The semiannual series of dinners pairing food and wine will be held in the old novitiate facility in the east Los Gatos hills, in the Blanc de Noir cellar room, which a Jesuit order of Roman Catholic priests built in 1888 to hold their own wines. The first of the series of three dinners was held March 8. An additional series of three dinners will be held in the fall.

Cappa, event sales manager for the facility, is responsible for arranging everything from the caterer to the seating arrangements.

The $100-a-plate April 5 dinner will feature Chef Justin Perez of Buca Fine Catering in Campbell. Perez and Mirassou winemaker Tom Stutz will discuss the pairings of foods and wines before each course. As winemaker, Stutz is the person who makes every decision concerning the maturation processes the grapes and wine must undergo—from the choice of vineyard to the decision as to which barrel type (steel or French or American oak) the wine will be aged in. He will be presenting pinot noir from Monterey County under the Mirassou label and some from Oregon under his own Radcliffe label. Pinot noir, along with cabernet sauvignon, is considered an aristocrat of red wines.

Perez is planning a five-course feast to follow a champagne tasting at 6 p.m. The first course features oysters in a pinot sauce, followed by a Napoleon salad and pan-seared sweetbreads. After a palate refresher of blueberry-pinot sorbet, the main course of rack of spring lamb will be served, followed by a pear and Gorgonzola crepe. The dinner will be accompanied by the soothing sounds of classical guitarist Jerry Schnider from Los Gatos. "The acoustics are fabulous," exclaims Cappa, referring to the cavernous, rock-rimmed tasting room.

On Mothers Day, Saratoga Village Caterers will be serving the dinner at a cost of $50 per person. It will be the last public event to be held using wines made by the Mirassou family, which has been producing wines for six generations. The family has sold its Mirassou label to Gallo Wine Company. Gallo will be producing wines under that label for retail sale in June. Two members of the Mirassou family's sixth generation—Heather and David—will work for Gallo along with Stutz.

The fifth generation of the family—Daniel, Jim and Peter—will continue making wine from their San Jose facility under a new label—La Rochelle Cellars. La Rochelle is the port from which Mirassou founder Pierre Pellier departed France in 1854. The new label will produce about 15,000 cases of premium wines each year, as opposed to the 100,000 cases of previous years. La Rochelle wines will be available for purchase in the tasting room and in some local restaurants.

Mirassou Champagne Cellars is located at 300 College Ave. in Los Gatos. The tasting room is open from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Call 408.395.3790 for reservations and directions for the Maestro Dinner.