Name: Temaki Hand Roll – Luminesce style
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Fusion
Ingredients: 2 sheets of Nori (8´x 7.5”); ½ cup cooked sticky rice; 1/2 tsp sushi vinegar; 2 tbs cream cheese; 2 tbs goat cheese; ¼ cup carrot julienned; ¼ cup cucumber peeled and julienned; ½ cup smoked salmon diced; 1 tsp fresh dill; 2 tbs microgreens; 2 tbs fish roe; ikura (salmon) or tobiko (flying fish)

Going to school with a sister city-inspired pairing – L’Ecole No. 41 Luminesce and Temaki

Jul 21, 2021

Luminesce is L’Ecole No. 41’s Bordeaux inspired white wine blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. So I went in search of pairings. One thing that came up was salmon.

Inspired by White Bordeaux, I dug a bit further and found that Fukuoka is one of the Bordeaux sister cities. Michael and I visited Fukuoka years ago while doing an international tour of Smokey Joe’s Café. I remember staying in the beautiful city overlooking Hakata Bay near the baseball stadium. The city sits on the northern shore of Kyushu island.

Wanting to tap into that beauty and having salmon on my mind, I decided to make Temaki sushi. These are the beautiful hand rolls, that look like a cone of nori filled with delicious and beautiful things. Of course, I had never done this before, but…with a couple of YouTube videos under my belt, I decided to give it a try. But I’m going to make you wait a bit on this. First, let me tell you about this wine.

2020 Luminesce, Estate Seven Hills Vineyard, Walla Walla Valley

If you have been to Crushed Grape Chronicles before, you know that we have been tasting wines from L’Ecole No. 41 in Washington’s Walla Walla Valley. Walla Walla is not known for its white wines.

This is a warm climate region and 95% of the wines from Walla Walla are red. This is one of the rare finds of white wines.

The grapes for the Luminesce come from their Seven Hills Estate Vineyard, where they have just a few acres of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc.

These grapes were harvested in early September, before the fires and the smoke, which while it did not affect the vines via smoke taint, did cause hazy skies and cool temps which extended harvest.

A blend of 62% Semillon and 38% Sauvignon Blanc this wine was whole-cluster pressed and protected from oxidation. It did primary fermentation in neutral French Oak and then completed a full malolactic fermentation, which takes the edge of the acidity and gives the wine a rounder mouthfeel.

In addition, it aged sur lie (on the fine lees) for 4 months in oak with bâtonnage (stirring of the lees) every two weeks. This adds to the complexity and texture in your mouth.

14.5% abv – 1,350 cases produced – Available in August 2021- SRP $22

This wine was received as a media sample.

No other compensation was received and all opinions are our own.

What the 2020 Luminesce tastes like

In the glass, I found melded aromas of blossoms, white flowers, Meyer lemon, apple, pear, something tropical, perhaps lilikoi? There was a bit of chalk and a tiny hint of the lanolin that let me know this has some Semillon in it.

In my mouth, the wine was dry but had fruit-like sweetness. The acid is bright without being sharp making it wonderful for pairing. The body was richer on this wine from the bâtonnage.

With just 1,350 cases produced, this wine goes fast. It is available in the market through distribution, so, it is possible you may run into a bottle in a shop near you, but your best bet may be to find this on their website.

Update on the vineyard

With the heat we have been seeing in the West, I did ask about the vineyards and Constance was kind enough to share an update.

They are in their 3^rd straight week of triple digits in Walla Walla. Grapevines will shut down when the temperature hits 110° F and they have been past that, often staying over 100° until after 6 pm. They do cool to 60° overnight, so they are getting quite a bit of diurnal shift.

Typically this time of year they are doing leaf pulling to let the berries get more sun as they start to head into veraison. This year they are waiting on that, allowing the extra leaves in the canopy to shade the vines and keep them cooler.

Of course, this means the vines are expending more energy to the leaves and the canopy. They will begin leaf pulling in the next few weeks to prepare for veraison.

To mitigate the heat, Sadie their vineyard manager has been misting the vines at the heat of the day on the hottest days. This fine mist cools the air without landing in large droplets on the vines. Luckily Walla Walla is a dry climate, so they can mist without fear of mildew.

