@LMR (the ranch blog)

Last Saturday we won a Gold Medal with our Napa Valley Select Extra Virgin Olive Oil at the annual meeting of the California Olive Oil Council. We are very pleased.

While the rest of the world was focused on medal contests at the Winter Olympics, we were similarly engaged.

The California Olive Oil Council is the industry trade association for olive oil production in the United States. An annual competition was initiated last year to acknowledge the best producers in the domestic olive oil industry.  The oils are judged by a jury of our most significant peers.

These same tasters apply their skills to accredit extra virgin olive oils that receive the COOC seal. And, they have received many hours of training and have tasted hundreds of oils in structured blind settings.  As a result, their judgment means even more to us than a review from a "civilian" food writer or critic.

So, for us, this award is a "really big deal."

Oiive oil maker for Long Meadow Ranch, Jason Moulton, was in attendance to receive the award. (Regretably, the award ceremony overlapped with the Napa Valley Premier barrel auction which prevented Laddie and me from being there, too.) He returned home with a grin that will last for a few more days.

Napa Valley Select Extra Virgin Olive Oil is our "mixing and blending" oil made from a blend of Italian and Spanish cultivars.  It is our favorite for salads, pesto, and Tuscan beans.   Unfortunately, the 2010 harvest was very light because of severe weather during flower set last May.  So, while we have just completed bottling, there will not be much to go around.  In fact, we did not make any Prato Lungo oil for first time since 1995 because we had no crop from the historic orchards.

While the medal is not exactly "Olympic" in its importance, we are very proud to receive this recognition for our organic farming and oil production practices.   Bravo to Jason, Frank, Pilo, Todd, Lauren, Sean, and all of the crew.

We're off to a great start at Farmstead with many happy guests over the long weekend. Both the menu and the by-the-glass wine list were very well received.

Call 707-963-9181 for reservations or visit www.farmsteadnapa.com. Walk-ins are welcome.

Friday was the big day for Farmstead restaurant. We opened as scheduled at 11:30 AM and we don't plan to close again until Christmas day.  

We were busy up to the very last minute, including completing the lighting for the main signs and the walkway to the restrooms. But, we got it all done for an on-time launch.  

Our guests raved about the food - much to Sheamus' delight - and the staff performed wonderfully. Last night the room was full of electricity. And, our strategy of limiting reservations paid off as everyone had good service and a good time.  We take off the training wheels tonight and tomorrow.

Looking for a reservation?  
Call 707-963-9181 or visit www.farmsteadnapa.com.  

Shhh! Don't tell anyone, but Farmstead restaurant opens tomorrow (Friday, February 12th).

Tomorrow is a really big day for our family and for chef Sheamus Feeley and his team.  We will open our farm-to-table restaurant for lunch and dinner at our St. Helena location at 738 Main Street.

We held an open house on Tuesday evening for the many people who have helped us with this project. Frank Borges (the general contractor) and all of the subcontractors and their crews were part of the scene.  It was great to see them show off their work to family and friends.  Great folks with true pride in their work.

Yesterday we did a "practice service" at lunch and dinner with family and friends serving as patrons.  We served about 120 meals and, by the end of the evening, the staff had the room and kitchen working really well.  The excellent practice gave everyone confidence that we could pull it off "for real" on Friday.

Today we closed for final cleaning and a "zero base" inventory.

So, here we go.  No more hoopla or parties.  Instead, every day wil be a "grand opening" at Farmstead.

We open the phone lines for reservations on Friday morning at 11:30 AM (707-963-9181).  And, hopefully, we'll open the doors shortly thereafter.

Please come join us.  Most of the seats are for the local community. So, walk-ins are welcome.  Reservations are limited.

More news tomorrow.

We finished bottling our 2009 Sauvignon Blanc yesterday afternoon - just five months after beginning to pick the grapes.

Thank you all for your support of and contributions to the Red Wattle pig project.

As those of you who have been following the project know, we have not had much success with breeding Adam and Eve after 3 ½ years of trying. We received the piglets (aptly named Adam and Eve) in June 2006 as part of a project sponsored by Slow Food USA. The goal was to of create a viable breeding community of rare Red Wattle pigs west of the Rockies.

