New Year's Eve Celebrations

Looking for a perfect way to ring in 2025? We have 5 festive ideas that pair perfectly with CRU Wines!

 

Fondue Night

Break out the fondue pot for this cheesy event. Dip apples, fresh vegetables, bread, summer sausage and more in cheese fondue.

Expert pairing: CRU Winery SLH Chardonnay

 

Crab Feed

Spread newspaper on the table and break out the crab legs, butter and corn for a delicious evening.

Expert pairing: CRU Winery Sierra Madre Vineyard Chardonnay

 

Black Tie

Pull out all the stops and put on a Black Tie affair. Dress to the nines, decorate with black and gold accessories and put together a menu to remember, complete with bacon wrapped filet and caviar.

Expert pairing: CRU Winery Solomon Hills Vineyard Chardonnay & Pinot Noir 

 

Wine Tasting

Host a wine tasting for your friends and family! Select 4 different wines, we recommend a mix of red and white. Line the wines up lightest to heaviest for the best pairing experience. Want to make it even more memorable? Pour the wine in black glasses and have your guests guess the varietal.

Expert pairing: Highlight a variety of wines with different flavor profiles such as Sierra Madre Vineyard Pinot Gris, North Canyon Viognier, Sarmento Vineyard Chardonnay, Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir and Rancho Real Vineyard GSM.

 

Appetizers and Desserts

Why bother with the full meal? Just stick to appetizers and desserts! This celebration is even more fun when done as a potluck, have everyone bring one appetizer and one dessert and dig in.

Expert pairing: CRU Winery Regan Vineyards Pinot Noir

Brie and Goat Cheese Jam Bites

This easy and delicious appetizer is the perfect bite to pair with Grenache or Pinot Noir!

To draw out the earthy flavors of the wine, we used two savory jams, caramelized onion and bourbon bacon. These savory jams are available at most fine food stores.

Ingredients:

• 2 Sheets Puff Pastry
• Caramelized Onion Jam
• Bourbon Bacon Jam
• Goat Cheese, cut into small bites
• Brie Cheese, cut into small bites
• Phresh finishing salt

Directions:

1. Lay out defrosted puff pastry and cut into squares about 2" x 2".
2. Put puff pastry squares into mini muffin tin coated with non-stick cooking spray, pressing down slightly.
3. Press goat cheese into half of puff pastry squares.
4. Repeat with Brie cheese in other half of puff pastry squares.
5. Top with caramelized onion or bourbon bacon jam (we topped half with caramelized onion and half with bourbon bacon jam).
6. Bake at directions on puff pastry dough (we baked at 350 degrees for 15 minutes).
7. Remove from oven and sprinkle with Phresh finishing salt.
8. Serve with CRU Winery Pinot Noir or Grenache.

Fall Grazing Table

Entertaining this fall? Check out this fall grazing table, it’s festive, delicious and will impress all your fall guests. We incorporated a few small fall details to really make it stand out. With savory and sweet elements, it’s perfect for pairing with CRŪ Winery Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Late Harvest Viognier.

Cheeses
We selected rich and savory cheeses for this fall board:
Caramelized Onion Cheddar, Beer Gouda (a semi soft cheese washed in beer), Brie topped with Blackberry Jam and Caramelized Onion Goat Cheese.

Meats
Prosciutto and Salami

Fruits
We chose seasonal fruits with big flavors.
Pears and Golden Berries.

Crackers
There’s a lot of big flavors on this board so we chose simple water crackers.

Accompaniments
Candied Pecans, Dried Cranberries, Fig Spread, Hot Honey.
We also added in maple cookies and seasonal chocolates for a sweet element.

Fall Elements
What really makes this board stand out are the festive fall elements. We carved a small pumpkin and used it to hold hot honey, used a pumpkin cookie cutter to cut a decorative element on the Brie, added pumpkin shaped Brie bites (see our reel on how to assemble these delicious bites) and chose leaf and pumpkin shaped sweets.

CRU Winery Santa Lucia Highlands Tasting Room Becomes Blue Zones Certified

CRŪ Winery is proud to share they have been designated a certified Blue Zones tasting room at their Santa Lucia Highlands location. This impressive certification recognizes CRU Winery for actively implementing lifestyle changes and environmental modifications to promote longevity and overall well-being. 

CRU Winery has been active with the Blue Zones Project since 2023, with a monthly hiking series at the CRU Winery tasting room in Soledad. This series inspired the winery to complete the certification process which addressed four pillars consistent with promoting overall well-being. With this certification, CRU Winery becomes the first tasting room in Monterey County to achieve a Blue Zones certification.

As a part of the Blue Zones pillar of moving naturally, CRU Winery will once again be teaming up with Valley Farm Management and Blue Zones Project Monterey County to offer their monthly hiking series at the CRU Winery Santa Lucia Highlands tasting room. Participants will hike through the sustainably farmed Paraiso Vineyard learning more about the importance of growing wines sustainably and then end with a tasting of CRU's award-winning wines.  

 

About Sarmento Vineyard

Located in the Monterey's Santa Lucia Highlands, CRU Winery has sourced wine from the Sarmento Vineyard and had a close relationship with the Smith Family (who own and farm the land) for over 10 years. 

The Smith Family have been growing grapes in the Santa Lucia Highlands for over 40 years and are considered pioneers of the Santa Lucia Highlands. Rich Smith, the founder of Valley Farm Management, was integral in establishing the Santa Lucia Highlands as an AVA in 1991. 

The Sarmento Vineyard is located in the middle of the Santa Lucia Highlands bench and sits 600 feet above the Salinas Valley floor. CRU winemaker, Jose Reyes, has been working with the Sarmento Vineyard for over 10 years. During this time, he has had the pleasure of working with various sections of the vineyard and identifying which areas of the Sarmento Vineyard produce the best grapes. Block 19, the highest point on the Sarmento Vineyard, has long been his favorite location for Pinot Noir and in 2022 he crafted the Sarmento Vineyard Pinot Noir exclusively from Block 19. 

With its close proximity to the ocean and Monterey Bay, cool winds are funneled into the vineyard providing a long, cool growing season ideal for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. 

Jose's Winemaking Journey with Regan Vineyards

When it comes to his journey in winemaking, CRŪ winemaker Jose Reyes credits his introduction to the business to the historic Bargetto Winery and Regan Vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains. As a young man, Jose used to pass the winery on his way to work and his passion for winemaking was ignited.

He met with the winery owner and began working at the winery the next day. A quick learner, Jose was incredibly hands-on working in the cellar, on the bottling line, harvesting and learning everything he could about crafting high quality Central Coast wines. During his time at Bargetto Winery, he had the opportunity to explore and make wines from Regan Vineyards and their famous Mt. Eden clone.

Jose moved on to work at other wineries but he often thought back to Regan Vineyards. Situated atop a hilly knoll in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Regan Vineyards receives cool breezes off the Monterey Bay and its hilltop setting delivers consistent sun exposure. These combine with unique soils and mountainous topography for wines rich in flavor with bright acidity.

“My very first introduction to wine was Regan Vineyards. After my first harvest I was hooked, and I knew I wanted to be a winemaker. Regan Vineyards has always been a vineyard I wanted to make wine from and I am excited to now craft CRŪ Winery Regan Vineyards Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the Mt. Eden Clone." This is a great moment for me to honor my winemaking roots while sharing this amazing wine with our members.” Jose Reyes, CRŪ Winemaker.