My husband Lee and I signed up for the Silverado Vineyards dinner, which has the special Disney connection in that the vineyard is owned by Ron and Diane (Disney) Miller.

We arrived just before the scheduled 6:30 start and checked in at the Steakhouse 55 podium, where they checked my name against their list of attendees. (I had a printout of my web site confirmation with me, but didn't need it.) A number of people had already been seated, and we were ushered to our table - a table for four, though our tablemates had not yet arrived. The night's menu was laid out at each place setting, and quite soon after our waiter brought us a loaf of warm bread with butter, and the first wine of the night - the 2006 Napa Valley Chardonnay. This was actually a "bonus" wine, and not originally planned to be part of the dinner, but it had just been released. I usually dislike chardonnays but this was excellent - it wasn't dry, nor was it sweet. I'm by no means a wine expert, but I would call it "crisp" and refreshing.

Our tablemates arrived soon after and we introduced ourselves. They had attended one of the Winemaker dinners last year, and obviously enjoyed it enough to come back this year!

The dinner officially began with the introduction of the winemaker, Jonathan Emmerich. He spoke a little bit about Silverado Vineyards and their location in Napa Valley's "Stags Leap" district, and also told us a bit about his own background. He described the wine we were about to sample with our first course - the Miller Ranch 2005 Sauvignon Blanc.

He then introduced Jason Martin, the chef d'cuisine at Steakhouse 55. Chef Martin was young and very enthusiastic and a lot of fun to listen to. As we were being served our first course, he described the New Zealand Scampi appetizer, "scampi" actually being lobster and not shrimp. There was a small lobster back atop a lobster-filled ravioli with petite greens on the side. The hint of citrus in the wine complemented the citrus sauce well, and again, I found it to be crisp and maybe a little tart.

Mr. Emmerich introduced the next wine, Sangiovese, by telling us that we're probably more used to seeing it as the kind of wine that comes out of a raffia-wrapped bottle, which when empty, is hung from the rafters with a candle in it. This was a lot better than that, though. I will admit right here that I don't care much for red wines, so it's very hard for me to judge what's "good". But this had none of the things I usually object to in red wines, being neither too oaky or spicy, with a smooth finish and not an acrid bite.

Chef Martin talked about the course served with the Sangiovese, Colorado lamb with Rataouille in a crisp pastry shell, with a thick oven-dried tomato sauce. He told us that Colorado lamb has a milder flavor than Australian lamb. This was cooked medium-rare, and was nice and tender. The ratatouille included small pieces of eggplant, squash and onions, cooked slowly with herbs and seasonings. The resulting dish had a very good combination of fresh, earthy flavor.

For the entree course, Mr. Emmerich selected their Solo Cabernet Sauvignon. It's designated "Solo" because it's from a single vineyard in Napa Valley's Stags Leap district. This was certainly a beautiful red wine with a lovely deep color. I thought it was nice and smooth, without the "bite" and bitter tannins that I dislike. If I was a red wine fan I'm sure I would've raved about this...but I'm not.

Chef Martin's choice of entree to pair with the Cabernet was a piece of American Kobe Flat Iron Beef with Blue Cheese and Walnut Risotto (Chef Martin really loves risotto) and baby vegetables. There was also a crisp pastry "breadstick". We were curious about how there could be something called "American Kobe" - Chef Martin explained that the cattle are a mix of Angus and the Japanese Wagyu breed. Unfortunately I'm not able to eat beef, but my tablemates assured me that this was melt-in-your-mouth tender and delicious, and an excellent pairing with the wine, especially with the tang of the blue cheese.

Fortunately the next course was dessert, with a dessert wine, something that I am *far* more capable of appreciating! Mr. Emmerich described the Late Harvest Semillon - something they have had the proper conditions to produce only three times in the last 15 years. He told us that the process is actually rather miraculous - they harvest what are essentially moldy raisins (infected with a fungus called "noble rot"), and from something that looked really disgusting they produced this beautifully clear, sweet, amber liquid. I LIKE dessert wines and I have to say that this is one of the best I've ever had. It was sweet but not *too* sweet, and it wasn't at all syrupy - it was still light and practically evaporated on the tongue. Heavenly.

Chef Martin's dessert course was White Peach Panna Cotta filled with a puree of fruits (I believe there was passion fruit in addition to peach) and served with two madeleine cookies and a sweet crisp. Panna cotta is kind of like a light custard made of cream, milk, and sugar. It wasn't overly sweet, and was nice and light, like the wine. While I would've preferred a chocolate dessert, this was a far better match with the wine, as each complemented the ripe fruit tones in the other.

We lingered a bit after dessert (as I endeavored to get the last drops of the Semillon out of my glass) and Chef Martin and Mr. Emmerich made the rounds of the tables. Suddenly our servers appeared with one last treat for us - one that combined food AND wine - dark chocolates filled with Silverado Merlot. These didn't last long enough on our table for me to get a photograph.

It was a wonderful dinner, with superb service, good wines and food that was both excellently prepared and presented. Both Mr. Emmerich and Chef Martin were good speakers and fun to listen to - there was nothing stuffy or serious about either one of them. Nor did they spend so much time talking that we lost interest in what they were saying. At $125/person it's not an inexpensive evening, but we really enjoyed ourselves and it's definitely something that we will plan to do again.

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