Culinary Adventures with Camilla

I have six different dishes and wine pairings for the upcoming holiday ready to share with you. And irony is not lost on me. While I am not a fan of Valentines' Day  per se,  I am a huge fan of romantic dinners. So, in this week leading up to #WinePW - which happens the 2nd Saturday of every month - I will post recipes that you and your valentine can enjoy on February 14th and really any time you want a dinner that's a little bit more than your usual. I have everything from shrimp to wild boar and venison to salmon. So, stay tuned! Click to read Christy of Confessions of a Culinary Diva 's invitation to our Saturday #WinePW event. I wanted to start off with a local-to-me vintner, Hahn Family Wines .* A few years ago, Jake and I had a chance to tour the Hahn vineyards by ATV. Click to read about  the ATV tour  and about  the wine tasting after . What fun! In the Glass... Hahn's 2013 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir is a vintage I haven't tried ...

After our  ATV tour of the vineyard , Colleen whisked us into a private room for a wine tasting. Before yesterday, I think I'd only been to Hahn twice before. Once was for a wreath-making event when I was pregnant with Riley, so I didn't try the wine. And about 5 years after that - and 5 years ago - we stopped there during the River Road Valentine's Passport event. So, I would say that I'm fairly unfamiliar with the Hahn wines. We told Colleen that we were typically red wine drinkers. But she wanted us to try a pair of their whites: the 2012 Pinot Gris and the 2011 Viognier. I'm glad she didn't listen to us; we really enjoyed both of those wines. The Pinot Gris was surprising. It was colored like hay and crystal clear. It reminded me of Fall fruits - Asian pears and green apples. And unlike other Pinot Gris, this one was rich and velvety. I envisioned sipping this with a Roasted Lobster or Olive Oil-Poached Salmon . The Viognier is one of the mo...

I had a Living Social coupon for an ATV tour of Hahn Vineyards for awhile. It just never fit into our schedule...until this weekend. My parents said that they wanted to take the boys to the Salinas Airshow. As soon as I heard that, I hopped on the phone and booked the tour. So glad we did.  Colleen was our driver and vineyard guide. We stopped at various locations throughout the property, looked at different vines, and enjoyed the day. At one point, rain began to dump from the clouds. Colleen quickly steered us beneath the canopy of a tree, near the avocados, and we waited out the rain. Thankfully it only lasted a few minutes. Afterwards the skies were dramatic and gorgeous. The sun came out and warmed us quickly. Oh, this picture [ see right ] is me holding on to the O.S. bar. I think I held onto that darn thing the entire ride. The ATV tour was quite an adventure!