Slow Food Nation: First Conference

The hallowed Cowgirl Creamery cheese station.

This past Sunday I volunteered at the Mecca for California foodies. Between 11am and 3pm, I could be found at the end of a receiving line at Slow Food Nation, holding a plate of Perbacco salame behind another volunteer carrying a tray of smoked Virginia Berkshire ham, trying not to drool in front of the guests.



Fatted Calf Mortadella.

It was an amazing event. The space, the sustainable design, the coffee booth, the cheese, the honey, the organic Iowa prosciutto, the number of working bathrooms without lines,.... sigh. Sure there were slight hangups here and there, but only enough to make attendees question whether it was Slow Food's fifth or sixth year of organizing hundreds employees, thousands of volunteers, attendees, bio-designers, farms, exhibits, and hundreds of food samples, not the first.

Just to give an idea of some treasures to be found at Slow Food Nation to readers who weren't able to make the conference because they slept in, had to work their day jobs in Ohio or Seattle, or were in the middle of a "No Reservations" episode marathon and couldn't get away, I'm sharing some photos. Some shots are of exhibits, and some are of employees and volunteers. People were given the choice of answering one of two questions: "What is one of your favorite food and wine/alcohol pairings, experienced at the event or elsewhere," or, "What has been one of your favorite parts of Slow Food Nation?"

Anyone curious about the ideology and Slow Food movement, read up here .



Marissa Guggiana, who organized the larger than life Slow Food charcuterie station, had her perfect event pairing in mind, "Well, I love pork and rosé together, like a super dry or sparkling rose with prosciutto. Prosciutto in particular is so great with rosé because it's so creamy and pure and there aren't a lot of different spices. It's just about the meat and the wine."



Cowgirl Creamery's all-star speaker line up. Cheese pedigree.



Michaela King of Bix addressed some of her favorite parts of the convention, "The cheese booth had an awesome cheese plate. Their Teleme was amazing, and they served a Fleure de Teche that was so good, and then they had a cheddar that tasted like Harvarti. Then, I loved the charcuterie station [although, let's be honest, it was how I placed the salame on the plate that stunned]. The La Quercia organic prosciutto from Iowa was fantastic, and the salames from Perbacco are, of course, always good. The Perbacco blood salami was great, and the Tricola was perfectly balanced."





Gary Monelli, who worked with me in the charcuterie station, said that his favorite pairing is when he eats charcuterie he makes himself at home. "I love salami, and I've been making a lot of coppa at home recently. We serve it with olives that we put up and tomatoes that we grow, and we eat them all together, with our daughter and our neighbors. Plus, my daughter was a wine sales representative, so we often had open half bottles of wine at home. I'm going to miss that last part" Monelli also advised anyone interested in making coppa at home to google "curing coppa."



Sam Edwards, a third generation ham-maker from Surry, Virgina, found time to speak briefly to his favorite Surry ham pairings and event highlights between slicing his Berkshire beauties and trying to keep children's fingers away from the unusual child magnet (the Italian meat slicer).

Edwards favorite pairing was his Berkshire smoked ham, with Bud light. Once in a while, he goes with Stella. Edwards had the following the say about the event, "it was a lot bigger and well-attended than I ever expected. It's amazing, quite an ocassion, and it looks like it's been done by about 99% volunteers."



Lee Coker, Ariana Kanwit, and Ashlee Cloud were chocolate volunteers. Ariana's favorite pairing was "a Pinot Noir and a really dark chocolate. My favorite here today is DeVries's Costa Rican chocolate, from Denver. Ashlee commented on her favorite part of the event, "I really like the attitude of everyone- they're really laid back. And, I like this chocolate. It's Amono's and it's from Venenzuela."



Michaela King and Colin Dewey of Bix explained Dewey's favorite pairings.
"You love Lambruscos and charcuterie," said King.
"I do," agreed Dewey.
"And you love Barolos and Barberescos with rustic, Italian cuisine...."
"Oh yeah, I really do. I love lamb or Italian style meats with a Barolo or Barberesco that's been opened for like 45 minutes."
"What if it was opened for 43 minutes," I asked, "would it still be as enjoyable?"
"No," explained Dewey, "You have to taste it the whole time. Watch the wine open up, change from an unsure adolescent to a blooming adult."



