The Vineyard Kitchen

Bored Games

When you have time to sit and think your mind starts to wander. Lately my mind has been wandering to the food memories of my youth. Long before my life became obsessed and absorbed by the professional chef world, I found wonderment in things that came in a cans, boxes, tubes and frozen cubes.

Fish came frozen in a rectangular block and was left to thaw on a round aluminum steak platter. Only after it was thawed could you tell it came from the sea. What I thought was real cheese came in a block, wrapped in plastic and stored in a box in the cabinet - puzzling! Tiny button mushrooms came in a can infused with butter and the terror of botulism. Then there was the magical paper tube with the silver foil lining that you whacked firmly on the edge of the counter and out exploded glorious dough, exuberant to be freed from its confines - a dough that baked into fluffy biscuits and icing slathered cinnamon rolls that filled the house with mouth-watering aromas. Those were the days, or were they?

Those packaged foods were the mainstay of convenience and we lapped them up. Sometimes we gorged on them. Other times we fought over them, particularly those cinnamon buns that I can still taste in my mind. I remember vividly the day my mother took the pop-in-fresh biscuits, rolled them out thinly and wrapped them around a tiny hotdog - sacrilege! How could she take something so simple and delicious as a biscuit and fill it with an extruded tube of meat that had been floating only moments before in a jar of liquid? For me, it was complete ruin.

Turns out it wasn’t quite as bad as I thought. The dough still puffed as before and the meat, wrapped cozily in its tiny blanket, turned plump and juicy. Its ends crisped by the high heat of the oven. It was a transformation into something new and different (I hadn’t yet experienced any meat baked en croute). Salty and juicy in the golden, flaky, slightly sweet dough, dipped in spicy mustard, it was quite all right, actually more than all right. It was a little bit of heaven.

I’m definitely not the first to reinvent Pigs in a Blanket but I wanted something tasty, fun and easy to eat with these big bottles of Abraxas, so why not a pile of juicy smoked “dogs” stuffed in a flaky crust along with some mustard and sauerkraut? It works. I’ve said that Abraxas is my go to hot dog wine. Here is the proof.

Until the Next Wine....   Maria

Spread the Word RSV’s Los Carneros Pinot Noir is dear to my heart. It encompasses all of the unique characteristics that our vineyards bring to the wine. It is expansive and welcoming soon after release yet possesses enough stuffing to last a good long while. It is a pleasure to cook for this Pinot Noir and chanterelle rillettes have enough richness to meet the brightness and freshness of the wine. Chanterelles are available late summer through fall. They are a real treat for the cook and dinner guest alike. These rillettes gain flavor as they rest under their delicate cap of butter, so make them a day or two ahead of serving. Spread the word: the next vintage of Los Carneros Pinot Noir has been released to the world, and it’s packing a side of rillettes. Until the Next Wine.... Maria

A Little Magic I look forward to just-picked, garden-ripe tomatoes all year long. It’s rare to catch me eating an out of season tomato because they lack the joy and magical aroma of one just plucked from the vine. The minute that first tomato begins to ripen, my mind drifts towards a good BLT, a sandwich whose success depends greatly on the taste and texture of perfectly ripe tomatoes, quality smoked bacon and a dollop of mayonnaise. Good mayonnaise is key. Though some may have brand loyalty for store-bought iterations, homemade is best. Making it yourself allows lots of options from the minute the first ingredient hits the bowl. I use classic mayo as the best all-around mayo for sandwiches. However, aioli slipped into a cold roast beef with black pepper and watercress is a bit of heaven. Anchovy Aioli is also exceptional with roast beef but is particularly delicious slathered on a simple tomato sandwich whose juices soak into the soft yet crusty artisan bread and mingle with the aioli for a roll-your-eyes-back moment. Mayonnaise and aioli aren’t just for sandwiches. Slice some colorful heirloom tomatoes, arrange on a beautiful plate and plunk a variety of mayo/aioli in bowls and let people choose the one they like. Use mayo/aioli to dip fried things like little fish, Swiss chard stems and French fries. Thin the sauces with a little lemon juice or water and drizzle over salads like basil aioli over a salad Nicoise. The sky is the limit for these magical sauces. For a magical sauce, you need a magical wine – Abraxas. From the start, Abraxas has been rooted in magic. It is rumored that Abracadabra arose from the name Abraxas. Abraxas lives up to its magic with food. It’s single vineyard blend of aromatic grapes shape shifts to match a multitude of dishes. A perfect BLT. Check. A plate of sliced tomatoes with aioli. Check. Little fried fish dipped in lemon aioli. Check. The list goes on and on. Grab a bottle and a whisk and get crackin’ on your perfect summer sauces. Until the Next Wine.... Maria

Perfect BLT (for me)

Classic Mayo

Lemon Mayo (includes Basil Mayo variation)

