BLOG

As you prepare for your Thanksgiving celebration, whether a small or large gathering we have some tips and pointers to make it memorable and easy. Keep everyone happy during the day by having a platter of healthy nibbles like this board.

Photo by Brooke Lark

You can make several things ahead of time. We use our Caspar Estate organically grown herbs, meyer lemons, and oranges.  We make the herb and lemon zest butter several days ahead of time. We use it to put it under the skin of the turkey and inside the turkey and then coasting all the skin. We also use it for sauting the onion, celery, portobello mushrooms for the stuffing.

Prepare ahead of time: We chop up the meyer lemon, orange, and then cook the cranberries with dried cherries, raisins, with Caspar Estate honey, balsamic vinegar and lots of spices (cinnamon stick, allspice, cloves). We enjoy the additional depth of flavor by using additional items in the cranberry sauce.

We often end up eating at about 2pm on Thanksgiving.We make a roasted butternut squash soup. We roast the squash with Caspar Estate extra virgin olive oil and garlic. We scoop out the squash, and the roasted garlic and put it in the blender and blend it and add vegetable stock. It is creamy and delicious.

We love having leftovers so we make a large turkey about 18-20 pounds. In order to have the stuffing taste the best we like to stuff the bird. To make the bird as succulent as possible we have mastered cooking it in the oven with Cultivar Sauvignon Blanc the bottom of the roasting pan. We put the bird in upside down so the juices flow into that part of the bird and flip it 2/3 of the way through cooking it. Flipping it over requires preparation for a big bird – we have found that having 2 people makes it much easier.

What the turkey looks like when we first put it in the oven. We often put aluminum foil over the wing tips. Below is what it looks like after we flip it over and it is ready.

Pair the turkey with 2019 Cultivar Chardonnay from Oakville, it brings out the best in turkey as well as seared scallops, cheese platters, sourdough stuffing, mashed potatoes and vegetables with hollandaise sauce.

Looking for switching it up? We can recommend the Squash and Burrata that we serve at Cultivar SF with all the flavors of the seasons. Delicata squash & honey nut squash, granny smith apples, pomegranate arlis, pepitas, balsamic reduction, fried sage, lava salt, olive oil. Pair it with the 2019 Cultivar Pinot Noir Russian River.

Another fun first course is the Scallop with Frisse, apples, Pt. Reyes Blue.

For the stuffing we roast chestnuts in the oven. Be sure to score them before roasting. It makes peeling them so much easier. We saute the celery, onions, herbs, portobello mushrooms in the herbed butter or herbed olive oil with lemon zest.

Thanksgiving calls for brussel sprouts! We love ours tossed in Caspar Estate olive oil and then there are several options for how to prepare them.

Pair your roasted brussel sprouts, truffle or portobello mushroom stuffing, seared green beans with scallions with our newly released 2019 Cultivar Bordeaux Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot from renown Napa Valley vineyards create a lush, balanced and provocative wine.
Or serve the Brussel Sprouts the way we do at Cultivar SF with Cultivar Bacon, Gremolata, Parmesan

Do you prefer serving roasted duck to the traditional turkey? We recommend our 2019 Cultivar Oak Knoll Cabernet Franc. On the palate, the flavors of cranberry and red fruit are evenly balanced with nutmeg, ginger, white pepper, and a hint of baking chocolate. A very food friendly wine it will pair well with Mashed potatoes, stuffing and dinner rolls.

Photo by ProChurchmedia

For years we have been making sweet potatoes with marshmallows. This has been a family tradition for quite some time. Do you put it all out on the table all at once or serve your meal in courses? Either way we have found that our dogs are always right there next to us waiting for scraps to fall from the table. Our dogs lie in front of the oven all day, and are especially watchful when we baste the bird.

Photo by Karolina-Grabowska

What do you prefer? Pumpkin pie with whipping cream or pecan pie or chocolate pecan pie? The one thing we can all agree on is pairing your pie with our just released Port! This 2014 Cultivar Anderson Valley Port is a decadent dessert wine that greets the nose with layers of caramel, dulce de leche, and orange peel. Warm waves of spun sugar, maple, and dark chocolate roll across the palate, ending with a creamy, mocha finish that seems to linger forever. What a great way to finish off a wonderful celebration.

