Spring is in the air and it is Earth Month! So we’ve pulled out some Earth Friendly Sauvignon Blancs to pair with foods that will make you think Spring! We are highlighting some delicious wine choices for a healthy planet this month.
We began with a couple of low intervention wines from Lazio Italy with vignerons caring for the planet. If you missed that you can catch it here!
Those wines are a little tough to find. I was lucky that my local wine shop GaragisteLV happened to have them in stock.
So for something a little more accessible that you should be able to find in almost every city, we have a Bonterra 2020 Sauvignon Blanc, that we received as a sample.
*While we received this wine as a sample, all opinions are our own.
Bonterra 2020 Organic Sauvignon Blanc
This is a California Sauvignon Blanc made from Organically Grown Grapes. And it will only set you back about $14! Perfect for spring, this is a wine you can actually pair with asparagus!
It was beautiful so we paired it with some updated picnic foods and picnicked in the backyard!
Our pairings included Fried Chicken, which I will confess, I picked up from the store. I am not a “fryer”. That much oil scares me and I leave it to the professionals. We did an update to a coleslaw using Purple cabbage and tzatziki and then my version of baked beans which were Great northern white beans cooked with onion, shallot, summer squash, and tomatoes!
This wine was bright and fresh, but if you find New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs too zingy, this will be right up your alley. It is zingy without being overly sharp. It was great with our picnic and the fresh air of spring. It retails for around $15.
Bonterra 2020 Organic Sauvignon Blanc
Bonterra 2020 Sauvignon Blanc for a Picnic with fried Chicken, tzatziki cole slaw, and northern white beans with summer squash and cherry tomatoes
Bonterra and Sustainability
Speaking of fresh air, Bonterra does its part to keep that air fresh. They were leading the way in organic farming, long before you could find it on the grocery store shelves.
They are certified Organic and have been growing in this way since 1987. They also incorporate Biodynamic principles, creating self-sustaining and regenerative vineyards. They are Zero Waste & Carbon Neutral. The glass for their bottles is 35% recycled material and this wine is also available in cans and bag-in-box for more environmentally friendly packaging.
In addition to farming, energy, and packaging they also realize that sustainability includes the people and community and they are a Certified B Corporation. (If you don’t know what that means, take a look here!)
You can read more on Bonterra’s sustainability measures here.
Easter Brunch, Sustainable Sauvignon Blanc Side by Side
We did a side by side with this wine and another good for the planet Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand on Easter Day!
LoveBlock 2019 Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough NZ
The Loveblock 2019 Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough New Zealand is also certified Organic from New Zealand’s Awatere Valley. This wine is definitely zingy with Green apple and gooseberry and grapefruit notes.
As to the good for the planet stuff…They are part of the New Zealand Sustainable Winegrowing Programme which is leading the world in sustainability practices for an entire country! You can read more about that here.
We picked this wine up at Costco for about $15.99
LoveBlock 2019 Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough NZ
Spring Brunch Pairings!
These two wines (yes, unbelievably, we had some of the Bonterra left after our picnic) graced our Easter Brunch table and we paired them with French toast with kiwi and strawberries with a ricotta, honey, and yogurt topping, a Caprese salad with fresh basil, ciliegine (those little mozzarella balls), cherry tomatoes and sliced strawberries, with olive oil, balsamic reduction, and black pepper. We capped it off with pastry-wrapped asparagus with prosciutto and herbed goat cheese!
The yogurt, kiwi, basil, asparagus, and herbed goat cheese are easy matches with a Sauvignon Blanc so incorporating them into our dishes made the match!
Join us for more great wines and pairings as we continue finding delicious wines this Earth Month!
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
Where’s Linus? Sauvignon Blanc had me dreaming of spring. I dove into those spring green colors as I set the table. Even the dishes I was pairing with this wine had a lightness to them. A lightness, a brightness, but also a depth. Yes, I am dreaming of spring, of warmer weather, of happier days to come. There is a bit of hope in this.
This month is Black History Month. As we look to expand diversity in the Wine World the #WinePW group is looking behind the label to tell the stories of BIPOC wineries and winemakers.
You can join us on Saturday, February 13th at 8 am Pacific time on Twitter to discuss these wineries, winemakers, and the wines we found. Just follow and use the hashtag #WinePW and join the conversation. We would love to hear about the wineries you have found and support!
You can also scroll to the bottom for the list of articles my colleagues have published on the subject for this event.
Diversity in the Wine World
Wine is a diverse beverage coming from many countries with a wide range of varieties and styles. The community of people who make these wines should be diverse also.
But people of color and indigenous people have often been left outside this group with less support, less access, and less opportunity.
As a consumer, a bottle of wine doesn’t tell you all the details on who made it. Labels may give you a feel for the style of the winery, but they do ‘t usually tell you much about the winemaker. That’s okay. We want it to be about what is in the bottle, but as we work toward inclusion and diversify the industry, it’s time to look beyond the bottle to the stories of the people who grow and make these wines and take a good hard look at the diversity of the community that we see there.
The wine I found for today’s tasting is made by Chris Christensen. Chris has his own winery Bodkin Wines, but this wine he made for Jenny & Francois Selections and their Where’s Linus Sauvignon Blanc.
You’ll also find a bonus snippet on Corner 103 in Sonoma owned by Lloyd Davis.
Keep in mind, we found these wines and winemakers due to their quality. We celebrate these wines and people who, in addition to making great wine, also happen to bring diversity to our industry.
Chris Christensen of Bodkin Wines and Where’s Linus? Sauvignon Blanc
Chris is from Cedar Rapids Iowa. He went to Stanford University with the plan of going into banking. Well, Stanford is not so far from Sonoma, and he fell for wine. He worked for Gallo right out of college, then some smaller Dry Creek Valley wineries before arriving at Medlock Ames and finding his muse “Sauvignon Blanc”.
In 2011 he started Bodkin Wines. Their motto comes from Shakespeare’s Henry V “We few, we happy few”. Andrew Chambers joined the endeavor in 2013 and they produced the Cuvée Agincourt Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc which was America’s first Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc. On their site, their notes on this wine include at the bottom a note that I love…
Chris Christensen of Bodkin Wines
NERD NOTE: This wine is called Cuvee Agincourt in reference to the Battle of Agincourt during the Hundred Years War. In 1415, an English army, which was largely comprised of archers armed with Bodkin-pointed arrows, beat a massive French army of primarily of high nobility.
In 2020 Chris was named to Wine Enthusiasts 40 under 40 and he finds himself pretty happy with where this wine thing has taken him. He looks now to affect change within the wine industry, allowing his brand to promote inclusion. Mentorship is now a driving passion for him.
You can find Bodkin Wines online on their website. I also found a selection of their wines available on Wine.com.
Where’s Linus? Sauvignon Blanc
The grapes for the Where’s Linus? Sauvignon Blanc come from Lake County California, from the Sandy Bend Vineyard in the Upper Lake region. This certified sustainable vineyard was planted in 1996 and sits at 1,200 feet. Chris fermented in stainless steel leaving it to age on the lees in the tank, with gives it a bit of depth and richness.
This wine is unfined and unfiltered. $16.99 SRP
My notes: Medium intensity on the nose with notes of grass, gooseberry, lemon verbena, lime zest, and green apple.
We stretched this wine for two pairings an elegant lunch salad and a richer dinner the following day.
Pairing 1 – Goat cheese, green apple, and mint crostini and a shaved vegetable salad
So at long last, I picked up a copy of “Tastebuds and Molecules”. One of the first chapters deals with Sauvignon Blanc. I riffed off those themes in creating these dishes.
The crostini are simple. Crostini as a vessel, goat cheese which pairs so beautifully with Sauvignon Blanc, and then green apple and mint which bring out the anise notes in the wine.
We also did a shaved vegetable salad; carrots, cucumber, zucchini, golden beets, radish, shallot all thinly sliced and in a dressing of lemon & lime juice, honey, cumin, turmeric, salt, pepper, and olive oil. We finished the dish off with fresh parsley and basil, crushed pistachios, lime zest, and toasted caraway seeds. Much of this dish is based on the aromatics of the anise family, which pair beautifully together, and also have notes in the wine.
Pairing 2 – Cauliflower and broccoli risotto and seared scallops
We had planned to do this pairing with the salad and crostini but instead stretched it out to two days. This pairing is really quick to cook.
The risotto uses cauliflower rice instead of regular rice, which means it cooks quickly. This was a simple freezer pairing with a bag of frozen cauliflower rice, some frozen broccoli, and then garlic, butter, heavy crème, and parmesan. It took all of 10 minutes to cook.
Scallops always amaze me how quickly they cook. Really, it’s only 4 minutes. I also seared a couple of lemon slices in the pan when they were finished to garnish.
How did this pair?
The Where’s Linus? Sauvignon Blanc has great acid which made it pair beautifully with all the dishes. There were standouts though, those epiphany moments. With Pairing 1, I was playing to the profile in “Tastebuds & Molecules” with green apple, mint, basil, cumin, turmeric, caraway seeds, and yellow beets. The salad was wonderful with the wine with the dressing was just right balancing the acid with a bit of honey, pulling forth the earth notes in the beet.
