Going beyond small bites, cheese and charcuterie.
When a fine wine is paired with a perfect morsel, it’s the ideal partnership. Like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, wine and food compliment each other, highlighting the best of one another’s attributes.
Traditionally, wine has been paired to food, but it’s becoming more common to find wineries employing chefs who will work it the other way around. Pairing food to wine, creating culinary masterpieces that will bring out the finest flavors in the wines. It’s a tantalizing approach that goes far beyond small bites, cheese and charcuterie, and one that’s becoming ever more popular throughout Northern California’s wine growing region. So popular, in fact, that we couldn’t possibly include everyone who’s doing it in this article—so we’ve come up with a taste of the tastes, so to speak.
It wasn’t that long ago that pairing food to wine—instead of wine to food—was a novel idea. When the Hennessey Family of Möet Chandon and cognac fame created destination winery Domaine Chandon in Yountville in 1973, it included a groundbreaking restaurant within the winery. The Hennesseys relied on their French roots, including hundreds of years of fine wine, champagne and food pairing. Forty years later, étoile restaurant continues to be the only fine dining restaurant onsite in a Napa Valley winery.
In 1986, Judy Jordan founded J Vineyards & Winery and, in 1999, opened the Signature Bar, pioneering food and wine pairings in Sonoma County, starting with small bites matched to her sparkling wines. In 2003, J amped up its culinary ambitions with the Bubble Room, a full-service tasting salon offering elegant food and exclusive wine tasting opportunities including a three-course wine and food pairing extravaganza.
These innovators, among others, sparked a revolution that’s grown to include countless offerings throughout Northern California’s Wine Country.
Mayo Family Winery
Jeffrey Mayo, president of Mayo Family Winery, which was founded by his parents, Henry and Diane, takes no chances. He makes a wide variety of wines that will please all sorts of people. The winery produces more than 30 different wines each year and, since 2002, it’s been offering a wine and food pairing experience at its Kenwood tasting room (another tasting room, in Glen Ellen, offers traditional wine tasting). Mayo wanted to offer his customers a different sort of experience, so he hired a chef who could prepare food that would compliment his wines. He also wanted the chef to talk to patrons and explain the pairings so they’d have a greater understanding of how Mayo wines—and wine in general—interact with food.
Mayo found visitors were twice as likely to join the wine club if they came to the Mayo Family Reserve Room on Highway 12 just past Kenwood. For only $35 per person ($25 for club members), visitors experience a tasting of seven small plates matched to an equal number of reserve wines. The setting may be casual, but the quality of the food and wine is on scale with that of any four-star restaurant.
The current chef, Clayton Lewis, has worked up and down Napa Valley and was one of the two original chefs to set up Dim Sum Charlie’s. He’s been working at Mayo Family Reserve Room for years and says he finds Sonoma County very “chill.” He likes being in close enough proximity to the beach for a quick drive to pick up fresh oysters and locally produced cheese, and finds plenty of sustainably raised and organically sourced produce all around him to create his masterpieces.
Lewis’ creations are fancy, but he’s a man who loves all food and says, “You always have to have a wine around that goes with a chili cheese dog.” His menu can include gourmet fare such as California Yellowtail fillet paired with a Mayo 2008 Reserve Barbera sourced from grapes from the Kunde Ranch Vineyard and a perfectly grilled New York Strip with fresh asparagus and quinoa melded with a 2008 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Random Ridge Vineyard. Lewis works the tasting/dining room along with a tasting room host, who is on hand to make sure customers’ questions are answered.
The Wall Street Journal has called the Mayo pairing “the best value in Wine Country” and the Reserve Room “awesome!” The venue is almost always busy, and it’s no wonder, with amazing offerings in an atmosphere that’s filled with the sound of laughter and good conversation.
St. Francis Winery & Vineyards
Just down the road is another pairing opportunity in a different sort of setting. The patrons getting ready to participate in the wine and food pairing at St. Francis Winery resemble the visitors all wineries entertain. About 50 percent live in and around the Bay Area, others come from across the United States and Canada, and there’s a smattering from international locales such as Europe and Asia. The guests have paid $45 each for the experience (wine club members get a discount) and gather in the large tasting room where they’re poured a taste of something crisp and white and are encouraged to walk around the deck outside and take in a view of the vineyards.
The group is then gathered together and ushered past the manicured grounds into a separate structure built specifically to enhance wining and dining. There’s room for 16 people to be seated around two halves of a circular, dark wooden table. The center space is left open, and a host or hostess stands there and explains the essence and origin of each wine before asking you to take a taste. A small plate is then brought to each participant and the host/hostess explains the dish and encourages each guest to take a bite, reminding them to make sure all the fixin’s are on the fork or spoon, so they can get the whole flavor experience of the dish.