Photo by Timothy-Wolff

We are grateful to you! We hope that you will have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Another option is to let the professionals handle it and go to the Silverado Resort. Look at this beautiful meal from Silverado in the Napa Valley.

Photo by Silverado Resort

If you need help selecting wine to pair with your favorite dishes join us online for holiday tips with Deborah. She is lots of fun and has many great ideas! Cheers!

For this year’s Thanksgiving dinner recipe, we’re handing over the blog to our good friend Karista Bennett, whose latest collection of recipes and photographs, The Oregon Farm Table Cookbook, is a bestseller on Amazon. We asked Karista to think of something new and delicious for the Holidays that would pair with a range of wines from our Oakville Chardonnay to our 2015 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir…and the result is an amazing take on a classic Thanksgiving dinner…

I’ve come to realize, there are two turkey camps in my family. Those who love a roast turkey for Thanksgiving dinner and those who will always ask if we can part with tradition and have something different.

Each year around the first of October, my family begins the long and sometimes passionate holiday dinner discussion, about you guessed it, turkey. This discussion typically commences with a subtle question about a possible new entree, or commentary on the merits of traditional and non-traditional holiday meals.

Consequently, preparing a holiday meal that delights every family member’s palate has become somewhat of a challenge. Aren’t they so lucky that I love a good challenge?

Now, I’m not actually in either turkey camp. Sometimes I love a juicy roasted turkey with all the complimentary side dishes. And other times, I crave something a little different but also mixed with a bit of tradition.

That’s why this Holiday Turkey Wellington with Gravy checks all the boxes. The turkey breast is butterflied and layered with creamy, tangy Brie and a homemade cranberry-orange relish that’s been spiked with the seductive flavor of Cultivar Pinot Noir. Then it’s wrapped in prosciutto, tied with kitchen twine, and par-cooked.

Once it’s cooled, it’s topped with herb and garlic sauteed mushrooms and breadcrumbs, wrapped in puff pastry, and baked until it’s golden brown. It makes a gorgeous presentation and is sublimely delicious when served with a simple turkey gravy.

Side Dishes and Wine Pairings

This impressive Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner recipe can be paired with a shaved Brussels sprout salad, sweet potatoes, roasted potatoes, or whatever side dishes make your food heart happy. I’ve also created this lovely recipe to pair specifically with Cultivar Oakville Chardonnay and 2015 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir. As well, it’s also divine when served with Cultivar Muscat. The slight sweetness of the Muscat compliments the hearty, savory flavors of the recipe.

It’s the perfect time of year to enchant your guests and make your holidays deliciously memorable with Turkey Wellington and Cultivar Wine!

Turkey Wellington with Gravy

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 ¾- 2 lb. boneless turkey breast
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 3-4 ounces brie cheese, sliced
• 3-4 tablespoons cranberry-orange relish (recipe follows)
• 4-5 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto (tip: pop it in the freezer for about 10 minutes before you need to use it. This helps keep it from falling apart easily)
• Kitchen twine
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra if needed
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh shallots
• 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
• Salt and pepper
• 1 package (2 sheets) puff pastry, thawed
• 1 egg whisked with 1 teaspoon cold water

Cranberry-Orange Relish

• 12 ounces fresh cranberries
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1 orange zested and juiced
• ¼ cup Cultivar pinot noir
• Pinch of salt

Turkey Gravy

• 3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
• 3 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 ¾ – 2 cups chicken or turkey broth
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

To prepare the relish, stir cranberries, sugar, orange zest, orange juice, Cultivar Pinot Noir, and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

Bring the mixture to a simmer and reduce the heat to low. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the cranberries have burst and the mixture has slightly thickened. The relish will thicken as it cools. This can be prepared a day in advance. Store in a jar or container with a lid for up to five days.

To prepare the turkey, preheat the oven to 375F.

