Atmosphere: Large restaurant with limited tables. Very quiet and romantic setting and permeates a sense of opulence with its use of space. Closed kitchen keeps all the action behind the scenes and a very elegant waitstaff and servers adorns the room. A modernist take on traditional design similar inspiration as Farm at the Carneros Inn.
Service: 5 out of 5 spoons
Service was fantastic and by far the most knowledgeable about every piece of the meal. The bartender to the servers knew their product and executed it to perfection. You will not be disappointed with the service of the presence of the staff.
Food: 4 out of 5 forks
Food Comments: Great food executed in harmony with the ingredients that were used. It was a well orchestrated symphony throughout the dinner with some hiccups and experiments gone awry.
Appetizers:
(Mr.)
sea scallops
wild nettle and little farm potato purée ~18
(Mrs.)
red wine braised octopus
green garlic and black trumpet mushroom~24
Entree:
(Mr.)
hudson ranch crispy duck
parsnip, spinach and aus jus sauce~ 30
( Mrs.)
lobster fagotelli
county line farm fava bean and fines herbs ~24
Dessert:
(Mr)
BRESCIANELLA ALL'ACQUAVITE
cow's milk cheese covered with grape pomace, Lombardy, Italy ~6
SEAHIVE
cow's milk cheese, rubbed with wildflower honey and redmond real sea salt, Redmond, CA~6
(Mrs)
CARAMELIZED POLENTA CAKE
meyer lemon curd, yogurt and olive oil gelato ~ 9
The wine has a great acidity which paired well with the decadent duck and crispy skin. It was a clean palate leaving wine with great balance of oak and pepper to give character to the added veggies on the plate.
3 out of 5 corks Our recommendation is bring your own bottle and save on the mark-up. The menu demands a Pinot,eMritage, zinfandel or a light oaky Cabernet with complexity.
Favorite dish (of Mr.): Crispy Duck, was a perfect dish. Using calf butter/lard to layer it under the skin it adds incredible flavor and texture to the already soft sous-vide duck.
Favorite dish (of Mrs.):Carmealized polenta cake was great. It was buttered and fried on all sides with a slight honey sweetness and accompanied with a perfectly balanced lemon gelato to bring the two in a perfect marriage of flavor.On a side note I hated the octopus that after being braised in red wine gets the consistency of chalk. No bueno.
Cost: 150 per person with wine (Tax and Tip Included)
About: Robert Sinskey
Rob Sinskey is an atypical vintner. He is a native Californian and a wine guy who did not attend wine school. Instead, Rob received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Parsons School of Design in New York City, where the only thing happening in agriculture was conducted in apartment closets. Over the past twenty years he has grown his 100% organic and Biodynamic certified winegrowing operation to over 200 acres of premium vineyards in the Carneros and Stags Leap districts of Napa and Sonoma Valleys.
It all began when a six-month assignment assisting his father turned into a twenty-year obsession. “After a stint in advertising, I was looking for something real where I could, excuse the pun, put down roots. Then, my father called for help. His avocation in wine growing had developed into a fledgling business and he needed assistance. I think a week had passed before I discovered that his avocation had become my obsession.”
Rob’s philosophy that “Wine is not an athletic event,” still holds true to this day. The goal is to make “pure wines of character that pair well with cuisine.” Rob believes that wine should not be a “quick study,” but rather, sneak up on you, seduce you, and evolve in the glass and in the bottle.
With a solid belief that artisanal winemaking begins with the care of the land, Rob, along with winemaker Jeff Virnig, quietly converted their vineyards to organics beginning in 1991. As they honed their craft, they slowly and methodically developed biodynamic “whole farm” practices. Rob and Jeff adopted methods that not only produced wines of individuality, but also left a minimal footprint on the land. They believed in developing vineyard ecosystems with the utilization of farm animals, the development of beneficial predatory bird and animal habitat and fish friendly farming practices. Equally important, though less obvious, has been their development of a living soil system by establishing farm methods that encourage vigorous populations of microorganisms through the use of cover crops, composts, biodynamic preparations and the utilization of low impact farm implements.
Looking beyond the vineyard, Rob Sinskey and the crew of RSV have taken a leadership role in reducing their carbon footprint by generating 75% of the energy used at the winery through solar photovoltaic installations and the brewing of bio-diesel, made from used restaurant oil, to power their trucks and tractors.
Rob Sinskey believes that the goals of making luxuriously elegant wines and farming with earth friendly methods are not mutually exclusive. Rather, he has found that caring for the land and conscientious business practices have helped to define the well-crafted wines of RSV.
