By Nathan Ham
The Louisiana Purchase will be offering a special treat for wine enthusiasts next Friday with a wine tasting dinner at 6:30 p.m. on July 27 featuring wines from Robert Craig Winery.
Chief winemaker and CEO of Robert Craig Winery, Elton Sloan, will be at the Louisiana Purchase for the event.
“Elton is a one-man show. We feel very fortunate to have him out here,” said Laurie Bagbey, co-owner and manager of the restaurant. “We don’t often host these dinners because it’s difficult to find someone that is entertaining and well-informed and can teach the crowd without making it a droll experience.”
Sloan certainly meets all the qualifications to make this evening a fun-filled, informative time to learn about some of the wines offered from the Robert Craig Winery in Howell Mountain, California, and what it’s like having a successful vineyard in a mountainous climate.
“There are some similarities between growing wine in the mountains and living in the mountains. You have certain hardships that we face as well. It’s challenging, the farming is challenging and the grapes can be difficult to produce. The wine is so delicious,” said Bagbey.
Sloan, an Indiana native, now lives in Napa and is a very down-to-earth person, according to Bagbey.
“Elton is flying all the way across the country to be with us. This will be the only event he does in the area,” Bagbey said.
The wine tasting dinner will feature five wines that include three Cabernets, a Zinfandel and a Chardonnay.
“These are limited production wines that are only available at restaurants and specialty wine shops,” said Bagbey. “They are single vineyard wines, coming from really small areas of land that have individual microclimates that are conducive to how good they taste.”
Chef and co-owner, Patrick Bagbey, will be incorporating the wines into the cooking process that will be used to prepare four or five different dishes.
Reservations are required for the dinner.
This is the first event of what will be an exciting next few months at the Louisiana Purchase. The restaurant will be celebrating its 35th anniversary this fall with plans still coming together for the celebration.
Fabian Botta started the restaurant in 1984 before selling it to Mark Rosse in 1985.
Patrick and Laurie ended up purchasing the restaurant from Rosse in 2003. Both of them have spent nearly two decades working at the Louisiana Purchase (Patrick for 20 years, Laurie for 18 years).
“We’re really excited to have made it this far in the world. We feel really fortunate to still be here, have a lot of local support and get to raise our family in this great community,” Laurie said.
The Louisiana Purchase has been featuring lots of fresh fish this summer with daily deliveries.
“We try to use as much North Carolina seafood as possible,” Laurie added.
Some of the tasty dining options include black back grouper, Apalachicola oysters, and lots of locally sourced products from around the area including Trosly Farm in Elk Park, Springhouse Farm in Vilas, Mountain Rooster Produce in Banner Elk and Charlotte’s Greenhouse in Valle Crucis. Other items listed on the current menu include jambalaya, BBQ shrimp, bison meatloaf and eggplant pirogue.
The Louisiana Purchase opens at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Dinner reservations can be made by calling 828-963-5087 or 828-898-5656.
The current menu is available online at http://louisianapurchasefoodandspirits.com/.
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