Food Notes

By The Daily Progress Staff

Published: August 12, 2008

Monticello puts focus on wine and grapes

A new series of small-group guided tours at Monticello will focus on Thomas Jefferson’s longtime interest in wine and his pioneering experiments in growing grapes.

Jefferson and Wine Tours will be presented on Wednesday and Friday evenings from Sept. 17 through Oct. 17. Tours will begin at 5:45 p.m. Sept. 17, 19, 24 and 26 and on Oct. 1, 3, 8, 10, 15 and 17. Each tour will be limited to 20 people.

The tours will explore Jefferson’s exposure to European wines, his attempts to grow wine grapes at Monticello and the storage and service of wine at his home, among other topics.

Tickets for Jefferson and Wine Tours are $45, and no discounts apply. Tickets must be purchased in advance and are available through http://www.monticello.org. For details, call 984-9822.

Taste the summer fare at DelFosse Vineyard

DelFosse Vineyards and Winery presents its Summer Food and Wine Pairing at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Chef Genevieve DelFosse will pair her seasonal gourmet selections with award-winning DelFosse wines. The menu will include four elegant dishes and four samplings of wines, accompanied by a short discussion of the pairings. Additional glasses of wines can be purchased.

A complimentary wine glass is included, and there will be a 10 percent discount on wines purchased at the event.

The pairing is $30 per person, and reservations are required. Learn more at http://www.delfossewine.com or make reservations at 263-6100.

There’s BBQ in the Marriott Ranch’s barn

Rappahannock Cellars and Marriott Ranch will present “BBQ in the Barn’’ from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday.

There will be live music, dancing, a cash wine bar and gourmet barbecue right off the grill.

The menu includes slow-cooked St, Louis-style pork ribs, veal sliders with blue cheese and red onion, salmon kabobs glazed with wasabi and soy mustard, herb-grilled chicken tenderloins, grilled corn seasoned with chipotle garlic aioli, marinated heirloom tomato salad, potato salad with sour cream and chive dressing and mini mixed-berry and peach pies drizzled with dark chocolate.

The event is $65 per person, and reservations are required. Make reservations by e-mailing or calling (540) 364-2627.

Beer and chocolate, best of Colonial days

Colonial Williamsburg will offer two seasonal programs to look at 18th-century methods for producing and consuming two favorite indulgences — beer and chocolate.

“The Secrets of the Chocolate Maker’’ will be presented from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 2, Oct. 7, Nov. 4 and Dec. 2. Journeymen from Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Foodways will use reproduction period kitchen tools in the Governor’s Palace Kitchen to show how ground and roasted cocoa beans became chocolate, which was served primarily as a hot beverage and was the preferred breakfast drink.

“The Art and Mysteries of Brewing’’ will be presented from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sept. 20, Oct. 5, Oct. 25 and Nov. 2 in the Governor’s Palace Scullery.

The everyday beer for many 18th-century people was known as “small beer,’’ made by boiling molasses, hops and wheat bran, straining the mixture and adding yeast for fermentation. Porter beer, also popular at the time, was a dark, sweet ale that used a mixture of burnt molasses and sugar for its dark color and licorice root for a distinctive flavor.

Find out more at http://www.history.org or call (800) HISTORY.

Skyland offers another demo this week

Shenandoah Seasonings, popular sustainable cooking workshops, will be offered Sept. 21 to 23 at Skyland Resort.

A one-day demonstration will be available on Friday.

Executive chef Terry Sheehan will present cooking demonstrations, and there will be a “meet the chefs’’ reception and chef’s dinner.

Workshops offer a twist on traditional Southern cuisine native to the Shenandoah Valley, pairing the creations with Horton Vineyards’ wines.

Sample menus include aged cheddar cheese and ale soup, pan-fried sweet potato pierogi, smoke Virginia trout rillette, Rockingham turkey and truffle pot pie, venison sauerbraten and spiced pumpkin and cranberry flan for dessert.

The demonstration includes “Savory Hors d’oeuvres and Canapes” from 10 to 11:30 a.m., featuring profiterole trio of warm blue cheese and herbs, wild mushroom and country ham and Chesapeake blue crab Louis, and “Perfect Bistro-Style Luncheon’’ from 1:30 to 3 p.m., featuring classic chicken pot pie in petite pastry shell. The demonstration is paired with wine.

Culinary workshops are paired with lodging in a special package that includes a two-night stay at Skyland Resort, the reception, morning and afternoon food and wine workshops, chef’s dinner with wine pairings, morning coffee and recap with Sheehan and a Shenandoah Seasonings apron for $499 per couple. Taxes, surcharges and gratuities are not included. Call (800) 778-2872 or visit http://www.visitshenandoah.com.

Nine state wines were best in the field

Nine Virginia wines, including wines by local wineries DelFosse Vineyards and Winery and Horton Vineyards, have been selected as best in their classes by guests of the Virginia Wine Showcase.

Sixty-three wines competed for the Showcase “People’s Choice Award.’’ The award will go to Virginia wineries in the following categories:

Reds:

l Cabernet franc: DelFosse Vineyards 2006 Cabernet Franc

l Unique red varietal: Horton Vineyards 2006 Tannat

l Red blend: Fabbioli Cellars Raspberry Merlot

l Red dessert wine: Cooper Vineyards 2006 Noche

Whites:

l Chardonnay: The Winery at LaGrange’s 2006 Fletcher’s Chardonnay

l Viognier: Chrysalis Vineyards 2006 Viognier

l White blend: Hillsborough Vineyards 2006 Opal

l Unique white varietal: Peaks of Otter Winery 2006 Chili Dawg

White dessert wine:

l Pearmund Cellars 2005 Late Harvest Viognier

The Virginia Wine Showcase, sponsored by the Washington Examiner, Washington Wiue Academy and American farm Wineries Council and produced by Capital Celebrations LLC, was the first major indoor showcase to feature Virginia’s wine industry. Promoters have plans to make it a semi-annual tradition with winter and summer shows featuring Virginia’s artisan wines. Learn more at http://www.vawineshowcase.org.

From staff reports