July 8, 2017

An evening of Indian Flavors

We have discussed doing this dinner for at least four years. Our inspiration began with Lopa and Sangeeta and then we met Babita. All three of these women cook their mother foods and each has a slightly different style in life, attire, age and wisdom to bring to the table.

On this long awaited and sold out evening, Babita prepared all vegetarian dishes and Lopa made a Goat Curry.

We love the flavors of Indian Cuisine and love pairing our wines. We did a trial tasting with Babita's dishes and four Paul Mathew wines: 2016 Rose' of Pinot, 2016 Gewurztraminer, 2013 RRV Pinot and 2012 Ruxton Vineyard Pinot. All wines paired supberly with the dishes. Next up, time to share this with our Wine Club Family.

Both of these books also inspired our evening. Food for the Gods was done by Lopa and her husband.

 

 

 The first sampling of Babita's food with our friend Naveed's help.

 Three chutneys to enhance the dishes: Tomato, cilantro / mint and tamarind, my favorite!

 

 Mat prepared a recently tested recipe for Artichoke Fritters that we loved and decided to start our Indian celebration with, plus a slight change. Mat added a little Cayenne and we call them Pakoras

 I love setting the table. Orange menu's and a combination of four napkin colors  brighten our         redwood tables and the Dining Room.

The menu wording does not do this dinner justice

Spicy Potatoes

Egglant Curry

Lentil with Palao

Roti

Goat curry

 

 

We discussed the wine pairings with each of the main dishes and found that everyone agreed that all of the wines went well with each of the dishes. Everyone had favorites that was evenly distributed between each of the Rose', Gewurz and pinot. Gewurz was definitely the love but our 2016 Rose' worked so well and equally Pinot. It comes down to what you want to drink.

 

I'll take all four

 

One week in May                                                May 18, 2017



A Cab Franc Wine Dinner at Harvest Moon Cafe

A few montths ago when I was tasting with Glenda, the Somm at Harvest Moon, we were talking ' Cab Franc '. We were discussing what a great varietal it is and the foods that pair with it. Glenda was in the midst of organizing one of the few Wine Dinners Harvest Moon Café does. This one is all Cab Franc...

Here it is, four courses and five Cab Franc's. 2 Cali wines and 3 French, 2 Chinon and a Cremant. How fun is that!

First up endive filled with seafood / scallop sauce. My favorite dish and paired with the Cab Franc Cremant, very nice. On a warmer than usual late Spring evening, this was perfect!

Our 2015 Cab Franc next paired with charred octopus, loved this pairing. Seaside Metal Restaurant in Guerneville has a charred octopus on the menu that we have loved for years. They will recommend  it paired with our Cab Franc. The char is definitely a good part of the pairing

Two Chinon's were paired next with a roast venison dish, Mat enjoyed this dish. The Chinon's were great both from 2015 vintage. My photo did not do this dish justice.

Next was Lang and Reed Cab Franc from 2013 paired with lamb and potato moussaka. I love our Cab Franc with my moussaka. Both the wine and the food were very different styles from ours, all good. But, I prefer mine and ours.

Our Spring Club Party, all about the summer whites and a couple great Pinot's.

              2016 Rose' of Pinot and 2016 Gewurztraminer  / 2014 TNT Vineyard and 2015 RRV Pinot

Our Oyster guy, hogwash mignonette and Rose' of Pinot. When we only make 65 cases of Rose', it goes only to Wine Club. On a hot day in May it is perfect.

When we pour our Gewurz, people get it, especially when it's paired with Mat's tune ceviche recipe ( on our web site ). This is what I call a perfect pairing. Yum.

The 2 Pinot's for Spring Wine Club are both young, tasting incredible and really fun to pair with this Charles Phan recipe. Fun wines, fun food. The 2015 RRV Pinot is just the beginning of our tiny 2015 vintage production. it was so popular and with only 125 cases, not sure how many non wine club people will even try it.

Visiting Ruxton Vineyard

Around 6:30 am as the sun is rising, A pink reflection off the fog bank. Checking out the just finished flowering vineyard.

