December Grocery Happenings at the East Side

Many new products are on the way. Farm to Kitchen Foods is a Farm Fresh Delivery production that combines Matt’s talent for sourcing farm foods, Brandon’s culinary expertise, and Beth’s nutrition education. This is a one of a kind food company, and we are cultivating ideas and new products each and every day. FARM TO KITCHEN FOODS! “
The Farm to Kitchen Foods website is coming soon - stay tuned!

REFRIGERATED: Got EGG NOG on your mind?  Well, I bet you do now!  We’re going to try our very hardest to have just as much Trader’s Point Egg Nog in stock for everybody who wants it, but especially for those who NEED it!  But…to take you behind the scenes just a little….Last week we were not able to get any!!  Why??  Because that week’s batch was not up to Trader’s Point strict, and delicious, standards.  We look forward to the good stuff, coming soon.

GROCERY: Have you tried the new tortas?  Have you tried all 4 flavors?  I have trouble describing them, so I got this description from the internet and I think it does the trick.  (Pete Russo’s favorite is the Seville Orange.)
“Ines Rosales Sweet Olive Tortas, are handmade in a small village near Seville Spain. Using the same recipe since 1910 local women flatten the tortas by hand, and hand wrap the tortas that are baked in small batches.
Not really a cookie, and not a cracker, Ines Rosales Tortas are one of those multi category food items that are hard to describe and don't ever sound quite as good as they actually are. Once you try them you will be hooked.“

BULK: New items include: Jumbo Thompson Raisins (organic), local amish-grown cornmeal, and organic dates.

MEAT: We froze the remainder of the fresh, local Schacht Farm turkeys after Thanksgiving so, if you’d like one for your special meal/party in December, be sure to allow for thawing time.  We will not have fresh birds this month.

WINE: What’s the skinny on organic wines??  I am a self-professed cheap wine drinker and don’t put a lot of effort into getting the best wine for the best price.  BUT…I’m rethinking my approach to how I spend my leisure time.  I mean, I care enough to eat organically whenever possible, so why not drink organically?

We have new wines on the shelves from Benziger Family Winery. They’re good!  And I was motivated to learn more about the process of producing organic wines.  Now, I’m so intrigued that I believe there’s a trip to Sonoma wine country in my near future!  Here’s a piece from their website www.benziger.com:

Certified Sustainable
Created with the help of environmental experts and Stellar Certification Services, our third-party certified-sustainable vineyard program is one of the most comprehensive in the country. The program, which emphasizes environmentally sound growing methods, such as biodiversity, soil revitalization and Integrated Pest Management (IPM), shows growers how to cultivate grapes with more character, flavors and aromas with the goal of making better, genuinely distinctive wines.

Every year, our growers are required and given monetary incentives to improve their point total by 10%. Growers that are unwilling to meet the requirements of our Sustainablity Program do not get their contracts renewed. Our Certified Sustainable program not only makes the grower farm more responsibly, but it is the strongest, most thorough, quality control program we know about. Nobody else has a program like this.

Certified Organic
Organic grape growing avoids the use of synthetic chemicals and uses natural methods like crop rotation, tillage and natural composts to maintain soil health as well as natural methods to control weeds, insects and other pests. Many of our growers move from certified sustainable to certified organic as they see the affects in their vineyard site and the caliber of grapes they grow. Increasingly, growers are moving on from certified organic to transition to certified Biodynamic. Our winemaking facility is certified organic by Stellar Certification Services and our organic growers either carry a Stellar certification or one from CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers).

Certified Biodynamic®
All four of our estate vineyards are Demeter-certified Biodynamic. Biodynamics is the highest level of organic farming. Developed in the 1920's, Biodynamics views the vineyard as a single organism. With this approach, eliminating synthetic chemicals is just the beginning. Biodynamics goes further, encouraging biodiversity, a closed nutrient system, the use of homeopathic teas and a close personal connection to the land. We began transitioning our home ranch on Sonoma Mountain in the mid-nineties. Since then, we have used our experiences and insight to mentor our own network of growers and anyone else interested in farming this way.

Instead of bagged fertilizer, weed killer and pesticides we rely on composting, natural predator-prey relationships, cover crops, and the animals that live on our estate, to keep our vineyard healthy and balanced. There are no silver bullets in Biodynamic winegrowing. When you eliminate all the artificial crutches, you learn to trust your instincts and to trust nature’s ability and capacity to make a great wine.

Today, we are one of a handful of Demeter certified-Biodynamic vineyards in North America. Our property is located in a pretty distinct area – an extinct volcano caldera resembling a 360-degree bowl that sits in a valley 800 feet above sea level. Formed from volcanic explosions that occurred million of years ago, our land is ideal for winegrowing and boasts a variety of different sun exposures, elevations, soil profiles and drainage. Through Biodynamic farming, the best of what the land possesses is reflected in the characteristics of every bottle. To learn more about the natural systems that regulate Biodynamics visit www.tributewine.com