Farmstead Cheeses and Wines: Jeff’s Blog

Wine Dinner Fran Kysela Oct 21
Wine Dinner with Fran Kysela
October 21 @ The Bay Wolf
We’re proud to announce our first wine dinner of the Fall, featuring one of the wine world’s great personalities and palates - Fran Kysela, the mind behind Kysela Père et Fils, a world class wine importer (and the importer [...]

Here’s a smattering of photos from our big 2002 (pre Farmstead) trip to France. Paris, Burgundy, Rhone, Provence, Bourges, Chartres, Paris

I went to a food show today at a large hotel put on by a large food broker.
Generally, these affairs are set up for large groceries to visit with the commodity specialty food providers they deal with - to plan for their holiday orders.
Big numbers are bandied about, lotsa folks in [...]

Sometimes I lead a charmed life. I was invited to have lunch today with another of my wine heroes -Terry Theise - at one of my favorite restaurants, The Wood Tavern. I had expected the usual sort of Wine Lunch - 15-20 folks, a boatload of wines, and little face time. When [...]

What a transition - after 18 hours in transit (Mendoza, Santiago, Dallas Fort Worth, San Francisco), I’m met at the San Francisco airport by Mrs. Cheesemonger.
We say adieu to our Bay Area compatriots (Meryll from JV in Napa, Jim from Wine Steward in Pleasanton, JP and Andy from Angeles/Kysela), and pile into the [...]

After the visit to the Olive Oil factory, we repaired back to the hotel, where I blogged and napped before dinner. Surprise, we were going out to have some Asado and Malbec! This time to the famed Don Mario restaurant, a trdition of Parilla and Asado in Mendoza for generations.
We had [...]

After our most excellent Patagonian adventure, it was nice to get back to the Hyatt Mendoza. There’s something to be said for the curative powers or a fluffy bed and a warm bath to replenish and restore.
The next morning, we met in the lobby for the short drive to Viejos Isaias for a tasting [...]

If you had told me that I was going to spend 24 hours on a cramped bus in order to taste wines for two hours and have a dinner with a charming winemaking family, I’d have thought you were nutso, but I did, and I don’t.
The next morning, we met at 7AM for the 12 [...]

We traveled back from the Estancia tired but happy, and arrived at the hotel a little after dark (we’re in the height of winter, and have about 10 hours of daylight - from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.). After a wee siesta, some of us gathered in the hotel and wandered around in search [...]