by Don McAuliffe
Temecula Wineries Join San Diego Wine, Food Festival
Seven wineries from the Temecula Valley will among more than 700 participating in the 5th Annual San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival on Nov. 12-16 at Embarcadero Park North in San Diego. Falkner, Maurice Car’rie, South Coast, Stuart Cellars, Thornton, Wiens and Wilson Creek wineries from Temecula will take part in the international showcase of the world's premier wine and spirits producers, chefs and culinary personalities and gourmet foods. The event benefits the American Institute of Wine & Food culinary arts scholarship program. Over 700 wineries, 60 of San Diego’s top fine dining restaurants and 30 gourmet food companies and exhibitors will participate in the 2008 festival.
Wine Country Chefs Roll Out Fall Menus
As the final grapes are plucked from Temecula’s vines, Wine Country chefs are making seasonal changes to their menus that reflect heartier fare and the cooler weather.
Steve Stawinski, executive chef at The Smokehouse Restaurant at Ponte Family Estate Winery in Temecula has a new menu that captures the tastes of autumn.
“The focus for this menu was comfort food,” he explains. “I enjoy experimenting with fall produce and preparing dishes that include the heartier meats and flavors that this season has to offer.” In keeping with the tradition of using local growers and suppliers that use sustainable practices, the spiny lobster featured in the lobster and butternut squash risotto is from a local vendor.
Other new dishes include smoked trout fillet with pumpernickel bread points, shrimp fritter with kabocha squash purée, and duck confit with manchego cheese blini and cilantro pesto. New entrees are a pizza featuring duck leg confit with mozzarella and goat cheeses, and a main dish with duck leg confit, turnip and carrot risotto, and mirepoix oil.
Meanwhile, Executive Chef E. Dennis van Rumund has added some seasonal specialties to the fall menu at the Pinnacle Restaurant at Falkner Winery. Beginning Nov. 1 new items on the menu include ahi tuna tapas, stuffed portobello mushroom, Calabria scampi pasta, the 1 pound pork porterhouse steak, or the Beef Filet Mignon in a cognac green peppercorn demi-glaze. Finish your meal at the Pinnacle with the new mascarpone cheesecake.
Harvest Festival a Great Bargain for Wine Tasting
Join nearly two-dozen award-winning Temecula wineries as they celebrate one of the best harvests on record with two-days of entertainment, art, wine and food tasting. The annual Harvest Celebration, which starts at 10 a.m. and runs until 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 1-2, is a great opportunity to visit 22 award-winning wineries and sample great wine and wine-friendly food.
Travel from winery to winery and taste barrel and tank samples of new and unreleased wines. The two-day event also is an incredible value for wine lovers. With tastings at individual wineries each costing $10, this is a great way to try wines from 22 Temecula wineries for $89 – the cost of a ticket for the weekend event.
The Harvest Celebration is about more than just great wines paired with gourmet food samples. It’s a great way to relax and experience a weekend among the vines and wineries that are a short drive from San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles counties. Enjoy live music at several wineries as you tour through wine country.
Stuart Cellars will host tractor rides for $8 a person and Falkner Winery will have an art show with artist demonstrations. Keyways Vineyard & Winery, Southern California’s only woman owned and managed winery, is using the occasion to mark the contributions of women to Wine Country with a female chef and musician. Tickets for the Harvest Celebration can be purchased online at www.temeculawines.org or by phone at (800)801-9463.
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