Herb Quady of Quady North Winery delivers more than a Tease

By Janet Eastman

HERB Quady looked a little book wormy in his glasses. And he talked like a word nerd, too, a super romantic one. He stood before a gathering of wine appreciators with a big smile on his face and asked them to define the word “bucolic.”

He has been quoted in Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel magazine as saying, "There isn't any place in California that's nearly as cute" as Jacksonville, where he has his Quady North Winery Tasting Room, adding, "We're all about the bucolic southern Oregon life.”

The person who gave the correct definition of "bucolic" received a prize: A bottle of Quady Winery’s Deviation that a tablemate swore contains rose geranium, damiana and aphrodisiacs.

Seduction was the theme for Quady North's Vintner's Dinner at Tease Restaurant & Bar in Ashland last week.

Seduction was delivered through wines, liqueurs, course after course of precious foods and stimulating announcements by Quady as well as Tease co-owners Julie O'Dwyer and chef Marc Rosewood. And, of course, by the setting, which is red-velvet and soft-light seducing.

Quady makes 15 different types of wine, from, he says, the first wine you should drink while thinking about dinner (a sherry) to the last wine you should have after you’ve consumed four too many glasses (Muscat). Chef Rosewood used one of Quady’s elixirs in five of the six courses. He left it out of the Masala yam brittle, which was already fully flavored by African and Indian spices.

First course: Grana Reggiano with smoked lavender honey and orange-quince marmalade made with Quady’s Palamino Fino sherry. The sherry, which was also served in a glass, was the perfect start since it is guaranteed to stimulate an appetite, according to the winemaker.

Second course: Grilled halibut with baby eggplant and Padrone peppers with Vya butter. Quady’s Vya is a dry Vermouth (wine with herbs) that tastes as refreshing as “a walk in the woods,” said Quady. (Tease uses it to make its popular Vyatini.) The course was paired with a 2006 Voignier, a “voluptuous” wine with flavors of melon and aromas of honeysuckle created from Quail Run Vineyards’ fruit.

Third course: Blue cheese pear salad with grilled butter lettuce and balsamic vinaigrette made with the 2006 Arsenal. This was a preview of the Cab Franc/Cab Sauvignon blend, which has just been released. Quady likens Cab Franc to the outcast in high school who probably played great guitar in his garage. He compares Cabernet Sauvignon to the high school quarterback. “I prefer to work with the ugly duckling varietals,” he said.

Fourth course: Masala yam brittle with jujube and black lava salt. The jujubes were found at the Ashland Farmer’s Market, as were many of the ingredients. Rosewood’s wife brought the spices back from Africa. The brittle was served with the 1996 Starboard Batch 88, a black-cherry flavored port made primarily of Tinta Roriz grapes with Tinta Cao and Touriga Nacional mixed in for flavor boosts.

Quady lived briefly in Portugal when he was a child. His father, Andrew Quady of Quady Winery in Madera, made California’s first premium dessert wine, Essensia, in 1980.

Fifth course: Ostrich roulade stuffed with a Syrah-splashed crimini mushrooms, spinach and goat cheese risotto. “I love it,” said Quady. The rich, gamey meat, earthy mushrooms and curried spices went well with his 2006 Syrah, 4-2A, which received 90 points from Wine Spectator.

Sixth course: Bitter chocolate crème brulee topped with a puddle of Quady’s Elysium 2007 Black Muscat and his father’s Electa Orange Muscat. “The Muscat is the world’s best grape,” said Quady. “There’s nothing more intoxicating.”

And thus, the perfect ending to an intoxicating evening.

For more info: Quady North Winery, 255 California St., Jacksonville, OR (541) 702-2123, www.quadynorth.com

Tease Restaurant & Bar, 303 East Main, Ashland, OR (541) 488-1458, www.teaserestaurant.net