Food Notes

Afton vineyards plans its Winter Open House
Afton Mountain Vineyards will present its Winter Open House from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The farm winery will offer barrel tastings of its 2008 wines and formally release two 2007 wines — Barrel Select Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. The vineyard also will re-release the 2005 and 2006 Cabernet Franc and the 2005 Old Vine Cabernet Sauvignon.
Shinko Corpora’s minestrone will be served and winery tours will be conducted.
Admission is free.  For information, call (540) 456-8667.

PCA rolls out the carpet for Art Drinks tonight
Piedmont Council of the Arts will present Art Drinks at Zinc from 5:30 to 7:30 this evening. The event at Zinc Bistro gives art lovers the chance to share drinks and conversation on the second Wednesday of each month. There will be drink specials and the chance to win prizes. For details, visit www.
charlottesvillearts.org or call 971-ARTS.

Savor French flavor at the Clifton on Thursday
Clifton will host a “France Meets Virginia” Wine Dinner on Thursday that will feature side-by-side comparisons of various vintages hosted by winemaker Michael Shaps.
A four-course dinner with wine pairings has been designed and prepared by Clifton executive chef Dean Maupin.
The evening will begin with passed canape hors d’oeuvres.
The first course will be Nantucket Bay scallops with artisan Italian sausage, celery root and sweet bell pepper nage. The second course is carnaroli risotto with wild mushrooms and Virginia pecorino. The third course is slow-braised beef short-rib “stew” with fall root vegetables and fontina polenta. The fourth course is a selection of artisan cheeses.
The event is $79 per person, exclusive of tax and gratuity. To learn more or make reservations, call 971-1800.

‘Cookie Man’s’ house is open at the Doubletree
Doubletree Hotel will present its third annual Greg’s House fundraiser kickoff and family fun event from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. today.
There will be complimentary hot cider and snacks. Guests can meet Gregory Holder, Doubletree’s popular “cookie man,” and see the 10-foot “Greg’s House,” sponsored by the hotel and Lowe’s, outside the hotel’s front entrance with real-life toy soldiers. The 2008 edition of the Doubletree’s gingerbread village and the 12-foot lighted tree in the lobby also can be seen. Signature Doubletree cookies will be available for $1 each. All proceeds will benefit Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville.
Holder was introduced to the Doubletree by William Monroe High School’s special education program. During the past three years, he has become an integral employee and is the Doubletree’s primary cookie chef. During the past three years, he has baked more than 90,000 Doubletree chocolate chip cookies.
Greg’s House will be on display through New Year’s Day.

Todd Jurich will be attending Food Experience
The International Food and Wine Experience of Charlottesville will welcome celebrity chef Todd Jurich, who will design the menu and prepare the Gala Dinner for the inaugural event from Jan. 23 to 25 in downtown Charlottesville.
Jurich has more than 27 years of experience cooking in the Tidewater area, culminating in Todd’s Bistro in downtown Norfolk. A mostly self-made chef, he has been cooking professionally since 1976. He attended the Lausanne School of Cooking in Switzerland and the Thai Cooking School at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok.
He won the first of his 20 local Portfolio “Golden Fork” Awards while cooking in his own Iron Gate House in Virginia Beach in 1983. Jurich opened Todd’s Bistro in 1992, offering a seasonal menu with heirloom vegetables from small producers across Virginia and an expanding global market. The restaurant was featured in 1999 on the “Dining Around” show in the Food Network. Visit http://www.ifweoc.com for details.

Brunch will be served at DelFosse Vineyards
DelFosse Vineyards and Winery will serve its Winter Holiday Brunch at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
DelFosse wines will be served with a menu by Genevieve DelFosse, and there will be a 10 percent discount on wines purchased at the event.
The event is $35 per person and includes a wine glass. Reservations are required. For information, visit www.
delfossewine.com or call 263-6100.

Bookshop will host wine and cheese tasting
New Dominion Bookshop will have a wine and cheese tasting from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in conjunction with the sale of Chiles T.A. Larson’s “Barboursville Vineyards — Crafting Great Wines Inspired by Spirits of the Past.”
Wines from Barboursville Vineyards and cheeses from Caromont Farm will be available for sample tasting and purchase.
Among the wines will be Barboursville Vineyards Octagon, the most honored red wine in Virginia, plus the San Francisco gold-medal-winning Phileo, the Cabernet Franc, the Viognier Reserves and the Pinot Grigio, the most honored white wine in Virginia.
Three of Caromont Farm’s aged cheeses will be available. Gail Hobbs-Page will be on hand to present the Esmontonian, a 5-month-old tomme de chevre currently featured at the Palladio Restaurant; an aged Caromont Crottin, a small 4-ounce coin of cheese that has been maturing in olive oil infused with Mediterranean herbs from Harvest Thyme Herbs in Staunton; and a holiday spread, also featured at Palladio, of Caromont’s Farmstead Chevre infused with local honey. For information, call 295-2552.

South River will showcase local wines
South River Restaurant and Wine Shop offers a free wine tasting from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday featuring wines from Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard.
South River also will have Holiday High Tea at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Five courses will be featured. For reservations and information, visit http://www.southrivergrill.com or call (540) 942-5567.

Rock Against Hunger benefits the food bank
Rock Against Hunger, a benefit concert for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank Network, begins 8 p.m. Saturday at Uncle Charlie’s Smokehouse in Crozet.
Catfish Jones, a group of veteran Charlottesville-area musicians, will perform its trademark guitar-centric “free-range rock” and collect donations for the Thomas Jefferson Area Food Bank. Admission is $3, or five non-perishable food items. For information, call (540) 248-3663.

From staff reports

Charlottesville Cooking School will present “Christmas Feast in Sicily (Seven Fishes) with Marisa Catalano at 6 p.m. Friday for $78.
The class will cover oysters on the half-shell, chilled shrimp and calamari salad, bacala and potatoes, linguine with white clam sauce, linguine with mussels, salt-crusted red snapper and struffoli.
A class for children ages 6 to 10, “Traditional Scottish Shortbread” with Martha Stafford, will be at 10 a.m. Saturday for $35. Stafford will share the homemade technique that has been handed down through generations of her family. The class also will make hot cocoa from scratch, and each child will take home a shortbread wrapped as a gift.
A “Traditional French Croquembouche” holiday pastry class with Tom Whitehead will be 10:30 a.m. Sunday for $65.
The spectacular cone-shaped confection consists of tiers of choux buns filled with enriched creme patisserie and embellished with caramel. It is placed on a stand of nougatine and accented with spun sugar and poured sugar wings.
“Hearty Winter Stews” with Erik Speer will be at 6 p.m. Sunday for $65.
The class will cover beef bourguignon with fresh rosemary, spiced lentil mulligatawny, crock pot-perfect sausage, apple and sauerkraut stew and gingerbread pudding with crème anglaise.
A “Buche de Noel” holiday pastry class with Whitehead will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday for $65.
Whitehead will teach how to make the whimsical, traditional French dessert by turning a simple sponge cake into a Yule log with piped ganache “bark” and marzipan “mushrooms.”
Learn more at http://www.charlottesvillecookingschool.com or call 963-COOK.

From staff reports