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| Being welcomed at The Good Earth Winery - you just don't get much more spring then this - |
On a gorgeous spring day we headed out to take advantage of the 20 Valley's spring wine and food pairing program "Get Fresh in the Valley". 22 wineries pair up food with some of their newest vintages (or what they deem to be something fresh / refreshing for the season). Each winery also hands out a recipe card so you can replicate the dish at home (if you so desire). This year we started by picking through the wineries that offered up something that we thought sounded interesting - not based on the wine, but solely on the food (this year's full selection can be found here) - we planned our route and out the door we went.
Below is our ranking of the seven places we went to, some food commentary (because in all seriousness this event is all about the food) and a note on some of the best wines we tried on the day - be they part of the pairing or not.
Our Seven Wineries Visited - in order or preference
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| 1. Kacaba Vineyards Rustic Pan seared Crostini topped with Fresh Arugula & Almond Pesto, pickled red onions & Pingue’s Capicollo |
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| Usually "crostinis" are dry and overwhelm the topping during these events - but this one had the right amount of topping to bread ratio and the butter/oil it was "pan seared" in gave it just the right texture. The 2014 Rebecca Rose was a nice patio sipper - so we did. |
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| 2. Mike Weir Winery Double Smoked Bacon, Asparagus & Spring Pea Salad with Basil Lemon Crème Fraiche A little confusion here over the "pellet pasta", as it does not appear on the recipe card - but we think it was Israeli Couscous |
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| 3. Vineland Estates Smoked Whitefish Taco, Pico de Gallo, Pickled Cucumbers & Crème Fraiche Maybe just a little too much smoke on the fish - but overall a solid dish |
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| 4. Creekside Estate Winery Pingue’s Prosciutto on E’spelette Pepper Flatbread It might not look like much but Creekside's take on the traditional canape was a spot on success and tasty too: "you could finish the whole tray yourself before you knew they were gone" |
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| 5. Tawse Winery Homemade Corn Dogs with Celeriac & Apple Remoulade Shocked by the freshness of this Unoaked Chardonnay I failed to take a picture of the corn dog - but it did offer up a tasty treat and one of only a few hot dishes on the day |
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| 6. The Good Earth Food and Wine Company The Good Earth’s Cold Salad Rolls Fresh? Check. Tasty? Check. An enjoyable bite. |
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| 7. Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery Bacon Salad How can you go wrong with bacon? The only draw back was the bitterness of grapefruit peel that detracted from the finish. |
Other Highlights of the Day
Best Wine on the pairing list: Tawse 2013 Unoaked Chardonnay
Best Wine off pairing list: Kacaba 2014 Jennifer's Pinot Gris
Food Item Most Likely to Make at Home: Mike Weir's Spring Pea Salad
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