Place the turkey breast on a large cutting board. To butterfly the breast, with a sharp knife, slice into the thickest portion of the breast and cut down the length (the side) of the breast, but not all the way through, about ¾ of the way through. You should be able to unfold the turkey breast like a book.

At this point, if the breast is thick, using a meat mallet, pound out both sides a bit until they are even in thickness. Brush the inside and outside of the breast with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place brie slices on one half of the inside of the turkey breast and the cover with several tablespoons of cranberry relish. Then fold the top over onto the bottom, closing it like a book.

Then place prosciutto slices over the top of the turkey breast. It will usually hold 4-6 slices of prosciutto. If the prosciutto is thin and tears, that’s ok, just continue to layer the prosciutto over the breast, tucking the prosciutto under the breast as needed.

Then with 4 – 5 strands of kitchen twine, tie up the turkey breast and gently place it onto a baking sheet. Don’t tie the breast too tight. Just enough to keep it secure.

Gently transfer the turkey breast to a baking sheet and put it into the oven and bake for about 35 minutes. The turkey will be par-cooked and needs to cool for about 10-15 minutes. Once cool enough, cut the twine off the turkey.

While the turkey is cooling, make the mushroom mixture. In a skillet, add olive oil and cook shallots just until they are soft. Then add the mushrooms and fresh herbs. Let the mushrooms cook until soft and wilted and have released some of their liquid.

Stir in the garlic and cook a few minutes longer. Then stir in the breadcrumbs and season with salt and pepper.

When ready, set the oven temperature to 400F.

Place one sheet of puff pastry on a flat lightly floured surface. Roll it out a bit lengthwise, about 1-inch. Most puff pastry is about 10×15 inches. I roll the pastry out to about 11×16 or 17. Then do the same with the second piece of puff pastry.

Place one sheet of prepared puff pastry onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Then place the par-cooked turkey breast in the center of the puff pastry.

Top the turkey breast with the mushroom mixture, patting it securely into place. Some of the mushroom mixture will tumble off but just put it back on and continue patting it gently until it sticks. This doesn’t need to be perfect!

Then place the second sheet of puff pastry over the top of the mushroom topped turkey breast. It will lay over the turkey breast like a blanket. Press the edges of both sheets of pastry together to seal. Cut off the extra pastry and set aside, and then roll the sides of the pastry, pressing down or pinching a bit to keep it sealed.

Score the top of the pastry and use the discarded bits of pastry to make any decorations that you like. I used a small 1-inch fall leaf cookie cutter to make leaves for my Wellington. Use the egg wash to attach your pastry decorations.

Then brush the egg wash over the puff pastry and sprinkle with a little coarse salt, kosher salt, or sea salt.

Put the baking pan in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes. The turkey is done when the pastry is a deep golden brown or meat thermometer reads 160F. Remove it from the oven and let it rest.

To make the gravy, add the butter to a saucepan over medium heat. Once butter is melted and hot sprinkle in flour and whisk. As you whisk, slowly add the broth, and continue to simmer until the gravy has thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve your delicious Thanksgiving Dinner, slice the Turkey Wellington and place it on a platter. Drizzle with a little gravy and then serve. Serve the extra gravy on the side, and of course Cultivar Wine!

NOTE: This recipe has several steps, but it’s worth the effort. If time is of the essence, store-bought cranberry relish or jam can be purchased. The relish and mushrooms can be prepared a day in advance and held in the refrigerator. 

Deborah Evans, our Hospitality Manager, believes that every scene needs to be set with special touches to make your guests feel very special. She sets the table with all sorts of seasonal items, sparking joy and surprise. Doing the unexpected makes her guests laugh, sets the scene, and puts them at ease.

She loves clipping olive branches, acorns, lavender, or rosemary and setting it with the napkin and place card. She then spray paints her mini pumpkins (not carved) with white or silver spray paint and places them down the center of the table. Candles create the finishing touch.

Guests are greeted with bubbles. From California sparkling to bubbly water, Deborah loves to add a cranberry or a cherry in the bubbles. Another fun element is adding cherry juice to the drink to make it feel special. As someone who entertains very often, she loves glasses that bring out the best flavors in the wines she serves. She prefers the Riedel glasses. For some other holiday touches, she peruses Home Goods and Restoration Hardware.

