Mirassou Evening at Bloggy Boot Camp

Friday night I was invited to a “wine pairing” hosted by Mirassou at the Urban Eatery in Minneapolis as a part of Bloggy Boot Camp. Mirassou has been a sponsor of Bloggy Boot Camp for five years.

The Mirassou Family of California, the country’s oldest winemaking family, has been growing grapes and crafting wines in the sun-drenched hills of California since 1854. The Mirassou family has played an integral role in winemaking history for more than 150 years, since the current generation’s great-great-great grandfather arrived from, France. (history taken from a brochure).

It was a fun and informative evening, from the 45 minute/4 mile trip in the hotel’s shuttle, to the cab ride back to the hotel.

I shared a shuttle with a fellow blogger. We met in the lobby just minutes before the ride. She blogs over at Stop Lookin’ Get Cookin’. We hit it off nicely which was a good thing since traffic was so ghastly. We (the driver) were running a tad late and to make matters worse the first shuttle we sat and buckled up in had a dead battery. We were escorted to a town car.

When we finally arrived we were greeted with a glass of Moscato. Rest assured I didn’t drink much, Mommy. The first pairing was a Seared Scallop with Fennel Slaw.

During each course David Mirassou would gently clink his knife against the glass to get our attention so he could regale us with family history and stories.

The second dish was Apple Wood Bacon Macaroni and Cheese. Words can’t describe how tasty it was so I won’t even try! This dish was paired with Mirassou Chardonnay. See how much I didn’t drink? Being a good girl.

Moving on to the red wine. Third course was Duck Breast with Sweet Potato Hash. Wait! Duck? Yep, I had my first duck tasting. It tasted like chicken. Kidding, but it was okay-ish. The sweet potato was excellent. I have a no eating cute animals policy but I did taste it. This was paired with Pinet Noir (pronounced nothing like the spelling). It was actually a great pairing. I think there was some wine in the sauce so it worked really well.

The chef would come out and speak with us in between courses. A nice touch to the meal.

I was getting extremely full at this point but there was more! The fourth course was Peterson Farm’s Special Beef Slider. It was served with a few fries and some pretty spicy ketchup. It was very tasty and paired with Mirassou Sunset Red.

Will it ever end I was thinking? Dessert was the next and final course. It was delish. Chocolate Bread Pudding served with Cabernet Sauvignou, Mirassou of course!

This was a mouthful of sweetness like no other.

The evening ended with a cab ride back to the hotel taking less than five minutes. I shared the cab with my new blogging friend. Psst…here’s a little secret: this was my first cab ride EVER! Scratch that off my bucket list! I tried to get a picture of the two of us, although had I have been alone, I would have done a video, but a picture wasn’t working out with the whole flash thing. No, it wasn’t because of the wine! Hiccup

Thanks Mirassou, Urban Eatery and Bloggy Boot Camp for a lovely and memorable evening.