The Presidio Cafe is situated on the Presidio Golf Course – a beautiful setting for a San Francisco wine dinner – and right in Foggy Bridge’s future backyard.
The folks at the Presidio Cafe have made the price very reasonable – just $55 per person. We want to make this dinner as accessible as possible for our Foggy Bridge fans.
Space is very limited, and reservations are required. To RSVP, contact:
Michael Perry
415.561.4661 x209 or mperry@palmergolf.com
Chef Adam Hrebiniak has trained at some of the Bay Area’s finest kitchens, including Postrio, Boulevard and most recently at Belden Taverna. “To mirror what is happening on the golf course,” says Adam, “we are also trying to use organic food as much as possible and stay as green as we can.”
Foggy Bridge will be the featured winery at Woodlands Market in Kentfield tomorrow evening, Jan. 9 from 5-7pm. An independent, family-owned grocery store, Woodlands is a gem among Marin residents. It features specialty domestic and imported cheeses, Niman Ranch and very high quality, locally raised meat and a wealth of fresh produce. I have always admired the wine selections offered – a nice combination of well respected brands, small artisan imports and undiscovered domestic wines. Most importantly, Woodlands has a long history of donating a portion of its sales to the Kentfield/Ross schools and to a number of local non-profit organizations.
Woodlands offers regular Friday evening tastings at its “wine bar,” and Foggy Bridge is pleased to be the first featured winery in 2009. We will be pouring the G.E.O. Chardonnay, Tradewinds Muscat and Tradewinds Bordeaux blend from the Yorkville Highlands, which are now for sale in the store. These three wines were made in very limited production – less than 200 cases of each.
Stop by, say hello and let us know what you think of the wines!
Woodlands Market is located at 735 College Avenue in Kentfield, adjacent to College of Marin.
Foggy Bridge Winery was founded with a rather simple goal: to offer consumers high quality wine from a variety of distinctive growing regions at affordable prices – and to make that wine tasting experience accessible, approachable and educational in an urban winery environment in San Francisco.
The founders of Foggy Bridge have all shared common experiences. We have traveled to wine growing regions around the world where we have enjoyed locally made wines and food. Drinking wine from a carafe and relishing meals prepared from freshly harvested and locally grown ingredients is one of life’s greatest pleasures.
One of my favorite and most memorable food and wine experiences is visiting the Sancerre region of France where I don’t think I have ever encountered a more natural pairing than fresh local goat cheese and the region’s most-known white wine, made from the Sauvignon Blanc grape. Granted, I am nearly as passionate about cheese as I am about wine, but enjoying freshly baked goat cheese tarts from a tiny bakery in town – as well as tasting four day old cheese made onsite at a nearby farm – made each sip of Henri Bourgeois Sancerre all the more perfect.
Alice Waters of Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley has been delivering a similar message as an advocate for locally grown and “simply prepared” food for decades. Her passion has ignited an almost cult following of “locavores” who only eat foods grown locally and from within a certain radius. With the proliferance of restaurants in the Bay Area who tout a locavore approach, we wonder why more consumers and eating establishments aren’t equally as interested in drinking wines grown and produced locally? Foggy Bridge Winery is taking up this message for the wine growers of California and seeking to deliver such an experience to our customers and local restaurants that are eager to serve affordable wines made locally.
Which Bay Area (or elsewhere) restaurants make an effort to offer wines – and other beverages – grown and produced locally? Share your favorites with us.
When the Foggy Bridge team met well over a year ago to discuss a pricing model for the future Foggy Bridge wine portfolio, we made a conscious decision to offer ultra-premium varietal wines that distinctly represent the respective appellations in which they are grown – and most importantly, are reasonably priced. (Yes, even before the economy took a nose dive).
We firmly believe high quality wine should be accessible and approachable to all consumers – whether those just exploring the world of wine or experienced aficionados. Since Foggy Bridge produces a small volume of wine, we do not capitalize on the economies of scale achieved by many large, corporately-owned brands. However, even with a limited production, we set out to make wines that don’t “break the bank” and are appealing and approachable when ordering off a restaurant list and trying for the first time.
