One of my New Year's resolutions was to clean out my old wine dinner files for the past 10 years and make room for the next decade! In doing so, I came across some menus and postcards that made me laugh, shake my head and overall smile. To say "we've come along way" is not at all an exaggeration. To better emphasize my point, one of the wine and food pairings from a 2001 wine dinner was listed as "Smoked Salmon with William Hill Reserve Chardonnay '99"- wow, groundbreaking! It amazes me just how much Wildfire's culinary team has developed over the years. Each Wildfire Executive Chef that is in involved in creating the wine dinner menus keeps challenging themselves to grow and evolve with each and every event. I find it remarkable that whenever I say out loud "this is the best wine dinner we've ever done" the next one somehow tops it.  In 2010 Wildfire is hosting more wine, beer and spirit events than ever before!  Here is an overview of what is happening right around the corner and for the rest of the year.

Wildfire's 2010 wine dinner calendar will kick off with the delicious wines of Rosenblum Cellars in Atlanta on Friday, January 15^th, Chicago on Tuesday, January 19^th and Lincolnshire on Friday, January 22^nd.  A few wine and food pairings to make you salivate are the

Butter-Poached California Bay Scallops Risotto with a tomato jam and reggiano-parmigiano cheese" paired with the Rosenblum Cellars Chardonnay '07 and for dessert, the Almond Joy Crème Brulee with chocolate, coconut and almonds paired with the Rosenblum Cellars Desiree California dessert wine. 

Also in January, Wildfire Tysons will be hosting a Virginia Harvest Wine Dinner featuring the best local wine and food Virginia has to offer. The course that I am looking forward to the most at this dinner is the appetizer course: Jumbo Lump Crab on an herb roasted cottage fry with lemon mustard aioli paired with the Kluge Estate Sparkling Blanc de Blancs 2004 from Charlottesville, VA.

In February, throughout the Wildfire locations we are hosting a wide variety of wine dinners. If you are a seafood lover, Wildfire Schaumburg will be featuring a Sustainable Seafood Wine Dinner on Wednesday, February 10^th . Wildfire and the Shedd Aquarium partner to promote environmentally friendly fish farming or catching. An example course of this "green" concept would be the Sustainable Harvest Seafood Stew with tomato-saffron-basil sauce and garlic bruschetta served with the Estancia Chardonnay '08. We are excited to be hosting two dinners with Terlato Wines International's very own "Hanna Estate Winery & Vineyards" at Wildfire Oakbrook on Monday, February 22^nd and at Wildfire Chicago on Tuesday, February 23^rd.  A pairing not to be missed is the Pan Seared Lamb Chops with braised mushroom caps, roasted potato fries & au jus served with the Hanna Winery Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon '06. Also, a classic wine and food pairing, chocolate and port, will top off both evenings with a Triple Layer Chocolate Cake with espresso frosting and hazelnut crème anglaise paired with the Rutherford Hill Zinfandel Port '04. 

To offer more to the Gluten Free community, Wildfire will be hosting it's very own Gluten Free wine dinners at Wildfire Glenview on Tuesday, February 16^th and at Wildfire Eden Prairie on Tuesday, February 23^rd.  Whether or not you follow a Gluten Fee diet, the Pan Seared Ahi Tuna with a ponzu glaze, baby field greens and pomegranate-cherry vinaigrette paired with the Mirassou Pinot Noir '08, is sure to be a crowd pleaser.  

To cap off a busy February, on Thursday, February 25^th at Wildfire Tysons, we will be warming up the winter with a "Jazz" wine dinner that will feature live jazz music while you enjoy a four course dinner prepared by Executive Chef Steven Lukis.  

For the remainder of 2010 here is a list of Wildfire locations, wineries and dates to consider:

Wildfire Chicago-         Murphy-Goode Winery -      Monday, March 22nd

Wildfire Schaumburg-   Murphy-Goode Winery -      Tuesday, March 23rd

Wildfire Chicago-          Kim Crawford Winery -       Monday, April 26th

Wildfire Eden Prairie-     Kim Crawford Winery -       Wednesday, April 28th

Wildfire Chicago-         Hess Collection Winery -     Tuesday, May 18th

Wildfire Chicago-           St. Francis Vineyards -       Tuesday, June 29th

Wildfire Glenview-          St. Francis Vineyards -       Wednesday, June 30th

Wildfire Lincolnshire-         Joel Gott Winery -          Monday, July 19th

Wildfire Chicago-              Joel Gott Winery -          Tuesday, July 20th

Wildfire Oakbrook-        Buena Vista Vineyards -      Monday, August 23rd

Wildfire Chicago-           Buena Vista Vineyards -      Tuesday, August 24th

Wildfire Schaumburg-       Stags' Leap Winery -        Monday, September 27th

Wildfire Chicago-             Stag's Leap Winery -        Tuesday, September 28th

Wildfire Eden Prairie-      Rutherford Hill Winery -      Tuesday, October 5th

Wildfire Atlanta-             Rutherford Hill Winery -      Tuesday, October 12th

Wildfire Chicago-           Rutherford Hill Winery -      Tuesday, October 19th

Wildfire Tysons-              Rutherford Hill Winery -      Tuesday, October 26th

Wildfire Chicago-             McWilliam's Winery -       Tuesday, November 16th

For more information or to make a reservation for any of these events, just click the "learn more" tab that appears to the left of this page.

I hope to see some new and familiar faces at all of our upcoming wine & spirit events in 2010. Come experience for yourself the pride, the masterfully executed food and wine pairings and overall attention to detail that goes into each and every event. Cheers to you! Brad Wermager