Montinore Estate – About the wines

December 13, 2018

Continuing our conversation with Rudy Marchesi at Montinore Estate

After looking over the Willamette Valley AVA map and having Rudy give us some background on the soils and the impact of the Missoula floods we sat with him to talk about how these soils influence the wines at Montinore Estate.

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is very expressive and Rudy told us that pinot grown in the windblown loess here tend to be brighter, with berry flavors rather than the cherry notes that are so often associated with pinot noir. The pinots here also are very spicy with baking spices.

They produce several different Pinot Noirs here. Here is a sampling. I can’t promise that I have not missed one.

“Red Cap” Pinot Noir: This is a blend from all the vineyards giving you multiple areas and soil types blended into one bottle.
Reserve Pinot Noir: Again from multiple sites but all within the estate. These are the best blocks and lots. They ferment and age separately and then blend the best.
Parsons’ Ridge Pinot Noir: This vineyard block sits on a part of the vineyard where the vines face two different directions. The lots, as they are different, are fermented separately and then blended.
Keeler Estate Pinot Noir: This is a 25 acres Biodynamic vineyard in Eola-Amity Hills that they source from. This gives you another opportunity to taste and compare the terroir.
Windy Hill Pinot Noir: This comes from the Southern part of the Valley and is influenced by the winds of the Van Duzer Corridor.
Cataclysm Pinot Noir: Comes from their Block 1 which has mineral rich soils. They pick the most expressive barrels from this block to make this wine.

Pinot Gris

He finds the white wines to actually be more distinctive. Pinot gris grown in the Missoula flood loess, is very complex. Rather than apple and pear, they get citrus and herbal notes. In warmer years there will be tropical notes. Always he finds pinot gris here to have lots of texture.

Riesling

The riesling he find distinctive, but without as much difference although he feels sure some might disagree.

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is new here. They had quite a bit planted early on, but it was the clone brought up from California. This clone was a late ripener and had tight clusters which were prone to rot. It was a great clone when there was good weather in a vintage, but that was about 1out of every 4 years.

They have now planted the new Dijon clone, which has looser clusters and is an earlier ripening clone. They are back in the Chardonnay business in a small way. He is encouraged by the quality, but it’s too soon to know what they will get stylistically from the vineyards with these clones. They will need a few more vintages to figuring this out.

Bubbles

They are currently producing a prosecco style bubbly, and have a Traditional Methode Champenoise Sparkling wine of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay which is yet to be released.

Other Varieties

In addition they are growing bits of Teroldego and Lagrein, Gerwürztraminer and Müller Thurgau.

Blends and specialty wines

You will find Rosé, Orange wine, fortified wine (Ruby), Ice wine (Frolic) and Verjus also on their wine line-up which is very diverse, having something for every palate.

Everything here is done on site, and they try to be as Estate as possible. The 2016 Pinot got away from 100% Estate because they had too much demand and had to contract a couple of other growers.

Speaking with Rudy and walking the winery, you can see the pride they take in making the best possible wines here.

You can learn a bit about the estate with our posts.

https://www.crushedgrapechronicles.com/montinore-estate-a-recent-history/

https://www.crushedgrapechronicles.com/montinore-the-deeper-history/

And check back here as we will next talk to Rudy about Biodynamics before heading with him to the cellar for a tour and barrel tasting.

If you are in the Willamette Valley stop by and give the wines a taste for yourself. You can find them a:

Montinore Estate
3663 SW Dilley Road
Forest Grove, Oregon 97116
503.359.5012

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

A little Sleight of Hand with dinner at Doubleback

November 14, 2018

As we rode in the van, I tried to figure out which direction we were heading, watching the rolling brown hills outside of Walla Walla roll by. The anticipation was intoxicating. Then I stopped trying to figure it out, and I surrendered to the journey.

I’ve always liked surprise trips. I am a planner and this throws my plans to the wind. It’s freeing. Sometimes Michael will head out to the car, and I will just follow, climb in, let him drive and see where we end up. I relish these trips.

This time there were a few more people involved. Typically this is everyone’s favorite event at the Wine Bloggers Conference. When we picked up our badges for the conference we were given a colored ticket. Mine was a golden yellow. A golden ticket. We gathered in the side lobby of the Marcus Whitman, lining up behind signs whose color matched our ticket. One by one the groups headed out the door. One group I think was in antique cars.

We were one of the last groups. As we headed out we were told to load into either the limo or the two luxury vans. We popped in a van (I’ve been in my share of limos and with a bunch of people never actually found it comfortable, usually just awkward). The van had “Bottleshock” playing on the screen. Conversations bantered around the van and we headed off into the Walla Walla Hills.

The Doubleback Winery

At last we seemed to be arriving. The winery as you pull up looks like a big barn. Dark wood and the name Doubleback on the side. As we pulled in and disembarked, we were greeted by a food truck. “Andrae’s Kitchen” was cooking away. This was Andrae of the “gas station” that Thaddeus, of the Minority Wine Report, (Yeah, that’s a shout out to you Thad) had been raving about. You could tell this was all set to be a great evening.

Andrae’s Kitchen of the Gas Station fame in Walla Walla

The landscape here was stark and stunning. While we were a chatty bunch, it made me go quiet. The rolling hills with their severe browns and blacks, scorched and sepia tones, demanded a reverence. This evening the sky was washed in grey. The view is wide and it makes you feel very small. One should be silent with nothing but the sound of your own breath, with this view, at least for a moment.

The starkly beautiful hills of Walla Walla as viewed from Doubleback Winery

After taking in the hills, I turned to look again at the winery. The building is beautiful but understated. Clean lines and rustic wood blend to create a place that is elegant and welcoming.

Doubleback Winery the glassed off rooftop deck

Doubleback Winery.

