At Kendall-Jackson, not only are we known for our amazing wines, we are also known for our heirloom tomatoes.  We have been saving heirloom tomato seeds for the past 15 years and now have over 400 varieties of seeds saved.  Each year, we plant approximately 175 heirloom varieties in our culinary gardens and invite chefs from all over to come and cook tomato-inspired dishes to pair with our wines at the annual Kendall-Jackson Heirloom Tomato Festival.

It is an awesome event that usually attracts 2,500 guests who love heirloom tomatoes and wine.  And the best thing is, it’s not just a fun day of eating tomatoes and wine tasting, the event also benefits a wonderful charity, The School Garden Network.

The Tomato Festival is always fabulous and this year promises to be better than ever.  Some of this year’s highlights include:

• Tomato-inspired tastings from over 50 gourmet food purveyors
• Educational seminars on organic gardening, growing tomatoes and wine & food pairings
• Live music by the Carlos Herrera Band
• Chef’s competition featuring celebrity chefs from the popular television show, Top Chef
• Tasting of 175 varieties of heirloom tomatoes
• Tomato growing contest – Bring in your home-grown heirloom tomatoes to be judged by professional tomato growers.

We would love to see you at this year’s festival.  Be sure to purchase your tickets as soon as possible as this event sells out every year.

We’ve been so excited about the Tomato Festival this year that we couldn’t wait for the tomatoes to get ripe, so we just added fried green tomatoes to our Wine & Food Pairing.  We serve them with the new Avant Chardonnay and the pairing is exceptional.  The green, sour flavor of the early tomatoes and the refreshing acidity and long, fruit finish of the Avant Chardonnay makes an incredible pairing.  Below is our recipe for Fried Green Tomatoes with Tarragon Buttermilk Ranch.  Enjoy!

Fried Green Tomatoes with Tarragon Buttermilk Ranch
Serve with Kendall-Jackson Avant Chardonnay
Serves 4

For the fried green tomatoes:
Ingredients

• 2 large unripe green tomatoes, sliced ½ -inch thick
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup neutral flavored oil
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup cornmeal
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• ¼ tsp. good sea salt, for plating

Method

1. In a medium sized bowl, soak the tomatoes in the buttermilk and set aside.
2. Heat a 12-inch cast skillet over medium-high heat and add oil.
3. In a large bowl, mix the remaining dry ingredients, except for the sea salt.  Using tongs or a fork, remove the tomato slices from the buttermilk and coat with the cornmeal-flour mixture.  Place the tomato slices in the cast iron skillet with the oil and fry until golden brown on both sides.
4. Place the fried tomatoes on a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with finishing salt.  Serve immediately with Tarragon Buttermilk Ranch on the side.

For the Tarragon Buttermilk Ranch:
Ingredients

• ¼ cup buttermilk
• ¾ cup mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. chives, minced
• 2 Tbsp. parsley, minced
• 1 scallion, finely chopped
• ¼ tsp. granulated garlic
• ¼ tsp. celery salt
• ¼ tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. tarragon, chopped
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper

Method

1. Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Refrigerate until ready to use.  This dressing can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Made it to Riverbench Vineyard & Winery!

I was immediately impressed with the turnout (all ages and backgrounds) and the desire to learn from the other attendees. Jim Stollberg, Vineyard Manager for Riverbench and owner of Maverick Farming Company, led us into the vineyard first. Jim was the perfect tour leader. He’s extremely knowledgeable and down to earth, allowing attendees to interrupt with all kinds of questions about what goes on in the vineyard during the spring. He talked about bud break (which is in full force at Riverbench), pruning styles, and how to protect your fresh, new buds from frost.

This bud already has all the fruit inside it for 2011 harvest!

Did you know that by turning on sprinklers during frost, the freezing of the water droplets creates heat which in turn protects the fragile buds from being frozen? I didn’t!

Jim also talked about the importance of getting SIP Certified and how it challenges them to become a cohesive company working together towards a common goal of sustainability and promoting a healthy environment.

Listening attentively!

No vineyard tour is complete without a wine tasting of the final product. Jim stuck around and chatted with all the guests as we sipped Riverbench’s fabulous Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on the patio. It was the perfect day and I loved all of the intelligent questions and education. Everyone left confident that they had learned something new!

Lining up to taste some fabulous wines!

Stay tuned for the next Vineyard tour with CCWGA at Laetitia Vineyard on May 21 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. RSVP with John Burke, Executive Director for CCWGA.

