Mastro Scheidt Carnevale Dinner

After two solid days of preparation, the entire Mastro Scheidt Family pulled off a private Carnevale dinner, celebrating the "end of meat" just before the Easter Season.

The private dinner included nine (9) courses for each of the 12 guests. Wines were paired with each course, including our favorite Chardonnay from Bacigalupi Vineyards and a wine from David's personal cellar, a 2002 Rafanelli Zinfandel.

 

Sourcing the ingredients, like Community Grains polenta, Marin Sun Farms pork belly, ox tails, bone marrow, and veal, not to mention all the cheeses (yes, you Emily, they loved the Red Hawk) and various mushrooms was great fun. 

John ran the front of house the entire evening and took care of all the wine service. My father made his first ever chocolate mousse (he learned how to "fold" properly) and made sure my outside kitchen stayed busy, and my mother interacted with each of the guests from beginning to end. Additionally, friends of my parents helped expedite and clean during the entire service and were crucial to the evening. Many thanks to them.

Naturally, I'd like to thank our gracious hosts and each of the guests for their participation, enthusiasm, and healthy appetites.

Mastro Scheidt Cellars wins 3 Gold Medals

The results are in from the four wines we submitted to the 2013 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and Mastro Scheidt Family Cellars won 3 Gold Medals and 1 Silver Medal in our first ever wine competition! We're honored...

Gold Medal, 2010 Blueprint, Cabernet Sauvignon / Cabernet Franc, Dry Creek Valley

Gold Medal, 2010 Double Barrel, Cabernet Franc, Dry Creek Valley

Gold Medal, 2009 Double Barrel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Dry Creek Valley

Silver Medal, 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, Dry Creek Valley

The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is the largest competition of American wines in the world. Wineries from Napa, Sonoma, and Paso Robles are heavily represented, as well as wines from the Finger Lakes and Hudson Valley in New York.

Photo Courtesy of Jessie Friedman, Eat Retreat October 2012

Proprietor and winemaker, David Scheidt will be pouring with his brother John Scheidt, all of our award winning wines at the public tasting event in San Francisco on February 16 from 2pm - 5pm at the Fort Mason Center. So come and meet The Scheidt Brothers and taste our wines!

Hostage Sauvignon Blanc and Mastro Scheidt Cabernet Team Up

Only two wines were featured at an exclusive dinner party of 100 guests; Mastro Scheidt Proprietor's Reserve 2007 and Hostage Wines Sauvignon Blanc 2011.

Personally, I was pleased with being able to recommend the Sauvignon Blanc from Hostage. I only met Jeremiah and Elizabeth about a year ago at a blind wine tasting group in Healdsburg. Jeremiah's no-nonsense style of evaluating the wines he was tasting was similar to mine, up-front and blunt. Elizabeth's evaluation was deeper, less given to whim or her "first sip".

So when I finally tasted their 2011 Sauvignon Blanc, my initial reaction was one of delight. This is really tasty! But it was more than that. This is the style and type of Sauvignon Blanc I remember drinking years ago, before we were inundated with Kiwi Blanc. I'd almost forgotten how good a Sauvignon Blanc from California could taste on a 90 degree day. How complementary it could be with food, rather than just a pre-dinner wine.

The Hostage Sauvignon Blanc was an expression of both the up-front, no-nonsense style from Jeremiah and the complexity from Elizabeth.

It got me thinking about Sauvignon Blanc again and that's why I recommend it.

Here is a little background on the wine. Paraphrasing a bit from their website, Jeremiah and Elizabeth purchased a unique clone of Sauvignon Blanc, called Sauvignon Musqué, from a vineyard in the Russian River Valley Appellation. This particular clone has to be picked at optimal maturity in order to capture its incredible tropical aromas and flavors. On a cold morning, right before a storm rolled in, we harvested the fruit and put it straight into the press. From there, we racked the juice into neutral French oak barrels to ferment. It remained in barrel until bottling last February. 

www.hostagewines.com

Fresno State Enology Society

I'd like to express my appreciation to the Enology Department, the students, and the Enology Society for hosting me at CSU, Fresno. It was a pleasure to participate as a wine maker and alumni. On a personal note, I'd like to thank Kerry Fitzgerald for setting everything up for me and the personal tour around the Enology Department.

I've attached a few pictures from the evening both here in the blog post and in our Gallery on the website. Thanks to Cousin Marco for taking pictures at the event and T.L. for showing his support and our new Mastro Scheidt Hats (ask me if you want one, they come in different colors).

David Scheidt to speak at Fresno State Enology Society

Talk about great!

I will be the featured speaker and pouring wine at the CSU, Fresno Enology Society on Thursday, March 15 at 6:30pm in the main Enology Building. I'll be pouring my current line-up of 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon's and SOON TO BE RELEASED 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon's. It's open to the public for $10, so drop in if you want to get a sneak peak on an upcoming release.

It's sort of funny (and a bit strange) that 20 years ago I graduated from CSU, Fresno with a degree in Finance and I'm being asked to speak about wine. But maybe it's not so strange. While chemistry is obviously a big part of winemaking, so is the business of winemaking. 

Since I was first asked to speak, I've had a hard time deciding what it is I'm going to speak about. Sure, we'll try all the wines and I'll answer questions about the wine technicals, but making wine to me was only part of why Mastro Scheidt Cellars was formed. It's such an honor to speak, luckily I have a couple weeks to think about.

Go Dogs!

Enology Department Website

Barrel Down and Wait

The 2011 Harvest is in the barrel and it's time to wait. I'm happy with the results so far in what was a challenging harvest.  I've got more wine to work with in 2011 because of quality farming practices. 

Patience has its advantages in the wine business. We won't be bottling this 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon from Doug Rafanelli's Vineyard for a couple years. Continue to develop and age gracefully please.

Harvest 2011 at Doug Rafanelli Vineyard

An exciting two days in the vineyard above Dry Creek Valley with Doug Rafanelli. Tons and tons of grapes were picked, sorted and hauled for processing down in the Valley.

I was fortunate enough to take part in the entire two-day process. I learned a tremendous amount and was actively driving a pickup with a gondola attached to it most of the day. It's too bad it takes at least 24 more months for these wine grapes to be released into a finished product some time in 2014.

Here's to more patience and looking to the future.