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DannyMangin

@dannymangin

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Travel writer w/🥂 🍾 🍷 focus. Author Fodor's Napa/Sonoma, coauthor CA Fine Wineries. Most 📸 + 🎥 by Wm. Wong + me.

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Barbara Cox looked calm and collected after last Friday’s Pour + Explore: Rosé and Zinfandel event @StFrancisWinery. So grateful for her support of our #SonomaCounty research over the years. Wines that stood out among those we tasted included: …
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. Joy Finn @MascarinWines holds the fab 2024 Rosé of Pinot Noir, though even more intriguing was the 2021 32 Winds Russian River Zinfandel. Red fruit and ease on the palate register first, followed by complex black fruit, yet the overall effect remains restrained and refined.
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. 2024 Fenice Dry Creek Valley Rosé of Zinfandel @SoloNostroVino. Refreshing, piercing acidity, seductively evanescent.
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. Lisa Ferrigno @KundeWinery reminded me that the 2021 Reserve Century Vines Zinfandel is featured at Kunde’s dramatic Mountain Top Tour & Tasting overlooking Sonoma Valley. The 2019 was a favorite of our experience a few years ago.
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. Gina Lathrum @LimerickLaneCellars was all hugs as we reminisced about a marvelous early May tasting; after revisiting the 2022 Russian River Zin, we sipped the 2023 1910 Block Zin, a quiet powerhouse.
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. Dusty Rhodes is back in Sonoma @MarchelleWines’ new Healdsburg tasting room. Hooray! The 2022 Jim Rickards Vineyard Old Vine Zinfandel showed heft and grace.
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. Devon Mullen @PapapietroPerryWinery came with 2022 and 2023 Dry Creek Valley Zins from the mostly Pinot house. The 2023 was subtler, but both are good.
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. Ryan Johnson @RidgeVineyards brought the 2024 Papera Vineyard Russian River Zinfandel, which had the longest, most satisfying finish of all reds we tasted. Call this the thinking wine-lover’s Zin.
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. Loved chatting with St. Francis winemaker Katie Madigan (right, w/Camille Lunt-Bisbey) about the contrast between the winery’s valley-floor and mountainside Zins.
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. Fashion plates Alyssa Connell (left) & Brenda Bullington @StuhlmullerVineyards pose with the 2023 Rogers Schoolhouse Zinfandel, an Alexander Valley exemplar for its density & strength, in this case tempered by 40% new French oak.
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. Wowed as usual by the fullness of flavor Matt Duffy @VaughnDuffyWines achieves with his 2024 Bacigalupi Vineyards Zin without tipping into excess. Aged in French oak, none new. taken in St Francis Winery & Vineyards by @dannymangin

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3 days ago

Chef Bryce Palmer, winery chef @SequoiaGrove, delivers a tray of grilled cheese sandwiches to the winery’s titular grove during a recent media gathering. With fermented tomato and cured egg yolk for added depth, the sandwich paired well with the 2024 Napa Valley Chardonnay.
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. By the time Palmer arrived, we’d already sampled Sequoia Grove’s first Sauvignon Blanc for national distribution. (Before 2025, SB was only for the wine club and the tasting room.) It’s a dramatic debut — vivacious, flavorful, and complex, with purposefully textured mouthfeel. Really loved this one.
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. Out in the grove with winemaker Jesse Fox, president/CEO Rick Bonitati (pic 2, left) described the winery’s path to sustainability, including the transition to 100% renewable energy and Napa Green certification for both the winery and the vineyards. Since our visit, Bonitati has been nominated for a 2026 Wine Enthusiast / Wine Star Award as Wine Executive of the Year.
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. All of this, plus a detour to the production facility, during which Palmer and sous chef Jesus Aviña (pic 7 rear) appeared with seared foie gras topped with peach jam, was a prelude to the day’s main event, A Taste for Cabernet.
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. I’ve covered this experience for a dozen-plus years and often recommend it to friends here and out-of-town guests. This latest iteration is an absolute knockout — entertaining, educational, and with dishes that simultaneously challenge expectations about proper Cabernet pairings and tease out the wines’ nuances.
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. #SequoiaGroveWinery, in #RutherfordCA, is a starred Fodor’s Choice selection in @FodorsTravel’s Napa and Sonoma guide for the wines, food, and hospitality. Definitely one to consider the next time you #VisitNapaValley.
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. #NapaValleyCabernet by @dannymangin

