Roast Turkey with Fried Sage and Pecans with J's Jewell Ranch Chardonnay

We love that home chefs aren't necessarily sticking to the traditional Thanksgiving dinner menu these days — coming up with interesting new interpretations or introducing completely new traditions instead. Over the next week or so, we'll be highlighting some of the more interesting Thanksgiving Day recipes we're seeing out there and highlighting some great J wine pairings for each. 

Roast Turkey with Fried Sage and Pecans with J's Jewell Ranch Chardonnay. Flavors of clean, vibrant pineapple, Meyer lemon, and lime make our Jewell Ranch Chard the perfect Thanksgiving Day white wine, both for its festive flavor profile and a clean, bright acidity that cuts the richness of holiday dishes like Food & Wine's delicious preparation of roast turkey with fried sage and pecans. We love the way the fragrant lemon characters and dry finish of this wine balance the sweetness of the pecans in this dish, but the Jewell Ranch would be great with a more traditional holiday turkey preparation as well. 

Chilled Oysters with Apple-Ginger Mignonette and J Vintage Brut. Oysters, of course, are a magnificent way to start any meal but this zesty apple-ginger mignonette from Martha Stewart adds a cheerful holiday influence to the tradition. This mignonette is absolutely delicious on Kumamotos and paired with and our J Vintage Brut, which has yeasty, brioche and butterscotch aromas and flavors of toasted almond and pear.

Stuffed Leg of Lamb with J's Nicole's Vineyard Pinot Noir. Mediterranean influences have been popping up on menus everywhere lately, which has some home chefs abandoning the turkey and ham altogether this Thanksgiving in favor of dishes like this stuffed leg of lamb from Food.com. Our Nicole's Vineyard Pinot Noir is absolutely delicious with this dish. It has elegant spices, cherry compote, and a touch of earthiness wrapped in a toasty caramel and vanilla finish, so it has that rich, holiday tapestry of flavors you want for a winter feast of any kind.

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Easy Election Day Tart to Pair with J STRATA Chardonnay

Happy Election Day! To fuel your trip to the polls, we present a delicious dose of red, white, and blue: red potato and blue cheese tart — paired with crisp, minerally J STRATA Chardonnay.  

Roasted red potatoes get a pungent pop of flavor from salty knots of bubbling blue cheese and freshly chopped rosemary. This hearty tart tastes great warm or at room temperature and a fresh green salad makes the perfect accompaniment — enough to sustain you through even the most prolonged swing state recount.

Speaking of perfect accompaniments, as Wine Spectator once observed, blue cheese tastes fantastic with the new generation of fresher, leaner California Chardonnays like our J STRATA Chardonnay, with its tight crispness and elegant lemon, apple, and white peach flavors. 

Red Potato and Blue Cheese Tart 

• 1 pound red potatoes, scrubbed and sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
• 2 large eggs (or 3 small)
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese 
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped herbs (i.e. rosemary or thyme)
• 1 tart shell (We like this foolproof recipe from Martha Stewart)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan, cover potato slices with two inches of water. Simmer uncovered until tender — about ten minutes. Drain and lightly pat dry with a clean towel. 

Arrange the potato slices — allowing them to overlap slightly — in concentric circles around the tart crust. Sprinkle blue cheese on top of the potatoes. Whisk eggs together and pour into tart shell, then sprinkle the entire thing with some freshly chopped herbs of your choice, as well as fresh ground pepper.  

Bake tart on a baking sheet until bubbling and golden brown — about 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Serve warm or cold. Pairs beautifully with a big green salad and a chilled glass of a lean, crisp California Chardonnay, like our J STRATA Chardonnay. 

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Salted Pumpkin Caramels and J Barrel 16 Pinot Noir (Plus, Three Other Halloween Treats for Foodies)

Have you noticed food and wine pairings are getting decidedly more playful these days? Master Sommelier Roger Dagorn recently weighed in on which varietal goes best with Goldfish crackers and The Huffington Post pontificated on which wine to drink with gas station cinnamon rolls.

