Mark and I had the honor of dining at Chef Jon Krinn’s Clarity for a special event: the Domaines Ott dinner. I’ve blogged about the Clarity experience before, and we had such an amazing time, that I felt compelled to write about it again.
There were less than 20 of us in the private backroom for this tasting, and we were each greeted with a delicious flute of champagne (Louis Roederer Brut Collection). There was a large flat screen monitor mounted on one wall, and images of what looked like the French Riviera cycled through, showing off white sand beaches with turquoise waters. We were welcomed by Christophe Renard and his charming French presence. I believe he’s the Domaines Ott brand ambassador or sales director—regardless he was extremely knowledgeable. I wish we had taken a picture with him so you can see how classy and how French he is, so instead, I’ll just have to direct you to Christophe’s Instagram.
Christophe started out the evening by giving us a history of the Ott family and how the vineyard came to be in Provence. He threatened to quiz us. In french.
Our first course was a charred pacific hamachi followed by a Jersey scallop crudo. This was served with a 2018 BY.OTT. This rosé is Ott’s every day drinking wine.
The second course sang of early autumn. It was Clarity’s handmade ditalini pasta with Italian, smooth black truffle. This was paired with a 2016 Clos Mireille Blanc de Blancs which was an unexpected pairing to me. My default is “when eating pasta, drink red wine.” Granted, I do not have the knowledge to speak of such things. I only have the palette to enjoy what the experts put together, and this pairing was wonderful; a blend of creamy, cozy truffles with the crisp and light characteristics of the blanc de blancs—everything I love about early autumn. The wine also had the slightest hint of salt spray which complemented the dish so well.
And I haven’t even mentioned how amazing the fresh bread is…
By the way, if you’ve clicked on any of the wine links so far, take note of the wine bottles. It was inspired by an amphora and is signature Ott, patented so you won’t find another winery using it. On the bottom of every bottle, you’ll find “Bouteille Ott Marque Deposée” which means “Bottle Ott Trademark.“
Only two more courses and dessert to go! The wine was flowing, the conversation was fun, and our hosts were absolutely spectacular! We sang happy birthday to one of our fellow diners!
The third course was a cast iron, caramelized pork duo and upstate New York foie gras with red wine braised cabbage and huckleberry chutney. Talk about rich and decadent. This was paired with the 2018 Chateau de Selle Rosé which was my favorite of the wines.
The fourth and final savory course was a 48-hour, braised, grass Creekstone Kansas beef short rib with parsnip and forest mushrooms. You didn’t even need a knife the way the meat just fell apart. This was paired with the Domaines Ott Chateau Romassan Rouge. This one was Mark’s favorite wine of the evening, and it was also lovely with dessert which was a brown butter buckwheat cake with a sugar pear compote and sorghum madeira ice cream.
All in all, it was an amazing experience, and if you’ve ever thought about attending one of Chef Jon’s special events at Clarity, we can’t recommend it enough. We’ll be attending Chef’s “Michelin Style Tasting Dinner” in November. This is his third season doing these dinners, and they’ve become quite popular. If you happen to be there, come say hi!