Monday, August 31, 2015


August 29th                 Duck, Duck, Duck, no goose


A favorite protein for us and perfect with Pinot! We have duck very regularly at home in many different preparations and shared this fun with our Wine Club this past weekend.

 
The menu started with Duck Rillette which we love to pair with our Rose' or
our newest addition the 2014 Gewurz. 
A fun Hors D'oeuvre as guests arrived in excitement of the Duck filled night.
This Duck Rillette was made from both Roast Duck and Duck Confit. Recipe coming to our web site.
 
 
 
We started with a new recipe that Mat loves to do, Vietnamese Duck jerky.
The recipe comes from Charles Phan's beef jerky substituted.
A soft jerky with great texture and flavor.
We lined up 3 very different pairing wines:
2014 Rose' of Pinot, 2013 Valdiguie and 2012 TNT Vineyard Pinot Noir.
We always recommend to taste each wine before pairing, and then to taste each wine with the dish.
This snack size course is packed with flavor and the wine preference was tied between the Rose' and the Valdiguie. My personal favorite was the Valdiguie, I had tried it before and believe it really works so well together.
 
3rd course is the classic, Duck Confit ( Duck legs cooked and store in their own fat ).
We poured three Pinot's with very different profiles:
2009 Horseshoe Bend, 2012 Bohemian Vineyard from Freestone and 2012 TNT Vineyard.
 
 
 
   The Confit course was the most difficult to choose the pairing because they all were great together but the table of attendees picked the Bohemian Pinot for 1st place.

Our 4th course was my idea and it was my least successful dish. The duck did not show case as I expected even though it tasted wonderful and the tortilla through off the wines. The winning pair was with the Bohemian Pinot.


Up next, our chef of the night being from New Orleans prepared Duck Gumbo. Using a whole roast duck with the classic recipe. The flavors were amazing and really great with Pinot! all the wines were great pairings but the boldest TNT Vineyard won the pairing.


 Duck breast seared with duck fried potatoes with no surprise. Three Pinot's and unadulterated duck flavors. There was no loser with this pairing. Individuals that love the 2009 Vintage picked that one and people who love the Bohemian picked that and the TNT Vineyard had it's followers as well. The great part is enjoying a fabulously perfect seared Liberty Farms Duck Breast and the wine that does so well with it PINOT!



Lucky for us we have a Wine Club member with great talents as a pastry chef who agreed to create a Duck dessert, Yes folks, the finale was fantastic!!! And no wine, just smiles.


Another fun evening with many of our great Wine Club members. A tight squeeze to have Mat available at the start of a very early harvest, but we did it. Now the next few months are focused on Wine Club Party and the December Celebration Dinner. Our Foodie Seminars will resume next year. Stay tune for 2016 Events.

Saturday, August 22, 2015

August 2015        Harvest is here...



Our 1st vineyard to be picked every year, Ruxton, was picked Monday August 17th. The average harvest date for Ruxton Vineyard is Sept. 7th. I think the average date has just been upped a week or more.

Punch downs and cold soaking are now a daily occurrence and gone are the days of golfing and kayaking, for a few months.




2015 is showing a lot of shatter from the growing season and with the drought, these 2 facts have influenced the beginning of harvest with small crops and early ripening.

We anticipate great quality from the small clusters with a good concentration although come bottling time next summer, there will be a lot less wine. It is always interesting to see what Mother Nature tosses our way.