Sept. 14, 2013

2013 HARVEST update


Aug. 30th we picked the Ruxton Vineyard Pinot, always the very 1st vineyard for us picked. We got 10 tons of Pinot and our average is just over 5 tons. So, this is looking like a high yielding vintage.

TNT Vineyard was picked Thursday Sept. 12th. This is about 10 days to 2 weeks earlier than normal. The fruit was pristine as Tom'n Tanya are meticulous farmers. 8 tons came in.

Horseshoe Bend Pinot, Weeks Vineyard Chardonnay & our new Pinot Vineyard in Freestone, Bohemian Vineyard are all being looked at this weekend by Mat.

The Alegria Cabernet Franc Vineyard was at 20 brix earlier this week.

Our temperatures have drastically dropped since last weekends highs in the 90's.Mornings are foggy and cool at 55 degrees. This will help draw out harvest as a week ago with the high temperatures it was looking like a possible picking frenzie.

As per every harvest, long hours of work and little time for anything else. We look forward to having some great wines and enjoying Thanksgiving in Nov. when we have time to enjoy good food wine with friends and family.

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.

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.

July 21, 2013

Here comes harvest!

Yesterday Mat walked through TNT & Ruxton Vineyards. The Ruxton was at about 20% veraison
The TNT was closer to 2%. This photo is an example of veraison from a previous vintage.

It's looking like another great vintage for us. We'll keep you posted on what's happening in the vineyards & then crush.
An exciting time of year that we anticipate.

July 13, 2013

Foodie Seminar - The world of Truffles

       This months seminar was the 1st to sell out in our summer series.

       Truffles: we started with the expectations of getting fresh summer truffles from Oregon. As the date drew closer, we found that like our 2013 mushroom season, the truffle season suffered from the lack of rain. Our option was frozen truffles or using truffle products. We chose the 2nd option & found it to be a huge success. Initially we were all a little disappointed but in the end, the lower cost & experience was terrific.

     David Campbell, of mycoventures, was our guest speaker & expert on the topic. David is our Mushroom Foray guide every February. He is a  crowd pleaser with his knowledge & enthusiasm on the subject. He offers tours 'Italian truffle & Wine Forays' which was a topic of discussion with our world of truffles evening.

     We prepared 6 food items all enhanced with truffles. We used truffle oil, truffle butter, truffle salt & truffle paste. Our food items included Truffle Tremor cheese from Cypress Grove, Truffled deviled duck eggs, Potato truffle Torte, Sautéed fresh corn with truffle butter, Truffle & Mushroom Risotto. Grilled Beef Filet with truffle salt and the finale was a locally made chocolate truffle.

     The pairings as always, are so fun with several group opinions. The following are the results of favorite pairings...

Truffle Tremor - Tied between our Rose' of  Pinot, Pinot Noir & Valdiguie

Deviled eggs - #1 Chardonnay, 2nd place tie...Rose & Pinot

Potato Torte - Pinot Noir, Chardonnay 2nd,  Valdiguie 3rd

Fresh Corn in truffle butter - Chardonnay / Pinot Noir / Rose' - all tied

Risotto - Pinot Noir then Cab Franc

Filet of Beef - Cab Franc. & then Pinot Noir

     To be totally honest, 50% of the group said Pinot was the favorite for every item. But I like to look at the balance of what is discussed and some people love Pinot so much that nothing compares.
I personally enjoyed the Rose' so much with the 1st two items and was pleasantly surprised that Pinot was not my 1st pick for any pairing accept the risotto.
    
    Once again, the fun energy, educational element & most importantly the Food & Wine were a winning combo.

For future Foodie event calendar see our events page. Email or call for more info

        Savory Spice Shop & Paul Mathew Wines          
        June 2013

Our June Foodie seminar was a great evening of flavors & fun! We focused on four spice blends of very different characters from The Savory Spice shop.

We started with 7 blends and narrowed our pairing down to 4 which we think represent very opposing flavors. Nantucket Rosemary & Citrus, Coastal CA Fennel Pollen, Park Hill Maple & Spice Pepper and Carolina High BBQ Rub.

We prepared each blend on a skinless chicken breast brushed with olive oil then sprinkled with the spice blend on both sides and grilled on our Primo grill.

Focusing on 5 wines, 2012 Rosé of Pinot, 2010 Chardonnay, 2012 Valdigue, 2010 Pinot Noir ( Ruxton Vineyard ) and 2012 Cab Franc, gave plenty of opportunity for discussion.

Everyone tasted through the wines and each spiced chicken individually & we recorded the results to share.

             -          Nantucket blend – 30% for each Chardonnay, Rosé & Valdiguie

            -          Coastal CA - 75% Pinot then Chardonnay & 3^rd was a tie of Vadiguie, Rosé                           Cab Franc
            -          Park Hill Maple – 70% Pinot then all other wines tied ( we all agreed that this    
                          spice  blend  was the most versatile
            -          Carolina High – 50% / 50% Pinot Noir & Rosé

Personally I enjoyed the Rosé and the Cab Franc with every one but the consensus of the group did not. The only way to really know is by trying this at home.

The evening of spice heaven ended with Vindaloo Sweet Potatoes which we have regularly at home, served with 2009 TNT Pinot from the library. Not only was the wine devine but the pairing completed the evening like dessert. This recipe will appear on our recipe page within the month.

Every month our Foodie Seminar focuses on a different local purveyor of Fine Food. Calendar of these events is on our Web site, www.paulmathewvineyards.com

             You can purchase these spice blends on line or if you have a local Savory Spice Shop. www.savoryspiceshop.com

 

May 5, 2013

Savory Spice Shop

Our next Foodie Seminar, June 22^nd is sure to be a big hit.

This shop is an adventure for Foodie’s to visit. I went right to the curry section which had more selection than I’ve seen before. Smelling the spice jars,  reading the labels, I was lost in a heaven of Food thoughts.

When Pat & Cheryl, owners of the Savory Spice Shop came for our initial meting, the discussion was not far from my heaven but this time of recipes and wine pairings.

We will have a guest chef preparing 4 samples of chosen spice blends that will be paired with 4 different wines although, the idea is to try all and discover your own conclusion.

 

Another fun evening to book if you’re not already reserved.

Limited seating. For reservation 707 865 2505