This will be a vintage like 2015, Marty predicts, with Harvest beginning as early as August 13^th or 14^th, which is at least a week earlier than last year. This year will be low yield and high quality. They had wind stress during flower and fruit set, and they had an abrupt cold spell last winter causing the vines to go more quickly into dormancy than usual.

The Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc were hit especially hard, which means that rather than 2 bunches per shoot, they were lucky to get one. With the heat event, bunches will be smaller. So as small as the production was on the Luminesce this year, next year is likely to be even smaller.

Seven Hills Vineyard gazebo — View of the Seven Hills Vineyard from the gazebo. (photo courtesy L'Ecole No. 41)

Pairing with the Luminesce

Since the Luminesce is the same blend as a White Bordeaux, I wanted to tie in some flavors that tie those notes in.

Here’s what I came up with; smoked salmon with fresh dill, a spread of cream cheese and goat cheese (to pull out the notes in the Sauvignon Blanc), cucumber, carrot, then topped with microgreens, for their sheer beauty, and fish roe.

We used both Ikura (salmon roe) and Tobiko (Flying Fish Roe). I’ll include the recipe card below.

Truly any kind of sushi would go well.

Other suggested pairings for the Luminesce include crab or halibut cakes, cream sauces, prosciutto-wrapped melon, scallops, or richer seafood.

My friend Liz suggested aged white cheddar or a mustard herbed chicken. Constance at the winery was daydreaming of this wine with a simple baguette with butter and ham, which I think sounds divine.

Temaki Hand Roll – Luminesce style

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

We did a bit of a fusion mix on our temaki to pair with this white wine. The Luminesce wine from L'Ecole No. 41 in Walla Walla Washington is made in the style of a white Bordeaux. Bordeaux has a sister city in Fukuoka Japan. So we riffed on this theme and created a handroll that incorporated some French flavor adding goat cheese and dill.

It makes for a spectacular presentation and it's delicious. This should make 4 temaki (hand rolls). Enough for 2 people.

Ingredients

2 sheets of Nori (8´x 7.5”)
½ cup cooked sticky rice
1/2 tsp sushi vinegar
2 tbs cream cheese
2 tbs goat cheese
¼ cup carrot julienned
¼ cup cucumber peeled and julienned
½ cup smoked salmon diced
1 tsp fresh dill
2 tbs microgreens
2 tbs fish roe; ikura (salmon) or tobiko (flying fish)

Instructions

Cook the rice, let it cool, and place in a large flat dish
Season the rice with sushi vinegar
Wet your hands and form them into small balls or logs for each hand roll
Mix the cream cheese and goat cheese
Chop the salmon & Mix with dill
Peel and julienne the Carrot & cucumber
Cut the Nori in half, into 8” x 3.75” rectangles (scissors work well here)
Place a dish of cold water and towel on your dominant side
Layout your ingredients: carrot, cucumber, rice, salmon, cream cheese, microgreens, & roe
Make sure your nondominant hand is dry and place the Nori in this hand
Place a ball of rice on the left side of the Nori, make it into a triangle or diamond shape flattening it with your finger, wetting that finger carefully so the rice does not stick to you.
Spread a bit of the cream cheese mixture on top
Add some of the salmon on top
Place a few pieces of carrot to one side and some of the cucumber to the other
Roll into a cone (be careful to keep your hands dry when they touch the Nori)
Use one piece of rice to seal the cone
Top with microgreens and Finish with roe

Notes

It's important to keep the Nori dry. If it gets wet it will shrink up. To keep it from getting soggy, keep it in your dry hand, not on the counter to make the rolls, and be careful to keep your wet hand from touching it.

The water and towel are important as the rice is sticky and it will stick to your hand and make this process impossible. a dish of water to rinse your fingers in and a folder towel to wipe them dry will be very helpful.

You can mix up your fillings to suit your palate! Be creative!

Nutrition Information

Yield

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 263Total Fat 13gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 139mgSodium 1354mgCarbohydrates 16gFiber 1gSugar 3gProtein 21g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

More from Crushed Grape Chronicles on Washington Wines and L’Ecole No. 41

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Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

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.