But the star of the show was the very simple crostini. I baked the slices of baguette coated in olive oil then spread them with goat cheese, topped with a thin slice of green apple and a fresh mint leaf. Simple and absolute heaven with the wine. The next time you pour a Sav Blanc, try this, it’s incredible.
Corner 103 and Lloyd Davis
Before we go, I also want to tell you a bit about another wonderful winery. A few years ago we met Lloyd at Corner 103. His tasting room sits on the corner across from Sonoma Plaza.
Lloyd is quiet and understated. At his tasting room, they do more than just taste wine, they do experiences. He believes that food and wine go together. Our Cheese Experience paired his wines with a cheese and then another flavor. Tasting first the wine, then the cheese, then the wine and the cheese, and finally the wine, the cheese, and the additional flavor. This pointed out the way that the combination of flavors can change the interpretation of a food or a wine. You can read about our experience in our piece Corner 103 – more than just wine tasting in Sonoma
Originally from New York City, he spent 30 years in the Finance Industry. At one point he worked for a Wine retailer and fell for wine.
He left banking to take over Viansa Winery which at the time was struggling. He sold Viansa in 2013, but at that point, he was all in as far as the wine industry went. Corner 103 was about creating a way to break down the intimidating walls around wine. Corner 103 was voted Best Wine Tasting Room in America by USA Today.
You can visit Corner 103. It is by appointment. Check their site for details on the current requirements.
(At the time of writing, February 2021, due to COVID restrictions, they do not have food pairings and are conducting tastings outside in groups of two. Check the website for updates).
Yield: 6
Shaved Vegetable Salad
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
This elegant shaved vegetable salad might be made of an assortment of vegetables. We chose to pair this with a Sauvignon Blanc, so we were sure to include yellow beets. The salad has a mixture of fresh, cool, earthy, and spicy vegetables, with cucumber, zucchini, carrot, radish, shallot, and yellow beet. The dressing is a sweet and tangy blend of lemon & lime juices, honey, turmeric, cumin, and salt & pepper. It makes for an elegant dish.
Ingredients
1 small Zucchini
1 small cucumber
4 radishes
1 carrot
1 yellow beet
1/2 shallot
1 lemon
3 tbs olive oil
1 tbs crushed pistachios
1/2 tsp caraway seeds toasted
1 tsp honey
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cumin
1 lime
basil, mint, parsley, and/or arugula for plating
Instructions
Slice the zucchini into ribbons with a vegetable peeler
Do the same with the carrot
On a mandoline slice the radishes into small rounds
Slice the cucumber thinly at an angle on the mandoline to make thin ovals
Peel the beet and cut it in half, slice the halves into thin half-moons on the mandoline
Thinly slice the shallot
Juice the lemon & the lime
To the juice add the honey, turmeric, cumin, salt, and pepper
Drizzle in the olive oil while whisking to emulsify (or you can put this all in a jar and shake it vigorously)
Toss the vegetables in this mixture and let them sit for just a couple of minutes.
Delicately plate the vegetable in a pretty pattern (I like to curl the carrots and wind up the ribbons of zucchini so they stand like small columns)
Sprinkle with the toasted caraway seeds and crushed pistachios
zest a bit of lime on top
Garnish with fresh arugula, mint, and/or basil
Notes
We served with crostini with goat cheese, green apple, and mint. This dish is perfect with a sauvignon blanc, pairing on a molecular level with the cumin, turmeric, beet, and caraway seeds.
Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest
Yield: 2
Cauliflower rice risotto with seared scallops
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 17 minutes
This recipe was inspired by Dr. Davinah's Eats. This risotto is delicious and much lower in calories than if you used rice, so you can spoil yourself with the scallops. (okay, not really, I mean, we are adding a lot of heavy cream, but it would have more calories if we were using rice too, right?) We used broccoli in our dish, but you could easily substitute peas or another vegetable, much as you would with risotto. This paired beautifully with our Sauvignon Blanc but in the future, I might try adding basil to this dish.
Ingredients
12 oz bag of frozen cauliflower rice
4 tbs butter
4 cloves of garlic minced
3/4 cup of frozen broccoli (defrosted with the florets cut into 1-inch pieces)
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
6 large scallops
2 tbs olive oil
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
4 slices of fresh lemon
fresh parsley to garnish
Instructions
Heat a large skillet over medium heat
Add 2 tbs of the butter, 1/2 of the minced garlic, the broccoli, and a pinch of salt
Cook 3 minutes (the broccoli should be bright green)
Add the cauliflower. Cook 3 minutes
Add the cream, parmesan and another pinch of salt and pepper, stir to blend
Lower the heat to medium-low. Let this slowly cook and thicken while you make the scallops
Pat the scallops dry and season with salt and pepper
Heat a rod iron skillet with the olive oil over medium-high heat
When this is hot, add the scallops. Keep track of the order you put these in and leave a little space between them
Add 2 tbs of butter and cook for 2 minutes
Flip the scallops in the order that you put them in so they will cook evenly
Add the garlic and cook for 1 1/2 minutes
Add the lemon juice and shake the pan to mix, cook another 30 seconds
Remove the scallops in the order you put them in
Turn the heat back on and add your lemon slices
Sear until golden brown
Plate the risotto (which should be thick by now)
Place the scallops on top and drizzle with the lemon butter drippings in the pan
Garnish with parsley and the seared lemon slices
Notes
We served this with a Sauvignon Blanc and it was a great pairing. If you are looking for a larger meal, I suggest starting with our shaved vegetable salad and crostini with goat cheese apple, and mint.
Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest
The #WinePW Crew!
Check out the pieces below from the rest of the Wine Pairing Weekend Crew and set out to ask for these labels at your local wine shop. Order DTC if you can’t find them! Let’s support diversity in this wine community that we all love.
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
When I say Bordeaux you probably immediately think of big red wine, Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. It would be rarer, but perhaps you think of Sauternes, the sweet white wines from the southern part of Bordeaux. Well, we are heading that direction this month with the French #Winophiles.
We are led this month by Linda Whipple of My Full Wine Glass and Jeff Burrows of Food, Wine, Click. You can read Linda’s Invitation post here.
If you are reading this in time, you can join us on Twitter for a conversation on these wines and what each of the French #Winophiles chose to pair with them! Saturday, November 21st at 8 am PST (I know it’s early, but it’s fun!) on Twitter. Just follow and use #Winophiles to join in the conversation.
How Sweet wines began in Bordeaux
Sweet wines find their start in Bordeaux in the 1600s when the Dutch arrived bringing with them a taste for sweet wines and a bit of knowledge from their travel through Hungary where you find Tokaji and Germany with their Rieslings.
43% of the sweet wine in Bordeaux comes from Sauternes, which is delicious, but we are digging deeper and we are talking about the other 57%.
Vignoble de Bordeaux
The Grapes of Sweet Bordeaux
White grapes of Bordeaux are primarily Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle with Sémillon being the shining star of the sweet wines. Sauvignon Blanc is added for its citrus notes and Muscadelle in smaller quantities for its floral aromas and smooth texture. You will find areas where Sauvignon Gris is included, a mutation of Sauvignon blanc.
Noble rot of a wine grape, botrytised grapes - Photo adobe stock evryka23
Botrytis Cinerea
Botrytis Cinerea, the magical fungus that creates these sweet wines, is known as “Noble Rot”. It is actually the same fungus that eats up the oranges that you have left too long in the fridge.
Here’s the deal. When Botrytis Cinerea is in a constantly humid environment, it is Grey Rot (like on that old orange in your fridge), but if, as in this region, you have humid mornings followed by dry afternoons, it becomes Noble Rot. Affecting grapes with thin skins, it grows in the morning humidity and is kept in check by the afternoon dryness. This shrivels the berries, concentrating the sugars and acids, and imparts its own flavors of honey and dried mushroom.
The regions in Bordeaux for Sweet Wines
Head south from Bordeaux on the Garonne River and you will find 8 AOCs with sweet white wines:
Bordeaux Supérieur, Cadillac, Cérons, Côtes de Bordeaux Saint-Macaire, Loupiac, Moelleux, Premières Côtes de Bordeaux and Sainte-Croix-du-Mont.
Head to SweetBordeaux.com for all sorts of wonderful details on the regions for sweet wines.
Bordeaux Vineyard at sunrise in autumn Entredeuxmers Langoiran Gironde France - photo adobe stock by FreeProd
Styles of sweet wines in Bordeaux
Liquoreux – This is the sweeter style. They are more concentrated, sometimes (when the year is right) they are made from grapes with botrytis, that noble rot that concentrates and sweetens the berries.
Moelleux – These are semi-sweet wines. Here fermentation is stopped when the sweetness level desired is reached, killing off the yeast before it eats all the sugar so that some is left in the wine. This style is its own AOC and covers the entirety of the region.
*We received 4 sample bottles of wine for this tasting. The wines were provided free of charge, all opinions are our own.
In 1954 Henri DuCourt acquired this property with vineyards of white grapes planted on loamy soils, in the Entre-Deux-Mers. They have 26 hectares here at Château La Hargue planted to Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Sauvignon Gris.
Bottled under the Bordeaux AOC it is made in the Moelleux style. This wine is best enjoyed young and they suggested that it would pair with foie gras, grilled fish, desserts including chocolate desserts, and bleu cheese.
