We were greeted at the base of the mountain with live music and canapes as we awaited our “chariot” (the cable lift) to transport us to the idyllic snow covered peak of Vancouver.  The first glimpse of snow of the season is always the most magical isn’t it?

As I traveled from table to table I was greeted with gustatory delights to pair with a multitude of wines enhancing flavours and textures.  Desert Hills had a 2008 Gewurztraminer that I enjoyed for its floral notes of rose water with a lychee sweetness and also a 2005 Mirage that paired deliciously with a short rib served nearby.  I had some wine-gasmic experiences with some Big Bold Reds: Hanz Herzog ” Spirit of Marlborough” 2001, Castello di Bossi 2003 Chianti Classico Riserva “Berado”, and Gianfranco Alessandria VDT L’Insieme 2004 followed by a gnocci with some cinnamon and creme freche that made my eyes roll back in my head.  Some Rieslings from the fellas serving 8th Generation, paired well with their sparkling personalities and some citrusy fish.  I wandered through the tables filling my plate and tummy with a white bean cassoulet with duck con-fit & Merguez sausage, a mackerel amuse-bouche, some spicy ahi tuna, cheeses, and a heart stopping pork belly while sipping some of the over 100 different wines.

Two words: Chocolate Cellar.  Oh yes.  A room full of chocolates and dessert, fruit, and friendly wines had my attention several times as I ran back to pair certain wines with different cupcakes.  Research, my friends.  Daniel Le Chocolat Belge had a table covered, I mean, c-o-v-e-r-e-d in different chocolates.  My senses were tingling with glee!  Two of my favourite cupcake pairings was a red velvet cupcake with a Mad Housewife Cabernet Sauvignon, and a lemon cupcake with the Mad Housewife Chardonnay.  Another Mad Housewife cupcake sampler was Taylor Jukes from Virgin Radio.  We shared our tasting notes and nibbled on the tower of iced delight.

A wall of wine and some firefighters hit the stage to generate some bids for the live auction.  The wall of wine is a temperature controlled cellar filled with 100 bottles of wine from Wolf Blass.  It was gorgeous.  But not as gorgeous as the firefighters.  The auction was for these fine (and I mean FINE) gentlemen to come cook and serve dinner for eight in the winner’s house with a case of wine from Rollingdale Winery.  The bids mounted higher and higher and faces were fanned as shirts were peeled off and women cheered.  The arousal of our senses were hightened.

I finished the evening with some liqueurs from Giffard with Kristi Gordon from Global.  I was enamoured with the Poire Williams which is a 43 proof treat with a whole pear in the bottle.  Sparing me from my glazed eyed bewilderment, the guy serving us explained that the bottle is tied to the branch when the pear is still a bud and is removed once the pear has matured making a truly remarkable conversation piece.

The evening wrapped up at about 11 and we decended the mountain with aching feet and satisfied palates.  A little rough math tells me that between the silent auction and the live auction, I am confident that the goal of $100,000 was met.  The evening was surely a success with many happy, rosey faces and I do believe that what went on tonight will benefit many children and families for years to come.   To find out more about adoption and how you can support BC Adoption visit their website or follow them on twitter @bcadopt.

The second Social Bites dinner field-trip was in Yaletown and if this gives you an idea of how popular it has become: all tickets were sold within days of announcing the event!  I loved the first event, so bought my tickets quickly because I wasn’t about to miss this one.  Besides, Karen Hamilton of Tiny Bites was cooking up an asian sampler and her cooking is not to be missed, and the hot spot round-up promised dessert wines and chocolates (need I say more?).

Brent and I hopped over to Yaletown with time to spare so we picked up a screw cap wine to enjoy with our meals at Viti.  Tough call.  One bottle, two different meals.  What to do?  I decided to pair my wine with the Asian Sampler because I wan’t sure what kind of tex-mex to expect later, so I chose Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc for its lemon grassiness and fresh palate cleansing super powers.

Rice Paper Shrimp Rolls, Corned Beef Sinigang, Braised Pork Spare Ribs with Apricot Sauce.

Hobby chef, Karen busied around the kitchen with her sous-chef Bruce making finishing touches to her dishes as we chatted it up with the other two guests.  When the final product was brought out, we were astounded by the beautiful presentation of the sampler inspired by her recent trip to Asia.  You know it’s good when the chatter at the table dies and it is replaced with “mmmm”s and sighs.  As a bonus, I was pleased that my wine choice was a stellar compliment to the food! It was hard to pick a favourite from the trio: the shrimp rice paper rolls stood out with each flavour standing on its own and complimenting each other, the corned beef sinigang was tender and packed with flavour, and the apricot sauce for the spare ribs had just the right amount of sweetness.

Chili Con Carne with Corn Bread

We almost lost track of time, and hurried to the next hobby chef’s place.  (Note to self: wear better shoes when running around downtown)  I love that Annika arranges the locations close enough together so that we can walk to each place without worrying about parking or over imbibing.  I just made poor a poor choice of footwear (but it matched my dress).  The next meal was a Tex-Mex Chili Con Carne made by Marc from Amuse Consulting with his BFF Jackie.  His chili was to die for.  Literally.  Not only was the meat tender and tasty, but the heat from the chipotles was, well, hot.  I am not one to shy away from spicy foods so I devoured every tasty bite of this down home southern concoction and being a sucker for corn bread, I had two pieces.  Pinot Gris doesn’t really go with chili, but it helped cool off my mouth.

From left to right. Blackberry Port - Salt Spring, BC Seeling Schwarzriesling (Pinot Meunier) - Naumburg, Saale Unstrut, Germany Vespaiolo Sparkling Wine - Bregenz, Italy Rotkäppchen Riesling Sparkling Wine - Freyburg, Saale Unstrut, Germany

The hot spot was at Yaletown Gallery where we all met up, filled out and submitted our hobby chef evaluations, and sampled some lovely dessert-type wines presented by Kate, The Wine Mistress.  She brought us wines from Vino Allegro Wine Imports Inc., and Annika shared some German wines which we sampled along with some chocolates from the oldest chocolate factory in Germany.  We enjoyed persuing the gallery with our treats and admiring the beautiful skilled work of local artists.  My wine notes are a little hazy, and I am working on finding a better way to remember my thoughts on what I tatse because by the time I share my thoughts, my mind is often on what I currently have in my glass.  Bear with me.  The Rotkäppchen Riesling Sparkling Wine (Freyburg, Saale Unstrut, Germany) was an off dry riesling that was delightfully refreshing with sour/tart apples and lemons (find out why it is referred to as Lieutenant Lemonade here), and the Seeling Schwarzriesling (Pinot Meunier) (Naumburg, Saale Unstrut, Germany) was a rose that reminded me of chocolate and strawberries.  The Vespaiolo Sparkling Wine (Bregenz, Italy) was my favourite of the evening boasting its toastyness, tiny bubbles, and peach flavours.  Obviously, I did not leave empty handed.  The ballots were tallied, and the hobby chef winners were announced and the last wine was poured.  It was a Blackberry Port (Salt Spring, BC) made with organic Saltspring fruit.  It was a lovely finish to the evening and went down smoothly in all its sweetness.

Social Bites has its next event on May 23 in Fairview / South Granville where yours truly will be cooking up a storm to benefit the Canadian Cancer Society Relay for Life.  Check out the Social Bites Website for more information on how you can participate in either cooking or eating for this great cause.

A huge thank you to Annika, Yaletown Gallery, the Wine Mistress, Vino Allegro, and all of the hobby chefs.  It was a fantastic evening, and you can expect to see me at many more Social Bites events.  You have made a fan out me.