Kobe Beef and Cabernet For Barrel Tasting At Kendall-Jackson

This weekend and next is the 34th Annual Barrel Tasting event in northern Sonoma County.  I think this is the most exciting event of the year.  It is certainly one of the largest events in Wine Country and there’s always a fun crowd. If you’re not familiar with it, you can come by and try wine out of the barrel, which is a different experience from tasting bottled — or finished — wine.

We will be sampling two of our Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignons out of the barrel and will also be pouring two of our finished wines from Knights Valley: Jackson Hills Cabernet Sauvignon and Highland Estates Trace Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon.

Our wine educators will provide you the opportunity to taste and compare the difference between the same 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon aged in new French oak barrels and also aged in neutral French oak wine barrels.  Taste the two wines side by side blend them together to see how the winemaker does it. Of course, we’ll also teach you a little bit about why barrels are so important too. For example, how and why the different toast levels of a wine barrel can impacts wine.

Stop by and visit with our wine educators to learn more about barrels, our sustainable farming practices or for answers to any of your wine related questions.

As far as the food goes, we will be serving American Style Wagyu (Kobe) beef from Snake River Farms. We recently discovered this unique cut of beef called the clod heart, aka “The Poor Man’s Prime Rib,” which has incredible flavor and nice marbling.

The clod heart is the center cut roast from the heart of the chuck shoulder and when roasted and sliced thin makes amazing sandwiches. This weekend, we will be serving Kobe beef sandwiches with Cabernet braised red cabbage and Point Reyes blue cheese & buttermilk dressing.  The richness of the Kobe beef pairs wonderfully with the tangy braised red cabbage and funky blue cheese.

Hope to see you this weekend!