Join Us At The Embassy

Main Dining Room at Lansdowne Resort

Just recently, I had the pleasure of spending a warm breezy Sunday in the company of an extraordinary “woman of the vine” whose passion for wine, her love of gardening, and her warm personality have all come together to create one of the most unique wine experiences anywhere.  Mary Watson-DeLauder is the bubbly and outgoing Sommelier at the Lansdowne Resort in Lansdowne Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC just minutes away from Leesburg.  Ms. Watson DeLauder is as knowledgeable about wine as she is personable and engaging, and I had a most memorable day in her company.

As the director of the beverage program at Lansdowne for more than a decade now, Mary has been instrumental in developing an interesting mix of food and wine programs ranging from monthly wine dinners, to a Culinary University, and weekend Food and Wine Camps, the latter which have been featured in Southern Living Magazine, Santé Magazine, and on The Today Show on NBC.

She has created a niche for herself with her original wine and herb pairing programs that are offered during the summer months and into early fall.  On any given day during Food and Wine Camp season, you can find Mary tending to her spectacular English cottage garden where she grows a multitude of herbs and edible flowers ranging from chocolate mint to Cuban oregano.  During our visit together I was taken by her genuine enthusiasm and her welcoming personality.  She has an unfettered approach to wine that instantly makes you want to learn more about how food and wine interact with each other and you instantly relax and enjoy your experience together.

Her casual and inclusive approach belies her professional accomplishments and experience, which are impressive.  She is listed in The Chalk Hill Winery Sommelier Guide to Restaurants in America, has been a judge for the Virginia Wine Growers’ Association Wine Competition on 15 different occassions, is a 13-time Wine Spectator Award Winner, has won the Gold Cluster of Virginia Award, and is a member of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs and Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine.  What sets her apart from most other sommeliers is her ability to make everyone feel at ease without any snooty “Wine Geek Speak.” I spent the greater part of the day with Mary in her beloved garden and together we breathed in the sweet and savory aromas of borage, basil, lemon verbena, mint, oregano, tarragon, thyme, rosemary, and many others.  Here and there we sampled an edible flower or two and sipped one or two Sauvignon Blancs, Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, Cabernet blends, and a Merlot; it was a great way to taste wine and the time just seemed to fly.  The video below gives you a sense of place and has some nice footage of Mary’s colorful garden.  It’s a chance to hear Mary describe in her own words how she feels about wine.  Hey, who knows, maybe you will be encouraged to visit her soon?

After our time together in the garden, Mary kindly invited me inside where we enjoyed a delightful brunch buffet in the On The Potomac Restaurant.  With so many tempting selections it was hard to know where to start but eventually we were able to make our choices and sampled delicious roasted Cornish game hens, homemade country pâtés and terrines, freshly roasted sliced prime rib, homemade country sausage, Asian stir-fry, pancakes and waffles were cooked to order with a choice of whipped cream and fresh fruit, a blini station included a choice of three different types of fish roe and an assortment of finely chopped egg yolks and whites, capers, diced onions, sour cream, chives, a cheese and cold cut board was arrayed with Speck, soppresetta, sweet coppa, sage infused Stilton, a blue Stilton and Gorgonzola, and a choice of Fontina and Asiago.  For dessert, there was a decadent chocoholic’s dreamy flowing fountain of chocolate with sponge cake, sliced strawberries, and marshmallows for dipping.  For those more interested in plated desserts there was a smooth creamy flan, a rich chocolate truffle tart, a layered berry parfait, and fresh red berries with sabayon.

For our fist wine, we started with a Vintage Fleur de Champagne by Perrier-Jouët whose creamy texture and spicy citrus nose and flavors perfectly complimented our blinis and caviar.  Our next wine was a 2004 sparkling Shiraz by Australian winery, Paringa.  The character, texture, and style reminded me of a well made Lambrusco from Emilia-Romagna, a wonderful wine that when well made, in no way resembles the syrupy plonk sold here.  Paringa’s sparkling Shiraz tasted splendid with all of our savory meat courses and was divine with the flan.

