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Their St. Helena property includes several parts; the Farmstead Restaurant (their executive chef is the same chef as at Rutherford Grill to the south), the farmhouse tasting salon in the restored historic Logan-Ives House and the outdoor sections including a sensory garden, a small vineyard and a chicken coop. Note that the corkage at the restaurant is a minimal fee but all proceeds from this will be donated to local charities. Long Meadow Ranch currently offer four choices for tastings, two of which are available upon walk-in, a Library Tasting (for groups of 6 or more - by appointment) and their "Full Circle Farming Tour" which is offered 3x a day. This tour involves walking through their sensory and vegetable gardens, Whiting Nursery and concludes with a tasting inside the farmhouse. The tasting room is modern, elegant and intimate. A private room on the side is available for reserve or appointment only tastings. Long Meadow Ranch makes a variety of wines with the focus being on wines with good acidity, that pair well with foods and are lower in alcohol than the normal Napa Valley wine. As a result their wines are extremely popular with sommeliers and chefs and have been featured at many wine dinners across the country. You can find their wines at a number of Napa's own restaurants. The 2008 Sauvignon Blanc shows citrus aromas in the nose and is slightly herbaceous. The citrus aromas continue as flavor on the crisp clean palate. Their 2006 Ranch House Red delivers nice quality for a very reasonable price. The nose is slightly spicy with a layered palate and good acidity. It is fairly balanced from start to finish. The 2005 Sangiovese is an excellent food wine. It is ruby color in the glass and shows more red fruit than dark fruit (raspberry, cranberry and other assorted berry fruits). Great acidity too. They often have a library wine on hand and in this case we tried a 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. There is a definite soil characteristic to the nose, it is earthy and slightly spicy with both red and black fruits on the palate. This wine is nicely balanced. The 2005 E.J. Church is a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon (this wine is named after the original rancher who lived on what is now Long Meadow Ranch). This wine shows some herbal notes on the nose, black tea, hints of chocolate and a palate that is silky soft and smooth from entry to the finish. There are not many wineries who actually have the facilities in Napa County to make olive oil. LMR makes several types of olive oil at their ranch using imported Italian equipment. Tasting some of these hand produced oils is an eye opener especially when you compare the flavors and aromas to many of the mass produced olive oils you find in the supermarkets. Some of their trees on the ranch are among the oldest olive oil trees in the county and are still producing (dated to the 1870's). There is a way to taste olive oil just as there is a way to taste wine. The tasting glasses are tiny and you need to warm up the oil, simply place your hand under the glass and your other hand over the glass to keep the aromas inside. Prato Lungo (meaning Long Meadow in Italian) is a delicate light smooth olive oil. There is just a hint of spice and white pepper on the finish. Their NV Select Extra Virgin Olive Oil is more of a traditional type of oil with a big bigger body and lots of pepper on the finish. If you are using this in salad dressings there is no need to add additional pepper. We will revisit in Spring once the tours are in full swing, when the restaurant has been opened for several months and their gardens become more lively than in the dead of winter. Their wine club is appropriately titled, the "Corral Club". For more information, visit: www.longmeadowranch.com |
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