The Details:
Moelleux style
Blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Sémillon
Aged in Stainless Steel
Annual production 80,000 bottles
ABV 11%
SRP $15.00
Our Notes:
This was the lightest of the 4 wines in color. It was almost clear in the glass with flecks of green. The nose had florals reminiscent of honeysuckle nectar, those tiny sips that we would drink like fairies as a child. There were rocks, and limestone, and pear. It is semi-sweet but very clean and refreshing.
Within the AOC Premières-Côtes-de-Bordeaux Moelleux in the District of Langoiran you find Château Tanesse. This Château is owned by the Famille Gonfrier, who own 19 Chateaux.
“Located on a high hillock among Langoiran’s sloping vineyards, this Bordeaux charterhouse was built during the second half of the 18th century by the Tanesse family. The property is surrounded by 30 hectares of vineyard atop very old foundations. Overlooking Langoiran’s medieval 13th-century castle, a magnificent panoramic view stretches from the edge of the Sauternais to the outskirts of Bordeaux while following the meanders of the Garonne River.”
Muscadelle vinified in Stainless Steel, then aged in barrels
Sauvignon, partially vinified in oak
Average Vine Age: 17 years
ABV 12.5%
SRP $16.00
Our Notes:
This wine was a very light clear lemon color. Sweeter on the nose than the La Hargue, I got less floral and more dried apricot. On the palate I noticed vanilla and musky fruit (Muscadelle) with light spices. It reminded Michael of the sauce in a baked apple pie. It had enough acid to make my mouth water.
Produced by Y. Armand & Fils. The Armand family owns Château La Rame and Château La Caussande. This is a family affair. Between the 2 Chateaux they have 50 hectares of vines over 6 AOCs, making sweet white wines from 2 AOC’s Cadillac and Sainte Croix du Mont. Our wine came from Sainte Croix du Mont.
There are 8 hectares of vines in a clay-limestone soil that has a unique sub-soil with fossilize oyster beds dating back to the 1st tertiary era (22 million years ago).
The Details:
Licoureux style
95% Sémillon 5% Savignon Blanc
Aged in SS and 30% oak
Average vine age: 50 yrs
Production 24,000 bottles per year.
SRP $35
Our Notes:
This wine was a golden yellow color with a nose of caramel, apple, sweet syrup with fruit, and concentrated honeysuckle. On the palate I got more of the spice notes like candied ginger droplets. It was warmer and toastier with fruit notes. Sweeter than the other two being in the liquoreux style, but still light on the palate.
Made by Famille Boyer who own Chateau du Cros in Loupiac, Chateau Haut Mayne in Cerons and Clos Bourbon in Paillet.
The backstory…in 1196 Richard the Lionheart allow the construction of the “Vieux Chateau du Cros. During the Hundred Years’ War, it was partially destroyed. Built back over time it passed finally to Francois Thevenot in 1921. It was inhabited until 1940 when it was requisitioned by the German Army, it was damaged during the German occupation and fell to ruin.
While the Chateau itself is ruined, the estate is thriving. 60 hectares of vineyards surround the medieval castle on the hill overlooking the Garonne.
Francois Thevenot’s Great, great-granddaughter Catherine d’Hulluin Boyer now runs the vineyard, taking over from her father in 2004.
The vineyard is just 80 meters from the Garonne on the right bank. The hill is 90% limestone.
The Details:
Liquoreux Style
90% Sémillon, 5% Sauvignon, 5% Muscadelle
Average age of vines 60 years
Manual harvest with 5 successive sortings
12 months aging in barrels
Production: 22,000 bottles per year
ABV 13%
SRP $30.00
Our Notes:
This was the darkest of the wines, almost copper in the bottle, appearing more golden in the glass. It had deeper fruit notes of cooked nectarine with spices and vanilla, and poached pear notes. It was very well balanced.
Pairings from opposite sides of the globe
I spent quite a bit of time searching for pairings. Down the rabbit hole of the interwebs, I found all sorts of amazing things and spent hours and hours finding fascinating information. In the end, we settled on two meals. One featuring Asian flavors and the other leaning more French.
Asian inspired lunch of Thai Pumpkin Soup
and
Spring Onion & Ginger Cod with Fried Noodles
Knowing that Thai food and Riesling are super compatible, I decided to venture to Asian flavors with our sweet wines.
We began with a Thai Pumpkin Soup. I found this recipe at “Dishing Out Health“.
It all cooks in the dutch oven. The quick version: sauté carrots and onions, add tomato paste and cook until it caramelizes, add red curry paste, ginger, and garlic pumpkin spice, and then Pumpkin puree & vegetable broth. Finish with coconut milk and lime juice.
For the cod dish, I riffed off this recipe from Ang Sarap.
It included thinly sliced ginger soaked in Chinese cooking wine, so I used the La Hargue instead!
The fish is marinated and deep-fried which is not something I do very often. This gets tossed with a sauce of fish sauce, soy, sugar, cornstarch, pepper, and chicken stock, as well as the drained ginger, minced garlic, and spring onions.
We served this with fried noodles. Just some good ramen noodles, cooked then fried in oil and tossed with a sauce of brown sugar, soy, and fish sauce.
Asian cuisine pairing with the Sweet Bordeaux
This pairing was good! The La Hargue was fresh with just a touch of sweetness and had enough acid to cut through the thick umami of the fish dish and picking up the ginger in that dish. The acid was just right to pair with the Thai soup and would have been good with this even if it had been even spicier.
The other wines each played off the bit of spice and umami, each was good in its own way. I did find that the Chateau du Cros from Lupiac reached in and pulled out umami notes in the soup.
The wines all went well with the sweetness and umami of the cod dish and the savory noodles.
The French lunch – Gratin de butternut a la d’Auvergne & Carmelized Fennel Salad
I made two small gratins with diced butternut squash, crème, d’Auvergne cheese which is a soft cow’s milk bleu cheese, topped with walnuts and parmesan cheese.
For the caramelized fennel salad, I made just enough for two servings out of one large bulb of fennel. It was really good and I wish I’d made more. Check out the recipe here and feel free to double or quadruple it!
You slice rounds of the fennel and cook the rounds in butter and olive oil. Set those aside and add a mixture of sugar, salt, and pepper cooking for 30 seconds, then toss the fennel back in to coat and cook just a little more.
Scrape this into a bowl, including all the delicious crusty bits. Toss with minced garlic, shallot rings, and some dill.
I plated this on a bed of arugula and topped it with crumbled goat cheese, lemon zest, olive oil and garnished with fennel fronds.
The French pairing with the Sweet Bordeaux
These dishes really won the day. The gratin made the La Hargue appear sweeter, and enhanced the Château Tanesse aromatics. The caramelized fennel salad was delicious and brightened in contrast with the 2 sweeter wines, especially with the Château du Cros Loupiac.
Yes, of course, there was dessert!
Of course the first thing that comes to mind when pairing Sweet Bordeaux wines is dessert. I found a beautiful recipe for Dark chocolate pudding with pears. I made homemade pudding, not the kind from a box. It was my first time and it seized. Oh well, we ate it anyway and it made a pretty picture.
I enjoyed the wines with the pears, which were drizzled in honey as the slices cooked and caramelized in the pan. I found this went best with the two sweetest wines the Château La Rame & the Chateau du Cros.
But my dessert pairings were not done! The next day I made a peach crumble. Here the dessert came out beautifully AND it paired wonderfully.
The French #Winophiles
Check out what my French #Winophile Colleagues thought of these and other Sweet Bordeaux wines and what fantastic things they paired with them!
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
Cabernet has always drawn people to the Napa Valley. Dennis and Judy Groth were no exception. They visited the area in the 1960s at the beginnings of the Napa Valley and by 1985 had decided to move there and make it their home. These were the early days and Dennis was part of the founding of the Oakville Winegrowers that formed in 1993.
They raised their children here and have become a generational business. Their daughter Suzanne now runs the business.
Groth is in the Oakville AVA on the valley floor in Napa. It is family owned and sustainably farmed. The Groth Estate vineyard in Oakville is 121-acres planted in the early 1970s by Justin Meyer. Oakville has great temps day and night, not too hot, not too cold, as well as a variety of soils.
In 1994 they replanted the eastern section of their Estate Vineyard. Previously this had all been Cab. They realized that the clay soils here would be great for Bordeaux whites and replanted these blocks to Sauvignon Blanc and more recently Semillon.
Sustainability is an important issue for me, so before we even get to the wine, let’s talk about their sustainability program.
Certified Napa Green
What does that mean? Groth received their Napa Green certification in 2014 as well as their Fish Friendly Farming Certification. These certifications are set up to prevent erosion and sediment runoff, which is really important for the “fish friendly” aspect. The plans work to reduce and finally eliminate harmful inputs and restore riparian habitats.
They also work to conserve water, which we all know is very important especially in Napa with the recent fires. Methods for water conservation include efficient irrigation and frost protection. This is a program that continues to evolve and will become stricter in the upcoming years.
Other sustainable practices at Groth
They are in the process of a replant program that began in 2018. This process will change the row orientation allowing breezes to flow through the vineyard from San Pablo Bay, decreasing the need for fungicides.
Their use of cover crops means the soil holds water and nutrients so that they don’t have to irrigate as often or as much. Pests are kept down by owl, raptors, and bluebirds who are attracted and kept by the boxes and perches throughout the vineyard. They also have an insectary for beneficial insects which adds to the healthy biodiversity of the property.
