| The Wine Industry Spotlight |
| Ten Questions For Michael Chiarello |
For those of you that know me pretty well, you are already aware that I
am a big fan of the Food Network, specifically the cooking shows. Having
a great passion for wine deeply inbedded in my psyche, it is not really that
much of a leap for me to become engrossed in cooking food. When you
think about it, the two, food and wine that is, go hand in hand together.
I actually hate to admit it, but I was nothing special as a cook until I
started watching the Food Network and learned how. I started out
watching Rachel Ray, she is great for you beginners, and then adventured
out into some of the other cooking shows. Soon I was hooked on people
like, Giada De Laurentiis, Tyler Florence, Bobby Flay, Paula Dean and
the Barefoot Contesa, Ina Garten. When I was really feeling confident in
my abilities, I would try a recipe from Emeril Legasse or Wolfgang Puck.
However, no show on the Food Network reached out and appealed to all
my interests quite the way “Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello”
did. Here is someone living the life I dream about. Living in the heart of
Napa Valley, surrounded by grapevines, and clearly passionate about
food and wine. His whole show’s concept is geared around something I
love to do personally and that is entertain. If you have never watched his
show, he gives you great ideas for food themes and shows you how to
prepare the food ahead of time so that you are not killing yourself in the
kitchen while your guests are standing around waiting. And the recipe’s...
yum, yum!
Michael started his journey into the world of food when he graduated
from the Culinary Institute of America in 1982 and just three years later
in 1985, was named “Chef of the Year” by Food and Wine magazine.
Wow! Talk about ambitious! Just one year after that Michael landed in
the Napa Valley where he became the founding chef for Tra Vigne
Restaurant, an endeavor he remains very much involved with to this day.
One of the items Tra Vigne Restaurant became famous for were Michael’
s unique flavored oils and thus he launched a product line of Consorzio
flavored oils and later published a book based on fifty different recipes
for them.
We fast forward to the year 2000 when Michael founded a media-driven
retailer called NapaStyle. NapaStyle features an exclusive line of
specialty products and helped launch Michael into the mainstream media.
In 2001, he created a public television show called “Michael Chiarello’s
Napa” and with it a came a new book named “Napa Stories”. The show
caught the eye of the CBS Early Show and they asked him to be a
monthly Lifestyle Contributor for their program.
The next book Michael wrote, “Michael Chiarello’s Casual Cooking”,
became an IACP award winner and it wasn’t long after it’s release that
the Food Network and Fine Living Network came calling. So starting in
2003, Michael launched two new television shows, “Easy Entertaining
with Michael Chiarello” for the Food Network and “NapaStyle” named
after his retail company, for the Fine Living channel. The shows were
both huge successes and still air today. In fact, his Food Network show,
“Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello”, garnered him two Emmy
Awards including one for “Best Host” of a Service show.
These are just some of his fantastic achievements along the way in his
over twenty year culinary journey. I came to know him through his Food
Network program and quickly became a fan of his show. I love the whole
concept of learning to prepare food ahead of time to make entertaining
company and guests much easier. Which of course is something I do
quite often and I have found that when I prepare one of his dishes, they
absolutely slay my guests and leave them asking for the recipe.
However, to be completely honest, there is one more endeavor that
Michael has ventured into and it is the primary reason for him appearing
on a website such as ours. That of course is the Chiarello Family
Vineyards. A winery in the heart of the Napa Valley and featuring wines
made from 98 year old vines.
As a big fan of Michael’s, it was a huge honor for me personally when he
agreed to take the time from his tremendously busy schedule to answer
ten questions for us to post to our website. Hopefully, you will be inspired
to visit his NapaStyle store and check out his Chiarello Family Vineyards
website. And so with that, I give you Michael Chiarello:
1). What made you decide to become a chef and how did you get started?
M.C. - Growing up in California’s Central Valley, the agricultural belt of
the state, was an enormous influence on my upbringing, and the resulting
style of chef I became. I knew from a young age that I wanted to cook.
Being the youngest of 3 boys and a “mamma’s boy,” my free time was
spent on all the various aspects of feeding a family, be it hunting or
fishing, foraging for wild mustard and mushrooms, or working summers on
my grandfather’s ranch and butcher shop.
The Italian style of living, especially at that time for first and second
generation households, included following a “cuisine of preservation.”
