Pacing myself at this event is key. I really thought that as a veteran attendee, I had this all figured out by now. Sunprotection, check. Comfy shoes, check. Light/layered outfit, check. Super hungry stomach ready to go on a crazy-gastro-feast, check. However, despite my best efforts – I am simply not able to taste everything. My friends have nicknamed me ‘the Python’ for my great ability to go without food for a long period of time, and then eat the equivalent of a gazelle. However, this is the Big Kahuna of all San Diego Food & Wine events and there is A LOT to cover.  If someone has ever achieved this task, I’d like to meet them.

I did manage to physically make my way around the entire event this year to check things out, and there were some new and fun surprises a long the way. This is my first review installment for the 2015 San Diego Bay Food + Wine Fest , and it will focus on wineries that I think are doing an outstanding job. The price range is $30-$60 per bottle. Before you think, “That’s sort of expensive”, please consider that these are wines are family grown and every ounce of wine exudes grade A effort. You can spend $8-$15 for a glass of subpar mass produced ‘house’ wine when you dine out – so consider that the quality bottle of wines below are about the same pricing per glass. Which would you rather have now? These are bottles to buy, sit on, share with friends, or enjoy because you know what … we are all worth it. 🙂 By the way, there is a $15 option that is fantastic, but you have to keep reading to find out who it is and how you can get it. Cheers!

Wineries 

Preston Parker – Amibitious $35 –  This local Point Loma family has done what pretty much all of us dream of doing, and that’s creating their own wine! Named after their sons, this is a balanced bordeaux blend wine that is dating a Californian.  The Cab Franc is balanced out with a soft mellow fruit kick from the Cab Savignon. Look for amazing growth – they are starting out small, but doing it right.

Linked Vineyards – $120/3 Pack – Linked is owned the by Link Family and they too are living the dream. They are fortunate to be living in Knight’s Valley between Napa and Sonoma where grape growing conditions are ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon.  Not only are they making great wine, but they are living in a gorgeous part of the world. The logo is three links which does represent their last name, but also related to their connection to their family, their winemaker and the friends that help support them. Each bottle is hand numbered by Jessica and Drew, and they record who acquires each one. So, you will always have a link to Linked Vineyards, and they to you! You may purchase their beautiful wine here.

Robert Young Estate Winery – $42-$49 Moving farther east, is the Robert Young Estate Winery.  This 5th generation family run winery makes small batch boutique Chardonnay that will blow your socks off. Creamy notes of citrus with a beautiful finish. Again, this is very small production wine and is 100% estate grown. You may purchase online, or visit them in Geyserville at their gorgeous vineyard tasting room. I personally can’t wait to go visit in person and get to know all of their wines better!

LangeTwins Winery – For five generations, The Lange family has been growing sustainable winegrapes in the Lodi Appellation. My family and I drive through Lodi every single summer, so I got so excited to learn about this winery after tasting their wine. I wasn’t able to taste all of their offerings, but I was very impressed with the reds that I did sample.  The Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is a steal at $15. It’s bright with hints of cherry and an easy drinker.  The 2012 Caricuture Red Blend is equally as pleasing with Old Vine Zin + Cab blended together to make a festive glass of cheer. It’s also another great buy at $15/bottle. I can’t wait to visit them in 2016 on our yearly roadtrip!

Peltier – 2010 Teroldego  $60 Hey, I met a new grape! This 100% Teroldego wine is big and beautiful. It is fruit forward, but without all the heavy sugar. It also has smoke, earth and a balanced acid structure. This is the perfect holiday wine and would pair nicely with a big Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Operated by 3rd generation winemakers, all of their wine is estate grown, sustainably farmed, and certified green.

There were lots of tasty bites at this year’s event  – who hit a home run? Stay tuned for the Food review installment!

Elizabeth led us to Cowgirl Creamery which is inside a restored barn, and now converted shop for several local food purveyors.  Cowgirl Creamery is not only a ridiculously delicious stop, but an important one in the history of West Marin.  Sue Conley and Peggy Smith, the founders of Cowgirl, brought craft-cheese making to an area that was historically only milk production. Cheesemakers were far and few, but with these ladies’ successful business growth, encouragement and training of other cheesemakers, gourmet cheese businesses are now top dog in this region and attract foodies from all over.

We sampled delicious pastries from Bovine Bakery and Cowgirl Creamery cheeses such as the popular and decadent, creamy Mt. Tam, pungent Red Hawk, seasonally herbed Devil’s Gulch, sweet Wagon Wheel and more. Honestly, I could have just sat at this first stop all day and stuffed my face and day dreamed of my future dreamjob as a cheese taster. Is that even a thing? With the promise of fresh bread, I managed to pry myself off the bench and venture outside to visit Brickmaiden Breads next door.