That being said, one of the best parts of brunch though, was sharing in a glass or two
of Mary’s private label wine, Mary’s Cuvée, which she made with Lori Corcoran, the Winemaker and Proprietor of Corcoran Vineyards. This wine was a blend of Cabernet Franc, Tannat, and Merlot and it had a rich heady Old World-style nose, body, and finish like you find in Spain or the southern Rhône.  It was a deep dark purple but lacked any harsh tannin or alcohol levels, making it an easy wine to sip on its own or pair with a wide range of foods.  I simply adored it with the flan and even now can still taste its complex fruit and berry flavors.

By the end of the day I had learned a ton about the marriage of fresh herbs and wine, enjoyed a wonderful brunch, and felt like I had made a new friend.

Although Mary’s warm weather Food and Wine Camps are now finished for this year, details about her last hurrah of the summer, Alumni Camp, give you some idea about what you can expect next season.  Unfortunately, Alumni Camp is only open to those guests who have already attended previous Food and Wine Camps, but, if you want to receive information about next season’s programs you can sign up to receive emails by going to the lower right hand corner of the Alumni Camp page.

But don’t dispair; there are scads of other wine related activities available at Lansdowne and I encourage you to sign up for Mary’s next wine event, no matter what it is.  I can assure you it will be fun, you will like her the minute you meet her, and you will leave with an entirely new take on drinking and tasting wine and food.

Here is the skinny on the resort:

The Lansdowne Resort in Lansdowne, Virginia (right next door to Leesburg) is a AAA Four Diamond resort with 305 guest rooms and suites that have recently been upgraded as part of a $55 million renovation.  The property is about 35 miles south of Washington, DC in historic Loudoun County.

Address:

44050 Woodridge Pkwy, Lansdowne, VA, 20176

Telephone:

Phone: (877) 509-8400
Main Number: (703) 729-8400

Website:

www.lansdowneresort.com

Room Rates:

Call for current pricing.

Dining Serves:

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Buffet, and Catering services are available but you can find more details about the various dining experiences on the Dining page of their website.

Amenities:

Airport Shuttle, Golf on one of two championship courses, the Robert Trent Jones, Jr. and the Greg Norman Course, Exercise Room, Guest Laundry, Jacuzzi, Indoor Pool, Outdoor Pool, and Spa Minérale-a new 12,000 sqaure foot destination spa.

Accessibility:

Children Welcome

The Leesburg area is just chock full of attractions and there are quite a few local wineries you can visit for tastings and other events.  Here are some websites for wine organizations and upcoming wine events throughout Virginia:

Virginia Grape Escapes

Virginia is for Lovers

Virginia Wine-Wineries and Wine Events

Virginia Wine Events

Virginia Wine Festival

Virginia Wine Lover

Virginia Wine Trade (formerly Vinifera Wine Growers Association)

Tags: brunch, buffet, champagne, grapes, Lansdowne Resort, Mary Watson-DeLauder, sommelier, Virginia, Wine, wine tasting

Hidden away among the dusty archives of Rome’s marble institutions for four centuries, the truly spectacular story of one woman’s quest for love, wealth, power, and prestige lay slowly turning to dust among sheaves of letters, diplomatic dispatches, and contemporary Baroque chronicles. Silent and dormant between the pages were the loves, losses, intrigues, and political power struggles of popes and cardinals, Roman politicians, courtesans, aristocrats, and the forgotten poor of 17^th century Rome.  At the center of each snippet of gossip, ruthless grab for power, and web of intrigue, was Olimpia Maidalchini.  Her brilliance was orbited by masculine satellites who were leaders in government, diplomacy, the Church, and the arts-few men succeeded in Rome or Italy for that matter, without her imprimatur. As if waiting for just the right storyteller to come along and breathe new life into this human drama, Olimpia’s tale is wonderfully told by Eleanor Herman in her latest book, Mistress of the Vatican.

Eleanor Herman calls herself a “Sherlock Holmes of History” and she is indeed a historian whose gift for prose makes reading her books an engaging walk down the corridors of history. This book is a tour de force and captures for the reader, a sense of place and time that doesn’t get bogged down in academic minutia.  Like her two other best-selling books, Sex with Kings and Sex with the Queen, Mistress of the Vatican lets readers take a voyeuristic peek into the secret world of  the men who ruled the Vatican and most especially Pope Innocent X, the man she is thought to have been mistress to for decades.

