2018 Harvest Party

September 6, 2019

I can’t believe it’s already been almost a year since our first harvest party at the vineyard, but October will mark twelve months since we hosted our inaugural fall celebration. Since we’re getting ready to host our second harvest party in just over a month, I’ve been looking back and reflecting a bit on what we did right, places to improve, and brainstorming new ideas with the team to make an even bigger impact this year. I can’t wait to spill the beans with you soon! First, a little context on 2018.

The weekend before our harvest party, my mom had a major surgery (hysterectomy, appendectomy, and multiple lymph node biopsy) to remove a massive ovarian cyst that had grown rapidly and turned into cancer over the course of the previous month. When she went into surgery, we weren’t sure what we were dealing with, but her incredible surgeon confirmed that it was cancer as my dad and I completely crumbled in the hospital waiting room. He was optimistic that they’d gotten it all and that she might not need further treatment based on what he was able to tell so we clung on to those words for the next few days. Thankfully, later that week, we received the news that she was stage 1A (!!!!) and no further treatment was necessary, but recovering from such a major surgery was going to be difficult. We were absolutely ecstatic at the news, but knew we needed to focus on her getting better. Her post-operative delirium was terrifying to say the least and she needed 24-7 monitoring by my dad and I following the surgery. We took turns sleeping, him usually at night, while I took the night shift to make sure she didn’t try to walk around by herself or put strain on her healing incision getting in and out of bed.

The week leading up to our harvest party was more physically and mentally trying than ever before in my life. My mom has always been my rock, but has been an even bigger sense of help and stability in the years since acquiring the vineyard. Being a caretaker for her that week filled me with gratitude for how lucky we’ve been as a family in terms of health, but was also crushing knowing that so many families don’t get that same prognosis. Every single day and moment is a gift. What kept me going that week was knowing that every chance we have to connect people with our mission to help make the world a better place, by funding clinical trials for other women fighting diseases, funding meals for children fighting hunger, funding fire re-build efforts and more, should not be taken for granted. This is what we were going to be doing at our harvest party – highlighting worthy causes that needed our help.

Our first Harvest Party was absolutely stunning, totally moving, and went off without a hitch! I’m SO excited for round two this year and I’m thankful that my mom is here with us, healthy, and will be bringing her talent to the table once again 🙂 We have so much to celebrate in 2019!

I’ll be sharing more details soon, but in the meantime, take a look at last year’s event! Since it was our first harvest party, we kept things simple with heavy apps and fairly simple and economical decor (lots of greens and fall foliage, simple bud vases with seasonal florals, bowls of seasonal fruit to be snacked on or repurposed after the event – one of my favorite event decor hacks). Let me know what you think! Cheers!

{we kept details simple with bud vases and bowls of seasonal fruit}

{guests were greeted with a delicious apple cider mimosa}

{one of my favorite bars I’ve ever styled! those colors! bar & back-bar by found rentals}

{our beautiful and incredibly talented winemaker, Mari Coyle}

{our architect, David Rulon, with his daughter, Gabby}

{Rob Mondavi Jr., Mari Coyle, and my husband, Jake}

{Jake and I with two of our largest partners and close friends, Erik & Deborah Anderson}

{Our friends and longtime supporters, Deb & Brian}

{Incredible presentation by our friend and immensely talented photographer, Laura Schneider}

{tour of the winery (under construction)}

Life Lately: Golden Hour

August 23, 2019

Tuesday evenings generally consist of a pilates class for me before I head home for the night to make dinner and unwind. Last Tuesday, however, following a VERY long interview with a very passionate candidate, I wound up missing my class and found myself at work a little later than normal. The last 60 minutes before sunset are almost always golden at the vineyard, but on this particular night, the light was exceptional. I wound up strolling through the garden and vines, camera in tow, to capture just a sliver of nature’s magic.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

[ view to the pathway/entry to the garden at the vineyard ]

[ tobacco drying racks currently being used as make-shift gates until our “real” gate gets installed ]

[ our green beans took off like wildfire and are finally climbing the arch into the garden! ]

[ the tiniest green beans! ]

[ the light on the vines was incredible! ]

[ august cabernet grapes ]

