Last week I was invited to attend a dinner at Boston’s Ruth’s Chris to try wines from the Francis Ford Coppola winery in Alexander Valley in California. Coppola’s wine maker, Corey Beck, was on hand to share stories about the winery and the famous director who’s name is behind the wines. The evening introduced me to Sophia Blanc de Blanc a sparkling wine very reminiscent of Italian Prosecco’s and really quite excellent with the passed hors d’oeuvres.
The first course included a refreshing chilled shellfish salad complete with tiger shrimp, spring greens with a generous portion of crab meat atop and lightly dressed with a white balsamic accompanied by Coppola’s 2011 Diamond Chardonnay. Following the salad was a wild mushroom risotto that was paired with a 2010 Votre Sante Pinot Noir. I prefer bigger reds, but this went nicely with the creamy risotto and I think has broad appeal. You could easily serve this red without food at parties.
The third course was a generous portion of surf and turf; 8 oz filet and lobster tail stuffed with creamy spinach and Romano cheese. Sadly the lobster was the only part of the meal that wasn’t cooked perfectly, but all was forgiven because the filet was cooked to perfection and and complemented the 2010 Diamond Claret (loved this wine). The final course – dessert – included a decadent flourless chocolate cake that was rich and sinful, just like the menu promised. The wine paired with the dessert was the 2010 Director’s Cut Cabernet that also nicely complemented the rich dark chocolate dessert.
The dinner at Ruth’s Chris was as delicious as it was relaxing; chalk this one up to a perk to being a Boston blogger. My sincere thanks to Coppola Winery and the handsome Corey Beck shown above with Sergio and me.
BosGuy 
Having visited the Coppola winery, I can also attest that their wines are quite lovely.
Nice, too, is the little museum of Francis Ford Coppola memorabilia upstairs, like an original Tucker automobile and the desk from The Godfather, among other treasures.
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