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I love Supper Clubs. What’s better than a big group of people who love food and wine, getting together and sharing these two things? The price.

The price per person for your typical Supper Club gathering is minimal compared to a typical food and wine evening out on the town. Restaurants or caterers can offer lower prices since they are feeding everyone the same thing, and also feeding a larger group.

You can find some amazing food or great conversation at a Supper Club.

Last night, for instance, I partook in a Dan Lucia’s monthly Tues night Supper Club. For $35/person plus a donation of wine-my friends and I had plentiful food, wines, music, and conversation. I saw fellow wine industry folks, local business owners, and even bumped into some Michel-Schlumberger wine club members who (surprise!) had brought a bottle of our 2004 cab to complement the braised beef, mushrooms and polenta.

A good way to spend a Tuesday evening, no?

Another of our favorite places to eat: Santi (www.tavernasanti.com) has a Supper Club dinner on the last Sunday of each month. They focus on a different region’s cuisine for each meal and with 5 courses at only $45/person there are less good reasons to stay in for the night……….

Look up your local Supper Club today……..or let us know about a Supper Club you are part of!

Call me crazy-but when Halloween is over and done and the calendar page flips to November it officially begins to feel like the ‘holiday’ season to me. And as we eat our way through Thanksgiving…it is absolutely ‘on’.  Maybe it’s because I want the excuse to play Christmas music, watch old holiday movies, or decorate my house with shiny, pretty, Christmasy things. Or maybe it’s because I just want to be able to feel justified in eating more food and drinking more wine than usual. Hmm…..

In the past month I’ve poured a disproportionate amount of the wines I’ve been miserly hoarding in my cellar (aka: living room closet). Disproportionate I mean, to the amount I opened during the rest of the past year. Why do I suddenly feel the need to purge my wine closet of all of it’s best treasures when the holidays creep near? Is it just the cooler weather?

There’s always a reason (aka: excuse).

1st: I need a nice bottle to take home for the weekend to help my little sister start to really appreciate wine. Wait-what am I going to drink? What about Mom-she’s more of a Chardonnay gal….Oh, hell I’ll bring a half-case and we’ll work our way through them all! (there go 3 of my favorite whites and 3 of long-time hoarded reds-)

2nd: I’m visiting my out of town boyfriend and his friends for dinner at their house. I’d really like to impress the wine savvy couple with a bottle of something GREAT! Maybe even 2-just in case their wine choices are suspect (two more nice bottles of red-one ‘99 Reserve Michel-Schlumberger Cabernet Sauvignon I got in my Christmas basket last year!). Yes, they WERE impressed.

3rd: My family came up to my neck of the woods this Thanksgiving-finally! Wait….that meant I needed to provide all the wine! They probably expected me to since I work at a winery right? I thought I needed at least 6 bottles for 12 people…boy was that ever not enough!

I’ve polished off almost 2 cases of my 5 case collection in just the past month (not just me-but you know…)! I noticed the waning # of bottles but wasn’t phased a bit-since sharing wine is just so much fun. Now, if anyone asks what they can bring to Christmas I’ll probably have to say, “A good bottle of wine.”

Lesson? I believe the reason we buy more wine than we can drink at one time (call it saving or aging if you’d like) is so that we have enough to share with those we like enough to share it with. Right?

It’s almost as much fun opening the bottles for these friends or family, as it was discovering that wine in the first place. You simply can’t begrudge your spoils when you enjoy them at long last. What’s the nicest wine you’ve ever opened for someone? Why was it your favorite? Was it expensive, rare, limited production, or just a good wine you liked and put away for a nice occasion?

Remember when you were a kid at the table on Thanksgiving Day and you just let the cranberry sauce platter keep passing you by (that gelatinous stuff that sliced like beet colored congealed gravy and wiggled)?
Things have changed-now YOU’RE the adult who cooks Thanksgiving Dinner or at least contributes to it. You can make any kind of turkey sauce you want! Wait for it: It doesn’t even have to be cranberry. It’s true.
Fruit and Meat. They are 2 wonderful food items that really do great things for each other. I didn’t know this as a kid-but as a wine drinking adult who loves to concoct new and better twists on old classics in order to pair them with well….. more wines..I’ve seen the light! For instance, I soak my favorite Turkish Chicken in dried fruit and water overnight, I make apple compote for my pork loin, and I even use marmalade or jam on certain duck dishes. As mentioned in preceding blogs-fruity meat items are often incredibly good with pinot. If they are heavier meats-they can also be amazing with the right Syrah (and yes-ours is the right kind of Syrah).

