a weekend must: {kitchens in the vineyards} april 26 2008

11th annual kitchens in the vineyards {goes green}

saturday april 26 2008

rain or shine i highly recommend spending this saturday afternoon attending the 11th annual kitchens in the vineyards home tour. it truly is such a special experience! this year five stunning homes in saint helena + calistoga will open their doors to the public from 9.30 am until 4.30 pm. if you are anything like me + dream about peaking inside the finest + most exclusive homes of the napa valley, than this rare opportunity is not to be missed.

each home will be styled by local noted designers + florists. as well as feature cooking demonstrations + tastings, courtesy of well-known napa valley chefs + caterers. please click here for detailed information on the chefs + local authors who will be on tour signing copies of their newest books. on a side note...i have to say that several years back i had the most delicious chilled english pea soup during a tour of a garden on lodi lane. i believe it was by the chef at angele, who i just noticed is listed as a featured chef on this tour! very excited.

what is even more exciting is that this year each home on the tour will feature "green" components - including european antiques, recycled materials, the use of solar energy + organic gardens. one of the tour homes will be styled by the new spruce style in saint helena, which specializes in sustainable home design. + adding to the “green” theme, each guest will receive a "green" gift of a reusable goody bag from whole foods market.

please click here for more details on the estates that will be on the tour.

proceeds from kitchens in the vineyards will benefit music in the vineyards, a non-profit chamber music festival held each august at wineries in the napa valley. this year's 3 week festival will take place from august 6th until the 24th. click here for more information.

tickets for saturday's tour are $65 + can be ordered by calling 707.258.5559 or email: mitv at sonic dot net. the tickets will be available at the will call desk located at the napa valley college upper campus in st. helena {1088 college avenue . st. helena . ca . 94574}.

+ for you last minute planners - tickets can also be purchased the day of the event at the same will call desk for $75 {the desk will be open from 9.00 am until 2.00 pm}.

cheers!

ps...please make sure when purchasing your tickets you check with them regarding parking as several of the estates will be accessible via shuttle.

i heart chocolate {alexis bonbons}

after college i was lucky enough to work at the salon at swanson vineyards. it is a magical place to say the least. situated in the heart of rutherford...each day was a beautiful new adventure. the wine incredible. the family so special. i really can't say enough...

this past week i have not been able to stop thinking about their alexis bonbons. they truly are divine. + quite honestly, i have driven myself mad. buying + eating chocolate at every store in town. nothing coming close to comparison.

they are perfectly described on the swanson vineyards website as...

"the delightful creation of vosges haut-chocolat of chicago, our bonbons have a velvety heart of exotic cacao melded with our alexis cabernet sauvignon blend. dipped in luscious dark belgian chocolate, they are sprinkled with a delicate curry powder of chinese star anise, cumin, cloves and a touch of pink peppercorn."

click here for more information. or call the salon at 707.967.3500.

alexis bonbons are $35 for a hatbox of 12

or

$6 for a 2 piece "tiny box"

it looks like i am taking a drive up to rutherford tomorrow ;)

meet: anna monticelli {esca, pina napa valley}

i had heard about anna monticelli through friends many years ago...her name was brought up from time to time, as with pretty much everyone who lives here in the napa valley....you quite often you get the sense of knowing people without actually meeting (awe the joys of living in a small town). but despite having countless friends in common, and many of the same interests we never were actually introduced. that was until harvest 2006...i needed a roommate + anna needed housing for her international intern for bryant family vineyard ...so through jake bacchus, a young surf.rat/winemaker from new zealand, we were finally introduced.

anna monticelli embodies the true characteristics of the next generation of up + coming winemakers in the napa valley. she is passionate, committed, kind, hard-working, understated, knowledgeable, talented + a lover of all things delicious. anna earned her degree in viticulture and enology from uc davis before spending her first harvest at cheval blanc in bordeaux, france. she has since been the assistant winemaker to philippe melka at both seavey vineyard {two years} + bryant family vineyard {four + a half years}. she is now making yummy wines as the winemaker at pina napa valley as well as successfully heading up her own label, esca napa valley {with her equally talented husband, mario monticelli}.



what do you love most about living in the napa valley?

i love how everything in the napa valley revolves around food + wine. you are never far away from a great meal. food + wine are very important to the people here, it's just part if the culture.


