SOUTHERN THYMES SHARED IN TENNESSEE

HISTORIC WINE DINNER

“A wonderful book honoring the culinary legacy of Thomas Jefferson.”

NORMANDY, Tennessee. “Thomas Jefferson would be very proud,” David Hazelwood declared at the conclusion of a highly successful wine dinner. Southern Thymes Shared, the cookbook with wine pairings that follows Jefferson’s dining tradition of serving fresh Southern food with Old and New World wines, inspired the gourmet event. Hazelwood, who has read many scholarly books about Thomas Jefferson, added that the evening at Corner Mill, the gourmet restaurant on the Duck River in Normandy, Tennessee, had “historic implications.”

Celebrating with David and Claudia Hazelwood (holding book)

Prior to the five-course dinner, Southern Thymes Shared was introduced to the public at large and dinner guests with co-author Doc Lawrence on hand for signing and personalization. Speaking before a packed restaurant, both Hazelwood and Lawrence elaborated on the recipes and the wine selections. “Every wine,” said Mr. Hazelwood, “came from a respected Southern winery.” The wines hailed from producers like North Carolina’s Biltmore Estate in Asheville to Natchez Hills Vineyard in Hampshire, Tennessee. But it was Louisiana’s Ponchartrain Vineyards just north of New Orleans that claimed the evening's favorite, a delightful white wine, Roux St. Louis.

Doc Lawrence Signing a Book

Each course was prepared by Cortner Mill Chef Mason Heath and connected deliciously to many of the original recipes created by Lara Lyn Carter in Southern Thymes Shared. “We met with Chef Mason along with other knowledgeable friends and came up with a menu that was true to the spirit of Southern Thymes Shared,” said Hazelwood. He added that the wines were chosen according to compatibility with the flavors of each dish.

“This All-Southern wine dinner happened because of this wonderful cookbook,” Hazelwood observed. “Our evening of food, wine and good cheer honored Jefferson’s living culinary legacy.”

Owned by David and Claudia Hazelwood, Cortner Mill Restaurant, once an important 19th century gristmill, sits beside the roaring waters of the Duck River where the food connection remains. Today, diners enjoy gourmet dishes with wines where local farmers originally came to have corn ground into cornmeal and grits. A short distance away is the Hazelwood’s resort, Parish Patch Farm & Inn, a popular tourist and corporate conference destination acclaimed for its beautiful natural surroundings and superb amenities.

NOTE: Southern Thymes Shared (Pelican Publishing, Gretna, LA 2014) is available on Amazon, at local bookstores and the Monticello Museum Gift Shop in Charlottesville, Virginia.