Eleanor – an homage to family by Caprio Cellars

Jun 30, 2021

Washington was once mostly wheat, rolling hills of waving grain that seemed to extend forever. Now it is dotted with the green of vineyards.

The property that is now Caprio Cellars was once covered in wheat. In 2003 Dennis Murphy bought this former wheat field and began his dream of starting a vineyard. This vineyard is named for his grandmother Eleanor and the winery is named Caprio, her last name and the name of generations of his Italian family.

His grandmother grew grapes for wine in her yard. She was the first to immigrate to the United States. Her nickname was Grandmother Grapes.

“My ancestors viewed wine as simply an essential part of daily life. Sanitella, my great grandmother, knew each family in her small Italian neighborhood by their homemade wine. For her, a person’s very character was built on the quality of their craft.”
Dennis Murphy from the Caprio Cellars website

The View from Caprio Cellars Walla Walla WA (Courtesy Caprio Cellars by Richard Duval Images)

The Estate Vineyards of Caprio Cellars

Eleanor was the first vineyard. A mere 3 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot planted in 2006 that has since expanded to 7.5 acres. Since then, they have added the 22-acre Octave vineyard, where they grow more Cab and Merlot as well as Cabernet Franc and Malbec. They planted this hillside vineyard in 2007.

Sanitella is their newest vineyard. It is located in the SeVein vineyard complex on the Oregon side of the Walla Walla AVA.

Dennis Murphy

Dennis spent 16 years building homes in the Northwest as the CEO of Hayden Homes and got hooked on the wine. Now he is the owner and winemaker for Caprio. He makes about 2,000 cases each year of Bordeaux varieties.

In addition, he recently acquired an ownership interest in both Pepper Bridge Winery and Amavi Cellars. He took over the Goff family portion of the ownership of the wineries and joins partners Norm McKibben, Eric McKibben, and Jean-Francois Pellet in this venture.

Dennis Murphy of Caprio Cellars

Caprio Cellars 2017 Eleanor Walla Walla Valley

We received a bottle of their 2017 Eleanor as a media sample. In 2017 the spring was wet and cool and the whole season was cooler. This gave the fruit structured acidity. The Octave vineyard flourished this vintage, so it dominates the amount of fruit in the blend.

It is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 12% Malbec, and 10% Cabernet Franc. This blend was 65% from their Octave Vineyard and 35% from the Eleanor Vineyard.

While the vineyards are just 10 miles apart they are dramatically different.

The soils in the Eleanor Vineyard are clay and loam on a vineyard with full sun exposure which gives generous fruit to the wine.

The Octave Vineyard is in fractured basalt at 1,300 feet on a north-facing vineyard. Here you get structure and power.

Blending the wines from these two different sites gives balance and complexity to this wine.

The Eleanor aged 18 months in 35% New French Oak.

Released October of 2019 – 439 cases produced – 14.3% abv – $48 SRP

Caprio Cellars 2017 Eleanor Estate Red Blend

Pairing the Eleanor

Yes, this is a Cab blend, and normally you would think red meat or steak. We decided to think outside the box and go with Grilled Octopus and roasted potatoes.

Michael had found some octopus at Trader Joe’s which was precooked and frozen, so all we needed to do was defrost and grill it quickly. We seasoned with salt pepper and paprika.

The roasted potatoes were a bit of a cheat also. These fresh potatoes come ready to pop in the microwave then you add butter or olive oil when they come out and toss them with seasonings.

Both of these dishes were divine with the wine! While I did my tasting notes, Michael was slowly and carefully tasting and pairing and was enamored by the way both dishes worked so well, picking up on the herb and spice notes in the wine.

What I got in the glass

The 2017 Caprio Cellars Eleanor was deep ruby and hit my nose with red currant, dusty cherry, and dried herbs. There were spicy notes of nutmeg as well as wet leaves and tobacco. In my mouth, there were fresh cranberries, dusty mocha, and dried berries as well as some spice.

Visiting Caprio Cellars

You can visit their state-of-the-art tasting room just south of Walla Walla. The stunning tasting room is all about hospitality. The tasting room with its 360° views of the Walla Walla Valley is open Wednesday to Sunday with bookings available on their website.

