Last night, Jack and Jill took themselves off to the Pavil Restaurant & Bar in San Antonio for the New World Wine & Food Festival/Dinner hosted by Dante & Carlo Mondavi, celebrating and featuring exclusive tasting of the fabled Continuum 2007.
Pavil is a Paris Brasserie re-creation with faithful decor and atmosphere. High ceilings, grand scale hanging lights and wall sconces, along with dark panelled booths, provide an authentic French feel. It provided an elegant setting for this dinner for 25 people.
The evening began with two canapes being offered, sweet lobster medallions on cucumber with citrus aioli, and pork pate on brioche crostini topped with raspberry preserve. These were accompanied with one of America’s finest sparkling wines, Scharffenberger Brut, Mendicino County, CA. Scharfenberger uses the traditional methode champenoise of fermentation in individual bottles. It paired well with the canapes with its distinct fruit complexes.
The first dish of the evening was seared beef tenderloin carpaccio topped with heirloom tomatoes and spinach salad. The carpaccio was perfect and the flavors combined to make each bite a delight.
A Ladoucette Lew Deux Tour 2007, Savignon Blanc was poured with the carpaccio. It was refreshingly crisp with a citrus and tropical fruit note. Ladoucette is one of the largest and most famous Pouilly-Fumé vineyards and has been in the 
family since 1787. Baron Patrick de Ladoucette is often referred to as “The King of the Loire Valley”. The exhibits a solid pale golden-green color and had an expressive nose with a good range of grapefruit and citrus fruit with floral aromas .. another well matched pairing by the folk at Pavil.
Next on the menu was a petite boullabaisse. A classic French seafood stew with saffron rouille crouton. The dish presented well and had wonderful flavor. Mussels, fish, scallops, a portion of lobster tail–all combined well with the saffron rouille and looked good with the haricots verte garnish.
For the boullabaisse, we moved to a Domaine Ott Les Domanier de Puits Mouret, 2008 Vin Rosé .. a fine sample from the Cótes des Provence appellation in France. Jack liked the dryness and the fact that it wasn’t overly fruity or floral like many rosés. Another winning pairing! Pavil Assistant General Manager Neil Butler was knocking it out of the park last night.
Now for the herb crusted Australian lamb. What isn’t great about Aussie lamb?
It was a elegant and simple plating with parsnip puree, tournade of seasonal vegetables and natural lavender jus. The lamb was exact temperature for Jack and the flavors of the dish all worked well together. Now it was time to be introduced to the star of the evening, Continuum Napa Valley 2007. Dante and Carlo Mondavi introduced the wine with Pavil’s Neil Butler.
The wine was fantastic. A blend, the 2007 wine is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc and 18% Petit Verdot, a slighly different ratio to previous bottlings. The grapes are sourced from an Oakville winery that the family has owned for generations. The wine itself is a deep purple color and is smooth and velvety–very much like a high end Bordeaux. It is full bodied, tannic, well balanced with a long finish … a thoroughly great drop. The festivities were concluded with a chocolate mousse cake presented in chocolate cups. A fine, complementary conclusion to a carefully chosen and prepared menu.
None of this happens without the talent, care, and attention by the usually invisible individuals back of house in the kitchen. I present the Pavil crew from last night. Well done!!
A quality evening at the Pavil!
