Please join us for a very special evening at Isabelle Farm in Boulder County.  Food will be provided by the ever-popular Mateo Restaurant and Executive Chef Kelly Kingsford, CapRock gin cocktails will be shaken by Mateo’s head bartender Britt Henze, and Lance Hanson will be on-hand to discuss the Jack Rabbit Hill Wines that will be paired with the evening’s meal.

Reservations can be made through Mateo by calling 303.443.7766 or via email at info@mateorestaurant.com. Ticket price is $80 per person excluding wine and tax. We look forward to hosting you for this truly special and unique event.

Outstanding in the Field is the wildly successful roving culinary adventure that travels North America during the harvest season. The experience begins with a tour of the location – typically a local farm – then guests join farmers, producers, culinary artisans, and share the seasonally fresh meal set at a long table.  Chef Mark Fischer of Restaurant six89 in Carbondale will be guest chef for an event at Divide Creek Farm in Silt on Tuesday, July 19. The dinner will be paired with wines from Jack Rabbit Hill.  To make your reservation at the table, please visit the Outstanding in the Field website.

Photo courtesy of Outstanding in the Field/Bob Coscarelli

New Round Tower Block Chardonnay cuttings

5/21/11:

Today we potted about 150 chardonnay cuttings taken from the Upper West Side block on Jack Rabbit Hill, a good day to propagate vines as the Moon is in Archer, which means it’s a good day to be working on fruit-bearing plants like grape vines.

Eventually these cuttings will end up in the Round Tower block on Jack Rabbit Hill, a special site planted only in JRH’s own native cuttings (rather than plants from another nursery or farm).

As biodynamic farmers, we’re always looking for ways to use the farm’s own resources instead of bringing in materials from off the farm (for example our own manure and cover crops for fertility rather than imported manure or store bought fertilizers).

So growing our vineyards with our own plant stock instead of buying from a nursery or another vineyard is a slam-dunk!

Won’t you join us? We’re hosting dinner at the farm for what promises to be an amazing mid-summer meal prepared by Terroir Restaurant of Longmont, Colorado.

Hosted by winemakers/farmers/distillers Lance & Anna Hanson, this is the 2nd annual summer farm dinner with Terrior and will feature five courses paired with Jack Rabbit Hill wines and Peak Spirits.

The cost for the dinner + pairings is $75 per person.  Reservations can be made by calling Melissa at 303.651.0630.

More information can be found on the Terroir web site.

Arugula is proud to announce that we are offering a 5 course dinner expertly paired with Colorado’s only Demeter-certified Biodynamic wines.  Winemaker Lance Hanson will be at Arugula to present and discuss his wines.  Located in Colorado’s Delta County near the town of Hotchkiss, Jack Rabbit Hill wines are sure to impress you.  The evening will feature Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, a Malbec based blend and his own Chardonnay Grappa.

The menu will feature seasonal produce with an emphasis on locally sourced products.  The cost is $40/person for the meal, with an additional $25/person for the paired wines. Tax and tip are extra.

The dinner will be held Wednesday, June 1 at 6:30 pm, finishing around 8:45pm.

Reservations are required.  Call (303)443-5100 to reserve.

Thanks for your time and we hope to see you there.

Alec Schuler
Chef/Proprietor
Arugula Bar e Ristorante

THE MENU

1)  Duck liver* mousse with grilled sourdough bread* & mizuna* in gorgonzola dressing with fresh pear
Chardonnay – “Upper West Side”, estate biodynamic – 2008

2)  Seared soft shell crab over sautéed pea shoots* and radishes*
Riesling – Dill Farm, single vineyard, organic – 2009

3)  Handmade agnolotti filled with beef shank*, mushrooms*, leeks* and ricotta; in rainbow chard* and herb* butter sauce
Pinot Noir/Pinot Meunier, “M&N”, estate biodynamic – 2009

4)  Spring lamb* roulade; rolled with feta cheese, green peppercorns and tomatoes; with farro/wild rice risotto and drizzled with pistou*
Malbec Blend, “Barn Red” estate biodynamic – 2009

5)  Strawberry rhubarb* crumble with sea salt-caramel ice cream*
Chardonnay Grappa, Peak Spirits, estate biodynamic

* denotes local product

Click Here to Download Dinner Menu (PDF)!

