In This Issue

• Eater Announces 2013 “Young Guns” Nominees
• Food & Wine Showcases David Kinch’s take on Cajun and Creole Cuisine
• A Preview of Manresa: An Edible Reflection
• Mesamérica Welcomes Manresa
• September is Time for Tomatoes!
• Spring Has Sprung at Love Apple Farms
• Calera Wine Company

Eater Announces 2013 "Young Guns" Nominees

Photo by Eric Wolfinger

Congratulations to Manresa Chef de Cuisine Jessica Largey on being named a semifinalist in the annual Eater Young Guns awards, recognizing culinary talent from across the country. Semifinalists must be under 30 or have worked in their chosen field for fewer than five years. Winners are announced at the end of June. For a list of other Bay Area talent to make the list and nominees from across the country, click here.

Food & Wine Showcases David Kinch's take on Cajun and Creole Cuisine

The May 2013 issue of Food & Wine magazine follows Chef David Kinch to his hometown of New Orleans for a celebration of classic Cajun and Creole dishes with a California twist! Make your own New Orleans party with recipes for Maybelle Punch, New Orleans-Style Chicory Beignets or Eggplant Dirty Rice. For more, visit Food & Wine online.

A Preview of "Manresa: An Edible Reflection"

This October, Chef David Kinch debuts his first cookbook—Manresa: An Edible Reflection. Celebrating the creativity behind the cuisine of Manresa and Chef David Kinch’s connection to the land and sea of Northern California, Manresa: An Edible Reflection details his relationship with Love Apple Farms and other area purveyors through recipes, narrative, and photography. For more information or to preorder your copy, visit Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound, or your favorite online retailer.

Mesamérica Welcomes Manresa

Chef David Kinch joins celebrated chefs from around the globe at the second annual Mesamérica Festival in Mexico City on May 20 and May 21. Featuring speakers and demonstrations by chefs from Mexico to Denmark, Mesamérica was launched in 2012 with the purpose of “promoting Mexican cuisine and raising the quality, education, and professional standards in the country.” For more information and for a complete schedule, click here.

September is Time for Tomatoes!

While spring is the time to plant the tomatoes, September is the time to celebrate tomatoes at Manresa’s annual Tomato Modernista dinner. Join Manresa on September 21 and September 22 when tomatoes from Love Apple Farms take center stage on the menu for the weekend—from cocktails to desserts. Make your reservation today by calling 408.354.4330.

Spring Has Sprung at Love Apple Farms

Love Apple Farms celebrates the return of spring with an exciting list of classes from simple canning and preserving to basic garden carpentry. For a list of upcoming classes, farm tours, and farm lunches and dinners, visit the Love Apple Farms website.

Calera Wine Company

The Calera / photo by Steven Spanbauer

Just 60 miles southeast of Manresa Restaurant at a 2,200 foot elevation sits the vineyards of Calera Wine Company, the only commercial winery in the Mt. Harlan American Viticultural Area. The winery is built on a former limestone rock crushing plant that quarried limestone back in the 1800’s. The name “Calera” is the Spanish world for “limekiln,” which serves as the winery’s symbol and appears on every bottle of wine.

When Josh Jensen, Proprietor and Winemaker selected this site in 1973 it was considered radical to dedicate so much effort to the cultivation of Pinot Noir in California. What did Jensen see that others didn’t? Terroir, a term relatively unknown at that time, like the great Grand Cru sites of Burgundy the vineyards of Calera have a limestone based soil composition that is conducive to the farming of Pinot Noir. But a great vineyard site does not guarantee that great wine will be made. As stated by Paul Lukacs in The Great Wines of America, “The theme of the Calera story is fixation, one man’s obsessive quest to master the variables of viticulture and vinification that distinguish majestic wines from merely mundane ones.”

Calera’s remote location and Jensen’s meticulous attention to detail in the vineyard and in the barrel remind me of a story about a chef I know that found an out-of-the-way spot for a restaurant that others questioned when he started ... but that is another story.

Today Calera wines are regarded as some of the best in the world and they are a great reflection of what we do at Manresa. Currently we are offering Calera’s 2011 Central Coast Pinot Noir by the glass, it’s an excellent introduction to Calera Wine Company. –Jeff Bareilles, Manresa Wine & Beverage Director

Here’s glimpse of Calera Pinot Noir available at Manresa:
1999 Calera Mills Vineyard Pinot Noir Mt. Harlan
1997 Calera Mills Vineyard Pinot Noir Mt. Harlan
1992 Calera Mills Vineyard Pinot Noir Mt. Harlan
2001 Calera Selleck Vineyard Pinot Noir Mt. Harlan
2000 Calera Selleck Vineyard Pinot Noir Mt. Harlan
2008 Calera Jensen Vineyard Pinot Noir Mt. Harlan
2000 Calera Jensen Vineyard Pinot Noir Mt. Harlan
2010 Calera de Villiers Vineyard Pinot Noir Mt. Harlan
2010 Calera Ryan Vineyard Pinot Noir Mt. Harlan
2007 Reed Vineyard Pinot Noir Mt. Harlan

 

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