JUSTIN Food & Wine Blog

Love is in the air...

February 14th

Valentine’s Day.

Here it comes.

My stomach lurched as I thought about the hours spent in card stores, looking befuddled and searching for someone else’s catch phrase to define my love.

And what is it doing here in February? The remnants of winter, or at least what those of us on California’s Central Coast refer to as winter, still frigidly lingered and yet we are told to think romantically?

It was particularly dreary as I sped home the other day. As I passed another brown and dormant vineyard Love is in the Air came on the radio (The Tom Jones version, not John Paul Young’s. Sorry Purist.) and a wave of irony washed over me. It was clear that drizzle filled the air, and not love.

Or did it…

As I rounded a corner a field of wild mustard caught my eye. There in the middle of the grey and damp, were vibrant yellow flowers full of hope and resilience, and I felt my smile forming. Perhaps Mr. Tom Jones had it right after all and this was a time for romance. But could it be found amongst the muck of winter? (Again for those of you that have real winter, I apologize for the reminder.)

As a newlywed, expressing my love has come naturally. We believe the best way to experience love is by diving in, and finding something new. We are always hunting for the next adventure, whether camping the Pacific North West, to exploring the wonder in everyday activities. I knew I truly loved my wife when I realized there was no one else I would rather do this with. It’s who we are, helplessly curious.

This passion for discovery was what propelled me into the world of food and wine. Every new dining experience became a study of aroma, texture, history, and harmonization. Delving into this enthralling world of flavor became exponentially more fun now that I had my wife by my side.

As the song ended I agreed that Love [was] in the Air, and the feeling of irony was out the window.

It was time for a new adventure.

The path of culinary exploration is well worn, yet, bias be damned, the John Muir of my trail is Will Torres-Executive Chef at The Restaurant and JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery. To embrace this season of love, my wife and I decided to give Will’s inspired menu a chance to combat this winter drear.

As we were seated, the romantic and enchanting dinning room was rife with anticipation. Our server, Kevin, skillfully explained the choices for each of the five courses and suddenly I was a mess…. choices? How can one hope to choose between a perfectly seared Venison Loin with garden greens, cippolini onions, and grits or a local Short Rib cooked slowly overnight and plated with wild mushrooms and Romanesco cauliflower? Luckily, my wife was there to save me from this happy culinary conundrum, and made sure we never doubled up on a dish.

The gustatory adventure unfolded with something nearing culinary alchemy. The Borscht soup mixed local Bautista Farms beets with Canada’s Northern Divine Caviar, showcasing Chef Will’s ability to seamlessly blend the bounty of the central coast with unique flavors from around the world. Vogue cooking methods such as ‘Sous Vide’ were showcased in dishes like the Squab and the poached Ocean Trout. These were balanced by classic techniques as seen in the perfectly seared Mano De Leon Scallops. Each course was perfectly paired with a JUSTIN wine, and while each pairing was breathtaking, the epicurean synergy of the Venison Loin with the 2009 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon made our night.

In the middle of winter we had found a reason to rejoice. Love for each other and discovering something new had bloomed once again. While driving home, with both our hunger and curiosity appeased, a familiar thought reemerged:

February 14^th.

Valentine’s Day.

Here it comes.

I hope this season gives everyone a chance to feel the love, and express it perfectly. Perhaps you’ll try a culinary adventure, by experiencing The Restaurant at JUSTIN six course Valentine’s Day Dinner. Whatever you choose, I hope you see your own field of flowers.

Cheers,

Chris Jahns, CSW

Assistant Tasting Room Manager

To book a reservation for the Valentine’s Day Dinner or any other night please contact our Reservation Desk by phone: 805-591-3224 or e-mail: innkeeper@JUSTINwine.com

 

 

First Impressions

We were happy to host Wine Enthusiast Senior Editor and Tasting Director Joe Czerwinski at JUSTIN Vineyards and Winery last Thursday.  Joe was in town for the landmark Hospice de Rhone event and he confessed to us that this was his first time to Paso Robles.  Not that he had deliberately shunned us, but in his duties covering the wines of Australia, New Zealand, the Rhone and Germany for the Wine Enthusiast, Joe has just not been able to make it out here and see what the buzz is all about. 

