Taste of St Croix River Cruise- June 19

Summer has arrived in the Twin Cities, and not a moment too soon, as we embarked on a gorgeous last night of Spring river cruise down the St. Croix for the kick-off of the Taste of St. Croix. Highlighting 11 restaurants in the St. Croix River Valley, along with 40 wines from local distributors, the event, held on the Grand Duchess riverboat was a smashing success. This being a non Nutz outing, it was just Nikki, Samantha and I, along with Brian who was stuck sweating it out behind a table pouring wine for Winestyles.

As I mentioned, the weather was amazing. It was in the mid 80’s with a gentle breeze, and of course, the St. Croix is beautiful even when it’s raining, but the sunshine bouncing off the water and the ceiling of the room we were in was just stunning.

Each of the restaurants offered a small plate of their dish, a few bites worth. Directly behind our table was the runaway favorite offering of the night, the pan seared scallop with bacon smoked corn hash and cilantro oil. We had that one first due to it’s proximity, and it spoiled us for the rest of the evening. The scallop, tender and superbly fresh, was surrounded by apple smoked bacon and corn, thick with flavor. If there weren’t other delectable items awaiting, I could have been happy with that for the evening. A good scallop, perfectly cooked, is a thing of beauty.

My other favorite, almost on a par with the scallop was the Green curry shrimp with coconut rice noodles. I may be biased because Thai food is one of my favorite ethnic offerings, but the flavors of this dish, from famed chef Jim Kyndberg of the Bayport Cookery, was beautifully subtle and at the same time, a lively dance of tastes in the mouth. For this dairy-free gal, finding a wonderfully creamy noodle that won’t come back to haunt me made me very happy. Top it with a perfectly cooked shrimp and a little crunch of micro-greens, bean sprouts and peanuts and you’ve got one fabulous dish. The Halibut taco with garlic aioli, wild rice and cabbage was ok, but the shell was dry and crumbly and the overall flavor was too heavy. If the chef had skipped the rice and aioli, instead pairing it with a nice kicky salad of just cabbage, it might have been better. Pan fried Angus sliders were great, a perfect little patty with sweetly caramelized onions on a nice soft bun. A spinach, apple, manchego salad with nuts and apricots was very flavorful; the Lamb samosa was nicely spicy with a sweet little hint of raisin and a kicker of a chili puree. The peanut butter ravioli was forgettable- it’s too tough to keep pasta well in a steam table, and a chilean sea bass with walnut sauce on a red pepper blini was good but too salty. We missed out on two menu items due to full tummies, but after a short stint on the top of the boat, taking in the views, we descended again to seek out dessert. The two desserts did not disappoint at all- a raspberry creme brulee in an edible chocolate cup was topped with a tasty meringue that made it look like a tiny cappucino. It was stellar with a 10-year old Tawny port from The Wine Co. – and I am really not a fan of port, but this pairing was perfect. The other dessert, called ‘The Sin of the Inn’ from the Lake Elmo Inn, was an amazing little tart filled with perfect dark chocolate and a delicious fresh whipped cream that paired beautifully with the wonderfully smoky and earthy 2004 Oubenheim Syrah from South Africa. Who thinks of Syrah as a potential dessert wine?? I usually don’t, but the tables were right next to each other and it just happened, a touch of kismet on the river.

The view from the top of the boat:

Look at that gorgeous sky, would you?? It really could not have been any nicer.

Other great wines we tried were the Martin Codax albarino (already reviewed on this site) a Martin Codax Rioja that was really wonderful and complex and a Le Grand Viognier, probably my favorite white wine of the evening. I could be biased to Viognier because it truly is my favorite white varietal, but this one was a perfect example of what Viognier can be- exotic fruit, crisp and smooth. There was a 2007 Fuzelo Vinho Verde that was very nice, light and refreshing but really nothing to compare to our favorite Pavao Vinho Verde, which all three of us agree is top notch. I was wholly disappointed by the Monte Lomas Malbec; malbec being one of my favorite red varietals I expected much more, but this one was boring and bland, more like a warm grape juice than what a good malbec can offer. There were also some good red blends and several nice Zinfandels too.

One component of the evening was a table of ‘mystery bottles’- fully covered and cleverly hidden,  that you could purchase for $25.00. At the end of the evening, everyone who purchased was able to select one to take home, keeping fingers crossed that you made a good grab. I bought two options and what I got was a white Bordeaux- a 2005 Prince de Tabourg and the other was a 2006 Ca Fischele Gambellara Classico from Italy, a Garganega blend. Although neither of them could be considered stellar bottles, they are good interesting whites which is something I love, and with warm weather all around me, they will fit perfectly.

For the money spent, this was such a terrific bargain. Nowhere could we have gotten more food choices and wine offerings for the money, not to mention the weather and the setting. We will be highly anticipating next year when it comes around again.