Deborah loves wine and serves Caspar Estate Sauvignon Blanc or Cultivar Wine and pairs her dishes with the wines.  If someone wants the wine colder, she gladly adds a frozen grape.

Appetizers this year will be a cheeseboard.  She loves the Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam (has all the lusciousness you expect from a triple cream, and it is known as Brie’s quirky Californian cousin), the Point Reyes Point Blue, and the Cowgirl Creamery Wagonwheel. As a snack, it’s delicate and nutty. When melted, it’s liquid gold: use salted brown butter, heavy cream, roasted leeks, roasted garlic. Another favorite is the Cypress Grover Humbolt Fog.

Additional things on the cheese board: Caspar Estate wildflower honey, Trader Joe’s Orange slices, Marcona Almonds.  For your gluten free and dairy free guests we recommend the following: Miyokos Creamery Cheese Wheel, Semi Soft, Double Cream, Classic Chive, Nuts for Cheese Brie and the Miyokos Black Ash Cheese. To accompany the cheeses we like the Schar Table Crackers and the Schar bread.

For Thanksgiving this year, Deborah is going to serve Caspar Estate 2020 Sauvignon Blanc with her salad. Then for the roast turkey main course, she’ll serve the Cultivar Pinot Noir, which also pairs well with her Brussel sprouts with bacon, drizzled with balsamic vinegar, along with yams with sliced apples on top.

Deborah likes to prep her turkey in a brine of salt from a recipe by Ina Garten recipe she has been using for years. She doesn’t put stuffing in the cavity. Instead, she makes a wild rice and roasted chestnut side dish.

As for leftover? Turkey sandwiches with brioche buns, cranberry sauce and lettuce. To make it special, she pairs the sandwiches with the Caspar Estate Sauvignon Blanc.

For clean up, Deborah is a pro and has several tricks up her sleeve. For dishes that have sticky stuff, sprinkle baking soda and dish soap or tackle with Bar Keepers Friend.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Harvest season is always an exciting time in the valley, and Napa Harvest 2021 is no different. Anxious growers and winemakers alike literally sleep in the vineyards, waiting for the grapes to hit that perfect brix. Then boom! Field hands rush to the vineyard and, like a well-oiled machine, pick the fruit and rush it off to the winery.

This year, the California drought combined with seasonable high temperatures brought an early start to Napa’s harvest season. Some vineyards reported harvesting sauvignon blanc as early as July 3rd. At Caspar Estate, our sauvignon blanc harvest took place on August 23rd, right around the time the bulk of the SB harvest was happening.

A Collective Sigh For Napa Harvest 2021

Frankly speaking, growers were a little on edge for this year’s harvest, with California in a severe drought and the specter of wildfires still looming from 2020. The conventional wisdom was that yields would be lower than normal, with smaller berries. In addition, if August was as hot as July, the fruit may not get a chance to fully develop.

But as August came around with milder temperatures—and no wildfires in sight—an air of optimism descended over Napa Valley. Growers began to relax and even allowed themselves to think that 2021 could become another stellar vintage.

At Caspar Estate, our excitement for Napa Harvest 2021 was overwhelming the moment we began picking.

Caspar Estate’s Deborah Evans is always excited to be on-hand for harvest!

An Abundant Harvest

It was apparent from the moment we began picking sauvignon blanc on that cool August morning that our Caspar Estate fruit was in stellar shape. The berry size was normal, brix levels were perfect, and ripeness was right on target. Kudos go to Luis, our Vineyard Manager, and the whole vineyard team, for their incredible skill in nurturing the Caspar Estate vineyard.

We harvested 5.3 tons of gorgeous sauv blanc fruit from our one-acre vineyard plot that morning. That’s right, just one acre. Our House Block North is where we planted our sauvignon blanc back in 2015, which yields enough grapes to make around 90 cases.