                                             A little later in the morning, fog still around

               
The flowering is mostly done in this vineyard, our warmest site being above the fog on a typical day. Now the grape clusters will begin to form.

With May almost behind us and a large array of events, we look forward to SUP, kayaking and golf.
A little break and a chance to breath, smell the flowers and sip on summer wines.

cheers

Dress for a Cure

May 13, 2017

This all started so long ago, I cannot even remember. But, the best part is everything happened so organically, like it was meant to be. We are surrounded by AMAZING people, if you start the conversation.

Iva Hladis created our Dress for a Cure girl. An original by this fabulous artist and dear friend!

Sebastopol Adventure Bootcamp. My team of motivators that I work out with starts with our leader and our MC for Dress for a Cure, Amie Breeze. The beautiful group of 4 women that agreed to donate their time for this Fundraising Event,

The clothing Sponsors were a wonderful combination of retailers and wholesale.

The Clothing, wow, my favorite clothing designers and retail shops all said YES! And donated to the silent Auction.

Indigenous

Susan Hayes Handwovens in Pt. Reyes Station, where I spend my money on a regular basis. ( while doing wine deliveries )

Candace and Christy of Flaunt did the hair & Makeup. I was at ease with the instant bonding being made by all the women involved.

 

The final walk, what great gals who represented the cause and the clothes flawlessly!

 Shelley, a beautiful native of CA. Dressed by Susan Hayes Hand Wovens, what a perfect match. Class all the way!

 

Suzi, one of my first bootcamper introductions, impressed me by her strong commitment to health and well being and a big focus on fun. Suzi wore Indigenous Clothing which is a locally designed wholesale company that can be found in stores across the country.

 

Rachel was the first date booked for a fitting. We met in San Francisco at Cut Loose Outlet Store on Valencia. This afternoon set the stage for the upcoming event. Rachel was an incredible sport and looked great in everything. Cut Loose was made very proud!

  

Tessa, a yoga Instructor, wore Karma Clothing from Sebastopol. Among the yoga clothes are a lot of fun stylish casual wears. I thought the yoga outfit was a great representation of both the model and the clothing store and yet everything she wore shined.

  

 The dream MC! Went above and beyond to exceed my expectations. Shared some sweet stories of the models and extended the information about our sponsors with clarity and perfect timing, kinda like boot camp.

                                  The audience and bidders of our silent auction.
                           We had perfect weather for this backyard Fashion Show.

 Silent Auction made possible by all the wonderful people in our lives, including many Wine Club members and local business owners. Restoration Hardware Athleta, Capabunga, River Soap and on and on...

The incredible Independent Business women that offered appetizers and food bites. Crista Luedtke, owner of boon eat + drink and boon Hotel added so much charisma to Dress for a Cure. This rock star business owner and chef challenger treated our guests with truffle mac'n cheese and pulled pork sliders.


                

                                   A little help from her team

                                               

I feel that every moment of Dress for a Cure filled me with joy and inspiration. All the yes responses  received throughout the months of preparation, gave me hope to move forward. Fundraising is thrilling when surrounded by such incredible people.

Sean Desmond for being a great sport to photograph our event.

Thank you

APRIL 1st

April Fools Day was on a Saturday this year. We decided to do a 'backwards' Dinner. Starting at the end and finishing at the beginning.  We were a little uncertain as the theme is very different from our normal. To our surprise, this Event Sold Out quickly.

We started with Dessert from Patisserie Angelica cheesecake and added many sides, as if it were a Cheese Plate. Served with two wines, 2013 Brut Rose' and 2013 Valdiguie.

 The Cheesecake was circled with options to add, Peach Habanero, Plum Chutney, Fig and Orange Spread, Marcona Almonds, Cured Lemon and Candied Walnuts. The idea was to enhance the cheesecake and taste the wine options. Cheesecake doesn't generally go with wine unless it's some type of Port or Dessert Wine. So the plan to influence the flavor to enable the wine to possibilities. The Brut Rose and our 2013 Valdiguie were the best wines options. Almost all liked the Sparkling with many of the enhancers and we had a like for the plum chutney with the Valdiguie. Might not try this one again.

