It was a snowy Sunday night here in Chicago, but I braved the weather elements for a chance to do something that not everyone gets to do everyday…have dinner with a highly respected kosher wine maker, Jeff Morgan of Covenant winery.

At a excellent Kosher restaurant located in nearby Skokie, IL, Shallots served up a fabulous seven course meal to pair with the Covenant wines and also a couple of other favorites from KosherWine.com.  I got there early to see the behind the scenes action of getting set up for the wine dinner and also had the chance to meet Jeff Morgan before the other guests arrived.

This proved to be a good decision to see all the hustle and bustle and excitement within the restaurant while Jeff got prepared for the evening.  The right wine glasses needed to be picked and all wines needed to be tasted to make sure the evening would run smoothly.

As guests started to arrive, Jeff mingled with the crowd.  Everyone enjoyed the first wine of the evening, the Jeanmaire Champagne and snacked on the hand-passed appetizers.  We all sat down around 6pm.  The first course began with the Tuna Tar Tar which was paired with the Sensei Sake. 

Now came the part we had all been waiting for, a chance to try the Covenant Wines.  First on the list paired with a soy marinated salmon was the Chardonnay Lavan.  Since this was the first time Jeff was trying this production, it boosted more excitement.  And let me say it was exquisite. 

And the night kept getting better (at least for me).  Since I typically love red wines, I couldn’t wait to try the three reds that were in store for us.  The first being the Covenant Red C which was a great example of a California Cabernet by being very fruit forward on the palate. 

The highlight of the evening came when I got to try the Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, which for all you wine lovers out there know that this is no longer for sale.  In fact, we were given 12 bottles from Jeff to offer to the guests at the wine dinner and we sold through it that night.  That explains how great this wine was! 

Although the 2004 is no longer available, Jeff didn’t disappoint with the Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon 2007.  He suggested to buy it now and then store it for awhile to really let it evolve; however, at the moment Jeff was really excited about this wine because he thought it had the best structure to date in wine that he had produced.

I have to say this was a night that I will never forget.  The experience to have dinner with Jeff and to hear first hand what it was like to make the wine was to say the least, inspiring.  In addition, the food pairing that Shallots went with was excellent with each wine we sampled.  If any wine fan out there gets a chance to have dinner with a winemaker, I highly recommend.