2010 COMPETING CHEFS | PAST WINNERS | 2009 EVENT SUMMARY | CANADIAN WINE INDUSTRY STEPS UP TO THE PODIUM
OTTAWA
Chair: Denise Carpenter
Gold Medal Plates is the ultimate celebration of Canadian Excellence in cuisine, wine, the arts and athletic achievement.
Gold Medal Plates Ottawa
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 6:00 pm
National Arts Centre
53 Elgin Street
Contact:
Sue Holloway
818 Nesbitt Place
Ottawa, ON
K2C 0K1
613-274-3107 phone
613-274-0851 fax
E: hollowayjoy@rogers.com
BEN BAIRD -
The Urban Pear
ROSS & SIMON FRASER -
Fraser Café
CAROLINE ISHII -
Zen Kitchen
CHARLOTTE LANGLEY - Whalesbone Oyster House
MARC LEPINE -
Atelier
STEVE MITTON -
Murray Street
MICHAEL MOFFATT -
Beckta Dining and Wine
CHARLES PART - Les Fougères
MICHAEL POTTERS -
Harvest
RENE RODRIGUEZ -
Navarra
PAST GOLD MEDAL PLATES OTTAWA WINNERS
2009
Gold: Chef Matthew Carmichael, Restaurant E18hteen
Silver: Chef Michael Blackie, Le Cafe at the National Arts Centre
Bronze: Chef Ben Baird, The Urban Pear
2008
Gold: Chef Charles Part, Restaurant Les Fougères
Silver: Chef Matthew Carmichael, Restaurant E18hteen
Bronze: Chef Stev George, Olivea
2007
Gold: Chef Michael Moffat, Beckta Dining & Wine
Silver: Chef Matthew Carmichael, Restaurant E18hteen
Bronze: Chef Ben Baird, The Urban Pear
2006
Gold: Chef Michael Blackie, Brookstreet
Silver: Chef Hector Diaz, Arôme
Bronze: Chef Charles Part, Restaurant Les Fougères
The ballroom of the Hilton Lac Leamy smelled fantastic. The chefs' stations - some soaring, some simple - ringed the room. Tucked in one corner, a comfort cassoulet; in another, a dome of gellied lobster bisque set on a carpaccio of rabbit. There were plates of wild boar and venison and octopus, and many wonderful treatments of parsnip. All ten competing chefs rose to the glittering occasion, and the sold out crowd ate and drank remarkably well.Chef Charles Part of Les Fougeres in Chelsea, Quebec, winner of the Ottawa-Gatineau Gold Medal Plates competition of 2008, seared a luscious hunk of Baffin Island Arctic Char for the guests at the VIP reception, glazing the fish with maple, and setting it, bronzed and micuit on a parsnip puree laced with sherry.
Awarded the bronze medal this year was Chef Ben Baird of The Urban Pear. His dish was composed of two meaty parts - a clean and refreshing beef tartare, and a gorgeous bone marrow creme brulee, the custard beautifully executed. The two elements were united with a bridge of beef jerky, and beneath, by a rich, gentle-giant of a sauce, brightened with dribs and drabs of carrot jus. To match the dish, the Triomphe Cabernet Merlot, 2005, from Southbrook Winery.The silver medal was awarded to Chef Michael Blackie of Le Cafe at the National Arts Centre. A dish of many pretty elements, none finer than the 'hemisphere of lobster bisque', the corral dome quivering and splendid, a luscious nugget of lobster meat punched into its core, set on thin leaves of cured rabbit, and draped with a polonaise 'flick' of hard cooked egg, parsley, and citrus zest. His wine match, a Chardonnay-Seyval from Vignoble Les Pervenches, was the lone Quebec wine in the competition.
Our gold medal winner, by a clear margin, was Chef Matthew Carmichael of Restaurant E18hteen. He gave us a pretty line of sea treats set on a smear of curry sauce, bookmarked with little roasted radishes (one stained with turmeric, the other left rosy pink.) In the lineup, a square of loup de mer, crisp skinned and wet fleshed, a nubbly dumpling of rock shrimp crowned with pearls of caviar, and in centre of the plate, a remarkably tender cut of octopus, set on a gentle round of sausage. Threaded through the various elements was the sparkle of kaffir lime leaves. Closson Chase's Chardonnay (2007 South Clos Vineyard, 100% Prince Edward County) seemed a seamless match.Chef Carmichael now carries on to compete in the Canadian Culinary Championships in Vancouver in late November. Congratulations to him, and to all the competing chefs.
