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rosati family winery

Our Harvest Newsletter

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It was a late start and a late finish. But, after a year of nurturing the vineyard and hours of harvesting and sorting, we are happy to tell you the 2010 Rosati Family Wine harvest was a great success.

Nonetheless, it was not an easy year; its unusually cool weather combined with later than normal bloom and veraison gave us the very late harvest-3 weeks later than 2009. Nail biting and furrowed brows are now behind us for the 2010 vintage; 3 weeks of warm, mild weather in late September and early October brought our grapes to ripeness. No compromises were needed-we avoided the impending rain; the Brix was perfect at approximately 24.5. The 1 gram dark, blueberry-like berries were literally, delicately falling off the stems as we sorted 10.5 tons for six hours on October 19. Once again, Zelma Long and Ulises Valdez were proven a highly capable vineyard management and winemaking team. In 2015 we can all enjoy a succulent glass of our 2010 100% Rosati Estate Grown Cabernet. While at the harvest, we tasted the 2009-it is superb already. Can’t wait until 2014 when we shall sip a full glass of this vintage with our family and friends.

October is one of our favorite months, not just because of the harvest. We love the changing of the seasons, the autumn leaves, the gently cooling temperatures and it is a resplendent time for sitting down with a robust glassful of our Cabernet with fall-inspired meals.

One of our favorite local, upscale, swanky restaurants, Marché, serves wonderful food year round, but particularly in the fall and winter months you cannot beat this locale. If you, like us, often crave dining elegance and sophistication, there is no need to pack your bags and fly to New York or Paris or to even drive to San Francisco. Marvelous Marché is located at Santa Cruz Avenue and University Avenue in Menlo Park, California.

Chef Guillaume Bienaimé, Wine Director, John Sanders, and General Manager, William Redberg, will delight you with fresh, unique menus, harmonic wine pairings and a highly professional and friendly wait staff to serve you.

Chef Guillaume’s heritage is French. Both of his parents are from France; Guillaume was born in Paris. His mother and his paternal grandmother were the great influencers in his life and on his career.

Following a few ‘requisite’ stints in local pizza parlors and two years in college studying math, he recognized his passion. Wanting a proper college degree, Guillaume set his sights on Johnson & Wales University-the largest and only accredited culinary college.

In 2005 he graduated with a Baccalaureate in Food Service Management. While in college, he had been an apprentice in several special restaurants, La Mediteranee in Paris, The French Laundry and Marché. Howard Bulka, the opening chef at Marché, actively recruited him to become the banquet sous chef. By 2006, he had been promoted to sous chef, then chef de cuisine in 2008. In April of 2009, Chef Guillaume earned the executive chef title. We are certainly pleased that he did.

Marché to Guillaume offers a refined setting where he can create multi-dimensional meals with the freshest ingredients, preferably, locally available. He likes to surprise his guests with unusual sauces and garnishes. Some of his favorites on the menus are the North African inspired lamb, carrot panna cotta, poti marron squash soup, chop of duroc pork, and, the always popular, hamburger with arugula, onion & bacon marmalade and béarnaise sauce. There are always special, local and European, cheeses from which to choose.

Complementing the chef’s talents is a comprehensive, but not daunting wine list prepared by John Sanders. John, like myself, is from Bakersfield. His sister had left the central valley and encouraged John to move to San Francisco about 13 years ago.

John had worked in a brewpub earlier where he made and delivered pizzas. In San Francisco, before moving south, John worked at Cobalt Tavern, the former Washington Street Bar & Grill, where he tended bar.

Eight years ago, John made a personal decision to move to the Peninsula. He immediately signed on with Marché, initially tending bar. Over the period that he has been with the restaurant he has clearly expanded the wine list. Today, there are about 500 wines from California and Europe, predominantly France. In late 2004, he was appointed Wine Director and also passed the 1st level of the Court of Master Sommelier Exams. In 2007, he passed the 2nd level of the Exams. He is now preparing for the advanced level.

John is completely at home in this role. He thoroughly enjoys introducing the regulars and the newcomers to Marché with wine and food pairings that are different from their typical encounters. Bringing an unexpected smile to the restaurant’s guests is one of his major thrills.

To keep all the moving parts working together is the job of William Redberg, General Manager. He is committed to ensuring that guests have an unparalleled dining experience.

William believes that visitors to Marché must be happy. He works to create an environment where the staff is content and, thus, those who come to the restaurant experience this same sentiment.

While studying for his degree in English literature, William worked as a prep cook. After graduating, he continued to work in restaurants in nearly every position. He found himself drawn more and more to wine and service. While in the role of Wine Director and Manager of Zibibbo in Palo Alto, he was responsible for educating the staff on wine and service. He helped open Tamarine with Tammy Huynh and Anne Lethe co-owners of this popular Vietnamese restaurant (see Rosati Family Winery article dated May 31, 2010). William worked here for four years before setting up the sister restaurant, Bong Su, in San Francisco. Prior to moving to Marché in 2009, he opened the successful Spruce restaurant in San Francisco.

William grew up in the Bay area and loves this region. One of his greatest joys, however, is to create ‘itineraries’ for the diners of Marché that reflect different menus, wines and stories which seemingly propel one thousands of miles away.

Mario and I are and have been regulars of Marché since its opening. We are very proud to be one of the vintners whose wines can be found on this spectacular wine list and paired with the remarkable varied menus.

We hope you can join us on Monday, December 6, for the Marché-Rosati Family Winemaker’s dinner; we will be sharing some of our older vintages along with our current 2004 and 2005. Until, then, we wish you a happy fall season and Halloween!

With our best regards,
Danelle and Mario

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Roast Saddle of Lamb with an Olive and Caper Relish

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Recipe courtesy of Executive Chef Guillaume Bienaimé of Restaurant Marché

Ingredients

For Saddle

2 each Saddles of lamb
1 Tbsp. Olive oil
½ Bunch Thyme

For Relish
1 Cup Pitted green olives
½ Cup Capers
½ Cup Olive oil
3 Cloves Garlic
1 Lemon Juice and Zest

Method
Butcher lamb saddles, as demonstrated, and marinate in olive oil and thyme. Place in the refrigerator and allow to set overnight if time permits.

Place all relish ingredients in food processor and process until smooth, set aside in refrigerator to allow flavors to melt together.

Preheat oven to 350°. Take relish out of refrigerator.

Heat a large pan with an appropriate amount of olive oil over medium high heat. Sear Lamb saddle on all sides, place on rack in oven and roast for about 12 minutes.

Allow meat to rest for ten minutes and slice, serve with relish.

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