Doubleback Winery rustic with modern elegant finishes

Large Garage doors open the space to the vineyard at Doubleback Winery

Inside large glass garage doors keep the space open to the view. We passed though the room set with tables, were handed a glass of wine and proceeded into the winery itself where we met our hosts. Josh McDaniels the Winemaker and General Manager for Doubleback and Jerry Solomon and Trey Busch of Sleight of Hand Cellars

The tank room at Doubleback

Doubleback Winery concrete eggs

Mr. Pink Rosé from Underground Wine Project

2017 Elizabeth Chardonnay from Bledsoe Family Winery

Grilled flatbread, babganouj, charred tasso, parsley and pickled fresno chili.

Trays of Grilled flatbread with babaganouj, charred tasso, parsley and picked fresh chili and Tuna tartare, sesame ailo, picked cucumber, wonton chip, with shaved endive paired with Underground Wine Project’s 2017 Mr. Pink Rose and Bledsoe Family Winery: 2017 Elizabeth Chardonnay.

I have to take a moment to tell you a bit about the Underground Wine Project. This is a collaboration between Trey Busch of Sleight of Hand Cellars and Mark McNeilly of Mark Ryan Winery. These guys have been friends for a while and collaborated to make a 100 cases of a wine called Idle Hands back in 2009. It became a cult favorite and caused the creation of the Underground Wine Project. They now make 4 wines, including the Mr. Pink rosé.

A table set for 8 with soooo many glasses! Wine would flow in abundance!

We headed back in to dinner and we were lucky enough to sit with Sleight of Hand Winemaker Trey Busch, as well as Thaddeus of Minority Wine Report, Sarah Tracey of The Lush Life, Miki & Tom Joe of The Vineyard Trail and Leeann Froese of The Vineyard Birder, and I’ll admit, I think we were the rowdy table. Regardless, we had fun and enjoyed the wines, and were close enough to the plating table to get the scoop (and some great photos) of Chef Andrae and his team putting together the exceptional dinner that we enjoyed.

Doubleback Dinner with Trey Busch winemaker at Sleight of Hand, Thaddeus Buggs of the Minority Wine Report and Leeann Froese of the Vineyard Birder

Are you ready to drool?

Doubleback Dinner Menu

1^st course: Smoked pork belly rillette, banana bread pudding, shaved fennel, watercress and maple mustarda. Sounds a little weird? Weirdly and amazingly delicious. Go ahead, get a napkin, and maybe a snack, you are going to get really hungry as you gaze at these photos.

Smoked pork belly rillette, banana bread pudding, shaved fennel, watercress and maple mustarda.

2^nd course: This was the pièce de résistance. Ask anyone at the dinner.

Lobster bisque, parsley and sunchoke

Everything was amazing, but this….

Lobster bisque, parsley and sunchoke.

…..lobster roe dried, baked and ground to add that punch. This was a thin milky broth that was so infused with flavor…I was sitting with Sarah Tracey of The Lush Life http://www.thelushlife.xyz/ and we both ate this almost silently, except for the quiet groans of pleasure and with our eyes closed. We savored ever single drop and are still talking about this bowl of heaven.

3^rd course: Poached pear and frisee salad, goat cheese, roasted lemon vinaigrette.

Poached pear and frisee salad, goat cheese, roasted lemon vinaigrette

This was the perfect contrast to the bisque, a brightness, with a softness that set us up for the …

Entrée: Seared lamb loin, local corn succotash, butternut squash pave.

Seared lamb loin, local corn succotash, butternut squash pave

Succotash, seems like a homey comfort food, and it was, but elevated.

Finally and sadly, it was time for dessert: huckleberry upside down cake with corn and cashew gelato.

Opal Blackberry upside down cake with corn and cashew gelato

The Chefs!

Through out the evening, the wine was flowing. Michael and I shared glasses, because dumping one to make room for the next just didn’t feel right. The wines were spectacular. From the Sleight of Hand 2014 Archimage Cab Fran/Merlot to the Doubleback: 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon….I remember looking at the menu card and trying to figure out which wine we were on. Trey said something about the wine listed not being the one that they were pouring. The one problem with a wine dinner is with all the wine, you often lose track. I look forward to returning to revisit all of these wines.

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The evening ended, with new friends made, an extraordinary meal and tons of great wine. Mystery Dinner Win!

And we left with tunes! Sleight of Hand Cellars puts out their +Sub Pop music download annually. “Punk Rock Wines for Punk Rock Minds” oh, and the remnants of a bottle of the Doubleback Cab Sav, that we in turn took to share at an after party back at the hotel.

Oh, and I think I neglected our celebrity link. Doubleback winery is owned by former NFL Quarterback Drew Bledsoe. But you will have to wait for the story about that. Watch for additional pieces on Doubleback, Sleight of Hand and Andrae’s Kitchen.

Don’t forget to check back with us here at Crushed Grape Chronicles for more great wine country experiences in Washington, Oregon and beyond. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

How to find them

Doubleback Winery is located at 3853 Powerline RoadWalla Walla, WA 99362 They are open for tastings by appointment only. This is an allocation winery, so if you want a bottle, you will need to join The List.
[email protected]
509-525-3334

Sleight of Hand Cellars has 2 tasting rooms

Walla Walla

1959 J B George Road
Walla Walla, WA 99362

(509) 525-3661

Where they are open Saturday to Thursday from 11-5 and Fridays when they stretch it a little further from 11-6.

In Seattle you can find them at

3861G 1st Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98134

(206) 582-1878

Where they are open Thursday to Sunday from 12-5 and Friday and Saturday from 11-6.

Andrae’s Kitchen can be found at the Gas Station at

707 Rose Street, Walla Walla, WA

They are open daily from 6 am to 8 pm, with the exception of Sundays when they close at 4 pm.

Go to his site and check out the video! http://andraeskitchen.com/

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* We attended the Wine Bloggers conference and promised to do 3 posts on the events. Whatever…I will only post about things I enjoyed, so there will be dozens of posts on the things I enjoyed from this trip. Washington is a wine region to visit.

Don’t forget to check back with us here at Crushed Grape Chronicles for more great wine country experiences in Washington, Oregon and beyond. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

You can look forward to more in depth pieces on the 3 wineries that we featured here in the future!