A great neighborhood that is more than just Cabernet
This of course is where Robert Mondavi first planted To Kalon and their neighbors at Groth include Opus One, Plumpjack & Silver Oak, so Groth is in good company.
This is Cabernet country and the Groth’s came here to make Cab, but like Bordeaux, they can and do grow more than Cabernet here!
Groth 2019 Estate White
We received a bottle of the first Estate white released by Groth as a sample. This is a blend of 79% Sauvignon Blanc and 21% Semillon.
Before I give you all the geeky wine details, I want to share with you Michael’s first comment on tasting this wine.
“I like it and I would buy more.”
That’s quite an accolade after his first sip (he tends to be a harsh critic). Okay, now to the details.
The details:
79% Sav Blanc, 21% Semillon
Whole cluster pressed
Fermented in a variety of vessels
Second fill Acacia barrels
Neutral French Oak
Stainless Steel tanks
A concrete egg
3 months sur lie aging and 3 months blended aging
5% abv
365 cases produced
$50 SRP
The Groth Estate White Story
There is so much to this wine’s story. I was able to sit in on a Zoom Tasting that Suzanne and Groth winemaker Cameron Parry did recently with Karen MacNeil and the two gave us some details on how this wine came about.
Groth has been making a Napa Sauvignon Blanc since the mid-90s. It’s a blend of grapes from throughout the Napa Valley. They noticed that of the lots of Sauvignon Blanc that came in, the lots from their own estate had great depth and quality and so they decided to showcase this fruit from the Estate.
The Estate White is their first new wine in over 40 years and 2019 is its Inaugural Vintage!
Building complexity
Since they were not blending grapes from multiple sites and soils, they needed new ways to build complexity in the wine. This is where the addition of a concrete egg to their fermenting method came in. They fermented and aged these wines in a variety of vessels, stainless steel tanks, neutral oak, second use acacia as well as concrete eggs.
Word has it they even did a little bit with extended skin contact, but they are not revealing the details of that secret ingredient.
The vintage & the vineyard
The grapes for this blend are all grown on the Groth Oakville Estate that sits East of St. Helena Hwy on the northside of Oakville Cross Road. The 2019 season was mostly cool until an August heatwave and then pendulum swings of temperatures through harvest, which began with the Savignon Blanc on September 3rd.
Map of the Groth Oakville Estate Vineyard courtesy Groth Vineyards & Winery
The soils and the blocks
This wine tells the story of the Estate Vineyard. With 121 acres in the middle of Oakville, they have a variety of soils. The blocks for this blend are far from their reserve block for their Cabernet Sauvignon. This side of the vineyard has more black clay for better vigor which is good for white wines.
There are just 3 blocks of Sauvignon Blanc on the Estate and they chose the richest for this wine. In addition, there is a Semillon block. This 11-acre block is the largest planting of Semillon in Oakville. They pick these grapes together, almost like a field blend, and crush and ferment them mostly together.
Interesting grape fact: Semillon is a large viscous grape and on its own in a pressing tends to clog the press. By co-pressing with the Sauvignon Blanc, they lessen this issue although they still do one dedicated Semillon press with press aids.
This blend is more than just Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, the two blend to create something that goes beyond the individual varieties.
Our tasting notes on the Groth 2019 Estate White
The wine pours a pale lemon and the nose begins dusty with green notes of grass (not cut lawn, but more like a long feather grass) and green apple and white peach. There is bright but round citrus notes like Meyer lemon, and something exotic like starfruit. Ginger and a hint of pear round out the nose.
On the palate, this is dry with a round full body. In my mouth, I get nectarine, lime, and Meyer lemon with a long pleasant finish.
Pairing the Groth 2019 Estate White
Groth suggested pairing with a grilled peach and arugula salad and that sounded too delicious not to try! But I also wanted to explore some other pairings, so we also did steamed mussels and pasta with homemade pesto.
This pasta played just a little outside the lines, with Italian and Thai basil, almonds, and pine nuts in addition to parmesan, olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. We roasted lemon slices for garnish.
All the pairings went well, but they were right, the grilled peaches were the kicker. Something in the richness of the grilled fruit was magical with the wine.
We luxuriated over this as afternoon turned to evening, and did a simple sweet finish of lemon curd on butter waffle cookies. Those Meyer lemon notes in the wine and the tartness of the curd made for a perfect bite.
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
This month the French Winophiles are diving into a French Wine 101. It’s timely as we all enter our comments to the government in opposition to proposed 100% European wine tariffs. (If you have not heard about this, I’ll post some links at the bottom for more information.) We have done a bit of writing on French wines and you will find links to those pieces. Many of these pieces were written in conjunction with the French #Winophiles, which means there is the extra bonus, of each of those pieces having links to other articles written by the rest of the #Winophiles! If you are interested in French wine, you will have plenty of reading available!
French Wine 101
I’m here to rally for French wine. If you are new to wine, French wine can be a bit overwhelming so let’s start at the beginning.
Old
World vs New World
To be
sure, when we say “Old World” in reference to wines, we think first of French
wines. But what does “Old World”
mean? From a scholastic point of view: Old
world wines are dominated by terroir, they are defined by place. Typically these wines are more restrained and
elegant. New World wines, on the other
hand tend to be reflective of the winemaker’s style and are often more fruit
forward and bold.
That
is a really broad definition of the differences, and doesn’t always hold true,
but when people say “Old World” and “New World” this is what they are thinking.
French
wine names
In
France, wines are named for the region they come from, not by the variety of
grape as we do in the new world. This
takes us back to that idea of “terroir” which is a sense of place, with soil,
and climate. So rather than speaking
about Chardonnay in France, you would speak of Chablis or White Burgundy. Both of those wines are made with Chardonnay,
but the wine is named for the region.
When
we think of Bordeaux, we think of age worthy reds. These are typically Cabernet or Merlot based,
depending on which bank of the river the region sits. And you will notice that I said “based”.
These wines are blends of the different varieties of grapes that grow best in
this region.
There is one exception to this. In Alsace, the white wine region on the German border in the North East of France, wines are often labeled with the variety. This comes from the German culture and this area throughout the ages, has bounced back and forth between French and German control.
Without going too deep into the wine labels (that’s a rabbit hole best saved for another day), let’s talk about some of the most well known French Wine Regions, and I’ll give you a translation for what varieties you will see from each.
French
Wine regions
Map of French Wine Regions
I love maps. It gives you a better sense of the geography and influences on a region. I could dive into the climates and soils in each of these regions (I do love to get geeky on these things), but this is French Wine 101! So let’s put together some dots for you, on what varieties you will find in each of these regions and what you might want to eat with each of these wines!
Loire Valley – Val de Loire
Map of the wine regions of the Loire Valley
This is white wine country! You will find a bit of red, but the white wines are likely to be the ones you have heard of.
Muscadet
On the West end of the Loire Valley closest to the Atlantic Ocean. Melon de Bourgogne, which you will hear called Muscadet, is most prevalent here. This is a dry white wine that pairs really well with seafood. You will get citrus, and green apple and pear along with a lovely note of salinity. Go for shellfish with this wine
Chenin Blanc
Moving east Chenin Blanc begins to shine. Vouvray and Saviennières are well known Chenin Blancs from the regions of Touraine and Anjou-Saumur respectively. The two can be very different. Vouvray can be made from dry to semi-sweet to sweet, and you will find you need to do a bit of research to determine which sweetness level you are getting. Saviennières has been called the “most cerebral wine in the world”. These wines have depth of flavor, great acidity and minerality.
Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc, is mainly found in the Upper Loire, the area furthest east and inland. Here you hear of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. These wines are crisp and high acid. Pair them with fish or poultry. With cheeses these are wonderful with goat cheese or other creamy cheeses (think brie).
Cabernet Franc
Not to be overlooked is Cabernet Franc which in this region is the primary red wine. Chinon or Bourgueil in the Touraine region produce elegant Cab Francs. These wines can be slightly spicy with raspberry and violet notes and are a favorite at Parisian Bistros.
Well you know what Champagne is! This region and it’s soil and climate produce some of the world’s finest sparkling wines primarily from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.
These wines, while often looked at a just for celebrations or just with the hors d’oeuvres at the top of the meal actually are perfect during a meal. The bubbles and acidity clean your palate making every bite taste as amazing as the first.
There are plenty of classic pairings, but try potato chips, buttered popcorn or fried chicken! The bubbles and acid with the fat and salt are heaven.
Famous wine route in the Vosges mountains Alsace France
This region sits on the German border and as I mentioned earlier has bounced back and forth between French and German control. The names and architecture here reflect that mixed heritage and the wines do as well.
These bright aromatic white wines are perfect to keep your nose in all day or dab behind your ears. But…if you must move on to drinking them, pair them with fish, aromatic cheeses, schnitzle, salads…there are so many great pairings. These are also wines known for pairing well with spicy foods like Thai! You will find riesling, pinot gris, muscadet and gewurztraminer lead the pack on varieties.
There are
a few other varieties including Pinot Noir, but you are less likely to run into
them.