Click here to learn about Arugula Restaurant!

Packaging wine in stainless steel kegs for restaurant use is standard practice in Europe and is gaining ground in other states. We had some marvelous wine on tap in San Francisco in February and decided on the spot we needed to package our wines in kegs for the Colorado restaurant market.

Stainless steel kegs are the best means of packaging many wines for on-premise service because:

1) Wine stays fresher longer in kegs than in opened bottles. The 50^th glass from the keg will be as fresh as the 1^st, whether the keg was tapped 3 days or 3 weeks ago.

2) Kegs are far lighter than glass bottles-less than half the weight per serving-which means better fuel and labor economy in distribution.

3) The lifecycle energy requirements for filling, storing, delivering, and refilling wine in kegs is a fraction of the energy intensity of bottled wine.

4) Kegs are zero-waste, 100% reusable packaging.

Job Description: Assistants will gain hands-on experience in organic & biodynamic practices in grape and hop growing and wine & spirits making, working hand-in-hand with owners Anna and Lance Hanson. The work environment is dynamic and demands organization, thinking on the fly, creativity, juggling, strong listening and speaking skills, and a festive spirit after long, challenging projects. Good physical and mental health is a must.

Compensation: Commensurate with experience. Includes accommodations in 1500SF separate house with full kitchen overlooking original vineyard and the spectacular Eye of the Black Canyon. Jack Rabbit Hill is 30 min from Gold Medal fishing on the Gunnison River, 1 hr from white water rafting/kayaking in the Black Canyon National Park, 30 min from cross country skiing at 11,500’ on Grand Mesa, 2 hrs from Telluride, 2 hrs from Aspen, 1 hr from Powderdorn, 2 hrs from Crested Butte,1 hr from the enchanted Aspen groves on Kebler Pass, and 2 min from spectacular cycling, running and walking on Redlands Mesa.

Start Date: NOW

Contact Info: Send resume to lance@jackrabbithill.com.

Contact Address: Jack Rabbit Hill, PO Box 2004, 26567 North Rd, Hotchkiss, CO 81419

Contact Phone: 970-835-3677

Course 2:
Grilled pear salad with arugula, local chevre, and sherry vinaigrette served with Wisdom Farm chicken rillettes on toast point paired with the Jack Rabbit Hill Mesa Winds Farm Pinot Gris

Course 3:
Grilled whole Colorado trout wrapped in Long Farm bacon and stuffed with pine nuts and chard, served with roasted fingerling potatoes and tomato shallot marmalade paired with the Jack Rabbit Hill Chardonnay

Course 4:
Wisdom Farm chicken stuffed with dried cherries, MouCo camembert, and spinach and served over saute of house-made tasso and sweet potatoes with red wine cherry sauce paired with the Jack Rabbit Hill Pinot Noir/Pinot Meunier Blend

Course 5:
Cinnamon apple pound cake served with apple butter and buttermilk gelato

Tickets for this event are $75 excluding tax and gratuity. Farm tours are available prior to dinner. For more details on the menu and/or accomodations, please call Melissa at 303.651.0630 or Anna at 970.835.3677 This event takes place Sunday, July 4th. Visit Terroir online for more info. Enjoy!

Our horn manure has a woodsy smell and spongy texture. Our 5 horns, here uncovered in the future hopyard, can make enough "500" compost tea to apply on 22 acres of grapes and 10 acres of hops throughout the year.

We now have over 10,000 baby hop plants acclimating to their new home on the north slope of Jack Rabbit Hill. Varieties: Cascade, Chinook, Crystal, Nugget and Northern Brewer.

With the moon in descent beginning in mid-May, we uncovered our 2010 horn manure on the 18th and stirred and sprayed it on the future hopyard over the next few days. Tom Smith of Summit Labs in Ft Collins delivered our very happy baby hop plants on Friday, May 21st. We planted the next week until the last plantlet and it’s tiny rootball was in the ground yesterday afternoon.

The horn manure spray stimulates life (fungus, animals and plants!) in the ground, which in turn keep our vines, hops, pasture, and livestock happy!  Our 5 horns above can make a year’s worth of “compost tea” for our entire farm!