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Bud Break at the Westlake Village Inn
Spring is almost here and our buds are starting to break on our vines, hence the term “bud break.” Bud Break is the “green point” in a vine’s growth. As the ground warms up, hormones activate in the roots, sending a message to the vine to grow. Moisture then climbs up the plant causing sap to flow, which in return causes a “bud break.” This milestone is the beginning of the wine-growing season, when the grape vines have come out of their winter slumber. The “break” refers to the buds breaking out of their enclosure that has protected them through their winter dormancy. With spring’s arrival, the temperature increases and the roots are stimulated, causing the vines to grow into grape vines.
In celebration of the arrival of Spring and the breaking of the buds on our vines, we’re holding our second annual Bud Break Celebration Dinner in our exclusive Wine Cave on March 15th at 6:30pm.The event will highlight a tasting menu with 5 epicurean courses paired with 5 distinct wines created by our Executive Chef Lisa Biondi. This year we will be featuring five award winning wines from Silver Oak and Twomey.
Silver Oak began over a handshake between two friends with a bold vision: focus on one varietal, Cabernet Sauvignon, aged exclusively in American oak and worthy of cellaring for decades to come. Today, Silver Oak farms more than 400 acres of vines in Napa Valley and Alexander Valley with a leading-edge approach toward precision viticulture, allowing them to give thier vines exactly what they need, when they need it. All of their estate vineyards are certified under California’s Sustainable Winegrowing program.
Continuous improvement – or the notion that their best wines are still ahead of them – has been the driving force at Silver Oak for more than 45 years. At Twomey, they combine this philosophy, experience, and a sense of curiosity with the exploration of outstanding vineyards and growing regions from California to Oregon.
Join us on March 15th for a beautiful menu tasting featuring five exceptional wines paired with a delectable five-course menu.
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Fall at the Inn: Harvest, Food & Wine
Fall is a turning point at The Westlake Village Inn. Although in California we often experience an Indian Summer where the heat doesn’t dissipate until Halloween comes near, even the leaves have fallen but the warm air lingers, we still anticipate the seasons changing.
We celebrate Fall with crisp, leafy garland, earthy-colored foliage, and pumpkins decorating the property. The Stonehaus vineyard leaves begin to change color and morph into a golden shade of brown and the grapes are succulent and ready to be picked. You’ll see the menu evolving at Mediterraneo with new seasonal specials as Chef experiments with root vegetables, pumpkins, squash, and warmer flavors. The Stonehaus will bring back Pumpkin Spiced Lattés and seasonal favorites that you can sip and enjoy in front of the cozy fireplaces.
Fall is a lovely time at The Westlake Village Inn Property. We’ll welcome the new season at the Stonehaus with the 2nd Annual Harvest Wine Dinner in the Vineyard on Saturday, September 24th to celebrate the culmination of the growing season. Enjoy a wine and hor d’oeuvre reception followed by four family-style courses of Fall inspired fare paired to the wines of Trefethen Family Vineyards of Napa Valley.
Learn more here: https://ticketbud.com/events/39aa4566-6401-11e6-893f-a3d0fa1362b9
There’s nothing more lovely than a Fall Staycation at the Westlake Village Inn. The kids are back in school and there is a calm lull before the holidays. Experience Fall spa specials at the The Spa and take in all the beauty the property has to offer.
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The Blind Tasting
Each afternoon, as I sit with an array of bottles in from of me, tasting some of the best wines from around the world, people stare and often proceed to tell me that I must have the best job in the world. While that’s quite true, it is still just that, a job. Tasting wine, at least in a professional setting, can be hard work. And while we each have our own unique sensitivities and tolerances that can lend towards more natural abilities to taste certain characteristics of wine, for the most part, tasting wine is a learned skill that takes practice and requires much focus. I remember walking into class at 8am on my first day of studying wine professionally and seeing 12 glasses of 1oz wine pours on the desks and thinking both, “isn’t it a bit early?” and “this is going to be great!”. By lunch I had a bit of a headache and could have used a nap. Not because I’d been drinking all morning, every sip was swiftly spit out (at first by threat of expulsion, and then by sheer necessity), but because as I quickly learned, tasting wine is actually hard work. I was exhausted. For as much as I’d gone wine tasting and self studied over the near decade prior, I realized that I had very little idea as to how to really taste wine, and all that I was tasting when I did. Over the weeks that followed, each morning started out the same, arrive at 8am, taste 12 or so wines until noon, break for lunch, taste another 12 or so until 5pm, go home, study, repeat. Each day, for 8 hours a day, we studied wine and how to taste it. And as it turns out, there is much more to it than just swirl, sniff, sip & (sometimes) spit. There is in entire protocol, and if followed and practiced, it can reveal all of the wines subtle nuances and tell you its life story.
