Fall, Thanksgiving and the flavors of Rasteau #Winophiles

November 15, 2019

The beautiful embossed Rasteau AOC Cru bottle Photo Courtesy of Inter-Rhône

Rasteau. Perhaps it’s a name you are not familiar with. This region in the Southern Rhône has long been known for their sweet Vin Doux Naturel wines. It was just recently (2010) awarded Cru status for it’s dry red wines.

This post is a sponsored post. In conjunction with the French #Winophiles I recieved 4 bottles of wine from Rasteau as samples to taste and write about. The opinions provided are my own.

Rasteau

The name itself comes from the French word “râteau” meaning rake. The hills and valleys here look like the tines of a rake.

The Fortress in Rasteau Photo Courtesy of Inter-Rhône
Rolling vineyards showing the altitude in Rasteau Photo Courtesy of Inter-Rhône

The region is east of the famous Chateauneuf-de-Pape. Perspective…it is 21 miles from Avignon, at the very south of the Rhône River and 12.5 miles from Orange. Writing this out made me realize how small this area really is. This is a small medieval village with cobbled streets. Located in the Haut-Vaucluse, this little village faces south and looks to the Dentelles de Montmirail mountain range.

Haut-Vaucluse

The name might not be familiar to you, but this is the region that inspired Cézanne and Chagall. Farmlands with orchards, olive groves and lavender fields cover this area of Provençe. Here you find ancient cities, including Rasteau.

Dentelles de Montmirail

This small mountain chain is just south of the village of Vaison-la-Romaine. Dentelles translated to English is “lace” as the mountains have a scalloped lace like feel as you look at them.

Geography, Climate & Soils

As I mentioned the village faces south. The soils differ depending on the altitude. Lower altitudes have pebble rich soils, a little further up you reach sandy marl (between 525 and 951 feet) and the highest vineyards have red and grey marl with galets, those pudding stones that the Rhône is so famous for.

Pudding stones in AOC Rasteau Photo Courtesy of Inter-Rhône
Old vines and galets or pudding stones AOC Rasteau Photo Courtesy of Inter-Rhône

As far south as they are you get loads of sunshine and it’s relatively dry. Plus the Mistral wind keeps the vines healthy. All that air keeps the vines dry and free from mold and disease. But…the vineyards on this south facing slope are arranged in a bowl or amphitheatre shape which keeps them safe from the most brutal of the winds. So they get the good breezes, not the damaging wind.

Red Rhône Blends with some rules

The wines here are made up of red Rhône varieties that you are likely familiar with, but with a couple of rules.

The blend must be at least 50% Grenache Noir
At least 20% of the wine must be Syrah & Mourvèdre (that’s 20% together)

Syrah grapes in Rasteau Photo Courtesy of Inter-Rhône

Mourvèdre grapes in Rasteau Photo Courtesy of Inter-Rhône — Syrah grapes in Rasteau Photo Courtesy of Inter-Rhône

We recieved 4 samples, each with a slightly different blend. Two of which were 2015 vintage and two that were the 2016 Vintage.

All of the wines were food friendly, made to bring to table, to share and enjoy with food and laughter.

2016 Rasteau wines from Domaine M. Boutin and Domaine La Fond de Notre Dame

Domaine La Font de Notre Dame 2016 Rasteau Le Chêne

This is an old family estate renamed by the sons in 2016. The Domaine has vineyards in several regions including Gigondas, Sablet and Lirac in addition to their vineyard in Rasteau.

The vineyard sits on the top of a hill at 350 meters between the Ouvèze and Aygue valleys with soil of brown marl and pebbles.Vines here average 80 years old, so they were the oldest of the samples we recieved.

The wine is Grenache driven at 80% with 10% Mourvèdre and 5% each of Syrah and Cinsault. The Grenache is grown in the gobelet style (bush style, untrellised)

The Domaine La Font de Notre Dame was the lightest bodied of the 4 Rasteau wines we tasted and was also the highest percentage of Grenache. It was bright and elegant.

Domaine M. Boutin 2016 Rasteau

Mikael Boutin, the winemaker is a 5th generation winemaker. Domaine M. Boutin is a small operation. His facility is the size of a two car garage size and he works mostly with concrete tanks. He has almost 5 acres of vines scattered over 8 parcels. The vines average 40 years old and are are varied soils and have different exposures. Regardless of the fact that they are scattered, they are all organically certified.

Mikael hand harvests and does wild yeast ferments in his concrete tanks. The wines are kept on the fine lees for 8 months (still in the concrete tanks). Wines are held in bottle for 12 months before release.

Chateau du Trignon 2015 Rasteau

This property had been kept for generations as a traditional farm by the Roux family, who gradually turned the focus to vineyards. In 2007 the Quiot family purchased the property, 12 acres are with in the Rasteau AOC.

This is a 60/40 blend of Grenache and Mourvèdre from vines that average 30 years in age. The grapes are de-stemed and after around 3 weeks of masceration do a 3 week indigenous yeast ferment. They age for a year in foudres and concrete.

Lavau 2015 Rasteau

2015 Lavau Rasteau bottle shot — 2015 Lavau Rasteau

This wine comes from east facing stony hillsides. Harvests here are small and late. This blend in 50/50 Grenache and Syrah. Destemmed, 25 day masceration and a year of aging in mostly neutral oak.

A little on the 2015 vintage from Lavau

After a wet winter and spring, followed by a few showers in June, the vines were able to withstand the extreme summer droughts due to the water reserves. Ripening conditions were optimal with sunny days and cool nights, accompanied by a light Mistral wind. The harvested grapes showed exceptional concentration and balance.
Groupe Lavau Maucoil www.lavau.fr

Thanksgiving Pairing with Rasteau

With Thanksgiving right around the corner here in the US, I looked at these wines and determined that the flavor profiles would pair nicely with those fall foods we indulge in at Thanksgiving.

The menu

Thanksgiving flavors to pair with the wines of Rasteau

With just 2 of us, we took a simpler route than roasting an entire turkey. I found 2 turkey breast marinated and applewood smoked to cook like a pork loin, roasting it in the oven. This took my cooking time to a little over an hour, rather than the 3 or so for a full bird.

I looked to flavors that would match the wine. Herb de Provençe was a no brainer for this area of southern France and the berry notes of raspberry, blackberry and cherry noted in the wine…well I figured that adding some cranberry and making a sauce would be pretty perfect.

Smoked roasted turkey breast with a berry sauce, roasted mashed sweet potatoes with herbs de provençe and sauteed green beans with fried shallots, almonds & balsamic reduction.
Rasteau Rouge with turkey, sweet potatoes and seared brussel sprouts.
Thanksgiving and Rasteau

I roasted the sweet potatoes (a regular sweet potato and a purple sweet potato with sweet white flesh) in olive oil, herb de provençe, salt, pepper and a bit of nutmeg and then mashed them with butter and a dash of stock. The nutmeg brought out that bit of spice in the wines.

For our green vegetables… we did fresh green beans, cooked in butter and a bit of stock, drizzled with a balsamic reduction and sprinkled with sea salt, as well as boiled brussel sprouts, that I then sliced and pan seared to pull out the sweetness. Both of course got a dash of the herbs de Provençe,

We did start with a cheese platter, with a decided feminine feel. I picked up “New Woman” cheese which has jerked spices in it, and Two Sisters Gouda. We rounded this out with dried cherries, blackberries, raspberries, apple and almonds.

Honestly, all the foods paired beautifully with all of these wines. Not a bad pairing in the bunch. Tying in the fruit notes as well as the herbs and spices really made these pairings sing.

Verdict

Michael found both of the 2015 wines to be more weighty and substantial. I would agree. There might be several components to this, the age, the vintage, which as we saw above was very warm and the blend. Both of these wines were simply Grenache and one other variety and the Mourvèdre and Syrah that they used can both be weighty. I did really enjoy the Domaine La Font de Notre Dame, for exactly the reason that it was not weighty. Perhaps I was in a very Grenachey mood. I was also really enamoured by the story of MB Boutin and his 2 car garage size set up and his scattered hand picked vineyards. Mikael’s story definitely influenced my tasting and I savored visualizing his harvest while sipping the wine.

All of these wines were delicious, but they are decidedly food wines. On their own, they were fine, but not wines to sit and deeply contemplate with your nose in a glass. They are wines to pop open and enjoy with people and food. They are not showy, they are complimentary, quietly, each in it’s own way, adding to the meal and elevating the food.

These wines are in the perfect price point. Running from $18 to $25 SRP, these are wines that you can easily bring to the table to enjoy without the pressure of needing to stop and take detailed tasting notes.

For more information on these wines on social media, check out

Twitter: @RhoneWine
Instagram: @rhonevalleyvineyards, @vinsderasteau
Facebook: @RhoneValleyVineyards, @aoc.rasteau
Or search for the hashtags: #rhone #rasteau #rasteauwine #rhonewine

Or visit Vins-Rhône.com for details on wines and vineyards throughout the Rhône region

The French #Winophiles

We will be gathering on twitter under the hashtage #Winophiles to talk about the wines of Rasteau on Saturday morning November 16th. It’s early at 8 am if you are in the Pacific time zone, a more reasonable 10 am in the midwest and a luxurious 11 am on the east coast. Join us to chat about these wines and the pairings we all found!

Here is a list of the other terrific articles written on the wines of Rasteau by the other #Winophiles!

Cathie from Side Hustle Wino “Getting to Know the Wines of Rasteau”
Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Cam shares “A Birthday Tradition + Side-by-Side Sips of Domaine de Verquière Rasteau”
David from Cooking Chat Food writes about “Chicken Lentil Stew and Rhône Wine from Rasteau”
Deanna from Asian Test Kitchen tells us how to “Become a Rasteau—farian”
Gwendolyn from Wine Predator says “Go Grenache, Go Rasteau”
Jane from Always Ravenous writes about “Flavors of Provence Paired with Rhône Rasteau Wines”
Jeff from Food Wine Click explains “Rasteau and the Côtes du Rhône Quality Pyramid”
Kat from The Corkscrew Concierge explains how she is “Expanding My Rhône Valley Palate with Rasteau Wine”
Linda from My Full Wine Glass writes about “Basking in the Glow of Rasteau”
Liz from What’s in That Bottle says, “You Like Big Reds? Get to Know the Wines of Rasteau”
Lynn from Savor the Harvest writes about “Rhone Valley Rasteau Cru – A New Generation Wine with Duck Confit”
Martin from Enofylz writes about “Getting To Know Rasteau”
Nicole from Somm’s Table shares “Five Nights of Rasteau”
Payal from Keep the Peas writes about “Rasteau: Not So Rustic in the Southern Rhone”
Pinny from Chinese Food & Wine Pairings writes about “One Rabbit, Two Turkey Drumsticks and Four Rasteau Wines”
Rupal from Syrah Queen writes, “Rasteau – Exploring The Gems of Southern Rhone”
Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm shares “A German-Style Shepherds Pie with French Rasteau”

Shout out to Michelle Williams at Rockin Red Blog who was terrific in helping secure samples from Rhône Valley Vineyards for some participants (one of which was me!). Thanks Michelle!

