The Omaha Wine & Food Gazette September 2023

Event Report:

Barbeque, Bourbon & Wine Stag

Upcoming Events

What’s New

It has been May of 2021 since we held an event at Victory Lane at Robert Foster’s customized garage Unit. This time, our host was Mike Cassling. His Unit was a showpiece for his baby blue Corvette convertible and Black Lamborghini, which were parked just outside. But what a great garage! The main level has a kitchen, a simulator that you can fly a virtual airplane, a temperature-controlled walk-in wine cellar, and a red Porsche 9115 that was borrowed for the event. Above, there is a loft that has a home theater. All in all, a great place to entertain other car aficionados and bask in your hobby.

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 must 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.

Cheers!

Tom Murnan

The door-to-door salesman rang the bell in a suburban home and the door opened, revealing a 9-year-old boy who was puffing on a long, black cigar. Trying to cover his amazement, the salesman said: “Good morning, sonny. Is your mother in?” The boy removed the cigar from his mouth, flicked off its ashes, and replied: “What do YOU think?”

Best of the Cockle Bur compiled & edited by Harry B. Otis, 3rd President 1973-1974

The Omaha SEPTEMBER 2023

Event Report: Barbeque, Bourbon & Wine Stag

Victory Lane is the premier place in the Omaha area to display your collectable automobiles in a safe, secure, and private setting. The large bays can be customized to make a luxurious man cave. It was this setting that member Mike Cassling invited the club to use his bay for an evening of Barbeque, Bourbon, and Wine on this very hot July evening.

Instead of a sit-down wine tasting, we had 4 blind-served Bourbons to identify. We knew their names. Blanton’s Original Single Barrel; Weller Antique 107; E.H. Taylor Jr. Small Batch; and Blanton’s Gold Edition. The price per bottle ranged from $70 to $180. No clues were given on how to judge these four. For a non-Bourbon person like me, I needed something, like descriptions of the nose, alcohol level, flavor, or the like to have any kind of chance at identification. I had no idea, so I just decided to identify these mystery glasses in the same order as the written invitation. It turned out I was correct, but I don’t consider myself a glorious winner, just lucky. I guess we usually don’t give a lot of clues for blind wine tastings either, but some notes would have been helpful.

In 2021 we had master smoker Leonard Hawkins cater our event, and he did a nice job this time as well. The Smoked Chicken Thigh with Cornbread and Corn Salad was served cold. I didn’t notice much smoked flavor on the chicken. The J.J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett 2020 was in a dry style and worked with the dish. The Baby Back Ribs with Beans and Potato Salad, a staple of BBQ, went well with the Larkmeade Firebell Red 2018, a blend of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon. It was soft and rounded on the palate. The Brisket was pretty dry for the next course and needed BBQ sauce for sure. It was accompanied by Mac & Cheese and Broccoli Raisin Salad and a Familia Zuccardi “Jose Zuccardi” Malbec 2016 from Argentina, which did a good job. The Apple Enchiladas also worked quite well with our two 2009 Sauternes, Chateaux Doisy Daëne and Myrat.

Thank you, Mike Cassling, for offering your Unit for our stag!