Special Announcement to the Paesani di Crinella, October 12, 2006



On the evening of September 30th, having been fortified by a luncheon feast of crawfish, roasted tomato and rotelli salad, grilled whole red snapper, fruit and cheese, all accompanied by liberal splashes of Crinella Sauvignon Blanc, our brave little band once again descended on the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. The event was the 2006 Sonoma County Harvest Fair, a world-class, wine and food judging event, and one of the high points of the Sonoma County and the San Francisco Bay Area wine and social scene.


Again this year, we were betting on our estate-bottled, Marino Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, and we doubled our chances by entering both the 04 and 05 vintages. From the first pop of the cork, we drew a crowd - and, more gratifyingly, many repeat customers - the sine qua non of product validation. We were overwhelmed by the number of laudatory comments we received, especially as they were coming from obviously sophisticated oenophiles such as wine critic David Jones who was enthusiastic about our fruit driven wine. Best of all, the tasting public's enthusiasm for Crinella Sauvignon Blanc was shared by the judges, who awarded us a Silver Medal for our 2005 Sauvignon Blanc and Bronze Medal for our 2004 Sauvignon Blanc.

The following afternoon, we and our guests enjoyed a memorable picnic luncheon, held under a large valley oak on the hilltop at our Forestville Estate Vineyard. Among the menu items were seafood-endive salad, frittata, panzanella, fruit (including heirloom pears from the old orchard on our "Forestville Ranch"), assorted breads and cheeses, topped off with fresh brandied peach cobbler. These were washed down by bottles of both the 04 and 05 Crinella SB, as well as 02 Joseph Swan estate-bottled Pinot Noir, the latter contributed by our winemaker, Rod Berglund, who also doubles as owner/winemaker at Joseph Swan.

Our spirits soared, as we marveled at the beauty of the surrounding vineyards - Iron Horse, Topolos, Sonoma-Cutrer, in the valley below. Master Chef Massimo Navarretta, from the award winning Orange County bistro, Onotria, gave a memorable impromptu lecture on food and wine. Comic relief was provided by Raider, our German Wirehaired Pointer, who busied himself protecting the grapes from intruders - deer and turkeys.

As is usually the case, by late afternoon we transitioned from bright sunlight to cool fog, and at that point, well fed and hydrated, we called it a weekend.

Please enjoy our Crinella Seafood Salad recipe which we enjoyed at the Sunday picnic. Many of our other family recipes may be found in the Crinella Cookbook.