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6 days ago

So glad we got to see The Wyeths: Three Generations @TheMACnv before it closes next weekend. A nice, tight show about three artists with overlapping themes in their work, supplemented by a short video and photographs of Victoria Wyeth (Andrew’s granddaughter and Jamie’s niece). A few paintings by Henriette Wyeth (N.C.’s daughter, Andrew’s sister) provide further context.
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. Congrats to executive director Laura Rafaty and her team for another winner. The Wyeths closes on September 27th. Highly recommend the show if you haven’t seen it.
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. The next exhibition, about designers Ray and Charles Eames, opens on October 17th.
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. Pics 1-4, in order: paintings by N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, Jamie Wyeth, and Henriette Wyeth.
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. #VisitNapaValley #StHelenaCA #NapaValleyMuseum taken in The MAC by @dannymangin

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7 days ago

So easy to support #SonomaCounty ag and food entrepreneurs at harvest time. The rewards @HealdsburgFarmersMarket on Saturday and two Petaluma gems on Thursday included: . . .
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. Seasonal shrubs and mixers by Kim LaVere @LandAndLocal. A little gin, soda, and the Rose, Cardamom, and Meyer Lemon Seasonal Mixer make a great cocktail. Back when catering was her main gig, Kim whipped up a media lunch paired with the wines @MerriamVineyards that I still consider one of the best I’ve ever attended.
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. Too-fabulous, and quite filling, smoked salmon latkes. In different presentations, they grace the lunch and dinner menus @TiszaBistro. What a joy! . . .
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. Juicy tomatoes plus three colors of beans @FrontPorchFarmer. This name often comes up when area restaurants pay homage to their produce purveyors, some also mentioned in “Farm + Market: Healdsburg,” Liza Gershman’s beautifully designed and photographed cookbook about the market and local agriculture and food.
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. Cheese samples @PetalumaCreamery, both on Saturday at #FoleyFamilyCommunityPavilion and on Thursday in Petaluma. The creamery’s creamy-dreamy grilled cheese sandwiches rank as the county’s best lunch bargain at $5. At the market, an influencer was also clamoring for owner Larry Peters’s attention — ah, the glamour of running a NorCal dairy — but he took the time to pose for Mr. Bill with a selection of his Spring Hill cheeses.
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. A friend told us the tomatoes @McEvoyRanch, for us on the way back home from the creamery, were beyond gorgeous. The same with the squash and beans. All became part of recent meals. Over the years, we’ve had separate olive oil and wine tastings, always lingering because of the view. If you have the time, the ranch tour here is fun, too. taken in Healdsburg Farmers' Market by @dannymangin

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13 days ago

Ventured up to Yorkville Highlands (Mendocino County) for Saturday’s annual #TheopolisVineyards Harvest Party and Bottle Release Party. Nice catching up with #TheodoraLee (aka Theo-patra) and several other friends and making new ones like Joy Foster (pic 1, left), who with her husband, Brian Muerle, curates “wine, food, and culture journeys” for discerning travelers.
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. Singer Althea Battle hit (and held) some magical notes and inspired much dancing — even by the usually reticent Mr. Bill.
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. After some excellent BBQ we tasted a dozen #Theopolis wines. Our favorites included the 2022 Cuvée Blanc, the 2023 and 2024 Rosé of Petite Sirah from estate grapes, the 2021 Cortada Alta St. Lucia Highlands Pinot, and the 2021 estate #PetiteSirah. Theodora’s a lawyer (labor and employment) by trade but got into wine (in a big way) two-plus decades ago.
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. So great partying under the redwoods @TheopolisVineyards. taken in Theopolis Vineyards by @dannymangin