Participants take a second sip of the wine and are asked to notice how the flavor of the wine has changed on their palate. The difference is sometimes significant and something you might not pay close attention to had you not been under such direct tutelage. Participants are encouraged to ask questions, chat or just enjoy the view.
The St. Francis Winery food and wine pairing is a Zagat-recommended “Top 10 Things to Do in the Bay Area” and is a favorite with wine club members like Steve and Debbie Linley from Windsor, who’ve attended more than 20 of the gourmet pairings. They’re not alone in their admiration for the experience: Open Table diners rated St. Francis Winery’s food and wine experience as one of the Top 10 Restaurants in the Bay Area, even though it’s technically not a restaurant. The staff finds the feedback given on social review sites such as Yelp and Trip Advisor helpful and uses the information to build on their already successful program.
Executive Chef David Bush graduated from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and worked at such acclaimed restaurants as SF’s Carnelian Room and the Girl and the Gaucho in Glen Ellen. He was all set to go to law school when he was asked to take on the role of executive chef at St. Francis Winery. As creative as attorneys can be, Bush’s talents aren’t wasted on a menu that’s only repeated two items (both brought back by popular demand) during his six-year stint. Even with Riedel glasses and sterling silver flatware, the wine and food pairing is meant to be a down-to-earth experience. Bush comes out at the end of the meal and tells people “there are no rules in wine and food pairing.”
He says he doesn’t “ballpark it” either when it comes to developing his dishes. Bush lines up raw ingredients and tastes them with the wine he’ll be featuring with the new taste. This lets him highlight the wine’s complexities and use the food to bring out the flavor profiles of each vintage that’s served from the St. Francis Artisan Series. Though trained in French-style cooking, Bush isn’t afraid to combine unique and unusual essences. His two best friends as a boy were Chinese and Mexican, he shares, and he’d often eat meals at their homes. He incorporates flavors from all over the world into his dishes, knowing they must stand up to the wineries’ signature big reds and Zinfandels. One of his goals is to teach people skills to better pair wine and food at home. “It’s magical and gratifying when you find the right match,” says Bush.
Signorello Estate
Ray Signorello, Sr., purchased 100 acres of prime Napa Valley property in 1977, right on the Silverado Trail corridor. His idea was to create a European-style, epicurean estate.
Ray Signorello, Jr., started as a winemaker and vineyard owner in the mid-1980s and worked side-by-side with his father until Ray Sr.’s passing in 1998. Today, he runs the family winery and continues not only to make estate wines from the 42 acres planted right on site, but he’s created a wine and food experience that integrates the flavors of Signorello Estate wines with fine gourmet fare.
The winery tasting room and a separate private dining room are perched atop a knoll that overlooks the floor of one of Napa Valley’s most prestigious growing regions. A pristine infinity pool borders one side of the outside terrace, where visitors can enjoy charcuterie platters created onsite, designed to accompany the allocation wines that are sold exclusively through the winery. Culinary toys sure to delight any chef abound and include a wood-fired pizza oven that sits next to a stainless steel spit designed to roast a 200-pound pig in its entirety. It’s clear that gastronomic delights are an important part of Signorello’s wine and food experience.
“Ray Signorello wanted to create a unique experience, one that was really memorable,” says Asa Baird, director of consumer experiences. The intent of the winery’s pairing experience is not just to enjoy great wine and food, but to do so while reveling in the company of others who also appreciate the intimacy of the exclusive venue. The private dining room, called the “Salone de Padrone” in honor of Ray Sr., seats up to nine people. Smaller parties are usually grouped together.
Signorello’s wine and food pairings are available Wednesday through Sunday at a cost of $100 per person. Each seating lasts up to two hours and consists of four courses. Each course includes a pour from one of the estate wines and a mesmerizing gourmand offering that’s been created with synchronicity in mind.
Classic jazz plays softly in the background as Chef Britny Sundin emerges to explain each pairing combination. Guests have the opportunity to ask the charismatic chef questions about the wine and food combinations she’s chosen, and in between courses, there’s time for guests to socialize. The communal atmosphere creates the type of vibe that’s present at a wonderfully planned dinner party, though in this case, it’s a lunchtime venue. There’s also a host or hostess who sits with guests throughout the meal and shares information about each wine and the history of the winery.
Only the finest ingredients are used and relationships have been formed with local farmers as well as with Snake River Farms, known for its sustainably and humanely raised, American-style Kobe Wagyu beef and Kurobuta pork. Signorello Estate also has a garden and grows some of the produce used in the pairing menu. “During my culinary education, I was taught guidelines for food and wine pairings, but they don’t always have to be followed,” says Sundin, a graduate of Napa Valley’s Culinary Institute of America, who’s known for her creative and modernist approach to cooking.
