Mood: Amused

Wine Selection: Flora Springs 2005 Trilogy

I love Halloween when it falls on a Friday! You get to dress up at work, dress up in the evening, scare some little kids when you give out candy, then go out! Can’t beat that. In my case, the ladies at Merryvale, were invited to the last “summer” lunch held at Flora Springs winery. I had no idea what to expect. We arrived and were seated under an open sided building, handed a glass of their Sauvignon Blanc and got to relax and gaze at their estate vineyards, while the rest of their guests arrived. Can’t beat a glass of wine in that setting on a lunch break. Hugh Hefner, aka Jason, was our guide for the day and he was fantastic!

He’s funny, he’s knowledgeable and he can read a crowd like a book. We were given a short intro to the history of Flora Springs, then we were taken to their caves, that is not only under ground, but also under their natural spring (hence, Flora Springs). Mr. Hefner gave us some information about the 3,000 barrel capacity caves, the barrels that Flora Springs uses, the vineyard practices, then he thieved some wine out of a barrel from the Wild Boar vineyard designate Cabernet Sauvingnon. It was obviously young, but you could already taste the potential. We couldn’t believe it….

That’s not our real hair

From there, we went into the entertaining room, where we sat with Sean Garvey, Flora’s grandson. We were engaged in fun, educational conversation throughout the lunch. The lunch was the icing on the cake (pun intended) and was catered by Grapevine Catering. It all started with a mushroom, goat cheese, caramelized onion appetizer that was served during the tour. Then we had a salad with mapled walnuts and fuji apples. The main course, that was so good I had to take a picture!

The pumpkin was so cool! It reminded me of a twice baked potato, but in fact was a roasted pumpkin, filled with roasted acorn and butternut squash, with scallions and truffle essence. The pork tenderloin was topped with a Trilogy wine reduction sauce, Trilogy being their flagship wine that was also paired with this dish. It was SO good! The meal ended with a cupcake and a marzapan tombstone. The chocolate fudge frosting was so good, it could have been eaten a la carte. Back to the Trilogy, their Bordeaux style blend:

Sean Garvey says it best…

Each varietal is vital to the outcome - the Cabernet exhibits black cherry and dark cocoa character, while the Merlot carries these flavors to the back of the palate where the Cabernet Franc adds notes of coffee and toffee to the finish. Unrelenting with power and grace, the 2005 Trilogy is the perfect wine to mark Flora Springs’ 30th anniversary year.

The 30 years has obviously taught them a few things because the entire experience was EXCELLENT: excellent service, excellent wines, excellent conversation, excellent food…the works! The best part? There was nothing pretentious about Flora Springs. They are a refreshing breath of fresh air in a valley that can use a little more.

Cheers!

Erica Lauesen

The Moody Wine Drinker/Tinker Hell

My evening costume…Peter Pans worst nightmare, comes to life with “Tinker Hell!”

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