Michael Perlis: Chablis Food + Wine hosts Summers Estate Wines (Photos by Heidi Wiedeman)

When I think of Summers Estate Wines (www.summerswinery.com), I immediately think of the red wine Charbono.  The origins of Charbono are a little unclear. It is often thought of as an Italian varietal. The name Charbono certainly sounds Italian. But testing by famed grape geneticist Carole Meredith proved that the grape known as Charbono in California is the same grape as Corbeau from the Savoie region of France, where it is also known as Charbonneau. To confuse matters more, the grape is also known as Bonarda in Argentina.

Very few California wineries produce wine from the Charbono grape, and Summers is probably the best known. So when Chablis Food + Wine restaurant in Tarzana (www.chablisca.com) announced a wine dinner featuring a five course dinner matched with the wines from Summers, I was pretty excited.

Winemaker dinners can be great. How many of us get an opportunity to match up several courses with appropriate wines, unless we host or attend a large dinner party? Unfortunately, these dinners can sometimes be expensive, but this terrific dinner was only $60 per person. Chef George Vasquez put together a great menu to match up with the various wines that Summers produces, as they do make more than Charbono, which you can see per the menu below. Also present at the dinner were Summers winemaker Ignacio Blancas and their National Sales Manager Bob Mazzola.

As you can see from the pictures of the food, as well as our picture with the winemaker, old friends Heidi and Chuck Wiedeman, and new friends Andrea and Andy Kaufman, we had a great time. And a big “thank you” to the Wiedemans for taking these photos! We are definitely looking forward to the next wine dinner at Chablis.

Michael Perlis provides outsourced controller services to businesses that do not need a full-time controller. He balances this with his interest in wine: reading and writing about it and, of course, drinking it. He is still trying to figure out how to combine these two pursuits. Feel free to contact him about either at mcpfinancial@aol.com or michaelthezinfan@aol.com.