Tapas and local wines
From staff reports
The Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail will hold its Small Plates event on Thursday, Aug. 17, from 6-9 p.m. Enjoy a glass of wine paired with a gourmet tapas dish in the tasting rooms during this progressive dinner. Many wineries partner with local chefs to prepare and serve each delicious pairing. Culinary aficionados will enjoy this upscale, gourmet food event.
The enthusiasm for wine has grown exponentially in the past decade — national wine consumption has increased nearly 40 percent within the past decade alone, according to the Wine Institute. This avidity for what novelist Robert Luis Stevenson called “bottled poetry” has catapulted here on Leelanau Peninsula as well, with more and more wine connoisseurs and novices alike frequenting local tasting rooms to sample, learn and experience the local terroir with crisp, clean wines boasting fruit-forward flavors. But rarely are wine enthusiasts afforded the opportunity to actually dine right at the wineries. That experience is one that the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail presents not once, but twice a year. Welcome to Small Plates—where Leelanau wine and tapas pair together for a progressive evening of savory fun at up to three wineries of one’s choice.
“Small Plates is the perfect event to experience great food with the high-quality wines we are growing here,” shares Charlie Edson, winemaker of Bel Lago Vineyard of Cedar. “It allows us to chat with guests about growing and producing wines as they taste in a more personal and intimate setting.”
For Rocco’s Old World Pizzeria — a mobile wood-fire pizzeria based in Suttons Bay that often traverses the peninsula to cater special events such as the Asparagus Festival in Empire or various food and wine pairing events along the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail — the bi-annual Small Plates event is an ideal opportunity to showcase the local, food-friendly wines which have gained popularity for their crisp, clean high-quality attributes. Whether it’s a Three Cheese Ravioli with Pesto Sauce and Bruschetta paired with a Crisp White or Dry Red (this past April’s Small Plates menu at Ciccone Vineyard & Winery) or Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Light Cream Sauce & Sauteéd Zucchini & Summer Squash paired with Ciccone’s 2016 Estate Malbec — one of eight gourmet pairings to choose among at next month’s Small Plates — Rocco’s always prepares the carefully curated menu right on premise in Ciccone’s kitchen. “These events serve as a great partnership that helps everyone,” said Jan Lattore, co-owners of Rocco’s, along with her husband Nick. “We offer the food, so the winery benefits. Wineries have the wine, so we benefit. And the people get what they are looking for, which is both. Additionally, partnering in these events keeps the business local to our community.”
Rocco’s is one of several area eateries to pair up with Leelanau Peninsula wineries for this event: Aurora Cellars (Lake Leelanau) has teamed with Folgarelli’s to feature Hand-formed Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce and Aurora’s new sparkling wine, Serata; Chateau Fontaine (Lake Leelanau) is pairing their recent Michigan Wine Competition’s “Best of Class” 2016 Laughing Waters Dry Rosé, along with a 2016 Gewürtztraminer, with Pork Confit and Achiote Chicken Tacos prepared by Mama Lu’s Taco Shop; and Verterra Winery (Leland) is serving a 2015 Reserve Chardonnay or 2015 Reserve Red (guest’s choice) with Roasted Short Ribs and Herb & Lemon Smashed Local Redskin Potatoes prepared by Bluebird Restaurant & Tavern. Whether each participating winery partners with a local restaurant of its choosing or draws on its own culinary skills, the progressive dinner along the wine trail gives wine enthusiasts a distinctive occasion to enjoy local wine right in the tasting rooms with delicious local fare.
“Wine is an integral part of the meal,” shares Lorri Hathaway, executive director of the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail. “Small Plates is a chance to really experience wine and how it’s truly meant to be enjoyed — with food and friends.”
Tickets for the annual August Small Plates event are $15 per person, per 6, 7 and 8 p.m. seating and guests may choose up to three wineries to dine in. Visit www.lpwines.com to see the menu and purchase tickets.
