NOVEMBER 2021
EVENT REPORT: Fourth Festa Italiana Dinner Poolside Served with Wines from Around the World ALSO INSIDE • Four Board Members Retire Blast from the Past • Upcoming Omaha Branch Events
CORNER
EDITOR’S W
hat a fun evening we had, again, at the beautiful Doctors Moore’s home, a complex that held not only a swimming pool, but a small clubhouse / bar and a wine cellar. I keep thinking I’m in Italy. This is the first year the new owners of Pasta Amore, Jared Clarke and Matt Burbach, worked the service for us. Leo Fascianella, our chef for the previous three years, was there to show Matt and Jared how he has done the event in the previous 3 years. The weather turned perfect once we sat down, not too hot, cold, or windy, with a gorgeous Nebraska sun set thrown in for good measure. Rhone Ranger 6 had to be cancelled due to lack of participation. We only had 10 sign up, not enough for the restaurant to even come close to breaking even. Since it was my event, I was calling members since so few had used the online registration system to decline. It really helps the event producer for you to respond quickly, yea or nay, about attending an event. It would have saved me a whole lot of calling. Please be kind. Respond quickly. Ignoring the invite is not a response.
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A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
We are had four of our senior Board Members retire recently. Once longtime Board Member Les Zanotti retired it seemed to create a domino effect. Three other members retired as well. Les has been a Board Member for about 42 years and has worn several hats, including President, Secretary, Treasurer and Wine Chairman. Many of those great bottles we have enjoyed were selected by Les. Read about the retiring Board Members. All four of them are remaining in the Branch as regular members. The Board will begin working on finding replacements. Some members have had trouble reading the Gazette on issuu.com, Or, they don’t want to sign in, which means you can’t even read the Gazette at all. They prefer a PDF since all you have to do is click it open. We have decided to offer it in both formats. In your email, a PDF will be sent along with the issuu.com link. The advantage of issuu.com is that you can see both right and left pages, like a paper magazine. Our PDF only lets you view one page at a time.
Tom Murnan Cover Photo: Our entire event producer crew 9/12/2021 at the Doctors Moore’s poolside patio. Photo by Tom Murnan
“Never argue at the dinner table for the one who is not hungry always gets the best of the argument.” — Whately F ro m T he Best of t he Cockle Bur comp il ed a n d edi t ed by H a r ry B Ot is, 3rd P residen t 1973-1974
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A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
Event Report:
FOURTH FESTA ITALIANA DINNER POOLSIDE SERVED WITH WINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD Written by Tom Murnan Photos by Tom Murnan, Ron Policky & Wayne Markus
W
henever we go to the Doctors Moore’s gorgeous home in the Nebraska countryside, we always have some kind of weather event. After 4 years, it’s now a tradition! But this year, we had the best weather we ever had. One reason was that the dinner was put back a month to September so the worst of the hot weather would pass us by. This year, we only had to deal with occasional spits of rain (I had to shelter my camera on a few occasions) that completely went away a little after our 5:00 pm start time. The temperature was mid 70s, humidity low and the rain clouds resolved into full sunshine. What a beautiful evening! Sixty guests attended, including 21 guests. Last year we had all Italian wines for dinner. This year, the Festa Italiana theme was served with wines from Around the World. The diversity of wines showed up right with the quaffing offerings. Sometimes just one bottle of something was offered, or just a few. I enjoyed my choices of international imbibing. Traditionally we have had Lamb Lollipops and Tomato Bruschetta. One thing I love about Italian cuisine is that it is usually prepared simply, which brings out the natural flavors and goodness of the food. The lamb was simply grilled with salt, pepper, probably garlic powder, herbs, and laid out for consumption. So good. The bruschetta consisted of tomatoes, olives, parsley and a little secret underneath all the produce which gave the bread some moisture: sundried tomato pesto. Basil pesto was mixed with sundried tomatoes to make a savory base that enhanced all the other flavors on top. Finally we had Mozzarella Caprese as our third appetizer choice.