We could have planted more acreage, but the soil, sun exposure, and drainage of this one block were better suited for SB than the other blocks. As a family vineyard, we aim to listen to what the land has to tell us. And we’ve been right this whole time. Both our yield and berry size were higher than average for the Napa Valley.

Coming Soon: The Cabernet Sauvignon and Cab Franc Harvest

In two to three weeks, we’ll be getting ready for the next phase of Napa Harvest 2021. This time, we’ll be picking cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. Though early September looks like it may have its share of heat spikes, we’re confident that our hillside vineyard will remain cool enough to help create another amazing vintage.

Our 13-acre vineyard is located in the hills above the Rutherford appellation in Napa Valley. Planted 600 feet above the fog line with an exposure 20 degrees off north, the vineyard sees the sun from early morning until late afternoon. This ensures the even ripeness of the grapes.

Furthermore, cool nights help to develop firm tannins and fresh acidity, creating remarkable structure and balance in the finished wines. Our rocky serpentine soils benefit from a mineral deposit rich in iron and magnesium. This distinctive mineral deposit provides layers of complexity and flavor to wines unique to our site.

Want to experience the unique character of Caspar Estate wines yourself? Join the Caspar Estate Allocation! You’ll have exclusive access to these very limited wines in two annual shipments. You’ll also get personalized, guided tours and tastings in our estate vineyard.

National Cabernet Day is Thursday, September 2nd! In fact, this extraordinary varietal has been celebrated the Thursday before Labor Day for over a decade now. First created by northern California native and branding guru Rick Bakas, National Cabernet Day celebrates all things associated with this amazing varietal.

Based in the Napa Valley, Cultivar Wine and Caspar Estate are fortunate enough to be located in one of the most popular Cabernet growing regions in the world. Not only do our Estate vines produce exquisite Cabernet, the sub-appellations surrounding us bear some of the finest fruit available. This gives us the opportunity to release world-class Cabernets that best reflect their terroir, and really show off the differences in soil and climate.

So for this year’s National Cabernet Day, we thought it’d be fun to take a tour of the appellations where Cultivar and Caspar’s grapes are grown and sourced. Pour a glass of your favorite Cab, and let’s take a virtual journey through the heart of Napa Valley!

The Vineyards of Caspar Estate

Caspar Estate is our 13-acre vineyard located in the hills above the Rutherford appellation in Napa Valley. Planted 600 feet above the fog line with an exposure 20 degrees off north, the vineyard sees sun from early morning until late afternoon. This ensures even ripeness of the grapes. Furthermore, cool nights help to develop firm tannins and fresh acidity, creating remarkable structure and balance in our Cabernet Sauvignon. Our rocky serpentine soils benefit from a mineral deposit rich in iron and magnesium. This distinctive mineral deposit provides layers of complexity and flavor to wines unique to our site.

Caspar Estate Cabernet has been earning accolades since its first release. From 92 Point scores from James Suckling to national press coverage of our winemaker, Julien Fayard, Caspar Estate Cabernet has been a favorite of fans and critics alike. Recently, we bottled the 2019 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and will be offering it exclusively to our Allocation Members this October. If you love aged Cabernet, the Allocation is your way to obtain Caspar Estate wine dating back to our first release in 2009.

Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the Caspar Estate Vineyard from 2019. Photo credit: Bob

Coombsville: A Perfect Cabernet Climate

Coombsville, the last appellation in Napa Valley to get its designation, is one of the most diverse AVAs in all the valley. A combination of both hillside and valley vineyards, the area has the unique combination of gravel soil, moderate temperatures, and a constant breeze off of San Pablo Bay.

We like to think of Coombsville as one of the “Goldilocks” AVAs of Napa Valley: not too hot, not too cold, but just right. The volcanic soil also hearkens to Cabernet’s Bordeaux roots, where dense, rocky soil help create both intensity and complexity of flavor. It’s also a combination of both valley floor and hillside vineyards, which allows for blending from different vineyard plots to create wines with character and balance.