Chablis
Chablis Premier Cru Mont de Milieu Simonnet-Febvre 2013 and Pôchouse
Chardonnay
This is Chardonnay land, but not those big buttery California Chardonnays that your Aunt might drink. These are sharp and bright with great mineral quality! Pair with fish or chicken, oysters or other shellfish, mushrooms or cheese (think goat cheese or Comté). The sharp acid makes this great with creme sauces.
Chablis, above, is in Burgundy sitting 80 miles northwest of the rest of Burgundy. Burgundy is known for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Pinot Noir
The Côte de Nuits is the Northern part of the Côte d’Or and is the region that Pinot Noir calls home. It ventures further afield, but this is it’s homeland and you will find some of the most expensive Pinot Noirs on the planet, hail from here.
Pinot Noir is perfect for red wine with fish. It is the go to wine to pair with salmon. Many Pinot Noirs also have earthy notes and pair beautifully with mushrooms.
Chardonnay
The Côte de Beaune is dominated by Chardonnay. These are likely to be aged in oak. They will be richer and more buttery than those lean Chardonnays from Chablis, but they are still dry. Try this wine with pasta, chicken, risotto, shellfish or salt water fish and with cheeses like gruyere.
There is more to the region, the Côte Chalonnais and the Mâconnais, but we will leave those for another day.
Just south of Burgundy you find Beaujolais. This is a wine you will know better by the region name than by the grape, Gamay, that it is made from. Beaujolais Nouveau is the first wine released each year on the third Thursday in November. These early release wines are fresh and fruity, but the region does have other Gamay’s that are meant to be deeper and more age worthy.
Beaujolais Nouveau will be fruit forward and downright perky! Sometimes you will hear people say that they smell bubblegum or bananas in addition to raspberries and cranberry.
Aged Beaujolais might have notes of forest floor, mushroom, violet, tart cherry and smoke.
These are lighter wines and can pair across the spectrum from salmon to barbeque. Visit the Beaujolais site for a great graphic to assist with pairings for all the varied wines from this region.
The
Rhone Valley
M.Chapoutier Crozes Hermitage vineyards in Tainl’ Hermitage Rhone valley France
I am a lover of Rhônes. Guaranteed…many of mine come from the Rhône Rangers that you find in California, and many of which were brought from Chateauneuf-de-Pape in the Southern Rhône.
The region is broken into the Northern and Southern Rhône. The Northern Rhône is the land of Syrah and Viognier and typically very pure and expensive versions of these.
Syrah
The Côte Rotie is known for some of the most amazing Syrah on the planet. I’ve heard it described as bacon and violets. Which sounds pretty amazing to me.
Viognier
Condrieu is well known for 100% Viognier. This white wine is full bodied and round with notes of apricot, pear and almonds.
There are other appellations like Crozes Hermitage above and Cornas, there is more to explore here, if you have the budget.
The Southern Rhone is warmer as it heads down the Rhone river to the Mediterranean and you will find blends of multiple varieties. The famous Chateauneuf-du-Pape is here with blends of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre and more. Wines here lean toward blends.
Red Rhône Blends
These will have berry notes (think raspberry and black berry) baking spice, and maybe some garrigue (think underbrush), lavender, dried herbs. The more Mourvedre, the more likely you will have meaty notes to the wine.
These go well with mediterranean foods, like olives and red peppers, and herbs like rosemary or sage (or herbs de Provençe).
White Rhône Blends
Marsanne, Roussanne & Viognier make up the body of most white wines in this area. These blends are medium bodied and have notes of beeswax (I love that), as well as moderate citrus, like a meyer lemon, then stone fruits like peach and apricot.
Pair them with richer dishes with white meat (chicken or fish or even pork) and perhaps with fruits that are stewed or roasted. Dried apricots are a definite must on a cheese plate with these wines.
If you have heard of any region in France other than Champagne, it will be Bordeaux. This is the region that Napa Valley wants to be. It is the big daddy of French wine with bottles that can be very pricey and many that need considerable aging. When people pull out dusty bottles from their wine cellar, typically they are Bordeaux wines.
Left Bank Reds (Cabernet Sauvignon based)
Red wines here are classified by which bank of the river the vineyards sit on. Left bank wines are west of the river in Médoc and Graves. The reds here are Cabernet Sauvignon based.
Right Bank Reds (Merlot driven)
The Right bank wines are on the other side of the river in the Libournais. These wines are Merlot driven. The Entre-deux-mers, the area in the middle between the two, has much more fertile soil producing less concentrated (but more affordable) wines.
The bold reds of Bordeaux are perfect with rich meaty dishes, like a big steak.
Sweet wines of Sauternes
Down in Graves you find the region of Sauternes. These are my friend Corinne’s favorite wines. These are sweet wines made from grapes with “Noble rot”. The botrytis fungus takes hold of the grape and dries them out considerably. They are pressed into tiny amounts of wine that when fermented becomes sweet and delicious. These are wines to pair with bleu cheese or with desserts.
Emotion, Urban Provençe and Inspiration. Emotion and Inspiration come from Château de Berne and Urban Provençe is from Ultimate Provençe
Rosé
This is Rosê country, more than 1/2 the output of wine from this region is rosé. The mistral wind that whips down from the mountains keeping the vines in this Mediterannean region dry and free from disease. The landscape is dotted with lavender fields. It’s pretty dreamy.
In addition to those delicate ballet slipper pink rosés you will find Bandol, which is a rich red wine from Mourvedre.
Pair pink with pink. It’s delicious and pretty. Smoked salmon, ham, prosciutto, crab, lobster….you get the picture.
Yes…these wines are great in the summer. Their high acid and bright flavors are perfect to help you cool down on a hot day. But don’t overlook them at other times.
Is there more to French Wine? Why yes…so much more, there is the island of Corsica, the black wines of Cahors, Picpoul de Pinet from Languedoc-Rousillon…and then there are the wines that I have yet to discover!
Oh and did I mention Crémant? That would be sparkling wine from any region outside of Champagne! You want bubbles and value? It’s your go to!
Dive deep into the links and the links in the links and take a little vacay to France sans airfare!
There are so many ways to dive into French Wine, I have only scratched the surface. Why not check out the other #Winophiles and their approaches to the subject! You can join us for the conversation on Twitter on Saturday Morning January 18th (8 am PST, 11 am EST) by following the hashtag #Winophiles!
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
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
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.
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
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…
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
Martin Codáx 2016 Albarino from Rias Baixas Spain
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
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
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.
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
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.
1 : of
or relating to a system of farming that follows a sustainable, holistic
approach which uses only organic, usually locally-sourced materials for
fertilizing and soil conditioning, views the farm as a closed, diversified
ecosystem, and often bases farming activities on lunar cycles Followers of biodynamic viticulture not only abstain from the use of chemicals, but also
take a more holistic approach, viewing their environment—the soil, plants and
animals—as a working unity that should be as self-sustaining as possible.— Alison Napjus biodynamic practices
2 : grown
by or utilizing biodynamic farming biodynamic vegetables a biodynamic
vineyard
I grew up with a Mother Earth News on the coffee table, the Farmers Almanac from my dad’s shelf was referred to for the garden. I do Yoga and believe in chakras. You will find a stone or crystal in my pocket most days and essential oils in my drawer. I have a dear friend who has a house in Hawaii, she and a friend put out gifts for Pele during the last expansion of Kilauea and I am sure that it protected her home. Yet somehow, when I speak with winemakers or vineyard owners about biodynamics, the skeptic comes out in me. I will talk with them about how it is probably the attention to detail in the vineyard that causes the results to be so good. And they ARE good, of that I am sure.
Michael and I had a
discussion about this recently. I value
his perspective, as he tends to be analytical with these things. We talked about the preparations, with cow
manure in a cow horn buried in the ground.
Sounds like a “potion” right? But
you are creating something with the biology in the ground, the micro-organisms
on the site. That’s science. We discussed the leaf days, which I have been
really hesitant to buy into, but they are based on moon cycles. I’m a woman, I believe in moon cycles. Again…there is some science behind it.
Finally we came around to the founder, Rudolph Steiner, and I think I found my answer. I don’t have enough depth of knowledge on him and I am skeptical of one guy coming up with all the answers. (ie, I love Bikram Yoga. Bikram Choudhury, the founder of this style yoga…not so much)
What I will tell you, is that I have yet to meet a biodynamic wine that I didn’t like, and when it comes to the people I have met on vineyards who are growing biodynamically, they are some of my very favorite people in the industry. You can check out a couple of interviews we have done with Jason Haas of Tablas Creek and Rudy Marchesi of Montinore.
But for now, lets get on to a quick
explanation of biodynamics and then move on to the wines!
Biodynamics
As the definition at the top
says, this is about a holistic approach to farming that looks at the farm as a self-sustaining
system. It takes organic a step further. These farms work without chemicals and adhere
to a lunar calendar.
Biodynamics in Winemaking
Rudy Marchesi reminded me in
our interview
…biodynamic practices were established as agricultural practices. …Biodynamic winemaking is an extension of the thought process.
Rudy Marchesi, in our interview July 2018.
Biodynamic practices have been adapted to growing wine grapes and processing wine. Demeter International is the most recognized organization for official biodynamic certification. https://www.demeter-usa.org/
Certification is difficult, can
be expensive and must be renewed annually. Biodyvin is another organization in
Europe that certifies vineyards http://www.biodyvin.com/en/home.html
You can find certification logos on bottles in different forms.