We'll skip the gas station cinnamon rolls for now, but with Halloween just around the corner, a few playful food and wine pairings have occurred to us. After all, kids shouldn't have all the fun.

• Salted Pumpkin Caramels and J Barrel 16 Pinot Noir. Salted caramel has been all the rage for awhile now, but when this recipe for salted pumpkin caramels surfaced on Food 52, it rekindled our interest anew. "Evokes the essence of fall," said one reviewer and we think these would be absolutely delicious with our Barrel 16 Pinot Noir, with its long, lingering finish of cinnamon, clove and anise. This recipe gets extra autumnal credit for its inclusion of toasted pepitas (aka pumpkin seeds).


• Grown-Up Peanut Butter Cups and J STRATA Chardonnay. Mmmmm. Peanut butter cups go smoky and carmelized in this fantastic recipe from Gilt Taste and we highly recommend them with our J STRATA Chardonnay, which has a nice acidity to wash down the peanut butter. The finished product actually looks just like the peanut butter cups you loved as a kid, but with carmelized honey, smoked sea salt, and "heaps of vanilla bean paste," they're ready for a distinctly more cosmopolitan set of trick-or-treaters.


• Spice-Rolled Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles and J Freestone Hill Pinot Noir. Joan Coukos of Manhattan's Chocolat Moderne came up with this deliciously bold recipe for bittersweet chocolate truffles rolled in spices like chipotle, cardamom, and cinnamon. Moderne indeed and we think these truffles would be out of this world with our Freestone Hill Pinot Noir, with its aromas of cedar and blackberry jam and vibrant cherry and plum flavors.


• Homemade Caramel Corn and J Cuvée Brut. Whichever team you're supporting, we love the idea of serving Kitchn's homemade caramel corn with our J Cuvée Brut at a World Series party. The crisp, clean flavors of the Brut make the perfect counterpoint to the salted peanuts and sweet caramel. This is a very festive party pairing, and the highly versatile Cuvée Brut will be just as at home with the cheese plate, too. 
  

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Three Inspired Sparkling Wine and Cheese Pairings

Holiday party season is just around the corner, so what better time to think about festive sparkling wine and food pairings? Here are three inspired ideas to get your (cheese) wheels turning. 

• Tête de Moine and J Vintage Brut. A great conversation starter, Tête de Moine or "Monk's Head" is a semi-hard Swiss cheese with a deliciously nutty aroma and a highly unusual presentation. To fully develop Tête de Moine's flavors, your cheese monger carefully pares it with a special shaving device called a Girolle. The result is a thin, delicate rosette of cheese with curled edges — a bit like an oyster mushroom. In this form, Tête de Moine has a deliciously silky body that melts in your mouth. The name of this cheese from the Swiss monks of Bellelay who began making it in the year 1292. Tête de Moine is fantastic with a dry sparkling wine like our J Vintage Brut, which has bright pear and citrus characters.
  


• Gougère and J Brut Rosé. Gougère are puffy little balls of savory cheese pastry —  delicious served right out of the oven with a chilled glass of our J Brut Rosé. We especially love these Laura Chenel Chevre Gougere because the slight tang of the gougère's goat cheese tastes so delicious with the Brut Rosé's vibrant fruit flavors and crisp bubbles. This is such a fun pairing and guests absolutely love it. Gougère are surprisingly easy to make, too. The dough freezes well, so just make some ahead, take out of the freezer in the morning, then pop a batch in the oven a half hour before guests start to arrive. Gruyere, Comté, and Emmentaler cheeses are great in gougère as well.
  
  
• Cheese and Charcuterie Platter with J Cuvée. One of the most festive food trends right now is the cheese and charcuterie platter, a great way to engage guests and show off local producers. The easiest way to pull a platter together is to include a diverse array of selections: one fresh cheese like a Burrata, a soft cheese like Brie, a semi-soft cheese like Friulano, a hard cheese like Parmigiano Reggiano, and a veined cheese like a Gorgonzola. Cured meats like salami and cooked items like pancetta will round out your platter. Treat the cheeseboard like a centerpiece and flank it with a few buckets of chilled J Cuvée. With aromas of crushed hazelnut and flavors of lemon zest, Fuji apples, and Bartlett pears, the Cuvée is a versatile sparkling wine that will pair beautifully with all your platter selections.

