Sonoma County’s winemaking pioneer St. Francis Winery turned up the heat on an American classic with a gourmet grilled cheese recipe contest that awarded a trip to the winery and a four day stay in Sonoma County. Entrants of the contest, which ran from February 1st to April 31th, 2013, were required to submit an original recipe to the contest app on St. Francis’ Facebook page, pair it with their favorite St. Francis wine and post a photo of it. The winner was selected from the top ten most popular entries, which were judged on creativity, originality, overall taste, ease of replication of recipe, and how well the flavors of the sandwich paired with a St. Francis wine. Chef and cheese expert Jason Sobocinski and St. Francis Winemaker Katie Madigan were the final judges. Both Jason Sobocinski and Katie Madigan each cooked the top ten entries and chose Jennifer Daskevich from Los Angeles, CA and her Best Bistro grilled cheese recipe as the contest winner.
CLAY FRITZ – PRESIDENT OF FRITZ CELLARS
Eventually his love of wine took over and he came back to work harvest at Fritz and never left. At Fritz he has focused on expanding the offerings they produce at their unique subterranean facility, while maintaining a viticultural passion for sustainability, quality, and tradition.
Clay is a board member of the Wine Growers of Dry Creek Valley and a board member of the Sonoma County Vintners Cooperative. Clay is married to Natalia Valpredo and they have three children: Buchannon, Bianca and Leonardo.
LARRY LIPSON - COSTA RICA CORRESPONDENTLarry was a food critic for the Los Angeles Daily News for more than 50 years and now files a weekly report direct from Costa Rica and The Lipson Institute for advanced wine studies.