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Featured Articles

The City Cellar

Pause and Yield

By Michelle Sieling

What do you do if you own one wine bar in San Francisco, and also are a wine director at a sophisticated vegetarian restaurant? You open another wine bar!

Chris Tavelli, owner of Yield in the Dogpatch neighborhood and wine director at Millennium restaurant, did just that. Pause Wine Bar, opened in February, takes over the spot formerly held by Cav Wine Bar on Market Street at the edge of the Hayes Valley neighborhood.

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Goodies and Gadgets

Pedrozo Dairy and Cheese Company’s Tipsy Cow:

One question: What’s better than cheese paired with wine? Cheese that’s soaked in wine, of course! Tipsy Cow is a gouda-like cheese that is soaked in red wine – organic Petite Syrah to be exact – sourced from a small winery in Manten, California, called Mount Tehama Winery. The makers of this cleverly crafted snack, the Pedrozo Family out of Orland, soak it in wine for up to seven days creating a taste that is unique yet not over-powering. Made with raw cow’s milk, the dark-colored cheese is full-flavored and well aged. The owner of this small, cheese-making company, Tim Pedrozo also points out, “we are not certified organic however, our cows graze daily on green organic pastures. And all of the supplemental feeds are sourced locally.” Also look for Pedrozo Dairy’s Stout Cow – cheese that is soaked in Sierra Nevada Stout Beer.

Try finding Tipsy Cow at Lavender Ridge Winery in Murphys or Berryessa Gap Winery in Winters, that both ordered a custom batch with their own wines used for the soaking. Tipsy Cow and Stout Cow are both available in select Whole Foods and Molly Stone stores, or ask at your favorite specialty cheese shop. For more information visit realfaKHM�eadcheese.com.

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From Behind the Tasting Bar

Iberian Wines: Deliciously Different

By Cynthia Bournellis

Quinta Cruz donates wines for the TAPAS Grand Wine Tasting Silent Auction. From left to right: 2009 Verdelho, 2008 Tempranillo, 2007 Concertina (Touriga-based blend), 2008 Graciano, 2008 Touriga, and 2006 Rabelo (Port-style wine). (Cynthia Bournellis)My love affair with Iberian wines began two years ago—not in Portugal or Spain, but here in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and I’ve been pouring them ever since. The flavors and aromas of Iberian wines are distinctly different from those of say French wines. Bold, juicy fruit; earth; spice; and floral give these wines their luscious edge. They are like hedonists in their ability to pleasure most palates and pair with virtually any cuisine—from basic meat and potatoes to Spanish, Mexican, Thai, Chinese, even Indian.

I am fortunate to live in a state that is increasingly growing grapes indigenous to Spain and Portugal. California is not the Rioja, La Mancha or Ribera del Duero regions of Spain or the Douro Valley in Portugal. Therefore, a Tempranillo, for instance, grown in a mix of the calcareous rock, broken shale and clay terrior of the Lockwood area in the San Antonio Valley AVA—the southern-most tip of Monterey County—will not resemble that grown on the slopes of Rioja. Even Tempranillo-based reds from the Iberian Peninsula vary.

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Rosemary Cayenne Biscuits and Ham

paired with

Villa del Monte 2009 Pinot Noir Reserve, Santa Cruz Mountains

Recipe provided by Villa del Monte, created by Susan Ward Tarner, host of Cooking with Susan, Slow Food, Montana Style.

Whip up a batch of these Rosemary Cayenne Biscuits and Ham, to enjoy with a glass of award-winning Pinot from Villa del Monte next time you have friends coming to share a warm summer evening on the patio.

Click here for the recipe…..

 


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