other notable nicety was the fact that Jordan shared a unique pour for the dessert course: a 1983 Late Harvest White Rivere Russe -- a sweet, almost-candied dessert wine, with honey, orange blossom and apricot (nod to Dr. G.) that Jordan rep Kathleen Oliver said was dug out from the vineyard's personal cellar and was basically not available for sale. That made we-the-diners feel special.

Marc Lee

Dining room at Victory Tavern

Marc Lee

From left: Victory Tavern owner Patrick Colombo (right) with his wife Catherine (left) and Kathleen Oliver, regional manager for Jordan Vineyard & Winery

Marc Lee

"Peekey" toe crab (bet they meant "peekytoe") stuffed zucchini pancakes with roasted grapefruit aioli, served with 2006 Russian River chardonnay

Marc Lee

Cheesy rolls

Marc Lee

Glass of 2005 cabernet sauvignon is poured for Restaurant Works Marketing Director Lina Street.

Marc Lee

Flatiron steak and aged Gouda roulade with Asian pear salad, served with 2005 Cabernet sauvignon from Alexander Valley

Marc Lee

Diners Robert Wiebe, Collin Gioto, and (on the far right) Sing-Yi Feng.

Feng's tasting notes

Marc Lee

Olive oil-poached Colorado lamb loin with parsnip quinoa & rhubarb glaze, served with 2000 and 2001 Cabernet sauvignon from Sonoma County

Marc Lee

Victory Park chef Jim Oetting explaining to diners what "quinoa" is.

Marc Lee

Summer berry clafouti with fresh ginger shortbread. Clafouti was good, shortbread wasn't bad, but presentation was just a little off. Shortbread just needed to be propped on the side, since it was a hard cookie, and people were confused when they tried to cut it with their fork. No biggie.

Marc Lee

Deb and Jim Glegg of Dallas were candidates for "cutest couple" at Victory Tavern's Jordan wine event. She had on awesome gold sandals and he had some pointy-toed Italian-type shoes whose brand name I neglected to obtain.

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• Anonymous

SkyHigh, says:

Victory Park IS down AND out. I feel sorry for the last few restaurants that have chosen to die a slow death.

Anonymous

5 months, 4 weeks ago
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nina_chawla, says:

It would be nice to hear about these things BEFORE they happen!

Anonymous

5 months, 3 weeks ago
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Alex Bentley, says:

Cue <a href="http://www.gotwavs.com/php/sounds/?id=gog&amp;media=MP3S&amp;type=Movies&amp;movie=Wedding_Singer&amp;quote=yesterday2.txt&amp;file=yesterday2.mp3">Adam Sandler</a>.

Staff

5 months, 3 weeks ago
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Teresa Gubbins, says:

hey nina, this is a great time for me to point out that on Wednesdays, all of us at Pegasus are posting <a href="http://www.pegasusnews.com/search/?q=%22eating+and+drinking+events+in+dallas-fort+worth%22&amp;sortby=date&amp;texasgigs_stories=on">weekly roundups</a> of coming events and attractions.

i cover the fields of "eating" and "drinking". if there are any stand-out events such as this wine dinner, i make sure to highlight them in my weekly report. keep an eye out every wednesday!

Staff

5 months, 3 weeks ago
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