In Honor of Women's History Month...

        We just went to a WOW of an event.  Really.  It was a Women of Wine (WOW) dinner held at Toast Restaurant in Carmel Valley with wines from Parsonage Village Vineyard.

        Since we hadn't visited Parsonage's tasting room since last year, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to explore their newest releases, enjoy the food prepared by Toast's new evening chef, and meet some new dynamite Monterey Peninsula women.

        Here's what we had for dinner and the wine pairings that went with each course; they're great and easy ones to duplicate at home, if only the chef from Toast would visit.

-2009 Snosrap Chardonnay ($26.00), full, buttery, nice, and a  good balance to the endive salad with arugula, prosciutto,Humboldt Fog cheese, and citrus vinaigrette.

-2009 Snosrap Pinot Noir ($24.00)--we love this wine.  It's smooth, with all kinds of berry/cherry flavors, and you can't beat Parsonage's description of it..."Sweet, sexy, silky red fruit skates gently across your palate in a very pretty form."  Woo-hoo! It was quite wonderful with the  salmon with herb beurre blanc sauce. 

-2009 Parsonage Estate Syrah ($36.00), another winner, a big  fruity, peppery wine, and a great accompaniment to the  pork tenderloins wrapped in bacon, served with vegetables and Marsala glaze.  

         By the way, the dessert was a Vanilla Panna Cotta, with honey and fresh strawberries--incredibly wonderful.

        You know how partial we are to both Toast (toastcarmelvalley.com) and Parsonage (parsonagewine.com).  And I guess we're not the only ones who like Parsonage; the readers of Monterey County Weekly awarded them with the honor of being the "Best Local Red Wine" for 2011. 

        To have Parsonage wines paired with such a divine dinner was a real treat. And to be introduced to a group of women who know, and enjoy, their wine made it an extra special and fun learning experience for us.   

        We definitely hope to have more WOW experiences in 2012.