by Christina Waters | May 30, 2010 | Wine |
21st Annual Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association
Vintners’ Festival
Think of it as a lively, scenic opportunity to taste rare premium wines from area wineries along with tasty finger foods from local chefs. The 21st annual event is spread over two weekends. Look for new releases and barrel tastings, plus live music, food and demos by local chefs, art displays and more. This weekend, wineries will participate in 15 locations in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
June 12-13, 11am – 5pm. $30 advance, $35 door of participating wineries. Tickets include a commemorative wine glass.
For map and details: SCMWA on the web, or by calling 685-WINE. Â
by Christina Waters | May 28, 2010 | Home, Wine |
A lovely wine, this 2007 Hunter Hill pinot noir from the Santa Cruz Mountains. We tried it last night with Alaskan King salmon, polenta and braised kale. The wine opened quickly into a dynamic mix of plums, cloves and licorice. And it just kept coming.
For my money—a well-spent $24—I feel a slight disconnect between the label’s primary image, an abalone shell, and the winery’s name, Hunter Hill. Clearly there’s something I’m missing here. But it’s not about to stop me from being crazy about this wine.
Go get some and see what you think. (Also, get back to me about the label.)
by Christina Waters | May 20, 2010 | Home, Wine |
Cabrillo College’s culinary students teamed up with the Surf City Vintners for the first annual Dare to Pair food and wine challenge on May 22. And in a nutshell, we came, we munched, we sipped.
Teams of culinary students paired with wine from each of the 12 Surf City wineries took the challenge to dream up dishes that exactly matched the flavor tones of the wines. Then they came to the wineries and did a little “remote cooking.”
It was one of those sensual events that made for delicious flavors, plenty of quality schmoozing and more than a little culinary education. The student chefs (more…)
by Christina Waters | May 19, 2010 | Wine |
Chef Lionel le Morvan of Ma Maison knows his way around paté. His wonderful appetizers and even more wonderful pistachio macaroons (the kind they make at Ladurée in Paris) were a big hit at last week’s New Music Works garden gala.
Now he’s met his match—winemaker Richard Alfaro (shown here in a characteristic pose), and next weekend the two will team up, menu and Alfaro Family Vineyard wines, for a special Friday night dinner, May 28.
The menu includes avocado stuffed with wild Dungeness crab, (more…)
by Christina Waters | May 17, 2010 | Wine |
Every year Bargetto Winery unveils its viticultural showpiece, a wine carefully nurtured, blended and finally chosen to wear the latest La Vita label.
The ninth release of La Vita (vintage 2006) happens this weekend, when a hundred or so friends of the area’s oldest winemaking facility will gather on the creekside patio for live music, finger food and a taste of wine. Well, more than one taste perhaps.
“It’s a unique blend of three Italian varietals,” winery director John Bargetto told me last week, when he showed off the new wine. The blend of estate grapes — Dolcetto, Nebbiolo and Refosco — has been aged for three years in oak, (more…)
by Christina Waters | May 14, 2010 | Food, Wine |
This Thursday, May 20, Vine Hill Winery teams up with top talent from the Cabrillo College Culinary Arts program for a dreamy match-up of wines and menu.
Actually, it’s close to the deal of the century. A four-course, $65 prix fixe dinner matching innovative dishes with memorable wines made by Vine Hill’s award-winning Sal Godinez. I was lucky enough to sit in on the class in which students sampled wines (instructor Michael Wille shown here), listened to comments from the winemaker, and then began to strategize on ingredients, seasoning and cooking styles to harmonize with the varietals.
Here’s what the students have planned.
The first Course involves duck rillettes with eggplant terrine, goat cheese tomato sauce and brioche toast points, paired with Gatos Locos Syrah, 2006.
Second course, matched with Vine Hill Chardonnay 2008, (more…)