All of the Foggy Bridge wines retail between $18-26 per bottle, with only the Bien Nacido Vineyards Pinot Noir and Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon at $38 per bottle. Given the land costs and demand associated with both of these regions, the wines are slightly more expensive than the rest of the Foggy Bridge portfolio, yet still amazing price points when compared to other wines from these appellations.
As many imported wines – such as those from Argentina, Chile, Greece and Spain – have grown in popularity and accessibility, we have also seen restaurants and consumers gravitate toward these reasonably priced wines. Foggy Bridge will continue to offer accessible, yet limited production California wines for all levels of wine consumers – and seek out restaurants that will offer our wines by the glass – a prefect way to sample and explore!
As you consider wine purchases in 2009, do you plan to seek out new wines with a high quality to price ratio? Do you have a price limit for wine consumed at home? In a restaurant? Will you be ordering more wines by the glass or by the bottle at your local restaurant in the new year?
Many Foggy Bridge fans have been enamored by our Bien Nacido Vineyards Pinot Noir and have inquired about the origin of this Santa Maria vineyard. We believe this is a special site – ideal for cool-climate Pinot Noir – and want to share with our readers its long multi-generational history.
In 1837, Juan Bautista Alvarado (then Governor of Alta California) granted two leagues of land (approximately 9,000 acres) to Tomas Olivera. The land ranged from the Santa Maria Mesa up to the San Rafael Mountains and was bordered by the Sisquoc and Cuyama Rivers. The nearby Tepusquet Creek (translated as ‘fishing for trout’ by the Chumash Indians) provided irrigation.
Tomas Olivera sold Tepusquet Ranch to his daughter Martina and his son-in-law Don Juan Pacifico Ontiveros in 1855, where they raised horses, cattle, sheep, grain and grapes for the production of wine. Over time, the land was divided among heirs until only 1,400 acres remained surrounding the Onitveros Adobe.
In 1969, Steve and Bob Miller (fourth generation members of a California farming family) purchased the property, as well as an adjacent parcel that was part of the original land grant. Rancho Tepusquet now comprised over 2,000 acres.
In the 1970s, the Millers began to realize that the soil and climate of the ranch were ideal for growing grapes and soon after planted Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Merlot. They coined the 600 acres of vineyard land ‘Bien Nacido Vineyards of Rancho Tepusquet.’ The name ‘Bien Nacido’ means ‘well born.’
Bien Nacido Vineyards has now grown to 900 acres and is primarily planted to Chardonnay (300 acres), Pinot Noir (250 acres) and to Pinot Blanc, Syrah and Merlot. It is classified as a maritime-influenced desert, with morning fog cover and afternoon breezes from the nearby Pacific Ocean. The soils consist of sand, chalk and marine loam that provide good drainage, and the climate provides even temperatures with very little rainfall.
Bien Nacido is also one of the major viticultural nurseries in California for certified varietal budwood, and unlike most vineyards, was planted as a nursery rather than a vineyard back in the early 1970s. This rare practice has ensured that Bien Nacido vines are certified virus free. In fact, most of the Chardonnay planted in California in the last twenty years began as Bien Nacido cuttings.
Foggy Bridge Winery began sourcing Pinot Noir from Bien Nacido in 2005 and produced a small amount (just 48 cases) from this vintage. Sourcing expanded a bit with the 2006 vintage, which produced about 400 cases. Winemaker Daryl Groom makes this Pinot Noir at Central Coast Wine Services, also owned and operated by the Miller family and home to several Central Coast boutique wine producers.
Founder John Kontrabecki recently shared the origin of Foggy Bridge Winery’s estate San Francisco Bay vineyard in Livermore Valley – complete with the vital role of local well witchers. Below is John’s personal account of how the Las Positas Ranch came to life.
Las Positas Ranch is a 132-acre vineyard located in the Livermore Valley, and the origin of the fruit grown for our G.E.O. wines. Las Positas Ranch is a small part of one of the original Ranchos created by land grants from the King of Spain to the original Spanish settlers of California. Since time immemorial our land had been used only for grazing cattle. It was never tilled or developed for any other use.
