![]() ![]() Over my past few visits to Napa and Sonoma, I’ve found some nice little independent producers that are worth checking out. Much of the Scribe production sells out, so joining the SVS is a smart move even if you don’t end up dining at the farm. ![]() If you belong to the Scribe Viticultural Society (their wine club) you can dine with the Scribe folks when you pick-up your wine. I can assure you that it is one of the better places you will ever discover. Take your better half and visit for the weekend. ![]() If you are interested in wine and good food, do yourself a favor and visit Scribe at some point. I can say with certainty, that after extensive testing of the various Scribe wines throughout the property, it is indeed an outstanding experience. It was a tough assignment, but I’m very committed to the truth so I made the trip. To find out if my theory proved true I challenged myself to make the trip up to the two hundred acre farm to eat and drink with founder Andrew Mariani and the rest of the Scribe camp. They’ve dusted off the piano they use for events and rolled it out onto a deck up the hill should the mood strike.My hypothesis was that the grounds of Scribe Winery in Sonoma provide an exceptional setting for an enjoyable lunch in Northern California. It’s an exploration of motherhood, connecting with nature, and family bonds. Lia has just released Family Album, her fourth record. The vegetables that show up across the dishes come from the on-site farm, overseen by Stephen Carter whose gorgeous chicories, tender greens, fresh strawberries, and more are the foundation for the garden snacks served to guests when lockdown isn’t in effect. On the menu today: trout poetically wrapped in pickled grape leaves, sesame flatbread, salad from the garden, eggs from their chickens, and lamb ribs roasted in the wood-burning oven. ![]() The growing families are here to eat a feast prepared by Kelly, a former cook at Chez Panisse. He and his wife, singer-songwriter Lia Ices, welcomed a new baby in the pandemic, 4-month-old Alice, while Adam and his wife, Kezia, have 4-week-old Innes in tow as well as Oliver. “We’ve spent the past year making wine and having babies,” says Andrew, the oldest of the siblings. The latest lockdown prevented them from ever using it, so they removed the tent, and voilà, a perfect alfresco dining room for the family to gather on this late spring day and toast their blessings. Today the family is making the most of their quarantine pod with a family lunch on a deck originally designed to accommodate Covid-safe outdoor dining. Not to be deterred, the Mariani family have taken advantage of the dormant days of the shifting lockdown to build new outdoor spaces and make new wines that embody the lawn parties put on hold: an effervescent pink pét-nat available in magnum, a white Pinot Noir, and a zippy and fresh rosé that has the nose of a Provençal classic. It was the perfect spot to while away the day in wine country. It also helps that the wine is exceedingly quaffable: that crisp Sylvaner, earthy Pinot Noir, and other single-vineyard bottlings draw folks to freewheeling tastings, inevitably capped off by a hang session on the lawn to watch the sun dip below the vines. With its winding palm-lined drive, tumbling gardens designed by red-hot Los Angeles landscape design firm Terremoto, and a 1920s hacienda restored just so, Scribe is the sort of place begging to be socialized by young visitors. Over the years the children’s fathers, Andrew and Adam, the vintners, along with aunt Kelly, the chef, have transformed a neglected turkey farm into a thriving winery that’s now a must-stop for southern Sonoma daytrippers looking for a vinous respite from city. Those vegetables plucked from the same soil that produces crisp Sylvaner and earthy Pinot Noir will play supporting roles in a languorous lunch in the vineyard-that is, if the kids don’t eat them first. Una, age 4, and her cousin Oliver, age 2, pick radishes and strawberries from the culinary garden at Scribe, the Sonoma winery that has made a name for itself as the standard bearer of next-wave wine country vibes. Blue sky peeks through the morning fog in Carneros and the kids are getting their hands dirty in the very best way. ![]()
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