At Robert Sinskey Vineyards, visitors toured the first truffle orchard planted in Napa, now just a little over a year old. Early adopter Robert Sinskey, who farms biodynamically, admits,

“It’s a gamble. But so are grapes. I might have a truffle orchard one day, or maybe a shady grove to graze my sheep.”

Rico the truffle hunter with his owner, Bill Collins, a psychologist who works with depressed veterans in the San Francisco Bay area. Rico goes with Bill to work and is also a therapy dog for soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Photo: Maria Finn — Rico the truffle hunter with his owner, Bill Collins, a psychologist who works with depressed veterans in the San Francisco Bay area. Rico goes with Bill to work and is also a therapy dog for soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Photo: Maria Finn

It takes approximately five to seven years for a truffle orchard to start producing, and the one at Robert Sinskey Vineyards was planted in 2010. So to demonstrate how dogs sniff out truffles, a black truffle from Italy was buried into the ground so that Rico (short for Enrico Bacio il Tartufaio) the truffle-hunting dog could display his skills at finding it. Rico was born in Italy and is a Lagotto Romagnolo, a breed of water dog that dates back to Etruscan times. Truffle hunting pigs have fallen out of favor because they dig for and eat truffles with such gusto farmers have been known to lose digits when interfering. In Italy they have been outlawed because they damage the tree roots. And so Rico was a celebrity at the truffle festival.

Truffle sniffing dogs are critical to the operation. The best way to know a truffle is ripe and ready to harvest is from the aroma that it gives off. Any harvested before or after this aromatic time will have very little value. Black Périgord truffles contain the chemical compound androstenol, a sex hormone that beckons animals to it. Once unearthed, a truffle only has a short shelf life. According to Ken Frank, owner and executive chef at La Toque,

“After four days, it loses 25 percent of its aroma and flavor. Over the next four days, another 25 percent. And you can’t store truffles,” he explained. “Truffle oil and truffle salt is all chemically made. It’s a steroided-out version of them and a palate killer. Their fleeting nature is an element that makes them special. The art to cooking with truffles is to keep it simple, and let their perfume shine. The challenge is cooking with them and not just shaving them onto stuff.”

Truffled Mascarpone Crepe Cake with Sherry Brown Butter Sauce Prepared by Deborah Yee-Henen, La Toque, and Nicole Plue, side show by Nicole Plue Photo: Faith Echtermeyer — Truffled Mascarpone Crepe Cake with Sherry Brown Butter Sauce Prepared by Deborah Yee-Henen, La Toque, and Nicole Plue, sideshow by Nicole Plue Photo: Faith Echtermeyer

This was the bar set for the Saturday night, Truffles and Wine dinner at La Toque Restaurant. Michelin Star Chefs created a truffle-tasting menu that included Fagotelli of Four story Hill Farm Sweetbread and Black Truffle by Michael Tusk at Quince paired with Pinot Noir by Robert Sinskey Vineyards. Even the dessert featured with a truffled mascarpone crepe cake with sherry brown butter sauce by Deborah Yee-Henen at La Toque and Sideshow by Nicole Plue.

Just made Kurobuta pork sausage with truffle soft polenta and poached egg and shaved truffle. Photo: Maria Finn

On Sunday, Beringer Vineyards hosted a cooking demonstration with Nico Chessa who brought the spirit of his native Italy in the dishes he prepared, like the just-made Kurobuta pork sausage with truffle soft polenta and poached egg. At this lunch, I spoke with Gretchen and Dale Demmin, who traveled from Virginia wine country. They planted a truffle orchard on their farm in collaboration with the American Truffle Company. Gretchen had recently retired from the Army where she worked as a microbiologist. “Mushrooms are the next place we will find an antibiotic or cure. I’m convinced of this,” she explained. “I used to grow medicinal mushrooms, but it just got so hot where I lived, I need to grow underground mushrooms. So I’m making the transition from medicinal to luxury.” Also at the lunch was prospective truffle farmer David Mahaffey, winemaker and partner at Olivia Brion. “A truffle orchard is the sizzle on the steak,” he said “If I can grow world class Pinot Noir with truffles adjacent to them, that’s a great match, and a great story.”

Truffles for sale at the Oxbow Marketplace. Photo: Maria Finn

The final event took place at Oxbow Marketplace in Napa, where crowds swamped vendors that each interpreted the truffle in their own way. Ca’ Momi Enoteca had truffled pizza, The Model Bakery served mushroom-truffle bread pudding, Pica Pica Maize Kitchen offered truffled yucca fries and Gott’s Roadside made truffled Niman Ranch sliders. And there were also truffles--both black and white, for sale by the ounce. Visitors all stopped to sniff the truffles: earthy, fruity, musky. Some found them irresistible and wanted to take home their own delicious black diamond.

black Périgord truffleblack Périgord truffle

Truffles for Locavores?