Hospitality Winemaking Jordan Garden Wine Service Art of Wine Decanting

Much of the land in the Alexander Valley is ideal for viticulture, but in the 19th Century, farming was more general. These early settlers, many of whom came from Italy, raised cattle and planted vines. Every large farmhouse had its own olive trees (for cooking oil), a vegetable garden and orchard, a chicken run and a hog house. There were usually a few beehives, too. It was, and still is, a land of milk and honey, but those farming families worked long and hard for their prosperity.

The Jordan residence, which is a few miles from the winery, has as its core one of those late 19th Century farmhouses. The original olive trees are still here, chickens continue to scratch in a hen run and bees still bumble among the flowers, but the tenants of the hog house have long since been evicted.

The tree-shaded gardens surrounding the house are not only beautiful, but supply cut flowers and fresh produce for events at the winery as well as the family table.

The fruit and vegetable gardens, planned and cared for by our head gardener, John Hadley, provide a never-ending array of organic produce such as one might hope to see at a farmers' market, and a lot more. In due season, everything from tiny woodland strawberries and juicy mulberries to glorious orange persimmons are harvested, and even in winter there is a steady supply of fresh vegetables. We invite you to try Sandra Jordan recipes using produce from the garden.

Snails are not viewed with dismay in this garden - they are corralled in a custom-built habitat for escargot and fed on baby lettuce. Jordan's chef, Udo Nechutnys, later transforms them into an unbelievably tender and tasty appetizer, complemented by Jordan-grown herbs and sweet Sonoma butter! It's a noble end.