September 16, 2016

Wine and dine on the Main Line

By Main Line Today

Main Line Today/for PhillyVoice

Two preeminent events bring together some of the nation’s finest vintners and culinary masters.

This September, Malvern’s Desmond Hotel will be transformed into winery row, with a feast to match. Now in their fifth year, two preeminent Main Line Today events bring together some of the nation’s finest vintners and culinary masters, to the delight of oenophiles and gastronomes alike. The two events — a tasting and a pairing tour de cuisine — offer an abundance of top-notch wines and carefully crafted comestibles.

Food & Wine Affair

Mixing elegance with a dash of celebration, the Food & Wine Affair will kick off on Friday, Sept. 16, with the Grand Tasting. From 6 to 9 p.m., 24 vineyards will share hundreds of wines, ranging from oaky to robust. Among those pouring: Chaddsford Winery, the largest in Pennsylvania, and CBL Wine Company, which imports from Napa Valley and Sonoma, the Finger Lakes, Italy, France and other spots. Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board Chairman’s Selection wines will also be available to taste, in addition to some distilled spirits.

The event will also feature first-class regional cuisine from Best of the Main Line and Western Suburbs winners The Gables at Chadds Ford and General Warren Inne, along with White Manor Country Club and Le Bus Bakery. A cheese monger will also be on hand.

Winemakers' Dinner

The following week, on Sept. 23, Desmond Hotel executive chef Chris Calhoun will prepare a sumptuous seven-course Winemakers’ Dinner. This dress-to-impress event is a must-attend for wine aficionados.

Trained at the Culinary Institute of America and an apprentice of acclaimed chef Gunter Seegar, Calhoun has been impressing diners at the Desmond for several years. His meal is a fine-tuned affair, highlighting five wines through inventive pairings. A reception and hot and cold hors d’oeuvres progress to multiple courses, leading to the delicious main course, followed by dessert. Among the seven courses Calhoun will prepare this year is seared scallops and lobster crepinette with corn-ginger velouté sauce, paired with a Georges de Boeuf Pouilly-Fuisse.

Proceeds from both the Grand Tasting and the Winemakers’ Dinner support the Paoli Hospital Foundation. For more information, to see the full menus and to purchase tickets, visit www.MainLineToday.com.

Main Line Today