Kathleen Hill: Red and White Ball, Mexican-American vintners and the Sebastiani legacy

Food news from around Sonoma Valley.|

Red & White Ball for schools Aug. 25

Sonoma Valley Education Foundation will hold its annual Red & White Ball on Saturday, Aug. 25 with the great Dave Martin's House Party Band and a West Coast Clam Bake by Ari Weisswasser and Stellar Catering. How can you miss while helping Sonoma Valley's 4,541 public school students?

Dave Martin will bring all 13 of his band members and all of their ever-changing costumes to the post-dinner dance party. The Valley Vibes Youth Orchestra will have you smiling through your tears of gratitude.

Guests dine at red and white tables on Sonoma Plaza behind City Hall. Cody Williams, food and nutrition services manager for Sonoma Valley Unified School District, will make appetizers to be passed by about 75 Sonoma Valley High School, and Altimira and Adele Harrison middle school students.

Guests will enjoy Heirloom tomato gazpacho shooters with tomatoes from Altimira's prolific school garden. Altimira herbs will adorn goat, blue and feta cheese crostini as well.

As guests arrive, they might also indulge in the new “cocktail caravan” serving Val's Botanical Gin & Tonics, Kirk & Sweeney Rum Daiquiris, and a Kirk & Sweeney Rum & Coke. And on the lighter side try a 16-ounce can of Sonoma Springs Brewery Tsunami IPA or Lagunitas by the cup, not to mention loads of Sonoma Valley wines. Smashmallow will finish off the evening with s'mores bars, according to Sallie Kyle-Moore, whose parents were just honored as the town Muses by the Sonoma Community Center.

Dinner starts with “family-style” watermelon and cucumber salad with Bulgarian feta, green piri piri vinaigrette, Mike Benziger's leaf lettuces, and shaved summer radish salads. The rest of the “Clam Bake” dinner will be served buffet including steamed clams, mussels and shrimp with Pliny the Elder lobster and corn broth; Bliss potatoes with corn and pickled okra, grilled housemade kielbasa sausage; snap peas, hearts of palm, roasted slices of lemon cucumbers, cherry tomatoes; Cheddar Bay and scallion biscuits and Glen Ellen Star housemade ice creams.

Sonoma Valley Education Foundation helps students find success and inspiration in school so they can graduate prepared for college or the career of their choice. Programs include Early Childhood Education to college-and-career readiness with the engineering, design and technology at the high school, middle school writing centers, Sonoma School Garden Project, Summer Literacy Academy, Preschool for All, El Sistema youth orchestra and classroom grants.

Lots of great raffle prizes as well – look for those in this space next week. Tickets for dinner and dancing $225, dancing only $40 and includes one drink. The latter should bring their own picnic and we will have some idea hints on possible picnics next Friday as well. Tickets at 935-9566 or at svgreatschools.org. Email sallie@svgreatschools.org to volunteer to help.

Bells toll for Sonoma Valley

Bells rang out in front of Mission San Francisco de Solano at high noon on Wednesday to celebrate the beginning of Sonoma Valley's 2018 grape harvest.

A little later than in recent years, the first grapes were picked in the wee hours of Aug. 15 and celebrated by hundreds of growers, workers, winemakers and fans throughout the Valley.

The brainchild of Maureen Cottingham, executive director of Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers Alliance, the first part of the harvesting ceremony occurred at Sangiacomo Vineyards off Broadway south of town, and then grapes were trucked to Gloria Ferrer Vineyards & Caves for crushing.

At 11:45 a.m. locals started to arrive in front of the mission's bell with Steve Sangiacomo (still dressed in layers from the cold of night) and his father, honorary first bell ringer Angelo Sangiacomo, among the first to arrive. At 11:59 Cottingham welcomed the crowd, which included SVVGA board members, growers, fans, and City Councilmember David Cook. At precisely noon SVVGA president Kenneth Juhasz of Auteur Wines rang the mission bell and the rest of us rattled our little green bells distributed by Cottingham, Lori McGovern and other SVVGA staff.

