A Gold Medal Special Selection! The Donati 2006 Chardonnay was produced from a hillside vineyard in Paicines, California, just east of Monterey County. Achieving optimal fruit ripeness is essential with Central Coast Chardonnays, so Donati chose a specific vineyard on steeply sloped, southern exposed hills, allowing maximum sunlight to reach the slowly ripening grapes. This hillside vineyard’s small berries provided a good concentration of flavors and acidity, both essential elements in styling Chardonnay. To give their 2006 Chardonnay a distinctive personality, Donati opted to age 80% of the lot in toasted French Oak barrels, giving the wine tremendous body and texture while imparting delicate levels of oak. The remaining 20% was fermented in stainless steel tanks, allowing the naturally vibrant fruit flavors to develop. The two separate lots were blended prior to bottling, giving the finished Chardonnay a wonderfully expressive character. Laced with just enough oak, the luscious fruit in Donati’s Chardonnay presents notes of pineapple and lemon custard perfectly balanced with delicious toasted oak notes. Donati says “the 2006 Chardonnay is our finest version of this elegant wine to date!” Try pairing the Donati 2006 Chardonnay with herb-roasted chicken, grilled wild salmon or Dungeness crab cakes. 100% Chardonnay. Enjoy now until 2012.

Ingredients:
Makes 6-8 Crab Cakes

1 Pound Jumbo Lump Crab Meat (Very important)
1 Fresh Lemon
1/3 Cup Mayo
Kosher Salt to taste
Fresh Ground Black Pepper to taste
Worchester Sauce (Exactly 8 1/2 Drops!)
2 Eggs
Melted Butter
1 Cup Japanese Panko Breadcrumbs
3/4 Cup Chopped Parsley
Optional Cayenne Pepper

Preparations:
In a good bowl, combine the 2 eggs with the salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in half and remove the seeds. Squeeze 1 half of the lemon into the bowl. Add parsley and melted butter, and then fold in the mayo. Put in a few drops of the Worchester Sauce and check the color and smell. You should smell the butter, lemon, and parsley pretty good by now. If not, I'd add a little more of whatever is lacking. Also, add the cayenne pepper if you want. Make sure you mix everything up pretty good but not too hard. So now all you have left is the Breadcrumbs and crabmeat! The crabmeat is BEST if you can actually remove it from the shell of the crab, but it's much easier to go to Costco and buy the 1lb. containers. I like Phillips the best! Now in another bowl, put all of the crabmeat you have and be careful not to break it up too much. You actually want it in as big of pieces as you can maintain. Slowly fold in the mixture you have just created, into the crabmeat. At this point I like to add a little bit of the breadcrumbs and then a little bit of the mixture. This way you have a good idea of the consistency you're working with. When everything is combined you should have a nice mix of crabmeat, breadcrumbs, and the mixture. Keep in mind that you'll be molding these into descent cakes, much like a hamburger patty. If your end product is too wet and/or runny, they will have a hard time staying together while cooking. I like to let my mix sit in the fridge for about 20 min or so just to absorb everything. You don't really have to this, so basically you can just begin to mold your cakes and place them on a plate or baking sheet. Once they are molded pretty tight I heat a large skillet to med heat. Add some extra virgin olive oil and make sure it doesn't get too hot. Once your heat is where it should be, place the cakes into the skillet. They should cook for about 3-5 minutes per side, depending on how you like them. I go for 4 min each side and they are a perfect golden brown. Once they're done, remove them from the skillet and you can serve right away, or keep them in the oven on very low heat as to keep them warm. Take the other have of the lemon you have, and squeeze it all of the tops of the cakes.