West End Bar & Kitchen and The Butcher Shop recently hosted wine dinners from two renowned Napa Valley wineries. The first was a Markham Winemaker Dinner with Kimberlee Nicholls at West End, and the second was a Hall Wine Dinner at The Butcher Shop.
As a brief history of Markham shows, Frenchman Jean Laurent left Bordeaux, France, in 1852 to join the California Gold Rush. He eventually established one of the Napa Valley’s first wineries. He founded the winery in 1874 and built an iconic stone cellar in 1879, which remains the heart of Markham Vineyards today.
By the end of the century, Laurent was a major figure in Napa’s wine industry and was known for adopting new technologies and equipment.
In the late 1970s, Arizona businessman Bruce Markham invested in 230 acres of vineyards, a bungalow, and Laurent’s old stone cellar, coinciding with Napa Valley’s rising fame from the “Judgment of Paris.” Winemaker Bryan Del Bondio’s 42-year tenure earned a stellar reputation for the winery, which produced its first vintage of Markham Cabernet Sauvignon in 1978 and Merlot in 1980. Wine Spectator named the 1990 Markham vintage “Merlot of the Year.”
Kimberlee Nicholls was hired as an enologist in 1993 and then became head winemaker in 2001, one of Napa Valley’s first female head winemakers. Her 30-plus years of experience and love of merlot contribute to Markham’s enduring legacy and numerous accolades.
Nicholls is part of Markham’s Girl Power Dream Team. The other key players are Abigail Estrada, assistant winemaker; Patricia Sciacca, enologist; Taylor Abudi, viticulturist; and Adrienne Uboldi, director of operations.
Chef Brian Gist prepared a powerhouse menu for the evening, starting with pan-seared sea scallops and the 2018 Argyle Brut sparkling wine, created in the Willamette Valley AVA in Oregon. The Brut was chardonnay and pinot noir dominant, with a splash of pinot meunier.
Argyle is a sister brand to Markham within the Distinguished Vineyard Distributor family. The second course was an endive salad topped with fried goat cheese served with 2022 Markham Sauvignon Blanc (100%).
The stainless steel fermentation and four months of stainless steel aging created a crisp and refreshing Sauvignon Blanc with grapefruit and a hint of lime on the palate. For the third course, Gist had duck prosciutto with a flavorful dark cherry risotto and a 2019 Markham Merlot. Merlot put Markham on the map as a Napa Valley player.
For the main course, Gist had espresso-rubbed New York steak with crispy oven-roasted Brussels sprouts. Both were topped with a dynamite bacon jam, taking them to the next level, especially when paired with 2019 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon blended with Petit Verdot, Merlot, and Cab Franc.
Nicholls spoiled guests with premium 2017 The Character Estate Vineyard Bordeaux. Of the 6,000 barrels of wine in Markham’s cellar, only 10 made the cut to produce mind-blowing The Character, a merlot-dominant blend (94%) from their Yountville estate. See more information on Markham at markhamvineyards.com.
Hall Vineyards
The second part of this column features superstar Kathryn Hall, her Hall wine brand and associated brands Walt and Baca that were served during a Butcher Shop wine dinner.
First, here is a bit of background on Hall. Kathryn Walt Hall, along with her husband Craig Hall, owns HALL, WALT, and BACA Wine labels. Kathryn has been actively involved in the California wine industry since her family first purchased a vineyard in 1972.
In the 1990s, Hall worked as an attorney and businesswoman in Dallas, Texas, where she was president of an inner-city development company and partner of HALL Group, where she met her husband Craig.
She was appointed and served as the United States Ambassador to Austria from 1997-2001. She is a New York Times best-selling author for her book, “A Perfect Score.” It’s also noteworthy that Megan Gunderson, a woman, leads the Hall Winery winemaking team, with Alison Frichtl as her assistant.
Just as in the case of the Markham Wine Dinner, Gist served guests a delicious five-course dinner. The dinner started with salmon tartar with pickled red onion and toasted points, paired with 2022 Hall Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc. The stainless steel fermentation produced a bright palate with citrus notes that melded nicely with the tartar.
The second course was pan-seared sea bass with creamed spinach in a citrus brown butter garnished with diced pear, served with 2020 Walt Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. The aromatic nose with vanilla, pear, and lemon and smooth palate with 25% new French oak were perfect with the sea bass and citrus brown butter. For the third course, Gist served a red wine bucatini dish with a perfect lamb meatball.
Boiling the bucatini in a red wine/water solution produced red noodles. This was paired with a 2021 Walt Sonoma County La Brisa Pinot Noir.
For the main course, guests were served cocoa-rubbed dry-aged New York Strip steak with wild mushroom risotto and roasted Brussels sprouts. This was paired with a side-by-side comparison of 2020 Hall Cabernet Sauvignon vs flagship 2020 Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon that earned a Robert Parker 100-point score for the 2016 vintage.
The Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon blended with Cab Franc and Merlot, aged in 70% new French oak for 26 months, was a superstar and beautiful pairing for the main course. Jennifer Brown, Kathryn’s daughter, oversaw the pairing of the 2019 Baca Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel with vanilla bean gelato and spiced red wine blackberry syrup. See more information on Hall at hallwines.com.
In summary, two excellent wine dinners with Napa Valley Girl Power Markham and Hall Wineries.
— Story by Rico Cassoni
Rico Cassoni is the executive producer for Taste of Wine and Food. Founder and advisor Frank Mangio is a renowned wine connoisseur certified by Wine Spectator. View columns at tasteofwineandfood.com, go to recent columns, and reach them at [email protected].
