Rainbow Ranch Lodge is a small lodge on the side of the Gallatin River about 5 miles south of Big Sky, MT. I haven’t been there in a few years, mainly because the restaurant burned down. Small technicality… The last year or two, the hotel part has been running, but, the restaurant was being rebuilt. I had only been there a couple of times before the fire, and I remember the Lodge serving good food with professional waitstaff. It’s one of the few white table cloth kind of eateries in the area.
My brother Robert and I had a trip planned to Big Sky with the purpose of hitting the golf course one more time before the season ended and to ferry some farm equipment back to California. It just so happened that my friend Cyril was hosting a winemaker’s dinner at the Rainbow Ranch Lodge, and Robert constantly makes fun of wine, so, of course, we had to go.
I met Cyril Chappellet a few years ago in Montana. He was up in Big Sky with his wife and their dogs for another wine event. My kids were, of course, drawn to the dogs and Cyril still has some kid in him, so, they all became friends (the kids and the dogs of course).
When I heard that he was going to be up in Big Sky hosting a dinner in Big Sky a few weeks ago, I asked him if there was still room. He told me that there was and that I should let the guys at Rainbow know if I was coming… Of course, I didn’t… Being true to my form, I called the Lodge yesterday morning as I was boarding a plane from San Diego. The told me that it had been sold out for a while and there were 25 people on the waiting list… “well, didn’t Cyril put me on a special list somewhere?” “Well, I don’t think so, let me check and we’ll call you back”. Luckily, by the time my plane landed in Bozeman, I had a message that the did have room for me and that the dinner started at 6:30. Upon arriving, Cyril, of course, called me on that creative planning and told me “it’s nice to have friends…”
Cyril’s family owns Chappellet Vineyards up on Pritchard Hill in Napa, California. He’s one of those likable people who is comfortable in front of an audience and likes to tell stories. Stories about his family, the history of the vineyard, their tasting committees, and that maniac sitting at the middle table with his brother that is planning on driving a tractor from Montana to California.
The Rainbow Ranch Lodge looks brand new. As it should, since it essentially is after being rebuilt. You walk in past a reception desk to a small bar in the corner. You could probably belly up 5-6 people at the bar that looks sideways into a cozy livingroom area. There are large chairs arranged with a few small tables and lots of glass that look out over a wooden deck followed by a large grass lawn and then the meandering Gallatin River.
Off past the living room area is the main dining room followed by a smaller dining room along the back wall with windows also looking out onto the river. Robert and I were seated in this smaller dining room with me taking up the head of the table that was populated from a group of people from the Lone Mountain Ranch.
The dinner was good. Cyril brought a handfull of wines that you can’t get in wine stores. He said he wanted to do something unique that wasn’t the normal stuff that we’d see from his vineyard.
We started out with a 2007 Signature Chardonnay that was paired with a sliced pheasant breast on top of wehani rice and a chanterelle-chestnut ragout. The wine was oak finished and tasty. It went well with the pheasant that was just a little over done for my taste. It was tasty, sitting on that wehani rice which is a thick, reddish grain that reminded me of the texture of buckweat but tasted more like a whole-grain rice. Mixed with the ragout, it was a nice starter. I’m sure if they were serving this to order and not for 100 people at once, the dryness wouldn’t have been a factor with the pheasant.
Following the pheasant came a 2005 Napa Valley Merlot. This was coupled with a duck confit that was boned and chopped, laying on top of a toasted coaster of brioche and surrounded with a torchon of foie gras. Alongside was a fig and vanilla chutney. I found this very interesting and tasty. The wine paired nicely with the goose liver and chutney. It was spicy, deep, and delicious- chocolate, oak, cherries… Robert kept repeating that he WILL NOT DRINK MERLOT but, he seemed to enjoy it anyway. The foie gras was one of those things that you can never get enough of… it’s like eating a thick slab of savory, buttery, deliciousness that has the spice and fruitiness of the fig chutney, the texture of the confit, and that delicious wine to wash it all down. I could have had seconds… maybe fifths… But, foie gras is one of those decadances that you know can’t be good for you, but, you just want to keep eating it… Moving on…
The next course was a 2005 Las Piedras couple with bison short ribs, celeriac puree, baby carrots, and a black truffle jus. Wow! The Las Piedras is a cabernet that is grown in rocky soil that gives it it’s namesake. Tasty, pepper, tea, tobacco… This was paired with the base course of the evening. The shortribs were fork-tender with an ample amount of fat braised into the meat giving it a delicious richness. This sat ontop of the starch which was a puree of celery root, delicate and delicious and the whole thing was drizzled with a black truffle scented jus. The whole dish had the earthy, foresty, mushroomy smell of black truffle, the savory tanginess of the jus, the fatty deliciousness of the meat and the complexity and strength of the cabernet. Excellent! Once again, I was denied my request for seconds…
Unfortunately the next dish suffered not because of quality or content, but, simply because it followed the short ribs… Really, the savory part of the meal should have finished on a crescendo of short rib rather than on the denouement of red deer.
The next course was a 2005 Pritchard Hill Cabernet Franc coupled with a red deer tenderloin on roasted kobocha squash puree and a cocoa-ancho jus. The Cab Franc was nice, berries, plumb, tea… refined, complex, tasty… The red deer was well prepared, tender and tasty on a bed of what looked like orange baby food… The squash puree was ok, but, not one of my favorites and I had trouble tasting the chocolate and ancho chilies in the jus. It was all well prepared and well presented, and I probably would have loved it a lot more if it didn’t follow that short rib…
This next one didn’t work… For desert we had a 2005 Napa Valley Zinfandel. The Zin could have commanded a desert of dark chocolate and heavy, candied fruit, but, came with a cardamom creme caramel with balsamic poached cherries. Both the Zin and the desert were great… they just didn’t go together. I think we were all expecting a late harvest something or other, and I actually found it to be a nice surprise that they chose not to go the way of the expected… But…
The cardamom creme caramel was a delicious, aromatic, flan served with the poached cherries. I would have gone a little heavier on the balsamic with the cherries, but, still they were a delicious addition to this desert that would have paired will with a double espresso… Maybe even an Imperial Stout… Somehow, the pairing just didn’t work even though I was happy to drink the wine, and then savor the desert with a cup of coffee (they didn’t have espresso) afterward.
All said and done, it was an enjoyable evening. Meeting new people, listening to the ruckus around us, eating great food and delicious wine, and listening to Cyril tell his stories about his parents driving out to the country and buying the pink house on the hill.
I don’t know if this is representative of the re-opened Rainbow Ranch Lodge, but, I’ll definitely be back.
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