Nov
7
2009
Raymond Cheesemongers cheese tastings provide the rare opportunity to sample how very good domestic cheese can be.
By now you’d think I’m a one dimensional person - no clue or interest in anything but tasting wine. Well, you’re close, but actually we took a break from wine tasting to sample artisnal foods from the region. In our back road travels we tripped upon the small, country village of Glen Ellen. Just a mile or two off of the Sonoma Highway (Route 12) is this awkward little town with fantastic restaurants (we dined at The Fig Cafe, you should too), art galleries, and small shops retailing hand-crafted cheese, olive oils, and chocolates.
Figione’s of California Olive Oil Company offers extra virgin olive oils, citrus infused olive oils, and 20-year old balsamic vinegars. The best way to learn about olive oil types is to taste, to taste side-by-side, one after the other until you can taste no more. At which point I suggest moving to the balsamic vinegars to help cleanse the palate and settle the stomach.
Located just a few doors down from Figione’s is Raymond Cheesemongers, a small retail shop featuring local, regional, and domestic artisnal cheeses. For ten dollars we tasted a wide range of cheeses served by a hostess with a great knowledge of the products and its production. This was probably the best ten dollars spent all day for it bought me more than good cheese, but a baseline of flavor knowledge that could have only been achieved by tasting what was described.
Now, if I only had a glass of wine with my olive oils and cheeses.
Nov
7
2009
A statue of St. Francis of Assisi stands at St. Francis Vineyards. Franciscan monks were the first to plant wine vineyards in California in the 1770's.
Thursday was our first full day in Kenwood. After breakfast our host gave us a great tour of his home and property (pictures coming later) along with some history on its renovation back to its original craftsman style.
Soon after we pushed off, heading north - first stop St. Francis Winery and Vineyards.
St. Francis is a beautiful facility paying homage to its namesake from Assisi, Umbria. We tasted a nice selection of wines, enjoyed the views, the beautiful Italian-style architecture, and then moved along.
Continuing north towards Santa Rosa we charted a back country route that looped back south along Bennett Valley Road. This route is a must if you want to experience the Sonoma County countryside. Along the way we stumbled upon one of our destinations, Loxton Winery. Loxton is housed in a nondescript, industrial looking facility. In fact, before it was a winery the building was a garage for a local racing car team. At Loxton there are no marble floors, statues, or large merchandise spaces. In fact, production, retail, and merchandising are all in one space - literally, what you see is exactly what you get. This is small-scale winemaking at its best and the proof is in the bottle. We sampled a number of Loxton’s wines and what we tasted was a commitment to making good wine driven by passion not current market fashion. Chris Loxton, owner and winemaker, sweats the details in every phase of his craft, and it shows. His wines truly reflect the nuances of the vineyards from which he purchases his grapes. I believe the essence of his skills lie in his ability to get the most out of the fruit - to not over-produce
Look behind you from the tasting counter and you'll see staff members at Loxton Winery crafting their 2009 vintage.
the wine into something that it shouldn’t be. Loxton’s zinfandels defy popular trends - they are not overly fruity and the alcohol level has been well managed resulting in a wine that is flavor nuanced and food friendly. This is the zinfandel that I hoped to find when I came to Sonoma. I wasn’t sure if it existed anymore, but it does, rare as it is. It’s readily apparent that Loxton puts the beauty into the bottle and not the tasting room, which is great, because that’s where I want my money to go.
Next on our journey was Wellington Vineyards, literally the next driveway down from Loxton. Wellington, another small family-owned winery, holds dear the same wine making philosphy as Loxton (in fact, Chris Loxton worked at Wellington before branching out on his own). Small lots, hand-crafted wines, focus on the fruit, beautiful, elegant flavors. One of my favorites was their Noir de Noirs, an old vine selection of deep, dark fruit quality - so dark I spent the rest of the day with purple-stained teeth! But, it was so good I chose to bring one home.