Biodynamic logos on labels
Finding Biodynamic wine
It’s tough! If you are not out in wine country it can be hard to find! In Las Vegas I could not find any biodynamic French wines at the “to be unnamed” wine store that claims to be “total” on the wines is carries. The manager told me that 100% of the people buying wine do not care about biodynamics. After a sharp glance from me, he updated his statement to “only 1 out of 100 customers care”. I did admonish him, that as people in the industry, it was our job to educate people on this subject.
So I searched and finally purchased wine online to be shipped to me. I was lucky to have Jeremy at wine.com who was willing to do the research and provide me with multiple links to wines they had available to choose from. I settled on the Château Maris Les Planels Old Vine Syrah La Liviniere Minervois 2011 and the Domaine Fouassier Sancerre Les Chailloux 2016.
The bottles arrived and I
found them to be without Demeter labels.
But I had researched and each of the wineries said they grew
biodynamically! Well they are. My love/hate
relationship with certifications comes out here. Running a winery is a busy all-encompassing
business. Certification means extra time
and money that many wineries may not have.
Also, it depends on when they were certified! I checked my Tablas Creek bottles. They were certified in October of 2017, so it
won’t be until the 2018’s are released that they will be able to put the
Demeter logo on their label.
So…while I won’t show you
Demeter logos on the bottles I tasted, I will tell you about the vineyards and
their biodynamic practices. And then…we
will get to the delicious pairings.
Domaine Fouassier
Sancerre Les Chailloux 2016
Domaine Fouassier 2016 Les Chailloux Sancerre
Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre, Loire, France $29.99
About
Domaine Fouassier
This domaine has been in the Fouassier family for 10 generations, with Benoit and Paul Fouassier at them helm. The domaine is 59 hectares of mostly Sauvignon Blanc. Wines are vinified by parcel here to showcase the individuality of the sites. They have members of Biodyvin since 2009.
Biodynamics
to them means enchancing the soil and the plant, applying preparations at
precise times and working the soils through ploughing and hoeing.
“A wine
domaine, just like any other agricultural concern, is considered to be a living
entity. The soils that we work are not just there to support the vine but are a
living environment and a source of energy for the plant, just as much as the
air it breathes.
The 2016 Les Chailloux is 100% Sauvignon Blanc comes from a vineyard with vines between 10 and 35 years old. It spends 12 months in stainless steel. The soil on this vineyard is clay, chalk and limestone and you get the minerality immediately on the nose. Alcohol on this is 12.7%.
The Pairing – Cod with Lemon Purée
Domaine Fouassier 2016 Les Chailloux Sancerre with cod and lemon purée
On their site they suggested pairing with oysters, fish & chips or cod with lemon purée. I went with the 3rd as I knew I had cod in the freezer, and searched for a recipe online for the lemon purée. I found a recipe for Sea bass with Meyer lemon purée and zucchini salad on farm to plate and did a riff on it. http://www.farmonplate.com/2013/09/15/sea-bass-with-meyer-lemon-puree-and-zucchini-salad/
My
lemon puree came out looking decidedly different than theirs, but regardless,
it was delicious and it was an absolutely perfect pairing with this wine. The notes of mineral in the wine reflected in
the cod, the lemon notes of the purée mirroring the wine. It was truly blissful.
Butter poached cod and lemon purée with Zucchini and lemon salad
Michael
noted that after enjoying the pairing and then just sipping on the wine, that
the wine was enhanced by the lingering flavors on his palate from the food.
Château Maris Les Planels Old Vine Syrah La Liviniere Minervois 2011
Chateau Maris Cru La Livinière 2011 Les Planels
Syrah/Shiraz from Minervois, Languedoc-Roussillon, France $31.99
About Château Maris
Wine spectator says that “Château Maris is one of the five most environmentally friendly wineries in the world.”
Robert Eden and Kevin Parker bought this vineyard in 1997 with the idea of growing grapes and making wine, in harmony with nature. They knew they wanted to go chemical free, and decided to do a test with biodynamics. They set up two compost piles and treated one with a biodynamic preparation, while the other went without. Testing later, they found the compost treated with the biodynamic treatment had far more living organisms than the one without…and the path was set.
They have been Ecocert since 2002, and Biovin since 2004. In 2008 they became Demeter Certified and in 2016 set up as a BCorp. You can read more about their biodynamic philosophy here at http://www.chateaumaris.com/gb/about/a-biodynamic-philosophy/
The wine
This Syrah comes from a 3 hectare parcel with soil of clay-limestone and clay-sandstone. It sits at 14.5% alcohol. Tasting notes on this wine noted, tar and smoke on the nose with notes of black currants and black licorice.
The first thing I got on the nose was smoke, for Michael it was blueberries. When I dipped my nose back in I could find a little tar, but it was savory. There were nice tannins. This wine was big, but not too big, kind of a gentle giant. This wine did not feel like a 2011. It’s aging is really graceful. It has probably mellowed, but still is vibrant.
The Pairing – bacon wrapped tenderloin fillets
Château Maris 2011 Le Planels pairing with bacon wrapped tenderloin fillet, fennel and apple salad and potatoes with Herbs de Provençe
I again went to the tasting notes and pulled from these for my pairing. I picked up a couple bacon wrapped tenderloin fillets and encrusted them with cumin and black pepper (both spices often found on the nose of syrah). These got seared on both sides and went into the oven to finish. While they were cooking I took some red currant jam, added fresh blackberries, a bit of worchestershire sauce and a bit of anise seeds and slowly cooked it down, to drizzle on top.
We did baby potatoes in butter and herbs de Provençe and a baby greens salad topped with fennel and green apple in a lemon vinaigrette with just a touch of lavender.
Bacon wrapped tenderloin fillet encrusted in black pepper and cumin, with a blackberry and red currant sauce, fennel and apple salad and potatoes with Herbs de Provençe
The pairings all worked pretty well. The fennel in the salad pulling up those black licorice notes (although I would have lightened up on the amount of lemon). The umami from the tenderloins with the berry sauce went beautifully. This was a delicious and very comfortable pairing.
The wrap up – is it worth it to search out Biodynamic Wines?
That’s a pretty easy yes. Here’s my take on why. When I’m searching for a new wine the possibility exists that I may not like it. Even with scores etc…it’s often hard to be sure of the quality of the wine you are getting. I have never been disappointed with a Biodynamic wine. There may be many reasons for this, the farming is one, the attention to detail demanded by this type of farming is another and quite honestly the vineyard that is determined to do this is committed with time and resources to doing this and that may be one of the biggest reasons that it works so well.
Will it be difficult to find biodynamic wines? Probably to start, but if all of you go out and start asking about biodynamic wines in your local wine shops and restaurants, the market will follow! Businesses will add items that they hear people consistently asking for. So do us all a favor and start asking!
The French #Winophiles
The French #Winophiles are a group of wine writers that gather monthly to together, tackle a subject on French Wine. I am privileged and honored to be a part of this lovely group. This month, the topic was biodynamic French wines. You have seen my take on this, now you can read on, to see biodynamic French wines from a variety of points of view! There will be so many different wines and pairings! And…you can join us on twitter on Saturday morning January 19th as we spend an hour chatting about the wines we tasted and biodynamics and the impact on the wines (as well as the impact on the planet!). Gwendolyn from Wine Predator will be leading the discussion at 8 am PST or 11 am EST.
More great pieces from the French #Winophiles on Biodynamic French Wine
We have been talking with Leah Jørgensen of Leah Jørgensen Cellars about her inspirations as well as Southern Oregon. We begin with her 2017 Sauvignon Blanc. We’ve discussed how her love of the wines from the Loire Valley in France influences her wines as well as the depth of history in the soils of Southern Oregon. Now we are finally putting glass to lips and tasting some of her wines.
Leah Jørgensen Cellars 2017 Sauvignon Blanc
Leah Jørgensen Cellars 2017 Sauvignon Blanc
“This is our Sauvignon Blanc from Rogue Valley. It comes from the Crater View Vineyard that I was mentioning. Hence we gave her a little makeover (she is a mermaid on the bottle) to inspire the fish and I think she has an oyster shell right there.
So actually, I wanted to make white wines that go with shellfish. We are here in Oregon right, we have incredible oyster beds, crab. My cousins own the fisherman’s market in Eugene. They are fishermen have fishing boats that go up to Alaska, that’s my Nordic heritage coming through.
This wine has got all kinds of bright acidity and gooseberry. It’s not anything like a California Sauvignon Blanc and it’s nothing like a New Zealand, it’s much more along the lines of…sometimes it even gets a “gunflintiness”, so similar to a Pouilly-Fumé. Definitely the Loire inspired Sauvignon Blancs. We use stainless steel and Acacia barrels.”
Acacia Barrels?
“So a lot of the young guns in the Loire Valley have been moving to Acacia barrels for their whites; Chenin blanc, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc. And the reason for that is that if you were to smell an oak barrel versus an acacia barrel, we know what oak is right, it gives that vanilla and caramel and all those wonderful notes coconut too, but if you smell an acacia barrel it’s much more herbal and floral, elderberry flower, gardenia, resin like from a fir tree, so it’s just much more interesting. The grapes like Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc really lifts those herbal-floral notes and it makes a quite pretty difference than using oak. “
This wine was so different from other Sauvignon Blancs from California or New Zealand. It’s softer on the nose, but with great acidity. It’s clean and you get minerals off of it.
