Tonight we were at Riley’s, the water side, Michelin guide recommended restaurant. Here for an incredible coursed wine dinner with esteemed wine maker Daniel Pi from the Bemberg Estate Winery in Argentina. The evening was centred around showcasing Bemberg‘s exclusive high-end wines, as a sneak peek and preview to what will soon be available in Canadian liquor stores.
I was seated right across from Daniel Pi, himself, and therefore able to pick his brain throughout dinner. Over the years, he has received multiple awards for his wines. Many of which have earned more than 95 points from prestigious critics and specialized magazines.
As for the winery, Bemberg is a family owned and operated Estate. It was established in Argentina in 185, and is currently being helmed by the family’s 6th generation. Daniel took over in 2016, alongside the 5th generation. Back then they were the largest wine company in Argentina, with Argentina being the 5th largest wine producer of the world, as well as 5th largest consumer.
Considering the statistic that the average Argentinian adult consumes 65 kilos of beef per person, per year, their wine production is influenced heavily by this. Therefore the country is known for their Malbec and red wines.
Our dinner began with the Linterna Chardonnay 2022, which was also our welcome white. What was unique about the Bemberg Estate Winery Chardonnay is that its grapes grows in three layers. This includes sand moved by wind, calcium carbonate, and soil the rest of the way. The grapes are picked from three different sites, then all together fermented four years in concrete and oak, aiming for a smaller influence of oak. This was created as a wine meant to last longer in cellar. During the day of this dinner, this bottle would be made available in specialty liquor stores the next day after.
The white was light and crisp, lending itself well to our first course of Scallops, Pink Lady Apple, Vanilla, Pecan, and Burre Blanc. Our executive chef described this dish as an “apple crumble of seafood”. The apples were neither sweet or tart. The apple serves as the bridge to the wine, flowing well from one sip to one bite and vice versa. The saltiness of the bacon is what comes through, it contrasts the fruit and takes the lead, cutting into the heavy cream sauce of the dish.
Our second course switched things to red wine and red meat, starting with the Linterna Pinot Noir 2019. This one features grapes 20km south from where we left off with the white. Here geographically, we are hitting the mountains in the Uco Valley, where there is more humidity with more rain. Three times more than with the Chardonnay. Therefore, uniquely, the grapes need not any irrigation.
They use 20% whole clusters and 80% just the berries, the grapes are juiced when there are residential sugars. The process uses spontaneous fermentation, which is fast in the case of Pinot. There isn’t a large impact of oak, as after one year it is moved to a larger barrel to further age for a total of 5.5 years. These are the most challenging grapes to grow and therefore our wine maker’s favourite to work with.
The result was a juicy cherry with a light roast. I got a pickled briney-ness on the nose that followed through to a tang on my tongue, making my mouth water. The tart acid was helpful in cutting into the richness of the pork, salty gravy, and umami mushrooms of our second course.
Pork Chop, Morel Mushrooms, and English Pea Agnolottis. The slices of pork were so juicy that they didn’t eat like a chop, especially with the addition of fat and gristle. It kept up with the rich cheese filling of the stuffed pasta and the woodiness of the morels. This was a deliciously assembled plate.
Our third course started with the Pionero Blend 2020, which is actually Bemberg‘s heaviest of their wines today. This is the most intensive and the most expensive of the bottles, and rypically such a dinner would end with this, but the order was chosen in consideration of the surf and turf that it was paired with. Our winemaker was surprised by this choice.
This is the “Pioneer”, a blend made in honour of Bemberg Estate Winery‘a owner, Otto. The goal was to create a wine that they believe would have been bottled and enjoyed in 1885. And the result our winemaker’s best guess. He considered the wines from Bordeaux that were available 170 years ago and blended 50% Malbec, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 15% Cabernet Franc. The wine was lovely on its own, and truthfully I find it better paired with this plate or the next.
Striploin & Lobster, Russet Puree, Spring Vegetables, and Crostini. This was a delicate and dressed up version of the classic surf and turf. Although the bits of lobster felt hidden stacked on top of the salty and garlicky toasted cracker, and all balanced over the two slices of medium rare steak. The fresh chives here were a welcomed freshness, adding hints of fresh pepperiness into bites.
Our fourth course started with the Linterna Malbec 2019. With it we learned about glycerin and how it creates the tears you note when swirling an older wine. The Malbec grapes used in this are from the master selection and not clones. They came from the same place as the Chardonnay, but from more shallow ground, 1.5 meters deep into the top soil. This is a single varietal, produced with low intervention, and aged for 6 years. It was created for the value of the consumer, and can be cellared for a long time. I got bright raspberry with a full-bodied mouth-feel.
This was bold enough to keep in tow with the Venison Loin, Bacon, Braised Turnip, Potato Fondant, and Cippolini. The venison was tender and not at all gamey. Here, the tartness of the softer Malbec was metallic to parallel some of the irony notes of the meat.
And to end the night sweet we had a bite of blueberry and mango passion fruit jelly.
In conclusion, this was such a great showing of the wine and the elevated skills of the Riley’s kitchen team to pair.
Riley’s Fish & Steak
200 Burrard St, Vancouver, BC V6C 3L6
rileysrestaurant.ca