When something is in season and abundant, you enjoy it daily, and you
preserve it for a later season. And in our extended family, everyone had
a particular skill. Grandfather Nonno Pietro was the butcher, my great
uncle was the cheesemaker, everyone cured meats and fish, cured olives,
made olive oil, wine and vinegar. It was simply our way of life. The
rituals that emerged from our life were always joyous celebrations, always
bountiful, and from my extended family I learned everything I eventually
used to make my food personal and rich in history. Sharing recipes was a
rite of passage, and even today, my oldest remaining aunt, Aunt Mary,
and I are always searching each others recipe files for hidden secrets to
this or that dish.
Our philosophy of seasonal living meant that we lived off the land. If we
couldn’t hunt it, gather it or catch it, we didn’t need to buy it.
2). How do you come up with the recipes and themes for your Easy
Entertaining show on Food Network?
M.C. - Unlike cooking in a restaurant, where I cook the food I want to
cook, on the TV show I am coming into people’s homes, so I try to find
ideas and themes that solve problems for people or inspire them to
entertain/cook more often and in ways they can truly enjoy.
3). I notice that you often cook with a Pinot Grigio in your dishes, do you
have a favorite wine varietal to cook with and why?
M.C. - Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc. Because of the naturally higher
acidity, these wines maintain the varietal flavor better when you cook with
them.
Shane: Here, here! I couldn’t agree more! I especially love to cook with
Sauvignon Blanc because of it’s flavor profile. It not only is high in
acidity (citrus & tropical fruits), it also tends to have this vegetal overtone
to it that really adds a little something extra to a dish.
4). Why do you think wine & food complement each other so well?
Some things are just paired beautifully by nature. This is the case with
Mediterranean food and wines – they complement each other so naturally
once you understand the basics of pairing, that the possibilities are
endless. The basic rules I follow when pairing are:
a) Like what you drink; drink what you like
b) either compare or contrast
c) when comparing, match the intensity of flavors
d) when contrasting, match the intensity of opposing flavors, and
experiment. Try for instance a crisp flavor with a rich dish, such as
champagne & fritto misto.
e) PS, my favorite wine for fried foods is bubbly!
Shane: I think it’s easier to list the foods that don’t pair well with
bubbly. Truly an underrated food wine.
5). Do you have any favorite dishes or recipes and/or a favorite wine
varietal?
M.C. - I make my favorite varietals and they go with my favorite dishes:
Bistecca alla Fiorentina – Eileen or Bambino Cabernet
Lamb Shank – Old Vine Zinfandel
Smoked & Braised Short Ribs – Old Vine Petite Sirah
For everything else, Giana Zinfandel
6). What are some of the pitfalls or obstacles that had to be overcome in
owning your own winery?
M.C. - Not being born with a trust fund. Having the patience to know that
the decisions I make in the vineyard this year will often take 3 – 5 years
to be able to taste in the bottle, unlike cooking, where you can simply
throw out the dish and start over if you didn’t achieve the results you like.
Shane – And Michael was lucky he already had vines producing fruit.
Had he had to plant the vines first, you could tack on another three to
five years before he would even have his first vintage of wine to produce.
7). How did you come to know and recruit Thomas Brown? I bet it has to
be exciting to know you have someone working with you that is famous
for some of the best Zinfandel wines to come out of California.
M.C. - We made the first two vintages of Chiarello Vineyards (98 Old
Vine Petite Sirah and 98 Old Vine Zinfandel) at my friend Larry Turley’s
(Turley Wine Cellar)s where Thomas was assistant winemaker. When
Thomas ventured out, we ventured with him and have been working
together ever since.
Shane: For those that don’t know, Turley Zins are regarded as some of
the best Zinfandel wines in the state of California.
8). Do you plan to start producing a white wine varietal in the future? If
so, which one would you consider?
M.C. - The property around our home, which is where all the grapes are
grown, is prime red wine dirt, so no, I have no plans to make a white. If I
were to venture into white wines, however, I would probably make
Sauvignon Blanc or a white Rhone varietal.
Shane: Believe it or not, I think that is so refreshing to hear. So many
wineries will plant just about anything in any spot of land just because
they think they can sell it. It’s great to see Michael’s respect for the land
and the fruits that it provides best.
9). Of all your current endeavors, filming the cooking shows for Food
Network, founding the restaurant, Tra Vigne, authoring the cookbooks
and starting up the winery, what has proved to be the most challenging
and why?
