Winter in Northern California can combine two tasty activities; dining on delectable fresh seafood and choosing just the right wine to accompany it. Winter is the perfect time for local residents to indulge themselves in the delightful sport of touring the wine country. When a shy sun sheds its thin new gold light on the gnarled and bare vines, it’s time to head into the back roads of Sonoma and visit our plethora of superb wineries. The tourists haven’t hit in full force yet and the tasting rooms are quiet affording you the opportunity to talk in depth with the knowledgeable staff, do comparative tastings and savor the day to it’s upmost.
I spent yesterday doing just that and as a result have put together the following menu with a selection of wines to accompany it. Both the wines I have paired with this menu are from Deerfield Ranch Winery. Guests visiting this winery are given the unique opportunity to experience what we all fantasize visiting a winery will be like. You enter the winery through two massive doors that open directly into the aging cellars. To reach the tasting room you walk through a rabbit-warren of tunnels carved into the hillside, and past racks of barrels; the wines enjoying their beauty sleep before they make their debut to the public.
When I first began visiting wineries in the early ‘70’s, most tasting rooms shared space with the sleeping wooden casks of wine. As you walked through you inhaled the fruit-rich musky aroma of the aging wines combined with the moist oak of the barrels. Now, for the most part, the tasting rooms remote from the cellars. There is no aroma, no dust. Dearfield offers you a near unique experience.
First Coarse:
Mussels in White Wine
Sourdough baguette
Second Coarse:
Cracked Crab
Avocado and Orange Salad
serves 4
The Vinaigrette:
½ cup Champagne Vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 small clove of garlic, crushed
1 or 2 thin strips of orange peel, the pith removed
½ teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
About ½ teaspoon chopped fresh dill weed
Put all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake well. Leave sit overnight before straining and using.
The Salad:
1 large ripe but firm Hass avocado
1 large Navel orange
About ½ a stalk of celery, chopped
About a tablespoon of finely chopped fresh dill weed
Crisp Romaine hearts, torn into bite size pieces
A few very thinly sliced rings of sweet purple onion
Put all ingredients except the onion in a salad bowl and toss gently. Strain the vinaigrette and pour over the salad to taste. Scatter the onion over all and serve chilled.
With the mussels, crab and salad I suggest the Deerfield Ranch - 2010 Chardonnay, Los Chamizal Vinyard
Dessert:
Winter Pears with Blue Cheese
½ a perfectly ripened pear per person
Crumbled blue cheese
Dessert wine
Fresh ground black pepper
Fresh mint sprigs for garnish
Cut the pears in half, remove the core and wipe the cut surface lightly with half an to prevent darkening. Usually this is done with a lemon but the flavor of the lemon would be a bit too invasive and might detract from the wine. Place half a pear on each dessert plate. Sprinkle crumbled blue cheese over each pear and a bit around each plate. Drizzle a dessert wine over the pears and cheese and finish with a grinding of fresh black pepper. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.
I usually use a Port when making this dessert, however Dearfield Ranch’s “Gold,” a late harvest Sauvignon Blanc, being the perfect wine to end this meal with, I decided it should be used to make the dessert as well.
This menu would make a delightful Valentine’s Day celebration. For other Valentine’s Day inspiration you may also enjoy reading the following”
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