Balletto Vineyards in the Russian River Valley

February 8, 2018

I had a plan, well sort of. It was Day 3 of our Flash tour and Flash tours are pretty busy! We had spent a day in Sonoma and this day was to start in Napa and end up in the Livermore Valley. That’s a lot of ground to cover. I had a plan to start the day and to end the day, but the middle was a bit mushy. There was much driving to be done, so the wine needed to wait until later in the day and I had not done enough research to find a proper stop. Michael dove online and saved the day. A mid afternoon stop that could be our final Sonoma destination that had a patio for a picnic lunch and a hike! Balletto it was! Since then I have had multiple people tell me how much they like this winery, but at the time…I knew nothing about them.

Balletto Vineyards

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Balletto Vineyards is located in Sonoma, with their winery just a little bit off the 12 on Occidental Road. The address says Santa Rosa, but they are closer to Sebastopol. They were farmers first, with John Balletto starting the business running the family’s 5 acre farm growing vegetables in 1977. John’s father had passed away and to care for his family, he gave up college athletic scholarships to start the business. They expanded the property they owned and grew more and more produce. In 1995 they had 700 acres and grew 70 different varieties of produce and were one of the largest vegetable farms in Northern California. Multiple El Ninos in 1998 wiped out much of their crops and as they looked at potential future water crisis’ they determined to turn their properties to wine grapes. They began with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and sold fruit to Sonoma Wine Producers. In 2001 they created Balletto Vineyards, keeping 10% of their fruit from their Russian River Valley Vineyards for themselves. Their produce packaging and shipping center, became the winery.

#VineyardAdventures

In the tasting room you can ask about the self guided tour and they will give you a laminated map to guide you. These are done in conjunction with Sonoma.com and on their site you can find details on multiple Free Vineyard Walking Tours.

Balletto Vineyard, Vineyard tour

: Balletto Vineyard, Vineyard tour

: Balletto Vineyard, Pinot Noir Grapes

We started out with the hike, it was a beautiful day and getting to see the soil and the vines and a little of the story of this place seemed to be a good way to set the mood for the wines we would taste later. The tour had 7 stops, each telling you a bit of behind the scenes information on things Balletto Vineyards is doing to be sustainable, to care for the land and the people on it. Because after all…that really does make for better wine.

Preservation of Habitat

Balletto Vineyard, Vineyard tour

Located in the Russian River Valley the vineyard and winery sit next to the Laguna de Santa Rosa which is a major tributary of the Russian River. This part of the Russian River Valley is flat and open and the Laguna de Santa Rosa is a wetland habitat where you can see a variety of birds, including osprey, pelicans and Great Blue Herons. Diversity in species and landscape are vital to keeping environments healthy.

Water Conservation

: Balletto Vineyard, Vineyard tour

: Balletto Vineyard, Pond

: Balletto Vineyard, irrigation

When Balletto began as a vineyard, they already understood the importance of water conservation. Here next to the winery they have 3 holding ponds where they reused water from the winery. The water is specially routed to the ponds from the winery where it is treated. It is then reused for irrigation and in the spring for frost protection. In addition they have mobile fans for the vineyard. Frost protection can be quite the water guzzler, so the fans allow them to use less water. They also utilize recycled water from the City of Santa Rosa’s Laguna treatment plant.

Trellising

: Balletto Vineyard, Trellis Pinot Gris Grapes in Veraison

: Balletto Vineyard, Pinot Noir Grapes

While water can be in short supply, the morning fog brings lots of moisture to the vines. When you get close to harvest, this can be detrimental as it can increase the chance of fungal diseases. To mitigate this, vineyards use trellising. The Chardonnay vines at Balletto are trellised to keep the clusters of grapes even along the vine, allowing for more air circulation among the leaves and clusters and decreasing the chance of mold and fungus growing.

Grapes

We walked along the vines and were drawn to the beautiful clusters which were going through veraison, turning those beautiful shades of deep purple, bronze, or silvery gray. Balletto grows 9 varieties of Pinot Noir and one Pinot Gris (known as Pinot Grigio in Italy). Pinot Gris is Pinot Noir’s lighter dryer cousin. These grapes thrive in the Russian River Valley’s cool coastal climate. There is Chardonnay here also, so the colors of the berries in the blocks varied from the bright greens of the still ripening Chardonnay to the dusty grey bronze of the Pinot Gris to the deepening purple of the Pinot Noir. Here for your viewing pleasure, a selection of grape glamour shots.

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Soils

Balletto Vineyard, Vineyard tour

Terroir is the idea of the essence of a place. This begins with the soil. The vineyards of Balletto encompass 5 different soil types with the two primary types being Wright Loam and Blucher Fine Sandy Loam. North of the winery near Oxnard road you find Clear Lake Clay. The differences in soil, site and climate are what make vineyards unique. Mind you, we were just standing on one of the Balletto Vineyards, they own 16 estate vineyards in the Russian River Valley AVA from the Santa Rosa Plains to the Sebastapol Hills area and Petaluma Gap. From these vineyards Balletto creates 8 vineyard designate wines, allowing you to taste the difference in terroir.

Pomace for Fertilizer

: Balletto Vineyard, Winery Pomace Pile

: Balletto Vineyard, Vineyard tour, Pomace pile

Pomace is the seeds, stems, skin and sometimes pulp, left over after the grapes are crushed for their juice. Named for the Goddess of Fruit “Pomona” this leftover from the wine making process can be used for fertilizer. It tends to be a little smelly, as any good fertilizer is. Here at Balletto they create piles of pomace after harvest and let them dry for 16 to 18 months, then they use them as fertilizer between the rows. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle…there you go.

Field of Dreams

There is more to wine than the soil and the grapes, the people who make the wine are part of this story. It’s their hard work you taste in the glass. Protecting the land and conserving it’s resources, is good for grapes, but it’s also, more importantly, good for people. A sense of community is important. Here is one story from Balletto on building community.

