creme fraiche | Tales and Travels of the Tinman

For more than four decades, the wines of St. Francis Winery & Vineyards have reflected the finest mountain and valley vineyards in Sonoma County.

Founder, Joe Martin, fell in love with Sonoma Valley and established St. Francis Vineyard in 1971, planting 22 acres of Chardonnay and the first 60 acres of Merlot in Sonoma Valley.

After achieving great success as a grower, Joe opened his own winery in 1979 with his business partner Lloyd Canton.

Today, a new generation of winemakers, Katie Madigan and Chris Louton, continues the long tradition of luscious, elegant, fruit-driven wines from Sonoma County grapes.

Currently, more than 400 acres of Certified Sustainable estate vineyards in Sonoma Valley and Russian River Valley are farmed.

Each with varying compositions of loam, clay and volcanic soils.

Well, the Tin Man, et al, embarked upon a seated, multicourse Wine & Food Pairing, orchestrated by Executive Chef Bryan Jones who created an assortment of small dishes paired with hand-selected artisan wines.

We enjoyed stunning vineyard views and an amazing fine dining presentation at a shared table.

The seating was hosted by a knowledgeable and friendly wine expert, who created a relaxing, fun and unforgettable wine country experience.

If you are planning a trip to the wine country, this is an experience that should not be missed

Click HERE to make your reservations

The Menu was impressive and inspired..

We began with the Smoked Beet Salad

Grilled Spring Onion – Green Garlic Purée – Aleppo Pepper – Goat Cheese Fondant – Almond Nougat

Then the second culinary masterpiece was presented…. Red Wine Braised Duck accompanied by 2013 Pinot Noir

Coriander Spätzle – Endive – Pistachio – Tart Cherry-Apricot Mostarda

Course Number Three…….Arctic Char a la Barigoule accompanied by 2013 Chardonnay

Celery Root-Yukon Gold Potato Puree – Saffron – Preserved Lemon – Parsnip Chips

le Quatrième Cours…..Coffee & Cocoa Crusted NY Strip Loin with 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

Roasted Cauliflower – Smoke Garlic – Crispy Shallots – Bordelaise

La Finale …… Sucreries….Mexican Chocolate Pot du Crème accompanied by 2012 Ruby Port

Marvelous Culinary Delights and the Creator himself….Executive Chef Bryan Jones…

It was a most fantastic experience…..delightful, educational and most of all delicious!

……..well as you can see from the painting…..we love to entertain…

I have the wonderful pleasure of having retired from my professional career

as a Health Care Administrator, after 35 years of service and

get to work in the field of my true passion………..the Culinary World!

I work in a retail food environment (i.e. Grocery Store) that is very innovative and trendsetting…

I am the resident Chef for my location and have a wonderfully ordained kitchen in which I get to prepare all sorts of culinary delights for customers wanted to expand their foodie interests.

Due to this I also maintain a recipe site : www.Chef-Emil.com , should you ever be interested in checking out my creations!

I work with the most amazing group of people and so very enjoy what we bring to our customers.

Each year I throw an appreciation party for our group, this year it was the Year of the Cupid…

I ran about the house and gathered up all the Hutschenreuther Puttis I could find to create the tablescape

Just as a point of interest, the Hutschenreuther Company was founded in 1814 by Carolus Magnus Hutschenreuther in Hohenberg an der Eger, Bavaria, Germany. He had previously worked at the Wallendorf porcelain manufactory in Lichte. After his death in 1845, the factory was headed by his widow, Johanna Hutschenreuther, and her two sons.