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A source, who will remain unnamed, when asked where Dr. Iris Moore was, told me that the answer could be found on the license plate of her Audi TT. It contained a frequent mantra that has been uttered numerous times by Iris: ONMYWAY it read. What a great plate for a busy, time challenged person! LOL. We sat down for the Primo Piatto. Sicilian Salad, Farm Fresh Tomatoes, Celery, Cucumbers and Homemade Marinated Olives Tossed in a Vinaigrette Dressing found its way to our tables. Very Italian, the salad was a pleaser, but I could have done with less celery sticks. Oh well, since it is supposed to have negative calories, maybe it subtracted from all the other calories I was going to indulge in that evening. I had about 5 olives on my plate, which wife Mary noticed since she loves olives and only got 2! I offered to share. The vinaigrette was wine friendly and integrated nicely with the Planeta Etna Bianco Sicilia DOC 2017. Planeta is a relatively new winery in Sicily, having begun only in 1994. They have vineyards scattered throughout the island. This bottling is grown on the slopes of Mount Etna, with its rich volcanic soil. I mostly noticed a nice minerality, but also a dry body and good balance. It was a nice match to the salad. >
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< The Secondo Corso was Bow Tie Pasta and Shrimp, Tossed with Leo’s Famous Pistachio Pesto Sauce. This was quite aromatic, mostly due to the shrimp, even at an outdoors picnic where the full air tends to minimize culinary aromas. The bow tie pasta had the ability to collect the pistachio pesto in every fold, which is probably why it was selected from the hundreds of Italian pasta shapes available. Olives and tomato slices made for a nice garnish. Chef Leo told me the pistachios come from Brendi. They grow the pistachios on the slopes of Mount Etna, but they only get about 4 feet tall. This makes picking them quite easy. These pistachios were his inspiration to create pistachio pesto. Instead of the usual pine nuts added to basil pesto, pistachios are used instead, as well as rosemary, salt and pepper. I have to say, it was one of the best dishes of the night. We moved to pairs of red wines for the next two courses. We sampled Nautilus Southern Valleys Pinot Noir Marlborough 2016 from New Zealand. Nautilus is a family owned, small winery who uses sustainable wine-growing techniques that targets each of the 6 vineyards they own. Marlborough is in the northeastern corner of the southern New Zealand islands, and is protected from the southerly winds that roar up from Antarctica. The climate is mild, and it boasts of the most sunlight hours in NZ. Its proximity to the Pacific Ocean gives it a maritime climate that cools the grapes down at night, allowing them to rest. The nautilus was chosen for their name and logo because the shell has been admired since ancient Greek times as the mathematically perfect spiral. This spiral is found throughout nature: in the spiral as a hawk dives towards his prey, in the direction a cyclone spins, or the growth of seeds on a sunflower head. This natural balance and proportion is something they seek to express in their wines. I found it to be in a lighter style of Pinot Noir, very light tannins, tasting of plum and cherry. The Beaux Freres is one of Oregon’s premier Pinot Noir makers. Mike Etzel is Robert Parker Junior’s brother-in-law. The winery has gone from strength to strength and is now one of the best bottlings of Pinot in Oregon. I found it to be deeper, darker, and earthier than the Nautilus. Both wines were great matches for the pasta and shrimp. We found ourselves with the Terzo Corso next. We were treated to Snake River Farms Wagyu Gold Bavette Steak Tuscan Style with Homemade Italian Sausage and a Melody of Grilled Vegetables. Bavette is French for flank steak, very flavorful and loosely textured, taken from the abdominal muscle of the cow, and similar to skirt steak. The melody was yellow squash and asparagus encircled by rings of an onion sitting atop green and red peppers. Nicely presented. The steak was expertly grilled, and still showing deep red when cut. I love steak on the rare side. The sausage
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was obviously homemade, which is a treat if you only have store bought sausages. It was a bit dry, but spicy and bursting with flavor. Our pair of red wines were the Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 and the Grand Puy Lacoste Pauillac 2014. The Puy is a 5th Growth Bordeaux. In French, Grand Puy is a low gravely hill owned by a single estate. All Bordeaux are blends, and this one is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. With all the beefy and pork goodness going on the palate, it seemed very smooth, polished and lightly tannic. Caymus has been owned by Charles Wagner since 1940, but Charles only started producing wine in 1972. Charles’ son Chuck is the current winemaker. The grapes come from 8 of the 16 Napa appellations and is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. I found it to be deeply earthy, well integrated, satisfying and wonderful, the essence of Cabernet Sauvignon. Both wines were classic choices. Our Quarto Corso was dessert. Sicilian Cassata Cake, or White Cake with Cannoli Cream and Almond Marzipan was specially made by Pasta Amore’s pastry chef. Nicely presented, it had a crown of white chocolate lattice work which sat atop whipped cream and green marzipan. Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar or honey and almond meal The cake had very small chocolate chips and orange zest in it. Pecans, candied orange and a red syrup drizzle garnished the dish. It was very tasty, but also quite sweet. However, our chosen wine, the 2009 Château Doisy Daene Sauternes from the Barsac sub AOC was sweeter still, the usual rule in wine pairing for dessert. It’s dulcet honey tones made a fine match to the cake. Many thanks to our hosts, Dr. Iris and Dr. Gary Moore, who have allowed us to enjoy their bit of country paradise for four times now. Considering he is now a retired guy, Chef Leo Fascianella was working every time I walked by. Chef Jared and Matt Burbach were also working hard for us all night, along with sous-chef Raul. The wait staff consisting of Robyn, Megan, Stephen all kept us on course. Nicholas Wilke and Fankie gave rides to and from the parking lot and did any odd job that needed to be done. I want to say one thing about catering. A Catered event is so much more work than just having an event in a restaurant. Almost everything must be carried in. Where do you think that ten foot grille came from? All the glass ware, flatware, plates, everything was brought in. Then you have to worry about the weather if it is outside, like this was. Guests were transported from the parking lot. Afterwards there is clean up and returning everything to the rental source. Thank you Mike and Rhonda Wilke for going above and beyond to give us all a little serra paradisio, a little taste of Sicily right here in the center of the USA.