Our last wine stop was Benzinger Family Winery. Don’t let the name fool you - it may be owned by the family but this place breathes corporate. I do give them credit for their commitment to biodiverse farming, but it feels as if they’ve taken this too far to the side of marketing chic. The wines were certainly good but I can’t help but think that part of what the customer pays goes towards financing the edu-tainment facet of the facilities.
The big guys in California wine country tend to get the attention, and that’s okay, but when I’m traveling from east to west I want to experience what the wine craftsman has to offer - what I can’t buy back at the hometown wine store. Loxton… Wellington… you two are the Davids in this wine world of Goliaths.
Nov
5
2009
Lunch at Murray Hill - the lunch tasting selection of four mini courses: little gem lettuces, soup, dayboat halibut, chips & dip, plus dessert.
On the ground and we’re on our way. First stop - Sausalito for lunch. After a horrible experience of grazing on peanuts and pretzels the entire flight (Delta ran out of the only menu items worth eating) we were primed for a nice relaxing meal. Before we left New York we had scoped out the restaurant Murray Circle at Cavallo Point on the grounds of historic Fort Baker.
Located right over the Golden Gate Bridge Cavallo Point offers a fantastic view of San Francisco. We sat on the veranda, were warmed by the sunshine, and comforted by the cool bay breezes - it was all we could ask for knowing that days like this in New York wouldn’t be seen again for months.
After lunch we continued north stopping along the way to taste wines at Cline Cellars and then Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery located right in the the heart of Sonoma. The first tastings on our trip were a bit of a palette shock - subtle is not in the lexicon of descriptions for many of the reds we tasted.
Day one was exhausting so we wanted a light dinner. Our host at the Birmingham Bed and Breakfast suggested a little bar and restaurant on highway 12 in Kenwood called the Vineyards Inn where they specialize in Spanish foods including a delightful tapas menu. This was the perfect choice for ending a long day of traveling. We enjoyed fire roasted artichokes, pot stickers, calimari, and flan for dessert.
Today we poke about the Kenwood area. Jerry, our host suggested a number of small, family-owned wineries to visit. And this is exactly why we came out here - to visit the small, unique wineries whose wines we’ll never get to experience back home.
Nov
4
2009
Yes, I know, A Food Experience.net is committed to sharing with you the unique flavors of the Finger Lakes, but every once in a while it comes time to reset the palette – to travel to other lands across the globe and experience food and culture different from my own. It’s an exercise in gaining new perspective on living in the Finger Lakes through seeing, tasting, and living the culinary passion of different lands.
Today I woke at 3:30 a.m. to start my journey westward where later today I will be in the heart of California’s Sonoma County wine country. Over the course of seven days I’ll be posting entries about the daily excursions through this wine and food mecca of America. This first entry comes to you from 30,000 feet in the air somewhere between Cincinnati and San Francisco.
Sep
9
2009
I made this for the first time last night - a perfect late summer dish that includes fresh corn and tomatoes right from the garden.
from Food & Wine, June 2002
6 Servings
- 6 ears of corn, shucked
- 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved (or use whatever is fresh from the garden)
- 3 scallions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup basil leaves, finely shredded
- 1 small shallot
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons hot water
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (canola, safflower, olive oil)
- 1-1/2 lbs. dry sea scallops
Cook corn in boiling water until tender. Drain, cool, then slice off kernels into a large bowl. Add tomatoes, scallions, and basil. Season with salt and pepper.
In a blender, puree the shallot with the vinegar, hot water, and mustard. With the blender on, slowly add 6 tablespoons of the oil until combined. Season the vinaigrette with salt and pepper, then toss with the corn salad. (If making a smaller batch, consider hand whisking vinaigrette in a bowl as you slowly add the oil.)
In a large bowl toss the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil with the scallops; season with salt and pepper. Heat a large grill pan and cook over moderately high heat, in batches - about 4 minutes per batch.
Mound the corn salad on plates, top with scallops and serve.
