Life is Sweet in Napa Valley with Madrigal Family Winery

Life is Sweet in Napa Valley with Madrigal Family Wine

By Kat Thomas, Edible Skinny

Our last planned sipping experience of the day (there was still more to come courtesy of JACK Winery) was the third generation run Madrigal Family Winery.  Located on Highway 29, between Calistoga and St. Helena, this winery is situated on 40 acres of estate vineyards, from the highway to the treeline.  Madrigal Family Winery is boutique, producing about 6,000 cases of wine a year.  Cabernet Sauvignon is the primary varietal you'll find at the winery, but Madrigal also ventures out into Tempranillo, Cabernet Franc, Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc, focusing on small lots of a single vineyard.

The Madrigals first started farming some of Napa Valley’s finest vineyards in the 1930's.  The family left Mexico in the late 1930's and arrived in the Napa Valley where they began farming apples, pears, walnuts and grapes.  They were one of the first, if not the first, Mexican family in upper Napa Valley.   Early on Jess, who fathered 12 children, chose to focus on wine agriculture and started the family's vineyard management business.  After working for Napa icons like Duckhorn, in the 1990's they decided to get in on the fun of making wine.  In 1995, Madrigal Family Winery produced its first vintage of 500 cases of Petite Sirah.  Today, that company manages over 800 acres.  Looks like grape juice suits them! ;-)

The Madrigal family history is a constant source of inspiration, and guides them in their winemaking now. They value the long relationship they've had with the land and the people of the upper Valley, believing that the combined wisdom of the folks who’ve been here for generations and a deep appreciation of these vineyards can be tasted in their wine.  Today, the company is run by Chris Madrigal, the founder's grandson, and vintner of Madrigal Family Winery. 

Chris, who has 3 kids of his own, ultimately attributes the family’s success to a strong work ethic and luck.  “I always say sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.  I like being good and a lot of the things that have happened in our life has been a result of working hard, but if there wasn't luck involved with it, or if we weren't at the right place at the right time, our story could be drastically different.  Be it luck or hard work, the Madrigal dream is alive and well.” 

Not that it makes it easy.  “There is not a lot of family vineyards left in Napa Valley, but this is our life.”  Madrigal Family Winery is a portfolio company of Bacchus Capital Management, an investment firm providing strategic capital and making equity investments in United States family owned wineries and wine businesses.  And Chris is not afraid to talk numbers with the guests.  He explained the cost per acre to create a wine is $44,000.  Any wine selling for under $30 in Napa is not making any money for the winery.  So Madrigal Family Winery combats the daunting numbers with a constant dedication to their supporters.   “We do 6 parties a year for our wine club, most wineries do one or two.  We do a crab boil with no utensils, everything you eat is with your hands.  And the results are astounding: the average retention rate of a wine club is 18 months.  Madrigal’s is 6 years!”

Madrigal Family Winery also has a tasting room in Sausalito, but the best way to experience their wines is by visiting where their roots lie in Napa surrounded by the grapes. 

Some wine favorites from our time at Madrigal Family Wine include:     

• Gewurztraminer Mendocino (2016) - Storytelling white wine!!!  Pales straw in color with peach and rose petal aromas.  The stone fruit flavorings and crisp finish allow for even the tallest of tales to have a great ending!

• Petite Sirah Estate (2014) - This sophisticated wine is also the biggest varietal made in Calistoga.  With notes of vanilla, blue fruits, and plums, this would be perfectly paired with a really nice BLT on sourdough with thick sliced bacon.  It screams: JUICY.

• Las Vinas del Senor Cabernet Sauvignon (2014) - This wine was first crafted when Dad Jess turned 80.  It’s a showstopper with elegance, sophistication, and a velvet finish to celebrate a nuanced lifetime!  Vanilla, cherry, and cedar showcase the richness of the wine, and eighty years of experience!

Victorian Christmas Time in Cape May, NJ

Edible Skinny was lucky enough to check out Cape May, NJ during the Holiday Season! It did not disappoint as it was a whole lot of a magical Victorian Christmas time!

Possessing one of the country's largest collections of 19th century framed buildings, Cape May is New Jersey's jewel in the crown. Unlike other Jersey shore towns, Cape May City still looks like small-town America, complete with tree-canopied streets, right out of a Norman Rockwell painting.

In 1976, the Cape May Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Which means it's the perfect place for that Charles Dicksen Christimas!

