Ferrari-Carano Winery: A “Special dessert”

Ferrari-Canano Vineyards and Winery (located in Dry Creek Valley). My wife and I had talked about going to the Sonoma County / Napa Valley California wine country for quite some time but we just never made the time to do so.  It took a fund-raiser Gala event to turn that tide as one of the items was a private tour, tasting and lunch at Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery in Healdsburg, CA.  The item came up for bid and I thought, time to just do this.  We won the bid and I thought it would be great for our 25th anniversary celebration and it was even better than we could have imagined. I have written about the other wineries visited in previous posts as this is the last winery we visited during our July 2008 trip — we wanted to save this special experience for last — kind of like a special “dessert”.

Our first view of the winery: outstanding

Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery will treat you to fine wines and will overwhelm your senses with beauty throughout the entire winery.  You will be overwhelmed with the beautiful gardens, the tasting room, the wine cellar and the views and how the design of the winery compliments the beauty you will see all around you.

Upon arrival, Patrick Mukaida (Director of Hospitality) greeted us and took us on a private tour, where we met Sara Quider (white wine winemaker), followed by a private tasting and lunch which all combined to be perfect to help us celebrate our 25th anniversary.

The view is simply amazing

Patrick Mukaida takes us on a tour of the vineyard

Downstairs: "Enoteca Lounge"

We walked through the cellar and the great smell of wine, it is just something that I will always remember and hope to experience again and again.  The cellar itself is beautiful as is the downstairs limited release and reserve wine tasting room (the “Enoteca Lounge”).  Shortly after tasting a few of the select wines we moved on to the private lunch at “Villa Fiore” as provided by Chef Joseph Costanzo.  The entire experience was just amazing and gave us the chance to experience wine and food pairings that were outstanding.  Chef Costanzo gave us many hints and did a great job in teaching us how he paired wines to compliment the food served.

We started out with a Chilled Avocado Soup with a Tomato, Shallot and Mango Crab Salad paired with the 2005 Tre Terre Chardonnay.  Next, we had a Pan-Seared Herbes de Provence Marinated Lamb Loin topped with Goat Cheese paired with the 2006 SIENA.  The Siena is mostly made up of Sangiovese (about 75%) blended with about 25% Malbec and the pairing was perfect.  Next we had Blackberry Sorbet paired with the 2006 Eldorado Noir.  The Eldorado Noir is made from 100% Malbec and is styled as a “late harvest” wine.  I had never thought of such a combination and was amazed at how outstanding it was.  Just as a note of information, Ferrari-Carano’s web site has a wine and food pairing guide along with all kinds of fun recipes which you may find useful.

After lunch, we walked outside to enjoy the gardens and said goodbye to our host Patrick.  Ferrari-Carano was the last winery visited on our trip in July 2008 and absolutely was fantastic.  The sights, the wines and the friendliness of the staff left an impression that will last forever.

View from "Villa Fiore"

Garden View

Recommendation:  A must visit winery! If you are going to be in the Healdsburg area, the wines and the views will be worth the effort to visit.

You will need an appointment to take the winery tour which I highly recommend.

Tasting Fee; $5 (No appointment necessary) — fee refunded with purchase of $25 or more

Location:  Ferrari-Carano; 8761 Dry Creek Road; Healdsburg, CA 95448

Follow on Twitter:  @ferraricarano

Stryker Sonoma Winery: Beautiful “room with a view”

We included Stryker Sonoma Winery on our list of wineries to visit for two reasons: (1) to taste the award-winning wines and (2) as Stryker’s design won the 2002 Architectural Design Award for Northern California from the American Institute of Architects we thought it would be great to see and experience a design that achieved such an accomplishment.

As you walk towards the entrance of the tasting room (the “room with a view”) you will experience how the design of the walkway focuses your eyes towards the beauty of the vineyards, the landscaping and the winery structures.  As you walk along the pathway, the vine canopy above assists in framing the picturesque view.  The view is enhanced by this design and it is amazing how such beauty has been enhanced!  It truly is impressive and you will see why the design of Stryker won the noted award.  The attention to detail is apparent and the design integrates the natural beauty of the vineyards with the inner workings of this small winery.  Additionally, the picnic area has a wonderful view of the vineyards, providing a great setting to relax and have lunch (if you brought one with you).  Impressive views and this is only the walkway; we haven’t even gotten to the “room with a view yet!”

Stryker: Beautiful design

As you open the door into the tasting room you will be welcomed with spectacular views. The glass pavilion design gives an open feeling allowing you take in the view of the valley as you enjoy the nice wines offered.  You will see why this tasting room is called “the room with a view”.  During our tastings, we felt almost as if we were in the vineyards tasting the wine.  During our visit, we had the tasting room to ourselves mainly due to the fact we visited during a week day in the last week of July.  Since we do not enjoy being part of a huge crowd, we have found timing our visits for the last week of July to be an excellent choice.

