Wednesday Night Wine Pairing with Trinchero, April 29th

Time has come again for a wonderful night with friends and family at Butcher Boy. We have a great selection coming from Trinchero paired up with some tasty fare from Chef Haas and the crew.

As always, the event is $25.00 and will start at 5:30 at Butcher Boy Prime.

Trinchero Mary’s Sauvignon Blanc
Langastino Cocktail with Lime Aioli

Folie a Deux Chardonnay
Shredded Chicken and Green Apple Salad

Napa Cellars Cabernet
Cranberry Braised Pork Osso Bucco
Toasted Almond Pilaf

Napa Cellars Zinfandel
Breaded Beef with Sweet Peppercorn Demi

Montevina TDO Port
Double Chocolate Shortbread

Please RSVP to Clint

Visit our site to sign up for our mailing list and keep up to date on all the Butcher Boy news.

Thanks for Buying Local and we hope to see you next week!

Steak time!!! New Podcast....

Time for grilling everyone's favorite dinner. Our resident steak aficionado Red will explain the difference in cuts and how to pick a good steak. Of course you need to get that steak cooked when you get home so Haas will share the tips and tricks to make that steak shine on the plate.
Please leave us your feedback and let us know what we should shoot next. Thanks for watching!!!

I really can't believe that I have never made it down to Napa during this time of year. It is simply amazing to see everything at bud break. What starts now as a tiny little green bud popping out of a minuscule stem will soon be full blown grapes, then crushed and fermented into a lovely drink.

This was very apparent at the Duckhorn "Home" Vineyard. Our tour guide, Jim, has spent most of his life working wineries, from the fields through production and onto sales. It was nice to get the insight of someone so well rounded in the business. Duckhorn specializes in Cab and Merlot but the tasting starts with the best Napa Sauvignon Blanc I have had.

I was awe struck at the barrel room where they have each and every barrel painstakingly marked to indicate the grape, vineyard, harvest date, and even the "block" of land that it came from. In each lot they may use up to 15 different barrel types. By this I mean that a particular batch of juice might be barreled in medium toasted French oak, medium toasted plus head water formed French oak, and the list goes on. What this means for the winemaker is an almost endless supply of flavor combinations to choose from when blending the perfect bottle.

One winemaking activity that I have yet to see is that crucial moment when the winemaker and his team sit down to a table full of these "base" wines. Now I hear that they taste like sour grapes/lemon peel so it's probably not the most enjoyable experience taste wise. But, to sit down with a group of talented oenophiles and "red the future" of the wine would be a once in a lifetime experience.

The mobile bottling line they use is a neat concept. A 60 foot or so trailer with a full on production line allows them to tote it to their different properties as needed. They were packing up 06 Merlot while we watched, a team of around 8 people filled pallets in minutes.

At the tasting table we were greeted with what I see to be an appropriate glass for tasting, stem big enough for my whole hand and the bowl large enough to get my nose fully committed for a big whiff. The tasting started with the amazing Goldeneye Pinot that we tried at Paraduxx on Sunday, then onto their infamous Merlot.

Of course, when you visit a winery known for Merlot and that is the second wine you taste, you know the rest HAVE to be amazing. And of course, they lived up to the task of impressing a table full of wannabe wine snobs. Their 04 Howell Mountain "Red Wine", a name that reminisces of inferior bottles, is simply stunning with a ton of fruit, good balance and a nice cherry like finish.

Now I have to say that this amazing glass was simply pushed aside by the wonder of 2005 Estate Cabernet. Right up there with the best I have tasted from Napa, an unforgettable example of the perfect Napa cab. And then, as we were on our way, they had to through out another curveball- the 05 Patzimaro Cab, another single vineyard example. At this point it would be hard to say which wine stood out the most but the Estate Cab and Howell Mountain are on the list to pick up.

I had a hard time planning the rest of the day after such a show stopper, but I am glad that we tasted Duckhorn with a fresh palette.

Stay tuned for more from the Butchers' Gone Wino Excursion 2009

Butchers Gone Wino

So first day was a blast!

Stopped by Paraduxx for some awesome Zin/Cab blends and an amazing 2006 Goldeneye Pinot.

Then on to Silverado Vineyards to see the nice barrel room and taste a couple of nice Stag's Leap Cabs. The 2005 Solo is very tasty and you might see that one on our shelves soon.

An impromptu stop at ZD offered up a memorable tasting of some great family estate wines. They are known for their chardonnay for good reason, the reserve is mighty yummy. And the personal "library" collection they have is worth the trip alone. Check out the pics of their vintage wines....





