A Passionate Pursuit in Sonoma's Valley of the Moon
Sonoma Valley Cheese Conference
The 7th Annual Sonoma Valley Cheese Conference and Wine and Beer Tasting was held in Sonoma from February 22-24. It was sponsored by the Epicurean Connection and Sheana Davis to raise awareness of local artisanal cheese and wine producers.
Once again, I had a great time at another event in which Charles Creek participated. I could scarcely contain myself from smiling when I said ‘cheese’ for the pictures below. And neither could the subjects of my photojournalism.
The great local magazine SONOMA assigned the Publishers son to cover the event and drum up some additional interest for the magazine. Ryan Lynch and his friend, could not have been more delightful as they extolled the many new stories in their just released new issue of SONOMA Magazine.
But let me digress for a moment… So, as I got ready to go, I thought long and hard about the Charles Creek wines that I thought would really stack up well with the incredible array of cheeses from as far away as Wisconsin. Not the usual suspects like our Top 100 in the World Cabernet Sauvignon or our thrice Gold Medal awarded Las Patolitas Chardonnay which goes so well with most any brie, I knew our traditional favorites would fit into this crowd and be very polite guests and provide ample entertainment. No, I thought we needed to think a little larger, try something a little different, something new for us at one of these cheese-a-thons.
So, why not introduce our new Pinot Noir, which is not a sweet sugary little doll like so many other pinots made here in California, but one with some strength, hatched out in the cool climate of the Sonoma Coast, one with some character and some dry, tart fruits to be a great compliment to the cheeses. . Next, since I had not had our Charles Creek Muscat Canelli for a while with some dry aged jack, gouda or the like, I thought, why not? And to really put it to the chardonnay folks who brought us the ABC(Anything but chardonnay) movement, some really lovely and crisp unoaked Napa Carneros chardonnay to put some fruit next to the cheeses at the next course. Well, it all worked, many loved the different flavors our wines provided with these selections and came back several times.
This was indeed a local gathering with many friends and followers, read, cheese- a-holics anonymous . The guest list was truly impressive, Judy Creighton of Everything Cheese
Cheese educator Judy Creighton from Everything Cheese (who run great classes in San Francisco in North Beach) came by our booth and loved our new pinot noir, the incredible Sonoma Land Trust ladies Sheri and Staci that leap huge open spaces in a single bound and preserve so much of the beautiful farmlands and open spaces enjoyed by us all had a booth,
The ‘Pope’ of Cheese, Rob Kaufelt, from the Nations Best Cheese shop, Murray’s in Greenwich Village in New York said a few words and showed off his new book,
Janet Fletcher, Cheese Editor for the San Francisco Chronicle and author exraordinaire was there. Her books are truly full of insights about cheese and wine pairing as is much of Rob's book. By the way, the books are full of great ideas for food and wine pairings. Highly recommended. I suggest you Google the authors and check out the books, they are amazing resources for food and wine pairings.
And my favorite cheese on the planet was there, Cypress Grove Chevre, down from Arcata, was there as well. Just look at that luscious cheese, it just looks like Humboldt Fog!
And some great local providers of food with cheese themes were there as well, Carlo Cavallo of Meritage with some delicious over sized cheese raviolis, An incredible team from Sea Ranch led by Greg Hagin , GM, and Mary Wesley, Executive Sous Chef, put out a cheese that was one of the major delights of the event. Try dropping in next time you are North up Highway 1.
Richard Whipple of the Brasserie at the Hyatt in Santa Rosa with a wonderful goat concoction.
Of course, don’t forget to bring that those well mannered guests within you next time you go out, Las Patolitas Chardonnay and our other worldly cabernet sauvignons, La Sonrisa, La Vista and Las Pasiones as well as our Miradero Bordeaux blend which can go anywhere, with any cheese in the world(except maybe blue which is so hard to pair) and be an honored guest.
Once again, I had a great time at another event in which Charles Creek participated. I could scarcely contain myself from smiling when I said ‘cheese’ for the pictures below. And neither could the subjects of my photojournalism.
The great local magazine SONOMA assigned the Publishers son to cover the event and drum up some additional interest for the magazine. Ryan Lynch and his friend, could not have been more delightful as they extolled the many new stories in their just released new issue of SONOMA Magazine.
But let me digress for a moment… So, as I got ready to go, I thought long and hard about the Charles Creek wines that I thought would really stack up well with the incredible array of cheeses from as far away as Wisconsin. Not the usual suspects like our Top 100 in the World Cabernet Sauvignon or our thrice Gold Medal awarded Las Patolitas Chardonnay which goes so well with most any brie, I knew our traditional favorites would fit into this crowd and be very polite guests and provide ample entertainment. No, I thought we needed to think a little larger, try something a little different, something new for us at one of these cheese-a-thons.
So, why not introduce our new Pinot Noir, which is not a sweet sugary little doll like so many other pinots made here in California, but one with some strength, hatched out in the cool climate of the Sonoma Coast, one with some character and some dry, tart fruits to be a great compliment to the cheeses. . Next, since I had not had our Charles Creek Muscat Canelli for a while with some dry aged jack, gouda or the like, I thought, why not? And to really put it to the chardonnay folks who brought us the ABC(Anything but chardonnay) movement, some really lovely and crisp unoaked Napa Carneros chardonnay to put some fruit next to the cheeses at the next course. Well, it all worked, many loved the different flavors our wines provided with these selections and came back several times.
This was indeed a local gathering with many friends and followers, read, cheese- a-holics anonymous . The guest list was truly impressive, Judy Creighton of Everything Cheese
Cheese educator Judy Creighton from Everything Cheese (who run great classes in San Francisco in North Beach) came by our booth and loved our new pinot noir, the incredible Sonoma Land Trust ladies Sheri and Staci that leap huge open spaces in a single bound and preserve so much of the beautiful farmlands and open spaces enjoyed by us all had a booth,
The ‘Pope’ of Cheese, Rob Kaufelt, from the Nations Best Cheese shop, Murray’s in Greenwich Village in New York said a few words and showed off his new book,
Janet Fletcher, Cheese Editor for the San Francisco Chronicle and author exraordinaire was there. Her books are truly full of insights about cheese and wine pairing as is much of Rob's book. By the way, the books are full of great ideas for food and wine pairings. Highly recommended. I suggest you Google the authors and check out the books, they are amazing resources for food and wine pairings.
And my favorite cheese on the planet was there, Cypress Grove Chevre, down from Arcata, was there as well. Just look at that luscious cheese, it just looks like Humboldt Fog!
And some great local providers of food with cheese themes were there as well, Carlo Cavallo of Meritage with some delicious over sized cheese raviolis, An incredible team from Sea Ranch led by Greg Hagin , GM, and Mary Wesley, Executive Sous Chef, put out a cheese that was one of the major delights of the event. Try dropping in next time you are North up Highway 1.
Richard Whipple of the Brasserie at the Hyatt in Santa Rosa with a wonderful goat concoction.
Of course, don’t forget to bring that those well mannered guests within you next time you go out, Las Patolitas Chardonnay and our other worldly cabernet sauvignons, La Sonrisa, La Vista and Las Pasiones as well as our Miradero Bordeaux blend which can go anywhere, with any cheese in the world(except maybe blue which is so hard to pair) and be an honored guest.
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