Beans Beans are my passion. One of my biggest joys last fall was picking, drying and shucking our cache of heirloom beans grown in RSV’s Capa Vineyard and at the winery. The harvest was good to us and our final haul was around 40 pounds of shiny, fat, deep-red, white and speckled beans. Beans are one the biggest stars of winter cooking at the winery. As flavor magnets, they absorb the juices and the nuances of vegetables, herbs and meats added during cooking. They are an essential ingredient in traditional cooking across many cultures. In France, cassoulet was made in the dark of winter from dried beans and dried or cured meats. The beans took up the majority of the cooking vessel to which a piece of sausage, a bit of cured duck leg and perhaps a straggling root vegetable was added for flavor. The dish needed to be hearty to sustain the hardworking people like farmers and other labor intensive workers. The animal fats used to cook the beans added the calories needed to fuel the toil of hard work in cold temperatures. This version of cassoulet turns to the nuance of sweet and earthy root vegetables for flavor. Duck fat can be used to make the cassoulet denser and mouth-filling but, if you’d like to lighten it up, extra virgin olive oil adds a nice richness without the heaviness of animal fat. POV has a nice core of acidity running through its beautiful cherry fruit and enlivening texture. It’s the perfect foil to this hearty cassoulet. POV is perfect to drink now or hold for a cooler day that begs for cassoulet. Until the Next Wine... Maria

What Lies Beneath It’s no lie. RSV’s Pinot Blanc is immensely quaffable. There’s something about that first sip that draws you in. Perhaps it’s the vivacious flavors of citrus, almond and green melon with a hint of yellow apple or maybe it’s the richness that you feel on your tongue in the middle of your mouth with a refreshing and memorable zip of acidity that gives you an insatiable desire to take a bite of food and another sip. I don’t know exactly what it is that draws me back time and again to our Pinot Blanc when I’m selecting a wine for a vegetable dish, salad or a nice wedge of funky cheese. There is so much more to this wine than is first revealed. Its true character shows in what lies beneath, the subtleties that bubble to the surface as the wine relaxes in the glass and opens up to its full glory. This depth is what makes it so incredible with this simple but subtlety complex cauliflower dish - which I could eat every day for a week… it’s that addictive. The secret is mustard seed oil. It has been long used in India to lend an indescribable taste to many dishes. Once you taste it, you won’t forget it. Its subtle heat lifts ingredients to the next level. And like many dishes that might be puzzling to pair with a wine, it sings delightfully with RSV’s Pinot Blanc. Until the Next Wine.... Maria

Merlot Magic

A well-crafted Merlot has the ability to shapeshift from savory and sleek to fruity and rich depending on what food is served with it. I’ve created dishes for over 20 years that showcase Merlot’s flexibility with food… and it continues to amaze me! I’ve thrown cherries, plums, rosemary, fennel, and olives at it and it catches them beautifully. Juicy, roast duck with maple, sage and black pepper is no exception. The balance of savory and sweet with the gentle scent of sage pulls out aromas and flavors of plum, cherry and dried herb. A delight for all of the senses. This Merlot deserves applause at the dinner table. Until the Next Wine.... Maria

EAT: Roast Duck Breast with Maple Syrup, Sage and Black Pepper

Heaven Scent The haunting perfume of Muscat tingles all of my senses. I have visions of rose blossoms, heavy with petals cupping dew drops, ready to pluck. My mouth salivates thinking about how beautiful a dish that incorporates their rich scent would taste alongside this wine. I taste the pithiness of the wine in my mouth. It is a good pithiness with a slightly bitter edge that adds texture and lifts Muscat’s boisterous aromas. Muscat needs this texture to make it a good partner for food. RSV’s dry Muscat is in perfect balance. It is a beautiful partner to this delicate salad kissed with the scent of roses. Until the Next Wine.... Maria

Swimming Upstream Mushrooms, chicken, duck, squab, wild feathered things, pork and, for good measure, an occasional rabbit - These ingredients had a tradition for going along for the ride with Pinot Noir. And a good ride it was until it crossed over to things that live in the sea. This pained me a bit because many times it wasn’t really the fish that went with the wine but all the things that swaddled the fish above, below and to the side. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t. The one fish that always struck me as a good fit was a good fatty chunk of wild salmon. There is an earthiness to salmon that works with a nicely balanced pinot noir. This same earthiness, or as the French call it sous bois, lives in Pinot Noir. Add in lentils, also earthy, kissed with smoky bacon and you’ve got a dish that sings with RSV’s Los Carneros Pinot Noir. Some folks might say pairing fish with Pinot Noir is like swimming upstream but in this case I beg to differ. Until the Next Wine.... Maria

Bring on the Heat! RSV’s Blanc is so fresh and bright, it can handle just about anything - even heat. Heat, as in spicy chilis, can be the killer of wine. The Blanc’s purity of fruit, vivacious, bright acidity balanced by a plush mouthfeel - that comes from time well spent on lees - gives it the ability to face the heat. It’s a seamless wine with not only spicy food but bright green aromatic herbs, seafood, salad with intense vinaigrette and an extremely wide range of other dishes that normally beat up wine. All hail the Blanc... and bring on the heat! Until the Next Wine.... Maria