This town's Congress Hall was decorated Winter Wonderland style with decorations throughout the month of December, along with a Carousel and their Holiday Shopping Village including Gingerbread Decorating and Story Time with Mrs. Claus!

Happy Holidays from Edible Skinny!

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Life is Sweet in Napa Valley with Silver Trident Winery

Life is Sweet in Napa Valley - Intimate Micro-Experiences in the World of Wine, Food, and the Art of Relaxation (PART TWO)

By Kat Thomas, Edible Skinny

Yesterday I wanted wine.
Today I’m drinking wine.
Follow your dreams…
And drink up bitches!!!

Sip sip hooray!!!  Part Two of our FAB trip through Napa Valley (and a big shout out to Beau Wine Tours for helping plan out all these AMAZING winery adventures!!!)

So here’s to life being delicious, all your moments being postcard worthy, and Cabernet all day, everyday in Napa Valley!!!

SILVER TRIDENT WINERY

Returning to the hustle and bustle of Yountville (or what Napa Valley calls hustle and bustle...), we were greeted at Silver Trident Winery by the glowing Mallory.  Intimate and inviting, Silver Trident Winery has appointment only wine tastings in their beautifully warm Tuscan-style stone building.  Their “Tasting Home” consists of a living room, dining room and library, all furnished with Ralph Lauren Home.  There’s no tasting bar, no standing on your feet, no rush, at all.  Crafting small production wines (2-3k cases per year) created in the heart of the Napa Valley, Silver Trident Winery has the catchphrase of: “Big Personality, Small Production.  Endless Passion.”


Along with working at Silver Trident Winery, Mallory runs Vine Living blog, so she give us the skinny on it all!  She explained to Kelly and I that Silver Trident Winery is the passion project of Bob Binder, cofounder of Oceania Cruises.  Binder helped make this luxury cruise line’s food and beverage program one of the finest at sea, collaborating along the way with such food luminaries as Jacques Pépin, Bon Appétit, and Wine Spectator.  Binder resides in Napa with his partner Walter Jost.  Mallory gushed, “they are the nicest sweetest men.”  In 2009 Binder and Jost decided to made 100 cases Cabernet.  The next year they added 100 cases of Pinot Noir.

They opened their “Tasting Home” in 2012, with a whole new approach to wine pairing: great wines with the world-class home decor of Ralph Lauren.  In the past, the iconic fashion company had crafted Ralph Lauren Home-furnished suites on two of Oceanic largest ships.  These 2,500-square-foot suites, with their ebony baby grand pianos and mahogany and quartzite bars, were specifically decorated to “capture the feeling of Ralph Lauren’s passions for sailing, adventure, and travel."  While working with Ralph Lauren Home, Binder learned the company was looking for an opportunity to open a northern California showroom. That got him to thinking about the possibility of offering wine tasting in a home setting.

Wine tasting in the town of Yountville is a unique experience because the Yountville Town Council requires wine tasting rooms in town to use at least 25% of their floor space for retail sales of items other than wine.  You will find wine tasting rooms in town that also include wine accessories, artwork, antiques, and even cookware (shoutout to our friends at Hestan!).  So when it came to the decorating of Silver Trident’s “Tasting Home,” Binder and Jost decided to utilize the luxury home master once again! ;-)

To continue the concept of the “Tasting Home,” Silver Trident collaborated with chef Sarah Scott to create food pairings for each of their five wines (since homes traditionally serve food…). Sarah has been cooking in the Napa Valley since the early 1980s and has developed a talent for food and wine pairings.  She is the co-author of a cookbook with Connie Green titled The Wild Table: Seasonal Foraged Food.  Noshes we sampled at Silver Trident include: Herbed Labneh and Goat Cheese, Mushroom Duxelle, and Piquillo Pimento Cheese Spread.  Yummm (with 3Ms!!!)!

Some wine favorites from our time at Silver Trident Winery include:                  

• Apollo's Folly Rosé (2017) Complex, yet ready to play!  Ripe red raspberry and watermelon make this “Paris, in the 1920s, in a glass.”  Sipping this Rosé was the perfect compliment to the black and white photography of Tunbridge Gallery throughout the Silver Trident’s “Tasting Home.”  Classically clean, it knows what it wants.
• Benevolent Dictator Pinot Noir (2015) Classic Russian River Pinot Noir with flavorings of cherry, cola, and pomegranate.  All aged in French Oak, 40% of it new.  A great fireside wine with a calico cat in your lap!
• Playing With Fire (2015)  A red that changes every year… because Silver Trident is a small winery they consider this their take some chances, break some rules, and play with fire.  Remember how your parents always told you never to play with fire?  And remember how that just made it a little bit more exciting?  Silver Trident chooses a variety of berries, a variety of barrel toasts, and experiments with fermentation temperatures.  Playing with fire can spark some deliciously thrilling results (and create my favorite wine at their “Tasting Home.)”

