Another Great Wine, Lunch at Smith & Wollensky

Walking into Smith & Wollensky Steak House is like slipping on that favorite suite, it has just the right amount of class without feeling like a stuff shirt.

But, does it really matter? Because I always leave feeling like a stuffed shirt.

We made our annual pilgrimage to Wine Week on Friday in celebration of Gretchen’s birthday and as usual it was magnificent. At Smith & Wollensky, located as part of Easton Town Center on Columbus’s east side, the wait staff was attentive and quick to offer suggestions for lunch as well as provide insight into the wine selection.

Of course, the biggest draw of the day was the wines, our server said that they would go through about 600 bottles of wine and were serving the most people they’d ever done for a wine week — by nearly double!

“This is the BEST I’ve ever had!”

The wines we enjoyed were (and keep in mind, I have never pretended to be a wine expert, just a humble man that enjoys a glass of wine on occasion):

• William Wycliff Sparkling (California NV) – While I can see my wife’s taste pallet maturing, this is still by far her favorite. I thought it was good as well with a very fresh crisp flavor and just a hint of dryness to give you a deeper taste.
• Joel Gott Sauvignon Blanc (California 2007) – Another good selection with a strong fruit concentration on the front-end and the nice dry “pop” in the back of your throat.
• Kit Fox White (California 2004) – The server praised this wine – and its sister Kit Fox Red – when he poured, and it lived up to expectations. The depth of flavors gave you a new-found sensation with each sip.
• Forestville Riesling (California 2005) – I am very partial to the flavors of Riesling and I’ll just be blunt here … “This is the BEST I’ve ever had!” The flavors were fruity and full of punch, not over powering and the sweet was off-set by a very subtle dryness. Yumm-O! Temporary Digression did a review as well.
• Smoking Loon Pinot Noir (California 2006) – This again gave a nice aroma that just settled down the mouth and prepared your taste buds for an onslaught of flavor.
• Cycles Gladiator Merlot (Central Coast 2004) – Good spice content on this wine that paired nicely with the steak.
• Ravenswood Cabernet (California 2004) – Maybe its me, but I’m not a fan of Ravenswood’s wines and this was no exception. The Cabernet tasted like my codeine-laced cough syrup and lacked a lot of the flavors that I’d come to expect from cabernets.
• 39 Petit Sirah (Lake County 2005) – I was excited thinking Lake County was from Lake County Ohio, but rather it is a Napa wine. Not a big deal, it is a good solid drinkable Sirah. Good spicey flavor without over-powering the rest of the flavors. Another review from Goofy Girl and Dale Cruse.
• Smith & Wollensky Red (Napa 2004) – We’ve had this in past years, and it still just doesn’t sit well with me. This year it may have been the timing, a good tart wine paired with their over-rich chocolate cake and homemade whip cream didn’t help in my humble opinion.
• Quady Starboard Batch 88 Port (California NV) – I found this port to be very good. It was very sweet – bordering too sweet, but then it might have been the cake and whipped cream, with a nice blend of subtle spicy undertones to keep it from being too much of a good thing.

From the menu, Gretchen and I both did the “Business Lunch” which offered soup or salad, your meal, and dessert for $20.95. She chose the Caesar salad, 7-ounce sirloin medium push, cheesecake and a side of Bearnaise sauce. I went for the split pea soup, 7-ounce sirloin medium rare, and chocolate cake. We added a “side for two” of onion rings to complement the meal.

The meal and wine week are not cheap with the bill, including tip, running at $85 for the two of us. However you leave feeling like you’ve just been to the world’s great food spa. Completely refreshed and ready for anything the world can toss at you.

We’ve already set our calendar for the fall Wine Week on September 15-19. I tried to make reservation for us and our neighbors – they keep saying they want to go – but Open Table will not accept reservations that far out.

But we’ll be there.

Photograph by Vaughan Willis and used via license of Stock.xchng.

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