You are likely to meet Emily Kiefer, their Customer Experience Director pictured below.

The Kitchen at Caprio Cellars is open with a seasonal menu and perfect small pairings to accompany your tasting. They source locally and organically for fresh ingredients.

We are looking forward to being able to visit Caprio Cellars later this summer. If you find yourself in Walla Walla and you want to take in those 360° views and the stunning hospitality of their tasting room, head to their site https://www.capriocellars.com/ to book a tasting.

Caprio Cellars

1603 Whiteley Rd, Walla Walla WA 99362

509.412.3054

[email protected]

Sources and Resources

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When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Rosé season is here, but don’t take that rosé for granted!

Jun 25, 2021

It’s International Rosé Day and if you have not already popped your first bottle of rosé, do yourself a favor and find a bottle now! Sipping rosé is self-love, sharing it with friends? Well, then you are just too generous!

I know, you may be saying, “Wait Robin! Didn’t we already celebrate Rosé Day?” Well, yes, National Rosé Day was June 12th, this is International Rosé Day. Really, are you going to argue with celebrating these wines twice this month?

We think of rosé in general, I mean, it’s right there in my title! We don’t say “Red wine season is here!” We also don’t often speak of rosé with grape varieties. We just lump all rosé together, but there is a wide variety of rosé styles, varieties, and methods, each with something different to offer. Rosé is more than just a color of wine.

Rosé is delicious and bright and it is the perfect summer sipper and now that we mostly realize that all pink wine is not going to be the sweet White Zin of our youth, people are reaching for more and more of it and you will be hard pressed to find a winery that doesn’t have at least one in their repertoire.

L’Ecole No. 41 Grenache Rosé

Alder Ridge Vineyard

Horse Heaven Hills

This month we are sampling a L’Ecole No. 41 Grenache Rosé that comes from Alder Ridge Vineyard in Washington’s Horse Heaven Hills.

Before I go and tell you about this wine, I want to break the news that this wine is sold out. Yep, rosé goes quick my friends. They released this wine in March and it was gone by mid-May.

They made just 1000 cases this year. You might, if you are really lucky, find it in a store that carries L’Ecole No. 41, a small bit of this wine gets out for distribution. There are also a few restaurants if you happen to be in Seattle, that might have some left. Other than that? This is a wine you need to order when it’s released or be a member of the wine club to get some.

I feel very lucky to have received a bottle as a sample. Back when they sent it, I don’t think they expected it to sell out so quickly.

So, what’s so special about this rosé? Well, L’Ecole No. 41 was early on the rosé train. They began making this rose in 2009. I say this rosé because they have been sourcing the grenache for this wine from Alder Ridge since this wine’s inception. The problem? They can only source so much. They will get a little more next year, enough to maybe add another 100 or so cases.

L'Ecole No. 41 2020 Grenache Rosé Alder Ridge Vineyard, Horse Heaven Hills

Alder Ridge Grenache, why it makes such good Rosé

They could buy grapes off the bulk market and make more rosé, but that’s not the way they roll. They want to know the grower, or to grow it themselves. This may be a rosé, but they still strive to express the sense of place.

Marcus Rafanelli, the L’Ecole No. 41 winemaker told us what makes the Alder Ridge Vineyard Grenache so good for rosé.

“Grenache is really a late-ripening varietal…it takes a lot of heat units to get ripe. What’s nice about this site is that it is right on the Columbia River and it is a pretty warm section, but it has this view …it sits on this little bluff overlooking the Columbia River, so it gets a lot of wind in there and it gets a lot of heat in there. With this particular variety and this particular site, over the years Marty has just seen the potential. It’s a warmer site so we can get a little bit more ripening…before we pick it than we would normally get in another site.”

The beautiful Alder Ridge Vineyard overlooking the Columbia Gorge. (Photo courtesy L'Ecole No. 41)

I did tell you that they have been making this rosé since 2009. Well, perhaps not exactly this rosé. Marcus and Constance told us that it has evolved quite a bit. From a deeper maceration with much more color and a bit more residual sugar to the ballet slipper-colored wine that it is today that is dry with just a bit of residual sugar to balance out the beautiful high acidity.

