Mastering the Art of Creating a Memorable Wine Country Picnic

Today I am joining three blogging friends who are all wonderful cooks and entertainers for fall picnic inspiration. We live in the heart of the Paso Robles Wine Country so of course I thought it would be fun have a wine country picnic. I called up our friends Joann and Cris Cherry, owners of the Maha Estate and Villa Creek Cellars (who craft some of the lovliest wines in the area) and asked if they would join us for a wine picnic on their beautiful Maha estate where the scenery is spectacular. Let’s chat about Mastering the Art of Creating a Memorable Wine Country Picnic.

The Cherry’s are conscious stewards of their land. They are organic farmers and they began biodynamic practices in 2015. What is the difference between organic farming and biodynamic farming? Wine Enthusiast has a great article explaining the difference here. The Maha Estate was one of the pioneers of biodynamic farming in the Paso area, but many other wineries are following suit.

Do you ever wonder what picnic foods are good for a wine country picnic. Sure olives, sandwiches, salami, cheese and french bread are always safe options. We have done a lot of wine country picnics. My daughter-in-law Lauren is the master picnic chef. Every time we plan one I think about what I might do differently (which is still virtually pleasing). The Cherry family is heavy into harvest right now so it was very kind of them to meet us at 4:00 p.m (they had probably already been out in the vineyards before the sun broke). Here is the menu I planned for small bites with the wonderful Villa Creek wines that compliment them.

Pack your picnic in pretty baskets. I don’t mean picnic baskets per se. They aren’t always the most efficient or practical. Pack your cold things in your yeti or other compatable cooler. Pack your utensils, plates etc in attractive baskets.

Pack your food in jars so everyone can help themselves. Here are the two appetizers we prepared; Ina Garten’s roasted eggplant spread (with eggplant from the Cherry’s garden) with pita chips, and a long time simple favorite of ours smoked trout dip with crostini. You can find that recipe in this post (along with one of Villa Creek’s wines)n in my post Four Simple Appetizers and the Wines that Love Them . You can serve them right out of the jars for simplicity.

We set the table right outside their charming tasting room. The sign is from the original Villa Creek Ranch.

Inside the glass doors is their charming tasting room. They repurposed felled walnut wood for the walls and the beautiful light fixtures were crafted from old walnut harvesting equipment. Their tasting room is one of the most interesting and intimate in the area.

I created a simple bottle table arrangement. You might enjoy my other post utilizing bottles, Easy to Create Spring Bottle Tablescape here. I used three bottles (save any you have) of varying sizes and filled them with leaves from our yard and sunflowers. You can recreate this on your own with three blooms and some foraged greens.

Since this was a late afternoon soiree we kept the menu simple and garden fresh. I set the table with my favorite Fete home plates. The table is covered with my Libeco linen throw that you have seen everywhere including on me!

Here are the Villa Creek/Maha Estate wines we served. We have been in Villa Creeks’s wine club for too many years to count. We have been in and out of a lot of wine clubs over the years. Currently this is our oldest for a reason.

Joann serving us the wonderful wines of Villa Creek

We served a fall salad of butternut squash ravioli (you can get at Trader Joe’s or locally at Etto Pastifico) with hazelnuts and chard from 101 cookbooks here, and simple grilled pork tendrloin (already marinated at Trader Joes (it is quite good)) with a smoked tomato jam that I make that is very similar to this one from Serious Eats.

Sadly I forgot to get a picture of the dessert pots de creme from epicurious, which we served in ramekins with fresh berries.

We all had a wonderful time on the beautiful Maha estate.

SHOP THE WINE COUNTRY PICNIC

If you would like to know more about Villa Creek and Maha Wines you can check out their website here. You can also follow them on Instagram here. If you are traveling to the Paso Robles to enjoy wine tasting some of the area’s finest Rhone Varietals, I would highly recommend a stop at Villa Creek Cellars.

You can read more about Villa Creek/Maha estate’s farming practices in this article from the vinter project.

You can find out more information about biodynamic versus organic in this article from the wine enthusiast.

The Cherry’s don’t just talk the talk they walk the walk-the Wine Independant

Thank you for joining us at our winery picnic at Villa Creek. The next time you head out for a wine country picnic, you can always keep it simple and purchase your perfect picnic ingredients from Etto Pastificio. You can create your own charcuterie board with essentials such as a mixture of nuts, hard cheeses and soft cheeses, crackers, fresh fruit and more. Keep it simple and enjoy or prepare your own like I did above. You can also purchase beautifully crafted sandwiches from the Etto Pasta Bar right next door.

I hope you enjoyed reading Mastering the Art of Creating a Memorable Wine Country Picnic. You might also enjoy my post Progressive Dinner with Wine Pairings where I have featured some favorite local wines in including Villa CreekNow let’s pop over and visit my friends. They have some fun experiences to share.

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