It’s been a long time since the Waldorf Astoria Park City has been able to host a chef-winemaker dinner like the upcoming Spring Wine Dinner on Friday, March 28. But with a passionate winemaker in Evan Martin, and a highly experienced, new executive chef, they’re ready to offer an immersive dinn er for wine and food lovers in Park City.And with the Martin Woods Winery owner and winemaker’s visit for the evening, it promises to be educational as well as delicious.“Any of these dinners is really an intimate occasion where I can make an impact on people,” Martin said. “Even if these are really seasoned wine collectors, I will give them a fresh perspective on how we think about wine and what we’re trying to do and what they might want to look for in great wine going forward.”Bringing Martin Woods wines onto the wine list in Powder, and further into Utah, is partially due to the Waldorf Astoria’s pursuit of unique, high-quality ingredients, something that Martin himself is excited about.He founded Martin Woods Winery in the Willamette Valley of Oregon in 2017, developing the small winery on a remote, oak-wooded property near the ocean. It’s an area renowned for its wine production, and where Martin is able to create what he calls his “children.” Nuance, finesse, gracefulness, subtlety — these are the words for Martin Woods wines, Martin said, the type of art, or wine, they’re aiming for. It’s a quiet power that requires dutiful study of the timelessly great wines, he said, and by emulating those, achieving something of equal stature. Being in the Willamette Valley is key to what he’s able to do.“The quality of wine in a glass of wine is related directly to what you get off the vineyard. It’s 80-90% of the game. The moment that you pick a grape, the day that you pick, the morning that you pick, the qualities that are inherent in that fruit is mostly determinative of what you’re going to end up with the glass,” Martin explained.That natural excellence is due to what winemakers call terroir: the unique environmental factors of soil, climate and even microclimate, dozens if not hundreds of variables, Martin said. That’s the 80-90%, so then Martin’s job as a winemaker is to take it to the next level within the remaining 10-20%.How does he do that? By listening.Each vineyard, each yield of grapes already knows what it wants to be, Martin said, so it’s important that he uncovers its own potential rather than imposing a different outcome.“You’re going to listen first and you’re going to try to try to discover, what is it that this vineyard wants to say?” he said. “You have to think of it as like a human child that you’re raising.”That attitude is what makes his process more art than craft, which is why they call their wines “artisan.”For the wine dinner at the Waldorf Astoria, they’re bringing a Riesling, a Chardonnay, a Cabernet, a Syrah and a Pinot Noir.With new Executive Chef Stuart Roger’s upbringing in a winemaking family in the French Alps, he’s more than equipped to plan the pairings to Martin’s wines. “When we did the wine tasting, you can already imagine what’s going to pair. This is with experience,” Roger said. “You already have all those flavors in mind, and those combinations of flavors that would match together, so it’s just then apply, taste, and see if it works or not. Usually it works.”He’s already got a game plan for the five-course dinner, which will use many seasonal and local ingredients.The first course, a foie gras s’mores, is Roger’s original recipe and a “wow” moment, served with a toasted juniper and thyme marshmallow.“Riesling is very good with foie gras, so this Riesling is a bit sweet, so it will pair well,” he said.Another course will be a simple tuna tartare to pair with the Chardonnay. Roger said he’s also trying to work in white asparagus since it’s asparagus season, charred to pair with the Cabernet. He’ll also have a spice crusted elk tenderloin to pair with a Syrah, with glazed red cabbage and orange.“You’ll have this gamey flavor of the meat, and it will pair very well with the Syrah,” Roger said.A dark chocolate mousse for dessert will incorporate unique flavors like a smoked red beet gel, meringue and olive oil, to pair with the Pinot Noir. Roger said olive oil is one of his favorite ingredients to play with, something he plans to do more at the hotel.“I love mixing olive oil, sweet and savory, it blends very well,” he said. “One of our new spring breakfast dishes is a yogurt with dates, palm dates from southern Utah, with olive oil, tahini and Greek yogurt.”Roger said this wine dinner will be an opportunity for people to get to know him more, and to taste some of the flavors and dishes he’s bringing to town in his new role, and with the spring menu they’re launching. He’s six weeks in, and already he has plenty of ideas.Martin said he’s always excited about an opportunity to share his perspective on winemaking, confident that even longtime wine lovers will walk away having learned something new.“Every year try to get a little bit better at the art of wine making. And maybe that’s one of the things that I love the most about what I do, is that it’s, it really is not a black and white thing. There’s a dynamic quality to it,” he said. “The hope is, every year, I peel away a little bit more of the mystery of it, and get a little bit better, and the wines hopefully will get more and more soulful and expressive as time goes on.”Tickets for the dinner, at $250 per person, can be purchased at opentable.com/booking/experiences-availability?rid=33736&restref=33736&experienceId=436365&utm_source=external&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=shared.The post Immersive wine dinner with Martin Woods Winery is long time coming at Powder restaurant appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less