Apparently, I’m not the only one to be charmed by Kate MacMurray, lately. She took us all up to see the views at the top of the MacMurray Ranch in Sonoma last weekend, to the place where her father (actor Fred) used to drive up in the evening to “count noses” of the cattle on the family ranch. Now it’s all vineyards, but Kate’s working on bringing back a few descendents of the cattle just to hang out at the ranch. The real business is wine. Owned by Gallo, the wines made Ronn Wiegand’s top ten restaurant wines list for the first time this week. Is it the wines, or is it Kate?
Maybe I dreamed this because when I went to look it up online, I couldn’t find anything. Here’s the story: I’m wandering around the Kendall-Jackson giftshop/winetasting room in Sonoma last week because it’s 100 degrees outside, too hot to examine the viticulture garden with its 28 varietals on 16 trellising systems.
I notice a medal from the LA 2008 competition hanging on a display and – it’s a dessert wine! We go to taste and a chef rushes out with the perfect food pairing: carmel corn. Really. 2006 Late Harvest Chardonnay with hints of honey peach orange apricot, not too sweet, paired against sweet caramel corn with just enough butteriness and a hint of salt. They told me the recipe and the info on the wine and its award are all online, but I can’t find the info anywhere…
