note from home

  • A Note From Home: Hanging in There

    March 27, 2020 15:13

    A Note From Home: Hanging in There

    Are you hanging in there? What are some surprises you’ve found (and I don’t mean the dust bunny under the sofa)? Have you discovered the next million-dollar idea? Have you found more or less time to get those projects done or have you developed your Zoom family and see you need to clean up the clutter behind you? Zoom has become the way people are reaching out these days whether via a Virtual Cocktail Party or playing a game with family members who are physically distanced. I visited with Joe Glunz Jr the other day. He is the President of our Illinois based distributor Louis Glunz Inc. talked about his family gathering virtually this Sunday. They will all make the same dish at the same time for dinner. Not a big deal?  He has 9 siblings and his parents spread from the west to east coast. What a fun thing to do!

    Thanks to all who responded after checking in with you last week. I heard from at least 16 states, multiples from each, as far away as Vermont and as close to home as one of our growers and neighbor Larry Giovannoni. I can see Larry’s house from my office window by the way. I learned what some of you do for a living (a book editor, a nurse & fellow introvert, a first responder and one of our longtime retailers to mention just a few) and you all are hanging in there with an abundance of stories to tell once this is over.

    I was trying to come up with some wine tips to offer during this time as we are all hanging out. While wine isn’t the best hand sanitizer (maybe a little Chardonnay but no Zinfandel-those telltale stains would give it away) it certainly can be used in cooking. I have used wine since I began experimenting in the kitchen. In the beginning I didn’t ‘cook off’ the alcohol in the wine and it gave dishes a ‘raw’ taste. One of my first experiments was mushrooms sauteed in red wine '#kitchenfail', they were inedible. I have learned to take time. When adding wine to a pan sauce and cooked for a few minutes it will do the trick, or if making a ragu the hour or more on the stove-mission accomplished. Wine does add a different level of flavor, different than herbs and spices. If you have a few ounces left in a bottle keep it around-you never know what recipe will inspire you and adding a bit of white or red wine will make the flavors fuller. Ed added a splash of Sauvignon Blanc to his Turkey Stroganoff the other night-that little something extra enhanced this dish.

    So, hang in there. There is a light at the end of this tunnel, most likely in a few more weeks.  Right now summer is looking pretty good. Warmer days, gardens beginning to give up their first fruits, family get togethers and the biggest St. Patrick’s Day/Easter/Mother’s Day/Memorial Day celebration ever.

    Update on the tasting room and curbside pick-up: Are you a local? We can fulfill online and telephone orders with curbside pick-up. We’ll be open for limited days and hours for now. Visit here for more information.

     

    Tags: Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, cooking with wine, note from home
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  • A Note From Home: How Are You Doing?

    March 21, 2020 09:25

    A Note from Home

    JasperSo how are you doing? I hope this finds you coping with the new restrictions in our lives-! I know many, many things have been cancelled or rescheduled for another time. Are you catching up on personal correspondence? Tackling those household projects you’ve put off like painting the bathrooms or adding a she shed? Homeschooling your kids? I personally will be reading more, walking more with #JasperWineDog-who by the way loves us working from home-he thinks we are on vacation and totally ignores the virus thing. I’ll do more home cooking while also supporting our local restaurants for take-out and of course enjoy a glass of wine or two while kicking back in the evenings.

    How are you? This simple phrase seems so much more important now as we are physically distanced from each other and our daily lives. I typically write this note from my office, my former bedroom in my childhood home, which overlooks our Mother Clone zinfandel vineyard. Today I am writing from my own home in Healdsburg with a view of spring burgeoning in the new leaves on the oak trees and birds singing just outside.

    For me yesterday was a wonderful day because two things happened: I have a new grandson and my niece Sarah (Lisa & Lance’s daughter) was married-in Brazil of all places-they watched the ceremony at 6am that morning from their home. Galen Kurt Edwin Rule was born a few hours later. 3/20/20 will be remembered with joy amidst such a time and I look forward to hugging him once this is over-I am thankful for our ease of communication so I can see all the fingers and toes and make sure mom Adrienne is okay and dad Jason is holding the baby correctly.Baby Galen

    Home AloneWhile we hunker down with loved ones I know there are many challenges ahead. Those parents with kids home for the long term-I received an email yesterday from a mom who had our wine at their wedding and now, 9 years later, has kids home and needed a case of wine to smooth the rough edges! (pretty sure my own parents would have gone crazy with the four of us girls bouncing off the walls). Work and the interruption of regular life is a challenge and a change. If you are at home alone reach out to neighbors who might also feel alone-keeping your distance of course! You know Wilson had it right by visiting over the back fence. If we keep socially connected in our age of technology we’ll know we are not alone.Wilson over the Fence

    How are we doing at the winery? The Governor of California has put the whole state from tip to top in a Stay at Home order. Our trade group Wine Institute just confirmed that, while our tasting room remains closed, the new order allows winery and vineyard operations to continue under the Food and Agriculture Sector critical infrastructure plan. We can keep things going in the vineyard and cellar! Probably more important to you is that we are still processing and shipping orders. While we can’t offer tastings, we are working on how to do “take-out” at the winery. Stay tuned for developments. Meanwhile we wouldn’t want our friends and neighbors to run out of wine. If you’d like us to ship you some wine click here.

    Until the next time, keep healthy, stay inside and reach out even if just an email or call! julie@pedroncelli.com or 707-857-3531.

    Stay well and don’t forget the vino. Julie

    Tags: COVID19, Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, Courage Zinfandel, Wisdom Cabernet Sauvignon, note from home, Sonoma County, Pandemic
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