Balletto Vineyard, Vineyard tour, field of dreams

Next to the winery, it is impossible to miss the “Field of Dreams”. Instead of being in the middle of a cornfield, this field sits on 4 acres in the middle of the Balletto vineyard. In 2004 the Balletto vineyard crew asked John Balletto if the winery would sponsor their league baseball team. John Balletto took it a step further and took 4 acres next to the winery and donated all the materials to build a regulation baseball field. The vineyard crew built the field and now in the Spring and Summer the league plays games here on Sundays. Blocks in the vineyard now sport names like “First Baseline Chardonnay” or “Field/Dream (west) Pinot Gris”. (scroll to the bottom to see the field in our video of our walk)

On to the Wines

Balletto has an extensive tasting list ranging from Sparkling wines (which makes perfect sense since they grow Chardonnay and Pinot Noir), to Pinot Gris, Sav Blanc, Chardonnay and a Gewurtztraminer. They produce a lovely Rosé of Pinot Noir and a Vin de Paille dessert wine from their Pinot Gris. Their Reds are dominated by Pinot Noir (no surprise there), with several vineyard designates. They also have a Zin and a Syrah.

Balletto Vineyard, Tasting Menu

2016 Gerwurztraminer

2016 Rosé of Pinot Noir

Balletto 2013 Brut Rosé

2014 RRV Pinot Noir

Balletto 2016 Teresa’s Unoaked Chardonnay and pairing

2016 Sauvignon Blanc

2014 Cider Ridge Chardonnay

2013 Brut Rosé 2013 $42

This wine spends 3 years in the bottle. In June of 2017 it was given 90 points by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay this Sparkling wine is made the the Methode Traditionelle. It is dry and refreshing with balanced acids and a little mineral note. Stacy at Briscoe Bites did a great review on this wine http://briscoebites.com/balletto-brut-rose/

2016 Savignon Blanc $19

This wine comes from the Balletto Estate Vineyard on Hall Road, where they have two blocks that balance each other. The South block fruit is 80% of this wine with bright fruit and high acidity while the fruit from the north block adds a rich and savory note to balance the wine. My note on this was “Bright without being abrasive”. They note that the wine is pressed lightly in whole clusters and fermented in neutral oak for 5 months on the lees. 20% of this goes through malolactic fermentation. They produce 1200 cases of this wine.

2016 Teresa’s Unoaked Chardonnay $20

The grapes for this wine come from the west end of the vineyard around the winery which has sandy soil and they are a Robert Young clone. The grapes are harvested early, whole cluster pressed and given a long cool fermentation. This is 100% stainless steel, no lees stirring and no Malolactic fermentation. What you get is vibrant with great acidity, but also with a great texture. They made 3,260 cases of this wine.

2014 Cider Ridge Chardonnay $38

This wine comes from their new Cedar Ridge Vineyard which sits just 10 miles from the Pacific. It is cold and foggy and windy, but the vines are on slopes that face west, get amazing sun and sit at an elevation of 950 feet. This wine has tropical notes and well as subtle nut tones and a little minerality. The grapes are whole cluster pressed and then barrel fermented, so it is a great contrast to Teresa’s Unoaked.

2016 Gewütztraminer $19

This Gewürztraminer is from their Piner Road Vineyard where they have 2 blocks of Gewürztraminer totaling less than 5 acres on the 58 acre vineyard. With a nose ripe with lychee, beeswax, honey and white flowers, this wine steps away from the traditional Burgundian wines this winery is known for.

2016 Rosé of Pinot Noir $18

Rosé has come back full force and drinking pink is finally fashionable again. This particular Rosé is of Pinot Noir. They specifically farm blocks of Pinot Noir at Balletto for their Rosé, the idea is to have brightness and soft tannins to give the wine structure. This rosé is light in color because they limit skin contact. They do 80% whole cluster pressing and 20% is sanguine (or the bleed off from their regular Pinot Noir fermentation). This gives the wine depth. Luckily they make 4,840 cases of this wine, but you should still plan to get the 2017 as soon as it comes out, and stock up. Our friend Sarah did a review that I will share with you.

Sonoma Magazine – “22 Best Sonoma Rose Wines to Drink All Summer,” June 2017
“A perennial favorite, we loved the easy drinkability of Balletto’s Rosé. The classic strawberry notes are complemented by herbaceous green tea, Kefir lime, candied apple and a bit of minerality. At under $20 a bottle, easily findable at the grocery or liquor store across the country, and family owned and operated, it’s an easy pick for the ice bucket when company comes over.”- Sarah Stierch

2014 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir $29

This Balletto Pinot Noir is a blend from 7 of their estate vineyards. Because the vineyards are diverse and range from warmer to cooler areas and open flat areas like the estate vineyard at the winery to vineyards that are steeper hillside vineyards, these grapes blend to create a wine with depth and complexity. This wine and all of their Pinot Noirs are fermented with native yeast. They ferment in 6 ton open top fermenters and then age in mostly neutral French Oak.

2014 Cider Ridge Pinot Noir $42

This Pinot is from the new Cedar Ridge Vineyard. Balletto has 14 acres of Pinot Noir planted here and this is the first release of Pinot Noir from this site. The Cider Ridge we found to be bigger on the palate than on the nose.

2015 BCD Pinot Noir $44

This wine is a vineyard designate from their BCD Vineyard. This wine had more tannins than the other two Pinot Noirs that we tasted, but was still mellow and very nice.

2014 Zinfandel $28

The Zin had a classic Zinfandel nose, but was lighter on the palate due to the cooler climate. It has spice and a bit of vanilla and is bright on the palate, with a long finish. Their Zinfandel comes from the BCD Vineyard where they have about a 6.5 acre block.

2014 Syrah $28

We are finding that there are quite a few cooler climate vineyards that started out exclusively growing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, that are starting to grow Syrah and finding that it thrives and creates a lovely elegant expression of this grape. This wine comes from the BCD Vineyard which is a rolling vineyard with sandy soils. These are typically the last grapes picked by Balletto each season and they get maximum skin contact with lots of gentle pump overs. To soften the tannins the wine is aged in French Oak for 22 months. This was indeed a lovely Syrah, with cocoa, coffee and smoke on the nose and smooth tannins, but quite honestly it could not outshine the Pinots on this list.

