I will start by saying that the “Duelling Chefs” event at Cabana was easily one of, if not the best food event that I have ever attended. What could be better than enjoying gourmet food, paired with fine wine in the company of friends and family. This event featured two top chefs (and good friends), Michael Allemeier of Mission Hill and Ned Bell of Cabana, pitted against each other in a culinary battle. The idea was to see which chef could best match a chosen food with a previously selected Mission Hill Wine.

Upon entering Cabana our group (8 of us) were quickly whisked away to our table. As we arrived we were greeted with a glass of Mission Hill 2007 Five Vineyards Rosé. I don’t know that I’ve ever chosen to drink a Rosé when given another choice of wine, but I did enjoy this particular blend. It is certainly different than most I have tried and is made from Merlot and Pinot Noir (my favourite grape), which is probably why I liked it. It was definitely on the dry side (which I like) with some nice cherry notes. It also matched very well with the appetizers we had.

The evening started with most of the attendees straying away from their tables (wine in hand) to socialize with the other guests, while the service staff brought around trays of appetizers and more Rosé. The first tray to make it to us contained Pork Empanadas (stuffed bread pockets – originally a Spanish food, but very common in Central and South America) with a mint vinaigrette sauce. These were very good and had just the right ration of stuffing to bread for my taste. The sauce was also a very nice complement to the slightly salty pork flavour.

The next item to come around to us was the Tuna Tartare (finely chopped raw meat) Tacos. The chopped sushi-grade Tuna was mixed with various unidentified herbs and spices and served in a mini taco shell. I don’t know precisely what the tuna was seasoned with, but I would say that almost certainly there was some ginger and sesame oil in the mixture. There were also quite nice, and had a very fresh taste.

The third appetizer to find its way to me was the Pear and Cambozola pizza with Olive Oil and Taragon sauce. I’ve personally been a huge fan of pear pizza since taking a Mission Hill cooking class about three years ago where a Pear and Goatgonzola (gorgonzola made with goat’s milk) pizza was among the recipes. In my own practice at home, I’ve found my favourite match for the pear is brie cheese, but the Cambozola (cross between Camembert and Gorgonzola) was good as well. This was probably my least favorite of the appetizers, but that reflects more on the quality of the other appetizers than on a dislike of this one.

The last appetizer I came across was a plum slice wrapped in Schinken Ham (a dry cured, mildly spiced, German ham – somewhat similar to prosciutto) served on a vanilla wafer. This was absolutely delicious and may even have been the highlight of a night full of tremendous flavors. The salty ham was a great contrast for the fruit and the vanilla flavour of the wafer complimented both. The texture may have been even better than the taste, with the ham almost melting in my mouth and the wafer providing some nice crispness.

After what was probably an hour of socializing everyone was asked to take their seats so that the “show” could begin. We were poured a glass of the Mission Hill 2007 Five Vineyards Pinot Grigio to enjoy with our first course. Pinot Grigio is probably my favourite white wine (I say probably because Pinot Auxerrois is also extremely delicious) and Mission Hill does a good job with this grape. Their offering is not even my favourite Pinot Grigio in the Okanagan, let alone the world at large, but it does have some very nice peach notes and a crisp finish which I enjoy. Don’t misunderstand me, this is a very good wine, but I personally think that there are better choices.

Our first course of the evening was “Shellfish”. I was a little disappointed, because I am not a fan of shellfish, but with these chefs I knew it was at least worth a try. Mission Hill served a Prawn and Scallop Ceviché (seafood cooked with acid, usually from a citrus source, rather than heat) with basil yoghurt and micro greens. I was very pleasantly surprised by this dish and gobbled it up quickly. It probably appealed to me because of my affinity for raw, rather than cooked seafood. It also paired very nicely with the Pinot Grigio. Cabana countered with a jumbo scallop with Curry Oil and Lobster foam on Eggplant purée. I didn’t like this dish as much, probably because of my dislike of shellfish more than anything. I scored this round for Mission Hill, but most of my group (6-2) gave it to Cabana.

I was excited for the second course as the feature ingredient would be rabbit. This course was paired with Mission Hill’s Perpetua, their top white wine. Perpetua is a blend of three Chardonnay clones and a portion of it is aged in French Oak. This is easily the best Chardonnay I’ve tried, but admittedly I’m not a Chardonnay drinker, so I don’t have a lot to compare it to. To me, the most impressive thing about the Chardonnays to come out of Mission Hill is that I always enjoy them. Typically I don’t enjoy and very often detest Chardonnay.

With the Perpetua Cabana served a rabbit galantine (loin wrapped around Swiss chard and almond) with a Waldorf salad and rabbit confit sandwich. This dish was very good. All three parts were delicious on their own (especially the sandwich, which vaguely reminded me of pulled pork) and complimented each other when served together. I thought this would be an easy win for Ned and the Cabana team, but Michael and Mission Hill upped the stakes with a Rabbit Shepherd’s Pie. I have a weak spot for Shepherd’s pie and this one did not disappoint. The inclusion of Celeriac root added a very nice flavour and matched well with the rabbit. I scored this one for Mission Hill, along with the rest of my table (8-0).

