Chandler Hill Winery

A few weekends ago Jay and I decided to visit Chandler Hill Winery for lunch - it's a fairly new establishment and the vineyards are young, but luckily Chandler Hill has a sister winery in California so there is still a nice selection of wines to choose from. It's located in Defiance, MO, only about 20 minutes from our homestead in outer Stinktown, and is situated on rolling hills in the Missouri River Valley ... prime wine-making real estate for Missouri wines. The winery is really lovely with a large, rustic, indoor tasting room and massive outdoor wine deck that overlooks the wee baby vineyards. There is usually live music out on the deck on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and it's a great place to relax with a bottle of wine and some snacks from the kitchen.

The place was jam packed when we got there and we had to wait about ten minutes for a table to empty out, but once it did we were fortunate enough to find ourselves with a primo spot at the edge of the deck looking right down into the vineyards. Admittedly my pictures aren't the best, especially because it was the middle of April and the vines were just starting to show some green, but I can tell you from experience in late summer or in the fall, this setting is truly spectacular.






We ordered a cheese plate and a bottle of 2005 Savage Norton to start our lunch - the cheeses were appropriately mild so as not to overpower the wine and included Brie, Gruyere, and a lightly smoked Gouda. Norton is a grape varietal that finds a lot of success in Missouri and some of the best wines you may ever taste from the armpit of the Midwest are likely to be reds that incorporate it - the result is usually a dry, yet rich and dark red wine with hints of berry that is very drinkable. The notes from the winery state that their Savage Norton is combined with Cabernet Franc to yield a bold taste of black currant and dark cherry.

Cheese plate and Savage Norton


As we nibbled on cheese and enjoyed our wine, Jay and I couldn't help but notice how much winery hopping has changed since our younger days when we used to make a day out of it driving from one Missouri winery to the next along highway 94. It used to be a casual, lighthearted experience but now apparently the rules of the game have been re-written. There were a handful of couples and groups scattered around the deck like Jay and me - comfortably dressed and there to enjoy the fabulous weather, lovely setting, and tasty wine - and then there was everyone else. These people were dressed to impress ... someone. A number of women were wearing white dress pants; nearly all of them were wearing heels and lots of makeup. And a few in particular were trying to out-aroma the wine with their perfume.

They were obviously there to be seen and smelled ... hahahaah!

On a purely academic note, I would really like to know how these ladies were able to make it so that their hair didn't move in the not insubstantial breeze that day.

To be fair, it's possible that many of them had arrived three hours early for a private event the winery was hosting later that evening. But still, I don't think I like being around this younger, trendy, hang-out-at-the-winery-and-drink-beer crowd. Those of them who were actually brave enough to drink wine didn't even know how to properly hold their wine glasses. We're not wine experts by any stretch of the imagination, but folks, you don't need to be an oenophile to know that the glass has a long stem for a reason - for gawd's sake, use it!!!

And then it was time to stop snarking at the younger generation and have some lunch before taking our crotchety selves back home. I ordered a tuna salad sandwich on a fresh croissant with a side order of kettle chips while Jay ordered the turkey, pesto, and dried cranberry sandwich on a baguette, also with a side of kettle chips.

Tuna salad


Turkey, Pesto & Dried Cranberry Sandwedge

Both selections were tasty and generous - nothing to make us do back flips, but just well prepared, solid food offerings that really hit the spot. Chandler Hill's restaurant menu is a little limited but the items we tried were quite satisfying and we would go back again. The winery itself is lovely and their wines, at least the ones we've tried, have been very good (except for the ruby port which set my teeth on edge it was so damn sweet). Jay and I look forward to going back to visit them again, hopefully with some friends next time so that we can share the fun. For those of you here in the Stinktown metropolitan area who haven't stopped at Chandler Hill yet, we strongly recommend that you do - it's worth the time!

Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen

Downtown Disney, Anaheim, CA - The Last Supper before the Sad Return to Stinktown ...

We didn't have concrete plans for dinner but found ourselves wandering through Downtown Disney perusing various menus. Eventually we rolled the dice and decided on Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen which, like so many Disney-property establishments, gets decidedly mixed reviews.

I'll pass on this stew ...


We were seated in the restaurant's outdoor courtyard, which has been decorated to resemble a nineteenth century French Quarter dwelling - there's lot of wrought iron and sculptures and even a fountain slopping water cheerfully on the floor, so when you slip and fall and bust open your spine on those beautiful tiles you can do so to the sound of happy water gurgles. Not that anyone fell while we were there, but it sure seemed like a law suit waiting to happen.

