Thursday, August 29, 2013

August 24th, 2013

Freestone Ranch Foodie Seminar

Last weekend we hosted our August Foodie Seminar with Susan Brady, female rancher @ Freestone Ranch.

Our beef focused evening was a culinary treat. We focused mostly on red wines although the Rose of Pinot shows well with a few of the dishes. The following will explain the prepared foods and favorite pairings of the evening.

We started with an amuse bouche beef broth, this was to get the taste buds prepped for the many coming beef dishes.

Carpaccio ( beef filet ) - we had a 3 way split of favorites:
                     2012 Rose' of Pinot / 2010 TNT Vineyard Pinot Noir / 2012 Cab Franc

Meatballs ( Joy of cooking recipe ) - 2012 Cab Franc won 1st place followed
                    2nd - 2010 TNT Vineyard Pinot Noir   and 3rd 2010 RRV Pinot

Short Ribs ( Adhoc cook book ) - One of Mat's favorite foods to cook and fun to pair. We had a tie
                     for best pairing: 2010 RRV Pinot & 2012 Cab Franc

Rib eye Grilled with salt & pepper - The winning wine was 2010 RRV Pinot
                     In 2nd place was a 50/50 tie between 2012 Cab Franc / 2010 TNT Pinot

 
Beef Jerky ( Charles Phan cook book ) - We had a 50/50 tie between the 2 Pinot's although Mat
                     really likes the 2012 Rose of Pinot with this beef preparation and surprising that the Cab
                     Franc was not well matched.

All in all another fun evening of Food & Wine.





Thursday, August 15, 2013


August 15, 2013

Busy days here in Sonoma:
          Started the month off in Traverse City, MI visiting family. Snuck in a little wine tasting    
          which was thoroughly enjoyable & different from Sonoma ( came back with a mixed case of 
          Riesling, Pinot Gris & Cab Franc ). Viewed some beautiful sunflower fields, kayaked the Platt
          River, and got a little Horseshoeing in. All round great trip!

         Now it's back to bottling & checking up on vineyards. Veraison is pretty much complete so,    
         the count down begins.