The third course was Venison, which was to be paired with Mission Hill’s newest blended red, the 2005 Quatrain. This four grape blend consists of 57% Merlot, 28% Syrah, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a unique blend because Merlot (Bordeaux) and Syrah (Rhone Valley) are grown in different regions in France and all of the major wines there are regional blends that do not mix in grapes that are grown in other areas of the country. This was my favourite wine of the night, eclipsing even Mission Hill’s flagship blend, Oculus. What the Quatrain lacks in sophistication and smooth finish compared to its big brother, it more than makes up for in complexity and flavour. This wine got better with each sip, leading me to believe that it probably wasn’t decanted before serving, so I can only image how good it could be with one or two hours of “air time”. As a 2005 vintage this wine could also have benefited from some additional cellaring, but even at this young age I thought it was unbelievably good.

I was so distracted by how good the wine was that I barely noticed when my main course arrived. Michael and the Mission Hill team served a roasted loin of Venison with wild mushrooms and bread pudding. The Venison loin was everything you could have asked for, tender, delicious, and cooked to a perfect rare/medium-rare. The wild mushrooms and especially the bread pudding made a perfect accompaniment. The flavours matched very nicely with the Quatrain, but not as well as the flavors of Cabana’s dish. Their braised venison had such a rich and smoky flavour I could not image a better combination with this particular wine. It was served on stone ground polenta with plum and roasted carrot. I liked the contrast in flavour between the fruitiness of the plum and the smokiness of the Venison and both were tied together very nicely by similar flavours in the wine. The polenta and carrots, while flavourful in their own right, to me were more valuable because of the different textures they added to the dish. As much as I liked Ned and Cabana’s take on Venison and as well as it matched with the wine my table and I all scored this round for Michael (8-0).

Everyone was very excited for the next course, Mission Hill’s flagship wine, Oculus, served with aged cheese. This wine is Mission Hill’s take on a Bordeaux style red. This blend contains the four classic Bordeaux grapes: Merlot (42%), Cabernet Sauvignon (28%), Cabernet Franc (20%), and Petit Verdot (10%). This 2005 vintage was extremely smooth and sophisticated. While I didn’t like it as much as the Quatrain, it was a phenomenal wine nonetheless. It could have probably used two or three hours of decanting to reach its full flavour that night, but I did enjoy every drop.

Cabana grill paired a savoury Gruyere and an aged “Grizzly Gouda” from Alberta with the Oculus. They finished their cheese with a touch of truffle oil for extra flavour. The strong flavours of these cheeses matched up really well with the powerful Oculus. Mission Hill went a completely different direction and served a “Moonstruck Cheese” soufflé with a golden beet and an Oculus Cherry (jar preserved in Oculus wine). The texture of the soufflé was perfect and the flavour was absolutely delicious, but I found that ir was too delicate to stand up to the wine. I along with the other three men in my group scored this round for Cabana, but interestingly, all the women disagreed and gave it to Mission Hill resulting in a dead heat (4-4).

The desert theme was citrus, which I expected to go perfectly with the final wine pairing, the Mission Hill Reserve Riesling Icewine. This wine is a fine example of the quality of Icewines that our Okanagan region produces. They are easily among the best in the world and are something to be proud of. This example has the classic combination of sweetness and tartness, combined with hints of pear and citrus. I prefer dry wines, to sweet, so obviously Icewine isn’t my favourite treat, but my wife is quite the opposite and would prefer nothing in her glass than a nice Vidal or Riesling Icewine. She enjoyed this Riesling so much that on returning from a quick trip to the bathroom after desert I found that she and the rest of the table has decided for me that I wanted to give her the remaining half glass of my Riesling Icewine.

Mission Hill’s desert blew me away before it even hit the table. You could smell the wonderful spices of their White Chocolate Chai (melted white chocolate cooked with tradition Chai tea spices) as it was brought to us from the kitchen. I love white chocolate more than anyone I know and didn’t think it could get any better than it already was, but the addition of the various Chai spices (especially cardamom) took it to an entirely new level. This dish would have been perfect had it not been for the citrus theme. As I dug down into my teacup I found the bottom was filled with orange jelly. On its own the jelly would have been nice, but I found that in combination with the Chai, it ruined the dish for me. The Chai did come with some nice side treats that were both very nice: a lime marshmallow and a lemon madeleine (small shell shaped cake). Cabana’s desert was simple, elegant and delicious. They served a very light lemon mousse between two phyllo pastry crackers and finished it with some blood orange coulis. This was the perfect fresh flavour to end a fantastic evening of rich and delicious food and wine. I gave the desert round to Cabana along with a slight majority of my table (5-3).

As good as the food was, the best part of the night was probably the atmosphere. It was very social and relaxed and both chefs came around with each course to explain their dishes to all the guests. Both were very friendly and approachable, which unfortunately isn’t necessarily the case with chefs in your average restaurants, let alone with chefs at the top of the Canadian culinary food chain. The relaxed pace of the evening combined with the free flowing wine lead to a lot of mingling and visiting with other tables in the restaurant. I truly cannot have imagined a more perfect evening out for dinner.

Ambience: 5/5

Taste: 5/5

Value: 5/5 (yes… $100/person and still a perfect score on value!!!!)

Overall: 5/5