The Feminine Side Cabernet Franc is a mysterious grape. As the parent of Cabernet Sauvignon it expresses none of its massive toughness. It is much more delicate with a soft fragrance that shines when grown in the right spot like the steep rocky red volcanic soils of RSV’s Vandal Vineyard. Violets and cocoa dust with underpinnings of graphite come to mind when I think of Cabernet Franc - particularly RSV’s. It possesses nicely structured tannins that don’t rip your mouth out. Instead they support the fragrance and soft fruit notes of sour plum and blackberry. It’s the feminine side of Cabernet Sauvignon with a grace that makes it a wonderful companion for food, especially roasted birds and dishes vibrant with herbs. I created this couscous dish with a spirit of adventure. I didn’t want to focus on meat as the main part of the meal but as the side dish. The couscous is the star here packed with roasted tomatoes, a hint of olive and a good handful of chopped fresh herbs that bring out the Cab Franc’s beautiful fragrance and fruit. If you don’t feel like roasting duck, then roast chicken breasts or a lamb leg will substitute just fine. You can also serve the couscous on its own and round it out with a few more vegetables. Don’t worry, the Cab Franc can handle it! Until the Next Wine....

Maria

EAT: Roasted Tomato and Black Olive Couscous

The King of Food Friendly Chefs love Abraxas because of its shapeshifting quality. The flavors and aromas that Abraxas reveals depends on the food being served. The Abraxas served with sausages and sauerkraut will be completely different from the Abraxas served with the halibut above. Abraxas has an amazing ability to shapeshift because its beauty and fragrance comes from a blend of Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Gewürztraminer. Different dishes pull out different attributes from the grapes in the blend making it the King of all food friendly wines. This is one of the reasons I always reach for Abraxas when I need a bright crisp white with a mutable personality. Until the Next Wine.... Maria

Little Birds, Little Bottles

I love a tasty little bird with Pinot Noir - so does my husband. Little birds tend to go beautifully with Pinot Noir whether simply prepared with salt and pepper or made more glorious with a soy-maple glaze and then finished with toasted sesame and green onion. The glaze is barely sweet so it doesn’t clash with the wine and there is that “je ne sais quoi” quality of sesame seeds that brings out the best in Pinot Noir.

What is more suitable for little birds than little bottles? These petite-sized bottles of Pinot Noir are perfect for one or two. Nowadays, a whole bottle can put me under the table so I try to limit myself to a glass or two on school nights… but that only leaves half a glass for my dinner guest. I guess in this case it is a drink-it-yourself size.

Until the Next Wine....  

Maria

Sunny Days Are Here Again Cooking for RSV’s Vin Gris of Pinot Noir can lead to adventures into the world of exotic spices - like in the Roast Squash with Warm Spices, Labneh and Za’atar recipe. As with all rosés, the Vin Gris hangs in the netherworld between white and red. Its non-partisan disposition equates to versatility at the table. Vin Gris’ bright, crisp, aromatic and sunny nature make it a great mate for shellfish, fish and vegetables - but don’t be fooled into thinking the Vin Gris is a simple wine, best reserved for light foods, sunshine and sipping. Selected from RSV’s prime Pinot Noir vineyards in the Carneros, picked at optimal ripeness then gently whole-cluster pressed, this wine has beautiful aromatics and a structure that serves it well when poured with roasted meats and poultry… and this Vin Gris is not a 12-month wonder! It has enough stuffing to last and last and will reward those who have the strength to resist its allure of primary fruit as it evolves into savory complexity with a year or two of bottle age. Drink a bottle or three now and save some for later. Roast the squash in the fall and winter in a hot oven to warm the house and then, when sunny days arrive, pull out the grill with skewers and kabobs and enjoy sunshine above as well as its sparkle in your glass. Until the Next Wine.... Maria

Crunchy, Salty-Good After the autumnal equinox, as the days begin their descent into darkness and the air has a nip of cold, something deep inside my primordial brain gets me thinking about comfort food. Maybe the short days are triggering a need to feed before winter sets in and fresh vegetables from the garden are a distant memory. I’m not saying you can’t eat something hearty like schnitzel in the middle of summer, but for me food that sticks to my ribs is my response to crisp air and the possibility of snow. Then there is the wine… I don’t want a wimpy wine with my comfort food. Cold weather triggers my desire for a well-crafted red with just the right texture, bright fruit and beautiful acidity to tackle a plateful of crunchy, salty-good schnitzel. That red for me is RSV’s POV. POV is the type of wine you can throw a plethora of comfort food at, it will always come up swinging and win the match. Think braises and stews for warmth in winter and BBQ and kabobs in the heat of summer. POV will never disappoint no matter what the season. Until the Next Wine... Maria

EAT: Schnitzel