Quivira Vineyards in Dry Creek Valley has had an ambitious Biodynamic/organic farm program for the last five years that includes not just their vineyards but an extensive produce garden with 120 raised produce beds, a dozen heirloom chicken breeds, honey bees and roaming farm animals.

They also grow a lot of figs – which serve as the inspiration for an exciting new event. This fall, Quivira is hosting its first Figs & Pigs Fest on October 19. It’s a harvest celebration of sorts that focuses on three of Quivira’s favorite items: wine, figs and pork.

From 12:00pm-4:00pm, the Figs & Pigs Fest offers guests a variety of fig and bacon dishes (and much more) at the Fig Buffet, tours of the estate with tutored tastings beneath the 135-year-old fig tree in the middle of their vineyard, a Grape Stomp Competition (harvest will be in full swing) and plenty of quality time with Quivira’s heirloom breed chickens, Ruby the pig and other farm animals.

Quivira specializes in Zinfandel, Rhone varieties and Sauvignon Blanc, including the signature ‘Fig Tree’ Sauvignon Blanc from the Fig Tree vineyard on the property.

For more information on Quivira and the event, visit www.quivirawine.com

From the wires: After 23 years in business, and more than a decade of making wine, we’re incredibly excited to say that we broke ground for our very own winery building on Tuesday!

This is a huge step for us, on many levels, but the most important is that it gives us complete control over our winemaking for the very first time. We finally have the combination of fruit, facility, and people that we’ve long been seeking. Like us, it’s not big (our long-term goal is just 3,000 cases per year) or fancy — but it is perfect.

So, by the way, is the 2013 growing season. Details below, along with a special offer to help you enjoy the bounty of the harvest no matter where you are!

St. Helena hotspot, Cook(http://www.cooksthelena.com/), is now serving Sunday brunch from 10am to 2pm. The new menu includes soft polenta with a poached egg and black leaf kale, slow roasted pork hash with Yukon potatoes and weekly special frittata along with a seasonal BLT and the official drink of hangovers, the Bloody Mary. 1310 Main St., St. Helena.

Banshee Wines, specializing in Sonoma Coast pinots (but hey, they’ve also got a tasty chardonnay) has opened its first tasting room in Healdsburg. What’s especially interesting is that they’ll be offering up a tasting menu with bites from Shed’s new head chef, Jenna Sprafkin.  The decor is nouveau Healdsburg, with plenty of reclaimed wood, vintage communal table, a record player in an old milk crate and a host of ironic knick knacks (we love the lounging gnome). “The Banshee tasting room really is an amped up version of our own homes,” said Baron Ziegler, Co-Founder and Director of Sales at Banshee Wines. “You don’t have to ask brilliant questions of our winemaking staff. You can come in, hang out and enjoy time with your friends over a killer glass of wine.”

Eat Sonoma County: Food is taking over at the Share Exchange, a locally-made marketplace in downtown Santa Rosa. On a recent visit to the store (531 Fifth St., 707-583-7667), we noticed they’ve added a refrigerator stocked with local grass fed beef from True Grass Farms in Valley Ford, kefir from Sebastopol’s Kefiry, Bella Rosa coffee from Santa Rosa, sandwiches from local caterer Ruthy’s Real Meals, sauces and jams and even local produce from Singing Frog Farms. Most items have the backstory of the “makers” and a photo so you know the folks you’re buying from.

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Fair Fooding: Biteclub and several lucky food judges headed out for some serious eating (and judging) over the last week for the upcoming Sonoma County Harvest Fair (Oct. 4-6). Five restaurants in five days turned up some high-profile contenders to come up with their most impressive appetizers, entrees and desserts. You’ll have to wait until Oct. 4 to find out the winners, but we can say that Catelli’s 10-layer lasagna (21047 Geyserville Ave., Geyserville), John Ash and Co.’s(4330 Barnes Road, Santa Rosa) raspberry cheesecake and Ole’s Seafood from Thai Time (402 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa)were among our favorites.

‘Tis the season for ripe, juicy heirloom tomatoes and supple figs. We’re seeing both of these seasonal goodies all over menus around Sonoma County. The next best thing to eating warm cherry tomatoes right off the vine? A good late summer BLT.

BiteClub loved the version at Twist. (6536 Front St., Forestville) with toasted Nightingale Bakery bread, thick slices of heirloom tomatoes, slab bacon, fresh lettuce and mayonnaise. Because sometimes simplicity makes for the best of dishes. We’re also loving all the fig dishes that seem to be cropping up, including prosciutto wrapped figs with arugula and melted blue cheese at Catelli’s and of course, the gold standard, the fig salad at The Girl and The Fig (110 W. Spain St., Sonoma). Got an excess of figs in your yard? We found great recipes online for homemade fig bars, fig clafoutis, fig brandy, honey fried figs and fig crostini. But our favorite? A good sliced fig with a dollop of mascarpone. Heaven.

Alton Brown, The Barefoot Contessa and Robert Irvine are on the dockets for the Wells Fargo Center’s Culinary Series. Brown heats up the stage on Oct. 25, with Dinner Impossible’s Irvine coming to Sonoma on Jan. 17 and Ina Garten on April 2. Sponsored by Bellwether farms, the shows are sure to be a tasty bet throughout the next few months. Details at wellsfargocenterarts.org.