M.C. - We must add the NapaStyle retail & catalog to the list, which is
the most challenging. In a restaurant, one great dish can sustain your
customer’s interests over and over again. In retail, you have to
continually come up with new ideas for each season, before your ideas are
copied. I have thoroughly enjoyed developing unique items for home and
entertaining (like my Barnwood Kitchen Island) that make the experience
of cooking and celebrating through food and wine a lively and memorable
one for people.
10). Do you have any advice for someone that would like to follow your
footsteps and get into the food and wine industry?
M.C. - Be passionate, find your voice, beg the best people you can find to
listen to your desires to work with them in the business, work for as little
as they are willing to pay you, for as long as you can stomach it. Don’t go
out on your own until you have a distinct point of view that is unique to
you.
I would like to thank Michael for graciously giving us his time to answer
these questions and Eileen Gordon for facilitating and making this
possible. A big Texas-Sized Thank You!!!
If you would like to catch one of Michael Chiarello’s Easy Entertaining
episodes on Food Network, he is on from 2:30pm to 3:00pm CST,
Monday through Friday and at 12:00 noon CST on Saturday and
Sundays. For more info on his show and to check out his recipes, log on
to www.foodnetwork.com
If you are interested in gourmet items straight from Napa Valley, check
out Michael’s online store, Napa Style, where you will find everything
from food and wine, kitchen or home and garden supplies, furniture and
even some fantastic gift ideas. Michael has some really neat products,
most of which are unique to his store. You can also sign up to be on his
catalog list. For more info visit: www.napastyle.com
And of course, the number one reason you stop by our website is “wine”,
right? Well Michael Chiarello has a fantastic winery featuring some of
Napa’s finest! Chiarello Family Vineyards specializes in award winning
and highly rated Cabernet Sauvignon and 98 year old vine Zinfandels &
Petite Sirahs. All estate grown and in small production numbers. (That’s
good news for you collectors) His wines are hard to find in Texas and
since the case production numbers are so low, the best way to purchase
his wines is through the website. You can do that by visiting here:
www.chiarellovineyards.com
am a big fan of the Food Network, specifically the cooking shows. Having
a great passion for wine deeply inbedded in my psyche, it is not really that
much of a leap for me to become engrossed in cooking food. When you
think about it, the two, food and wine that is, go hand in hand together.
I actually hate to admit it, but I was nothing special as a cook until I
started watching the Food Network and learned how. I started out
watching Rachel Ray, she is great for you beginners, and then adventured
out into some of the other cooking shows. Soon I was hooked on people
like, Giada De Laurentiis, Tyler Florence, Bobby Flay, Paula Dean and
the Barefoot Contesa, Ina Garten. When I was really feeling confident in
my abilities, I would try a recipe from Emeril Legasse or Wolfgang Puck.
However, no show on the Food Network reached out and appealed to all
my interests quite the way “Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello”
did. Here is someone living the life I dream about. Living in the heart of
Napa Valley, surrounded by grapevines, and clearly passionate about
food and wine. His whole show’s concept is geared around something I
love to do personally and that is entertain. If you have never watched his
show, he gives you great ideas for food themes and shows you how to
prepare the food ahead of time so that you are not killing yourself in the
kitchen while your guests are standing around waiting. And the recipe’s...
yum, yum!
Michael started his journey into the world of food when he graduated
from the Culinary Institute of America in 1982 and just three years later
in 1985, was named “Chef of the Year” by Food and Wine magazine.
Wow! Talk about ambitious! Just one year after that Michael landed in
the Napa Valley where he became the founding chef for Tra Vigne
Restaurant, an endeavor he remains very much involved with to this day.
One of the items Tra Vigne Restaurant became famous for were Michael’
s unique flavored oils and thus he launched a product line of Consorzio
flavored oils and later published a book based on fifty different recipes
for them.
We fast forward to the year 2000 when Michael founded a media-driven
retailer called NapaStyle. NapaStyle features an exclusive line of
specialty products and helped launch Michael into the mainstream media.
In 2001, he created a public television show called “Michael Chiarello’s
Napa” and with it a came a new book named “Napa Stories”. The show
caught the eye of the CBS Early Show and they asked him to be a
monthly Lifestyle Contributor for their program.
