Summer's finally here and it's the perfect time for American staples, especially with July 4 around the corner. Besides firing up the BBQ and breaking out the chips and salsa, a go-to easy food for the 4th of July is none other than good old pizza. 

"With a touch of citrus, the bright peach, pear and apple notes of this unfined and unfiltered blend mingle nicely with a pie that is simultaneously rich and fresh (and very savory) at the same time."

We'll have to try that next time we're in NY, which is actually in a month or so!

Co. is located on 230 Ninth Avenue, New York, NY 10001
You can visit their website here.

I love the Stone Crusher with a lot of things -- which is great, because we're a meze-driven restaurant, so I'm constantly seeking out wines with a lot of versatility. Right now, though, I'm crazy about it with our Azuluna Pork Belly with Moorish Spices, Green Almonds, Figs & Saffron Rice. This is a sweet-and-savory dish through-and-through, aromatic, heady and opulent. It's the kind of dish that makes you look for a wine that's worthy, not just a good pairing. The Stone Crusher is just that wine. I love the way the intense citrus and herbal notes elevate and pull out all of the earthier spices in this blend while brightening the saffron, and the tart tannin and acidity from the extended skin contact keeps your palate excited even after the richness of the pork belly. Ana's food can be tricky to pair with because it's so complex, but the Stone Crusher has the perfect combination of power and finesse to keep meeting her dishes head-on and totally bringing them to a new level. It's so fun to experience.  -- Lauren Friel

Delicious! She was also gave us this little review of the pairing:

"The Sluice Box is a great match - I love the texture of this wine with the fleshiness of the sole and the crunch of the rye berries. The skin contact from the grenache gives just the right amount of wild fermentation flavor to play with the wild ramps and sunchokes without being overly oxidative or losing too much fruit. But it still has enough of a vinous quality to stand up alongside a red wine sauce."

Want to sample Quince's menu? Make reservations here!
Interested in checking out our wine list? Click here!

Lastly, a big congratulations to Quince's own Michael Tusk who won the James Bear award for "Best Chef-Pacific!"

This week's post is for you folks out on the east coast. We're sure you've already  heard of this well-known joint, but if you haven't, now you are!

This week we are recommending another James Beard nominee and winner of Best New Restaurant, Craft in New York. Owner and chef Tom Colicchio's Craft is recognized for its use of the best seasonal ingredients from local family farms, fishermen, and ranchers. They carry our 2010 Stone Crusher Roussanne and their own beverage director Greg Majors recommends pairing it with two of their dishes:

An appetizer: Pan Roasted Sweetbreads with Jerusalem Artichoke
An entree: Pan Roasted Steelhead Trout with Lemon

Delicious!

Happy Monday! We've been busy at the winery and haven't been able to keep up with the blog as much, but here is a new entry that will make your mouth water.This week's pairing is recommended by Rachel, one of our marketing interns here at Donkey & Goat. 

Next Tuesday, Zut is holding an "Ode to Spring Dinner" with a chef's tasting menu by Jim Wimborough.

Our special offers are only available until this Sunday, March 18 at 6pm.

Happy Monday to all! Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend. This week we are starting another weekly blogpost, this new one called "Personal Pairings" which will be up every Monday. Each Monday one of our employees, friends, and wine connoisseurs will share their favorite dish/wine pairing.

Our first pairing is recommended by me (Krizia), one of the marketing interns at Donkey and Goat. One of my favorite pairings is an Italian American staple: Chicken Parmigiana paired with our 2009 Fenaughty Vineyard Syrah. While Pinot Noir or Merlot is usually paired with this dish, the fruity and berry-ness of our Syrah really brings out the robust tomato sauce and breaded chicken. It's generally a great wine for Italian and Spanish dishes. Don't believe me? Try this combination yourself and you'll thank me.

Craving some chicken parmigiana and want the recipe? Click here!
Think one of our other wines would go better with dish? Check out our wine list here!

Want to share your personal pairing? Email us at rk@donkeyandgoat.com
Enjoy!

Hey everyone! We're starting a new weekly update called Tasty Thursdays, where we recommend different restaurants that carry our lovely wines. Just in time for the weekend, our recommendations will give you many options to go out for a nice Saturday night dinner or Sunday brunch. Who doesn't love good food and wine?

Last week, a curious bobcat visited our vineyard in the Medocino Ridge AVA. At an elevation of more than 1,200 feet and within 10 miles of the Pacific Ocean, it is no surprise that Medocino Ridge AVA (also known as the "Islands in the Sky" because of surrounding fog) has frequent furry visitors. Here are some pictures of a coyote, bobcat, and 240lb black boar that visited Perli Vineyards this week:


Want to learn more about the Medocino Ridge AVA? Click here!
Interested in Mendocino wildlife? Click here!

Just a quick update from our grower Steve Alden.  As you can see, our vineyards are really remote; it's just nature and the grapes out there!

Here's a quick video on how to open a bottle of our Pet' Nat. Good luck!

Before popping a bottle open to enjoy, here are a few simple steps to get that natural sediment out. Donkey & Goat’s Pet’ Nat may be slightly tricky to open, but the effort is worth the reward!


