What transpires when you put a premier Oregon Winemaker, a noted Philadelphia Chef, and a top sommelier in the same room and tell them to play nice? If it happens to be Josh Bergström, winemaker extraordinaire from Bergström vineyards, Daniel Stern owner of Philadelphia restaurants Gayle / RAE, and Ryan Davis, RAE’s Sommelier and manager , you’re in for one hell of an evening.

I attended a small private dinner at Gayle featuring four extremely limited production Bergström wines, each paired with one of Daniels superbly prepared courses. The attendees were A-list customers of both restaurants along with Alison Casillo, from Northwest Core Collection, who markets Bergström wines in the USA, Doug Cohn, Regional Sales Manager for Riedel Crystal, who was gracious to donate their new Oregon Pinot Noir glass, Jim Nolan, from Vine Street Imports, Bergström’s Pennsylvania distributor, Brian Freedman, Director of Education, The Wine School Of Philadelphia, national wine writer, and of course my wingman John Bell.

It was a beautiful night, so we started off outside, on the patio with some wonderful Hors d’ oeuvres, which went perfect with the Marquis De La Tour Sparkler from the Loire valley being poured by Ryan, the master of ceremonies. My favorite was the salmon caviar, topped with carbonated candy on brioche toast. When everyone had a chance to taste the appetizers and chat with the very accessible Daniel, Josh , and Ryan we went into the dining room to see what was in store for us.

After a brief introduction by Ryan, Josh gave us a quick but informative story of his family and the direction of Bergström vineyards.Then it was onto the first course, whoopee!

2006 Sigrid, Chardonnay, named after, and in honor of Josh’s grandmother. Only 250 cases were produced and as Ryan said, the sum total of the Pennsylvania allocation was in the room, three bottles! It had a little spiciness which I found intriguing, with licorice, anise, citrus and subtle vanilla and mineral notes. This wine had one long finish.

Paired with this labor of love was Daniel’s version of Swedish meatballs like you never had. A trio of melt in your mouth spheres of smoked salmon with dill, crab, and truffled veal, accompanied with pickled beets and shallots in a sour cream and veal reduction, a perfect match to the spice and acidity of the Sigrid Chardonnay.

2004 Bergström Vineyard, Pinot Noir, bright cherry, smoke on the nose with darker cherry and maybe washed pebbles on the palate, beautiful finish. It was nice to see what a little age can do to a wine of this stature. Only a 1 ton yield per acre, now that’s commitment.

What do you serve after a novel first course? How about Venison consommé, bone marrow with root vegetables, and topped with a soft egg yolk floating in a half shell. We are talking major flavors with a minor in natural raft making. Give me a loaf of the bread they serve at Gayle and I’m good for the night.

2006 Whole Cluster Selection, Pinot Noir, aromas of strawberry, earth, dark berry , I have never had a Pinot that smelled like this before. Ripe cherries, a little banana, venison, a subtle earthy background, with well balanced acidity and tannins finished out a wonderful finish. Old school Pinot Noir made with a modern hand. Last produced in 2003, this wine, while unbelievable now, will get better with age. Let’s see what this tastes like 5 or 6 years from now.

2006 Cumberland Reserve, Pinot Noir, smoke, cherry , vanilla, refreshing acidity integrates well with the tannins. A well balanced wine, big for the varietal. What a treat to have two killer Pinot’s to compare to each other. I dreamt this was a “House” pour at a restaurant!

Now, this would be tough for a mere mortal to come up with even one dish to properly accompany these wines, but Daniel came up with two. veal Osso Bucco removed from the shank, pressed into a cube, then pan seared, which topped a barley cake, my favorite of the night. On the right side was a veal Trotter terrine with chickpea puree with an unbelievable chilled venison mousse in between both entrée’s.

Topping off or should I say winding down this lovely evening were an assortment of desserts served back out under the evening air, the lemon brownies and salted chocolate candy with strawberry meringue are not to be missed.

What a refreshing surprise to see three people at the top of their prospective fields that are not impressed with themselves. Their accomplishments speak loudly about who they are.

Thank you to Daniel, Josh, Ryan, and the superb staff at Gayle for a wonderful evening, I am looking forward to a return engagement.