The Conservative Soldier

Dana Point, Calif.

Frequent travelers to Las Vegas likely have become devotees of Michael Mina dining experiences. There are four Mina restaurants in Vegas, two inside the MGM Grand, one at Bellagio, yet another at Mandalay Bay.

As the Mina collection expands so, too, does his client demographic reach beyond conventioneers and gamblers. We recently visited Mina’s Stonehill Tavern, the ultimate dining option inside the elegant St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort. Far from the Vegas neon glow, the property sits majestically above the California coastline between Los Angeles and San Diego. At Stonehill, not only is the menu, the service and the room well above exceptional, it is a gold mine for wine collectors who travel with bottles from their personal cellars.

Stonehill’s corkage policy allows two bottles per table and the corkage fee is a reasonable $25 per bottle.

(The Stonehill list, 650+ options strong, is beyond comprehensive. It’s quickly apparent why the restaurant ranks among Wine Spectator’s newly annointed Best of Award of Excellence honorees. We also dined a few miles away at Studio, a Spectator BAE winner within the rustic confines of the Montage Resort & Spa, where the corkage fee is just $15 with a one-bottle limit per table.).

We didn’t connect with the logic behind the “Tavern” reference in Stonehill Tavern until examining the menu more closely, for the room itself has a high-ceiling, glass enclosed, ultra-contemporary feeling that is very much in contrast to the stately refinement of the St. Regis itself. Chef Mina has managed to provide diners with two viable experiences under the same roof. You can do the “tavern thing” with Romaine salad to start followed by hearty choices such as Colorado Lamb atop cappeletti ($39; my main course selection, which was flavorful without the typical heaviness of most lamb presentations), braised veal cheeks derived from Nebraska prime beef ($46), “Berkshire Pig” adorned with black truffle jus ($37), or a juicy Kobe Beef burger topped with truffle cheese ($28).

But there also is the SoCal chic option, where one could conceivably go no further than the appetizer section of the menu. Mina offers high concept “appetizer flights” (perhaps inspired by the wine friendly environment) under the headings Maine Lobster, Liberty Farms Duck, Tuna, Crab, Greens and Osetra Caviar. In all cases, there are three preparations available, i.e., seared, Albacore sashimi and tartare under the Tuna category. But you don’t have to decide on one. You can order a tasting trio instead. So an ideal course of action for the light dining set might be the wild Arugula with heirloom tomato salad, followed by the Maine Lobster tasting trio ($38; chilled salad, bacon and shiso-wrapped fritters and butter-poached) or the Liberty Farms Duck trio ($34; crispy thigh, roasted breast and seared foie gras).

For the more aggressive appetite, Mina offers a six-stanza tasting menu with wine ($175), leading off with a domestic caviar “parfait” served with Cuvee Michael Mina private label Champagne by Chartogne Taillete.

Next time through coastal Orange County, we are likely to try the St. Regis set back in the hills with Pacific Ocean views (over the oceanfront Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel) and return to Stonehill Tavern to try the 1.5-pound Salt-Baked Maine Lobster. As the name implies, the course is presented in an armor of salt that is then cracked open after baking and served with jalapeno-corn pudding.

Chicago

Decorated chef Shawn McClain now is more dominant in Chicago than ever with a trio of restaurants. The latest, Custom House, was our dinner destination this week when author and journalist Bruce Schoenfeld arrived in town from his bunker in Boulder, Colo. I was in some knowledgable company, so I listened, savored and sipped for the most part as an evening of conversation — mostly about Spanish wine — unfolded amid the buzz of Custom House, a comfortable, contemporary room adjoining the city’s financial district.

Also at the table was Brian Duncan, wine director at another superb Chicago eatery, Bin 36, and Denver-based Spanish importer Steve Miles. Steve is an independent operator now but was a key player with Eric Solomon’s European Cellars import operations for more than a decade.

I always look forward to dining with Bruce, a former newspaper journalism colleague who contributed extensively to Vintelligence during Hinsdale Cellars’ infancy. No sub-set of wine or food is too insignificant to merit dissection by Mr. Schoenfeld over a meal. He traveled to Chicago to conduct a seminar for a promotional organization called Wines of Spain, a topic on which he is an expert. That event and a tasting featuring 44 distributors the next day also accounted for Steve’s presence. Naturally, both gents arrived at Custom House with Spanish wines ready for decanting.

Beforehand I was treated in the lounge to a light, flavorful dish showcasing various tomatoes — Cherokee purple, yellow cherrys and sliced heirlooms — adorned with an olive oil-based drizzling. Then, we headed into the main dining room which is intimate enough to lend a sense that it’s a happening place, but certainly not cramped.

