We're very proud to announce our first Wine Dinner of the Year, featuring Terry Theise, one of the world's great wine advocates, to be held at The Bay Wolf restaurant 7:00 p.m. Monday, January 26, 2009

The six course dinner is priced at $115 per person, including tax and gratuity ($110 per person for Farmstead Wine Club members in good standing).  The Baywolf is located at 3853 Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. 

Prepaid reservations are a necessity and can be made by calling Farmstead Cheeses and Wines at 510 864 9463.

 Despite what the British band The Stranglers might have sung in 1977 about there being "No More Heroes Anymore", I have quite a lot of them, especially in the food and wine world. 

I've written about some of them in the past, and have had the privilege to meet and get to know a few of my culinary and wine heroes (Charles Back, Fran Kysela, Jorgé Ordoñez, Marc Kent, Jim Clendenen, Gary Pisoni, Yves Gangloff, and Modesto Lanzone). 

I've been lucky enough to dine with Terry several times, where our conversations were wide ranging and fascinating, with lots of give and take - especially around our mutual love for the great, sadly departed guitarist Ollie Halsall. 

But the give and take stops when Terry talks about wine, especially Austrian and German wines - and I'm all ears, trying to absorb every morsel of his musings on soils, the personalities behind the wine, how the vintage speaks to him, minerality, and et cetera. 

His style is poetic, complex. evocative and grand - he's not one that speaks in simple declarative sentence, and I'm not one to take notes.  I just let his words sweep over me, informing my palate as I taste the sublime wines he is presenting.

He's a wildly entertaining speaker, full of keen insight and brilliance about those subjects he loves, and Boy, does he ever love German and Austrian wines. 

I'm sure that this will be an evening full of discoveries, humor, great food,  and wonder. 

As always, there will be opportunities to purchase the wines tasted at the dinner at discount.

We'll be tasting some great wines from Terry's Austrian and German portfolio, like

• 2005 Nigl Brut de Brut (Sekt)
  
• 2007 Schloss Gobelsburg "Gobelsburger" Grüner Veltliner
  
• 2007 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett
  
• 2007 J.J. Christoffel Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese
  
• 2003 Bründlmayer "Ried Ladner"St Laurent 
• 2007 Darting Ungsteiner Herrenberg Scheurebe Beerenauslese (BA)

Chef Michael Wild has crafted a six course meal to pair with Terry's wines:

• Smoked Haddock Salad with English Cucumbers and Saffron Dressing
  
• Winter Vegetable Stuffed Cabbage Bundles with Smoked Porcini Mushroom Broth
  
• Horseradish Crusted Salmon with Saffron Risotto and Roasted Beet Vinaigrette
  
• Slow Cooked Shoulder of Lamb with Roasted garlic Mashed Potratoes, Tuscan Kale and Rosemary
• Cheese course from Farmstead Cheeses and Wines
• Dessert
• (Vegetarian  options are available, just ask in advance)

About BayWolf  A Bay Area tradition for over thirty years, and a perennial Chronicle Top 100 restaurant, The Bay Wolf offers an elegant and relaxed setting in which to enjoy fine cuisine, inspired by the regions of the Mediterranean. Founding chef and owner Michael Wild opened Bay Wolf in 1975 with the goal of serving simple food bright with flavor in an inviting, comfortable environment. Since then, he has cultivated a place where fine food and wine, conversation, and celebration happen naturally.

Long influenced by the food of Tuscany, Provence, and the Basque country, over the years Wild has developed and refined Bay Wolf's robust, down-to-earth blend of California and Mediterranean cuisine. His devotion is to straight-forward cooking prepared with the freshest seasonal ingredients.

About Terry Theise  Winner of the James Beard award for Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional, and named Importer of the Year by Food and Wine magazine, Terry Theise is America's pre-eminent importer of fine German and Austrian wines and of small, quality grower Champagnes.  He has introduced  American palates to the charms of Grüner Veltliner, he has introduced thousands of Americans to the wonders of German rieslings, and has become the champion for grower-producer Champagnes.

In addition to the high standards of the wines in his Terry Theise Selections portfolio, Theise is also one of the best wine writers in the U.S.  (or anywhere for that matter).  Picking up a Theise catalog is like opening one of the crazy manifestos that some Berkeley radicals mimeographed and sold in independent bookstores in the Sixties. Part rant, part poetry, part reference manual, and part literature, Theise's catalogs are simply a hoot.

Terry's Manifesto:

    * Beauty is more important than impact.
    * Harmony is more important than intensity.
    * The whole of any wine must always be more than the sum of its parts.
    * Distinctiveness is more important than conventional prettiness.
    * Soul is more important than anything, and soul is expressed as a trinity of family, soil, and artisanality.

This very special event is limited to 40 people and will sell out quickly. Please call us at 510 864 9463 in order to reserve your place.