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From left: Kirk Chin, Gary Matalon, Lisa-Gaye Chin, Tina Myers Matalon.

Chris Reckord, Sara Mair and Donnie Bunting.

Dr Belinda Morrison and Dr Keisha Maloney sipping Korbel Sparkling wine.

Let’s Talk Wines

Farm, fork and famous wines

There has been renewed thrust on 'eating local' and the catch phrase 'eat what you grow and grow what you eat' has been used to galvanise Jamaicans in this noble effort.

Chef Sara Mair has been doing her part through a series of wine dinners promoting local food and farmers. The inaugural wine dinner was recently held at Kingston's Spanish Court Hotel in collaboration with Chris Reckord of Devine Wines Services and Donnie Bunting of VIP Meats.

During the introduction, Mair spoke with great passion about the need to promote our local farmers, and Bunting gave us interesting insights about innovations with Tilapia and Lamb at VIP Meats.

CPJ was pleased to partner in this venture and selected Brown-Forman wines from California as the accompaniment. Upon arrival, guests were treated to Korbel Brut which went well with the starters of Indian Spiced Falafels with Nikkis Yoghurt and Smoked Tilapia Pâté.

This light sparkling wine with spicy fruit flavours is America's favourite bottle - fermented bubbly and used to celebrate more weddings, anniversaries and New Year's celebrations than any other quality sparkling wine. It is also the wine often used to celebrate the inauguration of United States presidents.

We were then seated in an intimate setting (there were twenty two of us) and served the Tilapia Three Ways paired with the Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay. This wine has spicy aromas and flavours tightly knit into a very refreshing harmony of fruits and flowers, enhanced by subtle notes of flowers and oak. Sonoma-Cutrer is ranked among California's finest and is available at most premium restaurants islandwide.

excellent price value

The Lamb Ravioli Salad followed which was served with Five Rivers Pinot Noir. This is a classic Pinot Noir with aromas of loam, violets, cardamom with hibiscus flowers and a hint of vanilla. As you taste the wine, wild strawberries explode in your mouth, followed by tangy cherries and a strong acid backbone. Five Rivers is CPJ's number-one selling Pinot Noir due to its excellent price value.

It was then time for the main course of Lamb Coffee braised with Lentils and paired with the Sanctuary Cabernet Sauvignon, the unquestionable wine of the evening.

This Cabernet is from California's Napa Valley, a region that has been a source of world-class Cabernet Sauvignon for well over a century.

The wine is complex and rich, with a wealth of black currant, blackberry and cedar flavours wrapped into softly firm tannins. There's also an herbal quality that makes the wine suited to stews and casseroles. Sanctuary Cabernet Sauvignon is our newest additions from Brown-Forman and is slated to do very well based on its excellent early reviews.

For desert there was Nichole Shirley-created delicious Mango Yoghurt Parfait paired with the Fetzer Gewurtztraminer. This medium bodied off-dry wine exudes unmistakable aromas of dried apricot, spicy peach with a touch of rose petal and honeysuckle.

The evening was a great start to the Farm to Fork series, another great match of great food with great wines.

The aforementioned wines are available through CPJ Customer Service at 979-8134-6 or at Bin 26, Devon House, Kingston. For More information email dreid@caribbeanproducers.com.