Being in California I assume everyone’s done their fare share of wine tasting. You’ve swirled and sniffed, and possibly even spit, but for many, you were just going through the motions, nodding and smiling as someone “more knowledgeable” than you goes on about notes of cigar box and bacon fat, while you think to yourself, “all I’m getting is red”. Or perhaps the power of suggestion is strong on you, all you need is for someone to mention peaches and honeysuckle and you’ll smell it too, but prior to the mention, all you smelled was white. Or maybe you actually know a lot about wine, possibly even more than you thought. Maybe years of trips to wine country and dinner parties have made you a bit of an expert. You know the very real struggle of finding a good Pinot Noir under $20 and have long since transitioned from Pinot Grigio to New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and are now onto French Rosé in the summer. But if you joined the masses and have steered clear of Merlot for the past 10 years, you could be surprised at the challenge you might face while trying to decipher between it and a Chardonnay if you couldn’t actually see it’s color. A sensory analysis of wine breaks it down using sight, smell and taste, and can reveal everything about a wine from it’s grape varietal, to the region it’s from, to how old it is. But much of what we come to know about a wine during a tasting can be determined from its appearance alone. Beyond noting the obvious difference between red and white, you can narrow down varietals by intensity of color, climate by viscosity, and age by the rim. For example, just by looking, you’d likely be able to tell a Sauvignon Blanc from a Chardonnay, as you know the first to be a pale straw color and the latter to be more of a yellow/gold. Or take the reds, both Pinot Noir and Syrah can have prominent earth notes on both the nose and palate, but one glance noting their difference in color intensity could quickly guide us to the right conclusion. So what if we didn’t have the guidance of sight to rely on? We’d be left with just our nose and palate, and unless you’ve been practicing for 8 hours a day, this might be trickier that you’d think.
Join us in The Wine Cellar on February 13th as we take the blind tasting to the next level and challenge your wine tasting skills with a sensory analysis of five premium single varietal California wines served in black glasses, eliminating the guidance of sight. Each tasting pour will be paired with a small bite to enhance your tasting experience, and additional wine and food will be served when the tasting commences. Whether you’ve been married for 20 years, are planning a first date or are looking for a fun night out with friends, this fun twist on a the classic blind tasting will be a fabulous way to spend your Valentine’s Day weekend.
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A Warm Winter’s Eve
As lovely as the holidays are, getting through the holiday season is a lot of work, usually leaving us feeling depleted, and come mid-January, with a little case of the post-holiday blues. The twinkle lights are down and the streets are dark, the smell of fresh pine and apple pie has vanished, there are no more trips or visitors, no more parties, and no real reason to get dressed up and go out. And while there might be a small sense relief, it always feels to me like there is far too much winter ahead with too little excitement to look forward to. So on this 1st week of winter, even amongst the last minute holiday to-do list, I feel the need to plan little something to look forward to, to bring us all a little mid-winter comfort & cheer.
The Swiss figured out long ago that a simple yet decadent, leisurely meal based around cheese and wine with friends is the quickest way to warm the spirits. Raclette, from the French word Racler meaning “to scrape”, is both the name of the creamy Swiss cheese made from the milk of cows that graze upon Alpine pastures, and the name of the dish. Traditionally, a nourishing vegetarian meal believed to be created by Swiss shepherds nearly 700 years ago when they’d set up camp during their journey up the Alps and slowly melt the cheese over an open fire and scrape it onto boiled potatoes, pickles and bread.
Today Raclette is not just a standard meal in Swiss & French ski lodges, it is enjoyed all over the world and includes meats and a variety of other vegetables, yet always maintains its tradition of being a casual, communal meal enjoyed slowly over hours, and of course, staying true to Swiss tradition, is never served with water, only hot tea, beer and wine. Nothing sounds more relaxing and enjoyable to me right now than sipping wine by the fire over a Raclette feast, especially one that I don’t have to cook and clean up after.
So in the spirit of relaxation and comfort, we invite you to cozy up by the fire and indulge in an Alpine-style cheese and wine dinner with us in The Vintage Room at Mediterraneo on Saturday, January 23, 2016. While we’re all resolving to do and be so much in the coming New Year, taking a moment for ourselves to truly relax and unwind after the craziness of the season ought to be on the top of our resolutions list.
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