Stryker: Tasting "Room with a view"

Entrance into Tasting Room

At the time we visited the following tasting fees applied and should give you an idea of what fees you can expect:

Complimentary tastings: 2005 Chardonnay, Russian River Valley; the 2005 Merlot, Alexander Valley Estate; the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County

$5 tasting fee taste all of the noted Zinfandels: 2004 “Old Vine”, Alexander Valley; 2005 Russian River Valley, Alegria Vineyard; 2004 Speedy Creek Vineyard, Knights Valley

$10 tasting fee to taste all of the following: 2004 Merlot, Rockpile Vineyard; 2004 Cabernet Franc, Russian River Valley, Alegria Vineyard; 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon, Dry Creek Valley, Two Moon Vineyard; 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County, Monte Rosso Vineyard.

Recommendation:  If you have the time, swing by and visit as you will be impressed by the beautiful tasting room and the views you will be able to experience.

Location:  Stryker Sonoma Winery:  5110 Highway 128; Geyserville, CA 95441

Next time:  We head to a winery in the Healdsburg, CA area!

Chez Roux: What a great dining experience

Chez Roux opened in the early part of 2009 as part of the of the LaTorretta Del Lago resort located on Lake Conroe in Montgomery, Texas.   For those who live in Houston or the surrounding areas, the drive to Chez Roux will be rewarded with a dining experience that will both surprise and amaze you.

Chez Roux is an outstanding restaurant that provides a unique setting on Lake Conroe with exceptional food making for a dining experience that you will truly enjoy.  From the outside, the stand-alone building is not impressive as it looks very stark and uninviting.  However, once you walk inside you see the floor to ceiling glass encased wine room that is both impressive and appealing to the eye.  Then as you look forward you see the view of Lake Conroe and the large outside patio that is ideal for having a casual drink while enjoying the Lake — an inviting setting that welcomes you to stay and enjoy yourself.  As you walk further into the dining room and look to the right you will see the open kitchen which may be viewed from almost anywhere in the  restaurant.  We were seated to the far left room that is a somewhat separated from the main dining area and from there we could view the happenings in the kitchen.  Overall, the entire staff works hard to ensure you have an enjoyable experience and they succeeded in doing so for us.

Our entire group decided to go with the Pre Fix menu, complete with a starter, the main course, dessert and 1/2 bottle of wine priced at a very reasonable $65. Portions were sized as you would expect and the food presentations were impressive.

For the starter, I had the “Rare Peppered Tenderloin of Venison” which was perfectly prepared. The fine bean and caper relish that accompanied it balanced out the dish. The Parmesan Wafer was an unexpected treat that just rounded out a fantastic starter. Starting out like this, I knew that this experience was going to be one I would remember for a very long time.

Starter: Rare Peppered Tenderloin of Venison

My wife started off with the Globe Artichoke with hazelnut crusted goats cheese surrounded by an artichoke and olive oil dressing.  You cannot go wrong by selecting either of these starters as they both are delicious.

Starter: Globe Artichoke

As an added note, the 1/2 bottle of wine selection was either “Murphy Goode, 2006 Fume Blanc Sonoma California or the Jean Luc Colombo, 2005 Rouge Rhone Valley (France). I selected the 2006 Fume Blanc which paired very well with my food selections as it was crisp and with a light citrus taste.  The Fume Blanc is considered to be Murphy Goode’s “Flagship wine” and is made from fruit sourced out of the Alexander Valley (located in the northern part of Sonoma County, CA) and is a combination of Sauvignon Blanc along with a small amount of Sauvignon Musque.

For the main course I selected the “Butter Poached Breast of Chicken” which was exceptional. The hints of the aged parmesan along with the shiitake mushrooms that enhanced the asparagus risotto convinced me that Chef Albert Roux’s reputation is fully represented in this new venture.

Main Course: Butter Poached Breast of Chicken

Chef Roux has an impressive reputation as does the executive chef, Matthew Gray and the food we enjoyed reaffirmed that to us.

For dessert, I went with the homemade ice cream:  a scoop of white chocolate and a scoop of marzipan infused ice cream — I was offered more choices however I limited myself to selecting just two items.  Everyone else choose to have the selection of french and domestic cheeses that were offered. Honestly, we were surprised at the large variety of cheeses offered and I was happy to have been able to choose from 4 different ice cream flavors and 4 different flavors of sorbet.  Be it the cheese or the ice cream, we all enjoyed the dessert which topped off an exceptional meal making it an memorable dining experience.

Marzipan infused ice cream / White chocolate ice cream

Selected cheeses

Overall, a fantastic experience and a place I highly recommend!

Chez Roux Restaurant:  La Torretta Del Lago Resort & Spa; 600 La Torretta Blvd; Montgomery, Texas 77356