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14 days ago

“Summer meets fall” is the theme for this month’s #SonomaCountyVintners Pour + Explore: Rosé and Zinfandel walkaround tasting @StFrancisWinery on September 18th. An old-vine Zinfandel from Greg La Follette @MarchelleWines (pic 1) was among my favorites at a similar event last year.
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. I’ll be wanting to check out Marchelle’s latest vintage, along with wines from the teams @DutcherCrossing, @LasseterWinery, @LimerickLaneCellars, @MascarinWines, @PapapietroPerryWinery, @SoloNostroVino, @StuhlmullerVineyards, @VaughnDuffyWines, and a dozen-plus other #SonomaCounty wineries. We’re talkin’ very good stuff here.
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. Can’t wait to discover which TBA members @DryCreekValleyWines, Sonoma County’s Zinfandel-rich AVA, will also be pouring.
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. For details and tickets, click bio link @SonomaCountyVintners, which is presenting Pour + Explore in collaboration with sommelier Chris Sawyer (pic 4, right, with Solo Nostro’s Ted Seghesio at St. Francis last year). See you there next Friday (5:30-7:30)? taken in St Francis Winery & Vineyards by @dannymangin

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17 days ago

Congratulations to Darioush Khaledi, this year’s recipient of the #OLEHealthFoundation’s John Shafer Visionary Award. The presentation to the Darioush Winery proprietor will be part of next week’s Vida OLE! Weekend, September 17th to 19th.
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. The nonprofit OLE Health Foundation, which provides healthcare for #NapaValley residents and workers, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. What impressed me most while researching a 2022 Napa Valley Life piece that included the foundation were the stories of individuals, often at their most vulnerable moments, whose lives the group’s services substantially improved. (OLE Health of Napa and Solano merged in 2023 with CommuniCare of Yolo County to form CommuniCare+OLE.) . . .
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. The Vida OLE! 2026 hot ticket is the Dinner & Auction on September 19th @QuintessaWinery. William and I were lucky enough to attend a few years ago and had a terrific time. Such a smile on his face when he learned we’d be returning! ...
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. Click the bio link @OleHealthFoundation for info about tickets to the dinner and auction. If you buy a weekend pass, you can also attend one of the vintners’ dinners on September 18th @OpusOneWinery, @StonyHillVineyard, and @TheoremVineyards.
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. A little background from the Vida OLE! press release: . . .
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. “This year’s event also serves as the kickoff of a $5 million capital campaign to support the recently announced purchase and expansion of OLE Health’s St. Helena health center in the heart of downtown at 1222 Pine Street. All proceeds from the Vida OLE! 2026 events will go toward providing a permanent home for the clinic and nearly doubling its capacity with added exam rooms, dedicated behavioral health consultation spaces, team spaces, and enhanced amenities for the more than 5,000 patients served each year.
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. “When nearly six in ten Up Valley residents rely on CommuniCare+OLE for primary care, our St. Helena center is essential to our mission of ensuring everyone has access to high-quality care close to home,” said Naoko Dalla Valle (pic 4), Chair of the OLE Health Foundation Board of Directors.
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. Hope to see you at #VidaOLE! 📸 📸 by Drew Altizer + Aperture Media taken in Napa Valley by @dannymangin

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18 days ago

Score one for the team @SignumArchitecture for skillfully converting 19th-century stone buildings at #BeaulieuVineyard into a grand hospitality center. The space pays tribute to BV’s heritage and showcases the #RutherfordCA winery’s refined portfolio in fitting style.
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. William and I recently enjoyed the genteel Heritage Experience, four reds paired with small bites served on a triple-tiered tea tray. Georges and Fernande de Latour founded Beaulieu in 1900; the tray and bites pay homage to Fernande’s hospitality.
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. I admired the architects all the more while recalling a visit a dozen years ago, when the area was lined with old redwood tanks. The designers removed this section’s second floor, revealing the sky, using the tanks’ staves to fashion the angular ceiling. Separated from the main room by a glass wall, an open-air courtyard gleamed in the afternoon sun.
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. Heather Jo Leake, our convivial host, said the bites aren’t meant as formal pairings, though the first wine, the 2023 Reserve Pinot Noir, went just fine with the deviled eggs, their whites dyed purple with Pinot for effect.
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. The 2022 Reserve Cabernet Franc and 2022 Reserve Ranch 2 Cabernet Sauvignon also impressed, the former for its supple tannins and captivating flavors, the latter for its chocolaty hints of what longtime Beaulieu winemaker André Tchelistcheff dubbed Rutherford dust.
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. Beaulieu’s lead winemaker from the late 1930s to the early 1970s, Tchelistcheff crafted the Heritage Experience’s final wine, the luxuriant 2022 Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2023, which debuts this weekend (click bio link @bvwines), is reportedly even better, but the 2022 is no slouch.
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. Port fan William loved the bonus pour, the 2015 #NapaValley Port (Petite Sirah, Touriga Nacional, Charbono, and Tempranillo). Served in a porcelain teacup as a decorous nod to Fernande, it’s also a throwback to surreptitious sipping during Prohibition, when Beaulieu survived by supplying sacramental wines to the Catholic Church.
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. Georges de Latour’s 1925 Cadillac V-63, on display near the entrance, is another artifact of those glory days.
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. #winetasting #wineryrenovation by @dannymangin