**SIP hats are available for purchase for $15! Email info@vineyardteam.org to purchase yours today!

Stormy Aftermath

But I suppose that any day is a good day for a little wine tasting. We had a nice trek on the East side starting in Templeton to taste at Clavo Cellars then off the Wild Horse (hence the inspired “Wild Weather” phrase), and a final stop at Sculpterra. If you have not been to the latter, you must make a trip! I had heard tales of sculptures in the gardens around the tasting room but had not imagined how striking these pieces would be in real life. There are numerous large, no, huge sculptures around the property and when you get in side there are miniature replicas to pour over!

The Cat's Meow

The Little Mermaid

Despite, or maybe because of, the weather a good time was had by all trying out a few new wineries. With so many wineries here in our backyard I look forward to trying a few new places on the next trip.

Our tasting training center

We began by blindly testing our sniffers on a line-up of wines enhanced to smell like an individual characteristic found in that wine.

The line up

Dry grass? Red fruit???

Then we tasted four solutions (bitter, sweet, astringent, and sour) so that we could feel where these flavors hit our taste buds. And the grand finale…an official tasting of four Firestone wines.

Another lovely day on the Central Coast

We ended the day with full senses and a homework assignment to smell everything. I look forward to improving my sensory memory and wine evaluation. As they say, practice makes perfect and there is no better place for wine than right here on the Central Coast.

Of course, a wine from SIP Certified Tolosa

The evening was great, filled with holiday fare including Beef Wellington, Creme of Chestnut Soup, and Bouche de Noel for dessert. We brought a tasty bottle of Tolosa Syrah for the meal and watched the cooking in action from first row seats at the counter. I’m even going to use my schooling and bring the Smoked Salmon Brushetta to Christmas dinner!

The meal

Oh, and the best part…leftovers.

Featuring Central Coast Wine & Cuisine!

SIP Certified vineyards and wines were in abundance at this event. Ancient Peaks, Baileyana, Chamisal, Claiborne & Churchill, Edna Valley Vineyard, Laetitia, Saucelito Canyon Vineyards, Tangent, Tolosa, Wolff, and Zocker were all showing off the SIP seal. We were pouring a great Baileyana Syrah that was highly sought after and received a lot of enthusiastic feedback on the SIP program.

The SIP Gals

See you at next year’s Harvest Celebration!

Photographer Steven Gould in action

The artist's point of view

After two days of arranging, tweaking, shooting, color correcting, evaluating, and selecting we are thrilled with our picks!

Final pick

Staging the scene

Seeing the SIP seal

The photo shoot was no easy task but the models were great and the photographer showed each and every one in their best light. See more pics in our online gallery!

Love the stemless glassware!

If  you’ve been in downtown San Luis Obispo recently, you may have noticed the quaint little tasting room on Chorro Street. This oasis of goodness is Pithy Little Wine Company and on Monday night I stopped by their Wine Industry Open House for a taste.

Felicia, owner of Pithy Little Wine Co., and me!

Amy Bakes vegan cupcakes, Joycups gluten free, organic peanut butter cups, Vivant cheese platters, and of course a plethora of Pithy wines left me in taste bud lala land. Not a wino like me? Pithy also makes classic Italian sodas that everyone can enjoy.

Amy Bakes cupcake anyone?

I love the atmosphere in the tasting room, a little modern and a lot welcoming. The word pithy, defined as concise and forcefully expressive, perfectly describes the wine, the tasting room ambiance, and even the wine bottle with wine tasting notes on the back. So after a fabulous evening filled with sweets and great wine, I headed home with a bottle of their 2009 Sangiovese Rose and a Joycup for the road!

Here are some SIP wine tasting highlights …

Ancient Peaks: ’09 Sauvignon Blanc (which just won Best of Sauvignon Blanc at the Mid State Wine Competition) had honeydew notes with crisp acidity, definitely a good summer wine, $12. ’07 Oyster Ridge Cab-based blend showed wafts of violet and dark fruit with elegant tannins and balance, a beautiful wine, $50.

Pomar Junction: ’08 Viognier had nice honey and pear aromas, soft mouthfeel but enough acid to balance it, $25.

Saucelito Canyon: this pre-release showing of the bright ’09 Sauvignon Blanc (a gold medal winner at the Mid State Fair competition) offered crisp, citrusy flavors – made in all-stainless, it’s a wine that fans of New Zealand Sauv Blancs will love, $17. The ’08 Backroads Zinfandel and ’08 Estate Zinfandel were very different wines, with the Backroads showing a softer style and bright red fruit and the Estate true to form as Saucelito’s bold flagship Zin. Drink the Backroads with apps or on its own, $19, but the Estate really begs for an equally bold food pairing like grilled steak, $30. Add some chimichurri sauce to that steak, however, and you might want to reach for the ’08 Tempranillo, a beautifully balanced spicy interpretation of this increasing popular varietal, $28.