Category Archives: New Products

More Summery Sips

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The 2023 Arkenstone Estate Blanc exudes complexity.
The 2023 Arkenstone Estate Blanc exudes complexity.

2023 Arkenstone Howell Mountain Estate Blanc

A hefty, dark bottle and a $145 price tag lets you know immediately that this white wine is unequivocally built for aging.

But with seriously warm evenings this summer plus the belief that there’s no time like now, I didn’t hesitate to uncork a bottle of the 2023 Arkenstone Howell Mountain Estate Blanc when a sample landed on my porch.

Produced by the family-owned winery in Angwin on Napa Valley’s Howell Mountain, it’s an elegant wine in the style of classic white wines of Bordeaux.

The 12-acre estate is perched on steep, rocky land with a dry climate. Its hallmark are white wines that exude minerality, and this one is no exception.

It is 93 percent Sauvignon Blanc and 7 percent Semillon that’s been aged 18 months in a concrete egg and French oak. The Semillon rounds off the sharp edges of the wine’s acidity and minerality, and adds a weightiness to make this a rather full-body wine.

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Summer Sips

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A Sauvignon Blanc that drinks like a Chardonnay.
A Sauvignon Blanc that drinks like a Chardonnay.

2023 Larkmead Lillie Napa Valley Estate Sauvignon Blanc

Summer heat may beg for chilled wines. But that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice oomph and lush body.

Not when you uncork a bottle of the 2023 Larkmead Lillie Napa Valley Estate Sauvignon Blanc, of which I received a sample.

It’s 100 percent Sauvignon Blanc but made in a Bordeaux-style, meaning it’s not only rich tasting but full-bodied.

Fermented in new oak barrels, this isn’t your racy New Zealand-style Sauvignon Blanc with searing acidity. Instead, this is a wine that lushly fragrant with grapefruit and white flowers that tastes of lemon curd, milk bread,, and melon, and boasts a flinty quality. Highly regarded, it’s been described by others as a “Sauvignon Blanc that drinks like a Chardonnay.” Though, thankfully, without being achingly oaky.

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Kettle Chips That Make You Sit Up and Take Notice

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You won't believe the incredible flavor of these chips.
You won’t believe the incredible flavor of these chips.

Crunch down on one of these thin, crispy kettle chips and you are in for a shock.

It tastes exactly like the juiciest and perfectly seasoned steak.

When I stopped in at Journeyman Meat Co. in Healdsburg recently to buy some of its very fine sausages, I also happened to pick up a bag of Snake River Farms Wagyu Beef Tallow Kettle Chips. Smart move of the store to put them right by the register.

These chips contain only three ingredients: Just Idaho potatoe fried in Wagyu beef tallow, then seasoned with Rocky Mountain salt.

And wow, are they something else.

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A Visit to the New Hestan Napa

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Australian Wagyu carpaccio served at Hestan Napa.
Australian Wagyu carpaccio served at Hestan Napa.

It’s a retail store, a wine bar, and a restaurant — all in one.

If you only gave Hestan Napa a quick glance, though, you might think it only a high-end kitchen appliance store, what with a gleaming demonstration kitchen filled with its cookware right beyond its doors, plus a Hestan grill loaded with all the bells and whistles that can be yours for $17,500.

But if you walked farther in, you’d see shelves of its shiny, pricey pots and pans for sale; and beyond that a sleek wine tasting bar with chairs; and even farther in, a well-appointed dining room plus a large outdoor dining patio for its restaurant.

Chef Mark Dommen.
Chef Mark Dommen.

At the helm of this new restaurant, which opened in November 2025? None other than Chef Mark Dommen, who held a Michelin star at the now-shuttered One Market in San Francisco for five years. It’s a signal that this restaurant isn’t just some nonchalant Wine Country way-stop but an establishment that aims to be taken seriously.

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Prince Panettone Has The Royal Touch

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Prince Panettone's Triple Chocolate Raspberry flavor.
Prince Panettone’s Triple Chocolate Raspberry flavor.

While working at the fine-dining Honolulu restaurant, Senia, in 2018, C.K. Flannigan had his mind blown.

That was when Mimi Mendoza, the restaurant’s pastry chef, ordered a From Roy panettone from the Bay Area to share with colleagues, and insisted that Flannigan try it.

The exquisite pricey treat ($109) has built a reputation far and wide for its rich, buttery taste and its feathery, cotton candy-like ethereal texture. At a time when most off-the-shelf Italian panettone could be had for $20 to $30, Roy Shvartzapel elevated not only the price, but the standards for the specialty sweet bread. While a staple at Christmas and Easter, he dared to sell it year-round.

Flannigan, who’d spent his time on the savory and bread-making sides of a professional kitchen, was floored from the get-go by the quality of From Roy’s panettone.

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