Sauvignon Blanc Harvest / 2017

October 23, 2017

UPDATE: I wrote this post before the devastating fires that swept through Napa, Sonoma, Lake County and Mendocino beginning October 9th-20th, 2017. I’ll share my thoughts on the fires and how it impacted our community as soon as I get my head back above water. xo – Meg

In Napa Valley, harvest is one of the first indications that the seasons are changing. This summer was so jam packed with work, sourcing trips, events, photo shoots, and multiple design projects, that the 2017 harvest season arrived shockingly fast. When our Director of Wine at ONEHOPE called to tell me that we were going to be harvesting our Sauvignon Blanc on August 24th, while ecstatic that I was going to be in town to shoot, I was simultaneously a little bummed that summer was really coming to a close and that it felt like it had passed by in a blink. Now that pumpkins and fall produce have arrived in stores and the temperatures are cooling with particularly chilly mornings, I’m choosing to embrace it and I’m looking forward to a change in pace after a marathon of a summer. Here are a few of my favorite shots from that day.

PS: I blogged about harvest last year here and how monumental it was in shaping my views on the Mexican American farmworkers here in Napa Valley. Watching this crew harvest 12 tons of grapes by hand in just under three hours only reaffirmed my views that we need to be taking care of our farmworkers here, not only in the wine industry, but in agriculture in general. As consumers become more and more conscious of how and where their food is being farmed, I hope they also pause to think about where their wine is coming from and the work behind it, the next time they open a bottle. I’m so honored to be working for a company that cares so much about the production process and the people behind it. Cheers!

Hello Spring!

April 14, 2017

Spring has arrived in Napa Valley and I always seem to have a new burst of creative energy when the seasons change. Excess creative energy inevitably leads me to my little home on the web which is how I ended up here! There are so many things that have gone down in the past few months that I haven’t shared, but below is a quick rundown without diving into too many details.

Estate8 is moving along faster than ever (drywall starts next week)! I’ve been posting about this pretty regularly over on Instagram so you’re probably pretty up to speed if you follow me over there.
My parents officially bought a home in Vacaville, CA (about 30 minutes from our home) and I could not be more thrilled for them to move here in June! They’re visiting right now to get their new home spruced up and move-in ready in about six weeks.
My sister and her husband decided to move to California as well and are officially enroute to the west coast! This was the biggest shock for me of all and I seriously can’t believe they’re moving here!!! I’ll share more on this story at another time because it’s a good one!
I turned 30! It’s still setting in so more on that later too… ha!

Things have been crazy busy while trying to juggle the Estate8 project and still keep up with my real full time job at ONEHOPE so I hadn’t had time to think about Easter (one of my favorite holidays) until last week. Since we’re hosting some friends and family and there was no real time to try to think of something new for our table this year (and because I loved last year’s so much), I decided to stick with almost the exact same look. I was flipping through pictures from 2016 and realized I never shared these so I figured I’d get them up here on the blog.

The inspiration for it all started when my parents and I were exploring St. Helena a few years ago and I found these tiny, vintage farm animal caricatures at a resale shop. I had no idea what I’d ever use them for and my mom thought I was crazy, but at $20 for the set, I knew I had to have them. I believe they were labeled as cupcake toppers, but last Easter I decided to put one at everyone’s place setting as a starting point for the look and took things from there. I had these rose wine glasses on hand from a photo shoot, picked up some peachy pink napkins (similar) and a vase (similar), pulled out my gold flatware, tossed in some simple florals from Trader Joe’s and we were ready to go! I’ll be recreating the look on Sunday and I can’t wait for everyone to gather round. Wishing you a very happy Easter or Passover! Cheers!

PS: Links to the products I used (or similar) are below if you want to recreate this look in your home for a spring brunch or dinner. xoxo

Wine Wednesday / Cabernet Harvest

November 2, 2016

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of being at our first Cabernet harvest since Jake and I moved up to Napa. Our Sauvignon Blanc harvest was pretty mind blowing (I wrote about it here and here) so I was excited to get in the vines for the second round of the year. This time, however, our winemaker asked me to meet him at Clos du Val after all of our grapes were picked so that I could participate in sorting for the first time. I was so slammed that day, but dropped everything to be there. Having the opportunity to sort grapes with our winemakers, Tony Coltrin and Rob Mondavi Jr. who are legends in the valley, was far too awesome of an opportunity to pass up. Here are some of my favorite shots from that day.

