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Story and photography by Manos Angelakis
The Tilghman Island Inn.
With a glass wall overlooking the setting sun on the Chesapeake Bay, the restaurant at the Tilghman Island Inn has an impressive view of the Bay, and an excellent kitchen that can rival that of many upscale restaurants in major east coast cities. The Inn is located about 20 minutes by car from St. Michaels, where we were visiting for the annual Food & Wine Festival (see St. Michaels in Events section) and the restaurant is the domain of Executive Chef David McCallum with William Dickey, as Chef de Cuisine.
 We were there to taste the wines of Hank and Linda Wetzel’s, Alexander Valley Vineyards, a family-owned California winery with a reputation for a series of Zinfandels, an Estate Chardonnay, an Estate Pinot Noire and a number of other small-production wines. The wines to be tasted were paired with tapas, a series of small dishes very popular in Spain’s wine drinking circles.
Actually, the “tapa” i.e. cover, started as a piece of bread placed on top of a glass of wine to stop flies, wasps and other pests from entering the glass. An enterprising tavern-owner noticed that if his patrons were given a piece of salty ham or spicy sausage on the bread, it increased the thirst of his clientele and therefore the consumption of his wine. Other tavern owners, to differentiate themselves from the rest, started putting morsels of salty cooked food on the bread instead of just a piece of salty meat. Eventually, the tapa became a free tidbit served with the wine, like the middle-Eastern meze. Unfortunately, today tapas are no longer free, but for a modest amount, you could have a very good meal eating a number of tapas with your wine in any of the tascas, i.e. tapas bars, that can be found at practically any corner of Madrid, Barcelona or any other Spanish city.
In the case of the Tlghman Inn, the “tapas” were actually what is known in Spain as a ración i.e. a larger portion, enough for two or three bites or enough to share with a friend.
The first flight included four small plates: Thai Braised Beef Wraps with Thai Dipping Sauce, Oysters Rockefeller, Lobster Risotto with Asparagus and Prosciutto Bundles, and Crispy Skin Rockfish atop Braised Beans and Andouille. The wines served with this round were 2007 Estate Chardonnay, 2005 Estate Viognier, and 2008 New Gewürztraminer. The Gewürztraminer, redolent of honeysuckle, paired beautifully with the slightly musky Risotto as well as the Oysters; The Viognier was best with the Rockfish and the Braised Beef. Unfortunately, the Chardonnay was just too mild for the intense flavors of these dishes.
There was an “Intermezzo” a grapefruit sorbet to cleanse the palate between flights.
Refreshed by the sorbet, we started the second flight.
Savory Eggplant Tart atop Onion Confit; Lamb Lollipop with Sweet and Sour Figs; Duck Rillette Sliders on Brioche with Jicama Apple Slaw; Chef’s Cheese Selections, Camembert, Cashel Blue and Manchego; and Chocolate on Brioche Toast with Sea Salt and Olive Oil. The wines paired with the dishes were 2006 Estate Cabernet, 2006 Sin Zinfandel, and 2007 Estate Pinot Noir. The most successful pairings were the Pinot Noir with the Eggplant Tart and the Duck Rillettes, The Lamb with the Cabernet, and the Cheeses were good with all the reds.
We finished with a Molten Chocolate Cake with Red Wine, Rosemary Marinated Strawberries, and Honey Thyme Ice Cream, washed down with the 2005 Old Vine Zinfandel Top of the Crop, a wine that was almost dessert by itself. And, of course, an espresso for me.
All the wines were well above average, perhaps with the exception of the Sin Zin, the wine that the winery is most known for, but then I don’t really like Zinfandel that much. The wines that left the best impression were the Gewürztraminer, the Viognier, and the absolutely extraordinary Alexander School Top of the Crop Old Vine Zinfandel. As far as the food is concerned, as I said at the beginning “a kitchen that can rival that of many upscale restaurants”.
© July 2009 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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