The barrel room is an amazing venue for any event, particularly ones which focus on food and/or wine. Yesterday’s olive oil tasting was evidence of this. We hold a few of these types of events throughout the year for wine club members, friends of the winery, and their guests.
Cookbook author Pamela Sheldon Johns was our speaker. Pamela spends a lot of her time at her home in Tuscany where she hosts week or weekend long immersions into the culture. One of the guests at the event was telling me that she knows Pamela quite well after spending time truffle hunting, cooking amazing meals, and learning about olive oils in Italy. I have such tremendous respect for people like Pamela, who find their life’s passion, and then not only go after it themselves, but share their love and wealth of knowledge with others. Fresh food and quality wine are at the top of my list for life’s greatest pleasures, and there is always more to learn, always a new experience to draw upon, and always a new cork to pop. There are no experts, every individual has their own taste, but there are people to learn from and be inspired by.
Pamela demonstrated cooking techniques for preparing panzanella (a bread salad), fresh heavenly prepared pesto, and a moist olive oil cake. Pesto is one of those things that literally all you need is fresh ingredients and a food processor (I use my mini-Cuisinart) to make it from scratch. It IS that easy.
Click Here for Pamela Sheldon Johns’ Website
Joanie Hudson, Assistant Tasting Room Manager, Santa Barbara Winery
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