Last night the Park Cities Club was packed with golf enthusiasts, wine aficionados and happy eaters for an eight course wine dinner featuring Hall of Fame Golfer Annika Sorenstam’s Annika wine, poured side by side with Coquerel Family Wine Estates, all to benefit the ANNIKA Foundation.
Creating this impressive meal were Chefs Teiichi Sakurai of Tei-An, John Tesar of The Commissary and El Paso based Chef Sara Horowitz, best known for her competitiveness on either Hell’s Kitchen on Fox or Best in Smoke on The Food Network. There are a lot of wine dinners in Dallas, and last night was a true delight as these masterful chefs presented ideal pairings course after course.
Over dishes like a White Seaweed Salad (a Tei-An favorite) from Chef Teiichi paired with the barrel aged Terrior Coquerel Sauvignon Blanc, filled with citrus, mineral and slight smokiness, and Scampi Style Sea Scallops with Garlic Foam from Chef Tesar paired with creamy and rich Annika Chardonnay, Master of Ceremonies Scott Murray, guided the group through the work that the ANNIKA Foundation does and their goals going forward. The ANNIKA Foundation teaches children the importance of living a healthy, active lifestyle through fitness and nutrition, and offers aspiring junior golfers opportunities to pursue their dreams.
Over Southwest Beef Tartare with Hatch Chilies and Manchego cheese paired with Coquerel Merlot, and Cinnamon Dusted Duck Breast paired with smokey, spicy Annika Syrah and the earthy, complex Coquerel Le Petit Sirah, Caitlin Baker spoke about her goals to help Native Americans throughout the country. This eloquent, lovely, seventeen year old was the first recipient of the ANNIKA Inspiration Award. An active swimmer since the age of eight, Caitlin started CAITLINB – Competitive American Indians Turning Lifestyles Into New Beginnings, to help with issues facing young Native Americans like obesity, diabetes, and to promote swimming, sports participation and healthy lifestyles to Native American youth.
While digging into grilled Ribeye and an amazing, lucious, elegant glass of Texas Tee from The Napa Valley Reserve, created by Harlan Estate, Murray interviewed the woman of the night, Ms. Sorenstam. When Sorenstam retired from professional golf in 2008 she began several new adventures, the wine being one of them, along with her foundation. Following her tag line to “live with passion,” this is a woman who is constantly on the go creating, branding, teaching and giving, with the work of her foundation a big part of who she is and why she works so hard.