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Cans and kegs – packaging sustainability with Quady North

October 25, 2019

Sustainability. We are all talking about it, but it’s often a struggle with our need for convenience. We spoke with Herb Quady of Quady North in Southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley about this very topic earlier this year.

Bag in Box & Kegs

Herb has restaurants locally that are carrying bags & kegs of his Quady North wine which is great for sustainability in by the glass programs. The “bag in box” he says is a local phenomenon, which works great for restaurants. They can get a 3 liter bag, which equals 4 bottles of wine for a by the glass program. The cost is less for packaging and there is less waste. (BTW, you can get these too, they are available on his website). Kegs work for restaurants, or stores that have growler programs. Good stainless steel kegs are reusable and save a ton of glass.

Canned Wine

Then there are cans. You may have been skeptical of canned wine, and quite honestly, rightly so. The trend started with lots of bulk wine being pushed into cans for convenience. The taste of the wine wasn’t the can’s fault, it was just bad wine.

These days more and more wineries are getting good juice into a can.

It’s the democratization of wine.
Herb Quady, Quady North Wines

Herb puts his GSM Rosé into can. He tells us one of his best clients is a drive-thru Mexican fusion restaurant. You can get beer by the bottle or his rose in a can to go with your order. There is also a high end restaurant in Seattle that has added a weekly laid back patio party and serves hard seltzers, sangria and the Quady canned rosé.

People that were going to drink something else, now have wine as an option. It’s an opportunity for the industry.

Quady North Rose blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre is bright and fresh. — Quady North Rose

On a Economic level…

There are canning trucks, just like the bottling trucks that many wineries employ. On the subject of cost… Herb says, that they have accepted the fact that they will not live an extravagant lifestyle and focus more on wine and cheese, than trappings and cars. In their mind…

We can offer good wine in a can at an affordable price. We are just doing a service for the people.
Herb Quady, Quady North

Got to love that.

Taste testing, in case you need that

We picked up a 3 pack of the canned GSM Rosé at the tasting room. It got up to 85 degrees today in Vegas (I know…fall in Vegas right?). So we popped a can in the backyard in the sun, and downed it with some lo mein and thai style lemongrass chicken rolls. The wine has great acid to pair with the fat and flavors of the food, and the color is a beautiful light ballet slipper peach/pink . On the nose I got tart strawberry, peach and wet stones. In my mouth it is dry and tart with citrus, zest (Herb mentions that picking the grenache early gives it the citrus skin notes), mineral and stone fruit flavors and it has a surprisingly long finish.

The blend is led by Grenache, followed by a big dollop of Syrah and finished off with a bit of Mourvèdre and a pinch of Cournoise. The exact percentages vary by year, with some years a splash of Vermentino tossed in.

The grapes for this rosé were “specifically planted and grown for Rosé”. They wanted to make a Southern French Style Rosé and found sites to grow the different varieties to have higher acidity.

So…can you get this?

You can pick up a 3 pack of his canned Rosé at the tasting room or on the website for $16. (that’s 3 – 250 mL cans, which would be equal to a bottle of wine). Abv sits at 12.4% . Wine Enthusiast & Vinous gave it 90 points, and Wine Spectator gave it 89, so, if you are into that kinda thing….

Back to sustainability

All in all, I highly recommend looking out for the planet with these new sustainable ways of enjoying wine. It is good for the planet. We vote often with our wallet.

Look for cans for convenience and environmental sustainability, aluminum is much easier and cheaper to recycle than glass. I’ll leave you a link to a VinePair article on the subject by Nick Hines… Cans or Bottles: What’s Worse for the Environment?

I also hope we can all encourage local restaurants to look into keg wine! It’s so much more affordable for the winery (and as such for the restaurant and us) and this packaging is reusable! This kind of sustainability is good for everyone.

Keep the sustainability conversation going!

Share with us your experiences with other sustainable wine packaging and the changes you are seeing. Do you have a winery or bar locally that does growlers. What about wineries, switching to different glass to leave less of a carbon footprint, or changing from using capsules on the top of bottles. Have you had wine from a keg? Have you seen bag-in-box programs with higher quality wines (not just grocery store)? Let us know in the comments or visit us on social media. Let’s keep this conversation going!

Visiting Quady North

If you are in Southern Oregon, stop by and visit the Quady North Tasting Room at 255 E California St. Jacksonville OR. They are open Wednesday -Sunday 11-6 and Monday’s from Noon to 5.

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

The Scenic Route Part 7 – Du Brul to Hiyu

September 24, 2019

Our time in Washington was nearing it’s end. Morning had us traveling from Walla Walla west to the Yakima Valley once again to visit with Kerry Shiels of Côte Bonneville. We met her for an interview at their tasting room in Sunnyside.

Côte Bonneville

Driving through the small town of Sunnyside you come upon a quaint restored building that was previously a train station. When Hugh and Kathy Shiels moved to the area, Hugh set up practice as an orthopedic surgeon. The renovated Train Station was his office for many years. It has now become their beautiful tasting room.

Cote Bonneville, Tasting Room Sunnyside Washington

Kerry is a wealth of information on the area and the science behind the vineyard and wine making. Kerry has an engineering degree, which she put to use with Fiat in Italy, before returning to get a degree in Viticulture and Enology and then taking over as winemaker. She is smart and intense, a woman who made her way in the male dominated engineering field.

DuBrul Vineyard

We headed to their DuBrul vineyard before things warmed up too much. The drive up to the top was a little sketchy for our Kia hybrid, but we made it. The mountains were both out (Mt Adams and Mt. Ranier) as we reached the top of the vineyard to walk through the vines.

Own rooted vines

We talked about the aspect of this vineyard, which allows them to grow so many varieties well and discussed the difference with own rooted vines.

Cote Bonneville, Dubrul Vineyard Grapevines
Cote Bonneville, Dubrul Vineyard Grapevines
Cote Bonneville, Dubrul Vineyard Grapevines
Cote Bonneville Dubrul Vineyard

“It’s like reading Tolstoy in Russian”.
Kerry Shiels of Côte Bonneville and DuBrul Vineyard

Dubrul Vineyard with Kerry Shiels — DuBrul Vineyard with Kerry Shiels

This is certain to be a topic we hear more about and lamented over as phyloxera has been found in Washington and precautions will need to be taken. I will tell you that I find the difference in the character of the wines from own rooted stock undeniable and wonderful.

You can look forward to hearing much of our conversation in future posts. It was really a fascinating morning.

Co Dinn Cellars

We made a stop to visit Co at his tasting room at Co Dinn Cellars. Co also has a renovated historic building in Sunnyside. His winery and tasting room are in the old Water Works. It’s a gorgeous space.

Co dinn Cellars Tasting Room
Co dinn Cellars Tasting Room
Co dinn Cellars Tasting Room
Co Dinn Cellars Tasting Room Sunnyside WA
Co dinn Cellars Tasting Room

He showed us around and took us through a tasting. We also had an amazing conversation on closures…more on that later.

We headed back to the Gorge and through Hood River then off to Hiyu on the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge AVA.

Hiyu Wine Farm

Go to the website…the water colors will enchant you. I was sucked in immediately and knew that I needed to visit this place.

Hiyu is 30 acres of wine farm. There is a sense of wildness here. Nate Ready, a Master Sommelier and China Tresemer fell in love with the beauty of this region. This place is undeniably stunning, with it’s glorious views of Mt. Hood.

The idea didn’t begin with wine. They really wanted to cultivate a lifestyle. From 7 acres in 2010 it expanded to take in another 20 acres in 2015.

We arrived a bit early, and walked in to see if it was okay if we explored the property. There was a bit of chaos happening, the goats had just escaped and there was some scurrying to round them up.

Community within the staff

The farm has a staff that includes a handful of interns. Duties rotate weekly, so everyone gets to do each of the jobs. This insures that no one takes for granted the job someone else is doing. It has a little 60’s 70’s nostalgia feel to me. A little feel of a hippy commune, and I’m down for that.

Hiyu Beet Pairing
Hiyu Smockshop Band
Hiyu Smockshop Band
Hiyu Wines
Phoebe a goat a Hiyu Wine Farm
Hiyu Goats
Hiyu Goats
Hiyu Ducks
Hiyu Farm
Hiyu Farm
Hiyu Farm
Hiyu Vineyard

Gardens

The garden in front of the tasting room is an edible food forest. You will find Goji berries and rock herbs here seasonally. We headed up the hill to the garden. Wild and overgrown, the things that were complete for the season were taking their natural course, going to seed to prepare for the next season. There are flowers and herbs, annuals and perennials, artichokes, favas and cardoons.

Vineyard

From here we walked the vineyard and then up to the hill where the view of Mt. Hood is simply breath taking. Winter to spring the cows, pigs and chickens wander through the vines, grazing and fertilizing. There is an acre of pear trees left. They have a green house and make compost on site.

Falcon boxes protect the vineyard. And they have grafted field blends. They don’t hedge the vines here, allowing them to be a little more wild, and do just 1 pass with a scythe. Cinnamon is used to prevent powdery mildew.

Livestock & Animals

There are cows and guinea fowl. A 100 year old irrigation ditch feeds the pasture and gardens. We wound down by the pond and visited with the ducks and came around to the goats. Phoebe the matriarch stood on the fender of the horse trailer. They were fiesty, but contained once more.

There are hawthorn trees and over by the house there are currants. I was reminded of days as a child on mountain farms in West Virginia. Life is allowed to thrive and be wild and perhaps a bit messy.

Mt. Hood

The day ended with spectacular views of Mt. Hood. We leave you hear with a bit of spectacular nature.

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Corsica – An Island and it’s wines #Winophiles

September 21, 2019

Famous pine tree on Palombaggia beach with azure clear water and sandy beach on the south part of Corsica, France

Close your eyes. When I say Corsica, what comes to mind. Cliff side villages, overlooking the bluest of waters, sea breezes, perhaps a crisp white wine to take the edge off the heat?

Corsican village of Bonifacio on the cliff side

This island sits closer to Italy than France, but…it is French, although the people consider themselves decidedly Corsican. The culture blends Italian and French foods and language.

Red from the Mountains, White from the Sea – Wines of Corsica

Vermentino, the leading white grape of the island, may be called Rolle as it is in France or Vermentinu as it was on the bottle I picked up. Sangiovese is the prominent red, known here as Niellucciu.

Corsican wines are not so easy to come by, but can be really affordable when you find them. We searched around town, to no avail with our local wine shops and ended up picking these up at Total Wine, who had a selection from 3 producers.

Alba di Diana Corse

This wine from Domaine de Terra Vecchia is 100% Vermentinu (or Vermentino). $14.99 srp

The Estate is on the East Coast of Corsica facing the Tyrrhenian Sea that sits between Corsica and Italy. On the map above you can see the city of Aleria where you will find Domaine de Terra Vecchia. Vineyards here are between the mountains and the Etang de Diana, a lagoon where they harvest mussels and oysters.

