Wine. Chocolate. Cheese. Views. Need we say more?
Winemaker Nick & I have been cooking up a new program for the tasting room and let me tell you, we are super excited! We’ve been ruminating on the idea of “atypical pairings” for some time now, and how we can bring that into the tasting room for our guests. Recently, we had the opportunity to host the owner of Volo, a local artisan, award-winning “bean to bar” chocolate. We tasted all of their ethically sourced chocolate together, and yummm!
During the chocolate tasting, we started talking about the idea of pairing cheese AND chocolate together with some of our Dutcher Crossing wines and from there the ball really started rolling. I ran off to the local cheese monger with pairing ideas floating around in my head.
Back at the winery, with butcher paper lining the conference room table, Nick ran into the tasting room to open several bottles of wine, while I broke apart some chocolate bars. Marker in hand we methodically went through pairings for the wine, cheese, and chocolate and wrote notes on the paper as we moved along. We started with sparkling, white, and rose – had a lot of misses there. Then things really started getting exciting when we introduced Pinot, Zinfandel, and Cabernet into the mix.
We had some basic pairing ideas outlined in our heads but, once we started tasting everything, we found that while some didn’t work together, they might work for a different wine. So, while we started off with a hard time pairing our sparkling, white, or rose with the cheese & chocolates we originally thought would work, we were able to bring some of those wines back into the mix with other options. A cheese we thought would be perfect with one of the red varietals ended up matching up so well with the sparkling Blanc de Blancs. We surprised ourselves along the way!
After that first meeting, we had a lot of ideas laid out but, honestly, we needed a few days break before we came back together to discuss final thoughts. After some time working on other various projects throughout the winery, we reconvened with a smaller group of cheese, chocolate, and wine and got to work nailing down our pairings.
While this experience menu will change seasonally we have a really amazing line-up for our guests who sign-up for this now showcasing interesting pairings like our Winemakers’ Cellar Chardonnay paired with a “Mexicali” VOLO chocolate featuring chilies & dried cranberries alongside Cypress Grove Meyer lemon & honey goat cheese from Arcata, California or the Dutchess Cabernet Sauvignon with “Caramel Crunch” salted toffee & cream chocolates with Valley Ford & Creamery “Grazin’ Girl” raw cow’s milk blue cheese from Valley Ford, California.
Our Rose of Grenache, Placida Pinot Noir, and Bernier-Sibary also made the list with some very interesting and delicious pairings! You don’t want to miss out on this specially curated experience with our stunning views of the Dry Creek Valley. Reserve on our website today or by calling the winery at 707-431-2700!
Cheers to wine, cheese, & chocolate,
Leanna Lindsay
Hospitality Manager