Independence Day at Sculpterra

Ron and I met friends Maria and Alex and Sherrie at Sculpterra Winery for a unique and sumptuous celebration of USA independence!

Winemaker Paul Frankel's 2010 Chardonnay and Viognier were palatable and refreshing at the tasting bar, and a few of us took advantage of the free hotdogs outside (the folks at Sculpterra think of everything that my Inner Archivist would love).

Then Paul invited us into his barrel room to marvel at the collection of wood barrels from all over the world of varying sizes, housing multiple single varietals and blends of his amazingly delicious, as-yet unbottled wines.

Paul navigated the racks of barrels with his stainless steel thief and a glass, all to treat us to his first Rhone blend, the prized Bentley Cabernet Sauvignon, perfect Primativo, and precious Petite Syrah -- all absolutely delectable, with beautiful deep color to turn even the whitest of teeth temporarily purple!

Sherrie is also the enologist at Castoro Cellars so it was fun to share in her "shop talk" with Paul, as these two industry professionals are enthusiastic and extremely knowledgeable yet pleasantly unpretentious. (Read about Sherrie and Paul in my book "Cravings, Ravings & Misbehavings!")

But no matter how many discussions we engage with experts like Paul and Sherrie, we always have questions about every stage of the winemaking process, and they graciously increase our knowledge bases.

After the tasting, we purchased a few bottles of wine and two boxes of custom wine-filled chocolates. We found a lovely table in the shade and sated ourselves on a late afternoon picnic in the sculpture garden.

The weather was perfectly warm with a healthy breeze, beautiful blue, blue sky, and plenty of incomparable California sunshine. Summer has arrived!

Just above is a picture in the barrel room (L to R): Alex, Maria, Sherrie, moi, Ron, Paul.

Finally, I got in a photo!

Great thanks to Paul and everyone at Sculpterra, to Sherrie and Maria and Alex and Ron for putting up with my big crush on Paul and Sculpterra wines, and to Mother Nature for a memorable day that we all secretly wished would never come to an end!

Christmas Eve Seafood Fantasia!

Our dear friends Nina and Jim are Italian.

Here's a photo of them: Nina is the cute little blonde next to the debonair dude in the blue shirt. They are enjoying a moment with friends Keith and Laurinda.

Nina and Jim host a hugely fun and extremely delicious traditional Italian Christmas Eve party, featuring every kind of seafood they can get their hands on, and then some!

We're talking deep fried shrimp, calamari and scallops, lobster tails in a cioppino sauce, not to mention stuffed lobster tails, calamari salad plus crackers and cheeses (provolone, of course), delicious spreads, olives, arugula wrapped in prosciutto, salami, and more!

So much delicious and decadent food!

This year, there was so much food that their daughter Angela pitched in to do all the deep-frying with her aunt.

Jim does a great deal of the cooking, and their son Christopher helps with whatever needs to be done.

Friends and family are gathered in the kitchen, dining area, living room to enjoy the fantastic food, good company and warm holiday spirit!

Here is friend Ron opening a bottle of red, probably a Cabernet Sauvignon.

We brought a bottle of our Lucky 7: Rebel Red.

In a surprise statement, Nina said she preferred it to the expensive vintages she had been sampling!

Nina always makes cannoli, and friends and family at the party bring finger foods and wine, lots of wine.

I contributed a homemade whole wheat focaccia with caramelized onions, garlic and poppy seeds.

I served it with super-fresh and grassy olive oil, with olives grown by our friends Richard and Myrna.

Well, here we are prior to saying good-bye, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Thanks to Nina and Jim and your family for opening your home, cooking out-of-this-world delicacies, and warming all our hearts!

Wine Tasting with Brie & Paul

Another fun day of driving through the countryside, counting *trunnels (what's this? find out at the end of this post!) and drinking wine with our friend Brie and her pal Paul-Flemming from Denmark.

It was a perfectly hot Sunday afternoon, and we packed a light picnic lunch into the cooler.

Brie had selected several wineries on referral, and we started out at Halter Ranch.

Ron and I have visited this wine tasting room previously,

but not so with Brie and Paul.

I kept tasting notes for this post and to transfer into my wine journal.

The 2008 Viognier is delicious and I gave it two stars. However, at $24.00 retail per bottle, it's out of our budget-conscious range for now... especially for a white wine.

We're not Ranch Club or Owner's Club members yet, but when we sign up, we'll qualify for significant discounts on Halter Ranch wines.