It did not hurt that we were enjoying a beautiful Central Coast California Spring day when he arrived (straight off the plane from blustery New York, I might add), but Joe was wowed by the now green rolling hills on the drive out to the winery.  

After a walk around through our Tasting Room, Restaurant and the JUST Inn, Joe went on a tour of the vineyard with Paul Kaselionis, our Vineyard Manager.  Joe was very interested to find out more about the soils and regional growing characteristics of Paso Robles, so his time in our vineyards with Paul was welcomed and Joe had plenty of questions.  Paul is meticulous with his treatment of our vines, tending to think less about whole vineyards and blocks and more about individual vines so it was a good opportunity to better understand our vineyards with the eight or more different soil types on the property and difference that elevation can make even within a block of vines.  Paul is a tireless proponent of more natural farming techniques incorporating elements of Biodynamic, Organic and Sustainable farming, and he explained to Joe how we were able to eliminate the use of chemical weed control in our vineyard through careful planning, mechanical weeding, and dry farming.

When we arrived up the hill from the Tasting Room at the production side of the estate, Fred Holloway, our Winemaker, took Joe through the winemaking facility explaining our high quality, detail oriented winemaking style.  Fred explained that many of the winemaking techniques that we use here at JUSTIN are derived from Justin’s love for the first growth Bordeaux estates; multiple passes when picking, extensive sorting of the grapes by the berry, careful and slow skin contact in the tank as well as use of the best French Oak barrels in the cellar, are all standard practices at many of the best producers  in Bordeaux and highlight what Fred likes to call the “blood, sweat, and tears” that form the foundation for quality wines like ISOSCELES, JUSTIFICATION, Reserve Cabernet  and our other wines.

I took Joe on a walk-through of our caves, highlighting our ISOSCELES Library, 120 feet underground where we store our reference collection of ISOSCELES from past vintages before we began our tasting in our Evaluation Room where we do our blending trials.

For the tasting, we picked out three flights to show Joe the range of our wines:

We started with our 2008 JUSTIFICATION and Reserve Cabernet.  Fred explained the philosophy of each wine with JUSTIFICATION showing an elegant Cabernet Franc based wine in the style of Pomerol or St. Emilion.  I pointed out that our estate Cabernet Franc has some great Cab Franc tobacco and herby varietal characteristics that help make this wine a complex, more elegant, but substantial red wine that pairs well with pork, veal and game birds with complex sauces.  The second wine in this flight was our Reserve Cabernet, which is fundamentally the other end of the range of the Bordeaux-styled wines, more appropriately the California style.  Big, bold fruit forward, with a firm tannin structure that steals the show every time.

Joe Czerwinski, Wine Enthusiast's Senior Editor and Tasting Director tasting through JUSTIN wines with Winemaker Fred Holloway and me.

The next flight was appropriately Syrah themed in honor of the Hospice du Rhone.   We started with our 2008 SAVANT, a wine that steals a bit of the Aussie Shiraz/Cab style, with some great depth of spice and fruit, but with a more restrained, Bordeaux-like structure that makes it a great pairing wine with food like game meats; think wild boar or venison with mustard-cream sauce or peppercorn-wine reduction.   The other wine in this flight was the 2008 FOCUS, our bold, spicy tribute to the new world style of Syrah here in Paso with 96% barrel fermented Syrah with 4% Grenache.

Flight three was a real treat; a four vintage vertical of ISOSCELES (2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008) with commentary by Fred, the person who made the wines!  All of the wines are drinking well with the two oldest vintages showing some wonderful notes of forest  floor, licorice and other spices.  Fred explained that the 05 was a wine that was all about mouth-feel and richness with some exceptional aging potential, while the 06 is a very elegant, balanced and showy wine that shows the grace that ISOSCELES can show.  2007 stands out on its own.  This is a wine that rewards cellaring and is only just starting to open up in the glass.  Rich and complex with beautiful cinnamon/chocolate-like spice highlights that Joe described as being similar to Mexican Chocolate.  The 2008 was the pup of the group, but considering its youth, it is already showing beautifully with nice black fruit and spice apparent.