Said Nicole Gray, "I had a lot of favorite parts of the event. I loved the fish display, it was beautiful. I also loved the honey and the preserves area, but who doesn't love honey, right?"



Event attendees taking advantage of the freshly-laid grass and accompanying lawn chairs in the Honeybee and Preserves exhibit.

My favorite part of the event was the cheese. And the good deals on wine. And the charcuterie. And the seafood trio plate from Bix, A Coté and _____ restaurant. And finding deserted Slow Food Dough outside of the ladies bathroom.

Outside Lands Festival: Wine Rocks

The owners of the company that I work for consulted the crafting of the first ever Wine Haven for the first ever Outside Lands Music Festival in San Franciso's Golden Gate Park last weekend. What is Outside Lands? It was three days filled with musicians such as Radiohead, Beck, Manu Chao, Wilco, Lyrics Born...., and a whole lot of sexy people.

What is a Wine Haven, you ask? Oh, there is so much to learn, so little time, my readers. Well, as of last weekend, a Wine Haven was a huge tent, filled with winemakers and representatives for twenty organic, family-owned and/or high-end wineries, pouring wine for some of the 150,000 people who attended the musical who wondered into The Haven. Served outside of The Haven tent were fresh and BBQed oysters from Hog Island, and charcuterie and sausages from Fatted Calf.



What a day. Wine, sausage, oysters, and rock and roll? A new generation has spawned, my friends, and I am glad for once, to be a part of it.

In exchange for me "working," I got a free to Sunday's festivities. I hope you enjoy the Wine Haven photos, and have a good weekend.





Augest West booth



With a flick of the wrist, these nimble-handed ones shucked enough oysters to meet festival needs and had time to light the barbie.



BBQ Hog Island Oysters



Dot paired Uvaggio and Cep Rosé to BBQ oysters. And fresh oysters. And grilled sausages.



Rusty and Dusty are from Turloc, CA, and left for the Jack Johnson show before I could ask them their favorite wine and food pairing.

Tomatoes & Barbera: A Relationship Forged in Italy

As old and fabled of a pairing as bacon and eggs or Adam and Eve, Barbera and tomatoes hardly need an introduction.

But I feel like cooing, so here goes.

While tomatoes aren’t as extensively utilized in Piedmont cooking, the region where Barbera thrives, as they are in say in Bologna, Sicily, or Tuscany, you can be sure that they are often on the table together. This is when the magic happens.

Now, just like with other grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay, there are many ways to make the wine called Barbera. Some expressions are oakier, richer, and riper. In general, these are styles of Barbera that are good with food, but in my opinion are best generally utilized as as a cocktail wines.

The traditional style of Barbera, on the other hand, is fermented, lower-oak goodness that puckers lips and leaves one searching the room for something to cut the high acidity, like a slice of butter. This is the type of Barbera that we’re looking for. These are the Barberas that live for tomatoes.

Barbera is a high acidity Piedmontese grape with a juicy cherry, strawberry, and often tar-like touch. A tomato is a fruit-vegetable (hereafter referred to as a freg) with sweet overtones and a high acidity bite. This pairing is a classic case of matching like to like. Although it might sound somewhat asinine to pair a freg known for its acidity with a wine also known for the same (maybe it sounds as silly as the first time you use brown and white sugar in a cookie recipe, for example), it works amazingly well.

Case in point:
Zachary’s deep-dish spinach and mushroom pizza with Borgogno Barbera D’Alba.

Zachary’s deep-dish is known around the SF Bay Area and exists as a topic of conversation in Chicago for its crispy, buttery crust, that’s jam-packed with oozing layers of mozzarella and massive amounts of tomatoes. It’s so tomatolicious, in fact, that some pizza purists insist that it is more casserole than a true pizza. Whatever. It’s the best and only thing really worth ordering on their menu that inspires sure-bet bliss. And its better heated in the oven the next day.

My point is, anyhow, that it is the tomatoes that makes this pizza such a perfect match for the grape.

If a tomato ever seemed sweet to you, just wait until you try it with Barbera. This is when our freg friend transforms to tomato candy. The high acidity in the gape emphasizes all hints of sugar in the freg, but it doesn’t make the tomato too sweet so that the wine tastes metallic or sour. And the tomato returns the favor for the wine, twelve-fold. It transforms this tart little grape into a complete table pleasure.

But that’s just my opinion. Try it with an overlaoaded deep-dish near you.

