We are full of enthusiasm and excitement for 2021! Our plan is to kick off New Years Day with the first epic brunch of the year. To start the day, we'll take a brisk walk in the morning to get motivated and think about what the perfect kickoff brunch of 2021 will look like!
At Cultivar SF, our San Francisco restaurant, we're big fans of brunch, so we'd love to share with you some of our favorite dishes to help get your creative juices flowing. As the name suggests, brunch is like a combination of breakfast and lunch, using a mixture of ingredients we traditionally associate with one or the other. We look at brunch as a combination of light & heavy and sweet & savory. It doesn't have to be super fancy: a Farmers Market Omelette and Applewood-Smoked Bacon with Challuah French Toast is the perfect example of something simple you can make at home.
But wait - every good brunch starts with Bellinis or mimosas! We love a delicious, seasonal Pomegranate Mimosa like the one pictured above, but we think our new Sparkling Wine makes an amazing Pear Mimosa. Just add 3/4-cup pear nectar to 1 bottle Cultivar Wine's Blanc de Noirs Sparkling Wine and you have a slightly-sweet, delicious spin on the mimosa. And who can say no to the classic Peach Bellini? We like to make a peach puree by scratch simply peel & pit your peaches, toss them in a blender and blend until smooth (at this time of year you can use frozen peach slices) and add the chilled puree to our Sparkling Wine.
Here's another example of how simple can blend with imaginative. A classic plate of Fried Eggs, Bacon and Rustic Bread paired with Polenta, Poached Egg and Shrimp. And if you're looking for a brunch entree that warm you up and fill you up at the same time, try a Croque Madame or Huevos Rancheros. Pair that with a bottle of 2019 Cultivar Wine Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, and you're on your way to one happy 2021!
Pasta is also a perfect dish for brunch. It's filling, it's easy and above all, it's versatile. Try a simple angel hair tossed with roma tomatoes, Caspar Estate Olive Oil, basil, capers and top it with shaved Parmesean cheese. If you're feeling more daring, try something like this Wild Mushroom Raviloi we created at Cultivar SF. Pasta is also a perfect dish to serve for your friends who love a lighter red wine, like our Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir or even our Oak Knoll Cabernet Franc.
And don't forget the salad! Salads can even be the main course in a brunch. We think a great salad should be inspired by the seasonal fruits and vegetables available in your area. One of our favorites is this Pomegranate and Persimmon Salad with Avocado and Bleu Cheese. Mix greens, goat cheese, candied walnuts and champagne vinagrette. Candied walnuts give it an added touch of sweetness, and our 2018 Cultivar Oak Knoll Chardonnay compliments all the flavors at once.
We'd like to wish everyone a safe and happy 2021, and we hope that the New Year brings you fun, travel and more days spent with the ones you love!
We are thrilled to announce that we won many gold medals at the SF Chronicle Wine Competition! The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is currently the largest wine competition in North America. Professional wine judges are sourced throughout the major wine regions in North America to offer diversity of expertise to each judging panel. There were nearly 6,700 entries.
2017 Cultivar Wine Cabernet Franc Oak Knoll District Double Gold
2016 Caspar Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Gold - in our February Wine Club shipment
2017 Cultivar Wine Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Barrel Aged Gold - in our February Wine Club shipment
2018 Cultivar Wine Chardonnay Oak Knoll District Barrel Aged Gold
2018 Caspar Estate Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley Gold - in our February Wine Club shipment
These wines are available for purchase on our website and at Cultivar San Francisco - 2379 Chestnut Street in San Francisco's marina district, just a few blocks from the Presidio and the Palace of Fine Arts, minutes from the Golden Gate Bridge. At Cultivar SF you can book a wine tasting, have weekend brunch, lunch on Thursdays and Fridays, weekday happy hours and dinner. We offer a Cultivar Wine Club and a mix of Caspar Estate and Cultivar Club as well. Join the club now for these wonderful wines delivered to your door!
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We are thrilled to share with you a post by one of our Cultivar Wine Bloggers, Kelly of A Side of Sweet. This is a sneak peak of the post. Please visit A Side of Sweet for the entire recipe (Cheese, crackers, greenery and other yummyness featured below). Kudos Kelly on such a fabulous casual cheese & wine spread. We love it and are thrilled to share it with our readers.
"Putting Together a Fancy Wine & Cheese Spread"
Cheese :: "I figured this was my chance to go crazy and get a whole bunch of cheese! I definitely went overboard, which was fine by me because it meant I got to eat my favorite meal of cheese and crackers for dinner the next few nights."
"My first stop was Trader Joe’s where you can get some delicious options that are great for a budget. The I hit up Whole Foods. Although it’s a bit more expensive, the nice thing about Whole Foods is that the staff is super knowledgable and will go out of their way to help you pick the perfect cheese for your occasion. They also had a better selection of local cheeses. Here are the cheeses I got."
Creamy Toscano soaked in Syrah
Parmesan Reggiano
Italian Truffle Cheese
Le Delice de Bourgogne Triple Cream Soft Ripened Cheese
Assortment of Chèvre
Cave-Aged Gruyere
Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam cheese
Point Reyes Original Blue cheese
Costco
Spanish Tapa’s Assortment
Goat’s Milk Feta
Wine :: "I wanted to go with local wine, so I served Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc from Cultivar Wines. Cultivar is a family-run winery in Napa Valley, California. They make their wines from some of the best grapes in Napa and it shows – when we opened our first bottle I almost fell over! This wine is some of the best I’ve had in California, even with all the trips to wine country that we’ve made since we moved here! I think it was one of the highlights of the night – our guests kept commenting on how good it was!"
To read more about the Charcuterie, Crackers and other tips for this amazing dish visit A Side Of Sweet.
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This year has flown by! We’re excited that harvest is over, and we're looking forward to gathering with our family and friends to give thanks.
As you get ready to join your family and friends around the table, we wanted to share some of our favorite red wine pairings for smoked turkey. (Come back next Wednesday for tips on how much wine to have on hand!)
2012 Cultivar Oak Knoll District Cabernet Franc, with its sweet black cherry, plum, and blueberries with hints of vanilla and Asian spices, will leave your guests talking when you serve it up with either a curried pumpkin or sweet potato soup as your first course.
Or be a little daring and pair it with dessert. May we recommend a pecan pie or a rich pumpkin pie?
2012 Cultivar Oak Knoll District Cabernet Franc: Case $530 / $500 Wine Club
2011 Cultivar Phoenix Ranch Syrah, with its blueberry, black currant, and plum fruit, offers the perfect counterpoint to a smoked jalapeño turkey.
We especially love it with mushroom and sausage stuffing.
2011 Cultivar Phoenix Ranch Syrah: Case $571 / $537 Wine Club
2012 Cultivar Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, with its ripe black currant, plum, and dark cherry with a hint of vanilla, violets, and warm spices, softens the tartness in some cranberry sauces.
Tired of canned cranberry sauce? Try your hand at a Cabernet-cranberry sauce with figs. Your guests will thank you.
2012 Cultivar Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: Case $286 / $269 Wine Club