Opened recently, Wally’s is a new concept to a fairly crowded Santa Monica culinary scene: it is a retail store that sells wine and spirits as well as over 300 cheeses and charcuterie.
It is also an elegant casual restaurant with thousands of wines adorning its twenty-foot walls, communal marble tables, an expansive open kitchen, and a wine-cave inspired room for private events. For wine lovers, it offers a list of over 100 wines you can explore by the glass, and frequent hosts wine dinners.
A recent wine dinner at Wally’s was hosted by Tayson Pierce Wines. The dishes were not part of the regular menu, but created specially for the occasion by Wally’s Executive Chef Ryan Kluver to showcase Tayson Pierce’s highly regarded array of wines and champagnes.
Established in 2005, family-owned Tayson Pierce Estate Wines produces award-winning Napa Valley single-vineyard fine wines in reserved quantities. Their range includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Rosé. The company has since gone on to partner with highly regarded French winemaker Nicolas Mailart to create the Eric Philippe label that produces world class champagne including Grand Cru and Premier Cru. Grand Cru must be sourced entirely from vineyards in Grand Cru villages in France; in addition, pinot noir and chardonnay are the only two grapes eligible for this status. The Mailart family’s champagne making techniques go back almost 300 years.
A major classification of champagne comes from it dosage – the small amount of sugar or grape that is added back into the wine before corking. What makes the Eric Philippe label unique, and a particular source of pride for the company is that their champagne line is crafted using as little dosage as possible, just enough to enhance the quality of the wine and round out its flavor, keeping it as basic and minimal as possible.
The dinner took place in Wally’s private room upstairs and began with mingling over champagne and passed hors d’oeuvres that included kumio oysters.
Once seated, the formal dinner kicked off with Kanpachi Crudo, slightly sweet with frog hollow pear in a delicate slow roasted pitchu berry salsa. The delicate dish paired perfectly with an Eric Phillipe Extra Brut Premier Cru, with a dosage of only 1 g/L.
Next came grilled spiny lobster meat with enough texture that you could bite into, nestled in a lettuce wrap with pomegranate and celery root. It was paired with a mild 2017 Tayson Pierce Rose.
That was followed by pumpkin agnolotti topped off with roasted apple which gave it another layer of sweetness along with a just bit of tart, and balsamella and shaved truffle. It was served with 2012 Eric Phillipe Extra Brut Permier Cru, with dosage going up a bit to 4g/L.
Then came Chanterelle mushrooms with baked farro and egg yolk in a mushroom consomme. The egg yolk broke up easily, and could then be stirred into the broth and spooned up. The dish was paired with a 2016 Tayson Pierce Chardonnay from Hudson Vineyard.
The main course of the meal was a grilled lamb chop with violet mustard, sweet potato gratin, and huckleberry jus; the complex flavors of the hearty dish served to showcase the 2016 Tayson Pierce Cabernet from Stagecoach Vineyard.
Dessert was a delicate white chocolate Panna Cotta with crushed raspberry, and almond dacquoise; it paired perfectly with an Eric Phillipe Brut Rose Grand Cru, with the dosage upped to 7g/L.
For wine affectionados, Wally’s is definitely a welcome addition to the Santa Monica culinary scene.
For more information, please visit www.TaysonPierceWines.com and https://wallywine.com/santa_monica_store