William “Rusty” Gaffney, M.D., also known as “The Prince of Pinot,” is a pinot noir enthusiast and author/creator of the Pinot File and Prince of Pinot web sites. A retired ophthalmologist, Dr. Gaffney, along with family and friends, visited the Imperial Dynasty restaurant to dine on Uncle Richard’s off the menu, eight course “gourmet dinner.” He repeated this sojourn a few times a year thereafter for over twenty years. After Uncle Richard died, Dr. Gaffney and I reconnected and since then have shared food and wine memories via email.
In the latest newsletter on his website, princeofpinot.com, he wrote an historical perspective of the Winery Mailing List. The goal of his research was to confirm that Stony Hill Vineyard was the first California winery to offer a mailing list, dating to the early 1950s. Dr. Gaffney gave an overview of the winery’s beginning when in 1943 Fred and Eleanor McCrea purchased a 160 acre homesteaded goat farm in the hills above Napa Valley. After the war, in 1948, beginning with a few acres at a time, they planted wine grapes, starting with Chardonnay primarily because of their love of white Burgundy. Their first commercial release was in 1952 under the Stony Hill Vineyard label, which reflected the rugged terrain of the property.
Trader Vic’s was the first restaurant account for Stony Hill Vineyard. According to Eleanor, “Owner Victor Bergeron probably did more to put California wines on restaurant wine lists than any other person, because he believed in California wines long before most restaurants did. He sought them out and he pushed them.”
The winery had another early restaurant account, my family’s Imperial Dynasty. Eleanor recalled, “They called us up and wanted to have our wine, and they bought it continuously thereafter. It’s a Chinese restaurant, but it has a French side to it also. I have never managed to get there, but it’s the kind of place people go out of their way to go to, and Hanford is surely out of the way.” I couldn’t help but grin as I read, this last, I’m sure Eleanor had chuckled as well. After all, folks found the Imperial Dynasty restaurant from the Bay Area and Los Angeles and beyond and Hanford is a strong heartbeat in the great San Joaquin Valley.
There was much more Stony Hill history as the article continued, but I stopped reading when I saw that Dr. Gaffney posted a picture of one of his many “gourmet dinner” menus that Uncle Richard had hand written. This particular menu was from April 12, 1987. The first and second of the five wines served were from the Stony Hill Winery. I had to pause before I returned to the article. I stared at the photograph of the menu, and once again I slipped through the rabbit hole of time, remembering, just remembering. I closed my eyes and memories came crowding back. Serving the “gourmet dinners,” opening wine bottles, the aromas. I looked at the menu again and noticed that the wine served with the lamb course was Mirassou’s 125th Anniversary Zinfandel, and with tactile memory I was savoring that wine one more time. It was one of my favorite wines back then, those were also the years when the seeds of the importance and necessity of historic preservation were just beginning to sprout. My thoughts about legacies, my own, my family’s, China Alley’s were circling somewhere in the future. With that last thought I opened my eyes and returned to the present.
There’s a lyric in the musical play “Hamilton” that says: “Legacy. What is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.” And yet, these days I sense the spirit of my great-grandfather in China Alley. Sometimes he’s peering through the dusty windows of his noodle house and across the Alley watching his great-granddaughter stir her pots and pour her tea right here in his garden, China Alley.
Speaking of gardens, this week I’m sharing a recipe I often turn to when there is an abundance of hearty greens in the vegetable garden. I adapted a recipe for a savory vegetarian slab pie from Kristen Donnelly’s “Modern Potluck.” The original version uses just Swiss chard, but I like to mix up the greens depending on what is in the garden, in my refrigerator, and what’s available in the markets. I swapped out some seasonings and used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. The crust is delightfully buttery and peppery. I have also substituted a store bought puff pastry with good results. I hope you enjoy this recipe for Hearty Greens Slab Pie, perhaps with an elegant glass of wine from Stony Hill Winery.