Becker Vineyards Chef's Table - A Food and Wine Pairing Luncheon

Traveling down familiar country roads, we wind our way toward the heart of the Texas Hill Country Winery Region and one of the oldest, largest, and a Top Award-Winning Texas Winery — Becker Vineyards. Any day is a good day to visit Becker, no matter the reason, but today we have a very special one, a Chef’s Table Food and Wine Pairing Luncheon. I have seen the menu and know for certain that along with great wine, an exquisite epicurean experience awaits.

A luncheon like this is not new to us, Michael and I have been attending these special Chef’s Table Luncheons since Becker Vineyards first began offering them in early 2019. With only 20 seats available — 24 at the max — I count myself lucky to have secured a reservation.

After arriving at the Becker Lavendar House, we check in, then take a brief sojourn outside to sip wine in the shade of an old oak tree while nibbling on good cheese, excellent cured meats, and dried fruits. At 12:30 many guests begin filtering into the dining area and we are close behind.

A Food & Wine Pairing Luncheon

Sitting next to Richard Becker, I learn even more about the winery, its history, and how the Chef’s Table Luncheons came about. Richard tells me that when they first opened one of the few wineries in Texas, Robert Mondavi invited Becker and his wife to lunch at Mondavi’s California estate winery. When they arrived, they walked into a wine-and-food pairing for a small group of wine lovers. Ever since that time, Richard Becker knew he wanted to do the same one day.

Vichyssoise

Our first course is Vichyssoise, a lovely, simple, cold and refreshing soup created by a French Chef working in New York at the Ritz-Carlton in the early 20th century. Richard Becker explains to me that many chefs these days wish to gild the lily and create something over and above the simple combination of creamy, puréed leeks, potatoes, onions, cream, and garnished with chives. He says he can’t convince them otherwise.

When our soup arrives, it is indeed elevated to a whole new level. This vichyssoise is a swirl of creamy, light, and airy whipped potato sitting in a pool of emerald-green chive oil and crowned with two very tiny pommes soufflé — small rounds of potatoes sliced thin and fried twice at different temperatures to create the magic crispy puffs. I take a bite of the cold vichyssoise with a bit of the emerald oil. It is light as a cloud and delicious.

The wine accompanying this course is a beautiful Becker 2018 Viognier Reserve. Doctor Becker explains that, prior to today, the chefs prepared this same menu for a group of individuals who tasted each course with 7 to 8 different wines, voting on which wine paired best with each course. They did an excellent job on the vichyssoise. I also learn that it isn’t just the varietal, but the year of the vintage. The group tasted two vintages of Viognier, and the 2018 won hands down.

Sformato

The next course is a Truffle Foie Gras Sformato with an Enchanted Mushroom Ragout and Madeira Sauce. The sformato — an Italian dish, dating back to the middle ages, with the consistency of a mousse, lighter than air, and baked in a water bath — is topped with an assortment of gourmet mushrooms and shaved truffle. The mushrooms spill over the top of the sformato onto the plate with a generous splash of Maderia sauce for swiping the earthy fungi.

A small rectangle of freshly made grilled sourdough bread sits beside it. This is another over-the-top course paired with a beautiful Becker Counoise. A bright, light, medium-bodied wine that works beautifully with every item on the plate.

Goose Confit & Sweet Potato Croquette with Smoked Duck, Arugula, Cherry Compote, and Manchego

When I first read the description of our third course, the words that glowed like a neon light were confit, duck, and smoke. I love all those things. When the plate is set before me, it looks like a dish that came straight from Top Chef or Tournament of Champions cooking competitions that require creativity and ingenuity.

The first thing I do is break into the sweet potato croquette – the outside is so crisp you can almost hear glass shatter. Inside the orange sphere is a generous portion of savory goose confit. I taste the croquette, and it is scrumptious and surprising on all fronts — a yin-yang of flavors in one bite.

I finally pay attention to the smoked duck, try it, and am in duck heaven. Perfectly smoked, extremely tender, and delicious. The olive oil pearls atop the paper-thin slice of Manchego and swirl of Cherry Compote do more than gild the lily.

This decadent dish is accompanied by Becker 2021 Barbera a subtle, medium-bodied red wine that is extremely versatile when it comes to food pairings.

Scallop Crudo with Apple Relish, Lemon, and Fennel

To be honest, I have never been a fan of sushi, so I worried about the crudo from the start. Well, I was a fool. I should have known that any dish prepared by a skilled chef will be beyond excellent. The thinly sliced Scallop Crudo, surrounded by a lemon-fennel sauce and topped with an apple-fennel relish, is exceptional. Everyone demolishes the crudo within minutes. Some diners surreptitiously lift their bowl and tilt the delicious liquid toward their mouth, getting every drop.

With a dish as delicate and vibrant tasting as this one, a wine pairing would seem impossible. Worry not, Becker’s wine list is so broad and has such depth that a Becker 2024 Rousanne Reserve is the perfect pairing. The secret to this pairing’s success is that the wine was made in 100% stainless steel, enabling the Rousanne to retain its acidity while rounding out its flavor profile with notes of apricot and chamomile.

A Perfect Marriage of Spanish and French Cuisine — Roasted Pork Adobo & Tourné Potato with Sauce Gribiche

The roasted pork for this fifth course is moist, tender, and wonderful. The pork is an international treat shipped directly from Spain with a history going back 12,000 years. This Ibérico pork — known as the Wagyu of pork — was marinated in a Filipino adobo with Spanish origins from centuries ago.

The accompanying tourné-shaped potato sits on a large spoonful of Sauce Gribiche, a tangy counterpoint to the perfectly formed, perfectly cooked creamy potato. Both the shape of the potato and the sauce have late nineteenth roots in classic French cooking.

I wonder if there is a wine that can complement and compete with such history, and apparently, there is: a Becker 2021 Petit Verdot. Normally a blending grape, Becker’s 2021 vintage is the first time they have released a single variety, Petit Verdot. The wine is deep, bold, rich, and sexy. The Petit Verdot grape is believed to be one of the first grape varieties planted by the Romans in Bordeaux.

Classic Key Lime Pie

I can’t help but wonder if I am reading the desert offering correctly. Key Lime Pie, it seems, does have a commonality with the rest of the meal — every course served is steeped in history, as is this humble pie. Originating in the late 19th century, it was a no-bake solution to compensate for the lack of refrigeration, as the addition of lime juice caused canned condensed milk to solidify.

I take a bite of the Key Lime Pie, and I’m blown away. The tangy filling is not heavy but ethereal! The chefs in the Becker kitchen are experts at executing lighter-than-air food. Not only is the filling wonderful, the graham cracker crust is one of the best I have ever tasted!

The Becker wine that accompanies the pie is Clementine, a late-harvest Viognier with an excellent balance of sweetness and acidity, matching the sweet citrusy dessert. This dessert and the accompanying wine are a perfect ending to an exceptional meal.

Applause to the Chefs and the Vineyard Owner

I turn to Richard Becker, who introduced the wines that accompanied each course, and tell him it was a privilege and an honor to be here, and I feel more than fortunate. He agrees that it is a special day. A special time. Becker then stands up and calls in the team that is responsible for today’s outstanding meal, Estate Chef Tyler Anderegg, Chef Aaron Lopez, and Maddie Schoenberg to take a bow. They are charming, humble, and the joy of executing such an exceptional meal is written all over their faces. Then they get serious as questions sail through the air.