Unfortunately time passed all too quickly, and with Joe eager to check out the highly recommended Paso dining scene, we said our goodbyes on the stairs of the ISOSCELES center.  Joe’s parting comment was that he was sorry he waited so long to visit Paso Robles and if his first few hours were any indication of what was to come in the next few days, he would definitely be back here for next year’s Hospice du Rhone!  See you then Joe!

Drink wines you like, but understand why you like them!

Jim

Of Bananas, Wine and Vintage Charts

  
In every JUSTIN Times (our Wine Society Newsletter), we publish a chart which offers recommended times on when our wines are showing well.  These charts are, by their very nature, flawed (more about that later) but in the case of our Spring/Summer 2011 Newsletter, we found some serious clerical errors that had some of our members panicking about when to drink some of their wines.  Rest assured, these wines have not gone bad just because the chart mistakenly says they are “too late”.  Below is an article on how wines change over time, and why your personal taste, as well as wine’s general disregard for being commodified, defy the whole concept of a “perfect moment” on when to open a particular bottle.

I happen to like bananas as a quick, healthy snack.  Like wine, bananas can only be grown well in certain regions and require some logistical planning to get them to you in good condition.  Like wine, they also change over time.  We all know that the green-skinned  bananas that we buy in the store, will in time turn yellow, then a speckled black, eventually turning black on the outside and soft on the inside with the flavor and texture changing as well .  Wines share some similarities to bananas in respect to their evolution through time, and like bananas, people tend to have some strong, but differing, opinions about when in their life wines should be drunk.

Wines, both red and white, have components that not only affect taste, color and texture, but also affect how wine changes in time.  The relationship between these components is often referred to as balance, and this changes while the bottle sits in the cellar over time.  In red wines, these would include tannins (compounds that cause that dry, almost chalky feeling in your mouth), acidity (causes that lively, mouthwatering feeling), as well as flavor, color and aromatic components that contribute to a wine’s body and intensity that affect your general perception in reference to your personal taste (hopefully in a good way, but sometimes not so good when they are not working together). 

In a young wine, fruit characteristics are very pronounced and those chalky tannins can be very aggressive.  Most of the wine purchased in the United States is consumed shortly after purchase and since most people do not cellar wines, many have acquired a taste for this more aggressive flavor and tactile profile.  It’s a shame in a way, since most red wines, and some whites, can really get much nicer with even a year in the cellar.  This situation only points out two obvious things about wine and how we look at it.  By its own ever changing nature, fine wine defies becoming a commodity and the more we consume rather than enjoy wine, the more we miss one of the most attractive aspects of this beverage that has been appreciated for millennia.

Over time, the tannins in a red wine join up with color and flavor components in the wine and form really long molecules that get so heavy that they fall to the bottom of the bottle in the form of sediment.  This is usually apparent after about four or five years in most red wines.  The tannins have physically linked up with color and flavor molecules (some of the most apparent contributors in a young wine) and since they are sitting on the bottom of the bottle in the form of sediment, they are no longer contributing to a wine’s palate and aroma intensity.  These components (anti-oxidants) have come together after reacting with the very minute amounts of oxygen that permeate the cork in a bottle of wine and actually help protect the wine over time. 

If we look at how this affects the flavor, texture, color and aroma of the wine, we find that, like the  bananas mentioned above, the wine has “softened” and instead of the obvious “in-your-face” fruit and tannins, the wine is much more delicate and complex.  In fact, while we refer to a younger wine’s aroma, a wine cellared for four or five years often takes on a quality we refer to as bouquet due to its more delicate and complex aromatic and flavor elements.   And like those bananas, we will be at odds with each other on when to drink them, based on our own personal tastes.  The more earthy elements of a ten year old ISOSCELES may not be to everyone’s liking, but if you are a fan of older wines from Bordeaux, they may just be what you are looking for!  I will say, however that based on tastings I have conducted  here at JUSTIN, everyone who tasted ISOSCELES in that five to eight year range(after the vintage date) enjoys them much more than when it is first released, even though we receive great reviews on the newly released wines.

