The esteemed Marty Thalman invited me to the Fifth Annual Redstone Meadery and 4580 Dinner, and having been to a number of wine or beer dinners, I was quite intrigued what a mead dinner would entail… or, taste like, I suppose.

I write this post now as a total convert to Redstone Mead as a beverage to be enjoyed (responsibly) quite often. Last month, however, I was nary familiar with the locally brewed honey wine. I accepted the dinner invitation, finished a cocktail tour, and caught a bus up Broadway to Restaurant 4580. Disclaimer: I had been on a cocktail tour just moments before attending this dinner… for what it’s worth.

We started with a Black Rascal, a beverage of Avery White Rascal and Redstone Black Raspberry. I’m a big fan of beer cocktails, and actually make a Honey Pepper Vodka White Rascal cocktail myself, so from the first sip that evening I was open minded and excited to explore the different tastes of Redstone Mead.

Then, I caught a glimpse of the menu- it turns out they were not just pairing dishes with mead, they were incorporating mead into some of the food, too. Very cool.

Our first course was Winter Spiced Vanilla Bean and Cinnamon Mead and Butternut Squash Soup with Golden Raisins and Toasted Walnuts. What a mouthful… The  flavors of Vanilla Beans and Cinnamon Sticks Mountain Honey Wine go really well with butternut squash.

This was paired with Redstone’s Sunshine Nectar, which is made with apricots for a crisp, tart, more traditional-tasting mead, but by no means is it an overly fruity beverage. 

Our second course was Seared Hawaiian Ono, Ginger Sesame Cous Cous with Cure Farms Kale, and a Mango Mead Reduction. This was served with Redstone’s Mango Nectar, and, I must say, it was really cool to have the brewer, Marty Thalman, pouring my glass of mead. Really cool.

Our third course was Salmon Creek Farms Pork Sausage, Apple and Fennel Cake, Munson Farm Spiced Acorn Squash Purée and Nectar of the Hops Demi Glaze, paired with Redstone Nectar of the Hops- a dry hopped version of their Nectar, and one of my favorite meads.

Course number four was Prosciutto and feta roasted stuffed whole quail with cippolini onion, orzo, and braised cabbage with a Stranahan’s Barrel Aged Honey Mead Broth paired with Redstone’s Barrel Aged Traditional (a mead released in the fall of 2012 that was bottled in 2006).

Dessert, our fifth course, was an Apple and Plum Mead Tart Tatin served with Boulder’s Glacier Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and a Juniper Berry Mead Sauce. We sipped some Redstone Vanilla Beans & Cinnamon Sticks Mountain Honey Wine with this. This particular mead is Redstone’s annual “winter solstice” release, which is a holiday favorite for Redstone mead fans.

After a nice ‘thanks for coming’ speech by Redstone Owner David Meyers and Restaurant 4580 owner Martin Hammer, we were served a few sips of a very special treat- Redstone’s 2005 Black Raspberry Reserve. This is almost like a Ruby Port wine with its gorgeous ruby red color, and it was a real privilege to taste such a limited release.

4580 did a great job on the food, and Redstone Meadery clearly produces some fantastic beverages. So, I left the meal not only quite satiated, but with the need to go on one of the free tours and tastings at Redstone Meadery. Time to get to know the nectar of the gods a little better.