An Intimate Pairing of Music, Wine & Food

Wow time flies!  It has been awhile since we last logged on!  The holidays were amazing with friends and family!  We spent Christmas eve at Bobbii and Steve’s.  Opened a HUGE bottle of Miner Merlot as well as several other bottles!  Everyone brought a dish to pass, we had Honey-Baked Ham, mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, and an amazing appetizer I found on Rachel Ray’s website Beef and Scallion Rolls - a must try!  With so many of us transplants, it is nice to get together with friends during the holidays!

We are working hard on updating the website, incorporating more of the wine and food elements and adding some “webisodes” showcasing our favorite recipes, wines, vineyards, artists etc.  We may even post some behind-the-scenes footage and out-takes of all our vineyard events!

May the new year bring joy and happiness to you and your family!

The Live In The Vineyard Crew

Sunday, while our contest winners were at Cole’s Chop House experiencing the wonderful food by Greg Cole, our other guests were taken Miner Family Vineyards for a wine tasting and intimate performance from Five For Fighting (which I will blog in more detail about later - as the winners were treated to this the next day).

After Miner, we went over to Cliff Lede Vineyards for a paella lunch prepared by Chef Angela co-owner and chef at ZuZu restaurant in downtown Napa. The tour began in the art gallery, which is a unique touch to the property, and then we walked through the vineyard, where we were given viticulture 101! Finally we made it to the tasting room where we were greeted with a fabulous Sauvignon Blanc and a 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon! Angela had prepared some amazing breaded crab cakes - that looked like doughnut holes - but tasted even better! After enjoying the view we headed to the fermentation room where Cliff Lede had set up a beautiful table to welcome us.

Angela was busy on the patio making paella, while guests enjoyed more wine - including Moon Sympathy, a Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc Blend. Cliff Lede is a rock music fan and has lovingly named his various vineyard blocks after famous songs in rock history. This particular blend is a combination from Sympathy for the Devil and Darkside of the Moon.

After some amazing paella, Serena Ryder kicked off the party with an acoustic performance - watch for her video soon on our website! She was fantastic! Needtobreathe was up next and were simply engaging. When Serena joined them for a duet “Stone’s Under Rushing Water” it brought the crowd to its feet. You can see the footage on youtube -quite possibly the hightlight of the weekend!  Looking forward to hearing more from both these artists in the near future - perfect afternoon -setting the stage for a perfect cocktail party in the evening.

Cole’s Chop House, located in a historic building, built in the 1880’s in downtown Napa , was voted “Best Steak House in the Bay Area” by Zagat Survey and features the best Midwest corn-fed beef, veal and lamb.  We visited Greg, prior to the Napa event, to experience the flavor of his restaurant.  First course was a smoked salmon with grilled bread - and to quote Bobbii “a sexual experience”, the onion rings, Claire wanted to “bathe in for 3 hours”.  We sampled the wedge salad, by far the best I have ever had, and the warm spinach salad.  At this point we were already stuffed - but there was more to come - including “Eye of the Rib eye”, which was featured in the demo for our winners, the Filet Mignon and Bass.  For our sides, we had the most amazing sweet corn, which I think was my favorite!

Sunday afternoon - winners were bused over to Cole’s Chop House, where Owner/Chef Greg Cole opened his restaurant for a private cooking demonstration and wine paining, featuring wines from Spring Mountain Vineyard, poured by the talented winemaker Jac Cole.

First demonstration was a Pan Seared Scallop Salad with Pink Grapefruit Vinaigrette Dressing, Jac paired a Spring Mountain 2007 Sauvignon Blanc.  I am not a huge white wine fan, but after sampling, I think I may have converted!  For the second pairing, winners got to experience Cole’s Chop House specialty Mashima Ranch Eye of the Rib Eye with sauteed Chanterelle mushrooms, fennel, sun-dried cherries, mint and black olive relish.  Jac picked Spring Mountain’s signature 2005 Elivette, which is a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot blend.  Absolutely, a must try and a perfect match with the rib eye.  If you want to learn more about what makes Eye of the Rib Eye so special at Cole’s, check out our webisode featuring Greg, Bobbii and Claire on our website!

As a special treat, we are going to posted these amazing recipes for all of you to try at home as we invite you to create your own intimate pairing of Music (I suggest A Fine Frenzy or Diane Birch) Food and Wine.