We will leave you with a virtual tour of our afternoon at Balletto! But a virtual tour is only so good. Get out to Sonoma and visit Balletto for yourself.

Keep up to date on all of our posts by following us on Crushed Grape Chronicles . You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Crawford Family Wines

September 13, 2017

Celebration of Harvest with the Santa Barbara Vintners is upon us and with the endless number of wineries in the Santa Barbara Valley, there are plenty to explore. On our last trip we made a new discovery, as we visited Crawford Family Wines in Los Olivos.

Mark Horvath is the owner and winemaker at Crawford Family Wines. That being so, you might ask where the name for the winery came from. Well before Crawford Family Wines, Mark had another winery with Joey Gummere (who now runs his own winery Transcendence). They spent a bit of time batting around names for their collaborative venture, mixing and matching their names and they came up with Kenneth Crawford. Not names either of them were really known by, Kenneth is Joey’s first name, but he doesn’t go by it and Crawford is Mark’s mother’s maiden name but together…it sounded pretty cool, better than Gummere and Horvath or Mark & Joey, that was for sure. So when opening his own winery Mark figured he would stick with the Crawford, and Crawford Family Wines was born.

Mark Horvath, Crawford family Wines speaking at the Santa Barbara Vintners Syrah Seminar April 2016

Mark and his wife Wendy have been in the wine industry for a while. Spent time immmersed in the industry in Sonoma, with Mark working at Carmenet Winery, learning the cellar, the lab and then taking UC Davis courses. It was at UC Davis, that he ran into a bunch of Santa Barbara Winemakers. Mind you, back then there was not alot of buzz about Santa Barbara, but these winemakers had a passion and Mark and Wendy found themselves drawn to the area. Mark worked at Babcock as the assistant winemaker, then started Kenneth Crawford with Joey Gummere and recently has worked at Tres Hermanas as the winemaker.Wendy has a background in the restaurant industry, she worked at The French Laundry and at Santa Barbara’s Wine Cask and has done work with a wine distributor.

The focus at Crawford Family Wines is Pinot Noir from the Sta. Rita Hills, many of which are vineyard specific. They also do a Chardonnay from Rita’s Crown. Outside of the Burgundian wines, they have an Albarino, a Rosé and a couple of Rhones. We enjoyed a Syrah Seminar on the range of Santa Barbara Syrahs in April of 2016 and Mark spoke about the cool climate Syrah he was making from the Sta. Rita Hills AVA.

Crawford Family Wines Los Olivos Santa Barbara County Tasting Room

Tin Roof and all at the Crawford Family Wines Tasting Room in Los Olivos

The day we walked into the tasting room was a Monday and we were lucky enough to find Wendy manning the tasting room. On the outside the building is rustic with a tin roof and wood siding, and beautifully manicured plants. When you walk in the tasting room is clean and bright with white walls with large vivid photography gracing the walls. While clean and sharp it’s also warm and welcoming.

We had a wonderful conversation with Wendy while tasting through their wines.

Speaking of the Wines….

: 2016 Albarino

: 2015 Tin Shack Chardonnay

Crawford Family Wines 2016 Albariño

Yeah, one of these things is not like the others…but this is a great wine and a great grape that is getting more traction in Santa Barbara. The grapes for this particular wine come from Brick Barn Vineyard, which is located just outside the Sta. Rita Hills AVA in Buellton. The entire vineyard is 50 acres on a former horse and cattle ranch. This is only the 2nd crop of this grape. It is fermented in Stainless steel and is bright and crisp with a some lemon, some peaches and florals. This is what I would consider a Zesty wine.

$28.00

2015 Tin Shack Chardonnay

This wine comes from the Sta. Rita Hills, from Rita’s Crown. As the name indicates this vineyard sits on the highest point in the region, the “Crown” in Sta. Rita. The vineyard sits at 600 to 1000 feet and has diatomaceous soil. Close to the ocean, you find fossilized seashells here. It has southwest facing slopes and is surrounded by other well known, dare I say “famous” vineyards in the area, like Sea Smoke, La Rinconada, Sanford & Benedict and Fiddlestix.

This wine is called “Tin Shack” because it is fermented in Stainless Steel, then put into neutral oak for a year. Only 180 cases were produced. This is meant to get the best of both worlds with fermentation and winemaking technique. The stainless steel fermentation captures the essence of the soil, the bright acidity and aromatics. The year it spends in barrel on the lees softens it and adds some complexity giving you that baking spice on the nose.

The label for this wine as well as for the Walk Slow Pinot were done by Wendy’s Brother.

$42.00

: 2016 Rosé from the Santa Ynez Valley

: 2013 Bentrock Vineyard Pinot Noir

2016 Rosé

This wine comes from probably the warmest vineyard that they source from. It is a Grenache rosé from Mesa Verde Vineyard, which is one of the southern-most vineyards in the Santa Ynez Valley, sitting just west of Sunstone. They picked early to keep the brightness, but because it is the southern part of the valley, the fruit developed some of those riper flavors.

$25.00

2013 Bentrock Pinot Noir

This is single vineyard wine from Bentrock Vineyards in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. Bentrock was formerly known as Salsipuedes. This is the far South West corner of the Sta. Rita Hills appellation and is close to the ocean catching daily cold ocean winds (not breezes). This is a lean and earthy Pinot Noir, with minerality. This is a wine that has capture the terroir, you can taste the wind, the ocean, the reach for the warmth of sunlight.

$52.00

: 2014 Pinot Noir, Walk Slow

: 2014 Second Street Cuvee from Santa Barbara County

2014 Pinot Noir, Walk Slow

This Pinot is a blend of fruit from Bentrock and Babcock Vineyards. It does 30% whole cluster fermentation and is 75% Babcock fruit which is clone 115 and 24% Bentrock which is clone 667. Both vineyards are in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, but Babcock sits down in the valley on the route 246 where as Bentrock is up on the far west end of Santa Rosa Road.