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19 days ago

So many great folks givin’ it up—time, money, food, wine, auction items—at the 16th Annual Project Zin, which raised $400,000-plus for the Down Syndrome Connection of the Bay Area (#DSCBA). Pleasure meeting former sportscaster Mark Ibañez (pic 1, left), the emcee, and Franco Finn (Warriors), who returned as auctioneer.
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. #AppellationHealdsburg, Cali’s best resort per Travel + Leisure, hosted the fundraiser for the first time.
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. Winemaker Clay Mauritson (pic 2) and his wife, Carrie, credit a DSCBA predecessor with providing crucial support after their son Brady’s #DownSyndrome diagnosis. #ProjectZin is their way to assist others.
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. Pre-auction, attendees sampled food from local restaurants & hotels while sipping Zinfandels from 21 top producers. Fave dishes, wine, and people William & I encountered along the way: ...
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. Sean & Melissa McGaughey @Troubadour.Bread (congrats on Mich star), whose steelhead trout w/smoky tomato tasted even better than it looked.
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. Carlos Mojica @GuisoLatinFusion, who served up oozing-with-flavor slow-braised Liberty duck with barbacoa sauce and avocado foam.
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. #ProjectZin cofounder Charlie Palmer @AppellationHealdsburg & son Reed Palmer @FoliaBarAndKitchen; Reed’s silky white pizza w/onion, pistachio, Gorgonzola was so good.
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. NOLA native Art Murray @FlambeauxWine donated Mardi Gras 2027 & Zin-vertical packages.
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. Chef Ann Tussey @SweetTsSouthern—loved her Memphis pork nachos, especially house-made cheese sauce.
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. DennisMcCarter @McCarterCellars (Pinots keep racking up awards), looking ever so dapper in wine shirt.
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. Clockwise from top left: pork tenderloin @GoodnightsHealdsburg, flawless pasty @TheSelvedgeInn (by SingleThread), seafood tacos @DryCreekKitchen, jambalaya + gazpacho @TheParishCafe, & duck prosciutto @TheBurrowHB.
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. Large-format bottles from all 21 wineries kicked off the Live Auction.
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. Abundance of sweets by area restaurants (credit last pic).
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. Brady missed Project Zin this year. He just entered a special program at Clemson University. ESPN donated the last lot, a Clemson vs. Cal football package.
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. Props to @GreenleafProduceCo and @AllenBrothersSteaks for donating produce & proteins. taken in Appellation Healdsburg by @dannymangin

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a month ago

Killer 360° views at hilltop event celebrating the first-ever #SauvignonBlanc from the team @ShaferVineyards. Chardonnay was the only white until now.
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. Pic 1 shows the #NapaValley looking northwest (also pics 3 and 10). To the southeast behind winemaker Elias Fernandez (pic 4) are the fabled Stags Leap Palisades (also pic 5). First time not in a balloon I’ve seen them more or less at eye level. Pic 6 shows the #ShaferVineyards tasting room and production facility below.
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. The sophisticated 2025 Shafer Sauvignon Blanc, whose grapes come from a single Los Carneros vineyard, highlights SB’s tropical and citrus characteristics, especially as the wine warms a bit. Fernandez aged it on its lees (dead yeast cells and other post-fermentation sediment) in 40% new French oak, providing a creamy counterpoint to the acidity and minerality, enhanced by 60% stainless-steel eggs and barrels. Wise choices all around.
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. Stunning setting (formerly owned by Screaming Eagle founder Arlie Jean Phillips) to celebrate the new wine. Have to join the club to acquire it, though.
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. I cover Shafer Vineyards, a starred Fodor’s Choice selection, in @FodorsTravel’s Napa and Sonoma guide. by @dannymangin

