LangeTwins Winery and Vineyards Blog: A Tradition of Sustainable Winegrowing

Pictures: Wine Club Pick Up Party at Boulevard Bistro

Joe Lange — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:29:32 +0000

Thanks to all of our Wine Club Members who came out to our Pick Up Party at Boulevard Bistro last Saturday!

The Proprietary Chard and Cab were big hits with the crowd – I think we may have something great here…

Isn’t Boulevard Bistro awesome? Bret and Debbie do a fantastic job – stop in and see them again soon.

Artisan Cheese Festival: Pouring at the Palace Hotel, SF

Aaron Lange — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:38:10 +0000

Sunday brunch at the historic Palace Hotel in San Francisco? Don’t mind if I do…

On Sunday, we were invited to pour our wines at the Palace Hotel as part of their Sunday Blues Brunch. My wife, Meghan, and I were the lucky ones chosen to represent LangeTwins to take part in a decadent tradition at the Palace Hotel – brunch in the Garden Court.

A little bit of history: The landmark Palace Hotel was completely rebuilt and re-opened in 1909 after being damaged by the huge 1906 earthquake of San Francisco. It’s most famous room, the Garden Court, rests under an ornate stained-glass window dome and Austrian crystal chandeliers….so, it was safe to say that I couldn’t wear my work boots.

Trivia bit: The glass dome-ceiling is also the same one that Michael Douglas fell through at the end of the 1997 movie, “The Game”, for those of you interested in worthless movie trivia!

Executive Chef Jesse Llapitan and his team came by for a tasting and really enjoyed our Generations Viognier and Proprietary Cabernet Sauvignon. The food was excellent and we were happy to pour our wines to compliment the cheese tasting tables nearby. In fact, we were there to promote the upcoming Artisan Cheese Festival in Petaluma taking place on weekend of March 26th in Petaluma.

Buy tickets ahead of time for a luxury food weekend featuring over twenty-four artisan cheese makers, twenty wineries and breweries, and just as many chefs preparing handmade bites for all. We’ll be there paired up with our friends at Fiscalini Cheese Company!

Culinary Arts meets Lodi Winemakers: Saturday, March 13th

Joe Lange — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:31:09 +0000

Some people say there’s nothing ever to do in Lodi…no excuse this weekend! Put on your food and wine critic ‘hat’ and join us at Wine & Roses for a unique culinary experience.

See below for all the details:

Pairing Perfection: Culinary Arts meets Lodi Winemakers
Saturday, March 13, 2010
5pm – 8pm

Student chefs from the Art Institute of California Sacramento will join Lodi wineries to create Pairing Perfection- exceptional cuisine paired with handcrafted Lodi wines. Each student chef and winery team will offer guests samples of their pairing, not only will they be judged by professionals- but you too will have the chance to vote for the People’s Choice award.

The top four student chef winners will be awarded scholarships and prizes at an award ceremony directly following the event. This is an epicurean event not to be missed.

Ticket price: $60 per person/$50 wine club member.

Call the Lodi Wine & Visitor Center at (209) 365-0621 for more info.

Two Golds, Two Silvers from the Grand Harvest Awards

Joe Lange — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:08:13 +0000

Just in: our wines brought home four medals!

The 2008 Chardonnay and 2008 Viognier were our gold medal winners at Vineyard & Winery Management Magazine’s 2010 Grand Harvest Awards.

Silver medals were earned by our 2008 Petite Sirah Petit Verdot and 2006 Midnight Reserve.

Grab a bottle of your favorite award winner!

Full Steam Ahead in Texas: Fun in and around Ft. Worth

Charlene Lange — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:26:46 +0000

Our day began at Tillmann’s Roadhouse in Ft. Worth and I fell in love. Well, it wasn’t because I always hosted ‘crazy for Swayze’ nights with the kids when they were young and Randy was working — but the movie Roadhouse was just a personal favorite.

And then I found Tillman’s Roadhouse.

Lunch started with a lavender infused lemonade – and then came the barbeque. We’re in Texas, right? You have to eat barbeque – brisket smoked over post oak wood. Mouth watering delicious.

General Manager Stephanie Meyer joined us at the table and then two hours later, we’re still talking and matching wines with her great food.

Ambiance – class and style! This restaurant rocks – you first notice the pop when you grab the rifle handles mounted on the front doors. And then you spot the ice blue (is it turquoise?) sofa bench that goes for miles. It’s just a taste of the restaurant whose walls are actual trunks of white birch trees and somehow it all fits in with the long line of sparkling crystal chandeliers.

But the restrooms – for a moment I thought I was back in my childhood room in Chelsea, Michigan; the restroom was covered with fair ribbons and rosettes – pick your color, it was wonderful.

Now pay attention! We’ve got a code and a game going here. Dan Landsberg, chef and partner, introduced me to their special croutons. Avocado pieces, marinated in margarita mix (including the tequila), rolled in corn meal and then fried. Infectious nibbles. Their restaurant is just starting to make a name for themselves — patronize their restaurant and use the code word LODI and the nibbles will magically come to your table, compliments of Sacramento’s favorite son. Spread the word – y’all have Facebook and Twitter accounts, right? Make it happen.

You probably have never witnessed the Redneck Sommelier? He does exists at Tillman’s Roadhouse – tool belt, concrete screws and claw hammer. It’s a crowd pleaser and a unique way to open wine – certainly handy if you happen to forget your cork screw.

By this Friday, our Sauvignon Blanc will be on their By-The-Glass list – and with any luck, after Stephanie melted into her chair when we paired our Petite Sirah Petit Verdot, you might find it a perfect match to their at-the-table dessert s’mores.

If you’re in the Ft. Worth area – everyone head to Roadhouse. If all goes well, we’ll have Stephanie cooking something special at the winery in September. More details to come on that…

Dinner was another story; headed out to Boo-Ray’s for an oversold dinner, but we had this little bitty detour; actually Dana and Keith Schrick of Schrick Liquors in Weatherford gave us a tip about Tesky’s. It only took me fifteen minutes, but somehow I managed to locate owner Mike Tesky and he showed me a great Australian saddle and, well, the rest is history. Now if I could only get home to ride that naughty mare!

Back to Boo-Ray’s – we packed the place. 88 of our newest best friends joined us for a wild night of pairing wines with food. Our Sauvignon Blanc partnered with oysters rockefeller; the Chardonnay was magical with crabcakes and a corn salsa; we’re in Texas, so we had some big steaks and smoky scalloped potatoes and enjoyed both the Houston Rodeo Double Gold Cabernet along with the Midnight Reserve.

Dessert? It was opening night for the Proprietary Cabernet and Boo Ray’s paired it with a chocolate cake with a bit orf cinnamon. Yummy. Yummy. Yummy.

Great night – Randy had the crowd rockin’ – who were those good natured strangers that won the ugliest man contest?

And we confirmed with all the girls – it’s absolutely okay to throw ice in your wine.

All is well in Texas – we just have to figure out how to get some more sleep. Onward tomorrow to Ellerbe’s – heard Michael Phillips of Michael-David was doing a tasting dinner while we were out at Boo-Ray’s. Lodi is a good match for Texas!