If you’re looking for the best Napa food and wine pairing, just wait until you see this amazing Napa Valley winery 5-course tasting fit for a Queen. Before planning our Napa Valley travel feature, I knew I wanted to experience the best Napa food and wine pairing available. In fact, when scouring the internet you’ll find numerous wineries offering a variety of choices, but none are quite as spectacular as the pairing at Del Dotto.
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What to expect when visiting Napa Valley
For the most part, you will likely be able to visit two, or maybe three wineries per day. The wineries in Napa are very spread out and can be a 30-40 minute drive to get from one winery to the next. If you want to get the most out of your experience, I highly recommend skipping lunch and dinner reservations and opting for an amazing Napa food and wine pairing instead.
The Piazza Del Dotto Delicacies Paring
With that being said, all food and wine pairings are not created equal. The Piazza Del Dotto Delicacies Pairing truly hits it out of the park. For the value of only $125 per person, you will leave with your bellies full and your palettes quenched.
Chef Joshua Schwartz
The Piazza Del Dotto offers the most in-depth Napa Food and Wine pairing with masterful culinary dishes created by their innovative executive chef Joshua Schwartz, formerly of The French Laundry. Thoughtful dishes are created ranging from house-cured salumi, slow-braised meats, and vegetables from their garden.
The Del Dotto Family
The Del Dotto family lives and works in Napa Valley, overseeing the operations of their three wineries: Historic Del Dotto, Del Dotto Estate, and Piazza Del Dotto. They focus on small-production premium wines and furthermore spent over 25 years acquiring the best vineyards in the area.
The Piazza Del Dotto
This Napa food and wine pairing is located at the Piazza Del Dotto; a beautiful Italian Inspired Barchessa surrounded by 8.5 acres of cabernet sauvignon grapes. Surrounding the property are al fresco-tasting cabanas, vegetable gardens, and 17th-century fountains. They even have turkeys, peacocks, pheasants, and doves on their property.
Napa Food and Wine Pairing Details
The setting is absolutely breathtaking and as a result, every guest will feel like they are sipping fine wines in a hidden Tuscany garden. Furthermore, the Delicacies Tasting offers a 90-minute full sensory experience of seven premium wine tastings, accompanied by five small plates.
Pairings feature the very best ingredients from Petrossian caviar, to Snake River Farms beef, and vegetables sourced from their Estate garden. To sum up the experience, the Delicacies Pairing finishes with their port and cheese or dessert.
Amuse Bouche
First, our experience began with the most beautiful amuse bouche. Now, this is what I call a presentation. The soup was composed of a delicious cream blended together with almonds, butter, and a few other secret ingredients.
First Course – Caviar Chicharrones
Following our amuse bouche, Chef Joshua brought us an extra special first course of caviar topped chicharrones. Our delicate bite was paired with the Piazza Del Dotto 2016 Sparkling Brut Rose. This was the perfect beginning for our culinary adventure.
Second Course – Steelhead Salmon Omelet
For the second course, we sampled a steelhead salmon and roe omelet with Redwood top crema. We also paired this with the delicious Sparkling Brut Rose. The Rose exuded nuances of Linzer torte, crushed raspberry preserves, baby wild strawberries, and graham cracker with a hint of creamy vanilla bean on the crispy, clean finish.
Third Course – Chesapeake Bay Soft Sheel Crab
Next, my favorite course featured a Chesapeake Bay soft shell crab with local asparagus, and Mousserone mushrooms, in a light hollandaise sauce. The flavors were outstanding and paired beautifully with their 2016 Del Dotto Chardonnay from their Sonoma Coast Vineyard. This standout Chardonnay offered layers and layers of fruit, spice, and minerality.
Fourth Course – Lobster Rolls
Then, as an extra special treat, Chef Joshua also prepared his famous New England Lobster Rolls. Being from the East Coast, the chef takes great pride in creating cuisine that is authentic and nostalgic to his upbringing. You can taste his passion for the culinary arts in each bite.
Fifth Course – Bronze die Radiatore Pasta
Our server labeled the 2012 Del Dotto Pinot Noir the perfect “Patio Pounder”. Of course, I couldn’t agree more. This wine exploded with rich expressions of chocolate-covered cherries, fresh tea leaves, and wild mushrooms. As shown above, it was paired with a housemade Bronze die Radiatore pasta, Bresaola e ricotta di buffalo, garden fennel, and estate olives. Absolutely delicious!
Sixth Course – Wagyu Sliders
Finally, our last official pairing was the 2013 Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon. Sure to be a favorite among guests, this Cabernet was served with Snake River Farms Wagyu Beef Sliders. Our sliders were also served with the most fragrant truffle topped tater tots. Each bite was pure heaven. I could have sat at that table forever, savoring each truffle-coated bite.
Charcuterie
Accompanying our Wagyu sliders was a smooth cold marble slab with freshly sliced charcuterie. All of their meats are cured in-house!
Seventh Course – Dessert Pairings
We concluded our evening with a delicious dessert pairing. The 2013 Piazza Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve was paired with a fantastic Spumoni Sundae.
Dessert Wine Chocolate Shots
Afterward, we also took chocolate shots of their Del Dotto Dolores Red Dessert Wine to cap off our fantastic experience. The Dolores featured very ripe, rich essences of currants and blueberries complimented with notes of cedar and leather.
As you can see, if you are looking for the best Napa food and wine pairing, Piazza Del Dotto will exceed all expectations. Moreover, to say I was blown away would be an understatement. Not only were the wines exceptional, but the food pairings were luxurious and expertly crafted. Thus, you better believe every trip to Napa will include a visit to this fantastic Italian-inspired winery.
Piazza Del Dotto Winery
7466 St. Helena Hwy.
Napa, CA 94558
by appointment only
Monday – Thursday 11am – 5pm
Friday – Sunday 11am – 6pm
Delicacies Pairing: $225
Guests will begin with a group barrel tasting in our marble lined cave of approximately 5 of our highly rated world wines. You will then be seated at a table to enjoy a welcome bite plus 4 luxurious small plates paired with 5 pours of bottled wine. Please allow approximately 2.5 hours for the experience. If you have any dietary restrictions, please let them know in advance.
Reservations & Details:
Please call (707) 963-2134 to make a reservation or learn more about our tasting options.
Sondra Barker