Do you have any favorite tomato wines?

What Would You Pair With..... a Plum Tart?

It is time for another session of What would you pair with.....?

This pairing party is honoring the above guest, a rustic plum tart.
Simple tart crust. Plums from a neighbors tree (I swear that I didn't steal them), set in a custard-like base of ripe plums and very little sugar.

What would you pair with this seasonal tart?

Blogger's Choice Award Nomination

Hello dear readers! One of you were happy enough with my food and wine pairing escapades to nominate me for a blogger's Choice 2008 Award for Best Food Blog! Thank you, oh kind one. The nomination is especially cool because I've got a good idea of who nominated me and I'm very flattered, as I am familiar with their uber writing skills (yay!), and because getting nominations (and votes) is a great way to introduce new readers to Vin de la Table. Always trying to reach out to new winos, foodies and connoisseurs alike.

If you care to boost my readership and commend my wine swirling and eating skills (i.e. vote for me!!!!), click on the button on the left hand side of my blog.

Cheers, and thank you in advance!

Herbed Aioli Step by Step, Roasted Chicken Sandwich, and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc

Eating aioli has to be one of my favorite ways to consume luscious amounts of garlic and olive oil. Add basil, put that aioli on top of a toasted piece of whole grain bread, top it with heirloom tomatoes from your mom's garden, add some creamy avocado and a generous slice of yesterday's perfectly roasted chicken from Lola's in Berkeley , and you have a masterpiece. And an excuse to twist the cap on that New Zealand sauvie that's been looking at you every time you open the fridge.

Aioli is a traditional garlic and egg-based Provencal sauce, of the likes of a homemade garlic mayonnaise, but made by someone who bought a baguette early that morning and had a cheese course the night before.

Ranging in consistency that's similar to a creme anglaise when made the traditional way with a mortar and pestle to a smooth, thick, swarthy texture when made in a food processor or via whisk and bowl, aioli is served all over Europe and can be found in many bistro and fine dining establishments in the U.S. Where this sauce receives it's due respect is in the classic seasonal spring meal devoted entirely to it's presence in Provence, aptly named "Le Grand Aioli." At this meal, bowls of the garlic wonder are served with slightly cooked spring vegetables and boiled eggs for dipping.

I'm a lover of aioli, plain and simple, but where it really shines in my house is with chopped herbs. Toss some basil, tarragon, or chervil in the aioli at the end of the mixing, and you have what's possibly the best sauce for veggies and cushion for sandwiches around.

Why a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc with aioli?

New Zealand makes a Sauvignon Blanc known for being herbaceous, having hints of tropical fruit, and for having a mad mineral, lime streak. Choosing a New Zealand Sauvie for this dish is drawing on both wine pairing ideals of matching and contrasting.

We're matching the herbs in the aioli to the grassy, slightly herbaceous green nature of the wine, and in return, the wine thanks us by amplifying the fresh herbal flavors of the basil, tarragon, or chervil that we choose for the sauce. And if you have a fresh, young, green-tasting olive oil, the Sauvie matches wonders here too. As for contrasting, the mineral lime and the steely hint of guava in the wine cuts through the fat in the rich olive oil expertly like a squeeze of lemon in a cream sauce.

Some of my favorite New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs are those from Bird and Evans and Tate wineries. I drank the 2006 Evans and Tate Sauvignon Blanc from Margaret River with my sandwich. A great cheapie.

Add a sunny day, a sandwich to lather the aioli on and you've got a perfect seasonal meal.

Herbed Aioli Recipe: Step by Step Pictures

1 egg yolk, at room temperature
1 medium clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp dijion mustard
juice of small lemon

3/4 - 1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 - 1/2 cup fresh, packed basil or your favorite herbs

Salt and pepper to taste

* Footnote for those without food processers are at the end of this recipe.

Place first three ingredients in a food processer.



Blend until throughly combined, about 5-10 seconds. Add lemon juice and blend an additional 10 seconds plus.

Now it's time for the extra virgin. I prefer a lighter, greener, less harsh extra virgin olive oil for the aioli because sometimes the more intense olive oils can overpower the garlic mayo. For those whom the flavor of only extra virgin olive oil is their aioli too strong, I'd suggest using a combination of canola and extra virgin olive oil to your taste.