Since Signorello doesn’t produce a dessert wine, Sundin has a unique opportunity to highlight her innovative approach to pairings by using the same wines for multiple courses. On a menu featured in June, both the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, Estate and 2010 Padrone, Estate were paired with a Snake River Farms New York Strip Steak, a field mushroom ragout and baby arugula with a Cabernet demi glaze. The dish helped accentuate the peppery flavors of the deep, rich reds. Then the same wines were then featured for the last course, which included a cheese board, fresh berries and a sea salt brownie—so decadent it would serve as any chocolate lover’s nirvana. The wines transformed with each of the vastly different courses, each bite of the food enhancing different the nuances of the two wines. “Great food and wine is a code we live by in Napa,” says Baird.
Kendall-Jackson’s Partake
When you’re dining out at a restaurant, the sommelier matches the wine to food. At Partake, Kendall-Jackson’s new wine and food venue, the food is all designed to accompany the wine. It’s not a restaurant and it’s not a tasting room. It’s more of a taste sensation experience. Going for a Town and Country design look, it’s located alongside of some of Healdsburg’s hottest and hippest eateries. The modern-yet-warm atmosphere, white walls and ceilings with bubble light fixtures and honey-colored wood tables, create a bright and fresh setting.
Guests have the option of choosing from an a la carte wine and food menu or a signature flight that costs $45 and includes wine and food pairings that have been specially designed by Partake’s culinary team. The Jackson family has lived in Sonoma County for more than 30 years and wanted to provide an innovative way to engage a new audience while still appealing to its core customers. The unique venue provides an opportunity to showcase Kendall-Jackson’s collection of a broad array of wines and demonstrate their perfect relationship to food.
Though the food is matched to the wine, the KJ gardens drive the menu. Six to eight acres of garden and orchards are planted in Geyserville and another three acres at the estate in Santa Rosa. All are overseen by gardener Tucker Taylor, whose last gig was tending the gardens at The French Laundry. It’s easy to see why all the dishes contain seasonal ingredients and are heavily produce-dependent. Barbara Banke’s Whole Vine line is also used in the offerings, some of which feature her signature grapeseed oils (good enough to be used as a dip) with breads made from gluten-free flours made from grape skins.
Whether choosing to mix-and-match from the a la carte menu or opting for a popular preselected flight, guests are guided through the pairing experience by the knowledgeable and friendly staff. Each curated flight starts off with a taste of wine that’s brought to the guest in a black “mystery taste” glass. The content of the glass changes frequently, so returning guests won’t be in the know. Presenting wine in this way forces an oenephile to take notice only of the taste and smell, since there’s no way to see the wine and discern whether or not it’s even red or white. It’s a method sometimes used at wine competitions and adds an air of secrecy and delight to the experience.
After the mystery taste, the rest of the wines are poured tableside into traditional stemware. The wines featured at Partake are from Kendall-Jackson’s reserve and estate lots and aren’t the bottles you’d find on a shelf at a grocery store. The food is sophisticated and daring and the pairings are meant to be a comprehensive exploration of wine and food.
It’s a feast for the eyes as well as the palate when Executive Chef Justin Wangler plans his menus. His attention to detail is evident in every plate that’s brought to the table. An example is a course from his garden flight that features Kendall-Jackson’s 2011 Vintner’s Reserve Riesling paired with caramelized carrots, sprinkled with Guajillo chile, coconut and a sweet crunchy pepita brittle. Each bite pops with flavor and enhances the white wine it was made to highlight. Wangler’s Buttercup Mignardises of the day feature chocolates so beautiful they could be worn as jewelry.
Jess Jackson was known for saying, “If you take care of the land, the land will take care of you.” The offerings at Partake clearly demonstrate the abundance and quality of the well-nurtured grounds the founder knew would always give back to his family and friends.
More than just a new taste sensation
Anyone who enjoys wine and considers themselves to be even a bit of a foodie will enjoy meandering through Napa and Sonoma counties, enjoying pairing events that will delight both the palate and the eye. With a wide array of venues and a variety of price points, patrons have the option to share a lunch with friends, make new acquaintances or create an intimate memory with a special date. There are plenty of venues to choose from, and since menus change seasonally and each year brings a new crop of wines, you can even visit the same spot repeatedly and end up with a new experience every time. If you’re tired of matching up the same old foods to your usual wines, try one of these wine and food pairing experiences. It might just ignite a spark of creativity in the wine and food you choose to match up at home.
Jessup Cellars’ 2013 Tastemaker Speaker Series
By Julie Fadda
Jessup Cellars has taken a step beyond wine and food pairings to embrace the intersection of wine, food, art and perception. This “thought leadership” series began in April and extends through October, so you still have a couple chances to experience it for yourself. It features interactive thought leadership forums staged in the winery’s tasting gallery in Yountville. Interactive webcasts of select events are presented via TasteLive.com.