Vignoble Corse à Aleria
Oyster production in Etang de Diane, the east coast of Corsica, France, Europe

Vines were planted here in the 19th century on a little property on the edge of the Etang de Diana. Jean-François Renucci acquired the Domaine, replanted with Corsican grape varieties and converted the vineyard to organic farming.

Clos Sulana

The other wine we found is from Clos Sulana in the Centru di Corsica. Clos Sulana is located in the mountains around the village of Morosaglia in the Central part of Corsica. Vineyards here enjoy high altitudes at the foot of a chain of mountains with wide temperature variations.

Clos Sulana is produced by Domaine Vico. Their vineyards were originally planted in 1901 by Jean Vico. The family now has 49 hectares with soils of schist, basalt, granite and pebbles that sit between 850 and almost 1200 feet at the foot of the mountains.

The Clos Sulana Rouge is a Red wine made of 40% Niellucciu (the Corsican name for Sangiovese), 40% Sciaccarellu and 20% Syrah. Okay…”Sciaccarellu”, you ask? Well, it is a dark skinned grape grown primarily in Corsica, although you will find it in Tuscany where it is known as Mammolo. This grape has soft tannins, red fruit and a peppery note. The wine sits at 13.5 abv. $11.99 srp

Foods of Corsica

Local wild pork delicatessen, and corsican cheese,

Meats & Cheeses

Corsica is well known for its sheep and goat milk cheeses and cured meats. The cured meats here are made from the meat of free range pigs who live the life feeding on chestnuts (another important product of the island) and acorns.

Fish & Seafood

The east coast of the island, as I mentioned, has oyster farms. Other fish you find locally include anchovies & sardines, red mullet and langoustine. The island does have fresh water fish in it’s rivers so trout and eel can be found.

Stews & Pastas – Herbs, fruits and veggies

Soups and stews are popular with wild boar, chesnuts and fennel or veal, olives, tomatoes and herbs, always with a splash of wine in the pot.

Pastas are also popular (I mean…this is a stones throw from Italy). When it comes to vegetables, think mediterranean with tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant. You can readily find fruits like peaches, clementines and figs. Olives and olive oil of course are staples. They have a group of herbs called “maquis”. This blend is of thyme, juiper, myrtle, oregano, basil and different types of mint. This is the scent of the island. They also have an AOC for honey, which carries the notes of the “maquis”.

Food Pairings

I searched locally for Brocciu, a non-lactose cheese that is a common ingredient in recipes. No luck. This is a fresh cheese and is similar to ricotta, so I used that instead. You will also find Tommette de Chèvre (a strong goat milk cheese), Corsu Vecchiu 9a semi-hard sheep milk cheese, Niulincu (a tangy cheese from the middle of the island) and ….Casgiu merzu (stand back, this is like Sardinia “rotting cheese” and comes complete with insect larvae).

Oysters

In my research on the Etang de Diana found that both oysters and mussels were farmed here. So it seemed a no-brainer to pick up 1/2 dozen oysters on the half shell to pair with a wine from a vineyard with a view of the Etang.

Sturzapreti

I found a delicious sounding recipe for Sturzapreti, a gnocchi like dumpling, with chard and brocciu cheese. The dumplings called for chard, brocciu cheese (for which I subbed ricotta), a potato, an egg, fresh mint and parsley. These ingredients get mixed up and then par boiled. I’ll admit, my first batch made soup! It all disintegrated in the water. I was more careful with the rest. They then went into an oven dish, and I used beef stock to half cover them and topped them with emmental cheese. This baked until brown. The mint and cheese really was lovely and went well with the Vermentino.

Ingredients for Sturzapreti
Sturzapreti baked Corsican Dumplings
Sturzapreti baked Corsican Dumplings

Gnocchi with roasted zucchini, eggplant and sausage

We mixed the pasta and stew idea and did gnocchi with roasted zucchini and eggplant, tomatoe, thyme & sausage.

Gnocchi with roasted eggplant, zuchinni and sausage — Gnocchi with roasted eggplant, zucchini and sausage

Our charcuterie platter

We tied in the olives, wild boar sausage and peaches and added a bit to round out the platter with other things in the fridge and cupboard.

Cheese & Charcuterie platter with olives, peaches, blackberries, strawberries, emmental, wild boar sausage & almonds. — Cheese & Charcuterie platter

All in all this was a pretty nice tasting! The wines we picked up were Vin Corse. These were the most widely distributed of the wines from these producers and I would love to dig deeper into the higher quality wines from the island. The Vermentino was good with the food, but uninspiring on it’s own (I must admit to being very spoiled with good Vermentino). The Red wine, again was good, for opening a bottle and having some food, but I am sure that this producer has some wonderful wines that have more depth and detail and I look forward to exploring those in the future.

The French #Winophiles!

This is just the tip of the island! The French #Winophiles have gathered to talk about the wines of Corsica this month. Head to twitter and follow #Winophiles to join the conversation! We will be live on Saturday September 21st at 11 am EST!

You can also dive into the pieces below for lots more on Corsican wines!

Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares “Friday Night Pizzas + Domaine Poli Niellucciu Rosé 2018”
Cathie from Side Hustle Wino shares “Wines from Corsica? Of “Corse” (#winophiles)”
Martin from Enofylz Wine Blog shares “Mixiote de Pescado Paired with Domaine Petroni Corse Rosé”
Linda at My Full Wine Glass shares “Spaghetti and meatballs for a Corsican wine (#Winophiles)”
Gwen from Wine Predator shares “Corsica Rose with Salmon Crespelle and Currant Clafoutis #Winophiles“
Payal at Keep the Peas shares “Corsica: The Maquis, The Mountains, The Sea (#winophiles)”
Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm shares “Corsica; French with a lot of Italian Influence”
Cindy from Grape Experiences shares “Drench Yourself in the Sunshine of Corsica with Domaine Petroni Rosé Corse 2018 and Provençal Vegetable Gratin”
Nicole at Somm’s Table shares “Corsican Happiness: Domaine Giacometti Sempre Cuntentu Sciaccarellu with a Flavorful Seafood Stew”

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Vermentino and Smoked Trout Pairing

August 22, 2019

Tablas Creek 2017 Vermentino and Smoked trout pasta

I was doing research on the wines of Corsica and this got me craving Vermentino. I just happened to have a bottle of Tablas Creek’s 2017 Vermentino handy to open.

So…dinner. What to pair?

A friend of mine had been fishing recently and made smoked trout. I was the lucky recipient of two of these trout!

So a little research for recipes and I found a theme to riff on.

I settled on a smoked trout pasta. This was super easy to whip up, cooking the pasta took the most time. Here’s my list to gather if you want to recreate this (which you should…it was delicious)

Smoked Trout and arugula pasta

Ingredients

Pasta (we simply used spaghetti, which gave it great texture)
Smoked trout (deboned and chunked)
Olive oil
Arugula
Dill
1 lemon zested
1 small zuchinni thinly sliced
shredded parmesan cheese
creme fraiche
salt & pepper

To Do

Boil the pasta and drain
cook zuchinni in a pan with a little olive oil, salt and pepper
add the trout to the zuchinni to warm
Toss with the pasta
Add the Arugula, Dill, lemon zest, and shredded parmesan cheese
Mix in creme fraiche to the desired creaminess level
plate and top with some more of the fresh dill
(you can add a splash of lemon juice if you like, to your particular taste)
Et Voila!

Caprese…sort of

I thought a Caprese salad would go nicely with this also, so I did a riff on that. Michael doesn’t like tomatoes, so I picked up a peach and an avocado to add between the slices of fresh mozerella and instead of basil, I used the arugula.

In France, especially the Southern Rhône, Vermentino is often known as “Rolle”. This wine has always been a favorite of mine. It is bright and fresh with citrus, mineral, wet stone and lemon zest. It has what I think of as a “Fresca” note (that soda from my childhood). Put your nose in a glass of this wine and close your eyes. Can you hear the ocean? This wine sits at a moderate 13% abv.

Tablas Creek 2017 Vermentino

This is the fifteeth bottling of Vermentino from Tablas Creek Vineyard. It is the variety that made me first fall in love with Tablas Creek. The vineyard, located in the Adelaida District AVA of Paso Robles, is one of my favorites. It sits at 13.% alc and they made 1560 cases of this nectar.

The pairings

Okay…just heaven. The salty, slightly smoky pasta, with the lemon zest and spicy arugula, plus the brightness of the dill played perfectly with this wine. I was not sure if I was venturing too far afield with the peach in the caprese, but those stone fruit notes that are a little on the tart side came out in the wine with this pairing.

Options

You could make this pasta dish with smoked salmon also. Then the wine would be different…I would think a richer rosé would work well. Of course you can sub out the arugula for all sorts of greens…baby chard sounds good and again would go nice with a rose. Mix it up, have fun.

This dish as we made it would also go nicely with a Chenin Blanc or a white Rhône blend.

Let us know in the comments, how this works for you and what variations you went with!

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Continue reading →

The Scenic Route – Flash Tour 2019 Part 3 – Columbia Gorge to the Yakima Valley

August 21, 2019

Red Willow Vineyard In Yakima Washington from Within the Chapel

Day 4 – On to Washington Wine

Newburg OR to Bridal Veil, to Syncline Winery

We stayed in Newberg in the Willamette Valley on the night of our third day. Sadly while this area is heaven for wine, we did nothing but sleep. But sleeping here got us closer to our morning stop, the Columbia Gorge. It would also put us closer to the goal for the day, Washington Wine.

The hotel was silent as we quietly packed the care and headed out. I wanted to take in at least one waterfall on the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge. It was relatively quiet as we made our way through Portland pre-morning traffic and drove into the Gorge in the early morning hours. After a quick look at the map, I chose Bridal Veil Falls as our morning stop.

Bridal Veil Falls

We arrived at 6:30 am and had the place mostly to ourselves. A quick hike to look out over the gorge rewarded us with vista views as the morning light started to dawn. The moisture in the air with the green trees felt lush and alive. We hiked down to the falls, on the steep switch back trail and spent some time just soaking in the woods, the water and the spectacular falls.

After this bit of peace and tranquility, it was back on the road. Our morning appointment was with James at Syncline, a winery located on the Washington side of the Gorge.

Traffic was a little busier as we crossed the gorge at White Salmon on the Hood River Bridge and got on Route 14. This was a big change from Route 84 on the Oregon side. Route 84 is low in the Gorge, running just above the river, you are blanketed in trees with views upon occasion. You find yourself looking up at the trees and cliffs. Route 14 is higher and the views are expansive.

We were also starting to see the landscape change, from lush evergreen forest to a more arid landscape.

Columbia Gorge AVA

The Columbia Gorge AVA was established in 2004. It sits 60 miles east of Portland and straddles the Columbia River Gorge including both Oregon and Washington. We will be back later to explore Hiyu on the Oregon side, but today we were heading to Syncline on the Washington side.