This is 30% new french oak, which is the only new oak in his winemaking program. It spends 16 months in barrel. The fruit from these two different vineyards balance each other. With a beautiful nose of black tea with woods and dark cherry and cherries and tart red fruit in your mouth. (My mouth is watering just thinking about this wine and I’m kicking myself for not leaving with a bottle!)

The name of this wine “Walk Slow” is Mark’s reminder to himself to slow down and enjoy. This is a wine that opens up with layer upon layer, you have to slow down and experience it as it changes in your glass.

$48.00

2014 Second Street Cuvée

The Second Street Cuvée is a GSM blend, in a Cotes-du-Rhone Style. It is named after the “Second Street” where their winery is located in Buellton.

It is 60% Grenache, 35% Syrah, 5% Mourvèdre from Lavando and Shokrian Vineyards. Lavando is a small vineyard that is planted at a friends ranch just outside the Ballard Canyon AVA. Shokrian is in Los Alamos and is owned by Babak Shokrian and was previously Verna’s Vineyard, owned by Melville. This vineyard sits across the road from White Hawk Vineyard on Cat Canyon Road. So there is a bit of distance between where the fruit grew. The fruit came from hillside blocks together give this wine an earthy fruit quality, that is very food friendly.

$32.00

This tasting room is not on Grand Avenue, the main road in town, but is a block over on the main cross street Alamo Pintado. If you find your self at the flagpole, head east on Alamo Pintado (past Panino) and cross San Marcos Ave. It will be on your left past Blair Fox Cellars. It is well worth the stroll to the outer edges of the town. If you are hungry after your tasting, I recommend the Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe, where they often serve Crawford Family Wines by the glass.

Celebration of Harvest Weekend which is coming up September 29th through October 1st, is a great opportunity to taste a variety of the amazing wines from this area and get to meet some of the winemakers. There is so much to this amazing area you could spend weeks here and not see it all (trust me, we’ve tried). So take the weekend and learn about this amazing wine region that is practically in LA’s backyard. There are beautiful wines being made here and there is something for everyone.

You can find out more on the Santa Barbara Vintners Celebration of Harvest site, where you can see the entire schedule for the weekend, buy tickets for the events and purchase your passport for the weekend.

And be sure to stop back here! We look forward to sharing with you all of our adventures during the Celebration of Harvest.

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Bubbles to start the day – at Gloria Ferrer

August 25, 2017

So we find ourselves on the Vista Terrace at the beautiful Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards. It’s a comfortable morning where the clouds have not yet burned off, so the view is soft and the vines look happy. And it’s time to get down to some tasting. 5 flights were available on the list including the Winery Exclusive Flight which included 3 sparkling wines that were exclusive to the winery (you can’t purchase them anywhere else), a 90 Point flight of their sparkling wines that have been rated at 90 points or about, the Glorious Flight which comes with a chocolate pairing, a Pinot Flight and a Ferrer Family Passport which includes 3 still red wines. There are other wines available by the glass.

We chose the Winery Exclusive Flight. I mean why wouldn’t you? If we can taste the other wines elsewhere, this was the flight to go with. This flight included the 2009 Extra Brut, the 2013 Brut Rosé and the 2005 Carneros Cuvée.

2009 Extra Brut

This is a blend that is 67% Pinot Noir and 33% Chardonnay. This is a “late disgorged” wine. This wine cellar aged for 7 years. The “late disgorging” enhances the bubbles. This vintage, 2009 started mild, with ideal summer temperatures so the fruit was able to ripen and develop deep flavors.

With Green apple and brioche for your nose and then, citrus, honey and black cherry for your taste buds.

$50

2013 Brut Rosé

92% Pinot Noir and 8% Chardonnay. This wine has strawberry and brioche on the nose, Watermelon and peach on the palate with some ginger notes at the end. This is a festive wine that is a real crowd pleaser.

$50

2005 Carneros Cuvée

53% Pinot Noir and 47% Chardonnay. This is their flagship sparkling wine. The 2005 vintage started out cool and wet with a late bud break. The summer was sunny and dry and the temperature were mild going into harvest which meant more hang time between veraison and harvest.

This is made from the premium estate fruit. It has 9 years en tirage, and 6 months on the cork. It was indeed our favorite wine of the tasting. What is en tirage you ask? this is the French term for how long the wine rests in the bottle on the lees (the dead yeast sediment) from the secondary fermentation. This allows the flavor of the autolyzed yeast to develop in the wine.

This was my favorite from this tasting, with floral notes, apple, honey, ripe pear and a bit of mineral which keeps it clean even with it’s long finish.

$75

2014 Blanc de Blancs

We were lucky to taste the newest Blanc de Blancs their 2014. It was a beautiful bright color and was crisp with green apples and pears and meyer lemon. It had some lovely yeasty brioche and a creamy mouthfeel.

$50

In Addition we tasted the 2008 Royal Cuvée and the 2015 José Ferrer Chardonnay ($40).

2008 Royal Cuvée

The Royal Cuvée has a history. The inaugural vintage of the “Royal Cuvée” was in 1987 and was first served to King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain when they visited California.

It is 67% Pinot Noir and 33% Chardonnay. These grapes are handpicked and brought to the winery in small bins and only the first press of gentle whole-cluster press is used. It ferments in stainless steel. It is blended after 6 months then bottled and aged sur-lie in the wine caves for 7 years. It is then disgorged and finished with a dry dosage and aged an additional 6 months before being released.

This has peach, ripe apple and honey on the nose with black cherry and pear on the palate. It is bright and crisp with a hint of ginger at the end.

$37

2015 José Ferrer Chardonnay

The only still wine that we tasted, this 100% Estate Chardonnay, is whole cluster pressed very gently. It is barrel fermented and aged in French oak with 25% of that being new oak, for 9 months. They put a third of the wine through malolactic fermentation. The barrels were stirred monthly for 6 months to mix the lees and create the full mouthfeel of the wine.

This wine had some tropical fruit and green apple, but what stood out to me was the spice. When I described the wine at the tasting, my first thought was “spicy”. This is not heat or pepper, but more baking spices.

