Steve Dveris

Tom Simoneau has brought Steve Dveris, head of the Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience, to California Wine Country with Harry Duke and Dan Berger. Steve Jaxon is away again this week.

The Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience takes place from May 18-21, 2023. Also in the studio today are Sarah Quider, VP of winemaking for Foley Family Wines and chef Crista Luedtke.

The first wine is the 2022 Ferrari-Carrano Fumé Blanc labeled North Coast and which is mainly a Sonoma County product, with a little bit from Lake County and Mendocino County. They prune the vines so the grapes have a lot of sunlight, which gives more tropical characteristics. One third of the wine is aged in neutral barrels. Dan Berger describes a trace of fresh fennel in the aromatics. It is succulent without being sweet. Dan mentions the trees in the Ferrari-Carrano grounds.

To go with this wine Crista Luedtke has made a beet salad. She will also make a mushroom and walnut paté, which is vegan. Crista has two restaurants in Guerneville, Boon and the new one, Brot. Boon will be featured at the HWFE.

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The next tasting is a Chalk Hill Chardonnay. The grapes grow in light-colored volcanic soil which gives some minerality. Dan describes it as rich, oily and seductive. It would go well with seafood in a cream sauce. Crista has paired it with her Moroccan carrots. She has a secret Moroccan sauce. They have a dressage arena on the property.

As an accompaniment, they are also sampling the Bavarian style pub cheese from Brot, Crista’s new restaurant, with some little pretzel bites. The Banshee Pinot Noir goes perfectly with it.

Banshee has a little tasting room in Healdsburg, across the street from Valette. It has vinyl records and couches and a “lounge vibe.” They started the label to make a good Pinot Noir at an affordable price. It is a fruit forward Pinot Noir, to express the varietal. Banshee winemaker Alicia Sylvester was on California Wine Country last year, on this June 1, 2022 episode.

There are over 140 wineries participating at the Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience. You have to be in wine country to get such a lineup that includes everything from small boutique wineries to great famous labels, from here and abroad. There is a car show, a tractor show, a new beer garden, spirits, cupcakes and more.

Finally they taste a 2018 Silverado Vineyards Cabernet from Napa. It comes from two vineyards, in Stags Leap and Coombsville. Dan describes its balance between the Stags Leap character with the acidity from the cooler Coombsville. It reminds him of the 1986 and he thinks this one will age very well.