Pleasant afternoon, sumptuous feast at Taste of Sonoma

The Taste of Sonoma, the premier tasting event of the three-day Sonoma Wine Country Weekend, welcomed 2,500 guests Saturday to the rustic MacMurray Ranch Estate Vineyards in Healdsburg under sunny skies and mild temperatures in the low 80s.

Guests arriving just after the gates opened at 11 a.m. were greeted by upbeat tunes by bluegrass band Whisky Richards as they waited in a long line to get into the event, which cost $165 per person.

“Last year, it was incredibly hot, but this year it’s perfect,” said Dan Cress of Santa Rosa. “I volunteer every year, and I’ve been here since 6:30 a.m. Now I get to enjoy the fruits of my labor.”

Inside the ranch where the late actor Fred MacMurray used to cast his fly rod into the Russian River, the guests enjoyed the fruits of the labor of 200 local wineries and 60 local chefs serving up the best of what Sonoma County has to offer.

“Where else can you taste so many wines at one time,” asked Lori Salemi of Richmond. “Where else can you taste Dry Creek, Sonoma, Russian River and the Alexander Valley in one day, without having to drive around?”

Mark and Terri Stark, who served as culinary chairs of this year’s Sonoma Wine Country Weekend, wandered through the crowd before Stark gave a cooking demo at 3:30 p.m.. The couple plan to open their sixth restaurant, Bird & the Bottle, in Santa Rosa in about two weeks.

“On a day like today, it’s rosé, rosé, rosé,” said Mark, filling up his glass with the pink wine from Inman Family Wines before heading over to the central tent to demonstrate Pickled Shrimp.

With a steady breeze kicking in the afternoon, guests dressed casually in shorts, sun dresses and hats barely broke a sweat, whether they were navigating through the shade of the four appellation tents or standing in full sun, waiting for a taste of Seghesio Winery’s wildly popular barbecued ribs.

Anticipating the usual scorching temperatures, most of the chefs in the appellation tents had prepared refreshing sips and bites of cold soups, compressed watermelon and seafood ceviche for people to taste with the wines.

“When I grew up, wine came in a box at a party,” said Andrew McCoy of Santa Rosa. “This is a great opportunity to try some things, and the food pairings have been miraculous, especially the watermelon with the rosé.”

Under each tent, there were several “Perfect Pairings,” with chefs preparing dishes to go with a specific wine. Tim Vallery of Peloton Catering in Healdsburg prepared a Mint-Scented Compressed Watermelon with Crispy Cured Ham and Cotija cheese to go with the Trione Vineyards 2014 Rose of Pinot Noir.

“It’s a Wine Country dish,” said Vallery, who vacuum-sealed the watermelon to compress it. “The rosé has a bit of kiwi and strawberry, and I thought the watermelon was a nice touch. It’s nice, and light and refreshing.”

Catherine Venturini of Olive & Vine in Glen Ellen dished out healthy tastes of Grilled Albacore with White Beans, Arugula and Salsa Genovese, to pair with Muscardini Cellars’ Rosé of Sangiovese.

“Beans, olives and fish - that reminds me of home,” said Greg Louzao of Sebastopol, a fireman with the City of Berkeley Fire Department. “Then you put the bitter arugula in there, and it’s just amazing. That’s what I love about this event. I look for dishes that I can cook at the firehouse.”

At The Marketplace, those tired of wine could sample Big River coffee and Clover ice cream, chat with farmers, enjoy a cold brew from Russian River Brewing Co. or Plow Brewing Co., a new brewery in Santa Rosa that was pouring a Sonoma Coast Pilsner and a Scythe Imperial Porter.

“There’s less of a crush this year,” said Laurie Day of the Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau. “I love that people come from all over, and this is the perfect venue.”

Bill and Amy Hayden found the event online when they were planning a trip to Sonoma County from their home in Stuart, Fla.

“We’re blown away,” Amy said. “This is our first day of our trip, and we now know where we’re going to go.”

Camiel and Brian Quicksand of Austin, Texas, attended the event as the grand finale of a Northwest road trip that started in Seattle.

“We go to the Austin Food and Wine Festival, but overall, the variety of the food and wine is better here,” said Camiel. “This event has a lot of love in it.”

The Taste of Sonoma, which only sold out on Friday, arrived in the middle of an early grape harvest this year, with many growers already having picked a good portion of the grapes.

“We brought in our last fruit today,” said Dan Kosta of his new project, AldenAlli Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. “And Kosta Browne is about at 40 percent. The yield is way down, but I’m expecting intense wines ... We’re in the fourth year of the drought, and the vines are stressed.”

In the exclusive Club Reserve area, winemaker Rod Berglund of Joseph Swan Vineyards was pouring the winery’s flagship wine, a 2012 Trenton Estate Pinot Noir.

“We can grow so many grapes here,” said Berglund, a well-known pioneer of unusual varieties. “One of the wonderful things about Sonoma County is that the chance of growing any grape and being successful is very high.”

Sonoma County Wine Country Weekend, produced by the Sonoma County Vintners and Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Allliance, wraps up its three-day celebration with Sunday’s Sonoma Harvest Wine Auction at Kenwood’s Chateau St. Jean Winery. Last year, the event raised $3.3 million for local charities that benefit students, children, farmworkers and people in need.

You can reach Staff Writer Diane Peterson at 521-5287 or diane.peterson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @dianepete56.