Now you can understand why our aging chart, published in our bi-annual Wine Society Newsletter the JUSTIN Times, is only meant to be a recommendation, and will change periodically to reflect how the wines develop.  To provide more meaningful information about our wines and how they change over time, we are changing the format of this chart.   In the spirit of our social media leanings, we are also now posting a regularly updated chart on our website.  These updates will be based in part on our Reserve Tastings series that we will be conducting on selected Saturdays throughout this summer.

Serving wines that are aged require some special handling as the chalky components of the sediment can negatively affect your ability to taste the wine.  For more information about decanting older wines check out my previous article on when and how to decant, which is posted along with our popular aging chart.

Stay tuned for future articles on starting a cellar, making wines that age, collecting larger format bottles and more in future posts.  To taste first-hand how wines age over time, join us for a Barrels and Bottles Tour in our cave.  This tour which tastes younger wine from barrels as well an older bottles, is available every day at 3:30 or on weekends at 11:30 and 3:30 with 24 hour advance reservation.

And for the record, I do keep a personal cellar with wines going back a few decades.  And yes, I do like my bananas softer and speckled .

Drink wines you like, but understand why you like them!

Jim
Jim Gerakaris, Certified Sommelier, CSW
Wine Educator, JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery

Guest Chef Kent Rathbun

Justin Baldwin presents Chef Kent
with a Barrel Head Plaque

Another successful Zinfandel Festival weekend and Guest Chef dinner are behind us! Zinfandel Festival is one of Paso Robles’ busiest weekends, and the JUSTIN tasting room and event staff always ends the weekend tired but satisfied. We had a lot going on this weekend, but I’m going to start with our Guest Chef Dinner.

Chef Kent works on his Scallop Ceviche Appetizer

Five times per year, JUSTIN invites an award-winning chef to display his or her culinary talents away from their restaurant. We have been hosting guest chefs for the past twenty-one years! We started off 2011 with a bang, featuring Kent Rathbun of Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen in Dallas, Texas. Chef Kent is a James Beard Nominee, and his restaurants are highly rated by Mobil and Zagat. My favorite of his accomplishments, however, is that he and his brother beat Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America: Battle Elk! 

Spring Beet and Creamy Goat Cheese Salad with Gulf Crabmeat and Arugula Sprouts

Although the rest of the event staff and I don’t get to sit down and eat the meal, there are usually extra plates that we all share. What I loved about Chef Kent’s meal was that his culinary and regional influences were clearly visible in his cooking.  His first course, a Goat Cheese, Beet, and Gulf Crabmeat Salad, illustrated his ties to the Gulf Coast – one of his early cooking jobs was at Mr. B’s in New Orleans. 

Grilled Pacific Ahi Tuna, Crispy Mango
Rice Blocks, Yellow Curry Butter

Chef Kent has spent a lot of time in Thailand – in fact, he was there the week before he visited JUSTIN – and you can easily see the Asian influences in his food. For example, his second course was an Ahi Tuna with Mango and Curry. The Crispy Mango Rice blocks were so innovative that the JUSTIN Wine Staff had a hard time pairing the dish with a wine! (They decided on our Reserve Tempranillo). 

Garlic Crusted Lamb Ribeye with Rosemary Jus and
Roasted Fingerling Potato, Asparagus, and Shaft’s Blue Cheese Hash

Of course, we were all expecting a hearty Texas-influenced dish as well, and Chef Kent’s Garlic-Crusted Lamb Ribeye certainly delivered! The lamb was fantastic, but I really loved the Hash and was thrilled to have the pleasure of watching them make it: it was as simple as mixing hot roasted potatoes and asparagus with Shaft’s Blue Cheese and julienned basil and spinach. Definitely a side dish I can’t wait to recreate at home!