Syncline – into Washington Wine

At Rowland Lake we turned left to get on Old Hwy 8 and eventually turned onto Balch Road which took us into Syncline.

Entrance to Syncline Winery in Washington's Columbia Gorge AVA

The front entrance is quiet and unobtrusive, with a simple elegant sign on the fence. The gate was open for us leading up a drive between the trees where you could see vineyard in the distance.

We pulled up and parked near the winery, past the house. The simple entrance felt deceiving now, as we looked at the elegant and beautiful garden with multiple small seating areas for wine tasting. We were to learn later that this garden was designed to be water smart. We found a spot to set up for our interview and were joined shortly by James Mantone, the owner/winemaker. He spoke to us on biodynamics, Shale Rock Vineyard, the climate here in this section of the Gorge and the other vineyards he sources from, before walking us up to take in the vineyard and it’s views. His Syrah has the best view of any of the grapes we have met so far.

We walked back down to the winery. Here we did a tasting through his Bloxom Vineyard Grüner, his Picpoul from Boushey Vineyards in the Yakima Valley, the 2017 Estate Gamay and the 2017 Syrah from Boushey Vineyard. We finished our tasting with a really wonderful treat, a Sparkling Grüner that they made just for their crew. (Thank you so much for sharing this with us James!).

Again it was hard to pull ourselves away, but we headed out, this time driving on to the East end of the Yakima Valley.

The Columbia Gorge to Yakima

Back in the car we headed further east on 14. We stopped to take in the expansive views of the gorge from time to time, watching the the landscape transition from lush and green with steep cliffs to more arid and brown with rolling hills and wind farms.

Horse Heaven Hills AVA

Leaving Syncline, we left the Columbia Gorge AVA and stepped into the Columbia Valley AVA. This AVA covers almost all of the wine growing regions in the state of Washington, with the exception of the Columbia Gorge AVA, Puget Sound AVA and Lewis and Clark AVA. As we drove further along 14 and then turned north on Rt 221, we were driving through the center of the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. This AVA sits between the Yakima Valley and the Columbia Gorge. We didn’t stop at a winery here, but we tasted plenty of Horse Heaven Hills wines. The area has almost 30 vineyards, but only 5 tasting rooms. Washington State is the 2nd largest producer of premium wines in the United States and this AVA is home to some of the largest wine producers (think Columbia Crest and Chateau St. Michelle).

Yakima Valley AVA

We ended up on the east end of the Yakima Valley. Trust me, you will be hearing alot more about the Yakima Valley AVA from us. This AVA contains 3 nested AVAs, Rattlesnake Hills AVA, Snipes Mountain AVA and Red Mountain AVA. Today however, we were headed to just east of the Red Mountain AVA, to visit Kitzke Cellars and speak with Seth Kitzke.

Kitzke Cellars

As we pulled up passed the houses to the tasting room (which feels like it’s in a neighborhood), were greeted by Paul Kitzke, the owner and founder of Kitzke Cellars. He’s also Seth’s Dad and since we had just been in touch with Seth…it was news to him when we arrived cameras in hand. Seth was on his way in from another appointment and arrived shortly. In the meantime, we were warmly welcomed and brought in to the tasting room, out of the heat.

Seth Kitzke & I walking Kitzke's Candy Ridge Vineyard — Seth Kitzke & I walking Kitzke’s Candy Ridge Vineyard

We walked the estate vineyard with Seth and talked viticulture, soils and all kinds of geeky wine stuff. I could have spent all day chatting with Seth on all things wine. They are located right next to Candy Mountain, which is just south of Red Mountain. The process for Candy Mountain to become an AVA is almost ready for approval. The Proposed Rule is published and now has a 60 day period for comment.

Candy Mountain as seen from Kitzke's Candy Ridge Vineyard — Candy Mountain as seen from Kitzke’s Candy Ridge Vineyard

I pulled up a bit from the Kitzke blog about their Candy Ridge Vineyard…

Candy Ridge Vineyard may look like a backyard project on Candy Mountain in Richland Washington but (it’s) what’s right underneath your feet that makes it stand apart. Candy Ridge is built on a very small alluvial fan that was made when the Missoula Floods flowed right between Candy Mountain and Badger Mountain into Richland. Depositing large amounts of gravel, basalt, caliche, and granite in our soils. It is such a small area with expressive unique terroir that showcases depth and subtleties that aren’t overpowered by tannin.
Kitzke Cellars http://www.kitzkecellars.com/news/

As we walked the vineyard we talked about the caliche in the soil (more fascinating stuff to come).

Upsidedown Wine

Seth is also the winemaker for Upsidedown Wine, where he makes wines from all over Washington State striving to create wines with a true sense of place. They also give back with 20% of their net profits going to the charitable organizations they are partnered with.

Now we were off to the other end of the Yakima Valley for an sunset shoot at the iconic Red Willow Vineyard.

Red Willow Vineyard

Red Willow Vineyard is on the Western side of the Yakima Valley AVA, outside of Wapato. The address is Wapato, but it’s about 20 minutes due west of the town. These are long straight roads in a region that is all agriculture. We drove looking at Mt. Adams, whose base began to disappear behind the foothills as you get closer.

When we arrived at Red Willow we were warmly greeted by Jonathan Sauer as he waved goodnight to the vineyard crew, who were on their way home. Jonathan had graciously offered to let us shoot sunset on their vineyard near the Chapel Block, where their stone Chapel marks the skyline at the top of the hill.

He put us on the golf cart and we headed out into the vineyards past rows tagged with names familiar in this valley, Owen Roe, Betz, DeLille, Savage Grace… We stopped to look at the soil strata in a cutout section of the vineyard and he pointed out blocks and the notable items in the landscape. At one point we heard an ATV coming and his father Mike Sauer pulled up to join us. After a chat we continued to the top of the hill by the Chapel. We pulled a picnic table into the shade to sit and chat while Michael set up cameras for sunset. (You will get to enjoy our full interview with Mike and Jonathan later).

A little history of Red Willow Vineyard

There is so much history here. One of the oldest vineyards in the state and the furthest west vineyard in the Yakima Valley AVA, Mike Sauer started planting the Red Willow Vineyard in 1971. The beginnings of this vineyard were tied to Mike Sauer’s relationship with Dr. Walter Clore, who is known as the “Father of Washington Wine”, as well as with David Lake the head winemaker at Columbia Winery. (that’s alot of Washington wine history in one sentence).

I spent sunset watching the birds swooping down to catch bugs, listening while Mike and Jonathan shared stories of the history of this vineyard. We watched the sun set with this spectacular view from the Chapel over a unique bottle of Blanc de Cab Franc by Savage Grace and a bag of fresh Rainier cherries. I promise, I’ll share these stories with you later.

My heart kinda wanted to burst at such a glorious end to an amazing day. The Sauers are such wonderful generous people, it was a joy and honor to share an evening with them. We rode off into the sunset, in a small cloud of dust down the farm roads, full from a great day and ready for some sleep. It would be an early morning tomorrow, with a sunrise shoot at Wilridge Vineyard in Naches Heights AVA. Stick with us. We are just getting started!

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

The Scenic Route – Flash Tour 2019 Part 2 – Southern Oregon Applegate and Umpqua Valleys

August 14, 2019

Day 3

Southern Oregon & the Applegate Valley

Day 3 had us up early and traveling back the way we had been the afternoon before. The Applegate Valley AVA in Southern Oregon established in 2000, is actually a sub AVA of the Rogue Valley AVA. From California’s border runs north 50 miles to the Rogue River west of Grants Pass.

Cowhorn

We arrived early to Cowhorn to meet Bill Steele. This Southern Oregon vineyard is Demeter Certified Biodynamic and is a bucolic setting on Eastside Road that runs along the Applegate River. We did an interview with Bill in the vineyard and walked the property before heading into the beautiful modern tasting room to do a tasting with Bill. The tasting room features a large window that looks out onto the vineyard and the valley, which is reflected in the shiny white glass behind the tasting bar, allowing you the view while facing either direction.

Cowhorn Tasting Room View
Reflection of the view in the Cowhorn Tasting Room

The wines here are Rhône varieties primarily and the finese on the winemaking is pretty spectacular. Everything is done with native yeast. I have to admit the grounds were so beautiful, I really didn’t want to leave. We will dive in deep to our visit in a separate post and tell you about Bill, biodynamics, the patio, gardens and the tasting room. Their tasting room was the first in the US to meet the “Living Building Challenge”.

You can look forward to our in depth interview with Bill coming up soon.

We left unwillingly. We could have stayed all day (or perhaps forever). But we had another appointment and this one was a bit of a drive.

North to the Umpqua Valley

We were headed toward Roseburg in the Umpqua Valley about 2 hours North. The Umpqua Valley AVA is a little older, established in 1984. We jumped back on Route 238 and took the scenic (and shorter) route to Grants Pass where we grabbed a bite and got on the 5. Yes it was freeway, but it’s Southern Oregon, so the views are still pretty spectacular.

Girardet Vineyards

Girardet Tasting Room in Umpqua Valley in Southern Oregon

We exited onto the 99 around Cow Creek and then took Route 42 out to Ten Mile where Girardet Vineyards is located. Mind you….our GPS had a little trouble out here and we ended up coming into the property the back way. I suggest downloading a map ahead of time and not relying on GPS.

Girardet is one of the older wineries in this area planting the vineyard back in 1971. The Girardets (Philippe and Bonnie) got in their VW bus and drove the country looking for vine starts. They picked up some French varieties from Wente and then planted some of the French hybrids that they picked up in New York; Baco Noir, Seyval Blanc, Cayuga among others. Marc was born in 1975 just after this experiment had begun. He now runs the vineyard and winery and he took some time to speak to us on the beautiful covered patio with a picnic table, next to the tasting room. After our chat he took us through the winery and drove us up into the vineyard to see the views. Vines do love a view.

Marc & I by the Sangiovese on the Shale Rock Summit Vineyard at Girardet
View from Girardet and the ShaleRock Summit Vineyard

We finished this stop with a tasting which included some of the Italian varieties that Marc has added on the newer section of the vineyard where they found ancient marine bed shale. We made some friends in the tasting room before heading back on the road to Newburg, where we would stop for the night. This winery has a great history that we look forward to sharing with you.

Grapes at Girardet
Ancient Marine Shale
The Picnic Patio
Vines with a View
Girardet Tasting Room
Tasting at Girardet
Phlippe & Marc Girardet
Jackrabbits in the vineyard
The view of Ten Mile

Coming up Next…

Next we head North, first to the Columbia Gorge to visit the waterfalls on the Oregon side, then onto the Washington side to visit Syncline winery. From there it is off to the Yakima Valley to visit with Seth Kitzke of Kitzke Cellars and Upsidedown Wine and then enjoy sunset with Jonathan and Mike Sauer at the iconic Red Willow Vineyard.