James Chatto
National Culinary Advisor
Gold Medal Plates
By donating over 325 cases of wine to the seven city Gold Medal Plates culinary competitions and the Canadian Culinary Championships this fall, the Canadian wine, beer and spirits industry has contributed close to $100,000 in support of Canada's Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Sixty-five wineries stepped up to either pair wines with the competing chefs or provide Canadian Wine Awards gold medalists to VIP receptions at the events. Please see the list of donating wineries, city by city, below or at www.goldmedalplates.com.
The list includes wineries owned by Vincor Canada, official wine sponsor of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Sponsorship however was not involved in deciding which wines were served by the chefs or at the VIP receptions. Each chef selected their wine independently as the success of the food-and-wine pairing was part of the judges' scoring process.
Since 2004, Gold Medal Plates has raised over $3.5 million dollars for Canada's Olympians. The program is designed to encourage and showcase Canadian excellence in the areas of sport, food and wine and entertainment, and has evolved to become the leading culinary competition in Canada!
The Winners in 2009
After local competitions in St. John's, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, the 2009 Gold Medal Plates campaign ended with the Canadian Culinary Championships in Vancouver on November 28.
The 2009 Canadian Culinary Champion is Mathieu Cloutier of Kitchen Galerie in Montreal, who paired with Huff Estate 2007 South Bay Chardonnay from Prince Edward County in Ontario. The silver medalist was David Lee of Nota Bene in Toronto, who paired with 13th Street 2008 June Vineyard Riesling from Niagara. Completing the sweep for Ontario wine, the bronze went to Matthew Carmichael of Restaurant 18 in Ottawa, who paired with Closson Chase 2007 South Clos Chardonnay, also from Prince Edward County.
The winery that won the gold in its respective city competition was automatically invited to the Canadian Culinary Championships as a partner with the competing chef. The other participating CCC wineries included the Okanagan's Road 13 which took gold in both the Calgary and Vancouver competitions, Joie Farm (its 2008 Rose took the gold in Edmonton and was also poured in Vancouver) and Hillebrand Estates (its Trius 2006 Red from Niagara took the gold in St. John's).
The Mystery Wine Pairing Competition
One of the most exciting elements of the Canadian Culinary Championships was a Mystery Wine Pairing held at the trendy Republic nightclub in Vancouver. The chefs were given an unlabeled bottle and had 24 hours to shop, prepare and serve a matching dish to 200 guests. Montreal's Mathieu Cloutier was the People's Choice winner of this leg of the competition.
The Mystery Wine was revealed to be Black Hills 2008 Alibi, a crisp, complex sauvignon blanc and semillon blend that provided great refreshment with all the chefs creations then dovetailed beautifully with the best of the evening. Black Hills donated 10 cases to this event, plus another four cases to the Vancouver event, making this premier Okanagan winery the largest single donor to Gold Medal Plates 2009. Many thanks to winery President, Glenn Fawcett, who also generously donated to the Live Auction.
Canadian Wine Awards Gold Medalists Showcase
This year, Gold Medal Plates also teamed up with the Wine Access magazine Canadian Wine Awards to provide an opportunity for almost 2,000 VIP guests to taste gold medalists from the 2009 Awards programs. Wineries that had won gold were asked to donate six bottles to one or more cities, and most came through with flying colours. Those wineries are also listed below, and complete results of the Canadian Wine Awards can be found in the December issue of Wine Access magazine now on newsstands.