Unfortunately the two pigs have not been able to conceive after many months together in the Garden of Eating (the pen formerly known as the Pig Palace).  

Adam has had a challenge with his back and multiple trips to UC Davis have not diagnosed the problem.  This past spring we even tried artifiicial insemination using Adam's semen with the help of UC Davis vet student, Pam Coy, and Dr. David Gold.  But, after a sonogram-confirmed pregnancy by Eve and three months, three weeks, and three days of waiting, we did not have the birth in August as we had hoped.

Reluctantly, we decided that we should not go forward with these two animals. Rather than continue to try to breed this, now aged, pair and carry them through an uncomfortable winter (especially for Adam), we have made the difficult decision to slaughter.

Yesterday morning they were handled very well by John Taylor right at the ranch. The excellent carcasses are now on their way to Browns Valley Market where they will be hung and then butchered.

Chef Sheamus will do something appropriately special with the pork, I am sure.  And, we'll have the opportunity to confirm the reason why Red Wattle pork is so prized.

We have enjoyed hosting two St. Helena High School FFA seniors' projects (Laura White and Molly Salinger) who cared for the pigs and we have all learned a lot through the efforts of "docs" Pam and David.

We still have a dream of helping revive and protect this breed through a project that would benefit St. Helena FFA. We’ll just have to look for another opportunity in the future.

As Laddie said this morning, the Garden of Eating won’t be the same. . . But, I am confident we have made the right decision.

Posted by Ted Hall


 

Everything is starting to come together.

We were able to open the tasting room this past Monday, and we are looking forward to opening Farmstead restaurant very soon. I have included a photo of the new kitchen in the tasting room. This kitchen will be my new “office” for the next month, while I develop and improve upon the recipes that I have been putting together for our new venture.

This coming week, the tasting room staff should be able to taste my grits, macaroni with California cheddar, buttermilk biscuits, a couple of different beans from Rancho Gordo, braised greens, along with countless other “side” items that will appear on the new menu.

In the future, this kitchen will also be preparing small “tastes” to compliment our wines in the tasting room. We will pair a couple of dishes daily to compliment our Sauvignon Blanc, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

We will keep you posted on the details . . .

 Posted by Sheamus Feeley

Don't tell anyone but we are opening our tasting room today.

We are very excited about opening the Long Meadow Ranch Winery tasting room in the historic Logan-Ives House, the restored 1874 Gothic Revival farmhouse at 738 Main Street in St. Helena.

If everything goes according to plan, we'll quietly open the doors to the public at 11 AM today.

We'll be offering tastes of our five wines and two olive oils and a short tour of the property. In a few weeks, we'll be offering small plate food pairings from the kitchen.
 

But, in the meantime, we'll share our family's hospitality and tell our story. I might even play the 1904 upright piano.

The progress at our project site, which we call "Long Meadow Ranch Winery & Farmstead," is now very visible and friends tell us how great they feel when on the grounds.

The historic house has been restored, the landscaping is largely in place, vegetable gardens are partially planted, and the organic nursery has been remodeled. The solar project is producing "juice" and we have moved into our administrative offices upstairs in the farmhouse.

The next step will be opening of Farmstead restaurant early in the new year. But, more about that in another post.

Don't tell anyone, but we would love to have you come by.

We're open until 6 PM.

Posted by Ted Hall

This past week we finished milling our olives here at Long Meadow Ranch.

As Ted mentioned in an earlier blog posting, 2009 has been a skimpy olive harvest. Not to worry, though, as we are making a decent amount of oil. The olive oils thus far have been very rich with a powerful pungency (spicey) character, showing that we will have an excellent level of quality for 2009.

The olive harvest data have shown that all of our oil yields are down. This happens to be the case with all the olive mills in California. Essentially, what's happening is that the oil and water molecules are not breaking apart during the malaxation stage (paste warming and mixing). Therefore, when the olive paste passes through the decanter centrifuge, the separation of liquids (oil and water) from solids is difficult. This problem of extraction is most likely attributed to a high level of moisture in the olives, caused by rain just prior to harvest.

Although we are facing extraordinary challenges this harvest in terms of both quantity and yield, we remain resilient and will be able to release an excellent 2009 olive oil. Please watch for it when we release it!

Happy Holidays!

Posted by Jason Moulton