Perfect pairings
New kitchen, innovative garden jumpstart K-J’s culinary programs
The best things in life often come in pairs. At least that’s true for Justin Wangler, the executive chef for Jackson Family Wines, who has spent the past two years refining the company’s food-andwine pairing experience in Sonoma.
Wangler, a native of Asheville, N.C., moved to California 15 years ago to work in the kitchens of the Culinary Institute of America. During that time, he developed an appreciation for winemaking.
“I, like many people, did not realize that wineries often have chefs,” says Wangler, who was working as a sous chef at Syrah in Santa Rosa when he was invited to meet the executive chef at Kendall-Jackson Wine Estate and Gardens. “It was when I was touring the estate and gardens here that I realized their chef had one of the coolest jobs I had ever seen.”
Now that job is his. And he has taken full advantage of Kendall-Jackson Estate’s enormous (and innovative) garden, the company’s extensive wine portfolio, and the freshest food available from local farmers, foragers and artisan cheese makers to create the company’s unique culinary programs.
The estate’s new, state-of-the-art kitchen gives Wangler and his staff 1,800 square feet of cooking power. Designed by Frank Muller of Muller Designs, the kitchen boasts two suites from Montague with a grill, flat top, broiler, six gas burners, two induction burners, one passthrough oven and one convection oven. It also includes a blast chiller, tilt skillet, steam jacket kettle, Woodstone (gas assist) pizza oven, double stack Rational Combi ovens and a Rondo sheeter.
“We wanted to create a comfortable space where we could host guest chefs, teach cooking classes, create recipes and digital content, and process as well as preserve produce from the gardens,” says Wangler, who also oversees culinary experiences for the company’s many wine club events, farm-to-table dinners in the garden and charity functions.
The kitchen produces a seasonal menu for the estate’s wine-and-food pairings, offered daily at the winery.
“We start by tasting our currently released wines, and then we take a look at the garden to see what produce will be available over the next few weeks,” says Wangler. “We start by building a few different dishes around the wine and narrow it down from there.”
A few of his recent favorites include whole grilled fava pods with Meyer lemon and sea salt, paired with Sauvignon
rloom tomatoes with strawand baby bush basil, paired with lemon and herb gnocchi, estate celery and poached apples, th Chardonnay. ery fortunate to collaborate a talented gardener as Tucker says Wangler. “He meets with regularly to determine what planted for the tasting menus. ows high-quality and rare vegetables, some that I’ve neven before.” an expert at certified organic g, is no stranger to collabora-thefs. He came to Jackson Fami-ly by way of Thomas Keller, rdens Taylor oversaw for five luding the design and maintehe famous 3-acre garden in e that supplies the French with its fresh produce. A culiener, Taylor collaborated with he seasonally inspired menu of lin three-star establishment, staff gathers produce each for the day’s menu. Now he’s the first director of culinary gardens for Jackson Family Wines.
Kendall-Jackson’s Healdsburg restaurant, Partake by K-J, utilizes much of Taylor’s beautiful and unique organic produce. Wangler says the menu at Partake is all about the marriage of KendallJackson wines and hyper-local food. The restaurant also offers a five-course garden tasting menu — an edible walk through the estate garden — and boasts bread made in the Kendall-Jackson kitchen from Whole Vine’s grape-skin flour.
This spring, Wangler and Taylor have collaborated on something new for Kendall-Jackson — cooking classes and demonstrations open to the public. On the third Tuesday of each month, the garden and kitchen become classrooms for guests interested in learning more about Wine Country cuisine.
Classes begin with wine tastings and tours of the garden. Participants will harvest vegetables with Taylor, then head to the kitchen for hands-on cooking classes (limited to 12 people) or cooking demonstrations (open to 40 people), which rotate monthly. The evening finishes with a family-style dinner paired with Kendall-Jackson wines.
April’s class featured a demonstration of paella making, tapas and Syrah sangria. May’s hands-on class focuses on the technique of grilling in the Big Green Egg, a kamado-style ceramic barbecue, with instruction on high- and low-temperature cooking. June’s demo is estate lamb butchering, including braising, roasting and sausage making.
“We give our guests a behind-thescenes look into our farm-to-table approach, beginning with our grapes,” says Wangler. “This one-of-a kind Wine Country experience is one that only Kendall-Jackson can offer with our farmersfirst philosophy.”