Bryan Page Dinner at Santa Fe Steakhouse

Back on May 6, Pris and I had the opportunity to attend the Bryan Page Dinner at Santa Fe Steakhouse thanks to David Robledo of South Texas Nation asking her to cover the event for him.  We've had a lot of good meals over the years, and a lot of good wines with those meals.  But this dinner was something exceptional.  Its taken awhile to write about it for a few reasons.  I wanted to let Pris do her review for South Texas Nation, it was overwhelming with the excellence of all the wines, and I'm a procrastinator.

The event itself was scheduled to start at 7, but didn't get going until almost 8.  By then Pris and I had already started in on the first wine.  It was going to be a long night of drinking. 

We started with a 2007 Page Sauvignon Blanc which was paired with fried oysters with and herb-lemon beurre blanc.  The Oysters arrived on our second glass of the Sauvignon Blanc.  The wine had a crisp and complex nose.  On the palate you discover a nicely complex and slightly sweet wine with a long mellow finish.  This wine was readily approachable.  The high acidity and strong fruit paired superbly with the oysters, which were so good even Pris ate them.

Our next wine was a 2008 Page "Proprietary Red" paired with a roasted tomato cream soup.  I really couldn't tell you which one was better since they were both phenomenal.  The wine was mellow with easy fruit over the palate and a slightly sweet finish.  Subtle tannins allowed the wine to have a longer dry finish as it opened in the glass.   The vintner, Bryan Page himself, described it as "sexy tannins for a sexy wine."  he was right.  This wine had a great structure and paired well with the creamy and smoky soup.

The third course consisted of Page's 2008 "Forsaken" Petite Verdot coupled with a duck stuffed tortellini.  Bryan Page stated "if purple had a flavor, this would be it."  This was a deep dark wine that had a strong nose and a mellow palate.  It starts off easy, but develops into a full and robust wine as you drink.  Light tannins finish allow for a smooth mellow finish.  The wine went perfectly with heavy flavors of the duck.  Once again, it was something Pris normally wouldn't eat, but it was so good she just had to.

Then came the main course, both with the wine and the food.  We were served a beef tenderloin filet over brocollini that was finished with a blue cheese croquette.  This was an amazing rich dish that required an equally robust wine.  Thankfully we didn't get just one wine but two.  We were served a 2007 "Perdition" Petite Syrah, and the crown jewel 2007 "The Stash" Cabernet Sauvignon. 

The Perdition boasted a light and fruity nose befitting a Syrah.  It started off mellow and ended with a rich robust finish that was nicely dry and tannic.  Apparently this wine is perfect for barbeque, and Mr. Page has a sauce coming out to prove it.  One word described how well this wine went with the steak: wow.

But, as good as the Perdition was, The Stash was better.  In fact, The Stash is probably one of the best wines I've ever had.  Its simply amazing.  The Cab had a big bold nose and big bold flavor.  It fills your mouth to bursting with deep dark heavy ripened fruits and ends with a long dry finish.  This wine tamed the steak and the incredibly rich croquette.  They were perfect together, and I imagine this wine would be perfect with just about any beef dish.  Thankfully, this wine tasting wasn't just a little sip here and there.  Pris and I liked this wine so much had a number of glasses of it.  Ultimately the waiters got a little tired of coming back to our table and simply left a bottle for us and our table-mates.

The dinner finished with an incredibly rich mini chocolate bombe with a raspberry port sauce and the "Redemption" Zinfandel Dessert Wine.  The desert wine was essentially a port, and had all the great hallmarks thereof.  This was a full, heavy, and extraordinarily sweet fortified wine that Bryan Page dedicated to his "mum."  The fortification was noticeable even after a night of nearly bacchanal delight.  This was likely due to the 160 proof brandy that was used to fortify it.  As sweet and rich as the wine was, the bombe was sweeter.  This was probably one of the richest and most decadent chocolate desserts I've ever had, but I managed to finish all of mine and some of Pris'.

This was an amazing event.  We had such a good time we're already gearing up for next year's tasting.  Needless to say we could not, and did not drive back to Brownsville afterwards.  In fact we ended up at Empire, one of McAllen's new trendy bars/clubs.  I had told Pris early on not to let me order scotch after drinking the wine (its a habit I seem to have developed over the years).  However, after all the great wine we took in, Pris actually ordered two Glenlivets as soon as we hit the bar.  It was a great finish to great night.  We paid for it the next day (and the day after that), but it was well worth it.

You can read Pris' review of The Stash in the next edition of South Texas Nation.  You can also find out more about Bryan Page's phenomenal wines at: http://pagewinecellars.com/.  If we find the wines here we'll keep you posted, but otherwise you'll have to go online or attend next year's event to purchase the wines.