Bacon goes with everything—eggs, burgers, Brussels sprouts—so why not wine?
For the Go-Getter
To many, 10 a.m. may seem a tad early to start drinking, but Clif Family Winery & Farm’s Rifugio Tasting Room in St. Helena helps you ease into your Napa Valley itinerary with its daily Rise & Wine pairing, featuring a line-up of white and lighter red wines served with soft-cooked eggs, flaky biscuits, and organic yogurt topped with homemade jam. “We wanted to create bites that are familiar and tasty, but ultimately allow the wines to express themselves, with the idea that it’s relatively easy to enjoy wine at an earlier time of day,” says executive chef and hospitality director John McConnell.
For the Sunday Bruncher
Why wait until the afternoon to show up at Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery’s sun-splashed Healdsburg property when you can enjoy Sunday Wine & Brunch outdoors (weather permitting) or inside the lavish Villa Fiore? Winery executive chef Alec Graham has been creating pairings for the La Colazione Italiana brunch menu since 2017. “My focus is to make things as hyper-local as we can,” he says. “For example, the eggs, vegetables, and herbs in our roasted estate vegetable frittata come from the estate’s gardens.” Similarly, the citrus panna cotta is made with Meyer lemons and oranges grown on property. Who even needs the pairing of reserve wines? (All of us, that’s who.)
For the Dim Sum Devotee
“For the longest time, we’ve had these very black-and-white rules about wine and food pairing,” says Gregory Clinnin, tasting lounge associate at The Prisoner Wine Company, which has established a reputation for thinking outside the box since opening its St. Helena tasting room in 2018. The latest step in that direction is The Prisoner’s weekend Wine + Dim Sum Experience, in which house red and white wines are poured alongside pork and shrimp shumai, shiitake gyoza, and other seasonal options. “I definitely recommend mixing and matching,” Clinnin advises. “Choose your own adventure.”
For the Smoky Sipper
Bacon goes with everything—eggs, burgers, Brussels sprouts—so why not wine? Priest Ranch Winery in Yountville puts its wines to the smoky test with its daily Bacon & Wine Experience, serving four types of the breakfast favorite (with seasonings ranging from spicy tamarind to savory tahini-miso) alongside a flight of Napa Valley reds. The fat from the meat nicely complements the tannins in the wine—no matter the time of day.
