May 17th
Freestone Artisan Cheese and Paul Mathew Wines

Omar is such a delight to listen to, owner and cheese monger of Freestone Artisan Cheese. His cheese chatter is entertaining and insightful.

The selection of cheeses for this evenings tasting ran the full range, all local plus one from Wisconsin. Sheep, cow and goat were all present. Soft, gooey, semi and hard, all represented as well. To pair, we poured 2013 Rose' of Pinot, 2011 Chardonnay, 2012 Valdiguie and 2011 RRV Pinot.
The toughest job was to keep the crowd focused and get through tasting each cheese with each wine.

We did it!!!!!  The results are fascinating. The real truth is cheese is a very difficult subject for wine pairings, many don't work. My rule of thumb, where it's made. ie: Sancerre ( sauvignon blanc ) and goat cheese. We don't make a SB, so the closest, our 2013 Rose' of Pinot. Stainless steel fermentation, dry and crisp. Yet, this didn't really work with the goat cheese but the Pinot Noir did. We're not in France. The rules don't really apply because in CA all the cheeses are made in Sonoma / Marin Counties from all different milks. And our Sauvignon Blancs, Chardonnays and Pinot Noir styles run a full range as well. So, here are the results from out tasting....

Pugs Leap ( goat ) - semi soft. Went OK with Rose' which was expected to go best. Chardonnay was the favorite pairing with this cheese.
The Bomb by Bohemian Creamery ( cow ) - Rose' was the winning pair although Pinot came in second.
Gypsy ( goat ) - Non were great/ all were OK. The cheese was FAB!
Weirauch ( cow ) - What a wonderful cheese! We agreed that the wines were once again all OK but
Pepato, Bethweather ( sheep ) - One of the favorite cheeses and well paired with Pinot
Marissa from Wisconsin ( Sheep ) - Hard cheese that did pretty well with the Pinot. Mat G. liked it with the Rose' too.
Camembert - yummy, creamy not so great with any wine but wonderful with Nightengale Baguette!!!

The greatest quote of the night "Wine and cheese are two Diva's struggling for the title". Thank you Omar for enlightening us with fabulous cheese and some great cheese banter.

Never stop tasting cheese and wine or wine and cheese, whichever way you prefer to view it.
cheers

March 2014  Cheese, cheese & more cheese talk

We kicked off the 8th Annual Artisan Cheese Festival with our sold out "Foodie Seminar" featuring
'Mac & Cheese' by Laura Werlin.

Four recipes from the book were tasted one at a time with a line up of Paul Mathew wines.
We enjoy the discussion more than anything, as every time new pairings, surprising pairings and group conclusions never seize to amuse.

We started with a big winner from page 42, Truffle, cream and mushroom

#2. South of the border, page 127 - a surprising winner for me.

#3. Sonoma mac & cheese, page 33, which is loaded with our fabulous local cheeses.

#4. Cheddar, bacon and roast tomatoes page 16.

The results are usually divided but a group consensus verses my personal choice. So I give you both.

The line up of wines were Rose' of Pinot 2013, 2011 Chardonnay, 2012 Valdiguie and RRV Pinot 2011. We added a Cab Franc taste with the final recipe for fun.

Truffle, cream and mushroom was the over all winning recipe and the group decided that the dish went with ALL the wines, excluding cab franc which we did not taste. The rich combination of truffle and locally sourced mushrooms would be expected for Pinot Noir. The Rose' and chardonnay tied first place for me although much of the group liked the Valdiguie best. Agree to agree that there was not a bad pairing.

South of the border was the real thrill for me. A green tomatillo influenced dish that I loved with our Chardonnay and Rose'. A perfect summer dish which I don't usually associate with mac and cheese.
And then the die hard Valdiguie fans would not budge on this favorite pairing.

Sonoma mac and cheese influenced by Pt. Reyes Toma and Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam is so rich and wonderful. A true mac and cheese lovers recipe. Valdiguie was the #1 pick for wine pairing and then there was me solidly sold on Chardonnay. This is amazing because I am truly not a Chardonnay grape fan but I am a fan of perfect pairings.

Cheddar, bacon and roast tomatoes changed things up. The addition of meat brought on the Cab Franc taste which tied 50/50 with the Pinot. Group consensus, no seperaters on this.

All in all, another fun filled night of food and wine banter.


And then Friday, Saturday & Sunday Artisan Cheese Festival fun...

JANUARY 2014
    Winter Wine Land

Our 1st official Winter Wine Land was a huge success!

We featured 2 local products paired with Paul Mathew wines.
Redwood Hills cheeses, Chili Chevre, Crottin & aged Cheddar.
Plus Earth Bounty Chardonnay onion jam.
The pairings were as follows:
                 2012 Chardonnay, Weeks Vineyard - Crottin & onion jam
                 2011 Pinot Noir, TNT Vineyard - aged Cheddar
                 2012 Cab Franc, Alegria Vineyard - Chili Chevre

People responded so well to the pairings and it was fun focusing on local products that we believe in.

These products can be purchased locally as well in our Tasting Room.