Our small group piled into the shedlike bakery. This compact bakery makes all of the bread for the town and local restaurants. It was clean-up day, and a young man scrubbed down equipment while a waft of flour was still in their air. Elizabeth showed us the amazing ‘modern’ brick oven that burned wood as the heat/baking source. What’s crazy is that ultra-techie Silicon Valley is about an hour away, but yet here I was in this remote rural location where cell service was iffy, buildings are on septic due to the lack of City services and burning wood is still the most efficient and cheapest way to create heat. I looked down at the opague powdery concrete floor. Cowboy boots would have been a solid choice. Black suede boots. I’m such a dummy.

In the back ‘yard’ of the bakery, there was a small rustic shed that is owned by Table Top Farms. No one was there to hawk their wares though, as this was one of several ‘honor system’ vegetable stands in town. Visitors simply pick out goodies, look at the price list, and deposit cashola into a wood box slat. The Table Top owners have several plots in the Point Reyes area and grow a gorgeous variety of seasonal, organic produce. Such a cool concept that every town should try to adopt!

After a quick spicy Chai stop at Bovine Bakery, we hopped in the van and headed to Marin Sun Farms. Good thing too, as I was getting tired from all that eating and needed a rest. Elizabeth spoke while she drove and told about the geography and more about how this magical area of food that was protected. In the early 60’s, the Federal Government made a large swath of westward land separated by the inlet a National Park. In the 80’s, rancher Ellen Straus and biologist Phyllis Faber met over their opposition to residential development in West Marin, which is land to the east of the inlet split. The result of their tireless efforts was Marin Agricultural Land Trust or MALT. (http://www.malt.org/).  MALT has worked with 76 farming families to preserve more than 47,000 acres to date.

We parked at Marin Sun Farms which is a combo butcher shop/hip cafe’ in town.  The beef sold here is grass-fed cattle and raised from sustainable practices. Elizabeth ordered up some food with her Sun Farm co-horts and out came a sampling of beef jerky that is also known as ‘beef candy’ for it’s heavily seasoned and sweetened coating. More food was ushered out: arugula salads with fresh beets and Pt. Reyes Blue Cheese, pork-lard fried brussel sprouts and an assortment of burgers made from goat, beef, bacon and lamb! I don’t eat red meat myself, but I do strongly support sustainable farming practices. Needless to say my husband was pretty stoked that there was more on the table for him. He was in absolute gourmet burger heaven. Elizabeth frequented a family cattle farm in her childhood years, and is a Stanford grad to boot, so she’s very farm savvy. She informed us that in order to farm sustainably and maintain grasslands, there should be 1 cow to 8 acres. That is a lot of land per cow! Although the cattle are moved around often to graze, the cows have an important job to the integrity of the grassland. As they eat and shorten the grass, they also *poop* and hence fertilize the ground as they moooove which is essential to the fast and healthy regrowth of grassland.

Fat and happy, it was time to get our buzz on. Literally! We stopped at Heidrun Meadery where the owner creates amazing champagne made from honey, water and yeast. Any hint of previous gloomy weather was blowing out fast, and sun warmed us as we sipped glasses of different mead champagne next to live bee hive boxes. Bees typically source their pollen from the plants and trees around them, so the owner gets honey that has flavors of specific plants and flowers to make his champagne. Some of the interesting champs to check out would be Oregon Radish Blossom (you can taste the tangy dry radish essence and it’s quite good), Orange Blossom, Macadamia Nut and Alfalfa.

What do you do after you have been well-fed and filled with champagne? Well, your trusty guide Elizabeth loads you in the comfy van and you are whisked up the west side of the inlet to beautiful Hog Island Oyster Farm! An early fall sky was starting to set in and a crisp breeze started to blow. Happy people were milling around Hog Island Oyster with purpose, and more importantly, with huge platters of oysters. Clearly we had just stumbled into some sort of special place on the planet. Huddled around picnic benches, guests were enjoying raw oysters & Bourbon BBQ’d oysters. Giant metal baskets sat at the end of each table piled high with glorious empty oyster shells. An outside bar served up local beers and wines, and there were community BBQs smoking away for people to roast up their own oysters. I can’t remember if there was music playing, because the sound of, “OMG OMG OMG OMG” in my head was fairly loud.

Elizabeth deftly set up a magazine-photo-ready cheese platter of triple cream brie, sourdough bread, dried fruit and chunky cookies on a rusted oyster shucking table. Some of the men-folk on the tour tried their hand at shucking oysters, as platters of raw and BBQ oysters arrived. I was probably full an hour ago, but there was no stopping me!  The oysters at Hog Island are very clean and are about as perfect as I’ve ever had. The owners are marine biologists, so it’s no coincidence that these oysters are farmed in such a perfect way. They use secondary tanks after the oysters are pulled from the waterway, and let them filter out for awhile so any impurities are cleansed out.