I purchased the ranch in 1998, and shortly after buying the property, I was approached by Phil Wente of Wente Family Vineyards who asked me if I had ever considered developing the ranch as a vineyard property. Phil’s family had been growing wine grapes in the Valley for 150 years (five generations), and he thought the ranch would make a fine vineyard.
Phil explained to me that the previous owner of the property had asked him to conduct a study to determine whether the ranch would be suitable for vineyard development. After examining the soils, microclimate and orientation of the hillsides, he concluded that it would make a fine vineyard property, provided a reliable water source could be found.
I told Phil that I would conduct my own investigation and get back to him after I had made an independent evaluation. I then called an old friend, Roger Stuhlmuller, who owns a vineyard in the Alexander Valley, and asked him how to evaluate whether a property is suitable for vineyard development. Roger said, like everything else in life, you hire an expert consultant. He then recommended a consultant who had worked for him in the past who I then hired to study the site. The consultant’s report confirmed what Phil Wente had told me.
Next, I contacted Phil and told him my independent consultant agreed with his assessment, and I asked Phil if he knew of an engineer who could help me sort out the water problem. Phil told me that vineyard people do not use engineers. They use well witchers. I thought he was joking with me, but I quickly learned he was serious when he gave me the names of two well witchers he had used successfully in the past.
I contacted the well witchers and hired them to conduct a site survey and make a recommendation on where to drill for water. On separate days, I met them at the property and watched in utter amazement as they well witched. It was right out of a Frank Capra movie! Both were older men (in their late 70’s) who wore blue jeans, work shirts, cowboy boots and hats and belts with big silver buckles. Both had divining rods made from some secret wood. One had another tool he called a crystal, which appeared to me to be glass cut into a sphere and attached to string. They wandered around the property for a long time with very serious looks on their faces and from time to time stopped to set a marker on the ground. I marked on a map the locations they recommended as potential well locations. When they were finished I asked each to pin point the best locations for drilling test wells.
I compared the two reports and noted the locations where they agreed. I then asked a well drilling company to drill in the prime location selected by both of my well witchers. Much to my delight, they were absolutely accurate in their selections and in the amount of water they predicted I would find. We hit a gusher deep below the Livermore Valley that produces 500 gallons per minute of the sweetest water you can find. We had the water tested, and it is as pure as mountain snow.
With the water problem resolved, I then hired Wente to plant a vineyard. We selected six varieties, five red and one white, and in the spring of 2002 planted the vineyard. Today we are growing Merlot, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Sirah and Chardonnay. We have additional land available to plant and we are considering planting Albarino, a Spanish variety that does well in hot dry climates.
When we started the vineyard, my niece, Sara, was the farming manager. After several years, she married and moved to West Virginia. I then hired our current farming manager, David Login, who has been doing a great job bringing our vineyard into full production. David’s background is in organic farming, and he has been guiding us as we transition from conventional farming to organic farming practices. More to come in a later post on David’s organic farming philosophy and its results in our vineyard…
On December 5th, 1933, Prohibition was repealed and the Golden Gate Bridge was 11 months into construction. Celebrate this momentous occasion in the history of wine and San Francisco by enjoying your favorite Foggy Bridge wines on the 75th anniversary of Prohibition’s repeal this Friday, Dec. 5th.
Share your Repeal of Prohibition anniversary story on our blog by Dec. 8 at noon PST, and you will be entered to win a Foggy Bridge orange and brown striped beanie (perfect for these winter days). We will honor two winners only, and bonus points granted for creativity!
Fine print: We will award winners whose stories include any wines, not just those from Foggy Bridge. So bring out those wines you’ve been saving and cellaring, and share your story with us! Want to celebrate in true San Francisco style with an elegant Foggy Bridge Pinot Noir from Bien Nacido Vineyards or a crisp, refreshing Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc? Order online, and we will ship directly to any CA resident.
We look forward to hearing from all of you wine lovers out there!
The big feast is almost here! If you’re still wondering what to prepare for a first course, here is a delicious carrot soup recipe (created by our very own Joyce Stavert) with a twist – a sweet and spicy version made with apple juice and chili peppers – wake up those tired holiday taste buds!