Pan Seared Scallop Salad w/Pink Grapefruit and Passion Fruit Dressing

12 Scallops
salt and cracked black pepper to taste
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp butter

season scallops with salt and cracked black pepper
in a saute pan heat 1 tsp of oil, add butter until butter foams
add scallops, cook approximately one minute each side

Passion Fruit Vinaigrette

2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
2 egg yolks
1 cup Champagne Vinegar
1/2 cup passion fruit puree
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 cups olive oil

combine mustard, egg yolks and champagne vinegar, whip with a balloon whip until shiny
let sit for five minutes add passion fruit puree, salt and pepper
slowly whip in olive oil

Salad

4 cups Mache
2 heads of Frisee
1 pink grapefruit, peeled and sectioned
salt pepper to taste

toss the greens with enough vinaigrette to dress lightly
arrange scallops and grapefruit segments on greens
enjoy with a glass of Spring Mountain Vineyard 2007 Sauvignon Blanc!

Mishima Ranch Eye of the Rib Eye w/ Sauteed Chanterelle Mushrooms

4 rib eye steaks 6-8 ounces (about 3/4″ thick)
salt and cracked black pepper to taste
2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil

season beef with salt and black pepper
preheat oven to 450 degrees
heat an ovenproof skillet with 2 tbsp of oil, when a slight haze forms, carefully add the steaks.  Cook for three minutes on each side.  Finish in the preheated oven for an additional 4 minutes for medium, turning once after 2 minutes.

Sauteed Chanterelle Mushrooms

16 ounces mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup veal stock
1/2 tsp salt
pinch black pepper

clean and slice mushrooms
in a saute pan, heat olive oil, add butter until the butter foams
add mushrooms, salt and pepper, saute for five minutes, add garlic, cook until aroma
add veal stock and reduce (approx 5 minutes) until the reduced stock forms a light sauce.

Fennel, Sun-Dried Cherry, Mint and Black Olive Relish

1 tbsp olive oil
1 bulb fennel sliced thin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 clove garlic sliced
6 oz sun dried cherries
1/2 cup Kalamata Olives, pitted, chopped
1 cup of red wine
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp fresh mint, thinly sliced
heat olive oil, add fennel, salt and pepper cook slowly until golden brown

add garlic and cook until aroma
add olives, dried cherries, red wine and vinegar
simmer slowly until the wine and vinegar have evaporated, cool and add 2 tbsp mint.

to plate, arrange a bed of chanterelle mushrooms on a plate, place grilled eye of rib eye on top of mushrooms
top steak with a spoonful of relish and (of course, enjoy with a glass of Spring Mountain Vineyard 2005 Elivette!)

Thought I would try and blog from my husbands iPhone Collective Soul is performing. Absolutely doesn’t suck! Can’t wait to update the website and share all the amazing footage and photos.

Coming off from an intimate afternoon from David Gray -we had high expectations for the evening and we truly were not disappointed!  The Evening started at 5:30 with wine pourings from 12 vineyards -including our friends at The Girls in the Vineyard, Viader and Spring Mountain.  I, of course was working and couldn’t sample them all - however, I made sure I tried Leviathan’s Red Wine Blend as well as Paraduxx!  Watch for a complete list of the vineyards and what they poured - all a must have!!!  Green River Ordinance kicked off the evening and certainly wowed the crowd.  Kimberly Caldwell not only looked hot sounded hot.  She attended the event with her mom…which made it even more special.  A late minute addition of Diane Birch, a replacement for Blue October, enchanted the crowd.  A quick flip of the room, some fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy was a perfect set up for Uncle Kracker, who not only performed his new single “Smile” but his version of Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long”  Wait until you hear this!  I topped the evening off with Miner’s Gary’s Vineyard Pinot Noir and In and Out Burger Fries….I love Napa!

It’s been awhile since we blogged!  Been so busy getting ready of the event, we forgot that you all might want to know what is happening!  The fourth installment of Live in the Vineyard kicked off yesterday with an amazing performance by David Gray in the secluded gardens at the historic Trefethen Vineyards.  We had the opportunity to visit this vineyard in August for Bobbii’s birthday - can I just say Loren and his sister Hailey know how to host a party! It was so cool to hang back during sound check and listen to David strum the guitar.  He even warmed up with “January Rain” from one of my favorite movies - Serendipity - wow.  After some fantastic wine and appetizers - the twice baked mini red potatoes with truffles were Bobbii’s fav -David went on and performed 4 songs - all of which will be loaded on our web site later in the week - can I just say that he was mesmerizing!  The weather was perfect - the vineyard was perfect - the food and wine were perfect and David Gray - beyond perfect.  We all felt that if the weekend started out so good  - what would the evening bring?  Stay tuned!