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Tasting blind – globetrotting at home

June 30, 2019

We gathered a bakers dozen of folks for a blind tasting of 3 white wines and 3 reds. There were aroma jars and tasting sheets and lots of glasses! After the reveal for each, we had small bites to pair with each of the wines. People discovered varieties and places they did not know they liked. Here’s the run down on the wines we tasted.

The White Wines

When choosing these wines, we didn’t want to pick wines everyone was already familiar with and we also wanted them to be from a range of places around the globe. Without realizing it at first, we had chosen three wines, with somewhat similar profiles, which made the guessing a bit harder. Here are our 3 white wines.

White Wine #1 Carhartt 2018 Sauvignon Blanc

Carhartt 2018 Savignon Blanc bottle shot with apple, lemon zest and honeydew melon — Carhartt 2018 Savignon Blanc

This wine is from California, Santa Barbara Country and more specifically from the Santa Ynez Valley. It hails from 2 vineyards, the Carhartt Vineyard in Santa Ynez (60%), and Grassini Vineyard located in Happy Canyon (40%). Carhartt is great about the deets on their labels: 100% Savignon Blanc, Clone 1 on 101-14 rootstock, vertical trellis system, sustainably farmed, fermentation in both oak and stainless steel, cooperage :6 months in neutral oak and stainless steel 50% each.

Aromas, flavors and pairings

We set out scent jars for this wine that included pear, green apple, lemon zest and honeydew melon. We paired this with herbed goat cheese on crostini.

This is a great summer sipper sitting at 12.5% alcohol, it will drink fresh through 2022 and can age beyond that. They made 900 cases of this wine and it will set you back $25.00.

About Carhartt

And yes….this is the same Carhartt that you see on work wear. They family had a ranch in the Santa Ynez valley that Mike and his family decided to grow wine grapes on. They still have some livestock and they work the ranch and vineyard. Here is a link to a video that will give you a feel for Carhartt.

Carhartt Hand Made Films Presents: Carhartt Vineyard

You can find their tasting room in Los Olivos at 2939 Grand Ave If you have visited before, know that they are no longer in the tiniest tasting room at the north end of Grand Ave. You can find them in the new larger spot across the street about a block south.

2939 Grand Avenue
Los Olivos, CA 93441
Ph #: 805.693.5100
Open daily 11am-6pm
No reservations. First-come, first-serve.
Closed only on Christmas Day

White Wine #2 Spier 2017 Vintage Selection Chenin Blanc

Chenin Blanc hails form the Loire Valley in France. While it is grown in France and elsewhere, this is a variety that has become most notable in South Africa, where locally they refer to it as “Steen”.

Spier Wine Farm

This wine is from South Africa from Spier Wine Farm which dates back to 1692. The fruit comes from the Western Cape in the Breede River and Coastal regions. For a video about this winery…

A visit to Spier Wine Farm and Hotel

More details: alluvial, well-drained and aerated soils with decomposed granite from the mountain foothills. Grapes are both trellised and bush vines (head pruned). They hand harvest, destem and slightly crush before pressing. There is a bit of skin contact then they let the free run juic settle in tanks overnight. In the morning they rack from the lees and innoculate with yeast strains (so this is not a native yeast wine). They let the wine mature on the fine lees for 3 months to add body. We could see the results of this in the richer fuller mouthfeel of this wine.

Aromas, flavors and pairings

Fragrance jars for this wine included pear, peach, vanilla beans and a mango/guava/passion fruit jam, as there were notes of tropical fruit and green guava in the wine. We paired this with two different bites, a cracker with brie and a dab of the mango/guava/passion fruit wine as well as smoked trout on a baguette slice with either a russian pickle or a cucumber slice. (Here we were lucky that one of our guests had recently been fishing and caught a trout and another had taken that trout and smoked it! Thank you for this great bite to pair with this wine!)

You can look for this wine locally as it is widely distributed. It sits at a higher alcohol level than the Sav Blanc at 14.5% and you can find it for around $18.00.

Here is a video to give you a little more information on this South african Winery. https://www.spier.co.za/

White Wine #3 Martin Codax Albariño

We headed to another country for our final white wine. This is an Albariño from Spain’s Rias Baixas region. Michael actually tasted this wine last year at a session at WBC18 on Rias Baixas.

Rias Baixas

The region of Rias Baixas, if you are unfamiliar, is on the coast of Spain above Portugal. The area is known as Galacia. Most grapes here are grown on pergolas, and the region is green and lush. This wine comes from Val do Salnés, which runs along the coast south of the Ria de Arousa. This area is known as the birthplace of the Albariño grape.

Bodegas Martin Códax was founded in 1986 and was named after the most known Galacian troubadour whose medieval poems, the oldest in the Galician-Portuguese language, have survived to the present. In the poems, the troubadour sings to love, the sea and the coastline.
http://www.martincodax.com/en/

The winemaker for Martin Códax is Katia Alvarez. That she is a woman is unsuprising in Spain’s Rias Baixas region, where roughtly half of the winemakers are female.

Aromas, flavors and pairings

The scent jars for this wine were simply, pear, green apple and the mango/guava/passion fruit jam (this time for the passion fruit). We paired this with a slice of Guyere and a slice of pear. It sits at 13% abv and runs about $16. Widely distributed, this is a fairly easy to find wine.

Find out more about this beautiful wine region by visiting the Rias Baixas site.

The Red Wines

When looking to red wines, we again wanted to go a bit out of the box, but not too far. Here though, the wines that we chose had flavor profiles that varied quite a bit so it was easier to differentiate the wines. All of these wines were international varieties that have ventured out from their homeland.

Red Wine #1 Carhartt 2016 Estate Sangiovese

Carhartt 2016 Estate Sangiovese with wet stones, strawberries, black tea, clove, and cedar plank — Carhartt 2016 Estate Sangiovese

We spoke earlier about Carhartt. We have been fans of Carhartt for awhile and on two separate occasions were able to visit the ranch. Once for a wine dinner (which was a blast) and once to take a tour with Joe, who at the time ran their wine club. We walked the Hilltop vineyard and he pointed out the Sangiovese on the 11 Oaks vineyard across the way.

Sangiovese? Think Chianti

This is a Sangiovese, the famous Italian variety that you might think of as Chianti. You remember the wine in those straw wrapped bottles?

The Geeky bits: 100% Sangiovese from 11 Oaks Vineyard in Santa Barbara’s Santa Ynez Valley. Fontodi & isole e olena clones that are own rooted, sustainably farmed, fermented in small lots with a cold soak, 18 months in barrel 25% of which is new. Unfined and unfiltered (see Zeina, that was the floaty stuff!)

Aromas, flavors and pairings

Jars for this included: wet stone, wild raspberry jam (couldn’t find wild raspberries), black tea, cedar plank, clove and strawberry. We paired this with an Asigo cheese topped with a bit of prosciutto and a touch of raspberry jam.

Asiago Proscuitto and raspberry jam appetizer

They made just 565 cases of this wine, it sits at 13.6% abv and is a crowd pleaser. It is medium to light bodied, so lots of folks guessed it was a Pinot Noir. It will drink well through 2029 and was the most expensive wine we poured at $40 per bottle.

Red wine #2 Gascon Malbec Reserve 2015

Gascón 2015 Reserva Malbec from Argentina with blackberries, plum and spice — Gascón 2015 Reserva Malbec from Argentina

This grape is a little more well traveled. Malbec is originally from Cahors in France where it is known as “the black wine of Cahors”. Long ago it travelled to Argentina where it found it’s voice. In Cahors he dressed in black, in Argentina he wears purple and red!

Don Miguel Gascón Wines

This particular wine is from Mendoza where more than 70% of the country’s vines can be found and most of which are high altitude at 2,000 to 4,000 feet above sea level. Argentina currently has just 2 DOCs: Luján de Cuyo and San Rafael. This wine hails from Luján de Cuyo, and more specifically from the Agrelo and Uco Valley regions. It is labeled “Reserva” which indicates it must have been aged at least 6 months.

The grapes for our Don Miguel Gascón Reserva Malbec were harvested by hand in the early morning hours in mid to late April from the high elevation vineyards of Altamira, Agrelo and Tupungato, then crushed and cold soaked for 72 to 96 hours. The juice maintained contact with the skins for up to three weeks through the end of fermentation, which occurred in upright conical tanks at 85°F for six days. Malolactic fermentation was completed prior to racking and aging. Sixty-five percent of the wine was aged for 15 months in a combination of medium toast French and American oak barriques.
http://www.gasconwine.com

You should really visit the Gascon site for great information on this winery that dates back to 1884.

This wine is 97% Malbec with just a touch (3%) of Petit Verdot. It sits at 14.8% abv and runs a little over $20 a bottle.

Aromas, flavors and pairings

Scent jars here included blackberries, plum and spice. We did two bites here a cracker with blue cheese and cherry jam, as well as a slice of smoked gouda.

Red wine #3 Larner 2014 Syrah Ballard Canyon

Larner 2014 Syrah Ballard Canyon with plum, blackberry, cherry, peppercorn, earth and leather. — Larner 2014 Syrah Ballard Canyon

If you have visited our site before, you know we are big fans of Michael Larner of Larner Vineyard & Winery. He helped to put Ballard Canyon and their Syrah on the map. He was instrumental in founding the Ballard Canyon AVA in Santa Barbara County.

Michael’s background is in geology and he is an invaluable resource for discussing the soils of the entire Santa Barbara Region. He is passionate about the region and it’s wines, most especially the Syrah from this little corner of the universe.

This wine is all Estate grown fruit that is aged 22 months in 33% new French oak and 8% new American oak (the rest is neutral oak).

Michael Larner speaking on Syrah.
Larner Vineyard Syrah
Larner Fête 2016, Larner Vineyard
Larner Vineyard Sunset

Aromas, flavors and pairings

This wine was the biggest we served at 14.9%. With a complex nose, we set out scent jars of blackberry, plum, cherry, pepper corns, leather and earth. We paired this with our favorite bite with syrah, bacon wrapped dates.

Visit Larner

If you want a bottle of this wine, or to taste his other wines, head to Santa Barbara and Los Olivos. You can find the tasting room at the corner of Grand Avenue and Alamo Pintado Ave next to the Los Olivos General Store. Grab a tasting and a sandwich from next door and sit at a table in front in the shade, behind the historic gas pump.

The patio in front of the Los Olivos General Store and the Larner Wine Tasting room
The Larner Tasting Room in Los Olivos

2900 Grand Avenue
Los Olivos, CA 93441
Email: [email protected]
T: (805) 688-8148

Open Daily 11-5

It was a fun evening and hopefully everyone discovered a new wine that they enjoyed! We got up today to 85 dirty glasses! I have a new appreciation for tasting room staff who deal with this, and then some, daily! Was it worth it? Damn straight! We got to explore the world with wine while sitting in the living room with friends. What could be better?

A sampling of the 85 dirty wine glasses after last nights tasting.

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

A tale of two Malvasia Biancas

June 22, 2019

Malvasia Bianca…does it sound exotic? A little Italian right? This is not a wine you come across very often, but, it is gaining ground, at least with a couple of my favorite winemakers.

