Editor’s Note: The development of Cellar 9 Wine Bar at Grafton Station is not only watched closely by residents in Dublin, CA but also by a very special chef in Walla Walla, WA. Chef Judith Henderson of Wild Berries! reached out to the Around Dublin Team in late January about the expected opening date of Cellar 9. After checking with Dublin’s economic development director Linda Maurer, we were able to share with Chef Henderson that Cellar 9 had just passed the City of Dublin’s drywall inspection. Although the project timeline has slipped by a few months from what Charter Properties had published in its flier, Cellar 9 is definitely moving forward.

Over our email exchanges on the Cellar 9 project and the Grafton Station development, Chef Henderson shared a few of her favorite wine and food pairings with the Around Dublin Team. Impressed by her accessible writing style, the Around Dublin Team invited Chef Henderson to become a community contributor. — John M. Zukoski

This morning I watched a gaggle of Snow Geese honk their way over the house, flying north. I looked-up between their feathered underbellies, little black legs tucked tightly under their bodies, and caught a glimpse of the lavender swatched sky, dappled in violet hues against a backdrop of waving Silvertip Spruce and 40 foot dancing pines. It just took my breath away. It’s this kind of subtle beauty that reminds us why we live here in Touchet Valley.

By late afternoon, I’d baked an old fashioned gingerbread, a request granted to my Wine Guy. The house smelled wonderful as I began preparations for dinner. I stuffed a free-range chicken from Morgan Ranch, with a handful of wild thyme, whole cut lemon, cracked garlic and lavender flowers. To side this aromatic dinner, I filled a roasting pan with olive-oil bathed root vegetables sprinkled in coarse salt and cracked black pepper.

As I pulled dinner from the oven, in walks Wine Guy with the bottle of the evening: a Lowden Hills ’04 Merlot, aged 26 months in new American oak and used French barrels, well balanced, rippling in juicy raspberries, licorice and a velvet silken mouth.

Lowden Hills Winemaker, Jim Henderson has his way with this particular wine, I have always loved it, and so much that Wine Guy surprised me with a second bottle we’ll save for another meal of Country French heritage.

The Lowden Hills bottle, a blend of 98 percent merlot, 2 percent syrah, is a beautiful example of the diverse range in Walla Walla Merlot and available through Lowden Hills tasting room at 1401 Pine Street off Second Avenue in Downtown Walla Walla. The tasting room is open Thursday to Monday, 11AM to 5PM.

For that most unusual velvet mouth feel surrounded in luscious raspberries, this aged Merlot earns Winemaker Jim Henderson 98 points from Wine and Country Living. Congratulations Jim!

Here’s a recipe for you to generously nap your next gingerbread. Cheers!

Frozen Winter Raspberry Sauce
For Gingerbread

Serves 4

1-pint frozen raspberries
¼-cup sugar
2-tablespoon orange juice
2-tablespoons cornstarch
1-cup cold water

Method:

In a bowl, whisk water and cornstarch until well blended and set aside. In a sauce pan, add raspberries, sugar and orange juice; over medium high heat, stir until simmering. Add water and cornstarch and cook whisking occasionally for 3-minutes or until thickening. Remove pan from heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer. Cool sauce just to warm and drizzle over gingerbread. Serve with dollop of whipped cream.

For more recipes and good food and wine pairings, please check out Chef Judith Henderson’s website at www.chefjudithhenderson.com.