First day down- off to bed to ready ourselves for Duckhorn at 10:30 AM. Told you this was hard work!!

Hard Work, I Swear

So, Chris and I are headed off to Napa with Greg from Silver State and Rick from Vintage on Sunday. I swear, this really is the hardest part of our jobs, really.

So far the plan includes Paraduxx, Duckhorn, Schramsburg and Frog's Leap, but I am sure we will find a few more stops along the way. The cameras, laptop and good spirits are all ready to go and the sun is shining!

We would feel guilty if we didn't share the experience with our fans so plan to attend the wine tasting in honor of this trip coming in June and keep an eye out for updates, tasting notes and more right here.

What's In My Dinner, Chapter 2

So you hear the word natural thrown around all the time when it comes to meats, seafood, cheeses, and many other foods, but just what does that mean? It seems simple enough at first because we all understand the word natural and relate it to being wholesome and good for the body. Well, welcome to our second installment of "What's In My Dinner" where we will discuss a few little known facts about the word "natural" and how it plays out in the every day world of food.

First of all, the word natural means exactly what it is- basically, nothing artificial. The issue with food items being labeled as natural is that it doesn't always tell the whole story. In itself, natural simply means that none of the ingredients in the product are man made.

So as you can see a good example with a popular retailer's "All Natural Extra Lean Ground Beef". Check out the allergy warnings....

So as you see, buying natural ground beef can include wheat, soy and milk- but why?? Well the soy acts as a cheap filler to keep the price down, the milk powder is a binder so they can add water weight to it without "leeching" the blood out and the wheat- who knows??? Bottom line is that the "All Natural" part is true, but sort of misleading.

Most folks think that the natural designation means that nothing is added. As you saw in our last post regarding MAP packaging, they don't always give you the whole story.

So how do you know that Butcher Boy isn't hiding these dirty little secrets in our products? Simple- just ask us to grind up a fresh batch of beef for you- and come back and watch us do it!! That simple- nothing to hide, just honest to goodness meat. The Butcher Is Back!!!

What's in my dinner?, Chapter 1

Every day at Butcher Boy we get questioned about natural, hormone free, additives and mad cows. Well, here we are in our first installment of "What's in my Dinner?", a series of no holds barred, nothing but the truth stories about the meat business.

No, I am not here to bash the "other guys" or point blame at anyone for doing what they consider right for THEIR business. I am here to explain the facts and how we strive to be as up front as possible in OUR business on a daily basis.

One of the biggest and most apparent differences between us and most meat shops is that we offer a majority of our goods from the full service meat case. A good majority of the country buys their meats from the store pre-packaged in convenient leak free plastic wrapped foam trays. Doesn't seem all that natural does it?

One trick that some retailers and meat packing houses use to extend the "salable life" of their products is to use Modified Atmosphere Packaging. Basically adding inert gasses to the packaging to reduce the oxygen that bacteria thrive on. Now this doesn't sound so bad right? Well, it is not always bad. For instance, we purchase fresh chicken that comes in bags filled with nitrogen to keep it fresh. Nitrogen is a gas that makes up a majority of the air we breath every day, and is in no way harmful. However, there are some companies that use Carbon Monoxide which as we know is poisonous, even LETHAL in cases! Now here is the catch- there are no regulations in place to make sure that the gasses used are conveyed to the customer, which means that you never really know whats in the package.

There is a NY Times Article that compares steaks from MAP and traditional packaging. It shows that the meat treated with gas stayed bright red, even after being unrefrigerated for two days!! And then the Food & Water Watch site that gives the details on carbon monoxide and its effects.

In traditional Vacuum Packaging or "Cryovac" packaging, most of the oxygen is removed from the packaging without adding anything. The only real downside to this is that it will also force some of the natural juices from the meat. This is a safe and ethical way of preserving foods without adding anything foreign.

A quick browse around the web will uncover many, many stories similar to these but you will be hard pressed to find one from the USDA that answers the question- "Why don't they HAVE to tell me what's in my dinner?"

In our opinion, the answer is simple. When you shop with us, you buy meats straight from a case where everything is cut fresh. And it has to be fresh since we cannot pump carbon monoxide into it to keep it looking good!

Next time we will discuss what exactly "natural" means and how you can be deceived by clever packaging and labeling tricks. In the meantime, stop by and ask us- "What's in my dinner?" And remember we are only a click away at butcherboy.us.