‘MOUTHS R Us" is what I call the annual Mill Valley Wine & Gourmet Food tatsting. The 18th annual is coming up this Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. at Lytton Square in downtown Mill Valley.
As always, it’s a chance to taste more than 70 varietal wines from California and abroad, many that are scarce, or with limited distribution. Wine buyer Doug Canepa from the Mill Valley Market – which sponsors this binge bash – is offering some "First Taste Ops"this year, including Dasch Zinfandel; L’Vaggio di Giacomo, an Italian Barbera; and Chalone’s "Hail That Cab", from Galante vineyards in Carmel.
What really grabs me, however, is the food – tidbits from Mill Valley eateries Aloha Junction, Frantoio, Harbor Point Bar & Grill, Cantina, Cactus Café and 23 gourmet companies. This year, for example, Noe Valley Bakery from San Francisco is offering tastes of their handcrafted killer breads, and I mean killer, such as an exquisitely rich loaf loaded with red cherries and chunks of dark chocolate. Their fig bread is sweet, plump with Black Mission figs – awesome spread with cream cheese and toasted pecans. A sesame-crusted onion-scented loaf was great with grilled cheese or plain butter.
Fans of packaged sauces and condiments that take the painful ‘ing’ out of cooking should sample the lush-flavored and gorgeously packaged aiolis (made with spring garlic), salad dressings, mustards and tapenades from "Life in Provence", a new San Francisco-based food company. I also like the tequila spiked, chile-blasted sauces – including a remarkable steak sauce so tasty it makes Worcestershire seem bland – from Café Tequila.
More new goodies? The marinades and pan sauces from Charlie Palmer Foods. Full of depths in flavor, with fresh herbs and seasonings, there are different versions geared for fish, chicken, meats, or vegetables. And I was pleased to see that products I enjoyed at January’s Gourmet Products show in San Francisco will be at the tasting: Napa Valley Pantry’s Meyer Lemon Pecan and Honey Oat Bran with Apples muffin mixes and Boysenberry Cabernet Syrup.
Your guests will never guess this stuff is not from scratch. (But you better hide those bottles and cans.)
Tickets to the tasting are $23 in advance, or $25 at the event. They’re available at the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce, 388-9700.
Leslie Harlib
Marin Independent Journal, June 24 1999
