Nola in Graton   -  Saturday April 13th


 Mat and I took a vacation to New Orleans in January. The food scene is unique and different. We also have a chef friend that lives in Sonoma county. All these components came together for our Foodie Night in April.

We started with three wines to taste with each course, our newly bottled 2018 Rose' of Pinot, a new wine for us and Mat's pick, 2017 Manchester Ridge Pinot plus 2015 TNT Vineyard pinot. Really three completely different wines.

From Mat's days working at a Restaurant in Calistoga owned by a Nola Chef - Bienville Oysters. Traditionally made with mushrooms and shrimp, tonight we used Mat's locally foraged black trumpet mushrooms and crawfish.

Big oysters, big taste and rich. These were truly enjoyed even by a few people that told me they never eat cooked oysters. The purist that only eats raw oysters LOVED them!

 

The winning wine for the group was the Manchester Pinot. This is the dish that Mat wanted specifically paired with the winning wine. My favorite was hands down Rose' of Pinot.

 

Next course: Alligator and Boudin Balls with remoulade sauce.

 

Once again the Manchester Pinot won the favorite pairing although, I'm sticking with Rose' on this one too. I think Brut Rose' could of won if we gave it as an option.
It was a little over whelming as this dish had 2 proteins but the sauce was really the driving force for the pairing.

We had purple, gold and green napkins and some beads to add to the ambience. Many of the diners were wearing the beads too!

The next course, not on the menu and what we called the "Graton" course, a mixed greens with a creole mustard vinaigrette.

Main dish a classic seafood gumbo. For this I had to pull out our Syrah from 2016, which did win the best pairing. Not as pretty in picture but truly a great dish with such great flavors!

 

The all red line up. 

 

 
We did finish with beignets that had no wine pairing. We don't usually offer dessert but a Nola Dinner isn't really complete without them. Prepping beignets....

and then eating them warm.

 Some really great table art...

 

Also some really great notes.

 

And more great table art!

Next up Rose' Dinner with another guest chef. It's so much fun playing with flavors, food, wine all in our Dining room.

  
             Puzzle Season is officially over


            When the cool days and rain arrive, we start having a puzzle in the Tasting Room for us and   
             our guests. It's amazing to see people totally drawn in or vice versa.

            The sun is now shining and puzzle season is OVER! This was a really long puzzle season for  
            us. We had a great season with a lot of participation and so many rainy days to assist with the 
            focus.


            The first puzzle of the season, very apropos...Fall vegetables and gords

 

 

After that, colorful and playful.

Then a local flare, farming and agriculture...lots of fun to do. Not to difficult. Completed in a couple weeks.

We put our 17 year old cat down and in the midst of sadness, we were gifted this puzzle. It was a delightful process to complete,


And then A very challenging cloudy view of the San Francisco skyline. Almost complete, thanks to a few of our regular friends that enjoy contributing to the picture.

 

Daunting to say the least but finally 24 hours before my deadline, the final pieces were placed. Nobody to witness. 10 minutes after it was done, it was back in the box. The rains are over and so its this puzzle season.

Okay everyone, I'll give you a few weeks more to get this done. Spring sunshine does not lend to staying inside to puzzle.

 It's been a great productive puzzle season. Until next Winter. cheers



 

March 2019     Floods, Cheese Fest and some nice news

These current times in Sonoma County are challenging to say the least but there are bright moments and lots of hope for better days!

We have had record rains which wreaked havoc on West County. A few businesses affected and not open currently with hopes of being back up and running by May. Most everything is open and happy to see visitors from near and far!
With all this coming after a struggling economy from 2 years of fall fires.

 

We still have hope and some great local writers producing articles of mouth watering day trips that have included us. These put a smile on my face.

Link to article
https://www.sonomacounty.com/articles/guide-wine-tasting-graton


https://thepress.sfchronicle.com/review/occidental-freestone/


Another happy moment.... sneak peak taste of our 2018 Rose', which I am so excited about and we have a list of orders already. Cannot wait to have this bottled! Going out in the Spring Wine Club shipment.

The 12th Annual cheese Festival is always uplifting and SOLD OUT! We save this date early on to ensure our participation to pour our wines. Guests visit from all over to learn, tour and taste the great cheeses from local and not so local producers.

Evening 'Bite Competition' focuses on food bites made by chef's and cheese mongers highlighting a specific cheese. So yummy!

Wine of the week. How exciting to receive the news that our 2016 Cab Franc was a hit for the Press Democrat tasting panel and picked for this final 'wine of the week' for March.

You can read the articles in the two links below...

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/lifestyle/9434724-181/paul-mathew-cab-franc-a

 https://www.pressdemocrat.com/lifestyle/9445330-181/pairing-cab-franc-soars-with?sba=AAS

With all this said, we are sick of the rain but Thankful for a lot. Our local support and loyal followers, and our Wine Club! April is just now here, thankfully!!!!!!