The Varietal Garden: Heirloom Tomatoes, Napa Style

Fess up. Many of us thought that when wines were described as having notes of blackberry, cherries, plum or mint, we assumed these elements were added to the wine. It took a little time and education to realize that these flavors are teased from the grapes. Jeff Dawson's varietal gardens at Round Pond Estate are NOT used to flavor the wine, but merely so that visitors can have a full immersion into the intricacies of flavor.

Some of wine country's most famous culinary gardens like Ubuntu, Kendall Jackson and the late Copia garden share one thing in common--the influence of Jeff Dawson. Jeff developed the idea for wine varietal gardens while working at Kendall Jackson winery. More recently, Round Pond Estates in Napa has hired him to develop varietal gardens. Wines are experienced two main ways, through scent and taste. The varietal garden has these distinct components. In the sauvignon blanc descriptor garden you can experience the scents of melon, lemon pear, grapefruit, white peach and chilies. In the affinity, or tasting garden, there's the fruit as well as flavors of fennel, tarragon, tomatillo, parsley and yellow and orange bell peppers. In his cabernet sauvignon descriptor garden, he has plants with the scents experienced when sniffing a cab. These include cherry, dill, blackberry, mint, prune, bell pepper and blueberries. The second is the affinity plants--flavors that might be found in a cabernet and pair well with it like basil, sage, eggplant, radicchio, rosemary and dark tomatoes.

Jeff's discovered over time that there's a relationship between flavor and color that work well when pairing wines with food. "The molecular components that give food flavor correspond to color. A red grape is going to be more similar to dark vegetables like eggplant, black beans, and red beets. Tomatoes follow this general guideline."

Jeff's tomato plants at Round Pond Estates are things of beauty. He's been working for years to cross breed heirloom tomatoes to develop new hybrids. He dubbed his latest the Round Pond Red is a classic slicer he got by crossing an Amish Paste with a Sungold. (Though at times, offshoots of oxheart and cherry tomatoes come through. Genetic lines are tenacious). This red he recommends pairing with a fruit forward nebbiolo. For pairing with full-bodied cabernet sauvignon, go really dark, like Black Krim or Black Russian. When eating pink heirloom tomatoes like Brandywine or Pink Ping-Pong he likes a Russian River pinot noir. If you move into the orange varieties of tomatoes such as Amana Orange or bi-color tomatoes like Copia or Pineapple, these should be paired with non-oaky, non-barrel fermented chardonnay. For crisp, acidic sauvignon blanc, he likes the yellow and white tomatoes, like Sungold and Limmony.

Visitors to Round Pond can make appointments for guided tours that include visiting the garden and then have an estate tasting. The chef at Round Pond Estate creates pairings from the garden for the wine tasting so there's a full flavor immersion. All guided tours and tastings are by appointment, 11:00am, 1:00pm and 3:00pm. Available daily. $35 per person. For reservations call (888) 302-2575 or visit their website at Roundpond Estates.

Tip

While there are many varieties of heirloom and hybrid tomatoes, there are two different types of tomatoes you can grow, bush and vine. If you have a small space or container garden, you'll want to grow the bush variety as they get 3 or 4 feet high as opposed to 6 feet for the vine varieties. For people living in cool coastal areas, grow Stupice as it's an early ripener and Sungolds or other cherry tomatoes. Larger varieties may not ripen. But then there's always fried green tomatoes.

Recipe: Fried Green Tomatoes and Warm Goat Cheese Salad with Herb-Buttermilk Dressing by David Lawrence, Executive Chef at 1300 On Fillmore

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Fried Green Tomatoes
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 medium-size green tomatoes, cut into 1/3-inch slices
1 tbsp of butter
Vegetable oil

Combine egg and buttermilk; set aside. Combine ¼ cup all-purpose flour, cornmeal, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl or pan. Dredge tomato slices in remaining 1/4 cup flour; dip in buttermilk egg mixture, and dredge in cornmeal mixture. Pour oil to a depth of 1/4 to 1/2 inch in a large cast-iron skillet add butter and heat. Drop tomatoes, in batches, and cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Drain on paper towels or a rack. Sprinkle hot tomatoes with salt and black pepper.

Panko-Herb Crusted Goat Cheese
2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 tsp chopped tarragon
1 tsp chopped basil
1 tsp chopped thyme
8 oz goat cheese
1/3 cup Lavender Honey
2 egg s
¼ cup all purpose flour
2 oz olive oil
2 oz butter

Place goat cheese into food processor with honey and mix. Do not over mix as this will turn the mixture to a liquid. Using an one once ice cream scoop , scoop the goat cheese into half balls. Place onto a tray and refrigerate. Combine the herbs together with panko bread crumbles and place into a bowl, crack eggs, whisk and place in to a bowl. Finally place the flour in a separate bowl. Remove goat cheese from fridge. First roll goat cheese into flour then in to the egg mixture. Finally roll into the herb and panko bread mixture. Repeat this until all goat cheese are done. Heat olive oil and butter and cook goat cheese for 2 minutes each side or on till golden brown on both sides. Serve warm.

Buttermilk Dressing
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup buttermilk
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 sliced green onion
1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
1 tsp tarragon leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Jar with tightly fitting lid

In a food processor or blender combine the mayonnaise, buttermilk, garlic, green onion, parsley and tarragon leaves. Blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to jar. Refrigerate overnight before using.

To serve:

On a large plate, drizzle the buttermilk dressing. Place three of fried green tomatoes in the center of the plate, like a flat "triangle". Place two of the goat cheese balls on either side of the tomatoes. In center of plate, garnish with wild arugula or frisee that has been lightly tossed in the buttermilk dressing. Enjoy!

Calendar Buzz

From August through October, experience harvest season with
Napa Valley Adventure Tours
on their Friday Night biking and culinary tour. The tour starts at Oxbow Public Market and then participants cycle to wineries for tastings, and stop off at an organic garden like Jacobsen Orchards (cultivators of organic escargot for French Laundry) to pick produce for the night. The tour ends in a vineyard where chefs prepare dinner, including the produce you harvested.