Ferreira Cafe Zoom Dinner and Auction

Montreal meets Omaha in a Portuguese Dinner Zoom. On March 8, Stephen and Patty Hipple and Todd and Sandy Lemke joined 50 Members of the IWFS Montreal Branch in a Zoom Portuguese dinner and wine Auction. 

Ferreira is world famous for it's authentic Portuguese Cuisine especially their Bouiliabaisse.  Ferreira Café has been on Peel Street since 1996 and continues to be a force to be reckoned in on the Montreal Culinary Scene. Ferreira Gastronomy takes Portuguese Food to new Modern Standards. It is rumored that many well heeled New Yorkers fly in for the night to dine here including Kelly Ripa and her husband. Check out the Menu we enjoyed below.

The evening started with our normal introductions and then a welcome to our President of the Americas Stephen Hipple. We were warmly welcomed in response by Stephen and his Omaha party who had ordered the same menu locally (Kudos to Patty). Effectively we all joined in the same Zoom dinner and chatted together for almost 3 hours. During the dinner, we had a visit from the Maitre d' of Ferreiras to explain the cooking. Then Earl, our cellar master , explained the wines - all Portuguese - The white:
Casa Ferreirinha Planalto Reserva Douro 2019, From the Porto / Douro region of Portugal. A white wine made from a blend of seven grape varieties, Viosinho, Malvasia Fina, Gouveio, Códega, Arinto, Rabigato and Moscatel. These noble grapes are grown on a plateau of the Douro region, sheltered from the Atlantic winds by the hills of Serra do Marão. Carefully balanced, pale yellow in colour and dry with a shorter finish. Quite similar to a Sauvignon Blanc with hints of lemon and grapefruit abounding

The red:Ramos-Pinto Duas Quintas Douro 2017 From the Duora region of Portugal. A blend of Touriga Nacional (50%), Tinta Barca (10%), Touriga Franca (40%). Rich and intense but very smooth. Lots of black fruit (blackberry and plum) with a hint of vanilla and chocolate. Medium to full bodied with a nice, long finish. You can almost taste the oak. Wine Spectator has given it a 90/100 rating, Wine Advocate 93/100.

We finished with a Graham's Tawny 10 year.

As this is a zoom, we delivery a full bottle of Red or White to each diner according to their choice and we found a 200 ml Graham's Tawney for each Participant.

In addition, we had a wonderful wine auction throughout the evening with "orphans" from our cellar.

Montreal has a tradition of dealing with "orphans" from previous events. Our Cellar always has a few left overs from the in dining experiences pre Covid, and we restock them into our Cellar. Not as fabulous a Cellar as New York and Chicago and other Brnaches.  Unfortunately, due to Quebec licensing, we can not use our cellar for every event and need to buy through the State Liquor Commision (or Societe d'Alcool Quebec - SAQ) or Private Importers for that specific event. From time to time we auction the "orphans" to our members during a dinner event as a way of replenishing funding for more acquisitions. It is a fun event with active bidding, joking and over bidding. Even Stephen bid on a few lots and won one - now we are trying to figure out "cross border" shipping to him.

We had 7 lots bid through the evening in between courses. From "Cuckoo for Cahors" to  "Bublé or Bubbles".  

What a wonderful evening and I think every member enjoys the camaraderie even from a Zoom distance. Having  Stephen,Patty,Todd and Sandy join us made it an extra special "connected" evening.