Cabernet grapes ready to be harvested! Tony explained that some vines will shed their bottom leaves to maximize sun exposure on the fruit.

One of a few hundred bins filled with grapes.

Bins are then dumped into containers on the tractor until full.

One worker will usually stand on the back of the tractor to do an initial sort (picking out any obvious leaves).

Moving on to the second Cabernet block for picking…

Time to weigh in! The tubs are lifted onto the scale with a forklift and weighed on site before transport to the crush pad.

Grapes in the shad waiting to be sorted at Clos du Val.

Grapes are dropped one container at a time on to the sorting line. Leaves are removed and discarded.

The fruit drops into the crusher and de-stemmer where all of the stems are removed and eventually composted.

Filling up the tanks!

The tanks inside Clos du Val, some of which hold our wine while our winery is being built.

Since we were on site, Tony took me to the barrel room to try a few barrel samples of our Fumé Blanc.

Thieving wine from the barrels. PS: it was delicious!

Grilled Peach + Corn Salad

October 4, 2016

While we’ve had a few chilly days so far this fall in wine country, the vast majority of our weather is still 75+ and even up into the 90’s. With temps that high, heavier fall flavors and hot dishes simply haven’t sounded all that enticing thus far so I’ve been trying to embrace easy summer recipes for as long as possible. After a long hiatus from corn (definitely had way too much of it growing up in the midwest), Jake reintroduced it to me earlier this year when we got our new grill in May. On a recent trip to Whole Foods, I picked up the last of the corn I could find for the season, as well as some juicy peaches that I could practically smell from an aisle away. I did some poking around online for inspiration and found this late summer salad which sounded perfectly simple and yet packed with flavor. Since I didn’t have everything on hand, I made some tweaks along the way and it was absolutely delicious. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
4 ears corn, shucked
4 peaches, cut into wedges
Salt and pepper, freshly ground
2 tablespoons red wine vengar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup crumbled feta
4 cups baby arugula
1/2 jalapeno pepper, halved, seeded thinly sliced *optional

Suggested Wine Pairing: ONEHOPE Riesling leads with aromas of honeysuckle flower and peach blossom on the nose. With a fruity flavor profile of white peach, mango and pear, it’s the perfect compliment to the grilled peach, corn and feta in this delicious salad.

DIRECTIONS

Heat grill to medium/high heat.
Lightly drizzle some olive oil on the corn and peaches and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place corn on bottom rack of grill and turn periodically until grill and char marks develop (10-15 minutes).
After corn has been grilling for 5 minutes, place peaches on the top rack of grill and turn periodically until grill and char marks develop (5-8 minutes).
Remove corn and peaches from grill, allowing them cool slightly.
Whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt, pepper and jalapeno (optional).
When the corn is cool enough to handle, cut remove kernels from cob. Add corn, sliced peaches, almonds and feta to to your bowl with the dressing and toss to coat.
Add arugula to salad bowls and top with peach and corn salad.
Serve with a chilled glass of ONEHOPE Riesling. Cheers!

Recipe adapted from here.

Harvest 2016

August 22, 2016

It’s official! Tomorrow marks the beginning of our 2016 harvest at the ONEHOPE vineyard! It’s the first time I’ve ever witnessed a harvest in person, and I’ve been getting butterflies with excitement since finding out last week. It seems so silly… grapes are just fruit and I’m not sure that any other fruits or vegetables get so much attention when they’re harvested, but there’s something so symbolic and historic about a great growing season coming to a close and the mystery of wondering how this final wine is going to taste when we get barrel samples next year.