Chocolate Caramel Crème Brulee,
Citrus Sea Salt, Candied Orange

And what’s a fantastic meal without a fantastic dessert? During the Q&A session that followed dinner, several of the guests raved about the Citrus Sea Salt that topped their Caramel Crème Brulee. Chef Kent revealed that the Falksalt is made by a friend of his, and there is a large variety of flavors available on his website.

We have four more Guest Chef dinners this year, and we’d love to see you at one! The dinners each feature a different chef and coincide with Festival weekends. Please check out the JUSTIN Winery Guest Chef page for more details, and call me (Laura) at 805-591-3223 to make a reservation.

Photos in this post by Jamie Foster Photography

Winter 2011 Menu Tasting ~ Deborah's Room at JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery

Chef Will plates his Poached Salmon for us to try

Several times each year, the hospitality team crowds around Chef Will in our tiny kitchen to taste his newest menu creations for Deborah's Room. He describes his dishes to the Servers, our Hospitality Director, Lesley, and me (the Event Coordinator), and we all grab spoons and forks and taste each plate.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you might have noticed that I always favor Chef Will’s soups. On the menu this season is a Cauliflower Soup with Crispy Potato and Piquillo Pepper Rouille, which is rich and incredibly comforting (as a winter soup should be!). A first-course surprise, though, is Chef Will’s Sonoma Foie Gras, which he serves with Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. The combination of sweet and savory is delightful and really plays with the senses. Both the soup and foie gras are paired with our 2009 Chardonnay.

My new favorite menu item comes “From the Sea” and is paired with 2009 JUSTIN Viognier: Butter Poached Lobster…need I say more? To prepare it, the chef team places the lobster tails in a vacuum packet with butter and herbs and then submerge the packet in the warm water of an immersion circulator. The lobster is slow-cooked at a very low temperature, keeping all the moisture and flavor in. The lobster is served with Cara Cara Oranges, which are at the height of perfection this time of year and an amazing compliment to the shellfish.

An extra-impressive menu item was our Colorado Lamb Chop. Chef Will uses Colorado Lamb because he finds it to be less gamey, and pairing it with a Vanilla Sunchoke Puree again plays with sweet and savory. Our 2008 JUSTIFICATION rounds out this part of the meal.

Our always-impressive cheese course is a rich, creamy, and mild French blue cheese, Fourme d’Ambert. The cheese is paired with D’Anjou Pear for acidity and a Pink Peppercorn “Aigre Doux,” which is a sweet and sour sauce – definitely a different punch on the palate! The bite of the peppercorns is tamed a bit by our 2008 JUSTIN SAVANT.

Of course, here at JUSTIN we always save room for dessert! On the menu this season is a Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pomegranate Sorbet, a Mulled Wine Chocolate Lava Cake, and this Lemon Pudding Cake with Passion Fruit Sorbet, Candied Kumquat, and Cinnamon Shortbread Crumbs. We serve our desserts with either 2009 OBTUSE, our port-style wine, or 2009 Deborah's Delight, our Orange Muscat blend dessert wine. 

Click here to check out the complete menu and learn more about our Wine Spectator rated restaurant. Deborah’s Room is open nightly for dinner with seatings at 6:30, 7:00, and 7:15 – reservations are required. To make a reservation, please visit Open Table, call 805-238-6932 ex. 3224 or e-mail innkeeper@JUSTINwine.com.

Six JUSTIN Employees Become Certified Specialists of Wine

Congratulations to six JUSTIN staffers, who recently passed the Certified Specialist of Wine exam! On December 17, 2010, the JUSTIN team gathered on our Wishing Well patio to take a test on material that  some had been studying for months.

To become a Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW), one must study a 214-page Society of Wine Educators CSW Study guide and pass a 100-question, multiple-choice, cumulative exam. To become certified is “to recognize a high standard of academic wine knowledge and the mastery of key elements within the world of wine and vine as determined by a team of wine industry educators.”

For nine months leading up to the exam, the JUSTIN team met for bi-weekly study groups, where they discussed winemaking regions, wine production, grape growing,  varietal characteristics, wine service, wine chemistry, and wine laws. In addition to studying the material, the study groups conducted tastings of wines from all over the world.