Someone at the table, probably Bruce, said the Custom House menu and food presentation has a distinct “American” leaning, and that is indeed accurate. Which is not to suggest you are in for jumbo-portioned, meatloaf-and-mashed potatoes options. Everything about Custom House feels contemporary, bold and cutting edge. The dinner menu, nonetheless, is dominated by two main course categories, Meats Braised and Meats Roasted. Fortunately, we had Spanish red wine at the ready.

Two winning choices from the Roasted category were the Prime Flat Iron steak (an increasing popular shoulder cut) I ordered and a Berkshire pork chop with grilled fennel ordered by Brian. The latter was extremely flavorful and delicate. The former was immensely satisfying (served medium rare, sliced), quite similar in taste and texture to a tenderloin. I paired the Flat Iron with a somewhat sinful cauliflower gratin, but there was consensus that a side of roasted baby Brussels sprouts was the best of the night.

Our waiter was friendly and knowledgable, happy to keep the decanted Spanish reds coming. He navigated quite impressively around what had become a sea of stemware. Bruce and Steve contributed four excellent reds, two from Rioja, one of Priorat origin and another from emerging Valencia.

The latter was a 95% bobal (a red grape native to Valencia), the 2004 Bodegas Mustiguillo Quincha Corral, a VdT (or “country wine”) produced in the town of Terrerazo. From Priorat we sampled a Clos Galena 2004 from Steve’s roster, a proprietary red blend of Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane and Syrah. The Riojas were a Marques de Vargas Reserva Privada, a 75% Tempranillo notable for having been aged in 100% Russian oak (which is gaining popularity in various winemaking regions), and a Finca Allende Calvario, a single-vineyard (c. 1945) Tempranillo. It is forecast to age brilliantly but was very approachable during our evening out. (Wine Advocate’s Jay Miller recently rewarded the ‘04 with a 95-point crown).

To close the circle, I referenced three Shawn McClain locations in Chicago. The other two are Green Zebra (vegetable-focused fare) and Spring (seafood).

Something was in the air. Or about to be. I walked into the reception area of Barboursville Vineyards’ offices only to overhear the woman at the desk patching a call into the winemaker about “the helicopters.”

For a brief moment I envisioned some grandiose wedding, complete with choppers whisking away a love struck couple and their closest friends to a reception on manicured grounds in nearby Charlottesville. Or, perhaps, this being a vineyard owned and operated by an established Italian family, a VIP was shuttling in, fresh off a flight into Washington’s Dulles International Airport for a routine inspection of the 150+ planted acres.

It is not difficult to pique the imagination when you set foot on idyllic Barboursville, where the Old World is perfectly at home with a New World winemaking region – Orange County, Va. There is very little – other than a lack of centuries old castles – that keeps one from feeling as though he has come upon a quaint village in the Italian Piedmont.

And this sensation is only made more intense by the lanky presence of congenial Luca Paschina (right), GM and winemaker at Barboursville Winery since 1991. A classically trained Piemonte winemaker laboring here along the northern extremes of America’s Confederate South, Paschina has done more than impose European techniques across the rolling, lush Virginia countryside. He has nurtured and advanced the harvesting of Nebiollo grapes, which are at the core of the most cherished Italian red wines.

I tasted three Barboursville Vineyard reds. This was a mind blowing experience. As a Virginia native, to stand on Virginia soil and savor locally produced, authentic Barbera (2005) and Nebbiolo (2003) reserves, followed by the a classic Bordeaux blend (2004) called Octagon (a tip of the hat to the architectural signature of Thomas Jefferson) … well, it gets your attention.

Like a chopper invasion in the middle of the night. Ah, yes, the choppers. Paschina had two on call because temperatures were forecast to flirt with sub-freezing in the night or two ahead – in early April (2007), mind you. The choppers swoop out of the night sky and push warm air downward toward the vines.

“We knew about (the cold snap) five or six days ago,” he said, a ski cap over his ears. “We’re ready for it.” (The next morning, a blanket of April snow was not as readily expected).

No one could have been ready for the emergence of central Virginia as a wine destination, even though that is precisely what Jefferson, a French wine fanatic, was trying to accomplish in the 19th century. Mother Nature foiled him, but the Zonin family was not to be discouraged. Gianni Zonin unveiled his vineyards here in 1976. The first planting did not survive. Cuttings were sent (with certification) from California. A nursery came to life, growing and nurturing new vines. Paschina was recruited 17 years ago to elevate Barboursville out of obscurity. He isn’t done yet but big strides have occurred.

“I came with a mandate,” he said. “We are now to the point where we can claim this is a wine region. It only comes with time. This is one of the most historically significant regions in America.”

In addition to the vineyards, the tasting room and a new museum opened just last year, Barboursville is the site of charming 1804 Inn and an adjacent guest cottage with two suites. Plus, there is an acclaimed Italian restaurant, Palladio, which offers a four-course prix fix menu ($70 not including wine). Short drives away are the historic homes of Jefferson (Monticello) and fellow Virginia icon James Madison (Montpelier).

History was made here before and will be again, it seems.