Additionally, things on the construction site at the vineyard are really starting to take shape! Framing is almost complete for the two guest wings (4 bathrooms on either side) and has started to go up on the center of the house (the great room, kitchen, man cave, laundry and car barn). Our HUGE great room and car barn trusses are being delivered next week and we’ll have plumbers on site in the coming two weeks to rough in plumbing. It’s getting REALLY exciting to see, spaces are finally making sense and it’s also made me incredibly busy on the design side that I’ve been sharing a few sneak peeks of on my Instagram story. Selecting tile and finishes for 11 bathrooms has proven to be WAY harder than I anticipated, but I’m loving ~~almost~~ every minute of the ride. I promise to share some content on the interior design side soon! In the meantime, be sure to tune in to Instagram tomorrow morning (@onehope and @megrobins) for a few exciting peeks 🙂

Wine Wednesday / Tasting in the Vines

August 10, 2016

Happy Wine Wednesday! This summer has flown by crazy fast and while the official start of fall isn’t until September 22nd, Labor Day (in just three short weeks!) really marks the end-of-summer for most. With this being the first summer in our house, I had such grandiose plans for our yard and get-togethers that were probably unrealistic for the number of work priorities, weddings and travel planned, so I’m definitely feeling like there’s still so much to squeeze in before September rolls around. It’s no secret that I LOVE fall, but I’m trying to keep that nostalgia at bay by doing at least one summery thing a day, whether that’s sipping on a glass of Rosé or picking berries at the property.

One thing that we’ve had no shortage of this year are wine tastings at the vineyard! With so many partners excited about the progress of construction, we’ve blocked out days and weekends for property tours and tastings for people to attend if they’re in town. Last weekend was a bit of a treat when some friends joined us for a casual wine tasting in the vines with their family. Our site is definitely a construction zone so it’s rough, dusty and hot, but we’ve made do with a makeshift barrel bar and a few umbrellas for shade. While I would have loved to have spruced this little section of the vineyard up a bit more, it’s made for an authentic, rustic Napa experience for our guests and it’s always a treat to see peoples’ excitement when they see our property for the first time and taste barrel samples of our estate cabernet. Here are a few shots from this past weekend.

Fig Season! / 5 Minute Cheese Board

July 7, 2016

It’s fig season in California (woohoo!) and I’ve got a slight obsession with them (see last year’s flatbread pizza and fig cocktail recipes here) so I scooped up a basket of brown turkey figs while prepping for our 4th of July celebrations last weekend. We were keeping things easy for the holiday this year so instead of creating some full-blown concoction, I decided to use them for the base of a casual cheese board since I was still in need of a quick appetizer.

I’m kind of in love with cheese and charcuterie boards and create them all of the time for work and almost anytime we host or need to bring a dish to pass. There is nothing more “wine country” to me than a well curated board so they’re one of my favorite low-stress options for guests or just a casual night at home in Napa with the two of us. That being said, there are a few rules of thumb when it comes to crafting a cheese board that I always follow no matter how many people I’m prepping for. Here is what you’ll need:

Something sweet // honey for drizzling or a great jam meant to be paired with cheese
Something salty // nuts – I like Whole Foods’ truffled Marcona almonds with sea salt
Something briny // Castelvetrano olives or pickles
Something seasonal // Figs! Artichokes are also a favorite
At least one type of cracker or bread // use whatever you have on hand, but try to go for something plain that won’t interfere with other flavors on your board
A hard cheese and a soft cheese // Vermont aged white cheddar and a goat cheese or fresh burrata are always great options

Lastly, you’ll need a cheese board and some ramekins or small bowls for olives, olive pits, pickles, etc. I used a vintage cheese board I picked up at the flea market this time around, but a few of my favorite store-bought options are below. I also broke my own rule #6 for this one because I knew we’d all be drinking whites or light reds and was really feeling two particular cheeses that I had in my cart at the time (a creamy herbed goat cheese and Cypress Grove’s Humboldt Fog), but I generally try to stick to the above. Here is what I used:

Something sweet // honey for drizzling // honey packaging is usually a little unsightly so I transferred a bit of honey to a small pinch bowl and served with a honey dipper (both below)
Something salty // Whole Foods’ truffled Marcona almonds with sea salt // you can find these by their artisanal cheese selection where there are a huge variety of fresh olives available.
Something briny // Castelvetranno olives // my favorite olives in the world (see #2 for where to buy)
Something seasonal // Figs!
At least one type of cracker or bread // sea salt flatbread crackers
A hard cheese and a soft cheese // I used an herbed goat cheese and Humboldt Fog

Do you have any favorite must-have additions to your cheese boards? I’d love to hear!

