Sonoma’s newest chili cookoff draws 200 visitors to Cline Family Cellars

Six Wine Country chefs squared off Sunday afternoon at Sonoma County’s newest chili cook-off, a fundraising event hosted by Cline Family Cellars in Sonoma.

The event, which drew about 200 guests from all over the Bay Area, paired Cline wines with a diverse array of chili concoctions that included a Texas-style, beanless chili called Hillbilly Chili by “Big John” Herkins and Natalie Tobler of Downtown Joe’s Brewery & Restaurant in Napa and a White Chicken Chili by Shirley Morovich, who owns a small-scale catering business in Sonoma called Superbloom Kitchen.

While sipping chili-paired white and red Cline wines, guests were given about two hours to sample all six chili creations before submitting a vote for their favorite dish. The event helped raise funds for World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that provides meals in response to humanitarian crises and natural disasters.

Hilary Cline, who does marketing for her family’s business, said many of the chefs were eager to participate when they found out funds would be raised for World Central Kitchen. Cline said about $3,000 was likely raised for the nonprofit.

“We're so grateful to the chefs for participating,” she said. “It’s all for a good cause.”

Several attendees said the competition was stiff.

Ben Lacy, executive chef at Napa Valley Marriott Hotel and Spa, entered his Smokehouse Brisket and Pulled Pork Chili, which he started off by smoking tomatoes to give the dish a solid “baseline of flavor.“

Big John was quick to point out that his “real Texas-style chili” included a brisket smoked for 10 hours with oak and hickory. Conor Esser, the chef at Kitchen Door in Napa, used an intricately made adobo of guajillo, pasilla and cascabel chiles for his KD Three Beef Chili.

“The main ingredient in chili are chili (peppers) so I made that the main focus,” Esser said.

Todd Humphries, the owner of Kitchen Door, said they were eager to be part of any kind of fundraising for World Central Kitchen.

Ashley and Clinton Huntsman, owners of G Street Kitchen, a catering business in Napa, entered their “Netflix & Chili,” a play on the popular slang term whose meaning usually does not involve eating chili.

In the end, Ari Weiswasser, chef and owner of the popular Glen Ellen Star, took home the chili cookoff trophy with his guajillo-cocoa chili with cranberry beans and blood orange olive oil.

Weiswasser said his catering business, Park Avenue Catering, does a bit of business with Cline and when he heard that the winery would be hosting a chili cook-off he thought it would be a “fun Sunday event.”

Second place went to Conor Esser and Todd Humphries’ chili and third place went to Morovich’s White Chicken Chili.

Nanda Sinha and Patty Sinha, of Benicia, were rooting for Big John’s Texas-style chili, which he said was paired with a Cline Petite Syrah.

Alexandra Wines, of Fairfax, brought her partner Gary Ross and her white, 6-month-old terrier mix Oliver to the event. Wines said she visited Clines Family Cellars last weekend and became a club member.

When they received news about the event via email they decided to come back. She voted for Esser’s KD Three Beef Chili. “You felt like you could, like you wanted to eat a whole bowl.”

The chili samples weren’t too big and were served in small bowls. After the event, a burp or two could be heard on the way to the parking lot.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.