Before the crush, a moment for fun
The wine crush is coming, and when it does we’ll be busy 24/7; in the vineyards harvesting fruit, and in the winery running lab tests, and punching down and pumping over every 4 - 6 hours. It’ll be November before we get some sleep. But right now in the vineyards, verasion is over, and so the perfect moment to take a break and smell the roses before all hell breaks loose.
Up before dawn, Steve Maller, friend and noted professional photographer (www.stevemaller.com), and I headed out to capture images of our winery’s best local vineyards - to Saratoga, Los Altos Hills, Woodside, and La Honda we went looking for that perfect shot of Lonehawk, Marrone, Quartermoon, Silent Hills, Winding Way, and our La Honda estate vineyards.
By mid-afternoon, we were down off of the mountains and looking for food. We ducked into The Village Pub in Woodside (www.thevillagepub.net) , and asked for and received clearance to take a table even though we were dusty in our shorts and t-shirts. We had in mind a quick snack. Steve immediately began downloading the vineyard images onto his laptop, and before we new it a small crowd of Village Pub staff had gathered.
Out of that fray stepped noted sommelier K. Maxwell Klassen (max@thevillagepub.net) who jumped into action and lead us through some very choice menu items and some amazing wine pairings. Without exchanging a word, Steve and I knew we had fallen into the hands of a food and wine genius, and we silently put ourselves in Max’s hands. Over the course of the next two hours a barrel select Riesling from the Mosel was macthed perfectly with a charcuterie plate, a sensational Pinot Noir was matched with the perfect Halibut, and then the coup de grace - a sweet yellow peach topped with chilled shaved fois gras and matched expertly with a sumptious Sauterne.
For a local winemaker, I could not have asked for better way to set the stage for the upcoming crush. Thank you photographer Steve Maller, and thank you genius sommelier Max Klassen!