Sauvignon Blanc with Baked Mussels

I just received my 2006 Sauvignon Blanc wine shipment. I was wondering what I should cook to pair with this wine. When I looked into my refrigerator, I found a box of Greenshell Mussels that I bought a week ago. Perfect.

So, I tried the classic dish below with my 2006 Sauvignon Blanc wine. Its taste note has honeysuckle aromas followed by a lively palate that reveals layers of honeydew melon and citrus flavors with perfect balance. This crisp ripeness heightens the sweet saltiness from the baked mussels.

Baked GreenShell Mussels in Tomato Sauce:

Ingredients:

12 Mussels with shell
3 Cloves of garlic
1 Fresh Heirloom Tomato (baseball size)
1/4 Cup of herbed tomato sauce
3 tsps Olive Oil
2 tsps White Wine
some Crushed Red Pepper
4 tsps Chopped Green Onion
1 clove size Ginger
1 Small Lemon

Cooking Instructions:

Mussel Preparation:

This recipe use farmed mussels that have already been prepared for cooking. Live Mussels can also be used. Make sure live mussels' shells must be scrubbed clean and rinse several times before cooking. Their beard can be removed by a sharp yank out and toward the hinge end of the mussel. This way, it won't kill the mussels.

a) Peel the mussels open and leave the meat intact to half side of its shell (if using live ones)
b) Rinse with tap water, then scald them in a pot of slight salty water.
c) Drain the water and Rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking
d) Dry them and put a side for later use

Salsa Preparation:

1) Remove the skin of the garlic by pound on them slightly
2) Chop them finely
3) Remove the skin of Ginger then pound it slightly before chopping it finely
4) Dice the tomato
5) Put the chopped garlic, Green Onion, Ginger, and diced tomatoes into a mixing bowl
6) While mixing them, pour in Olive Oil, white wine and then tomato sauce
7) Finally, put in the crushed red pepper.

Baking:
i) Preheat oven to 180C
ii) Put the prepared mussels on an oven pan
iii) Put the prepared salsa on each mussel generously. The salsa should cover the whole meat
iv) Bake them in the oven for 20 minutes.
v) Take them out and squeeze some lemon juice on the mussels before serving

A New Wine Destination in Napa Wine Country

Earlier this year, a new winery was opened in the Napa wine country that worth a visit, even for a non-wine lover. Sattui's Castello di Amorosa Winery off California Highway 29 took nearly 12 years to make.

It has 107 rooms on 7 levels with 121,000 square feet that comes with five towers and battlements, iron-gated entrance and a dungeon. Sattui's passion for an authentic looking castle spared no expenses - from a reproduction of an antique iron maiden in the dungeon to 200-year-old looking brick walls that were acid aged. This is as close of a medieval castle as you get in the golden state of California.

I would pay the $10 wine tasting fee in a heart beat. It allows you to taste up to 5 wines in a vault chamber that requires a short walk through masonry walk way. If wine is about the Terroir, then the mood of the wine is about the surroundings.

A guided tour and tasting on weekday is $25 and $30 on weekends. Does it worth the money? It depends, just as visitors would pay similar amount to tour the Hearst Castle in California's central coast, without the wine tasting.

Winery Info:
Castello di Amorosa, 4045 North St. Helena Hwy., Calistoga; (707) 967-6272. Tasting room open 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. daily.