As all the bells chimed, a huge Serres truck honked its horn, fire engines flashed bright lights, and police cars showed up honking and blinking lights. All of this added up to fun and excitement. After all, those of us who have moved here probably came partly because our community is surrounded by agriculture, including vineyards. This was the first community celebration of the grape harvest beginning and felt like the beginning of a tradition. Congratulations to all involved.

Mexican American Vintners harvest festival

Members of the Mexican American Vintners Association gather Saturday, Aug. 18 in Napa Valley to raise money to support healthcare and education of “the under-served population” through the nonprofit Puertas Abiertas.

Guests will experience a live Salsa Orchestra, Aztec dancers and Ballet Folklorico, along with lots of great food.

How could anyone pass up bites of pork tamales, ceviche tostadas, Dungeness crab cakes, chicken mole sliders, salmon tartar with English cucumber, heirloom tomato salad, burrata cheese with peaches on flat bread and Ahi poke – not all Mexican but who cares? A winemakers dinner at Celadon in Napa follows.

Festival pass $125, dinner $150. Festival 2 to 5 p.m., dinner 5 to 8 p.m. Tickets at evenbrite.com or mava.org.

Highwayman opens Cornerstone tasting room

Paul Giusto and Michael Sebastiani of Highway 12 Vineyards & Winery will celebrate the official opening of their chic and modern tasting lounge at Cornerstone with a ribbon cutting on Aug. 23 from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. The room's décor is based on the dramatic art of Los Angeles western-inspired artist Gabe Leonard and managed by Curt John.

John and crew will serve glasses of wine and flights in what they call “vintage inspired matte black coupes.” Giusti and Sebastiani invite the wine community to join in their ribbon cutting celebration for tastings and mingling. Regular hours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Flights tasting $20.

Sam Sebastiani salutes August's 105th birthday

Sam Sebastiani, named for his grandfather Samuele Sebastiani, recently saluted his father, August Sebastiani's 105th birthday. Sam credits both men with teaching him how to make respected and traditional wines under his newish La Chertosa label.

August David Sebastiani was born Aug. 1, 1913 to Samuele and Elvira Eraldi Sebastiani. August himself later married Sylvia Emily Scarafoni. August took Sylvia hunting on their honeymoon.

Samuele survived Prohibition by selling “sacramental wine” to the Catholic Church and developing underground piping with help from Henry Riboni's plumber father, and by starting a cannery to keep local employees working. Samuele donated the land and built St. Francis Solano School.

Eventually August followed the family tradition and sponsored lots of youth sports teams and named streets in the Sebastiani subdivision after local war heroes such as Andrieux, Bettencourt and Robinson, while donating 18 lots to develop Sonoma Valley Hospital. And Sam, later speaking for his brother Don and sister Mary Ann Cuneo, shook hands with my late husband Gerald N. Hill, then treasurer of the hospital board, to sell land for the hospital parking lot at a rock bottom price. (The handshake transaction happened over drink at Marioni's bar, where Mary's Pizza Shack is now on Sonoma Plaza.)

Seemingly always dressed in overalls and a straw hat, August was known as Sonoma's Birdman, who collected live birds in his aviaries, decoys and bird artifacts. When the train would rumble into Sonoma to pick up Sebastiani wine to send off to the east coast, August would comfort little Sam because the whole ground shook from the train. And later August even tried to get the town renamed Sebastiani.

August sold his first 155 cases of wine in 1954 and, eventually, sales reached hundreds of thousands under Sebastiani family leadership.

After Sam left Sebastiani, he and his then-wife, Vicky, created Viansa south of Sonoma. After their divorce and departure from Viansa, he, his brother Don and sister Mary Ann Cuneo sold Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery to Bill Foley and each ended up with some of the family's ranches and vineyards.

Sam started La Chertosa, named for the 14th Century monastery in Farneta, Italy where Samuele learned to make wine from the monks. Today Sam makes wines as close to those Samuele made as he can here in Sonoma.

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