Gallery Stratford’s new Battle of the Sommeliers fundraiser a sold-out success

Rob Miller, Steve Doyle and Alexandra Evans duked it out over three courses to make the best wine pairings in the Battle of the Sommeliers fundraiser for Gallery Stratford.

The pairing of wine with fine dining for a battle royale to see who brings the best vintage to the table at Gallery Stratford recently attracted all kinds of enthusiasts in support of a first-of-its-kind fundraiser.

The sold-out Battle of the Sommeliers successfully raised in excess of $18,000 through donations and the online auction that accompanied the event.

“We were trying to find a signature event that we could do every February,” said Robert Windrum, Gallery curator and director. “We did 40 years of the gala, but events have a lifespan. The idea came from Elizabeth Kerr, a gallery volunteer and supporter and sounded like a lot of fun. Coupled with Shadowbox(ing) (the exhibit) and the online auction brought in the art element of shadowboxes done by artists.”

Seventy guests gathered for the three-course dinner prepared by Bob Friesen and his team at Gourmet Chef at Your Table, highly anticipating the pairings that were carefully chosen for each course. Three sommeliers were on hand for the battle; Rob Miller representing The Vine Agency, Steve Doyle representing Café Bouffon/Pazzo and Alexandra Evans representing the Stratford Chefs School. The emcee for the evening, James Cunningham, introduced the sommeliers and gave thanks to supporters and volunteers before dinner was served.

The first course was a challenging pairing as the guests were served a smoked tomato bisque.

“The soup course was hard because pairing with soup isn’t easy and we didn’t know how much smoke was in the tomatoes; we haven’t tried the soup so it’s hard to know what it will taste like,” said Evans.

Pairings offered were, from Evans, a 2023 Pardevalles Albarin Blanco from Spain, a 2023 Scarbolo Sauvignon from Italy from Miller and, from Doyle, a 2021 Tawse Carly’s Block Reisling. Guests voted for each course pairing using an online polling app downloaded for the occasion with the winner having the most votes at the end of the night.

The second course was beef cheeks or a vegetarian dish of potato gnocchi paired with some wholesome reds. Evans served a 2020 Chateau Tour Gilet Bordeaux Superieur from France, Miller paired a 2022 Mosole Refosco del Peduncolo from Italy and Doyle a 2021 Telmo Rodrieguez Pegaso Zeta Garnacha from Spain.

The dessert course saw some out-of-the-box thinking with pairings of port, sherry and sparkling wine as guests enjoyed the chocolate French silk mousse. Evans poured a 2023 Brachetto d’Acqui Sant Orsola from Italy (sparkling wine), Miller served a Kopke Fine Ruby Port from Portugal and Doyle a Bodegas Hedalgo N/V Trina Pedro Ximenez from Spain (sherry).

The evening was filled with talk of wine, food, art and the excitement of the online auction that was closing around the time of dessert. Over the course of the evening, around 633 glasses were poured for the appreciative crowd. The winner, who goes away with bragging rights, was Miller representing The Vine Agency. Funds raised directly benefit the Gallery.

“We are severely underfunded and we rely on the community support for everything from our education, our exhibitions, our staffing, everything. We hope that this will become an annual fundraiser,” said Windrum.

Those who were unable to attend but would still like to donate to Gallery Stratford can visit their website at gallerystratford.on.ca.