How to properly open a bottle of Lily's Cuvee:
First, place the bottle upside down on its stand and put in the fridge. Leave until all sediment has settled in the neck and the wine is clear. This will take around 24 hours.
Second, carefully move your bottle to a sink or a bucket filled with 4-6 inches of water (enough to cover the neck) while holding it upside down.
Read more »

In the mean time, one of the few chances to try our sparkling chardonnay with a great dinner.  Hope to see you there.

Monday started out badly. Internet connection at the winery was down, printer didn't want to run UPS labels for kegs and I was running late. Then, I read the review on Tasting Table - turned my Monday around.

Our Holiday Card!

Our good friend Lars Skjerping, @LarsSkjerping and a killer campaign manager if you ever need one, recently sent us some great photos from various events.

From the open house, crushing 2010 Stone Crusher Roussanne and pressing 2010 Perli Syrah.

In case you have missed our recent tweets, we have been mentioned in several more recent articles.

• Saveur Magazine - The New California Wine http://www.saveur.com/ and
  http://www.saveur.com/gallery/


• San Francisco Chronicle - N.Y. takes a new look at California www.sfgate.com


• Sunset Magazine - This Years Top Wine Trends http://www.sunset.com/food-wine

It is nice to get press during harvest - even as it winds down we are exhausted and looking forward to getting the last wine in bottle.

We are down to harvesting our last few vineyards. Tomorrow morning, we will head to Anderson Valley and harvest our new Chardonnay vineyard in the deep end of the valley - lots of fog and, as a result, lots of acid. We will also be harvesting Hog Pen Syrah on Thursday. Friday, we will harvest the last of our grapes from the foothills. Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Grenache. After this, only one vineyard will remain - Broken Leg Syrah.

Rain is expected, a few inches but Broken Leg is steep and I can't imagine we will see any rot.

In the winery, this year has been great. Wines are coming in with low sugar, high acid and lots of flavor. I am sure many critics will hate 2010 but, for us, it is nearly perfect.

We have had some great recent press - here are the highlights in no particular order.

• New York Magazine -Keg Picks in the City http://nymag.com/ (THANKS CARLA!)
• Food and Wine - 40 Big Food Thinkers 40 and Under http://www.foodandwine.com The photo is from Broken Leg - our last harvest.
• Palate Press - Natural Wine on a Practical Note http://palatepress.com/ It is so nice to see a well written article that focuses on people and their goals as wine makers - not the hype.
  
• The Wine Case - Natural Wine: a more practical point of view http://winecase.ca/
• The Gray Market Report - More Unnatural Wine and Other Notes http://wblakegray.blogspot.com/ I was thrilled to be listed by Blake as one of his missing favorites.
• Eater New York - The Breslin Answers the Burning Question What Does One Drink With Fried Foot http://ny.eater.com/
  

Food

On the food front, one of our favorite places in Berkeley, Gather, just had their chef win Esquire's Chef of the Year. Gather is a good customer of ours and one of our favorite places to eat after a hard day at the winery. A really big congrats to Sean Baker. Esquire

Plum recently opened in Oakland. We ate there Sunday night for our Wedding Anniversary (which is actually today). Our meal was delightful. Reminded me of eating at "Bloom in the Park" in Sweden last November. The service was excellent - front of the house and our waiter (Jason - you were great!). I can't say that every dish nailed it but 6 out of 8 did which is very impressive for a new place. We are moving from Oakland in November (Albany - other side of Berkeley) but I plan to eat at Plum after our next late night at the winery. They are open until 1 am.

On the Michelin front, two places we love got some love themselves recently. The Breslin got one star - Congrats to Carla, Amanda, April and Ken. The Breslin is the least pretentious One Star that I have ever been to.


Wood Tavern got Bib Gourmand - also well deserved. And a late congratulations to Rich and his wife on the birth of the baby.

Okay, off to morning punch down. Photos from our open house will be posted next....

Our 2010 StoneCrusher is slowly fermenting. It is currently at about 11 Brix (sugar) with the yeast converting sugar at about a 2 brix a day. Everytime we take the cover off, the smell rocks - it is just incredible.

We are trying to determine when to press - not sure when. Maybe Friday or Saturday.

Labels: Fermentation (wine), Yeast

Image via WikipediaI recently tasted with a wine buyer who started out the meeting, after tasting our Untended Chardonnay, by saying that he like wines that were interesting in their shadows. (I am sure I am not getting what he said quite right, so Jonathan, if you are reading this, I apologize. ) Of course, I though back to reading Plato in college and the prisoners in the cave. I love wine with layers and nuances. Wine that allows you to think and discover as it reveals itself. I often find myself, when thinking about a wine, returning to memories.

When savoring a glass of our Stonecrusher, after the tannin, the wine reminds me of two components to my parent's backyard in Salt Lake City.

When I was growing up, they had an apricot tree. (In fact, there house was built on an old orchard) I can remember biting into fresh apricots and the distinct aromas and flavors. They also had lots of honeysuckle. I can remember the slighty sweet, very fleeting flavors and aroma of sucking on the bottom of the flowers.

These flavors and aromas don't jump out and I am glad they don't. Finding them is part of pleasure for me.

Labels: honeysuckle

We are likely going to sell out of Stone Crusher in a few days - I love the combination of tanning, richness, apricot, honeysuckle, with good acid. If you get a chance, you can try it at Zero Zero on tap and another places coming soon.