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Review of 2013 Cliff Lede Cabernet Sauvignon Stardust Heaven- at the Post Hotel, Lake Louise, Alberta

January 16, 2019 By karin Leave a Comment

Stardust Heaven 2013
Stardust Heaven 2013

We wanted a wine with a massive personality, and maximum impact. Can’t go wrong then choosing a California Cabernet Sauvignon with a name inspired by “Ziggy Stardust” and “Stairway to Heaven”.

Selected from the Post Hotel’s renowned wine cellar, this bottle of 2013 Stardust Heaven was a great way to toast the last evening of our Rocky Mountain holiday, and a great (if sometimes quirky) companion for the Tasting Menu in which we decided to indulge. If you’re not going to do a wine pairing experience, there will always be moments when food and wine clash just a little – so you might as well do as we did and make it a standout wine in its own right.

The 2013 Cliff Lede Stardust Heaven is just that – a standout characterized by an inky purple colour (for rock royalty?), bold blackberry and dark berry flavors, as well as earthy licorice notes.  And you’ve just got to love the spirit and the story behind it, and all the Cliff Lede “Rock Blocks” wines – the various vineyard blocks are named after class rock tunes by The Who, Pink Floyd, and in the case of our bottle here, Bowie and Zeppelin.

We enjoyed every morsel of the tasting menu, described below, but we don’t apologize for letting Stardust Heaven strut its stuff across the stage and literally steal the show…

Here’s a run down of the fabulous menu (even if it did play back up at times as we sipped our wine…):

Tasting Menu October 8, 2018
Tasting Menu October 8, 2018

Last day of vacation, so we went out with a bang, knowing we were in for the Post’s generous portions and intriguing flavors. We’ve sampled several tasting menus crafted by Chef Hans Sauter in the past – this was one of our favourites.

Duck Breast with Maple Whiskey Ice Cream
Duck Breast with Maple Whiskey Ice Cream

Delicate slices of smoked duck breast served with a whiskey ice cream began the feast. It looked gorgeous and the duck was perfect. The ice cream was not perhaps my favourite, but I could appreciate the composition of flavors with the whiskey being a nice match for the smoked meat.



Tiger Prawns on Avocado Quesadilla
Tiger Prawns on Avocado Quesadilla

The prawns on the other hand look fairly simple, but the dish was a standout – really, really delicious. Tender and meaty, the prawns’ terrific flavor was beautifully enhanced by the thyme vinaigrette. And the tender, toasty quesadilla with creamy avocado made the dish complete. Easily our favourite course!

Pork Tenderloin and Tagliatelle
Pork Tenderloin and Tagliatelle

The main course was the pork tenderloin and tagliatelle with a rich and creamy porcini mushroom sauce. This is a plate to satisfy a cold-weather craving.  I consider this dish “vintage Post Hotel” with its hearty sauce and tender, buttery homemade noodles. While this particular pork tenderloin and tagliatelle dish doesn’t generally appear on the menu, if you’re looking for something similar choose either the veal tenderloin with creamy morel sauce on homemade Spinach fettuccini, or the beef tenderloin “stroganoff” with homemade egg tagliatelle (both dishes have been regular features at the Post for years – with good cause).

Another view of a scrumptious take on a cheese course!
Goat Cheese Mousseline with Plum Compote

This dish – the Goat Cheese Mousseline with Plum Compote – was an unexpected treat. A tangy, creamy, savory dollop of cheese mixed and melded gorgeously with a deeply-flavored plum compote. If I hadn’t been so full, and if there wasn’t an actual dessert course to come, I would have had two. Delish!

Goat Cheese Mousseline with Plum Compote

Yes, there was dessert – a rich, moist carrot cake thickly laden with cream cheese icing (the reason to eat carrot cake?) – and this is the second time in recent posts that I’ve neglected to grab a photo. My reason is a pretty good one, I think. It was basically the last evening the Post Hotel’s dining room would be open before the five-week closure between Canadian Thanksgiving and ski season. We noticed another couple- fellow port aficionados- nearby. It seemed natural to pull our chairs together, and toast a beautiful meal in a beautiful place together. So, no photo, but great conversation.

A massive wine, a tasty, multi-course feast and lovely new friends – great end to a great vacation!

For more information on dining at the Post Hotel or to view a dinner menu, please visit www.posthotel.com

Filed Under: Hotel Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Wine Reviews Tagged With: 2013 Cliff Lede Cabernet Sauvignon Stardust Heaven, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chef Hans Sauter, Cliff Lede, fine dining Lake Louise, Lede Family Wines, Post Hotel Dining, Stardust Heaven 2013, tasting menu

Dining in High Style at Lake Louise – The Post Hotel

March 3, 2016 By karin Leave a Comment

‘Elegant comfort’ is the phrase that best describes the dining at The Post Hotel. We’ve found it to be the perfect way to end a day spent out in the mountain air working up an appetite. The food is elegant and always-pleasing with surprisingly generous portions. And the wine selection is among the finest in Canada. The cellar’s 25,000+ bottle, widely-varied collection, gathered and curated by Post co-owner George Schwarz, is a marvel of rarities. If you enjoy great food, fine wine and hospitality that is at once warm, welcoming and first-class, you will love The Post Hotel.

