A Feat of Meeting and Eating

Yesterday afternoon, Ken and I met with Norm Porter, developer of a new first-class golf and wine resort in Peachland, British Columbia called Ponderosa and Allen Shoup, Founder and CEO of Long Shadows Vintners at the Bellevue Harbor Club. The 425 acre Ponderosa in Peachland development, located just South of Kelowna, B.C. overlooking beautiful Lake Okanagan will include a Greg Norman designed golf course, a  luxury hotel, condominiums, single family and trophy homes, a tennis center and world-class wineries.  The golf course is under construction now and is expected to be complete in 2011.

Allen shared his vision and information on what he has accomplished at Long Shadows since he began in 2003.  Impressively, he has developed partnerships with some of the leading winemakers in the world to produce seven different wines which showcase the viticultural excellence of Washington State’s Columbia Valley, which have consistently scored higher than 90 points by wine aficionados and tasting experts in leading wine magazines in the world.  Four of the wines he has produced with famous winemakers include Feather in partnership with Randy Dunn, Pedestal with Michel Rolland, Poet’s Leap with Armin Diel, and Sequel with John Duval.

Mary Holmes, ZINO Society Vice President of Business Development, joined us mid-meeting to meet Norm and greet Allen with photo albums of some of the signature ZINO Society social events and the ZINO Zillionaire Investment Forum where we showcase 28 entrepreneurs and select two best investment opportunity winners of the ZINO Zillionaire Investment Fund that we raise and award each year. 

Following our meeting, we adjourned to John Howie Steak, in the new Shops at the Bravern development in Bellevue, to enjoy an incredible dinner and fine wine. We were joined by Robert & Sue Holmes and Allen’s wife, Kathleen Shoup.  Chef Owner and ZINOpreneur, John Howie, greeted us and welcomed us to his newest restaurant sending us a velvety cream of porcini mushroom soup with truffle oil and crème fraiche as an Amuse Bouche.  Along with the basket of his fresh-baked breads and rolls, all produced at the restaurant, including an excellent warm and cheesy Gougere, the entire evening was a culinary success.  We raved about the Caesar Salad prepared tableside with just the right proportions of extra-virgin olive oil, egg yolk, anchovies and croutons tossed with crisp romaine and Ken and I were especially impressed with the excellent French Onion Soup for which John said that he uses a three day veal stock preparation as the base.  Several of our guests enjoyed the combination of steaks from American and Japanese Wagyu beef.  Lisa, the Wine Director, took great care of our table; opening and pouring the many Long Shadows wines that Allen had brought along to share with us.  My favorites were the 2005 Pirouette, a Bordeaux-style blend, and the Sequel Syrah.  We ended the evening with exquisite white chocolate and butter cream truffles, a parting gift from restauranteur extraordinaire, John Howie.