I first had Malvasia Bianca at a winemaker dinner. Actually the very first Larner winemaker dinner, held at Ballard Inn with Larner wines and delicious food by Chef Budi Kazali. (read about it here) It was served with the dessert course.

Michael Larner grows mostly Rhône varieties on his Ballard Canyon Vineyard. The Malvasia is his exception, a nod to the time spent growing up in Rome while his father was filming there. Obviously, by the name, this is an Italian variety, but lets dig a little deeper.

Malvasia Bianca

Malvasia does not make the list of the top 15 grapes in Italy. It is thought to come from Greece, but became very popular with the Venetian Merchants. It was so popular it became synonymous with Venetian wines, with Venetian wine merchants naming their stores Malavasie. Malvasia Bianca is the sub-variety that is white. It is often likened to Muscat with it’s sweet nose.

In Italy you find it in Lazio (the area around Rome), among other places, where it is blended with Trebbiano into the famous Est! Est!! Est!!! (which has it’s own fabulous story which you can read here as told by the Bubbly Professor)

California’s Central Coast is now home to a considerable amount of Malvasia and I happened to have 2 bottles in my cellar. One from Larner Vineyards in Santa Barbara’s Ballard Canyon and another from Bonny Doon Vineyards with grapes from Monterey. Strangely enough, both wines are from winemakers known for Rhône varieties and this is not a Rhône. So when you have 2 bottles of Malvasia, why not do a comparative tasting?

Larner 2017 Malvasia Bianca

Larner 2018 Malvasia Bianca Ballard Canyon

This wine is from Larner Vineyard in the southern part of Ballard Canyon. It was destemmed, crushed and got a 24 hour cold soak before it was pressed.

Fruit was destemmed and crushed for a 24-hour cold soak on the skins before pressing. Fermented in 50% stainless steel and 50% concrete egg around 62 degrees for 4 weeks. The wine spent 2 months of ageing sur lees in Stainless steel and concrete, before bottling, followed by a minimum of 4 months in bottle before release.
http://www.larnerwine.com

Bonny Doon 2018 Malvasia Bianca

These grapes hail from Monterey County from the Loma del Rio Vineyard. Bonny Doon only made 182 cases of this lovely wine.

I found a bit of details on this charming label, from a speech that Randall Grahm gave last year on labeling. The wine was originally under the Ca’ del Solo label.

Chuck House and I came up with the idea of using a kind of cartoonish illustration on a series of wines we made under the Ca’ del Solo label. This is a picture of little Malvasia Bianca on her first day of school, letting go of her mother’s hand, going “solo” (get it?) and of course, stepping on every crack in the sidewalk she comes across.
https://www.bonnydoonvineyard.com/keynote-speech-wines-vines-packaging-conference-august-9th-2018-yountville-ca/

Evidently the label cause a stir in Washington where they took offense to a depiction of a child on the label. Luckily, all ended well and this sweet girl who is a little bit of a renegade still appropriately graces this wine’s label.

The battle!

Really…I have overplayed this. It’s not a battle. These wines are apples and oranges…both of which I love. Similar but different, from different vineyards, soils and winemakers.

We paired with crab rangoons, crab cakes, lo mein and teriyaki salmon.

Crab rangoons, crab cakes, teriyaki salmon & lo mein

The Bonny Doon Malvasia Bianca from Monterey

This wine was lush with honeysuckle on the nose (I wanted to dab it behind my ears!). It was sweet with lychee like a Gewurztraminer on the nose and florals and perfumes on the palate. There was a little waxiness (the tasting notes say “a slightly waxy, lanolin finish.”, but it was subtle. This was medium weight with light acid as you would expect with this variety. I found that I liked this best with the rangoons and teriyaki salmon, as it tending to lend itself to the sweetness of these dishes.

Larner Malvasia Bianca from Ballard Canyon

This wine is a year older, a different vintage, a different winemaker. Remember I said that the first time I had Malvasia Bianca was a dessert pairing with a Larner Malvasia. I remember it being sweet. This wine was not. It had more white florals with the honeysuckle on the nose as well as a little mineral or chalk note. It was tarter on the palate with soft citrus, like meyer lemon. This was a clean fresh wine and it seemed higher in acid than the Bonny Doon. I enjoyed it more with the crab cakes and the lo mein, the bit of minerality working with the umami and red pepper flavors making them explode in my mouth.

The takeaway

The beautiful Larner Vineyard in Ballard Canyon
The Larner Tasting Room in Los Olivos
The patio in front of the Los Olivos General Store and the Larner Wine Tasting room

Bonny Doon Tasting Room In Davenport CA
Bonny Doon beach
Le Cigare Volant at the Bonny Doon Tasting Room

So as you can see, it’s best that I opened both of these bottles to best enjoy all of my meal! Both are delicious and made by two of my favorite winemakers. Of course you won’t find either of these wines made in large quantities. I suggest that you take a road trip, stop by Larner’s tasting room in Los Olivos and then head up the coast and visit Bonny Doon in Davenport! (Or hell jump on a plane and head to Rome!) Mostly, you should pick up a bottle of a type of wine you have never tried before. Explore and taste and travel through the bottle.

Find Larner Wine’s tasting room in Los Olivos at 2900 Grand Ave.
Bonny Doon’s tasting room can be found on the California Coast in Davenport at 450 Hwy 1

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Sparkling Vermentino – “tears of laughter and joy”

June 7, 2019

As I went looking for a bottle to open for a simple evening dinner, a small celebration of the end of a work week, I came across a bottle of sparkling vermentino in the wine fridge.

I love vermentino and today was one of the first really hot days this summer, with temps hitting triple digits. Those kind of temps call for something bright and vermentino certainly fits the bill. On top of it, it was a sparkling vermentino. Well I am always down for bubbles!

It was from Bonny Doon and I flipped it over to read the back label. Randall Grahm always has enchanting lengthy back labels. The description ended with ” -tears of joy and laughter”. Well…now of course I was going to pop this bottle! I really needed that at the end of this week!

Bonny Doon 2017 Sparkling Vermentino

This wine is a blend, 77% Vermentino and 23% Grenache Blanc from Beeswax and Cedar Lane Vineyards in the Arroyo Seco AVA within Monterey County. This AVA sits in the Santa Lucia mountain range.

Soils are Arroyo Seco gravelly loam, with river stones that absorb the heat during the day and radiate in the evening. The vineyards are nearby to each other and closer to the valley floor between 300-500 ft. The valley has a cool climate with Pacific ocean breezes every afternoon.
https://shop.bonnydoonvineyard.com/product/2017-Sparkling-Vermentino

The label on this wine is deep green and yellow which inspired the bottle shot, out back on the grass with the fallen blossoms from our desert museum palo verde, Dulcinea-Sophia (yes, I name my trees).

A bit of Dulcinea-Sophia in bloom, our Desert Museum Palo Verde

The back label entertainment

I mentioned that Randall’s back labels (and really anything he writes) are enchanting. He is a thoughtful writer, and while often the words are many, they are all entertaining. This is actually one of his shorter back labels.

Back label of the Bonny Doon 2017 Sparkling Vermentino

Pairings

While not included on the label, a quick visit to the Bonny Doon site, set me up with options for pairings. Sometimes, I go off the rails with pairings from what is suggested, but Bonny Doon’s suggestions are always tried and tested. The suggestions were

Oysters on the half shell, Dungeness crab, fish tacos, prosciutto-wrapped melon.
https://shop.bonnydoonvineyard.com/product/2017-Sparkling-Vermentino

So we did some prosciutto-wrapped canteloupe and I whipped up some fish tacos.

Fish Tacos

The description of the wine on the site mentioned citrus, lemon balm, lemon-lime, and an herbal note of possibly rosemary…so my fish tacos riffed on this.

Fish taco w/ cod bits en papillote with lemon & rosemary

Ingredients

4.5 lbs of Atlantic Cod bits defrosted
2 lemons
4 sprigs of rosemary
medium to small tortillas (I used flour tortillas)
guacamole
1 lime
spring greens (or cabbage)
rice
salsa (I like green salsa)
salt
pepper

The fish

Cod bits en papillote with lemon & rosemary

Preheat the oven to 425
Cut two large squares of parchment
place 6-8 thin lemon slices to one side of center on one sheet of the parchment
arrange half the cod on top of the lemon slices
sprinkle with salt (I used pink himalayan salt)
add a grind of pepper
top with 2 sprigs of rosemary
zest a bit of the lemon on top
repeat with the other sheet and the rest of the fish
fold up the edges (here’s a video from @Cooksmarts)
place both packets on a cookie sheet
pop into the oven for about 20 minutes (or less)

The rest

I typically get a plate and a damp dishtowel and wrap my tortillas in the towel and pop them in the oven to warm for 5 minutes. This steams them so that they stay soft.

Then I gather all the other stuff I want on the tacos. Today it was guacamole, jasmine rice, lime wedges to squeeze, spring greens and I had Herdez guacamole salsa, which is medium heat.

Fish tacos and the Bonny Doon 2017 Sparkling Vermentino

All in all a pretty delicious evening! Light-hearted and delicious. That Sparkling Vermentino? Well, they only made 210 cases of it, so if it sounds good to you, you’d best go grab a bottle from their site. It’s set you back $36 a bottle, but the “tears of joy and laughter” make it all worth it.

You can find Bonny Doon online or drive out to their tasting room on the coast in Davenport. The views are spectacular, and the people and the wines in their tasting room will make you want to stay all day.

Bonny Doon Tasting Room In Davenport CA
A Proper Claret – Bonny Doon
Bonny Doon beach

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Exploring the Grand Terroir of Gérard Bertrand with Tautavel and La Clape

May 17, 2019

Gérard Bertrand wines of Limoux, Tautavel & La Clape

Even if you are not an expert on French Wine, you are sure to have heard of Gérard Bertrand. He produces that stunning bottle of rosé Côte des Roses. You know, the bottle with the rose embossed on the bottom. It’s hard to miss! And…it’s a lovely wine, that actually comes from the Côte des Roses, an area near Gruissan in Languedoc in the South of France. But Gérard Bertrand is much more than simply rosé….

Gérard Bertrand – the man

Gérard’s family had an estate vineyard. He learned alongside his father. Of course he went off on his own and found a passion for Rugby, which he played professionally for many years. But he always had a passion for wine. When his father passed in 1987 he returned to take over the family’s Villemajou Estate and later created the Gérard Bertrand wine company.

Languedoc -Roussillon

Map of the Languedoc-Rousillon Wine Region in France — The Languedoc-Roussillon Wine Region in France

Even if you enjoy French wines, Languedoc is rarely one of the first regions you will encounter. This region is in the south of France to the West of the famous Provence. It is the region that wraps around the mediterranean sea from Nîmes to the border with Spain.

The red grape varieties here include Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Carignan, all of which can be beautifully blended. We will explore two of these blends below, as well as dipping our toes into a bit of Crémant from Limoux.