To start, add the olive oil in a very thin stream, as thin or thinner of a stream than that pictured in above photo. Such a stream will ensure that the aioli won't break before finishing. After emulsification begins, you may add the oil faster. You'll know the emulsification is happening when your aioli looks like this:



If oil begins to bead or gather on aioli's surface while blending, stop pouring the oil for a moment and pulse mix until incorporated. After using 3/4 cup of olive oil, add some salt and taste the mix. Is it too tart? Add the full cup of oil. If the aoili tastes sufficently creamy to you, just add a tad more oil. Too much oil and the aioli won't set well.



Now add the chopped herbs (rough chop, packed well) and pulse until all is well combined. I used basil because it was availabe and delicious at my farmer's market, but I've also used varying combinations of tarragon and chervil, and the aioli equally rocked.

To finish, add salt and pepper to taste. I love tons of pepper in my baby.


For whiskers:
If you'd rather use a bowl and whisk because you're just that kind of cook, or because no food processor is available to you (just got mine recently), here are some helpful hints. First, finely chop the garlic and herbs- everything will blend easier. Second, in areas where the recipe suggests processing or pulsing, whisk isntead. Yes! Third, in the beginning of the aioli process, add the oil in as thin as a stream as possible until your aioli begins emulsifying. This applies to those who process too, but it is even more important that you mind this, whiskers, because the aioli has more chance of breaking when whisked. After coagulation begins, you may add the oil faster. If oil begins to bead or gather on aioli's surface while whisking and pouring, stop pouring for a moment and whisk until fully incorporated. Last, be nice to yourself and do the following: moisten a dish towell, twist it, and form the twisted towell into a circle pattern on your cutting board or countertop. Tie the ends together in necessary to make circle stay on you place the aioli bowl on top. The towell will hold the bowl in place so both hands are free- one to whisk and the other to pour. Much easier.

Avocado Monster: A Brief Intermission

My husband has been on a gardening kick lately so that when he sees anything in our kitchen sprouting, he wants to put it underground and nurture it. Or anyhow, he wants to put in under soil, in a pot, on our balcony in east Oakland.

I'm very excited about this new venture, as I am always happy to eat the fruits or vegetables of a delicious, gainful passion.

In the past three months, we've had loqaut pits in our fridge, sprouting between sheets of moist paper towels, which although they took three months to sprout from the soil, are actually now reaching for the cloudy Bay Area sky. We've had cherry pits, which didn't work. At least I don't think anyhow that they are on our porch. Sometimes I don't get all the seedling info because I have shown a slight tendency towards treating plants perhaps not as well as he does. We also have English peas porchside that were once sold to me in a pod at the Oakland Temescal farmer's market. They are now at least three inches high, curling at the ends, and probably the cutest little vegetable I've ever seen. We also have tomatoes out there, but I'd rather not talk about them because they haven't been properly loved by the sun around here to reach their full potential. Very sad.

And there are others, but the latest vegetable excitement around here comes in the form of a pod. It's an avocado monster. As it requires one of the most amusing forms of support and care while it comes into avocado fruition, I thought I'd share the beginnings of our new plant with you. I've heard they take years and years. And years to grow, into a fruit-producing tree from the earth, so this might just be the most entertaining that this avocado is going to get for a while.



With it's paper clip arms barely keeping it submerged above water, it reminds me of a monster from Howard the Duck. But I bet that Howard couldn't win this battle. My husband has the pod's back and he's here to make sure that "it does it's business" in the light of my office's window sill.

Winemakers Interview: Bill Easton of Terre Rouge and Easton Wines

It’s interview central here at Vin de la Table. Last week it was Ryan Williams of Ana Mandara, this week, it’s winemaker and owner of Terre Rouge and Easton wines, Bill Easton. Ah, but we are a blessed crowd. So many interviews, so little time.

One of the most notable winemakers in the Amador County, Sierra Foothills region of California (yes, they make wine there!), Bill Easton is a true wine professional. Not only is he experienced in the field, in the cellar, and in the tasting room, Easton owned his own wine shop, served as a European wine importer, and acts as a mentor to inspiring winemakers from across the globe. And he makes some damn tasty wines.

When I spoke to Easton he had just finished weeding, tuckering, suckering his vineyard, and setting up irrigation to battle with low rain yields in the fields.