Maggie-one of our blog followers, mentioned in an earlier post a delicious sounding tangerine cranberry sauce with port. I’m sold-but the question is: which one do I make this year? Will everyone like it?

What are your favorite twists on the old classics? Are your efforts to improve mediocre (and just plain bad sometimes lets be honest) holiday foods unanimously applauded or simply subjected to the suspicious and squinchy eyed inspection by the old school family members who ask ‘why you can’t just be normal for godsake and go open up a can of the real stuff already……? ‘

I was hanging out in Venice Beach this week at the quintessential Abbot Kinney restaurant, Joe’s and drinking some of our Pinot Noir.  Here’s what we ate:

Braised Lamb Shank, White Ban & Date Puree, Red Dandelion Greens, Vanilla Herb Oil, Reduction of Braising Jus
Pan-Roasted Atlantic Salmon, Ragout of Roasted Pumpkin, Chestnut, Maitake Mushroom, Grilled Scallion, Allspice Emulsion, Ginger Gastrique

Hungry yet?

While drinking, and talking, and eating and generally enjoying the low-key elegance and ambiance I decided to make this wine my Thanksgiving star.

…yeah, yeah, pinot noir is soo yummy and fruity and light…….. Stop.

Michel-Schlumberger Pinot Noir is of the breed of Pinot that does not simply play the part of a dried cherry or strawberry. It has earthiness, body while remaining delicate, and baking spices along with of course: red fruit. What does this mean? It means it is multi-faceted and can pair with pretty much anything on your table.

My plan for Pinot friendly Thanksgiving dinner foods:

~ Rosemary brine for the turkey
~ Cranberry chutney
~ Good ol’ mashed potatoes (I used the red ones)
~ Scratch the creamy lumpy gravy and bring on the wine ‘jous’
~ Roasted mushrooms
~ Haricot verte (baby French green beans)
~ Candied lavendar (either in salad or with cheeses before dinner)

And you?  What are your plans this year?

The word terroir may seem a bit pretentious to some. This may be because of it’s perceived affected “Frenchy” pronunciation or because initially the only people who talked about terroir were in the wine industry or were wine snobs showing off their substantial knowledge of all things wine related.

However, there is something to say about the terroir of each different appellation and even further, of each individual vineyard. In the past years, many different appellations have been classified in California due their unique terroir, which proves that their soil, weather, conditions, etc are different enough from their neighbors to warrant their very own growing region. While this makes it harder and harder for the general public to figure out a wine bottle-it also speaks for some of the different qualities we find in wines from these areas.

As far as I’m concerned-I don’t NEED to know about the terroir of a vineyard where the grapes were grown for the wines I drink most nights at home. But I do WANT to know.  And if I were attending a wine tasting for a certain region or country, I might want to delve a little deeper and get to know exactly what differences in ‘nature’ (think nature vs. nurture) were present for these wines before they became, well….. wines. How much does the nature vs the nurture (winemaking procedures, oaking, ageing, etc) differentiate these wines when they are the final product?

I can taste the difference in a wine that has been French Oaked vs. American oaked. I can taste the difference in high alcohol/low alcohol and sugar content. But-can I taste the difference in how the grapes were grown?
At Michel-Schlumberger we think: Yes. Terroir definitely plays a major role in our wines quality and it’s taste once in the bottle. In fact, we have quite our own little unique terroir on the estate. There are so many variations in our 100 acre vineyard sites. Some places are a little cooler or warmer, some are a higher elevation or different soil or mineral content in the soil…….. How do we choose where to grow what, and what effects are we looking for in the wine when we make these choices?

We’ll have more information on this in the next blogs…in the meantime, what are your thoughts?  Is the concept of terroir relevant or unimportant?

As many people know-the 1st weekend of November is when the annual Food and Wine Affair event goes on in Sonoma County. For those of you that do not make up part of the 3500 people who did buy tickets for this event this year-here’s what else is going on:

BIG Cellar Stash Sale here at Michel-Schlumberger. 11-4pm Saturday and Sunday in the Cellar Barrel Room. First come-first served. The best deals go fast. You can only buy these wines in person this weekend (no online or phone orders).  $5 of every case sold benefits the Healdsburg Education Foundation.