Gérard Bertrand – Expressing the Terroir

At Gérard Bertrand they are dedicated to biodiversity and to the area of Languedoc-Roussillon. They expanded from the original Villemajou vineyard to purchase Cigalus Estate, Château Laville Bertrou and the Aigle Estate. Beyond that they now include Château la Sauvageonne, Château la Soujeole, Clos d’Ora, Clos du Temple, Château les Karantes, Château Aigues-Vives, Cap Insula winery, Château des Deux Rocs, Château de Tarailhan and the Estagnère Estate, in their portfolio.

Biodynamic practices

After becoming interested in homeopathic medicine in the early 2000’s, Gérard became interested in Biodynamics and in 2002 started farming the Cigalus Estate biodynamically. They have since converted all their estates to biodynamic practices.

Many of the pieces you will see below will focus on the Biodynamic Cigalus Blanc, the wine that Gérard Bertrand provided as samples to many of the French #Winophiles. With many people interested the list had to be limited. Late to the party we did not receive the samples, but we were able to find several other bottles of Gérard Bertrand wines that peaked our interest!

The Grand Terroir range of wines they produce allow you discover each unique region. In addition they produce a Crémant de Limoux, claimed to be the region where sparkling wine originated. I mean how could we pass that up?!

Limoux

So we have all probably heard the story of the famous monk Benedictine Dom Pérignon who lived in Hautvillers in the Champagne region of France, discovering bubbles and tasting the stars! Dom has, in legend, often been credited with inventing Champagne. He lived from 1638 to 1715. Well… in Limoux they say that in 1531, the monks of Saint Hilaire were the first to discover the bubbles and begin using the “traditional methode” to produce sparkling wines. I’ll let them duke it out, you can pour me a glass of either and I will be happy to watch them debate while I simply enjoy the delicious wine.

Limoux sits in the cool foothills of the Pyranees, an area perfect for growing grapes for sparkling wine. For more on this area, I highly recommend visiting the Limoux AOC page on Languedoc Wine site!

Gérard Bertrand Cuvee Thomas Jefferson Crémant de Limoux Brut Rose 2016

Gérard Bertrand Cuvee Thomas Jefferson Cremant de Limoux Brut Rose 2016 Bottle shot — Gérard Bertrand Cuvee Thomas Jefferson Cremant de Limoux Brut Rose 2016

Crémant de Limoux is said to be the only sparkling wine that Thomas Jefferson kept in his cellar. I like to picture him receiving the sparkling bottles from the chilly basement through his wine elevator…leave it to Thom to invent this stuff. (We visited Monticello a few years ago, hence the photos).

Wine Cellar at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello
Wine Elevator at Monticello.

This particular wine is a blend of 70% Chardonnay, 15% Chenin, and 15% Pinot Noir.

The Grapes are harvested when their acid-sugar balance reach their best. The fruit is transferred to the winery and immediately pressed in a pneumatic pressing machine. In addition to reinforce the perception of freshness and balance, the dosage is very precise. The Pinot Noir grapes are not macerated, in order to preserve their colour. The must is transferred to the vats for alcoholic fermentation using the same process used for still wine. After malolactic fermentation in the vats, the wine is blended together and then transferred to the barrels to mature for 8 months.
From Gérard-Bertrand.com

La Clape

During the Roman era, this area was actually an island. No longer an island, La Clape is bordered to the east by the sea, to the west by the low-lying alluvial plains of the Aude and to the south by the lagoons. The soils here are loose limestone.

Map of La Clape in Languedoc courtesy Gérard Bertrand
Photo of La Clape courtesy Gérard Bertrand

Gérard Bertrand Grand Terroir La Clape 2015

The wine is a blend of 50% Syrah, 35% Carignan and 15% Mourvèdre. It sits at 13.5% abv

A slow ripening process and a late harvest (end of September to mid-October) are the key ingredients for producing grapes that are ripe, healthy and concentrated and also aids the extraction of colour and aromas during fermentation and maceration. The grapes are harvested by hand when they have reached peak ripeness and transported to the winery in special bins. They are then de-stemmed before being transferred to the stainless steel vats for maceration, lasting 20 to 25 days. The wine is then decanted into barrels for 8 months of ageing.
From Gérard-Bertrand.com

Tautavel

Tautavel is a village in the Roussillon region, located between the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean. This region lays claim to some of the oldest hominid remains in Europe. In 1971, the remains of Tautavel Man were discovered. These remains date to 450,000 years ago, and the area is thought to be one of the cradles of civilization.

Map of Tautavel courtesy Gérard Bertrand
Photo of Tautavel courtesy Gérard Bertrand

Gérard Bertrand Grand Terroir Tautavel 2015

This wine is a blend of Grenache, Syrah & Carignan and sits a 15% abv

Work in the vineyard starts by selecting the most suitable plots of land for each variety. The grapes are harvested once they have reached peak maturity, determined by regular tasting, and are sorted twice: once in the vineyard and again in the winery. The fruit is vinified in the traditional manner, the grapes are de-stemmed and then undergo maceration for 3 to 4 weeks. The must is then pressed before malolactic fermentation begins. 33% of the wine is transferred to barrels and matured for 9 months, while the rest matures in the vats.
From Gérard-Bertrand.com

The Pairings

I sat with the tech sheets for each of these wines and prepared a menu, which began and ended with the Crémant de Limoux Brut Rose.

Salmon Crostini

Salmon Crostini with raspberry jam or caviar
Gérard Bertrand Crémant de Limoux with Salmon Crostini

The salmon crostini was simple, just crostini, (sliced baguette, brushed with olive oil and baked 8-10 minutes) topped with smoked salmon, a dot of creme fraiche and then either a dab of raspberry jam or a dab of caviar.

The Crémant was beautiful in the glass, clear with fine bubbles and a light salmon color, that looked gorgeous next to our salmon crostini. The nose hit you first with tart fruit followed by whiffs of toast.

This was beautiful with the salmon, the acid and bubbles cutting through the fat. The creme fraiche mirrored the tartness in the wine and the crostini brought in those toasty elements. It was interesting to see how the difference of salt or sweet on the top affected the experience. I enjoyed the jam matching the fruit in the wine and balancing it with that hint of sweetness, but the crostini with the caviar was my favorite. The caviar contrasted beautifully, pulling forward the fruit notes in the wine. This was a delicious bite and pairing.

Cheese & charcuterie

Cheese and Chacuterie platter Gouda, triple creme, manchego, berries, nuts, honey, sopresso — Cheese and Charcuterie platter

We opened the two red wines and put together a cheese & charcuterie platter, which included gouda, manchego and a St. Angel triple creme cheese. I added some sopresso, honey & walnuts, as well as an assortment of berries; strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.

I found that the triple creme cheese went beautifully with both wines, with the wine pulling forth some beautiful floral notes in the cheese. The Tautavel was surprisingly nice with the salmon crostini with caviar, brightening and highlighting the food.

As expected the sopresso was wonderful with the La Clape with the mouvedre in the blend. The La Clape was also very nice with the crostini with the jam. Together both the jam and the wine felt brighter in my mouth.

Sous vide pork in caramel sauce & Roasted fennel & Peppers

Pork in Caramel sauce to pair with the Gérard Bertrand 2015 Tautavel
Sous Vide pork w/caramel sauce & roasted fennel and peppers

Gérard Bertrand’s suggested pairings for the Tautavel included “grilled peppers, pork in caramel sauce and rabbit with prunes and fine cheeses”. The tasting notes also listed red fruit and raspberry aromas underpinned by spicy notes…delicate notes of scrubland and spices on the palate”. In addition they noted “Ripe black fruits, chocolate, licorice and smoked herbs…”

Intrigued by the pork in caramel sauce, I found a recipe for sous vide pork to riff on. The pork went into the sous vide with a rub of salt, pepper, paprika (for those subtle spices on the palate) and rosemary (for the scrubland herb notes). 2 hours later, we seared the chops and drizzled with a caramel sauce with salt pepper and rosemary. This plated with roasted fennel (pulling forward those licorice notes) and peppers with a bit of rubbed sage (more scrubland). We garnished with fresh fennel and sage leaves and blackberries to tie in the “ripe black fruit”.

Roasted Chicken on a bed of cous cous with arugula and cranberries

Roasted chicken on a bed of cous cous with rosemary, cranberries and arugula

The La Clape suggestions included roasted poulty and creamy cheeses. We had already enjoyed this with the triple creme, so now it was onto tasting it with the roast chicken. I served this on a bed of cous cous with cranberries to pull those fruit notes and arugula to pull some of the peppery notes, as well as add a bit of green.

Both of the wines paired well with the food. These wines are lovely on the nose, but feel lighter on the palate, so that they were beautiful to pair with these lighter meats without overpowering the flavors of the dishes.

Dessert – Deconstructed Berry tart

Deconstructed berry tart with the Gérard Bertrand Cuvee Thomas Jefferson Cremant de Limoux Brut Rose 2016

With a Brut Rosé you can rarely go wrong with a red fruit desert, and this was no exception. I created a simple deconstructed berry tart, with crumbled shortbread, raspberry jam, a puree of raspberries an strawberries, fresh blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, mint and a raspberry sorbet.

We poured another glass of the Gérard Bertrand Cuvee Thomas Jefferson Crémant de Limoux Brut Rose 2016 (which we had stoppered, pressurized returned to the fridge to preserve the bubbles while we enjoyed the rest of the meal). This pairing did not disappoint and was the perfect end to an evening of delicious wines.

This was a beautiful exploration into this region and this winery for me. I encourage you to search for Gérard Bertrand wines, beyond that beautiful rosé and taste a bit of Languedoc.

The French #Winophiles

Read on for more great pieces on the wines of Gérard Bertrand. As I mentioned before, many of these will focus on the wonderful 2018 Cigalus Blanc, an exceptional white blend that I look forward to tasting in the future.

And join us on Saturday May 18th at 11 am EST on twitter to discuss these wines! Just follow #Winophiles to find us!

Michelle Williams – Rockin Red Blog: “Celebrating Biodynamic Viticulture And The Beauty Of The Languedoc With Gérard Bertrand #Winophiles”

Lynn Gowdy – Savor the Harvest: “This Biodynamic Wine Is a Summer Pleaser + Saturday Culinary Concoction.“

Wendy Klik- A Day in the Life on a Farm : ” New Wine Paired with an Old Favorite.”