This is the Provençe style rosé that everyone is clamoring for. This is the wine that makes you close your eyes and picture yourself on the beach on the French Riviera.

About making rosé

There are a couple of methods you can use to make rosé.

You can add a bit of red wine to white wine.

This method is mostly seen with sparkling rosé where the final dosage has a bit of red wine for color (Dosage or liqueur d’expedition is the wine and sweetener added after they disgorge the yeast from traditional method sparkling wine. It tops up the bottle and adjusts the sweetness level giving you that variety from Brut Nature to Doux or Sweet)

You can make the wine via the saignée method

In this method a winemaker making red wine, bleeds off some of the juice, allowing them to concentrate the red wine. This juice they have bled off then ferments to a rosé.

Or you can use the maceration method.

In this method, the grapes are grown specifically to make rosé wine. Rosé like sparkling wine needs to have that extra acidity, so it is usually picked a little less ripe than you would otherwise pick the red grapes. The grapes do a short maceration on the skins, leeching out just a bit of the red color. They are then pressed and fermented into wine, much like you would do for white wine.

At L’Ecole No. 41 they use the maceration method. Alder Ridge Vineyard is about an hour and a half drive from the L’Ecole No. 41 Winery. The grapes are picked early, at about 21 or 22 brix (brix is a measurement of the amount of sugar in the grapes) by machine harvest. This allows the picking to be quick and done early in the morning when it is cool.

Those containers of stemless grapes go on a truck and head to the winery in Walla Walla. As they ride along, they are seeping out some of their juice, the bottom berries crushed under the weight of the berries on top, and they start macerating. When they get to the winery, they macerate for just a bit longer before they are pressed, keeping the wine cold with dry ice.

Sugar in Rosé?

No, this is not White Zin.

Talking about sugar. This wine came in with a pH of about 3.26. This would give about the acidity of a lime. That’s pretty tart, you would be puckering if they bottled it that way. To balance that acidity, a little residual sugar (4.5 g/L) is left in the wine.

How do they do that? Leaving the sugar in the wine? Well, while the grapes are fermenting, the yeast is eating up all of the sugar, so rather than letting the yeast eat all of the sugar, Marcus and Marty taste the wine along the way. They track the fermentation rate in the lab to see where it is just right to arrest the fermentation.

L'Ecole No. 41 Winemaker Marcus Rafanelli (photo courtesy L'Ecole No. 41)

“It ended up being on a Sunday morning, that we just got to this beautiful point in the wine…it was about 10:30 and we were like, “this is it!”.

They arrested the fermentation by adding sulfur. Sulfur is used often in winemaking, it has antioxidizing and antiseptic properties. So it keeps the wine safe to drink and keeps it from oxidizing and turning brown. With a light-colored wine, sulfur can bleach the wine, but the color will over a little time, come back. Since sulfur can bleach the color out, they did not want to use it multiple times, fearing that they would lose too much color. With this rosé, they only used the sulfur this one time.

So what to pair with this lovely Grenache Rosé?

Grenache Rosé pairs with so many things! Just don’t overpower it. Lamb, melon, and prosciutto, even a hamburger (just avoid blue cheese). The wine will give you notes of strawberry, pink florals, watermelon, a bit of pepper. The group of us had a wide range of pairings and ideas, from goat cheese and crostini to sausage or ham, Asian shrimp tacos, pierogi, halibut and grilled vegetables, shrimp saffron wraps,…

Michael put together the pairing for this wine. It was a lovely day and was still cool enough to get up to the rooftop deck for some time in the sun. Now of course we would roast. He picked up chicken, sushi, lobster cakes, and some cheese and we headed to the roof to enjoy some sun, the breeze, and the view.

What do you get in the glass?

The wine was refreshing and elegantly joyful. Allow me to wax poetic…close your eyes, picture yourself in a lounge chair, with a view of the ocean, all you can hear is the sound of the wave lapping on the shore, the sun is just right, not too hot, enough to warm your skin from the cool breeze blowing off the water. This is the wine you have in your glass. Just watch the subtle smile creep across your face.

