Hail Me a Cab… and a Pizza
 
Saturday, my wife Lynne and I had the pleasure of attending the premier Simi Forage – a Sonoma County wine and food adventure, arranged by Erica Valentine, Estate Director of Simi Winery. I met Erica at the Luxury Marketing Council in San Francisco and she graciously extended an invitation for us to participate in the event. NBC was there filming the whole day and the 4 minute program is scheduled to be shown on KNTV on Saturday, May 30th at 3:30PM and Sunday May 31st at 6:30PM In Wine Country.
Erica was like the “orchestra conductor” introducing us to her “Sonoma County composition” that combined Simi Winery’s deep history with the region; a cast of stars that played their solo parts with style and panache; an authentic interest in the sustainability of the land; a celebration of local growers; the marriage of food and wine; a passion for excellence; and enjoyment of the “slow-noma” lifestyle. She has an intuitive flair for viral marketing – no (s)wine virus here, but definitely spreading the “wine virus” with fresh, creative inspiration. She reminded me that good marketing is about creating “the ultimate experience.” Alf Nucifora has stressed the value of collaborations and this was a good example.
We started at 7:30 AM at Costeaux French Bakery in Healdsburg for a wonderful breakfast, pastry demonstration and instructions to four teams assembled for a pizza competition to be held that evening. Our task was to “forage” at the Healdsburg Farmer’s Market for pizza ingredients to complement four different Simi wines.
We were lucky enough to have been assigned a cabernet sauvignon with structure and complexity, which lead to our slogan “Hail me a cab”. This allowed us to use pork pate, sausage, purple onion, fresh herbs, dry jack cheese and a final garnish of braised greens. The idea is to eat locally produced, very fresh, organically grown ingredients that are in season – to forage for the best Sonoma County has to offer.
Last year Lynne and I joined the Slow Food Nation so we were already plugged into the notions of taking time to enjoy cooking and eating together; eating seasonally; buying local; buying organic; planting a kitchen garden; avoiding genetically modified food; learning our region’s food story; making things from scratch; meeting our farmer(s); talking food politics; and teaching our children what we know.
After foraging we had visits to Dry Creek Olive Oil and Dry Creek Peach & Produce for tastings and brief talks about these agricultural/artistic pursuits. Tom Gore, Director of Vineyard Operations then showed us Simi’s Landslide Vineyard plantings in the southern part of Alexander Valley.
A superb lunch, prepared by Executive Chef Lee was combined with an introduction to some fine Simi wines by Winemaster and General Manager Steve Reeder. This was followed by a formal tasting of six different cabernet savignons and blending wines that gave us insight into how the “winemaster team” selects just the right combination of vintages to blend for perfect wine balance.
At 6PM we assembled our pizza creations. They were baked in a 700 degree, outdoor brick oven and served to the farmers market vendor/judges. Did I say that our team won the pizza competition?
The event was capped off by an “over the top” dinner, expertly prepared from local ingredients and complemented by spectacular wines and good company. There was even a gift basket to take with us to recreate our own version of the forage experience with friends and family and spread the good viral word. I would encourage you to sign up for the Simi Fall Forage, September 25-27, 2009.
We awoke Sunday morning and Lynne asked, “Was that a dream?”
Access to California’s wine country is one of the amenities that add value to Bay Area real estate. I have the privilege of “being the conductor”, bringing together buyers and sellers of distinctive south bay real estate. Call me for a great experience and please spread the word. If you enjoy this blog you can make this “viral” by clicking on the blue Facebook link in the upper right; you can also subscribe with RSS feed.
Rick Bonetti, Alain Pinel Realtors, Saratoga, California 408-857-8800
