News & Events
Still Waters Vineyards Wins Gold!
We are proud to announce Our Zinfandel 2009 and Malbec 2008 won Gold at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition!
The 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is the largest wine competitions of American wines with over 55oo entries. Come out and barrel taste the future vintages. We think you’ll agree that the best is yet to come!
Thanks for all your support!
Holiday Party
Going to work at the beginning of the week doesn’t always have to be a drag. Sometimes it can be a good thing; when you are recovering from your work holiday party for instance. Paul and Pat hosted our annual holiday staff party Sunday evening , and as to be expected: it was a blast and Pat’s cooking was amazing! Even though there were five, possibly seven, unruly games of Bingo, we all managed to behave ourselves (well I can’t speak for Clancy and Piper).
Clancy and Piper enjoying the party
We are all back to work this week and more excited than ever about what 2012 holds for Still Waters. We hope that your holiday parties are as fun (and safe) as ours. This time of year we are proud to recognize how lucky and blessed we are to have wonderful bosses, co-workers and of course friends like you! Wishing you and yours a merry (and responsible) holiday season!
Still Waters Family
P.S. Chuck the eggnog and drink wine!
Backroads Wineries Holiday Open House, Dec 10th 11am-5pm
Join Still Waters Vineyards Saturday Dec 10th for our holiday open house. We will have festive treats to snack on while wine tasting and a warm fire in the fireplace. We will be offering Holiday Gift Wine Bundles and other specials.
Happy Holidays!
Olive Harvest 2011
As the grape harvest comes to an end, the olive harvest is just beginning. We are lucky at Still Waters to have amazing olive trees on our property not only for the beauty they add to the landscape but also for the Estate Olive Oil we produce each year. This year was a light producing year, but it looks like the flavors are going to be outstanding!
When harvesting olives you have to choose between machine harvesting using the shaker method or the traditional style of hand harvesting. Just like in the vineyard we choose to hand harvest our olive trees. Since our trees are over 100 years old and much larger than most commercial productions, the process of harvesting the olives can be a little tricky. We comb the branches using plastic rakes on the end of long poles. Each branch gets raked to collect the olives onto the ground where we have tarps ready to receive them.
Harvesting the olives using a comb
Beautiful olives!
This year we decided to stay local when processing our olives and used Foxdale Farm Olive Mill. The following pictures will take you through the steps of making our wonderful olive oil.
The olives are in the hopper ready to become oil. They first go into the deleafer to remove leaves, twigs and any other debris.
The olives get washed and go into the hammer mill where they will be crushed.
The crushed olives move to the Malaxor which stirs the crushed olives to help in the separation of liquid.
In the next step, the oil starts taking form. The Decanter separates the solids from the liquid oil.
LIQUID GOLD!
Cheers and Enjoy!
Wine Club Party Recipes and Wine Pairings
We held our Still Waters Vineyards Fall Pick-Up Party on Nov 5th. We had such a great time and enjoyed visiting with so many of you. I think that was our best turn-out ever and we loved hearing all of your positive comments – mainly about the wines, but a few for the food. We had so many requests for the recipes from Saturday night, so here they are. We love our Club Members and love being able to share all of this with you. Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving ~ Love Patty
Mushroom Pockets
1 stick unsalted butter
4 cups chopped mushrooms
4 cloves minced garlic
½ cup dry white wine
Salt to taste
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 package puff pastry
Saute in pan over medium heat the ½ stick of butter, mushrooms, garlic , wine and salt. Let cool.
Brush puff pastry with the other half of stick of butter (melted). Place a spoonful of mushroom mixture onto a square of puff pastry. Sprinkle a teaspoon of Parmesan cheese on the mushroom mixture. Grab the pastry by four corners and twist into a bundle (sort of like a haystack). Bake at 375 for about 15 – 20 minutes. Serve and eat immediately and ENJOY!
This recipe is from my favorite cooking website – Pioneer Woman Cooks! The actual cookbook is full of fun recipes and stories and I use it constantly. You can find the cookbook at Walmart, any bookstore or just order it on Amazon. You will love it too. The website and blog post new recipes daily!
Celia offered the Still Waters Reflections with these savory delights. Oh so good!