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Inspiring Picnic Spot of the Week: Caldwell Lily Pool in Lincoln Park, Chicago

Strong, early autumn storms are visiting much of the nation this week, but just behind them are the last tender morsels of summer — clear skies and temperatures in the low-to-upper 70's, assembling themselves as the last course in a seasonal feast. Our advice is to hunt-or-gather up some favorite picnic fare, pick a choice spot, then head directly there as soon as weather permits. The last slice of summer is the most delicious.

Nestled in the vastness of  a lush public green and surrounded by high walls, Caldwell Lily Pool in Lincoln Park, Chicago is just one such spot — our inspiring picnic spot of the week. The entrance is so subtle that many miss it, but if you walk to the Fullerton underpass (toward the beach) and spot a small, subtle Japanese gate, you'll know you're on the right track. Once past the gate, American White Birch, Hawthorne, and ornamental crabapple trees line your path — each used in sequence to draw your eye to the central structure, poised stag-like at the water's edge.

Magical, silent, holy. These are some of the words visitors use to describe Architect Alfred Caldwell's tribute to the Prairie School style and mentor, Frank Lloyd Wright.  Horizontal lines were thought to evoke the native prairie landscape and Caldwell's large, stone slabs meet seamlessly with their surroundings — creating perfect, sun-warmed platforms for spreading out a blanket and reading a book or enjoying simple repast of fruits, nuts, cheese, bread, and wine. When you're finished, butterflies, dragonflies, and over 200 species of birds will be there to escort you gently into the new and cooler season.

If you happen to be in Northern California, the J Terrace, too, is an elegant and pastoral place to soak in the late September sun. Sitting on our warm patio near a gently flowing creek you'll share a platter of peak season foods accompanied by carefully selected J wine pairings. Click here for cost and reservation information. 
  

Lincoln Park Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool, Fullerton Pkwy and Cannon Drive Chicago, IL 60689 

J Terrace at J Vineyards & Winery 11447 Old Redwood Highway  Healdsburg, CA 95448

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Our (Localicious) Harvest Party Line-up

Our annual Harvest Party is rapidly approaching and we're so excited about the line-up of local food merchants who will be in the house for this year's event. Come experience the deliciousness with us!

Friend in Cheeses Jam Company. Lavender plum jelly. Lightly spiced Pinot cherries. Dark, earthy-sweet onion jam. Tart carrot marmalade. The Friend in Cheeses Jam Company is one of our favorites because of the joyous, deeply creative approach it brings to artisan food. They make outrageously delicious concoctions you won't find anywhere else. 

Jimtown Store. Oh, Jimtown Store. How do we count the ways? As the New York Times recently discovered, this casually stylish rural gem manages to be the soul of authenticity and the pinnacle of wine country cuisine. With items like spicy pepper jam, espresso brownies, and their special fig & olive condiment, the Jimtown spread is always full-flavored, earthy, and irresistible. If you haven't experienced the sensibilities of Founder Carrie Brown and Chef Peter Brown yet, harvest season is the time!

Whole Vine.  You know how wine's character can be distinguished by a varietal? Well, so can oil. Whole Fine takes grape vines and uses them to make beautifully rich and complex culinary oils like their incredible Riesling Seed Oil with traces of Argan and Hazelnut. We use this as a garnish on a wide range of dishes from seafood to cheese. A "game changer." 

Bernier Farms. Bernier Farms grows "just about everything," but we're especially fond of their incredible garlic. Roast a head in the oven, smear on crusty bread, and enjoy with a bottle of J Chardonnay. It's heaven on earth. Bernier is simply one of our favorite sources for top-notch, sustainably grown Sonoma County produce.  