Despite her humble beginnings and enforced seclusion in a convent, Olimpia was a woman who early on knew she would perish locked away for life in a nunnery.  Instead she set out to determine her own future and during her life would marry wisely for money and title, and rise to become a woman who ruled a nation, the Vatican, and a pope.

In this tumultuous period, women, if they played any roles at all, were merely pawns in the realms of power.  They were most often traded back and forth as booty in the quest for territory and world dominance.  Politics, war, religion, nation building, commerce, and culture were the sole purview of men. But Olimpia Maidalchini was a woman whose ambition was not bound by limited views of the role of women and despite the Catholic Church’s efforts to hide the truth, her rise to power reached its zenith in the single most exclusive bastion of male power-the Vatican.  This young widow’s instincts and innate talent for navigating the treacherous waters of political intrigue and the hidden world of the Vatican are wittily revealed in this new book.  Herman shows just how she was able to seize the important moments by using every ounce of her beauty, wit, intelligence, and determination to catapult herself to the pinnacle of secular and clerical power.

I highly recommend that you take advantage of yet another rare opportunity that we in Washington are privvy to–a book signing by Eleanor Herman.  The event is being co-sponsored by Alliance Française de Washington and the Italian Cultural Institute in Washington.

Hope to see you at the vin d’honneur afterwards! Here are some event details:

Date and Time: Friday, November 14, 2008 at 6:300 pm

Place: Alliance Française de Washington, 2142 Wyoming Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008

Cost: Free

RSVP: Reservations are required and can be made by calling (202) 234-7911.  Here is the link at Alliance Française de Washington for more event details.

Email: alliance@francedc.org

Website: http://www.francedc.org/en/index.aspx

Take a look at the wonderful video below to get a flavor of Rome before you attend the event.  I love reading period or historical books while listening to music from the same era and this CD of Respighi’s music of Rome is just perfect.

Tags: Alliance Francaise, author, Baroque, books, Eleanor Herman, events, history, Italian Cultural Institute in Washington, Italy, Mistress of the Vatican, Pope Innocent X, Rome, Vatican

Day by day the earth begins to yawn and stretch and prepare for the evening slumber that is winter.  As I see the trees begin to slowly transform their green leaves into vibrant swatches of amber, burnt umber, persimmon, chestnut, scarlet, and aubergine, my mind turns to brisk fall days that are dappled with golden sunlight. There is just a hint of wood smoke drifting on the breeze as hearths are readied for the long dark nights that creep up as we near Halloween and November.  And with this change in the earth’s mood, thoughts of savory meaty dishes served with earthy, full-bodied wines-that’s what my palate craves most, what comes to your mind?

This train of thought and the corresponding drop in the mercury, for me, conjures up rustic fall scenes with just a touch of chill in the air and when you enter the house, you are drawn to the warm cozy kitchen by the perfumed essence of sage-infused, roasted chicken.  Its aroma is so enticing you can almost the smell the crispy skin as the chicken roasts in the oven.  The anticipation of what’s to come makes your mouth water and soon other thoughts of food come rushing in.  My mind turns to sensuously rich foods that are sustaining in the colder months which invariably means heavy, or creamy, or aromatic cheeses like soft, dark cherry scented Walder from the Vorarlberg region of Austria, or firm, aged, nuttly flavored Austrian Gruyère, and my all-time French favorite-Époisses.  If you would like to buy other Austrian delicacies or gourmet products from around the world, you can shop at my Food and Wine Diva Gourmet Marché.  Naturally, all of this talk about food makes me think of wine, and this time of year I often choose a superb, zesty red from one of my favorite Austrian wine regions, Burgenland.

The wines of Burgenland are often my “go to” wines when I want something red that will also appeal to a more timid kind of red wine drinker.  I like them because they speak to of their terroir and gently whisper, rather than shout, what their secrets are and they let their nuance and character gently unfold when married with the right food, friends, and occasion.