For an area that is predominantly covered with grassland, no grass grows under these folks’ feet!

I can’t thank Elizabeth enough for such an amazing tour and I can highly recommend this super informative tour as an option for anyone who enjoys good food at a relaxing, yet fun pace. Many smart, forward-thinking woman have helped preserve and build the West Marin area into an area of sustainability and preservation. It’s exciting to know that Elizabeth is yet another strong, smart business savvy woman following in her predecessor’s footsteps to continue on the exciting legacy that they have started.

If you are visiting the area soon, make sure to check out West Marin Food & Farm Tours at http://www.foodandfarmtours.com   There are other Marin tour options available as well, like farm visits with animals! Or, Elizabeth offers tours to New Orleans, Peru and Cuba! So fun!

Use Code RETURNING and get $20 off your booking!

Gift Giving Idea for Tween/Teens/Sports & Health Enthusiasts

The fruit chamber is very easy to use, and easy to clean. There is also room after putting the fruit chamber in to drop some ice cubes on top. It’s really the perfect design! It has a nice loop on the top lid so you can pick it up quickly with one finger on the run! Love that!

We have had fun making several fruit combos and really the sky is the limit on what you can add in the fruit chamber. I just received a huge pomegranate, so we’ll be testing those out in the bottle tomorrow!

I received the Forever Fruit Infusion Water Bottle in exchange for an honest review.

#liveinfinitely #BPAFree

 Fruit infused water provides a hydrating alternative to artificial flavoring, sodas and sugar. Reward your body with natural vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants released from your favorite fruits. 

To purchase this fun fruit infusion water bottle, visit Amazon.

After some online research, I have seen the ‘Salt Light’ so to speak. The majority of the salt consumed in the United States is refined salt. It is often very bright while, has non-caking additives added to it and has an after-taste. Start tasting quality salts and then go back to tasting regular table salt (like you’d find in a vacation rental) and you’ll see what I mean.

Naturally harvested unrefined salt contains trace minerals, has no anti-caking agents, and may have little flecks of color (fun!).  And, it tastes pretty darn good! Most unrefined salts that have not been tinkered with are from places like France, Himalayas (the pink salt) and wouldn’t you know it…Utah!  I was super excited to find Redmond’s Real Salt, as they do harvest from an ancient sea bed in Utah.  It was important to me to find a nice salt that is from the United States. I try to buy my produce locally, so consuming unrefnined salts from Utah is about as local as I can get.

I contacted Redmond and they were so nice to send out some samples for me to try. I received the Nature’s Finest Sea Salt, Real Salt Organic Garlic Salt, Real Salt Organic  Onion Salt and Real Salt Organic Seasoning Salt to test out. Let’s just say we’ve been cooking up a storm here and testing all of the varieties and it’s been a flavor blast!

I went into my local fish monger and he convinced me to buy a whole local rock cod. He told me to season the inside and cook whole, about 10 minutes on each side on the BBQ gril. This was a job for the Real Salt Organic Seasoning Salt!  This blend contains Real Salt, Organic Onion, Organic Corriander, Organic Mustard, Organic Black Pepper, Organic Paprika, Organic Celery Seed, Organic Tumeric, & Organic Parsley. (Kosher Certified by OU)  We seasoned well, grilled and added a little lemon at the end. Not to toot my own culinary horn, but our dinner that night would rival that of any five start restaurant. The seasoning was perfectly balanced and really brightened the grilled fish.

As a pescatarian family, we eat fish about twice a week and then eat a vegetarian for the remaining days. The onion salt was a great addition to asparagus and red potatoes with a sprinkling of shaved parmesean. I used the garlic salt in homemade black bean soup with a little fresh cilantro, and it’s all I needed to make this nutritious soup a quick hit. I then used the Nature’s Finest Sea Salt when roasting baked acorn and butternut squash with a little fresh rosemary and olive oil. So delicious!

These are quality salts and best of all, the seasoned salts are organic. Many people (like myself) used to shake on seasoned powders and not give it a second thought. Thanks to my Internet friend Google, I did discover that I could have been potentially adding toxins to my gourmet creations. Spices and seasoned salts that are NOT organic, may contain chemicals, contain GMOs and are irradiated. Ok, this is where my geeky-friends come out and say irradiated foods help reduce bacteria! Um, yes..and the irradiated finished product also has decreased levels of vitamins and natural enzymes. So why do I want spices devoid of beneficial nutrients? Meh, no thanks – Organic is MUST be!

Spices and salts are as important to me as the fresh organic produce I am buying. If I don’t purchase unrefined salts and organic spices, then I am essentially (polluting) negating all the positive benefits of purchasing organic fruits and vegetables in the first place!

To learn more about Redmond’s Real Salts products, please click here. http://www.redmondtrading.com/shop/

They also offer a fun assortment of natural Clay and Earth Paste products which I will be testing out soon.