The four of us had to order drinks to celebrate our last dinner together - when I saw a sazerac on the menu I had to order it; Jason and Jason ordered spicy bloody marys and Chelis went with a mint julep. The drinks all tasted quite good but my sazerac showed up in a half-full cocktail glass with no ice and was the color of children's cough syrup. *SIGH* Doesn't anyone outside of New Orleans or our house make a proper sazerac? Absinthe is legal for crying out loud ... do it right or don't do it at all!

Cheers to us!


And then the appetizer parade began! In our defense, not that we needed one, we really hadn't eaten very much throughout the course of the day. And while I can speak for Chelsi and Jason, my Jason and I wanted to do as much as we could to prolong the evening since it was going to be the last one we'd spend with our dear friendies for another six months. So what did we start with and why did our waitress secretly think we needed a second table?

Chelsi's Jason ordered the Soup of the Day, which I think was a seafood bisque (correct me if I'm wrong, Jason).

Mystery Soup of the Day


I ordered the Louisiana Crab Cakes which were served with fire-roasted corn and black bean salsa with horseradish cream and chili aioli. These were pretty tasty but a little more spicy than I typically like - undoubtedly that chili aioli was tough to avoid.

Sweet crabby patties!


My Jason ordered the Soup 1-1-1 ... a tasting trio of the Soup of the Day, Gumbo Ya-Ya, and Creole Onion Soup. The hubba really liked this - he had a chance to try more than one item that he'd really enjoy but the portion sizes were small enough that he wouldn't be bursting at the seams due to liquid overload.

Soup times three!

Chelsi ordered the Gumbo Ya-Ya ... a heaping, helping of spicy gumbo chock full of everything but Plankton!

Gumbo!

And to help absorb all that liquid-y goodness ... grilled garlic cheese bread! Our waitress recommended this and it was excellent - chock full of buttery, cheesy goodness with a mild garlic flavor.

Mmmmm, bread plate!

The two Jasons ordered Krusty the Fish, also known as Andouille Crusted Mahi-Mahi which was served with Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli Rabe, and Smoked Tomato Chardonna Reduction. In a word: Excellent!

Krusty the Fish!

Chelsi ordered the Caramelized Pork Chop with Bacon Braised Turnip Greens, Jalapeno Potato Croquette, and Calvados Demi-Glace. In another word: YUM!

Porkie Chop

And I ordered the supremely boring, but always safe to eat before a long day of tavel, Grilled Chicken and Penne which included Pancetta, Basil, Asiago Cheese, and Pink Vodka Sauce. It was supposed to include a bunch of caramelized onions but I asked our waitress if the kitchen could please leave them out and they very kindly obliged. I enjoyed this dish but had the same problem I usually do with pasta dishes - too much food to finish in one sitting.

A whole lotta drunken pasta!

The weather was getting much cooler with the setting sun and the wind was picking up - we'd left our jackets in a locker earlier in the morning when we'd arrived at the park because it was too warm to wear them during the day and no one wanted to lug them all over Disneyland and CA Adventure. The only warm-up option left to us was alcoholic coffee! And I wish I could remember which alcohol went into whose coffee but I don't any longer - all I do know is that these were some tasty caffeinated boozie concoctions and definitely did the trick.

Mmmmm, swirling boozie coffee

Chelsi is soooo cute!

One of us had to drive back to San Diego and that meant the sad, sad prospect of non-alcoholic coffee reared its head for Jason, who generously took one for the team.

Sad, plain coffee ...

I would be sad, too!

Dessert was a foregone conclusion and we decided to share the Creme Brulee sampler, but our cute little waitress saw Chelsi's birthday button and brought her a plate of complimentary beignets! Who doesn't like warm, fresh beignets coated with powdered sugar? These were really good, especially with our boozie coffee.

Birthday Girl!

Beignets!

The creme brulee sampler included a generous portion of Grand Mariner, Cafe au Lait, and Vanilla Ginger Creme Brulees with a yummy cookie. These were all well cooked, creamy, and flavorful and provided a sweet, but not too heavy end to a wonderful meal.

Trio of creamy goodness

All in all our dinner at Brennan's was a tasty and enjoyable experience. We received great service and really flavorful ,well prepared food - it ended up being a good choice and was a lovely end to a wonderful trip. Jason and I couldn't have asked for a better evening, unless it involved winning a mega lottery that would have enabled us to stay in San Diego with our friends indefinitely!