Turkey Ho! Giving Thanks for the Sandbox Cafe in Surf City, NJ

Turkey Ho!

Edible Skinny was LUCKY enough to attend an AMAZING Thanksgiving dinner this year at the Sandbox Cafe in Surf City, NJ!!!

There we were treated to a FREE, and YES you read that right FREE Thanksgiving dinner! The Sandbox Cafe for the last three years has opened up their doors to anyone who wants a FREE dinner!

It all started in 2016 with a simple post: “Think you have no place to go for Thanksgiving dinner?  Well, you're wrong.  Head over to the Sandbox Cafe in Surf City and have a free Thanksgiving dinner from the owners and staff of the restaurant at the 14th Street and beach.”  That first year they had 40 guest attend. 

Well in the last three years their numbers have escalated!  In 2017, the second year, their number more than quadrupled to 170 guests.  In 2018 the Sandbox Cafe served 250 FREE Thanksgiving dinners!

From those who might not have family in town to those who is bank accounts might not have been large enough to make a proper Thanksgiving dinner the Sandbox Cafe welcomed their arms to all.

Our hodgepodge group of four ended up at their doors because my Mom, Letty Thomas, will be moving across country in a few weeks to California; all of the kitchen supplies had already been packed leading to a non-existent turkey dinner...

And so we were greeted by a sign on Thanksgiving Day that brought a cheerful moment of thanks:

    Everyone at the Sandbox Cafe is Our Family….
    ...A Heart Felt Welcome to Our Thanksgiving Feast
    ... As a Community and Family Relax and Enjoy!

And then we feasted, feasted, and more feasted…  Our meal consisted of a soup or salad course, a dinner full plate of turkey meat, stuffing, green beans, glaze carrots, roasted sweet potatoes, followed by an array of different dessert choices (we made the most intelligent decision and decided on one of each).

The Sandbox Cafe has evolved to be a true community adventure with each portion of the meal donated by another local restaurant and/or business.  Other local establishments that got in on the action included: Shore Fire Grill (Cornbread Stuffing), Herb, Cheryl, Armstrong and Ocean Spray (Home Cranberry Sauce), ScoJo’s (Butternut Squash), Country Kettle Fudge (Oyster Crackers), Wallys (Potatoes), Greenhouse Cafe (Vegetable Medley), Kaiser-Din Foundation (Apple and Pumpkin Pies), Wod Hod (Ice Cream), along with Lee Farms, Silveri & Sons, and Tom LoBianco of U.S. Foods.  

AND along with the serving the meal completely for FREE, the Sandbox Cafe had a donation box to help the hungry through Saint Francis Community Center’s Food Pantry.  Talk about celebrating the community in all forms!

So let’s give thanks to the Sandbox Cafe and all the great work they’ve done for the community! ;-)

Life is Sweet in Napa Valley with Off The Beaten Path

Life is Sweet in Napa Valley with Off The Beaten Path

By Kat Thomas, Edible Skinny

“God is in the details.”
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

OFF THE BEATEN PATH
After Kelly’s and my time with Nana and Danielle, our treehouse picnic lunch arrived.  It was the perfect autumn al fresco dining adventure, tailored (pun intended) by Stephanie Brown of Off The Beaten Path, a styling, planning, and catering company that focuses on the natural beauty of Napa. 

Off The Beaten Path focuses on al fresco farm-to-table dining using only locally sourced seasonally inspired product.  They celebrate quintessential wine country celebrations in nature set between the earth and sky, such as a farm, vineyard, private home, or even a mountain top. 

Kelly and my scrumptious meal included fabulous dishes such as classic charcuterie of meats, cheese, and marinated olives, a fall corn tomato salad with basil and balsamic dressing, and an amazing crunchy creamy

cucumber avocado salad (THE BEST!!!)!