Burgenland is one of those lesser known wine regions that often gets overlooked, just like much of Austria does.  Thankfully, this is changing and consumers are starting to embrace the variety, quality, and value of all Austrian wines.  This scenic region is a place of magical mists that float in and among the vineyards like delicate whiffs of smoke.  Here and there, dotted along the countryside, are quaint little villages where life moves at the pace of the seasons and winemaking is a family tradition passed down for generations.  There is also the romance of the vast Pannonian plains and Burgenland’s undisturbed natural settings make this part of Austria a “must see.”  To get a better sense of this region’s beauty here is a video produced by the Austrian Wine Trade Association, Wines From Austria, which can be an invaluable resource if you are interested in learning more about the wines, grapes, and regions.

To truly understand wine you must understand where it comes from because is not just about grapes, winemakers, and climate.  It’s also about where the wine was born and raised, its family history, and its provenance.  I have found that many wine lovers are also aficionados of fine food, are history buffs, love to travel, and are fascinated by different people and places.  And if that is your bent, then you will fall in love with Burgenland.  This region has been as much a part of the history of Hungary as it has Austria, and along

Neusiedlersee

the pristine shores of the shallow Lake Neusiedl, or Neusiedlersee in Austria, is an area of peaceful unsurpassed natural beauty.  This is Central Europe’s largest steppe lake and along its shores and throughout the region, incredible wines are made by small, dedicated winemakers whose passion can be seen, smelled, and tasted in each glass of wine. Burgenland contains the wine regions of Neusiedlersee, Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, Mittelburgenland, and Südburgenland.

In the Neusiedlersee region, few wineries can compare to Weingut Umathum, which unlike many of Austria’s wineries, makes a preponderance (roughly 90%) of world class, incredible food friendly reds.  Made with the St. Laurent, Blauer Zweigelt, Blauburgunder (better known here as Pinot Noir), and Blaufränkisch grapes, there is a style of red wine here for every type of wine drinker.  That’s not to say that Weingut Umathum doesn’t make whites, which they do, and they are of course top notch.  It’s just that their reds are so perfect for fall picnics, tail gate parties where scads of grilled meats and barbeque dishes are served, game dishes, hearty stews made with mushrooms, lamb or beef, or crispy, roasted poultry dishes.

Now to the fun part, the wine and food.  I love nothing better than preparing a meal with dishes from a particular regional cuisine and then pairing the food with wines from the same place.  Austrian food is widely varied so the menu that follows could very well be served in any roadside inn or homey kitchen, and of course the wine was chosen to compliment it.  For an elegant red wine with a deep purple color, dark cherry aromas and flavors with just a touch of cooked dark fruit, a touch of spice, and soft tannins, I served the Umathum Zweigelt 2007.  In my market this wine sells for between $18 to $22 dollars and it’s great with beef, lamb, or hearty dishes, but it was also delicious with my menu.  I served this wine with Cornish game hens roasted with garlic, fresh sage from my garden, and basted them with some white wine and cooking juices mixed with chicken stock.  This made the skin a nice golden amber with a deeply flavorful crispy skin. Because the birds were so small, it was safe to stuff them so I made a stuffing with toasted bread dipped in milk and cooked with fresh sage, sautéed mushrooms, celery, onions, and chicken stock for moisture and depth.

Where I come from no meal is complete without a crispy baguette, which is essential for dipping in the easy à la minute sauce I prepared from the cooking juices, some more wine, and chicken stock.  To round out my menu I served fresh haricots verts sautéed with pearl onions that were simply seasoned with kosher salt, pepper, and roasted garlic.  I also made a simple Yukon gold potato gratin layered with a bit of thinly sliced onion, chicken stock, and then a small amount of grated raclette cheese that browned on top to create a nice crusty, cheesy top.  With the wine, this menu made for a fab weekend dinner but don’t limit your horizons. This same menu would have been tasty if served with several of Umathum’s other red wines including a St. Laurent Reserve 2000 or a Kirschgarten Blaufränkisch 2004.

Tags: Austria, Burgenland, red wine, Weingut Umathum