$40

The wines were lovely. On our next visit I look forward to tasting the olive oil also. They have multiple tastings to choose from as well as experiences. I was tempted by a flight that had a chocolate pairing. They also have 3 guided tours daily that should be reserved in advance. There are several other experiences: Pinot Journey, Bubbles and Bites, A Taste of Spain, Glassware Exploration, Gloria’s Wine Country Picnic and Reserve Tour that are available with advanced reservations.

This beautiful winery is definitely the perfect way to start a day in Sonoma. If you missed our post on some of the history of Gloria Ferrer, you can find it here Gloria Ferrer – A little history.

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Gloria Ferrer, a view from the Balcony

Gloria Ferrer Grapes waiting to be Sparkling Wine.

Chardonnay Gloria Ferrer Carneros Sonoma County

Chardonnay in the morning at Gloria Ferrer

Sparkling tasting at Gloria Ferrer

Sparkling flight Gloria Ferrer Carneros Sonoma County

Sparkling Flight to start the day at Gloria Ferrer

Vineyards Gloria Ferrer Carneros Sonoma County

Vineyards over the lavender at Gloria Ferrer

Tasting room at Gloria Ferrer Carneros Sonoma County

The beautiful Tasting room at Gloria Ferrer

Gloria Ferrer Winery

Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards in Carneros

Gloria Ferrer entrance Carneros Sonoma County

The entrance to Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards

The view of the Carneros Vineyards from Gloria Ferrer

Morning Sparkles at Gloria Ferrer with a vineyard view

Gloria Ferrer – a little history

August 23, 2017

On our recent trip to the California Coast we had the opportunity to stop for a tasting at Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyard. Located in Carneros, which is the Southern end of Sonoma County Wine Region, this is a sparkling wine house.

The Ferrers

The Ferrers have a little bit of wine history. The family has been growing wine since the 1500s. They own La Freixendeda (which means “ash tree grove” in Catalan) outside of Barcelona Spain which is an 11th century farming estate. From the estate name comes “Freixenet” the famous Cava from Spain. Yep, they own that too.

Freixenet

The story of Freixenet, goes like this: Pedro Ferrer marries Dolores Sala (from another winemaking family). Phylloxera hit Spain as they got married wiping out vineyards. The two replanted their vineyards with white wine varieties and decided to make sparkling wine. The first bottles of Freixenet (which was Pedro’s childhood nickname) were released in 1914. You are sure to have had one of those signature black bottles at some point.

There have been lots of articles out recently about Cava and Prosecco, and the one thing that stands largest among the difference between the two (other than grapes and location) is the method in which they are made. Cava is made in the Traditional Method (like champagne) where the secondary fermentation is done in bottle. This produces much smaller and more persistent bubbles.

Cava is made with 3 primary types of grapes Macabeo, Xarello and Parellada.

Vineyards over the lavender at Gloria Ferrer

Gloria Ferrer

José and Gloria Ferrer came to California in the 70’s on a road trip. They fell in love with Sonoma and wanted to come and build a winery here. The Ferrer Team knew that they wanted to make méthode champenoise wine in New World terroir and that to do that they would need Pinot Noir. They acquired Pinot and Chardonnay clones from Champagne and brought them to plant in Carneros. They purchased 100 acres from three cattle ranches in Sonoma to plant the original vines in 1982 and in 1986 they opened the beautiful winery with the Vista Terrace for visitors to enjoy the wine and the view. They now farm 335 acres of Vineyards, still primarily Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

The vines at Gloria Ferrer are hand farmed and many of the original crew that planted the grapes 30 years ago are still a part of the process.

The beautiful Tasting room at Gloria Ferrer

Chardonnay in the morning at Gloria Ferrer

Chardonnay grapes at Gloria Ferrer

The Winery and Vista Terrace

The Winery which opened in 1986 was designed like a Catalan Farmhouse originally, with wooden beams and old world charm. The caves were the first built in the area. The president of the Catalan Government actually came to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony. When they decided to update the tasting room they worked with a Catalan interior designer, Isa Rodriguez (he also designed the Freixenet’s building in Spain). The modern tasting room still includes the wooden beams, but in a much more modern aesthetic.

So while modern tasting room is stunning, the view will draw you out to the Vista Terrace. This is a civilized tasting, you don’t stand at a bar, you are escorted to a table where you can enjoy glasses or flights. They have expanded the Vista Terrace to have an area reserved for Wine Club Members as well as lots of additional room for other guests.

There are umbrellas for shade, but the morning that we were there it was early and the sky’s were still a little cloudy allowing us a comfortable and cool tasting right on the edge of the terrace, with expansive views out onto the front vineyard blocks as well as to the South which are part of the “Home Ranch” and just a little further south to the Circle Bar Ranch. Well, so much for the view, our next post will tell you about the tasting. Bubbles to Start the day – at Gloria Ferrer

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Blenheim Vineyards in Virginia Wine Country

May 4, 2017

The day started as overcast. We began with the amazing views from Monticello, without the sun, but without actual rain also. The world was covered in the gorgeous bright green of spring. It’s that shade that pops against the gray, turning even a completely overcast day into something bright! It was spring in Virginia, with the ground covered in pink petals washed from the trees. It’s especially magical for those of us who have been so long away from the green.

That changed as we drove our way to Blenheim Vineyards. The sky started to leak. Not a full on rain storm, just steady inconvenient rain. But that was okay. We didn’t get to sit outside at the outdoor tasting bar at Blenheim, but wandered down into the main tasting room. It is an A-frame building with the front full of windows as well as windows along the peak of the room. When you walk in you can also look down through the glass floor at the center to see the winery, it’s tanks and barrels. The windows here allow for natural light even on this rainy day.

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The end of the tasting room holds the bar so you can enjoy your tasting looking out through the huge windows overlooking the vineyard. The bar was full, so we were guided to a table. I asked if we needed to go to the bar for our tastings and was assured that we did not. They have pourers assigned to the tables who come around. The staff, which seemed to be all female were helpful, friendly and knowledgeable about the wines and the vineyard. Out came the glasses and the tasting menu.

