(The name is a nod to the 1947 Frank Capra movie classic, It’s a Wonderful Life, and refers to a business run by George Bailey that made a difference to the fictional community of Bedford Falls, New York.)
Wine Country Table author Janet Fletcher
Wine Institute chose this very appropriate setting to introduce its new book, Wine Country Table: With Recipes that Celebrate California’s Sustainable Harvest. After all, Sacramento is now getting its due as “America’s Farm to Fork Capital” and Chef Mulvaney has been a leader in recognizing the existence and the quality of the agricultural bounty that surrounds his Northern California location.
Purveyors of this wonderful array of food joined California vintners at 8-top tables to share a meal served family-style that celebrated the synergy of good food grown sustainably, as well as wine produced with the same ethos.
Written by Janet Fletcher, with photographs by Robert Holmes and Sara Remington, Wine Country Table spotlights California's key wine regions and winegrape varieties and its most important fruit and vegetable crops, with tips on how to select and use them.
The book offers stories and 50 recipes that showcase the diversity of the California's wines and regions, its agricultural bounty and the seasonal spirit that continues to define the produce-driven and ethnically influenced essence of California wine country cooking.
Beautifully photographed, the book offers a visual tour of 23 farms and wineries where sustainable practices highlight the future of responsible farming and winegrowing embraced throughout California. Profiled wineries are: Cakebread Cellars, Cambria Estate Vineyard & Winery, Chamisal Vineyards, Concannon Vineyard, Domaine Carneros, Francis Ford Coppola Winery, Handley Cellars, Heringer Estates, Palumbo Family Vineyards, Ridge Vineyards, Scheid Vineyards, Six Sigma Winery, Tablas Creek Vineyard, The Lucas Winery and Turley Wine Cellars. Featured farms are: Couture Farms (asparagus), Enzo Olive Oil Company, Hilltop & Canyon Farms (avocados and citrus), Henderson Family Farms (pears), J. Marchini Farms (figs), Lodi Farming (cherries), Resendiz Brothers (cut flowers) and Taylor Brothers Farms (dried plums).
Editor’s note: Taste California Travel will publish a more extensive review of Wine Country Table in the next few weeks.
About Janet Fletcher:
Janet Fletcher is the author or co-author of nearly 30 books on food and beverage, including Cheese & Wine, Cheese & Beer, Yogurt: Sweet and Savory Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner; Fresh from the Farmers’ Market and Eating Local: Recipes Inspired by America’s Farmers. Fletcher publishes the weekly Planet Cheese blog and is the cheese columnist for Specialty Food magazine and Somm Journal. She teaches cooking and cheese appreciation classes around the country. She has received three James Beard Awards and the IACP Bert Greene Award. Her work has appeared in numerous national publications, including The New York Times, Saveur, Fine Cooking, and Food & Wine. She lives and works in the Napa Valley. http://ww.janetfletcher.com
About Wine Institute:
Wine Institution is an association of 1,000 California wineries and affiliated businesses responsible for 81 percent of the nation’s wine production and 95 percent of U.S. wine exports. Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG) created the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA) in 2003, which promotes environmental stewardship. www.discovercaliforniawines.com.