The next book Michael wrote, “Michael Chiarello’s Casual Cooking”,
became an IACP award winner and it wasn’t long after it’s release that
the Food Network and Fine Living Network came calling. So starting in
2003, Michael launched two new television shows, “Easy Entertaining
with Michael Chiarello” for the Food Network and “NapaStyle” named
after his retail company, for the Fine Living channel. The shows were
both huge successes and still air today. In fact, his Food Network show,
“Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello”, garnered him two Emmy
Awards including one for “Best Host” of a Service show.
These are just some of his fantastic achievements along the way in his
over twenty year culinary journey. I came to know him through his Food
Network program and quickly became a fan of his show. I love the whole
concept of learning to prepare food ahead of time to make entertaining
company and guests much easier. Which of course is something I do
quite often and I have found that when I prepare one of his dishes, they
absolutely slay my guests and leave them asking for the recipe.
However, to be completely honest, there is one more endeavor that
Michael has ventured into and it is the primary reason for him appearing
on a website such as ours. That of course is the Chiarello Family
Vineyards. A winery in the heart of the Napa Valley and featuring wines
made from 98 year old vines.
As a big fan of Michael’s, it was a huge honor for me personally when he
agreed to take the time from his tremendously busy schedule to answer
ten questions for us to post to our website. Hopefully, you will be inspired
to visit his NapaStyle store and check out his Chiarello Family Vineyards
website. And so with that, I give you Michael Chiarello:
1). What made you decide to become a chef and how did you get started?
M.C. - Growing up in California’s Central Valley, the agricultural belt of
the state, was an enormous influence on my upbringing, and the resulting
style of chef I became. I knew from a young age that I wanted to cook.
Being the youngest of 3 boys and a “mamma’s boy,” my free time was
spent on all the various aspects of feeding a family, be it hunting or
fishing, foraging for wild mustard and mushrooms, or working summers on
my grandfather’s ranch and butcher shop.
The Italian style of living, especially at that time for first and second
generation households, included following a “cuisine of preservation.”
When something is in season and abundant, you enjoy it daily, and you
preserve it for a later season. And in our extended family, everyone had
a particular skill. Grandfather Nonno Pietro was the butcher, my great
uncle was the cheesemaker, everyone cured meats and fish, cured olives,
made olive oil, wine and vinegar. It was simply our way of life. The
rituals that emerged from our life were always joyous celebrations, always
bountiful, and from my extended family I learned everything I eventually
used to make my food personal and rich in history. Sharing recipes was a
rite of passage, and even today, my oldest remaining aunt, Aunt Mary,
and I are always searching each others recipe files for hidden secrets to
this or that dish.
Our philosophy of seasonal living meant that we lived off the land. If we
couldn’t hunt it, gather it or catch it, we didn’t need to buy it.
2). How do you come up with the recipes and themes for your Easy
Entertaining show on Food Network?
M.C. - Unlike cooking in a restaurant, where I cook the food I want to
cook, on the TV show I am coming into people’s homes, so I try to find
ideas and themes that solve problems for people or inspire them to
entertain/cook more often and in ways they can truly enjoy.
3). I notice that you often cook with a Pinot Grigio in your dishes, do you
have a favorite wine varietal to cook with and why?
M.C. - Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc. Because of the naturally higher
acidity, these wines maintain the varietal flavor better when you cook with
them.
Shane: Here, here! I couldn’t agree more! I especially love to cook with
Sauvignon Blanc because of it’s flavor profile. It not only is high in
acidity (citrus & tropical fruits), it also tends to have this vegetal overtone
to it that really adds a little something extra to a dish.
4). Why do you think wine & food complement each other so well?
Some things are just paired beautifully by nature. This is the case with
Mediterranean food and wines – they complement each other so naturally
once you understand the basics of pairing, that the possibilities are
endless. The basic rules I follow when pairing are:
a) Like what you drink; drink what you like
b) either compare or contrast
c) when comparing, match the intensity of flavors
d) when contrasting, match the intensity of opposing flavors, and
experiment. Try for instance a crisp flavor with a rich dish, such as
champagne & fritto misto.
e) PS, my favorite wine for fried foods is bubbly!
Shane: I think it’s easier to list the foods that don’t pair well with
bubbly. Truly an underrated food wine.
5). Do you have any favorite dishes or recipes and/or a favorite wine
varietal?
