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Culinary Stars Abound at Auction Napa Valley 2012

Featuring Chef Emeril Lagasse, Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc (Think: Their Famed Fried Chicken), and Many More

Auction Napa Valley, the American Wine Classic charity fundraiser hosted by the Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) and taking place this year from May 31-June 3, has always focused on food nearly as much as on wine, showcasing the cuisine of top chefs from throughout Napa Valley and around the country.

This year, the NVV and the 2012 Honorary Chair, the Chappellet Family of Chappellet Vineyard and Winery, have announced an all-star culinary lineup featuring Emeril Lagasse, appearing at Auction Napa Valley for the first time.   Chef Lagasse is widely known as the chef/proprietor of 13 restaurants (three in New Orleans), author of more than a dozen best-selling cookbooks, and inimitable TV personality. His signature cuisine – a creative take on Creole cooking – will bring festive flavor to Saturday, June 2’s dinner under the stars that immediately follows the Live Auction. In the usual Auction Napa Valley custom, vintners will provide dozens of bottles of their own legendary wines to accompany the expertly crafted dinner, served at elegant tables surrounding the dance floor. Once his cooking duties of chopping and sauteing are complete, Emeril has promised to cut a rug with the vintners and bidders.

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Goodies and Gadgets

Tovolo’s Bamboo Wine Table:

Whether it’s a bonfire at the beach or a picnic in the park, you won’t want to leave the house without this gadget! This handy bamboo table safely sticks directly into the ground or sand to make for the perfect outdoor picnic table for two. It safely holds one wine glass on each side leaving plenty of room for the bottle, cheese and chocolate in the middle. No more whining over spilled wine! It even folds up so you can easily pack it up and take it anywhere. And it’s environmentally friendly too — a table that saves your wine and mother earth all at the same time. But hold on for the best part – it costs under $15! ($14.23; Amazon.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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