Next up Entrée - Steak au poivre with local black trumpet mushrooms. We put two wines, Mat's pick and my pick.

 A 2009 TnT Pinot Noir and our 2014 Syrah. The group was divided 50/50 although everyone loved both of the wines. The pairing was even steven. I did like the 2009 TnT Pinot with the course which was Mat's wine pick.

Salad Course next - Classic Wedge Salad. We served three wines, Chardonnay, Rose' and Pinot

 The fourth course was the appetizer, Prawn Cocktail which was served with the 2014 Chardonnay and Brut Rose. The crowd was full and kind of overwhelmed by the backwards influence that they had not realized that eating your Entrée so early would leave little room.  I chose the Brut Rose and the 2016 Rose' of Pinot Noir equally.

The table did not look like this at the end of the evening but many April Fools jokes were discussed. It will be many years before we have this first of April fall on a Saturday to entice our Foodie fans to partake.

Next up, April 2nd.

MARCH Outings so far...

Backyard Restaurant in Forestville does charcuterie....

 The Shuckery in Petaluma, we had oysters, clams and mussels, shrimp and grits, all great. But the blackened Tuna was a stand out...

 Twist Café in Forestville catered our Chamber mixer this month and this Salmon Cheesecake went great with our Brut Rose' and Chardonnay. They also served Coq'au vin which was Fab with Pinot.

A little pre theatre in Santa Rosa at Khoom Lanna...spinach bundles of joy

 

                              A favorite, they call them summer rolls, with peanut sauce.

                                                                            A lot more March to come, come back soon.

 February 2017

Mushroom Foray and Crab Dinner

We usually only do one event per month although a request for a Crab Dinner at the Tasting Room sounded so great, how could we refuse!


Feb. 4th was the Annual Mushroom Foray in Cazadero. We had another sold out crowd. This year we had a couple from Upstate New York, a group from Reno and many from San Francisco and Alameda. So great to have these people make the extra effort to enjoy our event.

We were extremely lucky with the weather, a break from rain made for an ever so delightful hike in the woods. It started raining later in the day when we were done.

 Mat the chef busy in the kitchen preparing lunch for 40. Liberty Duck Confit, black Trumpet Mashed Potatoes,  and Caesar Salad with Nightengale croutons.

The creek under the bridge has never been so full.

 The group gathered around the display of mushrooms listening to David explain the world of mushrooms. What to eat and not and so mush more, the crowd is paying close attention.

Next up, our Crab Dinner

With Dungeness crab being such a local favorite, we eat as much as we can during the short season from late November til the start of Spring. There is so much to do with Crab!

Here we go, 14 people, 15 large crabs and many Paul Mathew wines paired. Let's see what wines were chosen as the best pairing for each course.

Crab Bisque started this evening off. This traditional soup is rich and wonderful. We paired it with three wines, Rose' of Pinot, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir...the winner was the chardonnay.

Crab Salad up next, with avacado. We paired this with all white wines, Brut Rose', Gewurz, Chardonnay and Rose' of Pinot Noir. We had a three way tie, between Brut Rose, Gewurz and Chardonnay

Crab Cakes, who doesn't love eating crab that was shelled for you, combined with bell pepper, herbs and spices and lightly pan fried, yes please. And it pairs with all the wines we try, Rose', Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Theb favorite of this evening was Brut Rose'.

         One of our guests thought the Chardonnay was best with every course,

                                                                                                he loves crab with Chardonnay.

Our house hold favorite crab preparation, roast crab. This is the first meal Mat made for me and we continue to enjoy it at the start of every crab season until we need to try a different recipe. We have served this to all our friends and it never siezes to please. Roast crab tossed with garlic, thyme, fennel, chile flakes and olive oil - then baked. Pinot Noir won the best wine pairing.

The chef comes out....

A little heart cookie to finish our February Foodie dinner. All you need is LOVE!