Cooper's Hawk Wine Dinner Series Oceanside Soiree

We attended our second Cooper's Hawk Wine Dinner series themed "Oceanside Soiree."  The wines were delicious and the chef did a fantastic job on the menu.  Let's dive right in!  You can find last month's review here.

Cocktails

As we came into the event room, we were greeted with a lovely cocktail that mimicked the ocean colors.  I understand it had malibu rum, and blue Gatorade in it!

The First Course

Our first course was Grilled Pit with a cucumber-mint sour cream.  Light and refreshing, this was a good start to the real. The pita was grilled perfectly and sprinkled with delicious, flaky sea salt.  Along with the grilled pita was a pan-roasted Mahi Mahi.  This was also cooked beautifully and served over a crushed cucumber and summer melon salad with ginger ponzu.  

The wine pairing was Cooper's Hawk White.  On the nose, the wine is "spiced pear, apri­cot, pas­sion fruit, and sweet mel­on are joined by hon­ey and flo­ral notes as the wine opens up."  It is off-dry with floral notes. It paired well with both dishes as the wine allowed the fruit and fish to be the star.

The Second Course

We were served a Duo of grilled prime skirt steak and shrimp brochette. The shrimp were on top of a sweet corn and tomato orzo, perfect summer vegetables, and the steak was topped with Florina Pepper sauce and crumbled feta cheese.  

The wine pairing was Cooper's Hawk Australian Red Blend.  "This powerful Australian blend of 72% Shiraz and 28% Cabernet Sauvignon boasts bold, dark flavors of blackberry, black cherry, and aromatic violet. It also has notes of smoke and vanilla bean from gentle aging in oak. The texture is rich and velvety, making this an ideal wine for the boldest, richest dishes. Try it with barbecue!

This wine comes from vineyards in South Australia’s Limestone Coast, is in the Southeastern corner of the state. The region is known for stunning beaches, incredible natural wonders, and some of the most sought-after wines. As the name suggests, the region is rich in well-drained, nutrient-rich Limestone, which is ideal for grapes. The vines are cooled by sea breezes during summer, resulting in cool to mild growing conditions with a slow and long ripening process. This extended “hang time” or growing season leads to incredible intensity in the grapes."

This wine was chosen for its collaboration With the Hidden Sea.  "By enjoying each carefully blended bottle crafted by The Hidden Sea, you actively contribute to the Resea Project—a vital mission to eliminate single-use plastic from our precious oceans.

With every bottle of our Hidden Sea blend, you remove the equivalent of ten plastic bottles from the sea. Together, our collaboration brings you a premium wine that aims to eliminate nearly 2 million plastic bottles. We proudly support the Hidden Seas Cleanup in their mission to eliminate 1 billion plastic bottles from the ocean by 2030."  It was fun drinking wine with a higher purpose.

The Third Course

The dessert course was absolutely wonderful.  A Summer Berry Pavlova sitting on a soft bed of white chocolate whipped cream and passion fruit coulis and then topped with toasted pistachios. The mix of the tart passion fruit and the sweetness of the strawberries and cream made for a delightful combination.  

The wine pairing was Cooper's Hawk Lux Ice Wine. Ice Wine, the most famous of sweet wines, is pro­duced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine to con­cen­trate its juice, result­ing in only one or two drops of sweet syrup per berry.  On the nose A lus­cious mix of apri­cot, peach purée, ripe pineap­ple, can­died man­go, but­ter­scotch, and honeycomb. The sweet/tart combination of this wine and the dessert complemented each other.  And I don't usually like sweet wine!

The Conclusion

We had a little quiz on plastics and their impact on the ocean. The winners received a bottle of the collaboration.  The label is well done-and eye-catching.  It was a prize we all wanted but only two received.