tasteProject: Wine

Recchiuti & Sutton Cellars

You are cordially invited to our coming Taste Project Series Saturday September 13, 2014 7:00pm to 10:00pm.

Spend the evening with Michael Recchiuti and Carl Sutton as they infuse and enhance innovative ideas at theLab with tasting menu and pairings highlighting Recchiuti Confections and Sutton Cellars concoctions.

Chicken Liver Mousse Terrine
Tarragon-Strawberry gelee, aged cheddar foam & heirloom tomatoes
Wine Pairing: 2013 Carignane

Summer Vegetable Broth with Pistou
Herb infused broth, vegetables & fresh goat cheese custard
Wine Pairing: 2013 Rattlesnake Rose

Roulade of Sea Bass
Poached & rolled in cacao nibs, quinoa & whole grain breadcrumbs
with a scallop mousse & watercress ginger compote
Wine Pairing: 2013 GRCRG Carignane & Grenache

-Intermission-

Vermouth & Mendiant
3 Flavors of mendiants; Chamomile, Rosemary & Orange Peel
Wine Pairing: 3 stages of Vermouth infusions + finished

Blown Sugar Pear
Filled with oven roasted pears & burnt caramel milk chocolate mousse
WinePairing: 2005 Vino Generoso - fortified single vineyard Zinfandel

Madagascar Cacao Nib Macaron
Wine pairing: 2006 La Tortuga - late harvest Chardonnay

*Please note that ingredients may change on our menus
as we grow out of one season and into another*

About Michael
In 1997, after years in the test kitchen, Michael was ready to bring his creations to a larger audience and to introduce Americans to “artisanal” chocolate. He founded Recchiuti Confections with his wife Jacky and the idea that once you introduce truly exquisite chocolates to people, they will be won over instantly and forever. He’d visit the San Francisco farmers’ market for bundles of fresh lavender, tarragon and lemon verbena, which he’d carefully dry for use in his signature infusions, trying various covertures and deciding if they had the right texture, color and acidity for each new blend he was developing. And he’d meticulously see to each step that turned those fine ingredients into finer confections, using traditional European techniques and equipment. But taste and technique only tell part of the story. Together with his wife Jacky, take inspiration in music, art and architecture, bringing these elements to the design and aura of the Recchiuti brand.

In 2005 Michael’s book Chocolate Obsession (Stewart, Tabori & Chang), co-authored with Fran Gage, was released to wide acclaim; the book was a finalist at the 2006 James Beard Awards.

Michael was invited by French chocolate manufacturer Valrhona into a partnership in developing a proprietary blend for Recchiuti Confections, becoming the first American ambassador to customize a coverture line of chocolate.

About Carl
A one-man show owned and operated by Carl Sutton since 1996. Sutton moved from Sonoma to make San Francisco his home, settling in the scrappy Dogpatch.

Sutton is best known for his Sutton's Brown Label Vermouth (unaged brandy-fortified neutral white wine, infused with 17 botanicals, bottled fresh weekly). His grapes grow mostly in Sonoma County (with a little Mendocino in the mix), and are often single vineyard wines. Sutton is heavily influenced by France and Spain. He offers a full-bodied Rattlesnake Rosé & Carignane a food-friendly red (barrel fermented in neutral oak).

Sutton Cellars is an urban winery, not a winery in the sense of Sonoma County or Napa style, more of a host to tastings, sales by appointment, and evening and weekend events kind of neighborhood winery where you can drop in and enjoy the grittiness industrial feel still prevalent in Dogpatch’s artisan community.