{"id":2319,"date":"2017-11-25T10:34:16","date_gmt":"2017-11-25T14:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/?p=2319"},"modified":"2024-08-25T20:34:40","modified_gmt":"2024-08-26T00:34:40","slug":"wbc17-wine-dinner-thomas-george-estates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wbc17-wine-dinner-thomas-george-estates\/","title":{"rendered":"#WBC17 Wine Dinner at Thomas George Estates"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Friday night of the 2017 Wine Bloggers Conference<\/a>, we decided to take part in a wine dinner excursion at Thomas George Estates<\/a> in Healdsburg. \u00a0Thomas George is located in the Russian River Valley AVA of Sonoma County. \u00a0They were founded in 2008 and focus on small production vineyard designated Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.<\/p>\n

We loaded on our bus and headed out. \u00a0After a twenty plus minute drive in the darkness which included a wrong turn by the driver and a trip across a one lane bridge over the Russian River, we made it up the hill to Thomas George Estates. \u00a0As we arrive the tasting room was on one side and the wine cave was on the other. \u00a0Dinner was being served in the wine cave.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Cave Entrance at Thomas George Estates<\/p><\/div>\n

Reception<\/h2>\n

Immediately upon entering the wine cave, we were greeted with glasses of the 2014 Brut Blanc de Blancs, Starr Ridge Vineyard, Cooper Block. \u00a0The grapes for this wine were sourced from the Russian River Valley AVA. \u00a0Starr Ridge Vineyard is located a few miles to the east of the winery. \u00a0To accompany the sparkling wine, we were served house-made cured meats from the Black Pig Meat Company<\/a>. \u00a0The Black Pig is meat company owned by the evening’s chef, Duskie Estes. \u00a0Duskie is co-owner of Zazu Kitchen + Farm<\/a> with John Stewart. \u00a0Duskie has also appeared as a judge on Guy’s Grocery Games<\/a> on the Food Network. \u00a0In addition to the meats, there were roasted vegetables, spreads, and crostini.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Table is set for dinner inside the Cave at Thomas George Estates<\/p><\/div>\n

First Course<\/h2>\n

After reception, we took our seats at the long table. \u00a0The first course was a roasted Brussel sprouts salad. \u00a0The salad included bacon from the Black Pig, Asian pears, Marcona Almonds, aged sherry vinegar, and \u00a0Capriago from Bohemian Creamy<\/a>. \u00a0The paired wine was the 2015 Chardonnay from Sons & Daughters Vineyard. \u00a0This vineyard is located at the border of the Russian River Valley and Chalk Hill AVAs. \u00a0This unoaked wine was aged sur lie with no malolactic fermentation.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Roasted Brussel Sprouts Salad<\/p><\/div>\n

Entr\u00e9e<\/h2>\n

The featured wine for the entr\u00e9e course was the 2014 Pinot Noir from Baker Ridge Vineyard. \u00a0This vineyard is on the winery site. \u00a0Duck is, of course, a perfect pairing with Pinot Noir. \u00a0This Star Anise Liberty Duck also included Cracklin’ Pork Belly with black rice, estate grown pomegranate and watercress. \u00a0This was perfectly paired!<\/p>\n

\"\"

Cracklin’ Pork Belly & Star Anise Liberty Duck<\/p><\/div>\n

Dessert<\/h2>\n

We were allowed some time to finish our Pinot Noir after dinner before dessert was presented. \u00a0Dessert was a Quince and Apple Tartin with Bourbon Gelato. \u00a0The 2012 Late Harvest Viognier from the Baby Block of Baker Ridge Vineyard was the wine of choice. \u00a0The grapes for this wine are always hand harvested by the staff at Thomas George estates. \u00a0This block is closest to the driveway leading to the winery. \u00a0It was a beautiful wine!<\/p>\n

\"\"

Backyard Quince & Apple Tartin with Bourbon Gelato<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Following dinner, Chef Duskie Estes came out to introduce herself and talk about her meal. \u00a0She’s quite the accomplished chef including appearances on Iron Chef and a 2001 James Beard Award.<\/p>\n

We made a few purchases and loaded the bus to head back to the hotel. \u00a0If you’re ever in the Russian River Valley, be sure to go check out the Zazu Kitchen and Thomas George Estates!<\/p>\n

Cheers!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Friday night of the 2017 Wine Bloggers Conference, we decided to take part in a wine dinner excursion at Thomas George Estates in Healdsburg. \u00a0Thomas George is located in the Russian River Valley AVA of Sonoma County. \u00a0They were founded in 2008 and focus on small production vineyard designated Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. WeContinue reading →<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[379],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-cellar","has-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2319"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2327,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2319\/revisions\/2327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}