Paella and Wine Dinner in the cave at Robert Young Winery

Beginning Bird Walks, at Lake Sonoma. For more information please email Ranger Michael Carroll or call 707-431-4535

Day of the Dead Celebration at Gundlach Bundschu Winery: call 707.939.3019 for more information.

Lots to do — lots going on — have fun!

Why come to wine country after crush has ended, and before the summer months are here?

To give just a few reasons:

There are less people traveling, meaning: less traffic on the roads, fewer customers in the tasting rooms, smaller tour groups, and more attention from winery staff. It also means you’ll spend less money on lodging/dining out if you cash in on off-season special offers. Many inns offer multiple night stay or mid-week rate specials. Restaurants offer locals menus (pre-fixe menus including multiple courses and dessert) at great prices and are also much easier to get into without reservations or with less advanced reservations.
A few examples of the these specials are:

Right in the center of Healdsburg, the Hotel Healdsburg (Chef Charlie Palmer’s hotel which is adjoined to the Dry Creek Kitchen Restaurant) offers up winter specials, with 50% off a 2nd nights stay, Dinner and spa packages, and more…….. Go to: http://www.hotelhealdsburg.com/home.php

Then there’s the Honor Mansion in Healdsburg-the picture of elegance and luxury, that is currently offering buy one get one free for any mid-week 2 night booking. They will have more off-season rates and specials which will start November 16th and run through April 14th (many of these are internet only-so make sure to book online). Go directly to the Internet Specials page at:
http://www.honormansion.com/member/firstTimeSpecials.jsp

How about this special at Haydon Street Inn - the shopper’s special  Stay at Haydon Street - stay in one of the beautiful KING rooms Sunday-Thursday in November or December, 2008, and get the second night at 50% off.  And that incudes a 3-course breakfast & a great wine hour each evening!  Click here:  Haydon Street Inn.

Santi Restaurant (fine dining/traditional Italian) in Geyserville has Locals nights all year on Wednesday evenings, Half-off wine Tuesdays, and Supper Club pre-fixe menu evenings featuring a different region of Italy one Sunday a month.

The list goes on…………….. The point of my rant is that there is a LOT of great stuff to do, eat, taste……………in wine country and you can cash in on the best deals during the late Fall and Winter months.

Come on Up and taste the bounty-and share with us any of your favorite hidden secrets in the comments!

Yes, harvest is over. Pretty much everyone in Sonoma County is finished bringing in their grapes if they aren’t doing late harvest wines……
However, don’t let this fool you into thinking that wine country goes to sleep from October-January. The creeping of the seasons towards the end of the calendar year-just brings the beginning of the year that much closer and already we’re all hard at work planning our late Fall and Winter parties, tastings, and special events.

First up-we’ve got a BIG cellar sale on the 1st Saturday in November.

Then there’s the BIG Pig Party in November (we had over 100 people at this last year-and had to stop taking reservations!).  And then we’re still putting our heads together over the Holiday Event we’ll have for our Wine Club members in December……….

During which time the vineyards will be turning from yellow, gold, and orange to purples, and reds and then to naked, dormant vines waiting out the crisp winter weather to awaken once again in the Spring…….
I’m caught up in appreciating the beautiful Autumn ’scapes right now in Dry Creek Valley-I take a camera with me to work each day in case I see a view I just have to capture on film. Stay tuned for more updates on our event calendar, or just give me a call anytime if you’d like to hear about any new fun things we’ve got going on here at the Estate………..

Going into our 5th week of harvest luncheons this season, we are no strangers to festivity here at Michel-Schlumberger. For a small estate winery - we offer a lot of opportunities for folks to come and spend time with us in lots of different settings. As a hospitality manager, I often wonder which of our events are people’s favorites? And more than that, what are people’s favorite types of events in general?

Question: What is your favorite Michel-Schlumberger winery event that you’ve ever attended (if you haven’t been to one of ours, than tell us about another small winery’s event that you had a lot of fun at)? Where was it? Why was it your favorite? Was it the food? the ambiance? the people? the mood?  I’d love to hear your thoughts — feel free to comment…and feel free to contact me with your ideas for great wine events we can stage high on the hill above Dry Creek Valley at Michel-Schlumberger!