November 2020

                                                      Going Off Grid

 

We decided after a year of not leaving Sonoma County, to take a road trip to Mendocino and get off the grid. Using a local new business 'Trailhead Vans' we hit the road.

Our 1st stop Penny Royal for a flight of whites and Pinot plus a serious cheese and charcuterie board, all out doors.

 

 

Stop #2, Roederer Estate. No visit to Mendocino on Route 128 happens without a stop here for bubbles. We timed it perfect on a beautiful day in November that almost required shorts.

Our first trip away off road, we booked Hendy Woods campground. We arrived at dusk and found our way to a perfect spot.

 

My first time to Hendy Woods and not my last, incredible trails lead you through massive Redwoods. And that's coming from someone who lives amongst the Redwoods.

Plus a very dry Navarro River.

 

 

The next thing on the very casual slow paced agenda, heading to the coast.

We bought some mussels and a baguette, our van already full of wine that we brought and purchased, we were set for the night.

                               

If you're looking for an easy get away, camp style, trail Head Vans is great. New business in our area gives anyone from out of the area an opportunity to land and go. The Van was stocked with everything we needed other than food and drink. bedding, kitchen equipment, lights, chairs...you name it, they got it.

It's a different kind of travel, especially for a 15 year veteran 'Hotel Industry' person. Getting on the road and knowing you can stop where ever you like and picnic, sleep, tail gate or just nap, very cool. Highly recommend if you're looking for a way to road trip without committing to purchasing all the stuff, these guys have you set.

Give them a call, get off the grid.

cheers, till next time.

 

 

 

 

SPRING 2020

                     SIP, Quarantine, crazy days....whatever you call it

Notice came to us March 15th as we were enjoying our final 'dining out' experience ( that we didn't know ) at Brot restaurant in G'ville. Our Tasting Room would be officially closed to the public the next day.

 Our instant thoughts...free local delivery to Sonoma County and safe curb side pick up's. Plus ship, ship, ship!

 

 

 

             Then we offered a chilled bottle of Rose' with your case order

for locals.

 

              And then we added a 'pick up' location in San Francisco.

With all this going on, I needed a break to laydown in the garden with some wine. We had just announced the release of our 2019 Rose' of Pinot and our first ever 2018 Grenache. These two wines shipped out to all our Wine club members but nobody can come by for a taste yet.

 

 

                While all this is going on, Mat's doing home improvements.

 

 And we're eating really well. Not that we haven't always but, trying lots of new recipes and focusing strongly on vegetables to pair with our new wines.

Artichoke dip recipe experimenting to pair with Rose' of Pinot!

Working out the details to share with you.

                  And catching up on reading plus relaxing in the hammock.

                        Hiking in our neighborhood. No need to get in a car in West Sonoma County, we have this all right here in our backyard.

 

 But mostly reflecting on where we came from and where we will be after.

All the wonderful support we've had via phone calls, emails, love note photos and purchases. Our fans have kept us going financially and emotionally. We love you all and can't wait to welcome you back!

APRIL 2020

 

Human beings can be quarantined, but the human spirit cannot be contained!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We'll all be together again. Stay home, be well, stay healthy!

 

Cheers!

January 2020

This post is so over due. Me, the non procrastinator, yes indeed procrastinated. Harvest came and went, our Annual Library Tasting, Feast Above the River Event, December Celebration and the Holiday Season plus so much more. Here is a recap to update us.

Grapes from TNT Vineyard arrived Sept. 20th, looking fab!


Tom of TNT Vineyard pops in the Tasting Room to get Mat's take of the fruit.
 
Our Annual 'Library Tasting' and Dinner in Sept. We poured Pinot's going back to 2008. Tasting line up of Pinot's included wines from 2008, 2009, 2010. These wines are tasting really wonderful and this special weekend is the only time we offer this opportunity to taste and buy a selection from our library.


Feast above the River Sunday October 6th on the pedestrian bridge in Guerneville. The Russian River Chamber of Commerce Fall Fundraiser spectacular was a 6 course dinner for 150 people on the bridge. A huge success and we were there serving magnums of wine plus a double magnum. Photo from the Press Democrat.