“It’s that wonderful thing about putting your nose in a wine glass and getting all these amazing things and then it’s all subjective, because it all depends on things that I have smelled or that I can imagine smelling.”
“And your biochemistry! We are biochemically individual people, so we will experience wine all so differently. That’s why I never really take reviews, you kind of take it as a grain of salt that it should be something experienced Individually.”
This wine retails at $24. It comes from the Crater View Vineyard in Southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley AVA, just outside of Jackson Oregon. This vineyard has some major elevation sitting between 1,500 and 1,675 feet. This site has all the feel good attributes of Salmon-Safe, Oregon Certified Sustainable and L.I.V.E. Certified and… in 2015 they found 250 MILLION year old blue schist rocks and other marine rock as they were getting a new block ready for planting.
Want to find a bottle? Head to Leah Jørgensen Cellars squarespace or look for one of the smart establishments that carry her wine. There is a list here.
Last August we held an event entitled “Crushed Grapes and Open Minds”. My friend RuBen with Act2Art by RuBen is an accomplished artist and created some works specifically for this event. The idea connected scent memory and art, both in the creation of the pieces and peoples reactions to them.
We chose 5 wines, a Champagne (A.J. de Margerie a Bouzy Grand Cru), a Sauvignon Blanc (Starborough Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough New Zealand) a Syrah (Carhartt 2013 Estate Syrah Santa Barbara), 2 Zinfandels (Tobin James 2010 Fat Boy & French Camp Zin) and a Dessert wine (Chateau Megyer Tokaji Aszu 2010)
There was a station for each wine, with a pairing, aroma jars, the wine and of course the associated work of art. Cards to explain the pairings were located at each station.
Individuals bring their personal experiences and memories as they interpret a work of art. Scent memories are similar, an aroma can trigger a very personal memory. Mixing the two and stirring in a little wine and good food can make for a powerful experience.
We asked guests to smell the aroma jars, taste the wine, and look at the art, then jot down a word, a phrase or a memory that came to them.
A.J. de Margerie a Bouzy Grand Cru
We chose this Champagne for the bread on the nose. When we were sampling Champagnes, Cremants and Sparkling wines, we dipped our nose in this glass and got hamburger buns. Yep, hamburger buns. That yeasty smell of bread came across in a very approachable way that we thought would make this wine less intimidating for those new to finding aromas in wine, so it made a great start.
This Champagne is mostly Pinot Noir so you also get berries on the nose and so there were scent jars of hamburger buns and berries for people to smell. For a food pairing we matched it with Salty potato chips. The salt and fat are a perfect pairing, the salt making you crave another sip of the champagne and the champagne’s bubbles and acid clean the fat off of your palate after each bite, making every bit as delicious as the first.
The Art – Champagne
Champagne
Some of the responses to this piece: “A perfect first date” “Crisp pears – a cool spring afternoon” “Happy – like a picnic at an apple orchard” “Fields of dandelions – fresh grass” “A beautiful sun shower in late April or Early May”
Starborough Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough New Zealand
We had a bunch of Sav Blancs to choose from, but the nose on this one was just captivating! This wine, is not fancy, you can find it in your local grocery store. We had jars of lime, grapefruit, cut grass, stone fruit, and lemongrass and everyone found something different in the wine. We paired this with Guacamole and chips. The avocado is fatty which is nice with the acid in the wine and goes well with the lime and fresh greenness of the wine.
The Art – Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc Painting by Act2Art Ruben Permel
“Blowing out candles on your birthday cake” “Very content and peaceful – smells like our smoothie day” “Blood splatter on the grass from when I split my lip” (I love this childhood memory)
Carhartt 2013 Estate Syrah Santa Barbara
We love the wines from this Winery and Syrah from Santa Barbara is almost always wonderful. These are the same “Carhartts” that make the work clothes. They owned a cattle farm in Santa Barbara that Mike Carhartt turned into a vineyard. His wife Brooke and their son Chase now make the wines and they have my favorite tasting room on the planet in Los Olivos.
Carhartt Syrah
This wine has quite a bit going on with aromas of Black berries, dirt, allspice, tobacco, vanilla bean and beef jerky and we had scent jars with all of these. As to a pairing? Well there is a pig on the label, so bacon was the perfect pairing.
The Art – Syrah
Carhartt Syrah Painting by Act2Art.com Ruben Permel
“The calm after a winter storm – perfect tranquility” Dark – cosmos – blanketing” “Thirsty – the kind of thirst when flying” “A very tempestuous sunset”
Tobin James 2010 Fat Boy and French Camp Zinfandels
Tobin James Zin at Crushed Grape Open Minds Event
We were members of Tobin James for a while and pulled these two older Zinfandels from the cellar to try. Tobin James is in Paso Robles California and their wines tend to be pretty big. The aromas on these were earth, pepper, fruit jam, leather and chocolate. We paired them with chocolate fountain mini cup cakes from Retro Bakery.
The Art – Zin
Zinfandel Painting by Act2Art.com Ruben Permel
“Making a picnic lunch for the family” “Costy – like a warm blanket wrapped around me during the winter” “tobacco warmth – a little earthy – comfortable”
Chateau Megyer Tokaji Aszu 2010
Chateau Megyer Tokaji at Crushed Grape Open Minds Event
Tokaj is an area in Hungary and this wine is made from a grape called “furmint”. This is a wine made through “noble rot” or “botrytis cinerea” a fungus that shrivels the grapes like raisins. The raisins are then made into a paste which is added to a dry base wine. This is a sweet wine with citrus, apricot and honey on the nose. We paired it with Brie and Comte cheese.
The Art – Tokaji
Chateau Megyer Tokaji Painting by Act2ARt.com Ruben Permel
“Oceanside Cliffs on a summer evening” “My first visit to Montreal – wonder and excitement – Christmas eve” “Tending to my fathers garden”
In addition to the wine stations, there was more to eat with a table filled with delicious things with notes to suggest pairings to try with the wine as well as more of RuBen’s beautiful art around the space.
Perfect pairings with wine at Crushed Grapes Open Minds Event
This was an evening of exploration, discovery and animated conversations.
A few days before the “Crushed Grapes and Open Minds” event. The Artist RuBen Permel came by to install the art works. He brought the 5 paintings inspired by the wine, as well as a selection of other pieces. Including his Upland Flight series, “Three Angles Walking”, “Landscape Series 6” parts of the “Whispering Goliath Series” and the beautiful “Open Minds”. We spent the morning finding just the right spot for each work.
Savory Spring Tarts….you are questioning what that means, but your mouth is watering anyway. Of course we needed to do wine pairings so you get those here. We had 3 different types of tarts and I ended up choosing 4 different wines to taste with them. All of these wines ended up being Santa Barbara Wines. So, here we go… Let’s start with the video, then after the jump you can read the details!
Tercero 2013 Rosé.
This is a Mourvedre Rose made by Larry Schaffer of Tercero. We met Larry at the Wine Bloggers Conference in 2014. He is fascinating and were lucky enough to speak with him in his tasting room earlier this year. Watch for the video interview which covers a WIDE range of subjects! Larry’s tasting room is in Los Olivos and it is off the beaten path with the entrance on San Marcos St. They don’t have tasting notes here, but rather encourage you to see what you find in the wines. Larry loves Rhones and is the president of the local Rhone Rangers Chapter, so a Mourvedre Rosé is right up his alley. These grapes come from the Vogelzang Vineyard in Happy Canyon. Larry foot stomps all of his grapes. (I think it’s a great way for him to expend some of his extra energy, because this gentleman has quite a bit!). This is a rosé with depth. After a slow cool fermentation he puts it in French oak for 3 ½ months. It’s older French Oak so on the neutral side, but he says the wine develops some “funk” while there. I Love This Wine!
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Grassini 2012 Sauvignon Blanc
We met Katie Grassini a little over a year ago, in the Stunning Grassini tasting room in Santa Barbara’s El Paseo. Their family vineyard is in Happy Canyon which is on the Eastern end of the Santa Ynez Valley. The warmer climate here (the temperature rises by a degree each mile from the ocean in the Santa Ynez Valley) is perfect for Bordeaux varieties. They do high density farming of Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet, Cabernet Franc, Merlot & Petit Verdot. You will find “Grassini Vineyard” on many Sauvignon Blancs around the valley, their fruit is coveted by many winemakers. Their beautiful Sauvignon Blanc is whole cluster pressed and fermented primarily in Stainless steel, with a portion of it going into neutral oak puncheons. This wine is bright without being too tart and is well rounded in your mouth.
Jamie Slone 2013 Aloysius Chardonnay
Jamie Slone Wines is also in the El Paseo of Santa Barbara. His winemaker is Doug Margerum, but Jamie is very involved in the process. The day we stopped in, Jamie himself was behind the bar pouring and as it was early in the day, we were able to monopolize his time and hear many great stories. This Chardonnay “Aloysius” (pronounced alowishes) is named for his wife Kym’s late father. The grapes come from the Sierra Madre Vineyard in Santa Maria. This is a beautiful well rounded wine with just a touch of oak.