Girl is sitting on sea beach with wineglass of Rose at sunset in summer vacation in resort.

Sadly it’s sold out, but….

As I said, sadly it is unlikely you will find a bottle of this wine. But they will make it again next year, it will be subtly different, as each year is, but it will be as delicious. So, ready yourself to order a bottle next spring, or join the wine club to guarantee yourself a bottle.

Until then, pick up a bottle of rosé or two from somewhere, ideally a small vineyard and winery, somewhere with a story, where you can hear how the grapes were grown, and give a toast to summer.

Heritage by L’Ecole

They have also just recently opened their new Wine Bar in Walla Walla.

Located at the beautiful Marcus Whitman Hotel in downtown Walla Walla, Heritage by L’Ecole is open for business! You can book a table online or call 509.676.3777 for a reservation. They are open daily from 11 am to 7 pm.

Heritage by L’Ecole

6 West Rose St. Ste. 103

Walla Walla, WA 99362

Heritage by L'Ecole, the new wine bar at the Marcus Whitman in downtown Walla Walla (photo courtesy L'Ecole No. 41)

Of course, you can always visit them at their tasting room at the winery at the historic Frenchtown School that you see pictured on their label. That is located at:

41 Lowden School Road, Lowden, WA 99360.

You can reach them through their website at Lecole.com https://www.lecole.com/

By email at [email protected] or by phone at 509.525.0940

More about the wines of Washington and L’Ecole No. 41

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.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Chenin Blanc from L’Ecole No. 41 – Old Vines and breakfast for dinner

May 18, 2021

“French toast, it’s really good with French toast…with like some fresh berries on it…”
Marcus Rafanelli winemaker L’Ecole No. 41

Well with that kind of recommendation how can you not?!

So we did. While I couldn’t find challah, I did find a big fluffy loaf and cut it thick and made a beautiful French toast with cinnamon, nutmeg, and honey. But we will get to that later.

We have been working with L’Ecole No. 41 this year. Monthly we gather with Constance, Marta, and Marcus on Zoom with some other writers and we talk about the wine for the month.

This wine was received as a media sample. No other compensation was received and all opinions remain our own.

This month’s wine is the 2020 Chenin Blanc Old Vines from the Yakima Valley

Yes, this is a little further off from their Walla Walla Winery than usual and there is a story behind it.

The history of Chenin Blanc in the US and Washington

First, you must know that in Washington in the late 70s and early 80s there was quite a bit of planting going on. People were trying out multiple varieties trying to see what would stick. In the 80s this grape was very popular as a high acid and high yield variety that could be blended, often into jug wines some of which were actually labeled “Chablis” (of all things LOL)! As palates changed many of these vines were ripped out.

Jean Ferguson of L’Ecole No. 41 loved Chenin Blanc, in particular the style from the Loire Valley in France known as Vouvray. In the 70s many thought the climate in Washington would be suited to Chenin, due to their similar latitudes (The Yakima Valley is 46.32° and Vouvray in the Loire Valley is 47.41°) and many vineyards in the Yakima Valley were planted to Chenin Blanc.

So in 1987 they sourced fruit and made their first Chenin Blanc at L’Ecole. This wine has become a standard at L’Ecole, sourced from old vines planted in 1979 in the Yakima Valley.

These old vines come from Upland Vineyard in the Snipes Mountain AVA as well as Willard Farms and Phil Church Vineyard both of which sit high into the foothills of the mountains north of the Valley.

Here is a shot of the old vines from Willard Vineyard.

Willard Vineyard - 1979 Old Vine Chenin - photo Courtesy LEcole No 41

As vines age, their roots dig down into the subsoil and find water. At this age, they don’t stress easily. Older, wiser, they can take loads more than their younger siblings when it comes to weather or drought. You have considerably less vintage variation, these old vines are consistent. They are also putting out fruit with more balance and concentration.

