Sunday, August 14, 2016


August 13, 2016

                               Celebrating the Gravenstein Apple


This month our featured food product is the Gravenstein Apple. What fun to see the trucks pass the tasting room with loads of these wonderful mostly green with red stripe fruits being transported.



The Annual Gravenstein Apple Fair falls on this weekend as well. A fun family fair full of apple opportunities, arts and music.

We here focus on foods that will pair with our wines. And we follow up by explaining what really did pair best from the groups evening of samples. The dishes prepared are all from the Farm Trails "Apple Cook Book ' which is a collection of recipes from the Fair's competitions over the years, the participating farmers and the Farm Trail team. A really nice collection of sweet and savory recipes.
We are featuring the savory....

#1 Belgian Endive stuffed with apple, goat cheese and walnuts. This was my personal favorite course, I will prepare this for a party or 1st course in the future. Light and flavorful, easy to make. A nice blend of ingredients placed in a endive cup. The wine pairings were really fun too, the winning pairing was our 2013 Chardonnay with Brut Rose' coming in second.




Chardonnay pulled chicken sliders with Gravenstein Apple slaw. What's not to love with this spicy and probably healthier that most sliders. The crunchy apple slaw makes it extra special.
We tasted four wines and unanimously our 2013 Bohemian Vineyard Pinot Noir won. All the wines were enjoyed with this course.




Apple Risotto, what a treat and unique dish. The risotto was made with apple juice instead of stock and chunks of apple. We discussed how great it would be as a side to grilled pork or seared scallops. The wine pairing was a real mix, the Gewurztraminer, Valdiguie and Pinot Noir were evenly enjoyed by the group. There was no single winner. That's not so common.



Braised Duck  with Apple and Cabbage, the favorite course of the evening and favored with our very special Bohemian Vineyard Pinot noir.



Filo Triangles with Gravenstein Chutney and Cheddar, also tried blue cheese. What a fun food and wine pairing! Both the Brut Rose' and the 2012 Syrah were fabulous! A great finish to a flavorful dining experience.




A special addition, our Forestville Bakery, Nightengale, Gravenstein Bread which is a special made only once a year. We all loved this savory bread and will be excited for it's return next August.

Any of these recipes can be requested but we will only add a couple of them to our recipe page.

The #1 take away was the versatility of the apple ingredient. The array of wines that worked. Another very nice food and wine learning experience.