Cranberry – Chili Cocktail Meatballs
1 pound lean ground beef
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
½ cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoons chopped onions
1 (8 ounce) can jellied cranberry sauce
¾ cup chili sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoon lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, egg, water, bread crumbs, and chopped onions. Roll into small meatballs. Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, turning once. In a slow cooker or large saucepan over low heat, blend the cranberry sauce, chili sauce, brown sugar and lemon juice. Add the meatballs and simmer for 1 hour before serving.
This recipe comes from the website allrecipes.com. It is a perfect appetizer for your Thanksgiving meal.
Nancy poured the Still Waters Cabernet Sauvignon to complement these yummy bites!
Mozzarella, Tomato and Basil Picks
½ pound mozzarella (or use the marinated mozzarella balls at Trader Joes)
20 cherry tomatoes
20 small basil leaves
2 tablespoons Still Waters Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Garlic Salt to taste
20 small skewers or cocktail picks
On a skewer – place one mozzarella ball, then one basil leaf, then one cherry tomato. Arrange on platter, sprinkle with garlic salt and drizzle with Still Waters Olive Oil. Super easy and pretty appetizer.
Ben paired this appetizer with the Still Waters Vineyards Chardonnay – Wonderful!!!
Tortilla Soup
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 chipolte in adobo sauce, chopped (Mexican food aisle – this is optional)
1 can diced green chiles
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen and thawed (or you can use canned corn)
One can diced tomatoes
One can pinto beans
½ cup cilantro, chopped
¼ cup lime juice (about two limes)
6 cups chicken broth
1 can tomato paste
1 tablespoon corn starch (more or less) for thickening
½ cup sour cream
Heat the oil in a medium pot. Add the onion, garlic, chipotle, chiles, chili powder and salt and cook about 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth and tomato paste and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes. Add the corn, pinto beans, tomatoes and corn starch (optional) and cook for another five minutes. Remove from heat. Finally, add the cilantro, lime juice and sour cream and serve. You can always garnish with tortilla chips, sliced avocados, grated cheese, lime wedges or an additional dollop of sour cream. Also, to make a complete meal you can add one cup of shredded cooked chicken.
Molly and George paired this wine with the Still Waters Vineyards Merlot – Perfect Match!
News from the vineyard
Harvest is now over, the colors are beautiful in the vineyard. Carlos and Pedro are busy preparing every other row for our cover crop seeds. We plant cover crops and rotate the rows each year to add beneficial nutrients and protect the vineyard from heavy winter rains.
November 13th 1-4pm, Picture Perfect Sunday- Music in the Garden
The JD Project
Join us under the shade of the olive trees for our last Picture Perfect Sunday of 2011. Local favorite The JD Project will be playing dancing music perfect for a relaxing Sunday afternoon. We will be selling wine by the glass and bottle along with Tri Tip sandwiches.
Bring a low back lawn chair and enjoy a Picture Perfect Sunday with us!
Wine Club Pick Up Party
Come to the vineyard on November 5th for our wine pickup party!
October 21st – 23rd is Harvest Wine Weekend!
Friday: Kick off your weekend with a wine and cheese pairing from 3 – 5 p.m. Enjoy our award-winning wines and some amazing cheese samples. Nancy Pharis art show, tours, and olive oil and barrel tasting all weekend long.
Saturday: Experience a true Harvest. Meet at 9 a.m. to pick with the crews and then on to the crush pad. Do it all first hand. Space is limited, No Charge but please R.S.V.P. Enjoy live music by Ron Pappas and grilled appetizers in the olive grove from 1 – 4 p.m.
Sunday: Have a toe-tapping good time in the olive grove with Doc Stoltey’s bluesy ballads. We’ll be pouring our award-winning wines and grilling some appetizers. Tours, art show, and barrel tasting all weekend long!
Savor the Central Coast
September 29th-October 2nd
Still Waters Vineyards will be participating in the main event at the historic Santa Margarita Ranch. Taste wine from over 200 wineries from the central coast and Washington State. Local chefs will be serving food provided by local farmers. This is the second year for this wonderful event put on by Sunset Magazine. For more information please visit : www.savorcentralcoast.com
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