One table, 150 people, 40 magnums of local wine and 6 local chef's plating a dinner to be remembered.

 

 Mat getting involved with the wine service at the Feast.

Table setting for the Feast included a logo cookie made and donated by Fabino Baking who is a dedicated baker and loyal Wine club member.

Apres harvest visit to the Sonoma Coast for some mussels and a great sunset at Timber Cove Inn.

 

A very apropos puzzle to start our Fall puzzle season, Mother Earth. The entire time this puzzle was in progress was a reminder of the need to pay more attention to Mother Earth!

 

A visit from nephews and nieces from Michigan and Oregon called for a barrel tasting in the cellar. It seems like forever since we've done this really fun tasting. It is so informative to hear Mat speak about the effects of barrel aging and the difference between barrel toasts. Available by appointment only and date specific.

 

 

 Taste West County, a group of 15 wineries in West county collaborating on marketing to bring awareness and guests to West County Wine region. In December all wineries offered a special 'Holiday Tasting'  that included a scavenger hunt and specials. Our first year involved and what a great day we had.

 

Closing of our 20th Anniversary in business. Mat started Paul Mathew Vineyards in 1999. We celebrated in style with many magnums, bubbles and our gathering of our wonderful local Wine Club members.

 

In mid August 2019 Mat was diagnosed with prostate cancer, 15 years after a blood test had concerning results that he was not told about.

 

Now six months later, after many tests and surgery, here we are still in the unknown, awaiting the next test. I have no idea where we will be next month. Mat is strong and doing amazing, a winemaker who is not drinking wine temporarily, hoping to clear his body. Thank you Brene Brown, I was uncertain if I should post this info. But, here it is. If you've made it to our page and our blog and to the bottom of this post, you now understand why I procrastinated this post.

We survived another year and hoping for 2020 to be a good one.

For The LOVE of Viognier                                             July 27, 2019


We made our first Viognier in 2017 and have so enjoyed the food pairings.
With our second release this month, we gathered Viognier lovers for a blind tasting and five course Dinner to show case our 2018 Russian River Viognier.

The blind tasting consisted of five viognier's including ours. It was much harder to find viognier's from different corners of the world currently. I looked in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and found enough selection with varied price points to make it interesting. And it was! The response was great and the wines were a good spectrum of characteristics of this wonderful varietal.

 

         
From $15 - $75, from Rhone to Languedoc-Roussillon, from Willamette to San Luis Obispo with a Russian River in between. The wines were really fun and each of them were favored by some of the guests.

Characteristics from salty, bacon fat, honey, floral, peach fuzz, vanilla, mineral, creamy, viscosity, to mango. A lot of fun notes from this eclectic group of wines. We used every glass in the room and now the food....

 

First course - carrot salad with feta, mint and harissa. A truly great combination and FAB- u-lous with our Viognier! Every morsel was enjoyed, what a great start. Recipe will be added to our web site soon.

 

Next up, seared scallops with fennel pollen on fennel puree, blood orange slice and sauce with nicoise olives, a favorite dish of the night.

 

 

We added 2 other wines to the mix to see how well our menu pairings panned out. Our Manchester Ridge Pinot Noir from Mendocino 2017 and our 2015 Russian River Valley which is a blend of three vineyards.
The Mendocino Pinot definitely competed with the Viognier but the RRV was not in the competition even though it was enjoyed.

Next course was fresh peach, burrata, prosciutto with our favorite local Nightengale Baguette. This is a wonderful combination of flavors that can go well with many white wines. The peach stears it towards Viognier but Rose' would work well also.

 

One of our favorite dishes to make is curry. We enjoy our Pinot's with a variety of curry dishes as well as Viognier. Tonight's Chicken Coconut Curry is mellow on the spice served with quinoa and really well paired with viognier.

 

 

At this point everyone was slowing down on eating and drinking, we only have one more tiny sweet treat to finish, a cookie with peach jam, a special cheese delivered by Freestone Artisan Cheese shop and a late harvest viognier.

 

And thus another fun night of food, wine and great people is done. Just dishes and clean up left.

Next month - Oyster Palooza and a BBQ. Life is good.