Everything is locally sourced, even the flowers in the arrangements.  Chef Lori Glad is the picnic expert, even growing a lot of the ingredients used in their catering.  For picnic simplicity.  Off The Beaten Path’s offerings are primarily family style foods.  “We focus on the experience by making the meal visual and fun as well as the best food you will ever eat.  We are approachable foodies who know the importance of amazing food!”  

Kat Thomas is the Editor in Chief of Edible Skinny, a site dedicated to making your life postcard worthy. She is also the CEO of the creative media company This Way Adventures. You can find more about both brands at http://www.thiswayadventures.com

Life is Sweet in Napa Valley with Taylor Family Vineyards

Life is Sweet in Napa Valley with Taylor Family Vineyards

By Kat Thomas, Edible Skinny

“God is in the details.”
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe


TAYLOR FAMILY VINEYARDS
The next winery Titus chauffeured us to was Taylor Family Vineyards, home of the tagline: three generations, one passion.  There we sat down for a “Family Meal” of wine and cheese at the family’s “Treehouse” with Pat “Nana” Taylor (Grandmother) and Danielle (Granddaughter).  Like every family there were some strong opinions: “Nana believes Chardonnay is the Fountain of Youth,” was one of the first statements out of Daniel’s mouth! ;-)

The Taylor Family has deep roots in the Napa Valley, as their Patriarch, Jerry Taylor was a fifth generation Napa Valley farmer.  Their story began when Pat and Jerry Taylor (who were married for 59 years) purchased the estate in (what would become) the Stags Leap District in 1976.  They knew they had picked the right location when Lillian Disney (Walt Disney’s widow) bought the property right next to them.  The original vineyard was planted by their family in 1980.  Pat and Jerry sold their grapes to various wineries before becoming Vintners.

In 2002, their daughter, Sandy and her husband, Phil, approached them about starting a winery.  Jerry Taylor told her that he would be happy to grow the grapes and drink the wine, if she would do everything in between.  Sandy found those terms more than agreeable, and at that point, Taylor Family Vineyards was born.  “We planted all the originals vines by hand, immersed in the dirt and rocks.”

Transitioning from Farmers to Vintners was a huge change.  For the family, it has been a wonderful change, as it allows three generations of Taylor’s to work together.  In the beginning, Sandy ran the winery by herself, relying on her background as a controller in the wine industry and occasional support of her family.  Today, Sandy works with her Mom (Pat), her husband (Phil), her brother (Mike), her son (Tyler), and her daughter (Danielle).  Working for the winery is the second career for all family members involved.  Taylor Family Vineyards is truly a family business.  Their winery is completely family operated, with no non-family employees, but they do not have a professional winemaker in their family and are honored to work with their two consulting winemakers, Gustavo Brambila and Kristy Melton.  

The ultimate boutique wine, Taylor Family Winery produces only 2,000 cases a year.  Because all their sales are through their wine club, they know that every member has had a direct connection to a member of their family.  This one degree connection translates to a devout brand loyalty: their Rosé sold out within 2 hours of them posting it online.  “Our customers consider themselves extensions of our family, they use our wines for special occasions and tag us in it,” noted Danielle.

Which is true even of the Thomas Gals as we used their Five, Six, Seven to celebrate our first family dinner the day after Kelly got married to Omid! ;-)

Some favorites from our time at Taylor Family Vineyards include:

• Hillside Chardonnay (2016) “People look down on Chardonnay, but it’s all that Nana drinks.”  Rich with bright acidity this wine is 100% Chardonnay.  A Hipster Chardonnay, it’s the one that everyone wants to be drinking.  Friendly with notes of green apples and cloves.  Not oakey, not steely, but where balance is the key.   

• Five, Six, Seven (2015) A family favorite that represents the five generations of the Taylor Family.  A blend of varietals (Cabernet, Cab Franc, and Petit Syrah) and families.  When making this wine every year, the entire family sits down with the winemakers to decide the perfect blend of varietals that makes their family’s representation in a bottle.  This wine with it’s bright plum fruit speaks of lip perfect underage wisdom.  The metal industrial labels are hand applied (to 90 cases individually...).  

• Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (2014) Their Flagship wine from the hillsides of their family estate in the Stags Leap District.  Luminous notes of Blackberry and Cocoa Powder, it’s flavors dancing with brilliance. 