Camilla Mann – Culinary Adventures with Camilla: “Lemon-Caper Halibut + Gérard Bertrand 2018 Cigalus Blanc”

Linda Whipple, My Full Wine Glass : “Languedoc Wine Meets Lebanese Cuisine”

David Crowley – Cooking Chat: “Savoring a Special White Wine from Souther France”

Pinny Tam – Chinese Food and Wine Pairings: “Exploring Languedoc-Roussillon with Chateau Millegrand Minervois Mourral Grand Reserve + Chinese Charcuterie Board #Winophiles”

Jeff Burrows – Food, Wine, Click: “Butter Roasted Fish with Gérard Bertrand’s Cigalus Blanc”

Jane Niemeyer – Always Ravenous: Chicken Korma with Gérard Bertrand Cigalus Blanc”

Cindy Lowe Rynning – Grape Experiences: “The Wines of Gerard Bertrand: Expect Joie de Vivre with Every Sip”

Susannah Gold – Avvinare: “A Wine from Gerard Bertrand: A Larger than Life Figure”

Deanna Kang – Asian Test Kitchen: “Gerard Bertrand Rose Paired with Subtly Spiced Shrimp”

Cynthia Howson & Pierre Ly – Traveling Wine Profs: “Comfort Food and Sunny Red: Gérard Bertrand Côtes des Roses with Senegalese Mafé and Fonio”

Jill Barth – L’Occasion: “A Name To Know: Gérard Bertrand”

Gwendolyn Lawrence Alley – Wine Predator:”Bertrand’s Biodynamic Cigalus Paired with French Sausage”

Liz Barrett – What’s in that Bottle: “Get to Know the Winning Wines from Languedoc Icon Gérard Bertrand”

Nicole Ruiz Hudson – SommsTable: “Cooking to the Wine: Gérard Bertrand Grand Terroir Tautavel Grenache-Syrah-Carignan with Saucy Lamb Loin Chops”

Rupal Desai Shankar – Syrah Queen: “A Commitment To Languedoc – The Biodynamic Wines Of Gerard Bertrand”

Payal Vora, Keep the Peas: “Aude: Alive in More Ways Than Wine”

L.M. Archer: “The Hedonistic Taster: Gérard Bertrand 2018 Cigalus Blanc”

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Curled up with a Bandol and a book – #Winophiles

February 15, 2019

A Year in Provence and a bottle of Bandol

Life gets busy. These days I find myself reading quite a bit, but the reading I am doing is often short articles or posts on my phone. I long for a cold, perhaps rainy day where I can curl up on the couch with a blanket and a book. Oh and perhaps a good glass of wine.

The French #Winophiles

This month the French #Winophiles decided to tackle Provençe, and take the mostly non-rosy path, searching out red and white wines from the region. (Scroll to the bottom for links to all of the posts by the #Winophiles) Wendy Klik our host and leader for this journey procured multiple copies of Peter Mayle’s “A Year in Provence” to inspire us (and, lucky for me, satisfy my urge for reading!) These were provided by the Blue Vase Book Exchange. This is a local book exchange in Michigan.

Blue Vase Book Exchange

What exactly does the Blue Vase Book Exchange do? Here’s a quote from their website:

We strive to find balance between purpose and profit, which is why we do what we do! By hosting our book exchange, we can feel good about getting books into hands who might not have access to literature via other means.
https://www.bluevasebookexchange.com/about

Curling up and reading

After receiving the book that Wendy so graciously sent to me, I found a corner of the couch on a cold winter day, grabbed a blanket and a glass of wine and started to read.

“A Year in Provence” within it’s first pages, will have you daydreaming of moving to Provençe. Even as he describes the cold of the Mistral wind in the winter, you will find yourself longing for this place. It is the “simpler life”, the unhurried pace and as this book was written a while ago, it also reminds of the quiet of a life free from our cell phones.

On to my search for a bottle of wine that was not a rosé from Provençe.

Searching for the Red Wines of Provençe

Vinoble de Provençe, a map of the wine regions in Provençe

This region is of course known for it’s rosés, which are perfect on a warm day in the south of France. The south of France shares it’s long lovely season with my home here in Las Vegas. Most of the year is warm (often times too warm…”but it’s a dry heat”…whatever it gets hot!), with a bit of the year where the cold rolls in. Perhaps we are spoiled and that is what makes the cold feel all the more brutal. I am shivering in the 39 degree temps! Regardless, the cold weather made me anxious to find some reds from the region.

I searched for maps and information on the reds of the region, trying to see what would have been nearby for the Mayle’s. The house in the book is was built in the 18th century and is located in the Luberon Region of Provençe outside of the town of Lourmarin. This would be within the Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence. The town is enchanting…

Lourmarin, Vaucluse, Provence, France: picturesque ancient alley in the old town with plants and flowers

Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provençe

This region covers 4127 Hectares and produces what would be about 28 million bottle of wine annually (Information Courtesy of Vins du Provence) 82.5% is rosé, 5.5% white, and 12% red. This is about 16% of the wine made in Provence. Primary grapes include Cinsault, Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache & Counoise, with bits of Cab Sav and Carignan. (I have researched and can’t seem to find what grapes Faustin had planted in the book)

On to Bandol

Of course finding a bottle of red wine from Provençe is significantly harder than looking it up! I ended up with a bottle from Bandol, which is perhaps the best known spot in Provençe for red wine. Mourvèdre is the “King of Grapes” here and you will find it as the primary grape in the areas red blends. In fact, often if you say “Mourvèdre” to a wine lover the first word that will come out of their mouth is “Bandol”. Often you will find grenache and cinsault blended in, or perhaps syrah or carignan, so we are still within the varieties that are well known in Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence, but here, in Bandol, mourvèdre will lead the blend.

The village of Bandol sits west of Toulon and east of Marseille. We spoke before about the history of the wines of this region “Cotes de Provence through rose filled glasses“

Bandol has some of the oldest vineyards in France. The Phocaeans arrived on the shores of Provençe in the 6th Century bringing amphorae, vines and wine. The Romans came and the Phocaean colony of Torroeis became Torroentrum and the vineyard they planted here can still be seen today. (information from http://www.vinsdebandol.com/en/history.cfm)

The Wine – 2015 Le Pont Bandol

In the spirit of Provençe and the book, I refused to stress about the wine. I picked up the only bottle I could find at the wine store which was a 2015 Le Pont Bandol. It was a 60/40 blend of Mourvèdre and Grenache.

The sketch on the label of Le Pont got me wondering about the place and I searched and found a photo of the Viaduc de Bandol, this shot taken from out on the water looking back at Bandol and the Viaduc.

In my search I also came upon a painting by Edouard Pignon. He painted this in 1957. (Click through and give the painting a look, in the lower half of the image you can see the curve of the viaduc)

http://www.edouardpignon.com/oeuvre/70095/Le_Viaduc_de_Bandol_Edouard_Pignon/

This painting evokes the wild feel of Provençe. You can almost smell the salt and garrigue. This scent melds with the Mourvèdre and Grenache in my glass. Scent is memory and all this lets me step into Mayler’s world.

A Simple Pairing

Did I do a pairing? A food pairing that is? Well yes. The mourvèdre screams for something wild, like boar. I settled for a rare steak, roasted potatoes covered with herbs de Provençe and some peas. It was simple and delicious. I will admit to dreaming a little of the feast that the Mayle’s enjoyed with their neighbors, the never ending feast in the cold of winter. That feast will be for another day, one with a full house and a long table!

Bandol and Dinner — Steak and potatoes with Herbs de Provençe to pair with a Bandol.

Have I finished the book?

No. My bottle is empty. I am searching for another Bandol and I will keep reading. The thing is…I don’t want the book to end. Each time I have a moment, I want to curl up with my Bandol and my book. He wrote a few more books didn’t he? In the meantime, I can continue to visit Provençe through pages written by my fellow #Winophiles as they share their journeys through these wines of the region.

More on Provence from the #Winophiles

As I mentioned this month’s French Winophiles was sponsored by Blue Vase Book Exchange. They provided some of our members with a copy of “A Year in Provence” by Peter Mayle. You can find Blue Vase Book Exchange on Amazon and on Facebook.

And….if you read this before February 16th 2019…you can join us on twitter to talk about the wines and the region. Just follow #Winophiles and join the conversation. We get going at 8 am Pacific or 11 am Eastern!

“A Book, An Inspired Braise, and A (Surprise!) Bottle of Red from Provençe” by Culinary Adventures with Camilla.
“At Last! A Provencal Rouge-2006 Domaine La Bastide Blanche Bandol” by Enofylz Wine Blog
“Beef Daube Provençal with Bandol Red Wine” by Cooking Chat
“Bellet: Provence’s Urban Appellation” by L’Occasion
“Blanc de Bellet: Like a Bouquet of Spring Flowers!” by Keep the Peas
“Dreaming of Provence with a Rabbit Lasagna and a Clos Cibbone” by A Day in the Life on the Farm
“Halibut with Meyer Lemon Olive Salsa and Bandol Blanc” by Always Ravenous
“Lamb Shanks Provençal with Les Baux de Provence and Cassis” by Food Wine Click
“Pissaladiere and a Provence Red” by Our Good Life
“Provence: Beyond Rosé” by Kate’s Recipe Box
“Provence: Viewing the World Through Rose Wine Glasses” by Side Hustle Wino
“Say Oui to a Glass of Provence Rose and Succulent Seafood ” by Chinese Food & Wine Pairings
“With Love From Provence. A Biodynamic Red and a Kosher Rose with Tritip, Quiche, Soup, Salad by Wine Predator
Cooking to the Wine: Domaine de L’Olivette Bandol with Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb and Saucy Mediterranean Veggies by Somm’s Table

Grapes and Varietal’s

Rasteau

Haut-Vaucluse

Dentelles de Montmirail

Geography, Climate & Soils

Red Rhône Blends with some rules

Domaine La Font de Notre Dame 2016 Rasteau Le Chêne

Domaine M. Boutin 2016 Rasteau

Chateau du Trignon 2015 Rasteau

Lavau 2015 Rasteau

Thanksgiving Pairing with Rasteau

The menu

Verdict

The French #Winophiles

Share this:

Like this:

Bag in Box & Kegs

Canned Wine

On a Economic level…

Taste testing, in case you need that

So…can you get this?

Back to sustainability

Keep the sustainability conversation going!

Visiting Quady North

Share this:

Like this:

Côte Bonneville

DuBrul Vineyard

Own rooted vines

Co Dinn Cellars

Hiyu Wine Farm

Community within the staff

Gardens

Vineyard

Livestock & Animals

Mt. Hood

Share this:

Like this:

Red from the Mountains, White from the Sea – Wines of Corsica

Alba di Diana Corse

Clos Sulana

Foods of Corsica

Meats & Cheeses

Fish & Seafood

Stews & Pastas – Herbs, fruits and veggies

Food Pairings

Oysters

Sturzapreti

Gnocchi with roasted zucchini, eggplant and sausage

Our charcuterie platter

The French #Winophiles!

Share this:

Like this:

Smoked Trout and arugula pasta

Ingredients

To Do

Caprese…sort of

Tablas Creek 2017 Vermentino

The pairings

Options

Share this:

Like this:

Day 4 – On to Washington Wine

Bridal Veil Falls

Columbia Gorge AVA

Syncline – into Washington Wine

The Columbia Gorge to Yakima

Horse Heaven Hills AVA

Yakima Valley AVA

Kitzke Cellars

Upsidedown Wine

Red Willow Vineyard

A little history of Red Willow Vineyard

Share this:

Like this:

Day 3

Southern Oregon & the Applegate Valley

Cowhorn

North to the Umpqua Valley

Girardet Vineyards