Mendocino Wine & Mushroom Fest: Wine, train, shrooms & more
This is my favorite time of the year. The vineyards are turning color and, in celebration of Mendocino’s grape and wild mushroom harvests the Mendocino County Wine & Mushroom Fest takes place from Nov. 4 through 13 in dozens of events throughout the county. As someone who had a role in creating this one-of-a-kind celebration in 2000, I know how exciting it is to experience the sight of magical fungi in all their stunning shapes and colors in our forests and on plates in restaurants around the county.
Robust porcini, buttery chanterelles, essence-of-the-sea oysters, hint-of-maple candy caps and truffle-like black trumpets are some of the wild mushrooms picked in coastal and inland forests. During the 10-day fest Mendocino’s wild mushrooms are featured at dinners, winery pairings, guided walks, art shows, educational exhibits, musical events and more activities detailed in a 20-page brochure from Visit Mendocino County.
Nowhere is the experience more concentrated than going on the Wine & Mushroom Fest’s signature event, the Wine & Mushroom train next Saturday, Nov. 5. This Skunk Train fundraiser for Howard Hospital includes the train ride from Willits or Fort Bragg to Camp Mendocino, a mushroom dish cookoff with celebrity judges from publications around the country, a walk in the woods (which should be rewarding given the recent rains and warm temperatures), a tasting of Mendocino County’s best mushroom loving wines, a cooking
demonstration and live and silent auctions.
As a bonus, Eric Schramm of Mendocino Mushrooms, a local company that ships up to 60,000 pounds of wild mushrooms from Mendocino to restaurants and vendors throughout the world, will showcase a dazzling array of wild mushrooms and share his expertise.
Celebrity judges include: Sara Schneider, Sunset Magazine; Katie Arnold Ratliffe, O, The Oprah Magazine; Gibson Thomas, edible Marin & Wine Country; Diane Werner, Taste of Home; Elizabeth Turner, Vegetarian Times; and Sue Elliott, Popular Plates. The Mendocino Wine & Mushroom Train takes off at 10 a.m. and returns by 5 p.m.
Mendocino’s 11th Wine & Mushroom Fest kicks off on Friday, Nov. 5 with a walking tour at Seabiscuit’s famed Ridgewood Ranch beginning at 2 p.m. and a reception at Parducci Wine Cellars at 4:30 p.m.
Mushrooms will be on menus at venues from tasting rooms to art galleries including Art Center Ukiah, Enoteca Wine Bar and West Side Renaissance Market. In addition to mushroom dishes throughout the festival at local restaurants, including Oco Time and the Ukiah Brewing Company, there are some extraordinary winemaker dinners around Ukiah (as well as more in Willits, Anderson Valley and on the coast from Fort Bragg to Gualala).
Here is a sampling:
On Saturday, Nov. 5, Jaxon Keys winery presents a multi-course wine and mushroom dinner with winemaker Fred Nickel at its picturesque farmhouse.
Also on Saturday McDowell Valley Vineyards’ winemaker will pour his Rhone-style wines to go with appetizers at Branches Restaurant.
Wine & Brunch will be served at the Mendocino County Museum in Willits on Sunday morning, Nov. 6 at 10 a.m. It includes a talk and exhibit on Mendocino’s winemaking history.
Sunday evening, Nov. 6 finds Maple Creek wines at the Buckhorn Boonville as the “Mushroom Man,” Eric Schramm, joins winemaker Tom Rodrigues for a five-course mushroom dinner in Anderson Valley.
Thursday, Nov. 10 offers a variety of events. At noon, Mendocino College’s Culinary Arts Program students will present their specialties until 2 p.m. for a small donation. Another is at Sip! Mendocino in Hopland, which features Mendocino wines to go with tasty mushroom appetizers, at its monthly Thirsty Thursday from 5-8 p.m.
Nov. 10 is also the date for two wine dinners: One at Patrona where Chef Craig Strattman creates a perfectly paired dinner with Mendocino wine and stars Mendocino Mushroom’s Eric Schramm, also known as “the fun-guy.” The other at Frey Vineyards is at the family ranch in Redwood Valley, where their biodynamic wine will be paired with locally raised organic ingredients and music.
On Saturday, Nov. 12, two more wine dinners take place. “Jazz in the Round,” a Roaring 20s style Swingin’ and Sippin’ extravaganza is the theme of Barra of Mendocino’s five course meal at the winery in Redwood Valley. And Milano Family Winemaker hosts a dinner at Branches in Ukiah.
The 20-page Mendocino Wine & Mushroom Fest program includes a winery Passport to have stamped at the 38 participating wineries and entered into a drawing for an overnight at Parducci Wine Cellars guest house or at the Weller House Inn in Fort Bragg.
This is only a sampling of the multitude of wine and mushroom events coming up. For tickets to the Skunk Train’s Wine Train contact www.mendowine.com, call 866-45-SKUNK (457-5865) or www.SkunkTrain.com. For a listing of all of the events that take place during the 10-day Wine & Mushroom Festival, contact Visit Mendocino at www.visitmendocino.com. In addition, the colorful brochure can be found at tasting rooms, chambers of commerce, stores and restaurants around the county.
Heidi Cusick Dickerson writes Wine Notes on behalf of the Mendocino Winegrape and Wine Commission.
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