Decoy Winemaker's Dinner at Manoli's

Our friend, Nai was not much of a wine drinker but then we took her to BTG and she ordered a glass of Duckhorn Merlot and she had her aha wine moment.  Duckhorn Wine Company also has several other wine labels under their belt, one being Decoy wines.  Mike from BTG told us that Decoy is just as good as Duckhorn and the price is better. Duckhorn is a tad pricey.  Anyways, when Manoli's announced they were hosting a Decoy Winemaker's Dinner, we jumped at the opportunity.

Soupa Paired with Sauvignon Blanc

The first course was a cauliflower soup with pears, roasted wild mushrooms, pickled celery and a avgolemono foam.  It was paired with Decoy Sauvignon Blanc.  This was a great way to start off. The pairing of the Sauvignon Blanc was the perfect compliment to the soup.  The pears, the mushrooms, the celery and the foam gave this soup and interesting and different bite each time.

Grilled Shrimp and Spaghetti Squash

The second dish was grilled shrimp with spaghetti squash, loukaniko and a cider metaxa reduction.  It was paired with the Decoy Chardonnay.  We are the type of people that tend to eat healthy for the majority of our meals but there is one thing that we do not like to do and that is replace pasta with spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles.  Pasta is pasta.  There is no replacing it but this spaghetti squash was amazing.  It still can't replace pasta but nevertheless it was delicious!

Smoked Octopus Paired with Pinot Noir

The third dish was smoked octopus with toasted orzo, apples and a celery vinaigrette.  We had never had smoked octopus before and after trying we wonder why!  This is probably one of the best ways to eat octopus.  Part of our group thought this was the best dish of the night.

It was paired with the Decoy Pinot Noir.  We are definitely still learning about what to pair with what and seafood is one of those things that we always thought should be paired with a white wine but this went smoothly with the Pinot Noir.

Braised Rabbit in Phyloo and Frisee Salad

The next course was a spiced tomato braised rabitt crispy phyllo on smoked Greek yogurt and a frisee salad.  Everyone loved this dish.  It made it on everyone's top two favorite dishes.  We could have probably had ten more of the rabbit in the phyllo.  

This was paired with the Decoy Zinfandel.  One of Som's favorite types of wine is Zinfandel and this one did not disappoint.

Maple Panna Cotta Paired with Decoy Red Blend

Last course was dessert.  It was a maple panna cotta with toasted pistachios, sea salt and olive oil.  It was paired with the Decoy Red Blend.  This was probably the least successful pairing of the night. The panna cotta was delicious on it's own and the wine was probably one of the favorite's of the night but it slightly missed the mark on the pairing.  

All in all, this was probably one of the best wine pairings that we have been to.  And Manoli's is creeping up our list of favorite restaurants in Salt Lake.  Top 5 maybe?