A taste of fine Va dining

STAFFORD – Olde Virginia Gourmet and Gifts, located in North Stafford Plaza, was the site of a very happy gathering Saturday.

“It’s like a party – a wonderful party,” said Lee Ann Ditulli of Stafford.

The business’ Wine of the Month Club gets together every monthly, but this month brought something extra to the tasting table.

Patrick Deiss of Alexandria’s 2941 restaurant was a special guest and brought five specialty breads, one of which he created specifically for the wine tasting.

The restaurant opened in 2002, and has been known for its breads ever since. The breads offered to patrons were originally baked fresh twice daily by Mal Krinn, who has since retired. In 2008, 2941 underwent new management; the breads are now baked twice daily by Deiss.

Deiss spent an hour and a half driving from Arlington to Stafford to bring San Francisco sourdough loaves, French baguettes, olive rosemary wheat stalk loaves, strawberry-pistachio baguettes and chocolate-cherry baguettes to the tasting.

Cynthia and Royce Olsen of Stafford said that the bread was excellent. Royce Olsen said, “The olive rosemary bread was wonderful.” He wasn’t quite ready for chocolate in bread, though.

Stafford’s Paul Yelito said, “The olive’s my favorite so far. It’s very flavorful; you can definitely taste the rosemary.” Fredericksburg resident Rebecca Evans agreed, saying, “I liked the herb taste of it.”

David Martin served as the sommelier for this tasting, serving Rockbridge Winery’s Tuscarora White wine, the White Reisling, Jeremiah’s Rosé, Pinot Noir and the Lexington & Concord. All of the winery’s wines are made using grapes grown in Rockbridge.

Barbara Greenway of Garrisonville said, “The Jeremiah’s Rosé is delicious. It’s sweet; I like sweet. And the red [Lexington & Concord] was sweet as well as fruity.”

Judy Havel preferred the sourdough bread and the cherry baguette, while her husband Rich Havel enjoyed the olive rosemary bread. Both enjoyed the Tuscarora White and Jeremiah’s Rosé wines.

Deiss met Olde Virginia owner Sean Tarallo many years ago, when Tarallo was the manager of a sports bookstore in which Deiss worked as a high school student.

The two recently connected through Facebook, and Tarallo suggested putting the wine and artisan breads together. “I thought it was a great idea,” said Deiss.

Deiss went to San Francisco to study the science of baking bread about a year ago, and has major plans for the restaurant.

“We’d like to expand our production of breads to sell it wholesale to other restaurants, and perhaps to the Wegmans or Whole Foods supermarkets, keeping the artisan quality and raising production without losing the quality,” he said.

Jeremiah’s Rosé was the most popular wine, with the juicy Lexington & Concord a close second; the Olive Rosemary Wheat Stalk was by far the most popular bread, selling out about one hour into the tasting.

The Havels of Aquia aggreed that Bread and wine are a nice combination. Judy Havel added, “I like the fact that they have something local. Sean and Annabelle [Tarallo] are great hosts.”

“It’s been a good afternoon. I am very happy with the turnout,” said Tarallo.

Megan Sweeney is a contributing writer for the Stafford County Sun. She can be reached at info@staffordcountysun.com.