June 13, 2026 Breakfast - at Philo Apple Farm. Lunch - at Pinot Noir Grand Tasting Dinner - Philo Apple Farm
I slept until 8:30. Then we got dressed and went down stairs tothe breakfast room and joined the three other couples for a breakfast of drop biscuits with butter and apricot and strawberry jams plus a lovely homemade granola with cream and yogurt and a small pot of cut up strawberries and blueberries. After I ate a biscuit I filled a bowl with granola, cream, yogurt and strawberries and
The two couples sitting at our table were from San Francisco who had attended the Pinot Noir festival for the last five years and were very knowledgeable about the wines and vineyards.
After breakfast at 10:00 we drove to the Henry Woods State Park. We drove to the parking lot and walked into the grove of giant coastal redwoods. I am always in awe when among these giants, some towering over 300 feet high. To me it is both a humbling and spiritual experience to be in their presence. Many have been around 2000 years. To think of a life that long is almost unfathomable.
At around 10:45 we drove to Schraffenberger Winery in Philo where three long tents were lined with over 100 wineries. At each end of each tent were food stalls, so you could taste your way along the line of pouring tables and then have a snack. The food served included: lamb sliders, roasted lamb with BBQ sauce, pizza, tacos, and chicken salad sandwiches. Later in the day cups of chocolate ice cream was served.
We started tasting sparkling wines, of which there were many this year, then some whites and reds. I love sparkling wine. Besides Roederer and Schraffenberger several other wineries made great sparkling white and rose wines. I quickly lost track of which I liked the best because so many were so good. I and Suzette and our table mates liked Minus Tide’s Chenin Blanc. I also liked Navarro’ triple Pinot white, a blend of three pinot varietals: Pinot Grigio, Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Gris.
We finished going through all three tents tasting in about two hours when I became satiated before I had drunk many reds, for which Valley is famous, but I tried a red I liked yesterday; the Black Oak Ridge Pinot Noir that was very light red in color and had an elegant French taste and finish that makes perfect sense because the wine maker and proprietor is French.
We sat at a table near the pizza food stall at the end off the third tent for a while and I ate pizza and tasted wines Suzette fetched.
Then we moved to another tent where there were sofas and sat a bit longer until bowls of chocolate ice cream were served. We shared a bowl of ice cream and left around 1:45.
We drove back to the Apple Farm and rested until around 3:30 when we put on our swimming suits and drove across the bridge and park3 and walked to the river, which was crowded with families enjoying swimming or wading in the cool water on a warm afternoon.
We both waded into the river to cool ourselves and then I lay on a towel on the gravel riverbank while Suzette squatted in the shallow flow to cool further.
When we returned to the Apple Farm around 4:40 we were informed that dinner would be served beginning at 5:00, so we dressed quickly and joined the gathering dinner crowd around 5:00 in the breakfast room where we were poured a flute of 2018 Navarro Sparkling Gewertztraiminir Brut that was incredibly dry. We were served fresh blanched carrots grown on the Farm with a green fava bean dip and a few minutes later small glass ramekins with slices of fresh halibut crudo favored with orange juice that I liked very much.
Then we were seated at three round tables with a total of 28 for the four course dinner. We were pleasantly surprised when our four breakfast mates staying at the Farm who we liked were seated at the table and the interesting banter from breakfast continued through dinner.
The first course was a date, pickled cucumber, toasted peanuts, arugula, and avocado salad that was served with a Navarro Pinot Grigio.
It became apparent at this point that this was a Navarro Winery winemaker dinner and that was manifested when the son of the family that owned Navarro sat at our table to discuss the winery and its wines.
The dinner was a leisurely affair with lots of conversation.
A few minutes after the salads were finished bowls of warm cream of sugar snap pea and spearmint soup garnished with a swirl of basil oil and fresh blanched peas were served.
This was a lovely thick rich, creamy soup. Every spoonful was a delight and my favorite dish with the dessert.
The Entree was served next, Zanzibar Duck, a duck leg encrusted with crushed black pepper on a bed of basmati rice tossed with sautéed sweet pepper threads served with a pile of sautéed papaya chunks.
Here is a breakdown of the recipe per Gemini.
Zanzibar duck is a legendary braised duck dish famously featured in Sally Schmitt's cookbook, Six California Kitchens. It is slowly braised with whole cloves, hot chili, and sweet red peppers, then finished with a reduction of orange and lime juices. [1, 2, 3]
The classic dish requires a whole duck (around 5 lbs) and pairs perfectly with rice and fresh papaya. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Typical Zanzibar Duck Recipe Breakdown:
- The Sear & Braise: Brown the seasoned duck in vegetable oil. Add stock, whole cloves, and seeded hot chili, then braise until the meat is fork-tender. [1, 2]
- The Citrus Finish: Remove the duck and reduce the braising liquids combined with fresh orange and lime juice until thick and saucy. [1, 2, 3, 4]
- Crisping: Place the duck in a hot oven (around 300° F) uncovered for roughly 30 minutes to crisp the skin before serving with the reduced citrus sauce. [1]
Sally was in 5e kitchen today cooking or supervising the meal and this dish, which made it very special. Yesterday when she mentioned that Zanzibar Duck was on tonight’s menu she said, “This was one of my mother’s recipes.”
Because of the heavy reliance on crushed black pepper and chili, I found the flavors to be challenging but I and everyone else at the table ate everything down to the plate and bones
The Navarro owner described the separate climatic characteristics and fermentation of different plots of Pinot grapes from Boonville, Philo, and high on the south facing ridge. How the winemaking team, of which he is a member, spend several mornings tasting different blends of the three wines until they all agree on a blend.
I found the 2023 Pinot to be fruity with a very smooth finish, a very pleasant wine.
Finally, my favorite course, dessert was served. It was my favorite because it combined an exquisite dessert wine, an intensely sweet and citrusy late harvest Gewertztraiminir. I was impressed with how expertly the Navarro team could manipulate the gewertztraiminir grape from the practically zero sugar brut to this 7% residual sugar botrytis rich thriller.
Here are the winery’s description:
Sweetie pie
After several years of drought and reduced crops, our Gewürztraminer vines bore a full canopy and yielded a bountiful harvest in 2023. Spring and summer were cool in Anderson Valley and since we anticipated a late harvest in contrast to the prior three years, we decided to leave the top eight rows of East Hill for a potential late harvest wine. High humidity and cool temperatures are weather conditions that encourage botrytis—the noble rot—to develop and spread; fortunately, it rained on September 25 with daily drizzle into October and the weather remained cool until we harvested on October 20. Gold Medal winner. Best of Show.
The wine was served with slice of an elegantly simple Royal Blenheim Apricot tart served with a goodly dollop of Laychec cream. I had never eaten laychec cream before and I loved its rich creamy texture. The tart was also delicious. Sally’s husband had taken the Navarro owner’s seat by now and described how they liked the flavor of Royal Blenheim apricots even though they lacked the deep golden color of most commercial apricots and then described his favorite apples for making cider as well as the history of the six California kitchens he and Sally have developed.
As dessert was being served the temperature was dropping rapidly which made me think that one of the things I think is unique about Anderson Valley is that it has a rather high temperature gradient with as much as a 50 degree difference between the high and low daily temperature, which the Pinot and Northern white grapes seem to prefer.P
It was a wonderful evening of food, wine, and conversation in the middle of the apple orchard with trees of as old as 300 years according to the owner.
Around 9:15 the serving crew started clearing the tables and we returned to our upstairs room and bed.
But I woke up a bit after midnight to write this entry.
Bon Appetit
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