On Thursday, August 15, attendees will experience “Defining Wine Country Fashion: The Who, How, When” presented by Kaye Cloutman, editor-in-chief of Gastronomique En Vogue (GEV) magazine; Mary Orlin, wine fashionista for Huffington Post; and consulting stylist Karri Grant (known best around here for her work with Wine, Women and Shoes). It will be an interactive evening of fashion, wine, small bites and art, followed by a full weekend of fashion-focused activities and a month-long art exhibition.
On October 17, you can discover “The Ancient Art of Fermentation: From Then to the Here and Now,” presented by fermentation revivalist and New York Times’ bestselling author, Sandor Ellix Katz with fermentations by Alex Hozven of The Cultured Pickle. Fermentations will be presented with a selection of Jessup Cellars wines to inspire would-be fermenters to make their own creations. A month-long art exhibition follows, which will feature artist Michael Obriant’s Bubble series.
The series strives to inspire people through thematic events that feed all the senses. “The best part is our guests become active participants in this dynamic process,” says Judd Wallenbrock, general manager at Jessup Cellars.
You can visit www.jessupcellars.com for tickets or more information.
Domaine Chandon Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary
By Julie Fadda
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Domaine Chandon, the first winery to be established in the United States by a French wine and spirits producer—Möet-Hennessy. Chandon also marked a turning point in Napa Valley’s history, helping establish its credibility as a wine-growing region. And the winery’s methode tradiotionnelle winemaking techniques are still in use today.
Domaine Chandon was also the first winery to open a fine dining restaurant on its premises, first with chef Udo Nechutnys’ masterful hand, which helped define Napa Valley as a culinary destination. Today, the restaurant is called étoile, and its young chef, Perry Hoffman, is at the helm. Hoffman was the youngest chef in the United States to receive a Michelin Star (2010). Maybe it’s in his genes—his grandfather, Don Schmitt, founded the French Laundry with his wife, Sally, one year after Chandon’s restaurant opened.
Celebrations this year included a special series of dinners in March as well as a Bastille Day party on July 14. A special 40th Anniversary Cuvée has also been released so everyone can celebrate—no matter where you are.
But if you’re truly looking for an outstanding wine and food pairing experience, étoile is sure to please. You can find it at www.chandon.com/etoile-restaurant.html, or simply make a reservation while you’re visiting the winery’s beautiful grounds. Winemaker Tom Tiburzi, who’s been specializing in making sparkling wine at Chandon for 21 years, has a diverse offering of sparklers to share—and why not try some of the winery’s still wines while you’re there as well? They go great with a meal, too. Cheers!
A Few Additional Spots to Try
At the Peju Chef de Table experience, guests are greeted with a welcome toast and have the chance to explore the winery’s extensive gardens. They’re then escorted to the Tasting Tower, where they’ll enjoy a private tasting of wines paired with local artisan cheeses. The next stop is the Peju kitchen, where Executive Chef Emily Buller will offer a three course “Farm to Table” luncheon. Other exclusive tasting options are also available (check the website). $139 per person ($129 per wine club member).
For reservations, call (707) 963-3600 ext. 309.
In addition to its Signature Bar and Bubble Room, J has a Terrace Tasting Menu during spring and summer months that consists of four gourmet bites or cheese tastes accompanied by 2012 J Vineyards Pinot Gris, 2010 J Vineyards Chardonnay, 2009 J Vineyards Nicole’s Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley and a J Brut Rosé, NV, Russian River Valley.
$45 per person ($35 for Club J members). Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May through October, from 11:30am to 4:00 pm (weather permitting). Reservations can be made online or by calling (707) 431-5430.
In September, the heritage Healdsburg winery will begin offering a new journey, beyond the walls of its elegant chateau and including a guided tour of the vineyards, complete with breathtaking vistas and chef gardens. Guests will be driven in style to different locations around the 1,200-acre property where they’ll explore wine and food in unique settings such as the glass pavilion atop a ridge and a cave carved out of a mountainside, while sipping Jordan’s current release Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons. The three-hour education and culinary experience begins with a continental brunch at 10 a.m.
Cost is $120 per person, and advance reservations are required.
Call (800) 654-1212 to schedule an appointment.
For about a year and a half, Pine Ridge has been offering its 5 x 5 tasting, featuring wines from five of the most notable Napa Valley appellations (Stags Leap, Rutherford, Oakville, Carneros and Howell Mountain). Chef Janet Sheehan has created a sensory experience to highlight Pine Ridge’s distinctive Cabernets. The food and wine pairing takes place in a private, candlelit room, tucked into the nearly one-mile long, underground wine caves.
$95 per person and available once daily at 11:00 a.m. Reservation required at least 48 hours prior. Call (800) 575-9777 or email concierge@pineridgewine.com.