The Asian flavors in this soup include ginger, curry powder and the fruity spice of a Habanero pepper. The carrots offer a refreshing change from the standard pumpkin or butternut squash varieties. Pair with our Foggy Bridge 2007 Columbia Valley Riesling for an intriguing food and wine pairing. The floral notes of the wine combine with a slight sweetness on the palate to bring out subtle flavors in the soup and cool the lingering heat of the peppers. The soup can be made one day in advance. Cover tightly and chill overnight, then reheat and garnish before serving.
Spicy San Francisco Carrot Soup with Toasted Almonds and Crème Fraîche
• 1 cup diced shallots
• 2 small pieces of fresh peeled ginger, about the size of a grape
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 3/4 stick unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 small Yukon gold potatoes
• 3 lb carrots, peeled and cut into ½ inch rounds
• 3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup fresh unfiltered apple juice
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 to 1/4 Habanero chili, very finely chopped. Substitute 1/4 Serrano chili if necessary. Remove seeds if you want a less spicy soup.
• Salt to taste
• ½ cup sliced almonds, toasted
• 8 oz crème fraîche
Preparation
1. Peel the carrots and slice crosswise into half-inch thick rounds. Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes about ½ inch squares.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add olive oil and then add the shallots and sauté over low heat until the shallots are fragrant and soft, about 7 minutes. Add the ginger, both the pieces of fresh and ground powder, and the curry powder.
3. Add the broth, water, apple juice and pepper. Toss in the bay leaf and when the mixture begins to boil, add the chopped carrots and potatoes. Reduce the heat and cover the pan. Allow soup to simmer for about 30 minutes or until the carrots and potatoes are tender when poked with a fork. Add the chopped fresh thyme.
4. Let the soup cool for 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bay leaf and the large pieces of ginger. Put the oven on low broil and place sliced almonds on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Broil until golden and toasted, about 3-4 minutes depending upon your oven.
5. Divide the soup into batches and puree in the blender. Add some of the chopped Habanero chili to taste to each batch, based on your tolerance for spice. Return all the soup to the saucepan to reheat before serving and salt to taste.
6. Ladle soup into shallow bowls and sprinkle with toasted almonds, and top with a dollop or drizzle of crème fraîche. Serve with chilled Foggy Bridge 2007 Riesling.
7. Serves 8 first course portions. For a vegetarian version, use vegetable broth in place of chicken broth, and ½ cup olive oil in place of butter.
While Foggy Bridge has had a presence on Facebook since August, we have continued to grow our fan base and now have more than 100 fans. If you are on Facebook and want updates on the winery progress, as well as invitations to launch events, become a Foggy Bridge Facebook fan today.
We recently became intrigued by Twitter and will post updates on where Foggy Bridge is being poured, sampled and celebrated at events throughout the Bay Area. To get the latest scoop (or taste) sign up as a Twitter friend.
Finally, check out a newly-uploaded video on YouTube. Get a sneak preview of what’s to come at Foggy Bridge and meet winemaker Daryl Groom!
Visit us on these various social networking sites and stay up to date on happenings at the winery. We’ll see you there!
The fashion industry has been holding their week long celebrations for years, and now there is one for wine! Leave it to San Francisco, that wine-loving town, to launch this great idea. Check it out at SF Wine Week – it’s a great deal for wine lovers. Six nights of events at different venues all around town where you can taste and mingle, all for the single price of $75 for the week’s worth of events. All the venues are downtown and include the newly opened and remodeled Paradise Lounge. I was there a couple of weeks ago for their pre-opening party and it is very cool – nice interior with lots of different spaces to mingle, dance or lounge around. We will be pouring our wines at the Friday and Saturday night events – Friday is the Industrial Wine Party at the Hayes – a new residential community, and Saturday night, the Red Party is at the Atrium. We will be pouring our Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, so come out and see us and support wine! A portion of your ticket will also support First Graduate, a great organization. If you like the wines after you try them, remember to come back to our blog page at Foggy Bridge Winery and let us know what you think.
January 13, 2009 
Posted in Events, San Francisco 
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