Post Hotel Exterior

The dining room itself was a pleasure to ‘come home to’ each evening – a spacious, comfortable space with both the ease and refinement of an upscale lodge. The décor is unpretentious, but full of  thoughtful touches. There are crisp white table linens, and fresh cut wild flowers in small glass vases gracing each table. The lighting is soft, and a welcoming fire in the stone fireplace hearth adds further warmth. Service is impeccable, but not in the least bit fussy. Servers are friendly, personable and professional with in-depth knowledge of the menu. Over the course of this stay (and earlier visits), we’ve come to know many of the staff by name and felt in good hands no matter who was taking care of us. We know from the contented faces faces at the other tables that we weren’t alone.

post-hotel-dining-room

We spent six nights at The Post and dined in its restaurant every evening. Some may say this is an overly long stay in one place, but we this was not at all our feeling. The comprehensive menu was more than adequate to provide something interesting to try at each meal –  in fact, there were so many choices that it wasn’t unusual for us to start planning the next day’s dinner on any given evening.



But when we say variety, it isn’t the confusing all-over-the-place mash up of cuisine styles that seldom works out well. Under the direction of executive Chef Hans Sauter, there is a definite style that unites the many choices. Fresh ingredients, often sourced from local or nearby farms and producers characterize the menu. Range fed Alberta beef and bison figure prominently on the menu as entrees, and pop up as appetizers as well (such as the carpaccio of bison). Alberta-grown heirloom tomatoes and other market vegetables are also featured in salads and pairings for main courses. Elegant homemade sauces like the ginger white wine sauce accompanying the pan-seared cod or the creamy porcini sauce with the veal tenderloin are outstanding. The handmade tagliatelle and spinach papardelle impressed us greatly, and we aren’t ‘pasta people’. (But, this is what happens when food is prepared by masters.)

hans-sauter-555x465

One should go to the Post ‘warned’ that portions are very generous, even when not necessarily expected (such as in the multi-course Gourmet Tasting Menus). Appetizers could easily stand on their own as meals. In fact, overall, we found the hot appetizers to be star of the menu in terms of their originality and bright flavours. Our favourite hot appetizers were the Pan Seared New Zealand Scampi over Chanterelle Arugula Risotto and the Pan Seared Foie Gras in White Port Wine Sauce, Quince Compote (though we somehow soldiered on to eat a main course, these could have easily been a complete meal). Cold appetizers were quite lovely as well, with fresh terrines and pates (changing every few days), of course incorporating those fresh, local regional ingredients. A particular standout on the ‘cold’ side of things was a trio of smoked salmon appetizer, thickly cut and served with house made condiments.

post-hotel-wine-cellar

Main courses on this menu tend to be more ‘meat and potatoes’ (still elegant and wonderful, but in some ways perhaps not as memorable as the appetizers).  Fondant potatoes or Rosti potatoes are common accompaniments, as well as classic sauces (bordelaise, bearnaise, creamy peppercorn). A standout dish was the Alberta Rabbit Braised Leg on Caponata and Tenderloin on Rabbit Jus served with Soft Polenta (I probably would have ordered it again had there not been so much to choose from). The zesty caponata brought the perfect brightness to the rich rabbit and savoury jus. The herbed polenta was creamy and quite marvelous.  To our surprise, as beef and red wine lovers, it was the fish and seafood dishes that stood out as our most memorable main courses. We would highly recommend (and go back for) the Pan Seared Miso Marinated Fillet of BC Black Cod with Ginger White Wine Sauce, Chinese Broccoli, and Roasted Fingerling Potatoes. The dish was very flavourful, and the fish was incredibly tender and fresh. The Sautéed Atlantic Lobster in Chardonnay Beurre Blanc was generous and succulent. We paired this particularly meal with the Hermitage (Jean-Louis Chave) 2009 and finished things with a rare Australian ‘Sticky’ Tokay (though seldom ordered, it was perfectly chilled in anticipation – a classic Post touch!)

hermitage-jean-louis-chave-2009

As mentioned above, the each night a Gourmet Tasting Menu is offered. During our stay, we saw the menu change twice (it seems, logically, to change toward the busier weekends). The portion of each menu item was remarkably large; that paired with the quality of the ingredients and the care of preparation, the $105 price per person is very reasonable. Our tasting experiences included such treats as Ahi Tuna Tartar with an Asian Bean Salad and a Pot-au-Feu “Rougie” Duck Breast, Wild mushroom risotto, an intriguing Wild Board Chop with Caponata, marsala sauce and goat cheese.  There were refreshing sorbets, and dark chocolate mousse concoctions, and other assorted treats. (As a person with severe allergies, our servers and the brilliant kitchen staff were incredibly gracious, aware and accommodating. I felt fully taken care of and not in the least bit disadvantaged by the the substitutions made for me. One of the best experiences ever in this regard!). What wine to have with such variety – always a conundrum! On one occasion, we ‘settled’ on a beautifully scented, smooth and fruity 2012 Dumol (Pinot Noir) that paired beautifully with everything following the tuna (for which we let our pre-dinner champagne and vodka martini ‘linger’).

post-hotel-tasting-menu

Desserts are lovely and decadent, although more often than not we opted to finish our evening with a selection of cheeses – from runny French bries to sharp Quebec cheddars to bold English stilton, there was always something to enjoy.

We must mention that lunch can be as much of a highlight as dinner; the menu has an impressive range, covering everything from gourmet, egg-dipped sandwiches, salade nicoise,  veal bratwurst, and duck confit with arugula salad.  And where else can you order a bottle of Blankiet Paradise Hills (2003) at noon – there’s something so decadent about that! Plan on having at least one (better – two) lunches at the Post to maximize your sense of luxury. Breakfast is also served, and while a more standard experience (eggs, breakfast meats, toast) the food is excellent, hot and served with care.

Post Hotel Pipestone River

In one of the most beautiful geographical locations on earth, the Post Hotel dining room does an incredible job at standing out as one of the Rocky Mountains’ major highlights.

Filed Under: Restaurant Reviews Tagged With: award winning wine cellar, fine dining Lake Louise, luxury restaurants, Rocky Mountains, tasting menu, The Post Hotel

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