HEALDSBURG >> Taverna Sofia won the gold medal in the annual Sonoma County Harvest Fair Restaurant Competition for Best Entr?e, serving Shannon Ranch lamb meatballs with tzatziki sauce.
“I think it is great,” Clay Shannon, owner of Shannon Ridge Family of Wines and Shannon Ranch, said. “Not many ranchers can say that their employees taste so good that they win gold medals.” Shannon Ridge Family of Wines, based in Lake County, is the largest scale vineyard in the United States using domestic sheep to weed, mow, sucker and fertilize their vineyards.
Shannon coined the term “Ovis Cycle” to describe this practice. “Ovis” is the Latin word for sheep. They herd of more than 1,000 head of sheep into more than 800 acres of vineyards. Shannon Ranch lambs are raised hormone- and antibiotic-free. The lamb is vineyard-grazed and never corn- or feed-lot fed.
The wool is sold for use in textiles and knitting. “Sustainability has become a buzz-word,” Shannon said, “but the Ovis Cycle is truly sustainable because, in the end, the sheep are providing us with food and wool. We also eliminate the need for pesticides and herbicides in our vineyards. I know that when our lamb is served at a restaurant that we are truly partners in a sustainable future.” As part of the “Ovis Cycle,” Shannon Ranch sells 1,400 grass-fed lambs each year to restaurants around the country, including numerous restaurants in California, such as Farmstead and Press in St. Helena, Bottega in Yountville and Taverna Sofia in Healdsburg.
