Mustard Seed Cellars

As luck would have it, I got to do a dinner for Swing From The Vines at one of my favorite labels….Mustard Seed Cellars.  Besides having exceptional wines, the view is fantastic, and it’s a bit off the beaten path which lends to some excellent one on one time with the owners.

Dawn and Gary hail from Walla Walla where they also made wine.  Their first commercial vintage was as recent as 2013!  Gary spent a couple decades in the Army and Dawn was (and is) in the mental health industry.  Together they make a very savvy and welcoming couple in hospitality.  You can find them here:

http://mustardseedcellars.com/

The tasting room is tastfully done and manages to be masculine in color scheme, but feminine in style all in black and whites.  The white wines are cheery expressing lovely fruit and the reds are austere and luxurious.  My favorites are the Nebbiolo and the Cabernets.  Don’t forget the Viognier!  Gary says it was such a pain to make that they won’t be doing it again so get your bottle soon!

We had such a fabulous time that Dawn and Gary came on over to our humble little porch and we drank wine and snacked on gems from the garden into the wee hours afterwards.  Pam was on hand to help at the winery dinner so we made it out of there early enough to enjoy the porch.  Pam and I both were not having a fabulous time the next day, however.  Too.  Much.  Wine.  Phew!  It doesn’t stop me from wanting to do it again, though.

The group that requested us had some lovely bites at another venue before arriving for dinner.  Unfortunately, Elizabeth got no pictures.  Boo Elizabeth!  We served watermelon and blue cheese, poached shrimp on a cucumber with chive yogurt, and lavender goat cheese on crostinis.  She redeemed herself by making two fabulous chocolate cakes.

The group was in fantastic spirits when they arrived at Mustard Seed.  They requested meat and taters for dinner so we slow roasted a gorgeous prime rib in red wine jus.  Knishes are always a treat so of course I had to do them and roasted carrots are perfect for folks that aren’t into green things.

That was preceeded by a completely from left field appetizer.  One of my favorite dishes on the planet is served by a sushi restaraunt in Vegas.  I’ve spent years trying to replicate it and last year I finally did it.  It’s simply pepper crusted seared tuna on a bed of daikon radish in a spicy mayo ponzu sauce with radish sprouts.  It was a huge hit.  So much for beef and tater folks!  I knew I could win over the anti-green group.  Ha!

On to the dinner in pictures!

I can’t wait to do it again!