VanWineFest 2025: From Coast to Continent Riley’s Fish & Steak Dinner With Rodney Strong Wine Estates

This was my first dinner to attend at the Vancouver International Wine Festival. Justin Seidenfeld, Senior Vice President of Winemaking & Winegrowing, of Rodney Strong Wine Estates spoke at the dinner providing us insights into the excellent wines that they brought to pour at this dinner. This dinner was hosted at Riley’s Fish & Steak, providing us both seafood, beef, and lamb dishes paired with Rodney Strong’s two white wines and three iconic and accoladed Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons: Alexander’s Crown, Brother’s and Rockaway all coming from the Alexander Valley.

Justin gave us some background into each of the wines. We learned that Rodney Strong first planted Chardonnay (100 acres) in the Chalk Hill area of Sonoma in 1965 using the Wente clone. Rodney Strong through was first a ballet dancer and travelled to France to work in Paris, but he also wanted to learn winemaking so while he lived in France he went Bordeaux and Burgundy. The Chalk Hill soil is unique as it is a volcanic soil made completely from silica, giving it a white appearance. Most volcanic soils are black or red from iron.

Justin Seidenfeld, Senior Vice President of Winemaking & Winegrowing, of Rodney Strong Wine Estates — Justin Seidenfeld of Rodney Strong Wine Estates

He told us about his inspiration for the Sauvignon Blanc came from a trip to Bordeaux where he was poured a very expensive white Bordeaux blend. He thought he could make a white Bordeaux blend, but make it even better than what he had in Bordeaux. This Sauvignon Blanc has a little Semillon and Viognier blended in. 55 – 60% of the wine is fermented in 400 litre oak barrels with the rest fermented in stainless tanks and clavers. Justin said that he harvested these grapes riper than he would for a regular Sauvignon Blanc as he wanted that extra richness from the grapes.

As mentioned, the three single vineyard Cabernet Sauvingon wines come from the Alexander Valley. The wines are all fermented with indigenous yeasts and are bottled unfiltered and unfined. The Rockaway wine come from grapes located in the middle of the valley. The grapes are affected by elevation, temperature and topography. This vineyard has a sandstone soil. Justin calls it his “baby bear” wine. The Brother’s Cab is named after the group of brothers in the family. The vineyard is located in the north end of the valley and is planted at the highest elevation. It is the “biggest” of the three wines. The Alexander’s Crown wine was the first single vineyard Cabernet produced in Sonoma Valley and this wine was shown on the first publication cover of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate magazine.

Here are the menu pairings.

My Wine Notes

I’d like to provide my wine tasting notes, followed by my impressions of the food pairings.

Alexander Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2023 – This wine has a light toasty and citrus nose. Dry, light body with a lean, soft mouthfeel. Light citrus along with a touch of stone fruits, honey and toast. Medium acidity. A touch peppery on the finish. An elegant wine. –

Chalk Hill Chardonnay 2021 – It has a medium-plus intensity lemon colour in the glass. Ripe roasted apples and sweet spices on the nose. Medium-plus body with a smooth, thick, round mouthfeel. Ripe roasted apple along with sweet spices and oak flavours. Peppery toward the finish. Creamy mouthfeel. –

Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 – The grapes for this wine come from four estate vineyards. This wine is opaque in the glass. Ripe juicy berry fruit aromas, cassis, and a touch of oak. Medium body with a light mouthfeel. Medium-minus tannins and medium acidity. Juicy berry flavours along with pepperiness on the mid-palate. A quality wine.

Three Single Vineyard Cabernets

Rockaway Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 – Opaque in the glass. Light aromas of berry fruit and some dustiness. Medium-plus body with a lean, smooth mouthfeel. Juicy berries on the palate plus vanilla and other sweet spices and some pepperiness. Medium tannins and acidity.

Brother’s Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 – Opaque in the glass. A medium intensity nose showing dark fruit, sweet spices and oak. Dry, medium body, medium tannins and acidity. Dark fruit flavours along with medium intensity oak. A peppery finish.

Alexander’s Crown Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 – Opaque in the glass. Light intensity, dark fruit nose. Medium-plus body with a smooth, thicker mouthfeel. Ripe dark fruit flavours and medium pepperiness. Medium acidity and medium-plus tannins. Medium-plus length.

I rated these three wines all as they were all top quality and at this level of quality, it is personal preference if you like one more than the other.

Wine and Food Pairings

The Roasted Baby Beet Salad was quite delicious. The beets had some firmness so that there was nice texture. I liked the earthiness of the beets and the touch of sweetness from the blood orange. The Alexander Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2023 made a complimentary pairing with the acidity and citrus flavour balancing out the earthiness of the beets and the creaminess of the goat cheese mousse.

The Butter Poached Lobster was very rich and buttery. I especially enjoyed the flavour of the brown butter in the dish and the texture from the orzo. The sweet spices and acidity of the Chalk Hill Chardonnay 2021 balanced out the rich, creaminess of the dish.

The Canadian Prime Beef Duo with Roasted Tenderloin and Braised Short-Rib was my favourite dish. The braised short rib fall apart. The roasted tenderlion was lightly pink inside and had a soft, buttery texture. Both beef components had a deep, rich flavour. Both Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 and
Rockaway Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 pairings were complimentary, but I give an edge to Rockaway as it had firmer tannins to bind with the protein in the beef.

The last pairing was with the Whole Roasted Lamb Saddle. The lamb was silky smooth. The black barley gave the dish some texture. But I think the lamb was a little too soft and understated for the wines. The Brother’s Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 and Alexander’s Crown Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 were a bit too big for the dish, but overall was an okay pairing.

I always recommend Rodney Strong wines without hesitation. The wines I tasted at the dinner were terrific, and I hope you have a chance to visit their table at the Vancouver International Festival Tasting room and purchasing their wines at the on-site BC gov liquor store.

Thank you to the Vancouver International Wine Festival for providing me with a seat to this winemaker’s dinner.