To Chill or Not to Chill: A Very Important Question

It happens to all of us…on a warm day, spending an afternoon with friends enjoying the summer months, and there’s red wine. Uh oh.

We’ve all heard that red wine should be served at room temperature. But we’ve also all had red wine that is served…at room temperature.

“Nothing is worse than a wine that is served too warm,” says Winemaker Eric Aafedt. “You can lose the body and complexity, and the alcohol can get a bit too ‘hot’…it just really isn’t pleasant.”

But Eric admits it can sound confusing. “Room temperature is pretty accurate, if you are talking about the basement of a French chateau, of course,” he chuckles. “Most of us don’t keep our homes that cool. There’s nothing wrong with putting the wine in the refrigerator for a couple minutes to chill to down before you open it.”

Steve Graham, wine steward at Nugget Market in Sacramento agrees. “I tell my customers to put their red wines in the fridge for 10-15 minutes before they plan to open them.  The bouquet will be more pronounced and the alcohol won’t be so prominent.”

And if you happen to be enjoying festivities outside? An ice bucket or ice chest will work just as well. According to Steve, it can be pretty simple.

“Put the reds in 15 minutes before you want to enjoy them, and take the whites out 15 minutes before you want to enjoy them,” he says. “This way, your wine is at the optimal temperature for appreciating it as the winemaker intended.”

Our winemaker agrees. “A lot of work goes into these wines, so we hope folks are getting to savor them as we created them: full of body, fruit, and complexity.”

So…just say ‘no’ to that ice cube. Your wine will thank you for it.

HARVEST MOON DINNER A Gorgeous Night for a Great Purpose

A large, full moon, suspended orange and low over grapevines laden with fruit…

A four-course dinner prepared to pair perfectly with reserve selection wines…

A grape harvester demonstration with Warren Bogle…

A barrel full of merlot, ripe and ready to be stomped….

You couldn’t find a better setting for an elegant, yet fun, evening to raise money for local non-profits throughout Northern California. And for seventeen years, the Harvest Moon Dinner has done just that.

Created by Patty Bogle in 1999, the Harvest Moon Dinner allowed our winery to donate tables to different worthwhile charities, while at the same time, creating unique menus that tested our culinary skills.

“The first couple years, my mom and I did all the cooking ourselves,” remembers Jody Bogle, who coordinates the event. “We would travel and find these amazing dishes and try to make them for the dinner. We did pretty well, but there were some disasters, that’s for sure.”

A couple notables:  the beautiful, handmade gnocchi that seemed to liquefy in the boiling water, or the snap peas that were blanched and blanched and blanched into oblivion. “It was so much work, but we had the most fun during those all-nighters cooking together. I’m sure our guests were beyond happy once we partnered with Mulvaney’s!”

In 2008, Patrick and Bobbin Mulvaney were gracious enough to partner with the winery and began creating menus to pair with our reserve wines. The event elevated to a whole other level, with guests paying top dollar in live auctions around Sacramento for the chance to attend.

“The B&L has been fortunate to partner with the Bogle family for many years,” says Patrick. “The Harvest Moon Dinner is one of our favorite nights of the year and a great way to celebrate the food and wine of our region while thanking folks whose philanthropy makes this a better place to live.”

It is a partnership that we are pleased to continue, though since the event isn’t open to the public, folks have to work a bit harder if they’d like to attend. Organizations such as Make-A-Wish, the American Heart Association, the Boys & Girls Club, and St. John’s Program for Real Change, to name a few, auction the tables off at their annual events. To date, the amount raised for these non-profits exceeds $150,000.

“We are so pleased that this event has been able to raise so much money for great programs, year after year,” says Jody. “But we’re going to make sure we don’t do any more of the cooking!”