All right! I can’t take the pressure from my little brother any longer! Let’s put our wine glass down, push our plates back—it’s time to blog…

 

For the past two weeks, I’ve attended UC Davis’ short course for wine marketing.  Besides trying to appear as young college students, our focus was on the economics of production and marketing of grapes and wine in the United States.  In addition to learning about the federal and state regulations following prohibition that burden the industry making it difficult for winemakers to get their delicious juice to the masses, I also had the chance to meet an eclectic group of wine enthusiasts and industry leaders.  Let me introduce my new friend, Terry. Terry is a native Oklahoman (but we won’t hold that against her) who seeks refuge in Newport Beach, a beautiful beach community in Orange County, south of LA.

 

Terry and I became peas-in-a-pod as we had very similar interests not only in wine, but also food! So, when presented with the opportunity to provide feedback to students at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and to be a guest blogger on my brother’s site we jumped at the chance! A group of 16 people from our course made the journey from Davis to the revered CIA kitchens of St Helena. Here’s our recap of the roadtrip and the delicious desserts we tasted!

 

Oxbow Wine Merchants – the drive from Davis to St Helena is only about an hour and fifteen minutes, but after a full day of talking about nothing but wine, we were thirsty! Plus, the owner of this store (Peter Granoff) led a discussion on specialty retail–we felt obligated to do a little market research!

 

The sparkling rose was a refreshing treat and we definitely recommend stopping at Oxbow Wine Merchants (www.oxbowwinemerchant.com) the next time you’re in Napa. Great selection of quality wines and cheeses. A perfect stop to stock up the picnic basket prior to a day touring the vineyards!

 

 

Whistles wet, we were ready to go–bring on the desserts!

 

The Greystone campus of the CIA resides in a gorgeous, 3-story, 117,000 sq ft historic winery originally built in 1888. The CIA took over the facility from the Christian Brothers (who produced sparkling wine in this building from 1950-1989) in 1995. This is a true institution on the global culinary scene, and therefore a near religious experience for any ‘foodie’! The restaurant at Greystone is open to the public—a must-do on your next trip to Napa!

 

So, after a little self-guided tour of the building, we found our way to our tables. Our chefs for the evening presented their dessert menu for a concept restaurant called Essence. The theme of this concept restaurant was a Californian farmhouse restaurant near Calistoga situated on the Frank Family Vineyards. They described a seasonal restaurant with a menu that changes daily based on what ingredients were the best that day! So, since we’re here to judge desserts, let’s throw out the food pyramid and get into it, starting with the sweets!

 

Following that description, the judges are ready to go–bring on the desserts!

 

First Course: Champagne Granite with Orange Sorbet – very simple, but refreshing appertif–a great palate-cleanser to get us ready for the main events! The only ‘constructive’ comment I could make on this is to use a different color sherbert to avoid the possibility of confusing this tasty treat for a higher-protein variation–kind of looks like a raw egg cracked in a martini glass, huh?!?!

 

Second Course: Good Morning Joe – Coffee Crème Brulee, Bailey’s Cream, Almond Tart Cake. This was delicious! The standout here was the Bailey’s cream—every bite was followed by an ‘mmmm’ even though we were supposed to maintain a poker face for judging considerations—this one’s a keeper!

 

Third Course: Grandma’s House – Warm Peach-Plum Galette, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Peach Brown Butter Sauce. Is there a need to keep tasting?!?! Hands down favorite! The perfect, buttery pastry crust, with the sweetness and tartness of peaches and plums, and homemade vanilla-bean ice cream was sensational. Clean-plate club on this one!

 

Fourth Course (Uugghh…): Picnic in the Park – Strawberry Chiffon, White Chocolate Mousse, Strawberry Chiffon Chip, Strawberry Mint Coulis. Maybe the clean-plate-club on the last dessert wasn’t such a good idea after all. Stomach is starting to fill up at this point. We actually felt sorry for this course—how unfair to have to follow such a delicious dessert. I was still savoring the flavors of ‘grandma’s house’ so wasn’t a particularly impartial judge for this course. The best part of this dish was the strawberry-mint coulis—very refreshing and extremely flavorful!

 

Fifth Course (Five?!?! Really!?!? Can somebody please put the defibrillator on standby?): Licking the Spoon – Warm Chocolate Fudge Cake, Captain Crunch Ice Cream, White Chocolate Sauce, Roasted Walnuts and Pecans. I’ve got to say at this point I’m starting to question whether this was a good idea or not. Five desserts?!? What’s the likelihood we’ll make it out on our own will??? That said, duty called, so we ventured in. Fortunately for us, the Captain Crunch ice cream was a bit of a turnoff for us, so we didn’t have to eat much of this one to pass our judgement. Creative attempt, but not a great pairing with the ‘Essence’ concept…

 

Sixth Course (Stop the Pain…): Bedtime Story – Chamomile Panna Cotta, Honey Glaze, Lemon Sorbet, Honey Tuile. Honestly, enough is enough! This was an interesting idea, and the consistency of the Panna Cotta was perfect, but the flavors just didn’t work for us. However, the lemon sorbet was really good—one of these girls must be mastering in ice creams and sorbets, and is doing a terrific job (with the exception of Cap’n Crunch)!

 

Wow! 6 dessert courses in about an hour! Not something we ever thought we’d be a part of, and to be honest, something we probably won’t rush into anytime soon, but a great experience nonetheless! Very gracious hosts in a beautiful setting with tasty treats from the worlds up-and-coming chefs—we’ll take it! And if you can believe it, we actually stopped at Mustard’s restaurant on the ride back to Davis to balance out all those sweets with some protein and a bottle of Terry’s favorite Cabernet Franc from Lang & Reed–a little gluttonous, but a very tasty stop!

 

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (you can be the judge of that) at 8am the next morning–recovering from sugar hangovers and tremendously excited about our guest spot on myendlesssummer–thanks brother!

 

 

May your food (and wine) adventures take all of you to great places!

— Jared and Terry