Wineries named for places and things of the earth have deep history. Sequoia Grove is one of them. Not defined by lavish architecture or gaudy yard art, the place is anchored by those most stalwart guardians of the forest, redwood trees. No matter how many times I see this place, the charm of the fairy ring, with the filtered light streaming through the cinnamon barked Sequoias, never fails to impress.
On a recent visit, my friend Ann and I were thoroughly charmed by the 2022 Sequoia Grove Haire Vineyard Chardonnay crafted by winemaker Jesse Fox. A Philadelphia native, Fox was appointed as Head Winemaker in February 2022 and oversees the production of wines from Sequoia Grove’s numerous estate vineyards and partner growers. He also happens to be a trained chef and once worked as Chef de Partie at The French Laundry, so is particularly adept at crafting food-friendly wines.
The charm of the single-vineyard, Carneros-grown Chardonnay was further elevated when Executive Chef Spencer Conaty, an alum of Michelin-starred Atelier Crenn and Saison – and his thoroughly talented partner in the kitchen, Sous Chef Ben Cereghini – approached the fairy ring bearing a small flower-decked tray with the most perfectly See’s candy confection-shaped squares of corn. These were tiny corn fritters on crack: roasted, grilled, pressed, seasoned with tajin, cilantro and Cotija cheese, and turned by culinary alchemy into a perfectly crispy bite of summer. Things were off to a very good start. While we made our way to the Cambium Room, I asked if they were planning on selling these fritters by the box – to which they smiled and then disappeared into the kitchen to continue preparation on the pairings ahead.
A Taste for Cabernet is a sensory journey meant to highlight the finesse of Sequoia Grove’s Cabernets and the unexpected way they’re able to pair with a wide spectrum of foods.
It’s always worth noting how salt, sour, and fat – in this case EVOO – changes the way wine works in your mouth, which is why the winery and its host begin each of these tastings with an “eduplate” experience that serves as a jumping off point for understanding how wine and ingredients interact.
The wine for this course was the 2017 Rutherford Bench Reserve Cabernet – a quintessential Rutherford Cabernet that speaks to the importance of the winery’s location. It has warm earthiness and dusty berries reminiscent of a trail ride through a berry patch covered landscape. Briefly, salt makes it sweeter, lemon makes it bitter, olive oil brings out the minerality, and a bit of parmesan makes everything copacetic.
While we contemplated the herbs and pepper spice of the next wine – a 2016 Lamoreaux Vineyard Cabernet grown in the Oak Knoll District that has a healthy percentage of Cabernet Franc – our chefs returned with two beautiful bowls filled with local Toybox cherry tomatoes, set upon a bed of smoked tomato jam, and topped with a scoop of Bellweather Farms ricotta whipped with white miso and a dollop of EVOO. For crunchiness, they added quinoa granola. The prettiest pansies smiled up at us from the CMD Ceramics bowls, handcrafted by Conaty’s former boss at Saison. We were instructed to take knife and fork and mix everything up, to integrate all the flavors and textures. Sorry, pansies: you tasted great. I could eat this dish every day, especially with a pairing so utterly perfect as the Lamoreaux Cabernet.
Next up was the 2017 Tonella Estate Vineyard Cabernet, one of my favorites for its heavy fraction (21%) of Cabernet Franc. It came with a New Zealand-farmed Ora King salmon, pan-seared and plated with grilled purple radish and Greek yogurt ponzu and topped with a tempura battered and fried shiso leaf for a crispy crunch. Every bite was a revelation of richness, tempered by the balance of the wine, showing how a robust fish like a fattier salmon can be well-matched with the dusty tannin of Cabernet from Rutherford.
The presence of Cab Franc in all these Cabernets, make them immensely food friendly.
The 2018 Cambium, Sequoia Grove’s most iconic blend, is the wine that closes out the Taste For Cabernet experience, and one that arguably stands as its greatest winemaking achievement. This wine that combines the best lots each year to tell the story of the vintage, in the same way a Sequoia tree’s Cambium layer creates a new ring each year. Our chef’s final main course featured a strip of densely flavored duck breast, marinated and cooked at low heat for hours, accompanied by Koji grilled eggplant topped with bacon and onion jam, and dressed with 5-spice demiglace. A beautiful strip of pureed late-season carrot with butter topped with a tuille shaped like a duck feather completed the Feng Shui presentation of this dish. Simple, elegant and harmonious, it did the towering wine proud.
Oh, and there was honey ice cream for dessert, made from the beehives on property, and set most surprisingly and enjoyably on a bed of pop rocks. Talk about a buzz.
I don’t know what was more fun: talking about wine and food with the two chefs, or experiencing the wine and food pairings they had lovingly slaved over, but that 90-minute experience went by way too fast, and left us both with a deep appreciation for elegant wines and what it takes to make it in the culinary world.
A Taste for Cabernet: Ultimate Food and Wine Experience is the flagship experience available at the winery.
Available twice daily, Wednesday through Monday, $150/pp. sequoiagrove.com
Sous Chef Ben Cereghini and Executive Chef Spencer Conaty
Photos by Alexander Rubin
The Chefs
Being in a service job requires love, dedication and passion: you don’t do it for the bonuses, the fancy sports cars, the adulation or the stock. The only stock options in this job are the kind you make from bones, skin and vegetables in a big pot on the stove that cooks for hours while you sweat over making something as ephemeral as a bite of corn fritter that took two days to make.
For Executive Chef Spencer Conaty, cooking, as grueling a career as it is, gave his life meaning, structure and infinite satisfaction. He grew up in Placerville, where the idea of gourmet food was Sizzler and Applebees. A Graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School in Sacramento, he left high school at 17, and was thrilled to start his career under the tutelage of his TV idol, Iron Chef star, Chef Morimoto. In San Francisco, he had the pleasure of working under Chef Dominique Crenn, who expanded his appreciation of culinary artistry, as well as at Saison, where fire and smoke were de rigeur. From there, he relocated to Brian Arden Wines in Calistoga, Napa, where he met Ben Cereghini, and the two became collaborators in the kitchen … and perhaps more importantly, friends.
Originally from Canada, Sous Chef Ben Cereghini has cooked all over the world, from London to Barcelona, as well as at Meadowood, Press and Auberge du Soleil, in Napa. Together, these two young men make a formidable team, creating outstanding food in a place that really seems to suit them. At Sequoia Grove, a place that respects the inexorability of time and its role in making superior wines, they have found a rhythm and a stage from which to perform: don’t miss the chance to catch them in action and experience the culinary inspiration they draw from the wines.
After all, despite being in their early 30s, they’re still just kids at heart. Worldy wise and sharp as their knives, but still having fun.
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Holiday Winemaker Dinner
Saturday, December 14, 5-8:30pm
Enjoy a memorable holiday evening with Sequoia Grove Winemaker Jesse Fox and President Rick Bonitati by the fire in the Cambium Room. The event includes a welcome reception and a multi-course seasonal pairing menu expertly prepared by the culinary team. Share conversation and make memories during this festive time of year.
$275 per person / $225 club member concierge@sequoiagrove.com