what do you love most about being a winemaker?


i love how wine making is a blend of science + art. i think it's really important to understand the scientific principles behind wine making but it's more important how you interpret them. it’s easy to create when you are really passionate about something.



what is your favorite wine you produce + why?

my favorite wine that i produce is the ilaria syrah. this is my new label that i'm really excited about. the syrah grapes come from the coombsville area of napa, from a small 1.3 acre hillside parcel. the vineyard is planted with alban clones 1 + 2, + it’s farmed by mike wolf. the syrah is inky, beautiful + elegant. i'm looking forward to creating the new label for it. i really love the vineyard + i’m able to make the wine at pina napa valley, where i am the winemaker.

what is your favorite restaurant + why?

this is a very difficult question because there are so many amazing restaurants in napa! i would have to say bouchon because they have the best oysters in the valley + i feel like i'm in paris when i’m there…+ don giovanni because they have such delicious italian food, a creative + always changing menu + their floral arrangements are so beautiful. honestly, i have good things to say about all of our restaurants in the napa valley.

what do you indulge in? guilty pleasures?

everything! but here's the top of my list... good champagne, east coast oysters, great cabernet, filet mignon, burrata, fois gras, french soap from vintage home, massages at ashley danielle (thank you for introducing me to her!)…

what or who inspires you?

who – my mom is my greatest inspiration. she really loves life, traveling, learning + experiencing things. she also showed me that i can do anything i put my mind to…

what – an exceptional meal with family + friends. it’s the best motivation to keep doing what i’m doing.

what is your favorite way to spend a saturday in the napa valley?

my day would have to include a long + relaxing lunch with my husband mario. then i would spend some time outdoors, maybe in the garden + then i would cook. i’m very busy during the week, so i like to cook large quantities of food + freeze them. i just made 17 pounds of sausage last weekend.



what is your favorite season in the valley?

fall because it’s when we harvest our grapes. we work 7 days a week for about 2 months straight + although it’s tiring, you’re able to keep going because of the adrenaline. it’s such an amazing feeling to sort your grapes + then just a few weeks later, you’re putting the wine into barrels…+ the smell of fermenting wine is heavenly!

thank you anna! can't wait to try your new syrah.

green {t-mobile plants trees}

just a quick note, but an important note...

going green is as easy as signing up for paperless billing. it saves trees, gas, waste + and in my case - clutter! so please check with your mortgage, phone, cable, credit card (you get my point) company to see about going paperless.

an extra bonus...if you are a t-mobile customer, this month (until april 25th) if you sign up for paperless billing, tmobile will plant a tree on your behalf with the arbor day foundation. your tree will be part of the restoration project, planted where it's needed most - in damaged regions like southern california + new orleans, where trees are not growing back on their own.

cheers!

garden {forni brown welsh gardens}

happy april fools day!

i thought i would start my first post of april with my most favorite thing about the valley in april. i am super excited because for one month a year (april if you have not already guessed) forni-brown-welsh gardens in calistoga is open to the public for it's annual spring plant sale. they are by far the highlight of my spring. well, that and the blooming cherry blossoms scattered around the valley.

for all of you who do not know about forni-brown gardens (or who do know + have not visited) - please, trust me when i say, you need to go + pay them a visit! they are wholesale growers famous for their lettuces + organic produce...selling to the top restaurants in the region throughout the year. they offer an abundance of unusual varieties of heirloom tomatoes, peppers, melons, cucumbers as well as many other annual summer vegetables, edible flowers, herbs + more (click here for their list of veggies). their prices are also unbeatable - $2.50 for 4" containers + $2.50 for a packet of seeds.

my staple favorites are (but not limited to):

tomatoes: early girl, hillbilly (couldn't resist it for the name alone), cherokee purple
melon: charentais
pepper: ancho poblano (perfect for chili rellenos), jalapeno
cucumber: lemon cucumber

for more information, please visit this new york times article + jim white's write up on his website http://www.ilovenapa.com/.

they are open to the public every thursday, friday, saturday and sunday from 8:30 am until 3:30 pm for the month of april.

forni brown welsh gardens - 1214 pine street (cross street is cedar), calistoga 707.942.6123

ps - although it is hard to not go opening weekend, i recommend waiting until later on in the month to purchase your plants. just to make sure we are past frost.