This was the kick off to our Tasting Room stocking 'picnic foods' in our new fridge.
You nay come by for a tasting and stay for a picnic. No need to stop on your way.

Winter Wine Land was a beautiful sunny January that more resembled Spring in Graton than Winter.
So it was kind of a Spring Wine Land in Graton and our backyard.

December Celebration 2013

Our 6th Annual Celebration Dinner was another wonderful evening of Food and Wine.

Chef Tai Olesky, chef / owner of Mosaic Restaurant in Forestville that closed in 2009, agreed to cater this one time a year event.

We began the evening with a reception of all newly bottled unreleased wines. The 2012's are so exciting, the evening started with a great buzz that continued through each of the 5 course dinner.

The dinner is set up with all library wines, although Mat snuck in a new 2012 favorite for a perfect pairing.Wines being paired dated back to 2005 and included 2007 and 2010 Chardonnay from magnum.

The menu was a combination of 'must have's' from the Mosaic menu and some local winter specialties that included the infamous Dungeness crab and local mushrooms. Every setting had two wine pairings for each course. In between courses the discussion of which of the two wines went best with the food. Fortunately each one had a 50/50 response of favorites. It's always a joy to see a table of friends discussing which pairing stood out to them.

The evening ended with a standing ovation for the chef and a toast to the end of a great year and a cheer to the new year ahead.

October 2013

Grilled Cheese, please with Laura Werlin, Paul Mathew wines and guest chef Crista Luedtke of boon eat & drink and Big Bottom Market.

This October's Foodie Seminar included guest speaker Laura Werlin and each guest received a signed copy of the book.

We started by picking five recipes that were all very different from each other. Each recipe incorporated different cheeses, breads as well as other ingredients. We purchased all the bread from Della Fattoria in Petaluma, one of our favorite bakeries.

With the line up of sandwiches, we offered four different Paul Mathew wines, Chardonnay, Valdiguie, Pinot Noir and Cab Franc. The idea was that every person taste each sandwich with each wine. And they did.

The outcome of pairing preference is always fun and sometimes very surprising.

Double cheddar with Tomato jam - first place pairing Chardonnay. Second place Pinot Noir / tied     
                                                         with Cab Franc. This sandwich was one of the two favorite
                                                         recipes of the evening.

Mozzarella with Proscuitto - First place pairing was Cab Franc. Second place Valdiguie. Although
                                               LW and 2 others preferred the Pinot.

Cheese and cherries -  This sandwich was one of the Favorites of the evening and the pairing was tied
                                  for first place between Valdiguie and Pinot Noir. Great flavors and so fun to pair


Balsamic glazed carrots and Havarti - all or none. This very unusual sandwich was not the favorite 
                                                             and none of us felt it was perfect with any of the wines.

Gorgonzola, Hazelnut and Honey - we had to try it even though we didn't expect the magical pairing.
                                                         Fun sandwich and with additional honey even funner. But pairing
                                                         was limited. Some liked the Cab Franc but many did not.

The greatest thing about Food and Wine is the enjoyment of tasting and discussing the flavors.
We look for to 2014's Mac and Cheese, please with Laura Werlin.

Oct. 2, 2013

Cab Franc and Cab Franc foods

This was the topic of our Sept. Foodie Seminar.

All due to our love of Cab Franc: In 2012 we made our first Cab Franc from Alegria Vineyard in the Russian River Valley. We bottled late February and released it in April. People are often thrilled to see a 100% Cab Franc and sales prove this. Our 200 case production is half sold.

We chose this topic for many reasons:
    One - Knowing the foods that pair with our Cab Franc assists in the joy our customers will have    
              with a purchase and recommendation.
    Two - people often seem confused why our Cab Franc is in a Burgundy bottle.
    Three - Many people have come out of the woodwork claiming to be Cab Franc fans
     Four - we did a blind tasting of Cab Franc's after we had signed the contract last year to
                purchase the grapes and wanted to do some research. We enjoyed the tasting so much, we
                wanted to share our findings.

So, what was the outcome, Read more about our evening.....

We started with 4 glasses per person and did two flights. The wines were all wrapped in paper bags & unknown to all participants.
The first flight of four had two French wines and two Californian. The room was not really divided but the favorite was the last wine, Paul Mathew.
The second flight featured a New Zealand, Finger Lakes, Sonoma and a Napa. These wines all had hands up but the favorite two were the Sonoma and the Finger Lakes.

Once we unleashed the line up of wines, everyone was able to retaste the wines & pick what wine to pair with our foods.

The Foods: we discovered that Cab Franc goes really well with tomato based foods. So, we had Backyard Restaurant chef Daniel in Forestville prepare four food items:
      Crostini with tomato jam and lardo
      Ratatouie
      Moussaka
      Paella with chicken and chorizo

Everyone was fairly divided with favorites but there was a consistent result; the Cab Francs were great with the food. The New Zealand showed well with the Ratatouie, Paul Mathew showed with the Lardo crostini. I loved the Mossaka!

cheers to another fun evening of food & wine.

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.