“Not only does this add credibility to the knowledgeable and wonderful staff in the tasting room,” said Tasting Room Manager Seth Engel, “it is a coveted title to carry with them for the rest of their lives.”

The JUSTIN crew is never done learning. Chris and Brian are studying for their Level 1 Introductory Sommelier Exam as well as the Cicerone Certified Beer Server Exam, and Jim is studying to become a Level 3 Advanced Sommelier. Several employees who already have their Level 1 Sommelier certification are working toward Level 2, Certified Sommelier.

Join us in our tasting room for an educational tasting experience!

The JUSTIN Tasting Room is open from 10am-5pm daily. We recommend arriving no later than 4:30pm in order to get the full tasting experience. Please call the tasting room at 805-238-6932 ex. 3211 with any questions.

Breakfast with JUSTIN Chef Tim Barakat

Guests of the JUST Inn Bed and Breakfast are in for a treat – Deborah’s Room Chef Tournant Tim Barakat has begun preparing breakfast daily! Tim believes in using locally sourced ingredients as often as possible, and this is certainly reflected in his fresh and innovative breakfast dishes.

So, what has Tim been serving up lately?

Savory Quinoa Pancakes with Lingonberry, Blackberry, and JUSTIN Cabernet Sauvignon Preserves

Toads in a Hole – a traditional English breakfast.
Maple-Infused Soufflé with Local Chicken-Apple Sausage and Soft-Boiled Egg Yolks

Poached Eggs over Black Pepper Polenta with Smoked Paprika and Caramelized Onion
Finished with Local Lemon Oil and Micro Chard

Breakfast in Deborah’s Room is only available to JUST Inn Guests. To make a reservation, visit our website or call 805-591-3224 between the hours of 9am and 5pm.

Happy Holidays from JUSTIN!

  

We’re getting into the holiday spirit here at JUSTIN, and for me, that means shopping! In fact, I was able to find a gift for everyone on my list just by browsing our tasting room…

The Wino

This one is easy – JUSTIN wines make the perfect gift for everyone! For the beginning wine drinker, choose your favorite varietal and a JUSTIN logo glass. Use ribbon to tie one of our Sommelier Corkscrews to the bottle, and your novice is ready to go! For the more seasoned drinker, we offer several holiday three-packs. From ISOSCELES verticals to “The Art of Blending” (SAVANT, JUSTIFICATION, and ISOSCELES), there is a three-pack for all tastes…and the best part is they’re all ready to gift in a wooden JUSTIN wine box.

 

The Foodie

We have a huge selection of jams, local olive oils, balsamic vinegar, fine cheeses, crackers, baking mixes, chocolate, even cuttlefish ink pasta  – and you know if it’s JUSTIN, it’s top-shelf! From the most beautiful embroidered napkins to salt pigs and salad servers, let our staff help you pick out the perfect fixin’s for a classic holiday gift basket.

The Outdoorsy One

 
It may be chilly now, but come summertime the outdoorsy one on your list will love grilling up a storm over our JUST Grilling Chips (French oak, wine-infused chips made from barrels that used to hold JUSTIN Wine). While grilling, be sure to keep the sun off your face with a JUSTIN Logo hat.

The Pup

Here at JUSTIN, we are big dog people…and we know your pup is just as spoiled as ours are! We carry locally-made dog treats, JUSTIN Wine Dog Society collars, leashes, and sweatshirts, and of course the book Wine Dogs 2, featuring our own wine dogs, Sunny and Francios.

The One Who Has Everything

For some people (or that special someone!) only the best will do. The JUSTIN Experience Package includes two nights at the JUST Inn, a wine paired dinner for two in Deborah’s Room, en suite couple’s massage, access to personal trainer and spa facilities, and a private educational tour and barrel tasting. $1450/$1160 Wine Socitey; call 805-238-6932 x 3223 for availability.

 
For even more ideas, flip through our official holiday catalogue. To order, visit the tasting room or call the Wine Society at 805-591-3200.