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Anacapa Vintners 2010 Santa Maria Pinot Noir
Anacapa Vintners, otherwise known as AVA Santa Barbara, The Valley Project, is a project by Seth Kunin of Kunin Wines. It explores the Santa Barbara area and looks at how the wines differ in the various AVA’s. This wine is a pinot noir from the Santa Maria Valley which is in the northern part of Santa Barbara County. This was actually the 3rd AVA in the United States. The temperature rarely gets over 75 degrees and the growing season here is long making it perfect for Pinot Noir. This Pinot had a bit of funk on the nose and I liked it! There were only 243 Cases of this wine produced. If you find yourself in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone this is a “Don’t Miss” stop. The tasting room features a large Elkpen mural of the Santa Barbara Region which describes the climate and soils. As they pour your tasting, they will pull out soil samples so you can see what the different soil types are around the area. It is really an incredible educational experience, WITH WINE! What could be better?
Now to the pairings
The Strawberry Balsamic Tart we tasted with the Rose, the Sav Blanc and the Pinot Noir. I liked it best with the Rose. The earthiness of the wine, lent itself to the depth of the balsamic with the onions.
The Arugula Tart was meant to pair with the Rose and the Sauvignon Blanc, but it ended up working nicely with everything. Of course the natural pairing is with the Sav Blanc because of the herbs and goat cheese and indeed that was my favorite pairing, but surprisingly it went very well with the Aloysius Chardonnay by Jamie Slone. This wine is bright and tart and Michael liked it very much with the Arugula tart.
The Potato and Tarragon Tart is what I had opened the Chardonnay for and it did indeed pair well. The Pinot Noir also went well with the tarragon on the potatoes.
Santa Barbara Wine Pairing
Grassini Sav Blanc
Strawberry & Onion Balsamic Tart
Potato, Cheese & Tarragon Tart
Arugula & Goat Cheese Tart
tercero Wines Rose
Grassini 2012 Sauvignon Blanc Bottle
The lesson?
Suggested pairings are a great place to begin. But wines are individual and some of the nuances may surprise you and lead you to unexpected pairings. Don’t fight it! Give in to the experimentation!
Downtown Santa Barbara is picturesque with the Spanish Colonial Architecture and the trailing bougainvillea. In the heart of the Presidio Neighborhood lies the Paseo de la Guerra or El Paseo. This beautiful complex with it’s interior courtyards and passageways is the restored home of Jose de la Guerra y Noriega, the Commandante of the Presidio.
This historic property was purchased in the 1920’s and through several owners was designed into the paseo that it is today. In addition to the Casa de la Guerra Museum housed within the property, there are Shops, Wine tasting rooms and restaurants. It is a beautiful place to step back a little in time and slow your pace. The tasting rooms have gathered as the Wine Collection of El Paseo. We strolled into the center of the interior courtyard entering from the State Street side and began our tasting at…
If you are a racing fan, you might know the name “Jamie Slone”. Jamie until recently, was a Formula Race Car Driver. When he would race in Indy Car weekend in Sonoma, the guys would always look to head out for a beer when there was time off. Jamie preferred to head into Sonoma and explore the wines. His fascination with wine led to the opening of Jamie Slone Wines. He works closely with his winemaker Doug Margerum, tasting blends and making suggestions, sometimes suggestions that are a little out of the norm..he has released a Cabernet Sauvignon & Syrah blend and feels as if blends might be his new direction in the market.
When we walked into the beautiful tasting room we were greeted first by Sophie, their dog and then by Jamie himself. He is passionate and energetic and loves to share the experience of his wines. The tasting room he describes as an American Riviera Experience and it is both stunning and warm. His wife Kym joined us toward the end of our tasting in time for a photo.
The wines have depth and nuance. Jamie pulled out a bit of his 2013 Sauvignon Blanc for us to taste which is all but gone. We also tasted the 2011 BoRific Red blend. It is a blend of Merlot & Cab Franc and is named “BoRific” after Jamie’s nickname for Kym. We left with a bottle of the beautiful, 2013 Aloysius Chardonnay, named after Kym’s late father which is a balanced and elegant wine. He also has a lovely Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir and his 2012 Super Tuscan which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and just a hint of Malbec.
After a wonderful tasting, Jamie was kind enough to walk us down and introduce us at the MWC32 Tasting room.
Jamie introduced us to the Tasting Room manager Rani at the MWC32 Tasting Room. This tasting room is the Margerum Reserve tasting room. It is tucked inside the El Paseo as opposed to the flagship Margerum Tasting room on Anacapa Street. Rani set us up for a tasting and filled us in on much of the background of wine maker Doug Margerum.
Doug came from the restaurant industry and as such has a great love for wine and food. His parents originally purchased the Wine Cask restaurant which expanded to include a bistro and wine store. He sold the restaurant in 2007 to devote all his time to Margerum Wine, and then reopened it in 2009 with new partners. In addition to his own wines, he also makes wines for 2 other wineries in The Wine Collection of El Paseo, both Jamie Slone and Happy Canyon Vineyards.
We tasted the 2014 Riviera Rose, the 2013 Klickitat Pinot Gris (from the Margerum Ranch & Dampier Vineyards in Klickitat Washington), the 2011 Purisima Mountain Vineyard Syrah (this is one of those wonderful Ballard Canyon Syrahs), the Black Oak Vineyard Syrah (from the Eastern side of the Los Alamos Valley), the M5 which is a Rhone Blend in the Chateauneuf-du-Pape style of Syrah, Grenach, Mourvedre, Counties and Consult. Mid tasting Hugh, Doug’s brother, who in addition to dealing with the website and wine club is also an accomplished artist, stopped by with a Riesling for us to taste. This came from the Kick-On Vineyard on the Western end of the Los Alamos Valley.
All the wines were beautiful and I am still dreaming about the Amaro which Doug started making 9 years ago, fortifying the wine with brandy and 40 different botanicals, roots, herbs, barks and orange peel…..this is amazing digestif, with many layers from the botanicals.
Grassini Wine Bar El Paseo
Grassini Wine Tasting El Paseo
Grassini Cabernet Sauvignon
Grassini Family Vineyards in the El Paseo Central Coast Wine Country
Lastly we revisted Grassini. The last time we were at the El Paseo, Katie Grassini had stopped by to greet us and we had a wonderful chat. The tasting room is done in deep dark woods. The tasting bar is made of refurbished wood from old Fir trees and there are big comfy leather arm chairs. Their 2012 Sauvignon Blanc was just given a top score by Jancis Robinson. While their vineyards & winery are not open to the public, they are located out in Happy Canyon where they grow Bordeaux varieties.
There are multiple tasting room experiences here, including the Estate Tasting Flight of their Sauvignon Blanc, the Equipo Red Blend, the Articondo Bordeaux Blend (named for Katie’s great grandfather), and the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. They also do a reserve tasting of their library wines, a new Sauvignon Blanc flight and a wine and truffle pairing.
The estate vineyard in the warmer Happy Canyon AVA is primarily Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc with bits of Merlot, Petite Verdot and Cabernet Franc. I was told that one of the two small blocks of Cabernet Franc is on a hill so steep that they put up a net at the bottom during harvest. “To catch the grapes” I asked? “No, to catch the people”.
Their Equipo Red Wine is made by their team, “equip” being the spanish word for team. The team has full control over a portion of the vineyard and a portion of the profits from this wine goes right back to the team.
Au Bon Climat Tasting Room in the El Paseo of Santa Barbara
Jim Clendenen Wine Library
The Au Bon Climat Winery at the semi-annual Open House
Au Bon Climat 2011 Chardonnay
Au Bon Climat Tasting Room in Santa Barbara
Sunset over the Los Alamos Vineyard
While we did not have time to stop by the Au Bon Climat Tasting room on this trip, we did stop in on a previous trip. Jim Clendenen is a legend in these parts. He has several labels including Au Bon Climat, Clendenen Family Vineyard, Ici/La-Bas, Barham Mendelsohn and Vita Note and you can taste many of these labels daily in his tasting room. There is a comfy couch and chairs, but I’m much more likely to be at the bar asking multiple questions of the knowledgeable people pouring the wine. You will find maps of the area vineyards laid out on tables in the tasting room which you can pour over to find each of the sourced vineyards. If you are familiar with the area, the names will be familiar beginning with the famed Bien Nacido Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley, which is their primary vineyard source. In addition there is the Le Bon Climat Vineyard, tucked back into an valley in the upper part of the Santa Maria Valley. Twice annually they have an Open House here at the Winery, (it’s coming up this weekend!) If you are in the area, you should plan to go. Jim will be cooking! There is also the beautiful Rancho La Cuna vineyard in the Los Alamos Valley and the list goes on from their with famous names like Nielson, Sierra Madre, Talley, Sanford & Benedict and Los Alamos Vineyard.
This is the grand-daddy of them all.
Don’t miss this tasting room!
In addition you will find the main Margerum Tasting room next to Au Bon Climat on Anacapa Street as well as Happy Canyon Vineyards in the interior courtyard.
Margerum Tasting Room
And of course the amazing Wine Cask Restaurant is also here with the newer Intermezzo Wine Bar that has small plates and wines on Tap.
If you find yourself in Santa Barbara, you can make a day of it just exploring the El Paseo with history, wine and great food all within steps of each other.
There was a station for each wine, with a pairing, aroma jars, the wine and of course the associated work of art. Cards to explain the pairings were located at each station.