Our website is officially updated!  Great artists confirmed for November’s event!  Saturday cocktail party with Blue October, Kimberly Caldwell and Green River Ordinance, rounding out the evening with a “Late Night Happy Hour” will be Uncle Kracker! Amazing.  Sunday night we have Collective Soul, Kris Allen, A Fine Frenzy and Parachute. Amazing Amazing. Monday, Miner Caves, Five For Fighting. Amazing Amazing Amazing!  I am adding video daily to the site as well as our facebook page.  We have some great footage of our artists, featured vineyards and chefs!  Stay tuned for more information on how you can win!

Saturday, the whole group of us are finally together for the entire day -except Claire, who stayed back to help Kat with the preparations for the evening.  We rented a bus that would fit the 20 of us - we met at the Silverado at 9:45am for a 10:00am departure.  First stop was Miner Family Vineyards.  We love this place!  Steve Gage, always takes care of us.  The Viognier was a great choice for a 10:30am glass of wine.  We moved on to the Wild Yeast Chardonnay, which was spectacular - and Caroline’s favorite!  In the caves, we were able to enjoy “Garys’ Vineyard” Pinot Noir - at $60 a bottle, our wine of choice for the weekend!  We also sampled the Oddessy and the Oracle (wow!)  As a special birthday treat, Steve shared a Cabernet Franc from the barrel - with all of us before moving on to Duckhorn!  Duckhorn was beautiful - the weather was perfect to enjoy their Chardonnay and Merlot!  Duckhorn is new to the LITV family and will be pouring their Duckhorn and Paraduxx labels at our next event. Last stop was Viader….perfect setting on Howell Mountain, this vineyard has some of the most amazing views!  Alan and Mariela had a great spread of cheese and wine for us.  We tasted (and bought) some Cabernet Franc…can not wait until it gets here!  At 6:00pm we ventured over to Kat and Rob McDonald’s, from The Girl’s in the Vineyard, who hosted a special birthday party in their backyard.  Our friends at Monticello deli, catered the event, with a BBQ.  We even had special wine labels and a slide show to top off the evening.  Overall, it was an amazing, fabulous, 40th birthday weekend!

It’s Friday and Claire has an action packed day planned out for the girls.  We headed out to the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena for a 4 course lunch.  The menu was off the charts!  We started with appetizer sampler - which included fried smelt with a chipotle sauce, mozerlla cheese and tomatoes and gazpacho.  Second we had a choice between a salad and a corn soup.  I went with the corn soup, very sweet and fabulous!  Main course featured salmon or steak.  Dessert was Molten Chocolate Lava cake, Strawberry Crepes or Berry Cobbler.  I sampled all of them.  Pretty sure I gained 10 lbs!  Each dish was paired with a wine that complimented the flavors perfectly!  Next we went to Spring Mountain Vineyards.  I have blogged about this little slice of paradise before - it was amazing.  Valli met us for a tour and tasting.  We saw a portion of the bottling process which was pretty cool.  We walked the grounds and finished with a tasting in the mansion.  Cool! We finally met up with the guys at Trefethen.  This was a new vineyard for me and I was not disappointed. This winery was constructed in 1886 utilizing a gravity-flow system that is still in place today.  Our tasting was out in the courtyard, and featured cool, crisp Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.  By dinner, we were all “wined-out” and had everyone back at our place for some music, pizza and beer!  Day Two was certainly a success!

The whole gang from LITV is here in Napa, with 20 of our friends to celebrate Bobbii’s big birthday!  We flew in Thursday morning into Sacramento and made a quick stop at In ‘N Out Burger.  They don’t have these in Denver, so a must stop before hitting the vineyards!  Got into Napa around 1:00pm made a quick visit to Judd’s Hill before checking into the Silverado resort!  Our room is on the golf course with a fantastic view!  We ventured over to Silver Oak for an amazing tasting - Kim took excellent care of this motley crew!  Made some purchases to be enjoyed at a later date!  Went on to James Cole for a quick visit then went on to Regusci.  Bought a bottle and hung outside with Jonesy.  If you are in the area - make sure you ask for him!  Very entertaining!  Finished the evening at ZuZu where Angela and the group served a fabulous meal.  I have blogged about this place in the past - one og Bobbii’s favorites! Day one set the stage for what will turn out to be a memorable weekend!