We're familiar with each other because you were the first owner of the shop where I currently work. You owned the shop for seventeen years and made a name for it as a great place to go for small production California wine. When did you open Solano Cellars, and when you first opened the shop, did you think that someday you'd try your hand at winemaking?

I owned Solano from March 1978 to June 1994. I had been in the wine business since 1975, right after UC Berkeley. While I was at Solano, I also worked in Russian River Valley, at a winery, and I went back and forth between there and Berkeley. My heart was always in the production side, but the path I took was in retail, for a little capital accumulation. I started making home wine in 1980, and in 85,' I started the Terre Rouge label.

At that point, I didn't own a vineyard. I owned house in Fiddletown [small Amador County town], which is now my business office. I talked to local grower and convinced him to graft over vines to Grenache, Syrah , Mourvèdre, and Cinsualt. That was the beginning of the Terre Rouge project.

Later these were supplemented with historical sources- old plantings of Grenache that I suspect were used for home winemakers on east coast after World War II, that were eighty-five plus years old.

We later abandoned some of those vineyards because now we have better plantings. We experimented and now we are more sophisticated about vineyard sittings and terriors.

In what ways?

Well, we now know where some varieties are excellent. Light, sandy, loam soils are good for Grenache. Syrah likes volcanic soils and high elevation. And if you use different clones, you'll get a more different, varied syrah palate and flavors. Mourvèdre likes sandy soil. Basically, every site is going to give you a different grape expression.

What was the final push that lead you to owning your own vineyards?

I decided that I wanted to consolidate my life in the foothills. My wife Jane and I decided that we wanted to raise our son there. And I exhausted my interest in retail. I realized that my passion was the wine and terriors of Sierra Nevada.

Why Amador county? Why not Sonoma County?

It's the terrior. To start, the winery is in the Shenandoah Valley of California. This is where our Cabernet Sauvigon and Zinfandel are located, in granite-based sandy, loam soils. The winery business office is in Fiddletown. That's where we also have some Syrah and Viognier, where there are granite and volcanic soils like Côte Rotie. In these soils is where these grapes excel, as in the old world - France. Condrieu [a Viognier appellation in the Rhone Valley] is basically decomposed granite, for example. These are some of different terriors around us.

I was attracted to the foothills because they’re so many varied terriors and they are so similar to Rhone terriors [where many of the same grapes that Easton grows are centered]. That’s why Rhone winemakers like my wine so much. People complement me by saying that my wine taste like Rhone wines. They don’t have that overly fruity, high alcohol fruit like some in Central Coast or Washington. They’ve got a backbone. I think that you can grow wine more authentically like Rhone wines here than you can anywhere else in the United States.

Do you find the differences in lifestyle in Napa or parts of Sonoma affect the style of wine- the final product?

The kind of wine that I wanted to make is the number one thing; lifestyle is secondary. I really admire people like Josh Jensen at Calera, Paul Draper at Ridge, the Bennetts at Navarro, and Jim Clendenen [of Au Bon Climat] in Santa Barbara, with his mineral chardonnay. They are people who put the wine first. They put their passion for terrior before lifestyle.

Plus, around here it's quiet. Fiddletown is a really nice, quiet town. But there are also some great restaurants nearby, and we're close to cities like Sacramento and San Francisco. Living here is probably more similar to the more rural living around Howell mountain in Napa as opposed to living off Highway 29.

Who were your early influences when you started winemaking? Any of the people that you just mentioned?

Their inspiration was really in the way they approached their projects and terrior. As far as my mentors, I spent time in cellars in Europe. I spent a lot of time there in particular when I was buying wine for Solano Cellars. I went to France, Italy, Spain, where I spent a lot of time in cellars. I was also fortunate to tour with famous wine writers in Italy. I got to hang out, ask questions about philosophy and technique. I learned so much from these meetings and I've always been interested in winemaking in that way. I mean, even when I owned Solano Cellars, I subscribed to winemaker magazines.

When you starting winemaking, did any experiences from your wine shop/bistro days shape your winemaking style?

I try to make the best wine I can from the fruit I have to work with. I try to wine balanced wine that I like to drink. Two of my main things are that I make wine that appeal to my palate, wines that I want to take home and drink. I also try to make hedonistic wines, that after you have one glass, you want another. I tend not to make monolithic wines and don't focus on scores. My wines often make Parker's newsletter, and he's said good things about them, but I don't focusing on getting extreme scores.