Merchants Millers. This is the good stuff. And we mean, the really good stuff. Merchants and Millers are known for their award-winning olive oils, vinegar, sea salts, and honeys — all crafted with old-world sensibilities but packaged with gorgeously modern, new world style. Their Meyer lemon olive oil and pomegranate vinegar, in particular, are out of this world.

Sufficiently tantalized? Good! Get your tickets for our Harvest Party and experience all this with us, and more including an array of peak season appetizers thoughtfully paired with our award-winning sparkling and varietal wines.

What: The J Vineyards & Winery Annual Harvest Party 
When: Saturday, Sept. 22nd. 11:00AM to 1:30PM or 2:00PM to 4:30PM
Where: J Vineyards, 11447 Old Redwood Highway Healdsburg, CA 11447 
Cost: $45 per person / $35 for Club J Members 

To buy tickets, call (707) 431-5479 or buy tickets online. 

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Adventures in Sonoma: Willi's Seafood and Raw Bar

Sonoma County specializes in striking just the right balance of casual and sophisticated, and Willi's Seafood & Raw Bar in Healdsburg is a perfect specimen of that. Vibrant decor, an extensive list of small plates to share, an equally extensive selection of local wines, plus an outdoor patio for enjoying warm evenings create a wonderfully Sonoma-centric experience. 

Favorite menu items include the warm Maine lobster roll with garlic butter and fennel and french fries with Laura Chenel goat cheese ranch — washed down, of course, with some chilled J Brut Rosé. 

Two other highlights are the uni mac and cheese with chives and Sweet Bay scallops and the soft shelled crab "BLT" with green goddess dressing — featuring huge chunks of fresh, expertly seared crab. 

If you have room after all that, try the banana chocolate bread pudding or the local cheese course with truffled honey.

If it's not clear by now, Willi's is fit for serious foodies and the warm, worldly ambiance will set just the right "Sonomish" mood during your next wine country get-away. Highly recommended.

Willi's Seafood and Raw Bar, 403 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, CA 95448 (707) 433-9191

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Fifth Annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine Event, April 2012!

Visit J at the Fifth Annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine Event on April 12, 14 & 15, 2012 and taste J Vineyards 2009 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, as well as the 2010 J California Pinot Gris, and the ever so popular J Brut Rose.

Pebble Beach F&W Lexus Opening Night Reception

Thursday, 4/12, 6:00pm-9:00pm

 Inn at Spanish Bay

2700 17 Mile Drive

Pebble Beach, CA 93953

800-654-9300 Tel

On Thursday evening, Pebble Beach Food & Wine officially kicks off at the magnificent Inn at Spanish Bay for a night of unbridled indulgence.  The entire property will be transformed into an epicurean paradise; stroll throughout the Inn to sample decadent bites from twenty-three of the weekend’s top chefs.  Sip slowly from a selection of over two-hundred wines showcased by top domestic and international producers.

Pebble Beach F&W Lexus Grand Tastings

Saturday 4/14, 12:00-3:00pm

Pebble Beach F&W Lexus Grand Tastings

Sunday 4/15, 12:00-3:00pm

 Equestrian Center

3300 Portola Road

Pebble Beach, CA 93953

831-624-2756 Tel

The Lexus Grand Tasting Tent at Pebble Beach Food & Wine is the weekend's most spectacular opportunity for maximum culinary indulgence.  With over 300 wines from top-notch producers from around the world to a “who's who” list of 25 top celebrity chefs, this is your chance to mingle, mix and sip with the very best in the field.

ABOUT J

Founded in 1986 by Judy Jordan, J Vineyards & Winery is an independently-owned Sonoma County winery. The Winery continues its 25th Anniversary celebration.

J Vineyards & Winery focuses on non-vintage Brut, Vintage Brut, and Brut Rosé sparkling wines, as well as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris Estate varietal wines, all produced from grapes farmed primarily within Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley appellation.

The J Vineyards & Winery Visitor Center and Bubble Room is located at 11447 Old Redwood Highway, south of Healdsburg. To learn more, or to join the J Wine Club, go to www.jwine.com.

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