I gave their 2005 Merlot 3 stars and the 2004 Ancestor two stars.

Ron and I settled on a bottle of not-too-pricey 2006 Ranch Red for $18.00.

We all really enjoyed the wines and of course the sprawling, rustic grounds, complete with old rusty trucks and big old buildings.

Here are Brie and Paul in front of a barn which has been converted into a picturesque and practical hall for gatherings.

Next, we zipped around the corner to Tablas Creek. Ron and I rediscovered this fabulous winery last August with our friend Elde (see previous post).

Here are the four of us with our wine pourer, Cindy, in the barrel room. I love being in winery barrel rooms!

Not only was she knowledgeable about the wines and Tablas Creek history, Cindy's sense of humor and willingness to play along with our goofiness made the visit special!

Our initial visit was with friends Kevin and Maryella, our winemaking partners, way back in 2004 when our palates were in the neophyte stage and we couldn't appreciate the wines.

But now, suffice it to say that I've found Tablas Creek wines to be excellent. All of them.

We purchased the 2007 Cotes de Tablas, a blend of Grenache Noir, Syrah and Counoise.

Ron was keeping a close watch on the time, and we had to move along.

But our next stop was very close: Le Cuvier.

This place, which was a new winery for all of us, really blew me away. For starters, it looked kind of like a junk yard as we entered the grounds: old equipment and stuff laying around, dilapidated buildings, and patchy, empty fields.

As we exited the car and walked toward the tasting room, we saw a hand-written sign announcing Food & Wine Pairings $5.00.

Inside was a small wooden bar and cabinet, stacks of cases of wine, and the barrels.

A swamp cooler whirred above as Jim handed us each a glass and began pontificating about the wines.

Here's Ron perusing the lengthy and rhapsodic tasting notes, wearing my new readers that I bought in New Orleans at the French Market, as I swirl my glass of wine.

Oh, and about the wine...

Tres fantastique! All of them. But we agreed that the 2005 Cabernet Franc (yes, 100%) was exceptional, and went home with a bottle of it.

We even did the food pairings. The duck pate was especially lovely, and I made a mental note to serve this delicacy at my next dinner party!

Jim introduced us to his new employee, Robin, and invited us to return during the week to thief from the barrels.

Then we decided to have our picnic at a shaded table just outside the tasting room. And that's where we should have stopped, but you know, a plan is a plan and if you can follow it through, you win, according to obsessive-compulsive people like me!

And beside, Four Vines (our last winery for the day) would remain open until six o'clock....

The tasting room was under serious construction, and our palates were seriously overloaded.

But Brie and I did the tasting anyway, such troopers.

We did, however, quit half way through the extensive tasting list!

And I don't remember anything about the wines except they weren't terrible!

And so four sets of purple teeth climbed into the car and headed for home after a lovely and exhaustive afternoon of sipping wine in Paso Robles, California!

*Trunnel n. 1. a tunnel made of trees. 2. trees with top branches linking along two sides of a road, forming a canopy that reminds one of a tunnel while driving through. (Like the Chunnel is the tunnel under the English Channel, a Trunnel is a tunnel made of trees!)

P.S. I coined this word, so you must provide citation when you use it!

Pompagne (Sparkling Pomegranate Martinis)

The "surprise" party for Kahle backfired when her flight to California was cancelled! The airlines inflicted a cruel twist of fate on those of us planning the Saturday Soiree.

But, sad that our Guestess of Honor would not attend her own party, we raged on! (Don't worry, Kahle, another party shall ensue).

Here's a photo of the guests who stayed until we shut down the kitchen and the bar!

The event started slowly, but that gave me plenty of time to keep working and shouting out orders to Tara, my temporary aide-de-cuisine.

Okay, I didn't yell at her!

She and Ron and I completed all of our main tasks just as the first guests were arriving.

First order up: POMPAGNE!

What is Pompagne, you ask? I found this recipe in my Cooking Pleasures magazine. It's like a sparkling Pomegranate Martini! Here's how to make one:

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.
2. Add 2 oz. Pomegranate Juice, 3/4 oz. Vodka (we used Stoli), and 1/2 oz. Orange-flavored liqueur (we used Cointreau).
3. Shake for ten seconds. Strain into a Martini glass.
4. Top with 1 oz. Champagne or Sparkling Wine.
5. Drink responsibly, 'cause these babies go down eeeeeeasy!