The art of wine & food pairing with Winery Chef, Jeff Mosher, Robert Mondavi Winery, Napa Valley

One of my dear friend is a big fan of Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc as he always told me about how he likes the dryness and refreshing of that particular wine, to me, apart from their incredible wine, I am more intrigue with their estate, the vineyard, the picturesque surroundings in the beautiful Napa Valley which is very inspiring to nurture such a precious winery jewel. Since the estate founded in 1966 by Mr. Robert Mondavi and his two sons, striving to produce the finest wine to compete with the ones from Europe, the founder himself also very passionate on educating and promoting the correlations between art and wine, by meaning ‘art’ that included not only the visual art itself like paintings and sculptures, but also music which the estate always enthusiastically organized music gatherings with their wine and music connoisseurs to have a great time, and also, gastronomy.

A glass of fine wine could taste differently with a particular kind of food, and the precision of pairing is just as delicate as creating a piece of art that requires a thoughtfulness, effort and experiment to formulate an impeccable ‘equation’ to make the entire epicurean experience much enjoyable and memorable as part of the culture of wine and food. The Winery Chef, Mr. Jeff Mosher, is such a perfect example of interpreting the estate’s philosophy about the art of wine and food pairing, since joining the estate in 2009, the talented Jeff has been in the epicurean business for more than 15 years, served as the Executive Chef in a fine dining restaurant before making his footstep in the Mondavi estate. The enthusiasm of Jeff literally shines through when he shared his passion of the signature gastronomy culture of the Mondavi’s to those who are likeminded and passionate with fine wine and qualitative food.

I met the talented and gentle Chef Jeff in a pairing dinner which he flew all the way from Napa, despite his intense travel schedule and jetlag, presenting himself in the restaurant speaking with each guests as well as going back and forth to the kitchen at the same time to check out every single dishes to ensure their impeccable presentation and quality, the effort and dedication was completely exuded from every single gesture and wordsthat this lovely gentleman expressed without any fatigue nor agitation.

The more I speak with Jeff, the more intrigue and moving I found, in Jeff’s eyes, a winery chef takes on something extra than a restaurant chef, as hebelieve that a professional winery chef requires their sensitivity,experience and intelligence on pairing the food with the particular winewith the understanding of the gastronomy chemistry and the uniquecharacteristics of the wine and the food, which is the essence and art ofwine & food pairing, of course, being in the winery offered Jeff anadvantage to experience the variety of fine wine that produced by thehouse of Mondavi, yet, the precision and attention to every details arealso a crucial part of creating an impeccable pairing menu from season toseason. Given the geographical benefit from the Napa Valley thatprovides the nature resources of getting the best and fresh ingredientsfor the menu, and, the continuous opportunity on experimentingdifferent vintages and grape variety with particular dishes, the result isthe incredibly beautiful and tasteful dishes that prepared by the talentedJeff, comes with a glass of fine Mondavi wine that paired with eachparticular dish, even without a thousands words, one can always feel thepassion and spirit that the talented chef has put into every single one of itwith his heart and dedication.

Image courtesy of Robert Mondavi Winery.

http://www.robertmondaviwinery.com/Lunch-And-Dinner-Experiences