Good friends of my family, Joanne, Felipe and Joseph Craig-Ferraz have a little house in Fiddletown. I found out a while ago that they have been renting out one of their rooms to burgeoning young winemakers who have come from different areas in Europe to learn from you.

I have a program that is my way of giving back to people who are passionate about wine. Or, it's also a program that allows people to find out if they are really passionate about wine, or passionate enough about it. From late August to November, people come from France. They often rent a room in that Fiddletown house, which is in an old brewery. It's kind of a French atmosphere, the interns like it.

How do these people find you?

They’re hooked up with me through winemaker friends. They make recommendations.

I've been to France, and even in Paris, there didn't seem to be as much exposure to smaller production California wine as there is here. If fact, Cali wine is hard to find there and pretty expensive. Most wine in shops was Gallo or Mondavi. That being, how did these Europeans find out about your winery? Do you travel to Europe on business?

There's not much a market for U.S. wines except at two or three wine shops, and at some restaurants in Paris, and in tourist areas. Most parts of France are still very regional with their wines. They drink the wines of the area with the region's food.

Something I am really looking forward to is going with ZAP next June to promote Zinfandel in France and other European places. We'd like to create more exposure.

How does it make you feel that people are coming from another country that has centuries more experience than our own in winemaking to work with you? Seems pretty flattering to me…..
What do they learn from you that they might not in, say, France?

[Laughs] They often come to learn English better. They come because people who want to be world class in wine these days, they want to have experience in California, not just their region. They go out to other places. They want to see how we are approaching wine, along with South Africa, Australia. They want to expand their knowledge of cellar and vineyard techniques everywhere.

FOOD AND WINE

We recently taught a food and wine class where we used your Terre Rouge de l''Ouest Syrah to show how a nicely fruited, well-balanced Syrah is an excellent wine to lean on when pairing wine to cuisines that most times aren't traditionally paired with wine. It was fantastic with Indian food and Moroccan chicken, for example. And, it was also showed well with a sharp cheddar- a cheese that can be finicky with red wine.
Is this news to you at all?

Syrah is such a luscious wine, but also it's spicy, gamey, with great garrigue. It likes spiced foods. One of best matches for Syrah is lamb. That's my top match, and it's great in a Moroccan style preparation.

What do you drink with your wine at home?

My wife is a chef, so we eat well. Last night, we had a Côtes-du-Rhône with leftover chicken sausages with fresh squash from Red Bluff. Another night, we made some pizza dough and topped it with tomatoes, pecorino and had a salad. We don't always drink our own wine. We drink lots of French, and Italian. Recently we had a Corbières with lentils and greens with jasmine rice and pine nuts, and a salad. We're well fed!

Jane is a really talented cook- she started the bistro at Solano Cellars after returning from Europe. She started it simply with quiche, meats, and fruit. Then before we knew it she was cooking cassoulet, and braised duck legs.

At there foods at winemaker dinners hosted at restaurants that you commonly see paired with your wine, or have you had exceptionally good pairings at any of these events latley?

One of the best dinners this year so far was one at Plymouth, CA, at Restaurant Taste.

I’ll leave you here, Vin de la Table readers, with the menu that Taste was kind enough to send me. Food and wine for thought. I hope that you enjoyed the interview.

2008 Seasonal Dinner Series featuring Terre Rouge and Easton Wines at Restaurant Taste – Plymouth, Ca, Sunday, June 1, 2008


Grilled Jumbo Prawn Bites, Lobster, red pepper essence

2007 Terre Rouge Vin Gris


Crispy Soft Shell Crab, creamy risotto, spring peas, spring onions, fava beans

2005 Terre Rouge Roussane
[earned 5 stars from Easton for best pairing]

Roasted Diamond H Ranch Quail stuffed with mushroom duxelles, fresh cherry compote, savory goat cheese danish

2005 Terre Rouge Tete-a-Tete


Grilled Cedar Springs Lamb, caramelized fennel and eggplant caviar, grilled local asparagus

2003 Easton Estate Zinfandel
2001 Terre Rouge Sentinel Oak Syrah Pyramid Block


Toasted Almond Tuile, apricot sorbet, toasted coconut, caramel

2004 Terre Rouge Muscat-a-Petit Grains


Next month’s winemaker interview.... Laura Cantena of Argentina’s Luca Wines.