Month: October 2017

The Holiday Season Can Be Hassle Free With These Expert Tips!

Let the holiday season begin! It’s already November and with Thanksgiving and Black Friday quickly approaching, the time has come to plan those holiday dinners and parties. It just so happens that the team at City Vineyard is ready to make your holiday party planning and shopping as easy as can be. Ready for our quick tips to take the hassle out of the holidays?

3 Ideas to Make Your Guests Happy This Holiday Season

Pre-Made Holiday Gift Baskets

We can help you shop for everyone on your list with custom gift baskets and gifts that will fit any budget. You can even order in advance and pick up when you’re ready, or we can put your gifts together while you wait and enjoy a glass of wine or beer in the lounge. In a hurry? We have plenty of pre-made baskets ready to go.

Artisan Cheeses & Gourmet Snacks

As your guests gather around and anticipate the feast that awaits them, calm their hungry appetites with artisan cheese and accoutrements. Our market is brimming with exotic selections and classic favorites. Cheese is the perfect addition to any holiday table. It also makes a simple meal for the after shopping frenzy. City Vineyard also offers custom meat and cheese trays that will excite any group of revelers. We can custom create each board to serve any number of people in a wide variety of textures and flavors! Stop in or call for more information.

Wine & Beer

And you can’t forget about the wine and beer! If you’re scratching your head wondering what to serve with your labor of love meals this holiday or you’re just looking for something special to share with your loved one, the team at City Vineyard can make great recommendations for every budget and appetite. We love pairing the perfect wines and beers to go with everything from a simple dinner of pizza to a five-course turkey extravaganza.

Whatever it is you need, let City Vineyard make the holidays easy! Head to the store to check what we have on hand and get our expert advice on what to grab to make your holiday season the best one ever!

Holiday Wine That Will Fill Your Guests Full of Cheer

Thanksgiving, the ultimate feast! Friends and family crammed into small, hectic, delicious smelling kitchens. To start, let’s get one thing out of the way:  There’s not a “right” or a “wrong” wine to sip with your stuffing. We like to say, “If you like it, drink it”- but there are wines that just might be more likely to send you to sensory elation. Keep reading for some our favorite holiday wine pairings!

Holiday Wine to Make Your Party One for the Books

For tried and true classic pairings to serve with Thanksgiving dinner, we recommend living by the “high acid rule.” You want a wine with decent levels of acidity, to cleanse your mouth of all those rich and buttery flavors. A touch of sweetness wouldn’t be a horrible thing either. Austrian Grüner Veltliner, German Riesling, or southern French Grenache blends would all be great options.

Since Thanksgiving is an American holiday, we thought we should offer a couple domestic options to celebrate with as well. The domestic varieties we recommend for Thanksgiving are sparkling wines, Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Noir and Zinfandel.

Holiday get-togethers are often started off with a toast. But did you know that keeping those sparkling wine corks popping throughout your meal could be the perfect complement to your bird? Especially if you’re one of those households that fries your turkey. Here at City Vineyard we love J Vineyards Sparkling Cuvée. The high acid in this great sparkling wine will help cut through the richness of a fried fowl. But because of the versatility of bubbles, it’s actually a wine choice that will last through every course.

Riesling is a top pick for a white to drink on turkey day. Riesling innate flavors of apple, apricot, honey and its clarifying acidity give it a significant edge against other wines to drink alongside sweet potatoes, turkey meat and spice-laden or herb-filled stuffing. Penner-Ash’s off dry Riesling is a great wine to get you from the appetizers to that last bite of mashed potatoes and gravy.

If it’s a red you’re after, the most popular pairing for Thanksgiving Day dinner is Pinot Noir, lighter in body and softer on the palate than something like a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Merlot. The areas that reign supreme for Pinot Noir in America are California and Oregon. California Pinot Noir’s plush, easy berry fruit is just the right match for poultry and all your T-day fixins.

But not to be outdone on this holiday, Pinot Noir from Oregon is also a fantastic match as there’s a touch more earthiness than their sister to the south, and that can really play well with savory turkey trimmings. Try Love Oregon or J. Christopher from the Willamette Valley for stellar turkey day options that will have you stopping by City Vineyard for another bottle. To accommodate any last minute Thanksgiving Day wine, beer, or gourmet market needs, City Vineyard will be here for you throughout the holidays.

In the end, Thanksgiving is about celebrating our blessings. So whatever variety of holiday wine or beverage ends up on your table, raise your glass and toast to friends and family!

Favorite American Cheeses That Will Make the Holidays Better

At City Vineyard we love this time of year, not only for all the fantastic excuses to splurge on wine and beer, but for the foodie-friendly festivities cooking up through Christmas and New Year’s! While there are some amazing goodies produced for our gourmet market from all over the world, this month we are highlighting some of our favorite American cheeses from top-flight local communities and passionate producers. Check out these delectable domestic delights in our gourmet market for snacks that are sure to please.

5 Favorite American Cheeses That Will Have You Drooling

Pugs Leap Samson

All Pugs Leap farmstead artisan cheese is made by hand at White Whale Farm, a small family owned goat dairy in Petaluma, CA. The milk is provided by 120 happy and healthy goats who are free to roam on pasture. By using only their own goats’ milk they are able to control the process and quality from start to finish. Both the dairy and the creamery are housed in a beautiful old barn that was built in 1867. The Samson is an aged cheese maintaining freshness in flavor, Samson brings a bright taste of raw goat’s milk, slightly sweet and floral, together with grassy and saline notes.

Hook’s 5/10 Year Cheddar

Hook’s Cheese company, a family owned cheese company from Madison, Wi., has been producing cheese since 1972. Their 10 year cheddar won 1st place at the 2006 American Cheese Society Show, the only 10 year cheddar to get a 1st place in this, or any competition. It’s packed with calcium crystals and has a full, rich cheddar flavor and a smooth finish.

Cowgirl Creamery Mt Tam/ RedHawk /Wagon Wheel

Cowgirl Creamery opened their first location, a renovated hay barn in downtown Point Reyes two decades ago. Today, with dozens of awards, two creameries, four retail stores and two thousand tons of cheese later, Cowgirl Creamery continues to support and promote artisan cheesemaking, offering over 200 cheeses from all over California.

Cabot Clothbound Cheddar

Cabot Creamery is a cooperative of 1,200 dairy farm families located throughout New York and New England. They manage four plants in three states, employing over 1,000 people, who make “The World’s Best” cheese and dairy products. Clothbound is an approachable but complex natural-rind, bandaged cheddar with a crumbly texture and nutty aroma.

Bee Hive Cheese Co. Promontory Cheddar

Promontory, as well as all Beehive cheeses, is made from the milk of Jersey cows from Ogden’s Wadeland South Dairy. Wadeland’s Jersey cows enjoy 350 acres near the salty marshes, ponds and mudflats of the mineral-loaded soil of the Great Salt Lake. The same nutrient-rich soil that feeds thousands of migrating birds, feeds the lush alfalfa that the cows love to eat.

Think you have all of the gourmet snacks you need for the upcoming holiday season? Give our favorite American cheeses a try. Better yet, come into the store and grab some wine to go with those tasty treats! We want you have the best holiday time possible, so let us know if you have any questions on what you should bring to the table!

Scroll to top