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A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
FOUR BOARD MEMBERS RETIRE By Tom Murnan
O
ur most senior Board Member, Les Zanotti, announced his retirement from the Board in October. Les joined the Omaha Branch in 1973, shortly after its founding in 1971. He became a Board Member six years later. He was elected President for a two year term in 1981 to 1982. Les wrote a brief statement for us. “I have been a member of the board since 1979. I have been secretary treasure until 2021. I have been cellar master ever since we built our current cellar and I have also purchased all of our current wine inventory of 2500 plus highly rated bottles. A big plus is that all of our close friends have come from this organization. “I felt it was time to turn it all over to the new young Board Members! I know they will continue the same traditions that have made us one of the very best Branch’s in the country! I am so very proud to have been a part of our success!” Les has done a phenomenal job as cellar master. Somehow, he always found the cheapest price for those First Growth Bordeaux that added excitement to our events, especially when we compared Bordeaux to California Cabernets. Les plans on remaining a member of the Omaha Branch. Thank you for your 42 years of service on the Board.
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Stephen Hipple decided to take Les’ lead and retire as well. He joined the Omaha Branch in 1995, and accepted the offer to be on the Board two years later, after John Fischer, Les Zanotti and Dave Hoffman urged him to volunteer. When he became Wine Chairman, Steve worked to start scoring the wines using professional wine tasters notes and scores, like Robert Parker Jr. and his Wine Advocate. The minimum score for putting wine into the Branch cellar was determined to be 90/100. Steve has been a member of the old IWFS Board of Governors Americas and started out as Event Chairman. He has risen to Chairman of IWFS Americas, Inc. where he is constantly working with one of eleven committees, making sure our Americas Zone is working effectively and efficiently for the members. So he has seen his free time dwindle. He decided that 24 years on the Board was enough. Steve will remain a member of the Omaha Branch. Lowell Wilhite joined in 2001, and became a Board Member in 2006. His Presidential term was between 2012 and 2014. Lowell has been managing the Branch web site on IWFS. org. There are constant updates for events, Gazettes, photos, Branch History and the like. He plans to continue volunteering to maintain the website for the foreseeable future. He has put in 15 years of service for our Board. Todd Lemke joined the Branch in 2008 at the invitation of Steve Hipple. He became a Board Member in His Presidential term was between 2016 and 2018. Todd’s company, Omaha Magazine, funds the Omaha Wine & Food Gazette and makes our publication look professional by funding a staff graphic artist to format the content and photos. We are
one of the few branches in the Americas Zone that has a such a beautiful newsletter that documents our events, news, history, and wine & culinary education with photos and event descriptions. He has agreed to continue supporting the Gazette, at least for a while! Thanks, Todd, for your 14 years of service. So if we add all four of our retirees service together we are losing 95 years of service. The good news is that they are all staying members of our Branch. The Board usually consists of 12 members. We had 13 because Les Zanotti was exempted from putting on events. So we will be looking for three new Board Members to bring our Board back to full strength. Our younger members are full of ideas of how to continue improving our Branch as we proceed through the 21st Century towards our 51st year. Following below are the resignation letters tendered to President Mark Stokes.
