Known for it’s award-winning Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Lynmar Estate is home to some of the most beautiful scenery in the area. The sprawling gardens are home to a variety of gorgeous foliage and flowers and a farmer’s market-like atmosphere that makes you never want to leave. With lush greenery spanning as far as the eye can see, you almost forget that you came for the wine! It only makes sense that this enchanting estate, sitting on multiple acres of 40-year old vines, also houses one of the most delicious luncheons we’ve ever attended. The menu is switched a few times during the summer to maintain the freshness of the ingredients, typical of Northern California considering we are the Farm to Fork Capital. When we attended the Picnic Pairing, we were invited to munch on some tasty treats while enjoying sips of their most famous wine selections.
We started out on Organic Popcorn, sprinkled with a healthy heaping of lemon verbena and vanilla salt. Woah. It’s going to be tough going back to microwaved popcorn after that dish. Next we cozied up to a delectable Summer Harvest Salad featuring mixed baby lettuces, scarlet radish, Persian cucumber, and heirloom tomatoes, drizzled with a fresh apricot-basil vinaigrette. Both of these beautiful starters were curated to perfectly match the wine selections, Russian River Chardonnay 2012, and Russian River Pinot Noir 2013. As satisfied as we were with the tiny tastes, we were excited to see our entree, the Lynmar Estate’s Signature Gourmet Sandwich. Not your typical sando, this plate was made up of grilled, local organic chicken breast, beautifully marinated in fresh garden herbs and laid on the fluffiest Village Bakery foccacia. Is your mouth watering yet? No? Did we mention that atop the perfectly cooked chicken breast was melty Fiscalini cheddar, lightly pickled torpedo onions, baby arugula, and the most delicious blackberry-chive aioli? There it is. There’s the salivation. After we finished licking our fingers, we were treated to an assortment of goodies like Elephant Heart plum sugar cookies and Scharffen Berger chocolate sable cookies. As if we needed to chow down any more, we gobbled those up too.
The beautifully and thoughtfully designed menu was curated by Lynmar Estate’s residential chef, David Frakes. His eye for creativity and culinary expression left us with full bellies and a longing to live on the estate with all of that wonderful food and wine. We’re sure to return upon the next alteration of the menu!
