Wine glasses clinked together as all smiled and cheered in unison at the ballroom at the Four Seasons Vail on Wednesday, April 2. They were celebrating the announcement for the best pairing at the Smack Down event between Vail restaurants Flame (link) and La Tour (link). The winner was Flame’s 7X ribeye dish paired with the Lancaster Cabernet from the vineyards of Sonoma Valley.

Patrons licked their lips at the pristine combination: a heavy wine with a heavily marbled beef. The restaurant La Tour was so thrilled with the reaction of 7X Beef at the Smack Down that they changed their dish last minute for the Taste of Vail’s Grand Tasting on Saturday, April 5.

La Tour chefs prepared seared 7X ribeye on a Himalayan Salt board for hundreds of foodies at the Grand Tasting at the Marriot Vail. Within minutes, the buzz around 7X Beef and La Tour had spread throughout the room. The demand for La Tour’s dish was so high they ran out of beef before the end of the event.

La Tour’s owner and executive chef, Paul Ferzacca was very impressed with the turnout.

“I’ve been doing this for 22 years and I’ve never seen a line like that,” he said at the end of the successful evening.

The buzzword of the night was “7X” and the taste of the beef drew people from all ends of the room to sample La Tour’s dish.

“This ultra-premium all natural Colorado beef is THE REAL DEAL,” Ferzacca said. “I have served Kobe Beef and Wagyu Beef in my restaurant and it sure is a pleasure to have one of the best if not the best beef in the world being raised locally in my backyard.”