Grilled Caprese Pizza with Artichoke

June 21, 2016

Without a doubt, the time seems to keep passing by faster and faster each year. I’ve arguably never felt so overwhelmed with work projects and with wedding season in full force, our travel game is real! I travel a decent amount for work and Jake travels about 4 times what I do, so with regular work travel combined with weddings (averaging at 6-12/year for the past few years), our summers seem to fly by in a blink. One thing I’ve really tried to focus on this year is to not wait for the weekend to partake in traditionally summer “weekend things” in an effort to squeeze as much of my favorite season out of this year as possible. Since to me there is almost nothing that feels more summery than barbecuing and eating dinner in our back yard, I’ve made it a priority for us to cook together/grill at least twice per week, even when it might be easier to heat up some leftovers and keep things easy.

I’ve been wanting to try grilled pizza for a while now and when one of our “weeds” in our back yard from the previous owner turned out to be an artichoke plant, I was feeling even more inspired than ever to fire up the grill. I purchased this pizza stone and pizza peel, picked up a few other ingredients from the store and we were good to go. I didn’t really put a ton of thought or time into researching a recipe for this (other than how to grill artichokes and I went by this aioli recipe) and instead just tried to keep it simple with things I knew would pair well together. This ended up being one of my favorite meals we’ve made together and we’ll definitely be making it again this week – I can’t wait!

PS: This recipe is all about timing so pour yourself a glass of wine and prep in advance if possible.

GRILLED CAPRESE PIZZA WITH ARTICHOKE

Prep: 15 minutes
Active: 45 minutes
Yield: 1 pizza (2 servings)
Wine Pairing: Napa Valley Red Blend or Edna Valley Pinot Noir

INGREDIENTS

4 medium/large artichokes
2 cups baby heirloom tomatoes
1 small bunch basil, chopped (15-20 basil leaves)
1lb. fresh pizza dough (I use Trader Joe’s fresh dough)
2 tbs. cornmeal
2 tbs. flour
8 oz. fresh burrata
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Salt & pepper to taste
Olive oil
Freshly shaved parmesan

AIOLI INGREDIENTS

2 garlic cloves
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tbs. vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS

Fill a pot with 1-2″ of water and bring it to a boil while prepping your artichokes.
Prep your artichoke by cutting the sharp tips off the artichoke petals. Then trim the top of the artichoke (cut off about 3/4″-1″) and remove the smaller petals by the stem. If your artichoke has a long stem, trim it down to an inch or less.
Reduce water to a simmer, place artichokes in a steam basket and cover
Cook for 20-40 minutes until the outer petals easily pull off.
While your artichokes are steaming, knead and roll your pizza dough. Add flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to your hands and surface. Stretch your dough to desired size and shape (1lb. of dough dough should create a 10-12″ circle). Sprinkle pizza stone with cornmeal to keep your dough from sticking to the stone. Once dough is in place, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with 1/2 of your chopped basil leaves, add all of the burrata and finish with a dash of salt and pepper.
Fire barbecue to medium flame and place pizza stone on grill.
In a medium bowl, combine tomatoes, garlic, the remaining basil, salt, pepper and olive oil. Stir to evenly coat tomatoes and transfer to a grill basket or foil and place on grill.
Remove artichokes from steam basket and cut in half length wise. Brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and place on the top rack of your grill.
Prep aioli (directions below) while monitoring grill.
Allow your tomatoes to blister and artichokes to char slightly before removing. Scoop out the heart of 2-3 artichokes.
Once dough has reached your desired texture, remove from grill and top with artichoke hearts and tomatoes. Garnish with fresh basil and shaved parmesan. Plate remaining artichokes with aioli and serve immediately.
Serve with your favorite red wine (I recommend this or this). Cheers!

AIOLI DIRECTIONS

Mince and mash garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt using a large heavy knife. Whisk together yolk, lemon juice, and mustard in a bowl.
Combine oils and add, a few drops at a time, to yolk mixture, whisking constantly, until all oil is incorporated and mixture is emulsified. (If mixture separates, stop adding oil and continue whisking until mixture comes together, then resume adding oil.)
Whisk in garlic paste and season with salt and pepper. If aïoli is too thick, whisk in 1 or 2 drops of water. Chill, covered, until ready to use.

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