We have sourced Cabernet Sauvignon from this acclaimed AVA twice now. First, back in 2012, which was arguably one of the top 3 vintages of the previous decade. More recently, we released our 2017 Cultivar Wine Cabernet Sauvignon, Coombsville Napa Valley. With only 150 cases available, it’s a small-lot release from a premiere vineyard property just off of Coombsville Road in the heart of the appellation. 18 months in barrel and another two years in the bottle have softened this wine up beautifully, making it light enough to sip on its own, yet bold enough to stand up to lamb stew or marinated tri-tip. Another five years in bottle will reveal even deeper complexity.

Every Day Is Cabernet Day In Oakville

Oakville is one of the most popular Cabernet growing regions in Napa Valley. Located directly in the center of Napa Valley. It covers a two-square-mile swath of the valley floor and then slopes up another 500 feet into Mayacamas bench and 1,000 feet up the Vaca Mountains to the east. It’s home to iconic vineyards like To-Kalon, and upscale wineries like Screaming Eagle and Opus One.

There are three types of soils that define the Oakville appellation. The breakdown of the various bedrock plates creates residual soils in the hills. Along the margins of the valley, distinct alluvial soils form on the fans, composed of material washed down from the adjoining hills during torrential rain events. Along the axial part of the valley where the Napa River flows are fluvial soils. This soil contains finer-grained loam coming from upstream locations and deposited from floodwaters.

It sounds like a lot of geography, but when it comes to Cabernet grapes, it’s absolute magic. That’s why we sourced fruit from this storied appellation for our 2018 Cultivar Wine Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville, Napa Valley. Our fruit comes from a family-run vineyard located directly on the valley floor. They have a long legacy in Oakville and produce only 1,000 cases on their own. Lucky winemakers like us get the rest of the fruit. That said, we only got our hands on enough to make about 80 cases.

Our delicious Cabernet expresses both the characteristics of the 2018 Oakville vintage and the personality of its valley floor location. The dark purple color is surrounded by a gorgeous garnet ring, reflecting the 100% Cabernet fruit inside. Surprising yet delightful fragrances of earth, moss, mushroom, and bacon delight the nose. The flavor profile is signature Cabernet.

Cabernet Day On The Mountain At Leaky Lake Vineyard

Leaky Lake Cabernet Sauvignon is the only vineyard-designate Cabernet that Cultivar Wine produces. To reach the vineyard, it takes a long trip up a winding, mountain road—often with just one lane. Once there, you’re greeted by 3.5 acres of slopes, swales, and hills, all covered with gorgeous Cabernet Sauvignon fruit.

Cultivar Wine has been farming this land since 2007. That year, we replanted the vineyard with Cabernet Sauvignon from clone 191 and 337. These vines are known for good set along with small berry and cluster size. The clone is grafted to rootstock 101-14, which thrives in rocky conditions where water can be scarce. We have been using purely organic farming methods and techniques from the very beginning. The result is bold, powerful, and concentrated fruit, grown in a way that’s uniquely Cultivar. It’s the perfect fruit for Cabernet lovers who appreciate a sense of terroir and want to experience the development of a wine as it ages.

Cabernet’s Favorite Winemaker, Julien Fayard

To bring out the best in this fruit, we turned to our Caspar Estate and Cultivar Wine winemaker, Julien Fayard. “The cabernet we grow there is extraordinary,” Fayard says. “I say it rivals any of the mountain appellations in Napa—Howell Mountain or Diamond Peak—for boldness and character.” Fayard presses whole clusters of fruit for Cultivar’s Leaky Lake Cabernet Sauvignon. He then transfers to 100% French oak for at least 24 months before bottling. “Even then, it’s good to allow the wine to develop in the bottle for another two years. This brings out the aromatics,” Fayard says.

That’s why the 2016 Leaky Lake Cabernet Sauvignon is our latest vintage. The 2017 and 2018 are now in bottle, and we expect to release the 2017 later this year. If you haven’t purchased the 2016 yet, you may want to get some in your cellar before it’s gone. We only produce about 80 cases!

If you’re like us, you know that every day is a great day to celebrate Cabernet Sauvignon. If you’re looking for the perfect bottle to celebrate, check out our full selection of Cabernets at our online store.