The love affair with Chenin Blanc in this country and Washington has changed. Once a darling, it fell out of favor for Riesling and Chardonnay. I went to look for a list of Washington State White wines to see where Chenin Blanc ended up. Chardonnay is the most planted white wine grape with 7,403 followed by Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc. Then you get to “Other Whites” with Pinot Gris (1,779 acres), Gewürztraminer (222 acres), Viognier(115 acres), and Semillon (95 acres). Chenin Blanc comes in under the next sub-category of “More:” so I am assuming there is not much. I found a 2017 report that had it listed at 67 acres.

So these are vineyards that are cooler due to altitude and it allows the grapes to ripen slowly and retain their acid. This is a late-ripening variety and it’s often mid to late October before they harvest the Chenin Blanc.

Jean Ferguson, is surely responsible for saving some of those Chenin Blanc vines from being pulled out. L’Ecole No. 41 currently has 14% of the market share for Chenin Blanc in the State of Washington. Thanks, Jean!

2020 Chenin Blanc Old Vines Yakima Valley

The 2020 Vintage was ripening during the fire season. While there were no fires in the Yakima Valley, they did see smoke. Luckily the Gulf Stream pulled the smoke out over the Pacific before pushing it back over this part of Washington.

What does that mean? Well, smoke taint comes from early smoke. Once it has been in the atmosphere for a while and blown around over the ocean, you still have air that is not the healthiest for humans, but no longer holds those volatile compounds that will mess up the grapes.

The haze from the smoke meant less sunlight which extended the growing season and the hang time. So when it was clear and safe for the vineyard workers to get back out there, the grapes were ripe and happy and ready to be picked.

This wine did partial malolactic fermentation to round out this high acid wine, giving it just a bit of roundness in the mouthfeel.

The wine has notes of nectarine, honeysuckle, citrus zest, yellow apple, elderflower, and chalk. On the palate, it adds some tropical notes like kiwi (which informed one of our toppings for our French Toast).

They made 3,200 cases of this wine, it sits at 13% abv and it sells for an amazing $17 per bottle!

L'Ecole No. 41 2020 Chenin Blanc Yakima Valley

On to the pairings!

So as we mentioned, we took Marcus’ mention of French toast as a challenge! But we wanted to do something savory also. Riffing on the breakfast for dinner theme we ran with shrimp and grits.

French toast with honey thymed ricotta and fresh fruit

So our French toast was topped with ricotta mixed with honey and fresh thyme then raspberries, kiwi, white peach, and nectarine then a wee sprinkle of powdered sugar.

So you might wonder about this sweet dish with this wine. Constance did when Marcus mentioned this in our chat. But we did not over-sweeten the dish and the eggs, bread and fresh fruit were lovely with this wine. (Thanks Marcus!)

L'Ecole No. 41 2020 Chenin Blanc Yakima Valley with french toast topped with honeyed ricotta and fruit

Shrimp cooked in bacon fat with cheesy grits

On to the Shrimp and grits. Our grits were adorned with butter and cheddar. I know, seafood and cheese? Yep, in this case, it really works. We first fried up some bacon, then cooked the shrimp in the bacon fat and finished it with chopped parsley, green onions, garlic, and lemon juice. That bacon gets crumbled and sprinkled on top.

The dish is just gorgeous to look at and it is delicious. With the wine, the shrimp are sweeter. Not a wow moment pairing, but comfortable and delicious.

L'Ecole No. 41 2020 Chenin Blanc Yakima Valley with cheesy shrimp and grits

You can find this Chenin Blanc on their site, or…if you are ready to travel, you can head to Walla Walla (the city so nice, they named it twice) and visit the beautiful L’Ecole No. 41 tasting room in the old schoolhouse just outside of Walla Walla.

41 Lowden School Road, Lowden, WA 99360 | 509.525.0940 | [email protected]

Check before stopping by on their hours and requirements for reservations as these things are changing as we open back up.

L'Ecole No. 41 Schoolhouse (photo courtesy L'Ecole No. 41)

More on the Wines of L’Ecole No. 41 and on wines from the Yakima Valley

Shrimp cooked in bacon fat with cheesy grits

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Breakfast? Dinner? Who cares, it's delicious. The grits get a good dose of butter and cheddar cheese and the shrimp cook in bacon fat to really amp up the flavors. We do add a little green with some green onions and parsley.