Happy Birthday Silbar! Read on...For my mom's birthday this year, she decided that more than anything , she wanted to attend a Franciscan wine club event in Napa with none other than her daughter and son-in-law. Thanks mom! So last Sunday, my parents and Scott and I braved the rain and to spend the day sipping wine in the soggy Napa Valley...tough, I know =)
We started the day at St. Supery, a winery I am much too familiar with. I think I have come here every single time I have ever been to Napa. Devon graced me with her "free lifetime tasting pass" when she moved to Chicago, and it has dutifully been used numerous times. However, my pass was not needed on this trip, as we partook in a behind the scenes tour and barrel tasting, thanks to the perk of my parents being wine club members (seriously, the best way to tour Napa is on the heels of wine club members...they get private tasting rooms, tours, special events, all that fun stuff!)
Upon entering St Supery, we were greeted by the event board:
Ummm...Silbar???? The poor little old lady at the desk confused my mom's first name with another tour couple's last name. So for the rest of the day, my mom was lovingly referred to as Silbar.
The tour was very informative. I have been on enough wine tours and talks to know they are hit or miss. For example, the wine guy who spoke at my rehearsal dinner wine tasting was a complete bust...BORING! But the old man who led this tour was full of great information. For example, did you know that there is a forest in France known for it's vanilla-essenced wood, so the barrels made from that forest impart a subtle vanilla flavor into the wine? Interesting. We learned all about the markings on the barrels (they all say where the forest is and the level of toasted-ness). He also described tannins in a scientific manner, which meant I finally understand tannins a bit better (if you want an explanation, leave me a comment...)
Finally, we tasted 3 wines from the barrels: a merlot, a malbec, and I don't remember the last one. Scott had a go at extracting barrel wine for my mom.After our tour, we did a quick tasting of the classic St Supery wines (Virtu, Elu, Cab, and Silbar's fave, the Sauv Blanc). My dad had packed a lovely picnic, but the rain was still pouring down, so we nibbled our food on the porch of St Supery's farm house (grilled asparagus, blue cheese dipped in black pepper and cocoa, salami, goat cheese, rice crackers, and of course some St Supery sauvignon blanc).
Our next stop was the big event: The Cuvee Sauvage release party at Franciscan winery. Cuvee Sauvage is Franciscan's own invention, it's their chardonnay with the natural wild yeast (as opposed to a foreign yeast being incorporated). We tasted the newest 2007 (or was it 2006?) release, and then compared it to the 2004 and 2001 vintages. I loved the 2004, but I think the 2001 won out as the family favorite. The winemaker was there, as well as music, and delicious appetizers.
My favorite was the truffle salt and cheese popcorn...mmmm
After Franciscan, we made the obligatory Dean & Deluca stop, where Scott and I grabbed some salami and cheese for dinner (they sell an awesome mole salami made by Mario Batali's father). Instead of heading home, we decided one more wine tasting stop was in order, so we pulled off at Mondavi to check out the new club members tasting room...and of course, sip some wine (gotta have my Fume Blanc!)
And so our Napa Sunday ended. Scott and I picnic-ed for a 2nd time that day while watching the Academy Awards, and ultimately fell asleep and missed all the important awards. Thanks for sharing your birthday with us Silbar!
We love you mom =)
9 comments:
that popcorn sounds amazing! and the wine, of course, but that's a given. glad you guys are getting so much fam-time with the move up here!
this pretty much sounds like the perfect day!
tell me more about the bleu cheese dipped in pepper and cocoa...
happy bday silbar (that sign CRACKED ME UP!)
that sounds like such an awesome day!!! i love the silbar... that must have been good for more than a few laughs. so what wine club are they members of?? one specific winery or others? i have no idea how that all works. i've never been to napa but i've always wanted to go!!!
oh my katherine, you have to come out to napa! Its basically a big valley full of world class wine and food, how can you go wrong with that?
Most wineries have wine clubs, in which you pay a monthly fee to have a selection of their wines sent to your home. There are many different levels of memberships, and the perks of membership are free tasting at the winery, and invitations to special events. I know my parents are members of 4 wine clubs for sure, but it might be more than that. Scott and I are not members of any...yet =)
oh, and I forgot the bleu cheese dippers! My parents recently dined at Micheal Mina's in SF, and this one one of their courses (although it was fancily plated there, and my dad's version was more rustic).
my dad had a block of bleu cheese, which we cut off nuggets with a cheese knife, and then he had a little bowl with cracked black pepper and cocoa powder mixed together. You dip your cheese into the spices and pop in your mouth...delicious and fun!
do you have any pictures of the bleu cheese with dippers. i think i want to take it as an appetizer to my next wine night, but can't quite picture how i should put it together ...
Devon:
I don't have a picture of the blue cheese dippers, but here are some options...
Serve a hunk of blue cheese with a cheese knife, and a bowl of fresh cracked pepper and ground cocoa nibs (try Whole Foods...Scott says if they are raw, then toast them like a but). Use about 50/50 ratio of pepper to cocoa, and mix together in the bowl. Let your guests cut nuggets of cheese and dip into the spices.
Or you can go fancy and roll the cheese into little balls with your hands and then coat in the spices and serve that way (already coated). I would opt for the do-it-yourself version, and it might be fun to experiment with a few other spice combos (although its hard to match with blue cheese...you might try goat cheese with other spices)
Hope that helps, have a fun wine tasting!
oops, major typo on my comment, I mean toast the cocoa nibs like a "nut" not a "but" =)
the whole day sounds fantastic! happy b-day mom!!
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