Happy Holidays from Our Family to Yours!

Deborah's Room Fall 2010 Menu

The menu at Deborah’s Room, the fine dining restaurant at JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery, changes with the season. Our meats, veggies, fish, and fromage are made, raised, or purchased locally whenever possible, making for an always-new delight. When I’m lucky, I get to taste items off of Chef Will’s menu – after all, it’s important to be able to tell potential dinner party guests about each dish (it’s a tough job…)! Here are some of my favorites from the Fall 2010 menu.

 

Heirloom Butternut Soup, with Rye, Sage, and Whipped Maple. Chef Will uses “secretive Chef chemistry” to whip maple syrup into a foam that doesn’t dissolve – and squash, rye crumbs, and sage are a classic autumn pairing.  The soup goes perfectly with JUSTIN 2009 Chardonnay.

I’m a huge fan of Pier 46, where Chef Will buys his fish. My favorite fish on the Fall menu is the Local Seabass with Potato confit. All of the great flavor and texture of Chilean sea bass, but it’s local and much more sustainable! Chef Will’s Seabass pairs with JUSTIN 2008 Reserve Tempranillo.

 

Chef Will’s Chocolate Pot de Crème is served in an adorable mini Bell jar. The whipped birch cream on top leaves a tingle on the tongue like that of root beer; a surprising sensation. The chocolate perfectly complements our port wine, JUSTIN 2009 OBTUSE.

Click here to see the complete menu. The Fall 2010 Menu will only be around until December 16, so make sure to come see us before then! To make a reservation for lunch or dinner, please visit Open Table, call 805-238-6932 ex. 3224 or e-mail innkeeper@JUSTINwine.com.

 

JUSTIN Vineyards to Table at the James Beard House

 

On October 27, 2010, Chef William Torres prepared a fabulous five-course meal at the James Beard House in New York City. He was accompanied by Deborah Baldwin, JUSTIN Proprietor, who presented a wine with each course to a captivated crowd. “It was a fabulous dinner served to a full house, and Will wowed everyone,” Debby said, “Our Chef and wines work perfectly together!”

Chef Will took JUSTIN Chef Tournant Tim Barakat along for extra support, and was met in the city by Justin Ermini, Executive Chef at the Mayflower Inn & Spa in Washington, Connecticut. Will and Justin first met when Justin traveled to JUSTIN Winery as part of our guest chef series in May 2010. The Chefs were also assisted by the house chefs at the Beard House, who do over 250 dinners per year.

 

Prior to cooking in the famed Beard House, Will and Tim had heard that the kitchen was small. However, compared to the very small Deborah’s Room kitchen, Will said that the Beard House had a “dream kitchen.” Chef Tim added, “We felt right at home – it was just a little bit larger than our kitchen.”

On cooking at the Beard House, Will remarked, “The Beard House chefs and waiters are incredibly professional! The entire dinner took about two and a half to three hours.” He added, “The Beard House is an unassuming Brownstone, and cooking in it feels as though you are cooking in someone else’s home.”

It was both Chef Will and Chef Tim’s first time in New York City. Will said he enjoyed being able to walk everywhere, and Tim enjoyed Central Park – and also mentioned, “The taxi drivers are crazy!” As for food, Will Enjoyed Otto, Mario Batali’s new restaurant, and Tim enjoyed the iconic hot dog restaurant Gray’s Papaya.

Just as Chefs Will and Tim visited NYC, JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery brings chefs from all over the country to our winery for our annual Guest Chef Dinner Series. This year, we will feature:

- Kent Rathbun of Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen in Dallas on March 18, 2011
- Barbara Lynch of No. 9 in Boston on May 20, 2011
- Pascal Hollaender of Lyford Cay Club in Nassau on July 8, 2011
- Matt Dillon of Sitka & Spruce in Seattle on August 5, 2011
- Ris Lacoste of Ris in Washington, D.C. on October 21, 2011

Dinners are limited to 80 and fill up quickly. To reserve your place, please call Event Coordinator Laura Zolnoski at 805-238-6932 x 3223.