M.C. - I make my favorite varietals and they go with my favorite dishes:
Bistecca alla Fiorentina – Eileen or Bambino Cabernet
Lamb Shank – Old Vine Zinfandel
Smoked & Braised Short Ribs – Old Vine Petite Sirah
For everything else, Giana Zinfandel
6). What are some of the pitfalls or obstacles that had to be overcome in
owning your own winery?
M.C. - Not being born with a trust fund. Having the patience to know that
the decisions I make in the vineyard this year will often take 3 – 5 years
to be able to taste in the bottle, unlike cooking, where you can simply
throw out the dish and start over if you didn’t achieve the results you like.
Shane – And Michael was lucky he already had vines producing fruit.
Had he had to plant the vines first, you could tack on another three to
five years before he would even have his first vintage of wine to produce.
7). How did you come to know and recruit Thomas Brown? I bet it has to
be exciting to know you have someone working with you that is famous
for some of the best Zinfandel wines to come out of California.
M.C. - We made the first two vintages of Chiarello Vineyards (98 Old
Vine Petite Sirah and 98 Old Vine Zinfandel) at my friend Larry Turley’s
(Turley Wine Cellar)s where Thomas was assistant winemaker. When
Thomas ventured out, we ventured with him and have been working
together ever since.
Shane: For those that don’t know, Turley Zins are regarded as some of
the best Zinfandel wines in the state of California.
8). Do you plan to start producing a white wine varietal in the future? If
so, which one would you consider?
M.C. - The property around our home, which is where all the grapes are
grown, is prime red wine dirt, so no, I have no plans to make a white. If I
were to venture into white wines, however, I would probably make
Sauvignon Blanc or a white Rhone varietal.
Shane: Believe it or not, I think that is so refreshing to hear. So many
wineries will plant just about anything in any spot of land just because
they think they can sell it. It’s great to see Michael’s respect for the land
and the fruits that it provides best.
9). Of all your current endeavors, filming the cooking shows for Food
Network, founding the restaurant, Tra Vigne, authoring the cookbooks
and starting up the winery, what has proved to be the most challenging
and why?
M.C. - We must add the NapaStyle retail & catalog to the list, which is
the most challenging. In a restaurant, one great dish can sustain your
customer’s interests over and over again. In retail, you have to
continually come up with new ideas for each season, before your ideas are
copied. I have thoroughly enjoyed developing unique items for home and
entertaining (like my Barnwood Kitchen Island) that make the experience
of cooking and celebrating through food and wine a lively and memorable
one for people.
10). Do you have any advice for someone that would like to follow your
footsteps and get into the food and wine industry?
M.C. - Be passionate, find your voice, beg the best people you can find to
listen to your desires to work with them in the business, work for as little
as they are willing to pay you, for as long as you can stomach it. Don’t go
out on your own until you have a distinct point of view that is unique to
you.
I would like to thank Michael for graciously giving us his time to answer
these questions and Eileen Gordon for facilitating and making this
possible. A big Texas-Sized Thank You!!!
If you would like to catch one of Michael Chiarello’s Easy Entertaining
episodes on Food Network, he is on from 2:30pm to 3:00pm CST,
Monday through Friday and at 12:00 noon CST on Saturday and
Sundays. For more info on his show and to check out his recipes, log on
to www.foodnetwork.com
If you are interested in gourmet items straight from Napa Valley, check
out Michael’s online store, Napa Style, where you will find everything
from food and wine, kitchen or home and garden supplies, furniture and
even some fantastic gift ideas. Michael has some really neat products,
most of which are unique to his store. You can also sign up to be on his
catalog list. For more info visit: www.napastyle.com
And of course, the number one reason you stop by our website is “wine”,
right? Well Michael Chiarello has a fantastic winery featuring some of
Napa’s finest! Chiarello Family Vineyards specializes in award winning
and highly rated Cabernet Sauvignon and 98 year old vine Zinfandels &
Petite Sirahs. All estate grown and in small production numbers. (That’s
good news for you collectors) His wines are hard to find in Texas and
since the case production numbers are so low, the best way to purchase
his wines is through the website. You can do that by visiting here:
www.chiarellovineyards.com
| Photos of Michael Chiarello appear courtesy of www.napastyle.com |
| Photos of Michael Chiarello appear courtesy of www.napastyle.com |
| Photos of Michael Chiarello appear courtesy of www.napastyle.com |