The Wine Access Canadian Wine Awards participating wineries:
Burrowing Owl, BC
Fielding Estate, ON
Hillebrand (Trius), ON
Kacaba Vineyards, ON
Mission Hill Family Estate Winery, BC
Quail's Gate Winery, BC
Road 13 Vineyards, BC
Rosehall Run Winery, ON
Sandhill Wines, BC. (CWA Winery of the Year)
See Ya Later Ranch, BC
Seven Stones, BC
Stag's Hollow, BC
Thirty Bench, ON
Thornhaven Estates, BC
The Wines - City by City
St. John's
Trius 2006 Red, Niagara Peninsula, ON - GOLD
Norman Hardie 2007 Pinot Noir, Prince Edward County, ON - SILVER
Prospect Winery 2008 Larch Tree Riesling, Okanagan Valley, B.C. - BRONZE
Domaine Pinnacle Apple Ice Wine, QC
Iceberg Vodka, NL
Inniskillin 2007 Cabernet Franc, Niagara, ON
Mission Hill 2008 Pinot Blanc, Okanagan Valley, BC
Peninsula Ridge 2007 Reserve Chardonnay, Niagara, ON
Rodrigues Markland Cottage Sedna Vodka, NL
Montreal
Huff Estates 2008 Merlot, ON - GOLD
Malivoire 2007 Chardonnay, Niagara Peninsula, ON - SILVER
Rosehall Run 2007 Cuvée County Chardonnay, Prince Edward County, ON - BRONZE
Black Prince 2005 First Crush Chardonnay, Prince Edward County, ON
Creemore Springs Brewery, ON
Norman Hardie 2007 Pinot Noir, Prince Edward County, ON
Val Caudalies 2008 Vidal Demi-Sec, QC
Wayne Gretzky No. 99 Estates 2007 Merlot, Niagara Peninsula, ON
Wayne Gretzky No.99 Estates2007 Chardonnay, Niagara Peninsula, ON
Ottawa
Closson Chase 2007 South Clos Chardonnay, Prince Edward County, ON - GOLD
Vignoble Les Pervenches 2007 Chardonnay Seyval Blanc, QC - SILVER
Southbrook 2005 Cabernet Merlot, Niagara Peninsula, ON - BRONZE
Angel's Gate 2007 Riesling, ON
Cave Spring 2007 Riesling, Niagara Peninsula, ON
Chateau des Charmes 2006 Cabernet-Merlot, Niagara Peninsula, ON
Coyote's Run 2007 Red Paw Pinot Noir, Niagara Peninsula, ON
Peller Estates 2007 Meritage, Niagara Peninsula, ON
Stratus 2007 Wildass White, Niagara Peninsula, ON
Tawse 2006 Echoes White, Niagara Peninsula, ON
Toronto
13th Street 2008 Riesling June's Vineyard, Niagara Peninsula, ON - GOLD
Daniel Lenko 2007 Gewurztraminer, Niagara Peninsula, ON - SILVER
Cave Spring 2007 Estate Riesling, Niagara Peninsula, ON - BRONZE
Chateau des Charmes 2007 Riesling and 2006 Gamay Noir, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
Closson Chase 2007 South Clos Chardonnay, Prince Edward County, ON
Fielding Estate 2008 Pinot Gris, Beamsville Bench, ON
Henry of Pelham 2007 Baco Noir, Niagara Peninsula, ON
Hidden Bench 2007 Terroir Caché, Beamsville Bench, ON
Mission Hill 2006 Reserve Merlot, Okanagan, B.C.
Organized Crime 2008 Riesling Reserve, Beamsville Bench, ON
Edmonton
JoieFarm 2008 Rose, Okanagan Valley, BC - GOLD
Kettle Valley 2008, Chardonnay, Naramata, BC - SILVER
Road 13 2007 Syrah 2007, Okanagan Valley BC - BRONZE
Cedar Creek 2006 Meritage, Okanagan Valley, BC
Gehringer Brother PR 2007 Pinot Noir, Okanagan Valley, BC
Malivoire 2008 Ladybug Rose, Beamsville Bench, ON
Mission Hill 2006 S.L.C Chardonnay, Okanagan Valley, BC
Meyer Family Tribute Series Bill Reid 2007 Chardonnay, Naramata, BC
Morning Bay 2006 Pinot Noir, Pender Island, BC
Quails' Gate 2007 Old Vine Fosch, Okanagan Valley, BC
Calgary
Road 13 Vineyards 2007 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, BC - GOLD
Quail's Gate Vineyard 2007 Pinot Noir, Okanagan Valley, BC - SILVER
SAP Vampire Maple Lager - BRONZE
Black Hills 2007 Chardonnay, Okanagan Valley, BC
Blue Mountain 2008 Gamay Pinot Noir, Okanagan Valley, BC
Gray Monk Estate Winery, 2007 Riesling, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Laughing Stock Vineyards 2008 Chardonnay, Okanagan Valley, BC
Nk'mip Cellars 2007 Pinot Noir, Okanagan Valley, BC
Osoyoos Larose 2004 Petalos, Okanagan Valley, BC
Vancouver
Road 13 2008 Viognier Roussanne Marsanne, Okanagan Valley, BC - GOLD
Tantalus 2008 Riesling, Okanagan Valley, BC - SILVER
Black Hills 2008 Alibi, Okanagan Valley, BC - BRONZE
Blasted Church 2008 Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley, BC
Clos du Soleil 2007 Meritage, Similkameen Valley, BC
8th Generation 200 Riesling, Okanagan Valley, BC
Joie Farm 2007 Reserve Chardonnay, Okanagan Valley, BC
Le Vieux Pin 2008 Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Okanagan Valley, BC
Stoneboat 2007 Pinotage, Okanagan Valley, BC
Wild Goose 2008 Autumm Gold, Okanagan Valley, BC
For more information contact:
David Lawrason
National Wine Advisor
Gold Medal Plates
Phone: 613-885-4489
Email: david@davidlawrason.com