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a month ago

The highlight of a recent afternoon @LynmarEstate was the chance to chat with proprietor Anisya Fritz about her winery’s cool-climate Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, as well as her thoughts on hospitality and land stewardship.
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. “Coming here is a sensory experience,” she said while we sipped the graceful 2025 Rosé of Pinot Noir. “My husband [Lynn Fritz] (pic 7) and I want guests to come in and feel the air, the energy.  Go outside, see Quail Hill Vineyard and its various slopes and aspects. Smell the flowers, literally right on the table. Lower that resting heart rate a little.  And then enjoy the wine. We see wine as an accompaniment to life.” ...
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. Along with the standard Wine Flight, we sampled the soup du jour (heirloom carrot with vadouvan and crème fraîche) and garden toast, the Seasonal Provisions menu’s most popular item. “Nightingale bread from Forestville and a combination of ricotta, piquillo peppers, roasted fennel, preserved lemon, and fermented garlic,” said Chef David Frakes. “Underneath, you have the piquillo vinaigrette. There’s a basil malt dressing as well. And then some vegetables for crunch.” …
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. Frakes (pic 9) has worked at the winery for more than a decade, as have winemaker/GM Peter Soergel (pic 11), wine educator Drew Lynch (pic 14), and several other staff members.
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. The second part of our mission was to take a deep dive into the dozen-plus Pinot Noirs, most of them single-vineyard, that have built Lynmar’s reputation. I’ve long been a fan of the Quail Hill Pinot Noir, which includes all 14 of the vineyard’s clones. The 2021 is among my favorite Russian River Pinots from that very fine vintage.
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. William loved the 2022 AMDG. Most of its grapes come from the acclaimed Hallberg Vineyard, less than 2 miles away. The rest come from Drew’s grandad’s vineyard. As with many of the other wines, there’s a fascinating story behind that fruit.
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. #LynmarEstate is a starred Fodor’s Choice selection in @FodorsTravel’s Napa and #Sonoma guide. It’s a place that invites lingering, especially on a day when the coastal fog took its sweet time receding before finally giving way to a cheery sunny day. Seemed like two visits in one. by @dannymangin

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a month ago

Julia Carlyon @CentennialMountain caramelizes the glaze on seared salmon sashimi, part of the innovative wine-and-sushi pairing William and I enjoyed in May at the winery’s #storefront space in #DowntownHealdsburg.
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. The selection for the first sushi bite, shrimp and snow crab with vinegared cucumber, was conventional enough: the Perpetual Reserve sparkling wine from the affiliated #RhysVineyards. Founded by venture capitalist Kevin Harvey in 2004, Rhys quickly won acclaim for terroir-driven Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs.
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. By the next decade, Harvey had set his sights on producing #SonomaCounty wines from Italian grapes like Nebbiolo, along with rarer (in California) Sicilian grapes including Carricante and Nerello Mascalese. These and a few other wines from Italian varieties are made under the Centennial Mountain label.
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. Chef Nobuyuki Asahi of #AsahiSushiAndKitchen, the Japanese restaurant next door to the tasting room, created successful pairings for the above-mentioned Centennial reds by carefully considering flavor, spice, tannins, and texture.
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. The smokiness from searing and the umami of the salmon’s sauce, for instance, made for a perfect match with the light and fruity 2022 Carricante. The piquancy of the spicy tuna tartare rendered the 2021 Nerello Mascalese, its tannins softened at the nearly five-year mark, the right choice, while the sturdier tannins of the 2022 Nebbiolo proved the right foil for the gyoza’s fried exterior and pork filling.
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. Adding to the pleasure of our culinary experience was the chance to chat with general manager Javier Tapia, on the left in pic 7 with assistant winemaker Mark Freeman. Both extolled Harvey’s commitment to meticulous cultivation and cellar protocols. The rugged Centennial Mountain site, where the Italian grapes are grown, is in northern Sonoma County near Lake Sonoma. The Rhys wines come from several hillside vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains, plus one from Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley.
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. If sushi’s not your thing, you can order charcuterie and cheese from Pete and Kathy Seghesio @JourneymanMeatCo. or taste only wines from one or both wineries. taken in Downtown Healdsburg by @dannymangin

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a month ago