Kat Thomas is the Editor in Chief of Edible Skinny, a site dedicated to making your life postcard worthy. She is also the CEO of the creative media company This Way Adventures. You can find more about both brands at http://www.thiswayadventures.com

Life is Sweet in Napa Valley with Hestan Vineyards

Life is Sweet in Napa Valley with Hestan Vineyards

By Kat Thomas, Edible Skinny

“God is in the details.”
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe


HESTAN VINEYARDS
Our first sipping adventure of the day was Hestan Vineyards, at their tasting room in Yountville.  Hestan Vineyards is a family-owned estate on the eastern slopes of the Napa Valley.  Their carefully-tended 110 acres are blanketed with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec producing 5,500 cases per year. 

At the door we were met by Michelle, an Australian expat getting her wine ya ya's out in the Valley and Grant, a self proclaimed “Cork Dork.”  Hestan Vineyards was born from the culinary passion of Stanley Cheng and his wife, Helen. Hestan is an amalgamation of Helen and Stan’s names (like Brangelina, but with the marriage intact..).  Stanley pioneered hard-anodized cookware in the 1970s.  The Meyer Corporation produces high-end, heavy-duty, customizable appliance from breakfast to back-of-house to the backyard.  “If you see him, please thank him for me,” pipped Kelly.

Taken together, Meyer affiliate factories comprise the world’s second largest cookware manufacturing operation, producing over 100 cookware lines distributed in over 30 countries.  The factories employ more than 6,400 people, manufacturing more than 42 million pans per year on average.  Retail partners include William Sonoma and Rachel Ray while the commercial side includes the cooktop grills at French Laundry and Bouchon.

For Hestan, their wine labels are a side hustle passion project.  Winemakers Jeff Gaffner and Thomas Rivers Brown translate these varietals into award-winning, limited-release wines for the Hestan, Meyer, and Stephanie labels.  Each has different techniques: Thomas Rivers Brown (whose name sounds like a country music jam band) who creates the Hestan and Meyer lines, is a purist who does believe in any blending.  In the past 15 years Brown has made more than 25 wines that have received perfect scores from Robert Parker Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator. (He’s not sure of the exact number, which seems in character for this laid-back Southerner..).  Winemaker Jeff Gaffner fully embraces the art of mixing varietals crafting the two labels named after Stan and Helen’s children: Stephanie (their only daughter) and Vincent Christopher (named after their two boys).. 

As Grant pointed out, wine is the opposite of food, the grapes don’t lie.  They can’t be covered over with spices.  Most crucial decision is how to pick in that 48 hour window.  And the person in charge of that decision and everything else is Angel Camarena, who has overseen the viticulture at Hestan Vineyards since planting the first vines in 1996.  Since then he has personally overseen every aspect of vineyard development and maintenance, in addition to managing the balance of the estate's 237-acre ranch property.


Angel is appropriately named!  Living on the property since the vines were planted, last year he fought the Napa/Sonoma wildfires like a captain going down with the ship.  Three times the cops came to remove Angel from the Hestan property for his safety and all three times he hid from in the vines he’d known for over twenty years ago.  Angel saved the Hestan Vineyards (and neighbor’s property) that night.  This year when his daughter got into an Ivy League school, Stan reciprocated by telling him not to worry about paying the bill!

Some of our favorite moments at Hestan included the wines:

• Hestan Chardonnay (2011)  Citrusy lightly oaked Chardonnay brought straight from the mouth of San Francisco Bay.  Clean and crisp, this wine is a tightrope of buttery and bright.  It’s plaid J. Crew shorts and a white yacht club sail.  Perfect late September picnic vibes.  Oh, and it’s been served at the White House 3 times now!

• Vincent Christopher Pinot Noir (2015) Valentine’s Day in a glass!  Hestan’s only non-estate wine grown on the Sonoma Coast at a 1200 foot elevation.  It’s a Pinot that drinks like a Cab.  This wine walks into a room quietly and soon becomes the most desired talked about guest.  This wine sits and speaks with you; knowing your secrets in a most tender beautiful way.

• Hestan Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (2014) This is a November campfire wine, a “opulent and Hedonist” drink.  Hestan’s Flagship Cab., it received 96 points by Robert Parker Wine Advocate.  With triple black fruit flavors, it’s Edgar Allen Poe in a bottle, full of dark velvet and echoing beauty.  

Kat Thomas is the Editor in Chief of Edible Skinny, a site dedicated to making your life postcard worthy. She is also the CEO of the creative media company This Way Adventures. You can find more about both brands at http://www.thiswayadventures.com