The Lodge at Galena and L'Uva Bella Wine Gallery - a Great Combination!

L’Uva Bella Wine Gallery in Reno has a great wine selection and is dedicated to wine education. Debby Bullentini, the tireless proprietor of the shop in Reno’s Summit Sierra center, extends her skills in matching wine and food pairings to a monthly event at the Lodge at Galena on Mount Rose Highway, between Reno and Incline Village.

Wine Wall at
L'Uva Bella

It’s impossible to resist Debby’s enthusiasm, and she effortlessly leads diners through a menu prepared by Chef Lindsay Ellinger that’s been designed to match wines from L’Uva Bella. As autumn, and soon winter, is upon us now, the food and wine pairings reflect the season.

As an aperitif, Debby chose the Carbo Cava Brut, a Spanish sparkler that is fermented in the bottle. The blend of grapes (60% Xarel-lo, 30% Macabeo, 10% Parellada) results in a very pale yet brilliant yellow wine. Fine light aromas for this fruit and floral wine make it an exquisite mouth-filling Brut. Parellada, a white grape variety of Catalan origin specially grown in Catalonia, along with Macabeo and Xarel•lo, are the three traditional varieties used to making sparkling Cava’s, a Catalonian specialty. 11.5 percent alcohol, $12.99 the bottle.

The first course, a ragout of pork, tomato and white beans is a hearty dish that paired well with the Brokenwood Semillon from Australia. This is a wine from the Hunter Valley, a wine region that’s a daytrip from Sydney. Brokenwood makes this 100% Semillon with a classic New World style, using this revered Old World grape. The color is a luminous green/yellow that lets you anticipate the zesty lemongrass aroma. The structure of the wine is tight, but the citrus and slightly acidic finish is a perfect complement to the hearty pork dish. 11 percent alcohol, $20.99 bottle.

The Vina Sardosol Blanco 2008 from the Navarra region of Spain was a good pairing with the salad course. Generally, salads are difficult to pair with wine, but this salad from Chef Lindsay of mixed beets with mustard and baby greens was well suited to this wine with its minimal acidity, nice bouquet, and apple-apricot floral notes. The blend is 70% Chardonnay and 30% Viura. 13.5 percent alcohol, $10.99 bottle.



Swai and Grenache Noir



Domaine Lafage

I hadn’t heard of the fish Swai, but this is an Indonesian species much like Sole, and it is delicious! Baked with lemon, lentils and zucchini, it paired nicely with the Domaine Lafage Grenache Noir 2008, a French wine made from the Rhone varietal Grenache.

The blackcurrant fruity taste of the wine, with medium tannin, and a rich and concentrated palate was great with the Swai. This brilliantly-red wine is considered a vin de pays, a “country wine”, which is a step above table wine in the French wine classification. A website tour (www.domaine-lafage.com) notes that the Estate is located on the road between Perpignan, the former capital of the Kings of Majorca, and the Mediterranean seashore. Six generations have grown grapes and made wines in this Estate in Catalonia. Travel bug, anyone?



Desserts really should come first in any dinner, despite what your mother said. The chef’s yummy poached pears with chocolate-coffee sabayon, accompanied by homemade sugar cookies, was incredible with the Sandeman’s Founder’s Reserve Ruby Port. Sandeman’s has made port since 1790, and this traditional ruby-red port had powerful flavors and a wonderful brightness to it. $23.99 bottle.

More information on wine offerings at L’Uva Bella Wine Gallery at http://luvabellawinegallery.com/. They are located at 13925 South Virginia St., Suite 248, (next to Dillard’s), Reno NV 89511. Phone 775 831 1110 for info and hours. The Lodge at Galena is located at 17025 Mount Rose Hwy, Reno. Phone 775 849 2100 for hours.