IWFS Omaha Branch October 5, 2021
I hereby respectfully retire as a director of the IWFS Omaha Branch. I joined the Omaha Branch in 1995 and was elected to the board of directors in 1997. As I have said many times, the IWFS Omaha Branch, is one of best - if not the best, of the branches in the Americas. I have sincerely enjoyed my numerous years as a director on the board. The branch has confidently progressed over the years. The quality of the wines continues to improve year after year and the number of bottles of wine in the cellar has correspondingly grown. To complement the wine, specialized, enticing cuisine has become an expected feature at our dinners. These advancements are due to the outstanding and professional directors, both past and present, which I am privileged to call my colleagues. The branch is in good hands. After 24 years of service to the board, I believe the time is right for me to make room for another younger director. I look forward to continuing my membership in the branch, as well as enjoying the wine, food and friendship of our members. Respectfully submitted, Stephen Hipple - Director
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I hereby respectfully retire as a board director of the IWFS Omaha Branch at the conclusion of the Board of Directors’ Meeting on October 5, 2021. I believe the branch is in good hands and the time is right for me to step back and for younger members to join the leadership of the Omaha Branch. I joined the Omaha Branch in 2001 and was elected to the board of directors in 2006. I have sincerely enjoyed my numerous years as a director on the board. I look forward to continuing my membership in the branch, as well as enjoying the wine, food, and friendship. Respectfully submitted, Lowell R. Wilhite Board Director
I hereby respectfully retire as a director of the IWFS Omaha Branch October 6th, 2021. What an amazing journey of learning and presenting wine and food pairings, but most of all the lifelong fellowship and memories. This branch is a shining example of what IWFS is all about. I credit this board and its leadership. Thank you for the opportunity and trust to be a small part of this prestigious club. I will always value wine knowledge gained, the venue planning, the food pairing experiences but most of all the camaraderie and passion of this board. It is time for fresh ideas and energy to move this board into its next chapter. I’m looking forward to experiencing what is coming next. I know the club is in good hands and leadership. I raise a glass to this board and its bright future. Respectfully, Todd Lemke
A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
Photos from Mike Dunn & Roger Peterson
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A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
UPCOMING OMAHA BRANCH EVENTS Mark Your Calendars!
NOV
801 CHOPHOUSE STAG 100 point Napa Cab vs. Bordeaux First Growth Producer: Dave Thrasher
DEC
HOLIDAY EVENT Happy Hollow Club Producer: Duke Matz
07 12
HOSTING AN EVENT? Let us know when, where and a little bit about what’s going on! We would love to include YOUR event on the calendar! Email details to: murnantom@gmail.com
A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
November 2021 Purpose: To meet communication and service needs, to broaden participation and understand and to be an information exchange for the membership of The International Wine & Food Society in the Americas. Publisher: Todd Lemke Editor: Tom Murnan Graphic Designer: Omaha Magazine, LTD.
THE INTERNATIONAL WINE & FOOD SOCIETY OF LONDON, ENGLAND OM A H A, NEBR A SK A BR A NCH - E X ECU T I V E COM MIT TEE This Quick Response Code (QR-Code) can be scanned with a scanner app on your smart phone to take the reader directly to the Omaha Branch web site.
PR ESI DENT: Mark Stokes............................................................... mark_stokes@aig.com V ICE PR ESI DENT / SECR ETA RY: Dave Thrasher.................... dave@supportworks.com TR EASU R ER: Duke Matz................................................................ dmatz@darland.com W I N E CELLA R M ASTER: Duke Matz....................................... dmatz@darland.com M EM BER SH I P CH A I R M A N: Joe Goldstein.............................. goldie2@cox.net
B OA R D O F D I R E C T O R S : Joe Goldstein John Matthews Duke Matz
Tom Murnan Tad Singer Mark Stokes
Dave Thrasher Mike Wilke
KEEP IN TOUCH! Please notify Club President, Mark Stokes, 402-679-7317 or via email at mark_stokes@aig.com to let him know if you are interested in hosting an IWFS event.
ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE MEMBERS WILL BE POSTED ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. Like us on FACEBOOK (IWFSOmaha): facebook.com/IWFSOmaha and follow us on TWITTER (IWFSOmaha): twitter.com/IWFSOmaha All versions of Wine & Food Gazette are published monthly by Omaha Magazine, LTD, P.O. Box 461208, Omaha, NE 68046-1208. Telephone: (402) 884-2000. No whole or part of the contents herein may be reproduced without prior written permission of Omaha Magazine, excepting individually copyrighted articles and photographs. Unsolicited manuscripts are accepted however no responsibility will be assumed for such solicitations. The opinions expressed in this publication, except as specifically stated to the contrary, are solely the opinion of the author and do no necessarily represent the views of the Board of Governors of the Americas. The International Wine & Food Society, LTD., the publisher and any officer, director, member or agent thereof. The international Wine & Food Society does not endorse advertisers’ products and is not responsible for damages incurred from the use of such products nor does it guarantee such products.