Tasting Room 10th Anniversary Celebration 

September 1st 2012 we received the keys to the Tasting Room location at 9060 Graton Road. For 2 months during the harvest season as Mat worked at creating another incredible vintage of our wines, Barb was creating the space that we are celebrating 10 years of business. The best decision of our life.

November 3rd 2012 we opened the doors. Our very 1st customer had no idea that her cash purhase was our very 1st dollar and 1st customer. Still on display at the tasting bar.

40 of our beloved wine club members joined us to celebrate the momentous occasion with a 6 course dinner and many many large format wines all from the library.

                                                       

One of many traditions, the reception has a large wedge of cheese, this year one of the best local cheeses from Valley Ford, Estero Gold. 9.6 pound wheel.

                                    Cambozola and fig pizzettas and our 2017 Blanc de Noir. 

          

The emotional toast that included a scrap book of photos from the 10 year journey and the facts of  some of so many special occasions that include 3 weddings, 3 rehearsal dinners, babies and introductions of friendships and lifelong relationships!

1st sit down course, potato leek soup with a droplet of caviar paired with 2012 Chardonnay double magnum. For many the favorite course and pairing, especially Chardonnay lovers!

            

2nd course salad with avocado, pecans, vinaigrette with 2013 Chardonnay double magnum

                          

3rd course, butternut squash ravioli with 2013 Bohemian Vineyard from double magnum. Our 1st vintage producing Bohemian was 2012.

Main course and wine pairing - Osso Buco with 2009 Ruxton Pinot from a 5 litre bottle ( Imperial size ) The 1st of this size that Mat bottled and opened.

    

To complete the dinner a trio of mignardise was personally selected. Mat's favorite coconut macaroons, Barbs homemade peanut butter cookies and locally made chocolates from Fleur Savage. 

The after party included the magnum of 1985 port that was a wedding gift from Mat's bestie from MI.

     

Mat & Barb could not be more proud of the Paul Mathew Wine Club Family that keeps growing.

The relationships and enjoyment exchanged at the Dining Room tables at 9060 Graton Rd.

                                                   A perfect Tasting Room location to celebrate!

                                                      Cheers to you all for assisting in the success!

 

                                                                           Harvest 2022

Nobody knows exactly when harvest will start until you get a look at the fruit during veraison. When the grape cluster's change color from green to golden yellow, purple or pale pinky red depending on the varietal. A weekly at first then daily assessment decides the picking day. Once you get a good idea of tonage and an idea of how quickly ripening will happen. This is just the start of understanding grape harvest start date.

   Here July 27th, we take a walk through the Bohemian Vineyard in Freestone. Almost zero veraison.

Gewurtz from Olivet road which we were very looking forward to getting, we've made sporadically since 2014. Unfortunately on pick day, the vineyard owner decided to keep all of the small crop.

Viognier mid August looking great.

Bottling in August is daunting when harvest is early, like 2022. We bottled all the red wines August 16th at the same time some wineries were already bringing fruit in.

Exciting but sad to say such small yields from 2021 that the wines will be in high demand and sell out quickly. Especially our 1st Dolcetto, only 75 cases.

Now the harvest is on.....

Earliest pick date for us, TnT Pinot Noir was picked Friday August 26th, usually picks mid September. Everyone was happy to have this beautiful fruit arrive at the winery! With the last few years fear of fires, we always feel a huge sigh of relieve to get the fruit picked. 

Viognier picked early Thursday September first looking quite Fab-u-lous!

Viognier being barreled down September 2nd into neutral oak, we're very happy to have 10 barrels = 200 cases. This wine bottles in early 2023.

Next up is focus on Pinot punch downs and the arrival of new french barrels from France.

Mat goes into the winery twice a day everyday to do punch downs, which keep the skins, stems, seeds in constant contact with the juice. Fermentation creates amazing smells of bubbling berries. It's a very exciting time of year to see the grapes fermenting for our future vintage.

Evening punch down.....

It truly is a wonderful feeling watching a winemakers love of the art of winemaking. Mother nature sets the stage for how our vintage rolls out and we roll with her punches. Labor Day Monday temps rise to 106`.

4 Pinot bins fermenting and Bohemian vineyard left to pick. All is well for PMV this harvest.

We were scheduled to pick Bohemian vineyard Monday September 19th but due to rain on the 18th we postponed. We received almost 3 inches. Leaving the fruit on the vines for a few sunny days will hopefully dry the grapes and we will schedule the pick within the coming week.

Toast with us at the Tasting Room Thursday thru Sunday.

                                                                         LOBSTER!

                                                         Saturday August 13th, 2022

Four years ago as one of our many Foodie Dinner's, we offered a Lobster focused evening. It was a huge success and everyone was so thrilled, we knew we needed to offer a 2nd version of this, so we did.

Lobster is a decadent shellfish that in food preparation is made even more decadent. That explains this evening. Starting with Mat's creation of 'Lobster Rockefeller' which is named after a rich man, hence the name. And thus it was!

We lined up 3 wines to taste with this delicacy, Blanc de noir, Rose' and 2014 Chardonnay from magnum.

The group of wine club members that joined us voted for the best pairing for each course. The first course was great to see, divided equally between all three wines. We did a test run at home a week prior and tested multiple wines and pretty much felt the same. It's amazing that one dish can balance so well with multiple wines so well! The watermelon salad was just a little palate cleanser.

Next up, bisque, pure bliss! and the same three wines but one was clearly the winner and another didn't really work.

2014 was a great vintage and our last vintage that we were able to purchase this incredible Chardonnay from West Sonoma County in Green Valley- sub appellation. We only have a few magnums left and lobster is the deserving factor. And the winner winner lobster dinner with this course and the attendees!

The Rose' really didn't work and the Pinot was liked by a few.

Third course popcorn shrimp is a tough one. I'm not a huge fan of fried food and generally prefer Sparkling wine of any sort with it. But, I wanted to challenge everyone's taste buds and we lined up the rose', chardonnay and 2013 Bohemian vineyard pinot. And sure enough the surprise win went to Pinot almost 100%.

served with a sauce of yogurt, chive and lemon.

Now the crowd is going and we serve lobster mac'n cheese!

Surf and turf, butter poached lobster, grilled filet, pomme frits and Bernaise sauce.

An incredible course that we chose to focus on Pinot, both the 2013 Bohemian Vineyard and 2017 Ruxton were poured. The Bohemian magnum is a beautiful soft blend of red fruits subtle acidity and the Ruxton which is dark and richer from a younger vintage from 750 mL.

A lot of lobster stock went into the preparation on this evening.

And we had to finish just a little sweet treat, lobster sugar cookie.

There was a lot of love in this dinner from the days of prep, the chosen wines, the menu line up and the response from our guests. Another fabulous night at the Paul Mathew Dining Room in Graton.

Next up, we're bottling the 2021 vintage reds and then harvest will begin. Being tired is not a response!