Hudsonia. In my wildest dreams I might live at a place like the Hudson Ranch. This piece of heaven in Carneros is the bucolic ideal…rolling hills covered with grape vines, perfect picket fenced garden, little piggies playing under patches of oak forest. I recently had the delightful opportunity to tour the Ranch and meet proprietor, Robert Lee Hudson. A gentleman farmer if I’ve ever met one, his devoted but odd pack of dogs in tow. Hudson is a Texan and you can spot that a mile a way: big smile, big personality, not to mention the big cowboy hat. He received his B.S. in horticulture, mentored with a famous Burgundian winemaker and studied viticulture and enology at U.C. Davis. He searched for the perfect spot to start his vineyard from Santa Barbara to Mendocino, when in 1981 he found the property destined to be Hudson Vineyards. With 160 acres of his property planted with grapes, he produces at bit of stellar wines himself, but mostly he sells grapes to more than 30 highly esteemed wineries like Cakebread, Schramsberg, and Kistler. In addition to the well-tended vines, olive trees scattered around the property are responsible for a divine oil named in memory of Hudson’s mother. Titi’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil is one of my favorite local olive oils. It’s peppery, grassy and delightfully assertive and has obviously been made with love.
The picture-perfect garden at Hudson Ranch was overseen until recently by the gardener once responsible for the impeccable vegetable gardens at the French Laundry. Besides providing specialty produce to some of the area’s top restaurants and chefs, this year’s CSA has expanded, with all members receiving a weekly bag of exceptional produce. I’m thinking that I wish I’d signed up this year and then I would have been invited to their very festive looking member’s only picnic at the Ranch. While a spectacular bin of just picked Romano beans sat on the old wooden picnic table and plump corn glistened in the morning sun, the most amazing sight was “gourd alley.” A trellised area devoted to hanging squash of all varieties, some so huge they must be nestled in makeshift hammocks to support their oversized bulk. The eccentric Mr. Pumpkin, a.k.a. Mr. Hudson, has a thing for freakishly large vegetables.
Oh yes, the gardens are really something and the wine and olive oil are about as good as they get, but what thrills me the most about Hudsonia is their dedication to lovingly raising some of the most beautiful fowl and heritage breed hogs in Northern California. Amazingly plump and flavorful chickens and the ultra flavorful game birds, guinea hens, might cost a few pennies more than your average grocery store birds, but oh what a decadent difference. And you know how I feel about those game birds! Be sure to get your name on the list for one of Hudson Ranch’s extraordinary heirloom Thanksgiving turkeys. Every year they quickly sell out. Pastured in open fields, among old oaks, the hogs – and cutest little, floppy eared piglets – forage for roots, grubs and most deliciously, acorns, while their daily feed is comprised of all-natural grains and soy, never hormones or antibiotics. This is not the other white meat. It’s pork at its porky best, richly marbled. Pork the way pork used to taste before factory farming bred all the good fat out.
Interested in Hudson Ranch products? You can always call them directly at 255.1455 or email km@hudsonvineyards.com, particularly if you’re interested in a whole hog. Which of course you should be! Currently, 140 pounders are available and you can reserve a 50-100 pound “weaner” or an over 150 pound, “market hog,” which will both be available in the fall. Head to the Oxbow Marketplace in Napa where you’ll find their produce and fresh eggs, exclusively at the Oxbow Produce and Grocery. Also in the Oxbow, the Fatted Calf – the shrine to all things meat – is where you can find Hudson chickens and guinea hens and beginning September 15, they’ll begin accepting reservations for Thanksgiving turkeys. Be sure to call first, as quantities of any of Hudson’s products are extremely limited. Come taste Hudson’s beautiful olive oil at my plaza shop, Junipero & Co.
On the Menu: You’ll find plenty of special, scrumptious offerings and events around town this weekend. Tonight, find Ed from Shiso doing his sushi thing at the Valley Wine Shack. The all you can eat rolls, sashimi and nigiri will only set you back $30 or $35, depending on what seating you choose. The ideal wine, beer and sake to accompany your sushi will be available by the glass or bottle. Call the Shack to make your reservations at 938.7218. • For the next two Fridays, Cochon Volant brings their smoked offerings to Sebastiani Winery’s Live Music Fridays. From 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. enjoy baby back ribs, pulled pork, smoked chicken and Caesar salad. • The Katmandu Fall Festival is held this Saturday and Sunday in Depot Park, where you’ll find the traditional, delicious foods of Nepal, Tibet and India. The fun, all-day festival also offers an ongoing stage of music and dance, along with a marketplace featuring carpets, antiques and clothing. • Also on Saturday is the very fun Larson Family Winery Harvest Hoedown from 4 until 8 p.m. Come dressed as an authentic cowgirl or boy, enjoy barbecued ribs and hearty fixin’s from Rocket Catering. While kids have fun in the jumpy castle, the adults may indulge in barrel samples. The whole family can experience the vineyards in a tractor pulled wagon ride and dance to the sounds of Vikki Lee and the Pinecones. For information or to make a reservation, contact Lee Sweeney at 938.3031, ext. 18 or goto www.larsonfamilywinery.com.
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