The pours here were generous and the atmosphere was relaxed. It was a place you could come and enjoy a tasting with friends, which was what we were doing. Those types of tastings lean more toward conversation with your friends, and less about in-depth tasting and contemplation. This of course is rather new to Michael and I, wine geeks who typically taste with just the two of us and take copious notes. I did manage to scribble a few down and when I did ask about the blends, the staff were quick to pull out the vineyard map and show us where each block was located.

– A map of the vineyard blocks with all the varieties at Blenheim Vineyards

The grapes of Blenheim Vineyards

They are growing 13 varieties of grapes here. You have the standard Cabernet Franc and Viognier which are the varieties that seem to grow best here in Virginia. In addition they grow, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Roussanne and then surprisingly (at least for me) Pinot Noir. Yes, I’m still two short. They also have a block of Teroldego and a block of Garganega which are new and have only been in the ground for 3 years. Teroldego is a deeply colored red grape from northern Italy in the Province of Trentino. Garganega is a white grape also from Northern Italy from the Provinces of Verona and Vicenza. It will be interesting to see how these grapes do.

The tasting at Blenheim Vineyards

I fell in love with the Rosé ’16. It does 48 hours on the skins. This is a blend of 46% Merlot, 31% Cab Franc, 12% Pinot Noir and 11% Syrah. It was complex on the nose and tart on the palate. ($17)

The Chardonnay ’15 was partially (30%) aged in Hungarian and American Oak for 5 months. While you got a little oak on the nose, the palate was clean and bright. ($17)

The 2015 Painted white has a totem on the label. It is 58% Chardonnay, 21% Viognier, 12% Albarino, 9% Sauvignon Blanc aged for 9 months in French and Hungarian oak with 35% tank aged. ($25)

Petit Verdot ’14 was 10 months on mixed oak; 75% American Oak and 25% French Oak. It had a yummy nose, was milder on the palate with a quick finish but was very nice. (My dear friend Mess, has discovered that she likes Petit Verdot and after searching for a term, decided that they were chewy!)($24)

The Painted Red ’15 also features a totem. The Painted Red 2015 was 44% Cab Franc, 31% Petit Verdot, 13% Merlot, 12% Cab Sav, 76% aged for 10 months in French, American and Hungarian Oak. This was very nice but our favorite of the reds remained the Petit Verdot. ($30)

They also sell “growlers” here. Yep, they have 2 wines, the Claim House White (83% Chardonay, 10% Pinot Noir and 7% Viognier (un-oaked) and the Claim House Red 84% Cabernet Franc, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot (un-oaked) that are available at $6 per glass or you can buy a growler for $7 and fill it for $19. The growlers are becoming popular in this area. You buy the growler itself once and then can return to have it refilled! These wines are not all estate, but include fruit from some other vineyards. Both are NV (non vintage).

Doesn’t Somebody Famous own this winery?

So here I am two thirds of the way through this post and I have just gotten around to telling you that Dave Matthews owns this vineyard. I am a Dave Matthews fan from way back and was lucky enough to see them play on Brown’s Island in Richmond with Widespread Panic back in the ’90’s. Dave draws the totems on the labels for the blends.

The posters of the labels for the Blenheim Vineyard blends, drawn by Dave Matthews

Dave designed the winery with William Johnson and finished it in 2000. The winery, that you see though the glass floor in the center of the tasting room is nestled into the hillside to help with climate control. The place is made from reclaimed wood and those south facing windows mean that they don’t need to use lighting in tasting room at all in the summer.

Dave Matthews moved to Charlottesville when he was 19. He formed the Dave Matthews band here. Did you know their first concert was on Earth Day in 1991? Without knowing the connection we had dinner (and great burgers and beer) at Miller’s in Charlottesville where he bartended before he started the band.

The Vineyard and Winery were meant to make good wine, not necessary to make money. Success had hit and they had the luxury of not needing the money. So they focused on the wine, and in my opinion succeeded. Inspired by Farm Aid, he started out with the BOWA (Best of What’s Around) farm outside of Charlottesville that they rehabilitated and had certified organic. He planted Blenheim Vineyards on the remnants of an old vineyard that was on the property.

But why is it named Blenheim Vineyards?

Ok, while it seems like this should be an easy question, I found the answer to be a bit ’round about.

So…John Carter was the Secretary of the Colony of Virginia. In 1730 he obtained a large parcel of land in what is now Albemarle County Virginia. His son Edward, of Blenheim built the first Blenheim house, which was named for the Duke of Marlborough who won the War of the Spanish Succession for Britain. The Duke’s family seat was Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. Blenheim Farm & Blenheim Vineyards are located on this property.

It is said that Thomas & Martha Jefferson stayed here when their coach had to stop nearby in a snowstorm. The house burned down in the mid 1840’s.

The Women of Blenheim Vineyards

I mentioned that the tasting room staff was primarily women. Well the winery staff is also female dominated, which is a rarity these days. Their Winemaker and General Manager Kirsty Harmon, graduated from UVA with a degree in Biology in 1998. She apprenticed with Gabriele Rausse (who has his own winery in Virginia and was the director of gardens and grounds at Monticello and is often referred to as “The Father of the Modern Virginia Wine Industry”). She then studied at UC Davis in California getting a degree in Viticulture and Enology in 2007. She spent a bit of time in France and New Zealand working in the industry and then became the Winemaker at Blenheim Vineyards in 2008.

The remainder of the major members of the staff are also female (I’m lovin’ the girl power!). Tracy Love runs the Sales department, Ellen Houle is the tasting room manager, Amanda Gray is the Event Manager & Mimi Adams is the Vineyard Manager.

So if you are an environmentalist, a feminist and like good music, good people and good wine (like me) than you should definitely stop by Blenheim. If it is a pretty day you can see the grounds, but even if it’s raining, it’s well worth the trip.

Blenheim Vineyards is located at 31 Blenheim Farm, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902

They are open daily from 11 am to 5:30 pm, tastings are $7 per person and you can bring your dog, as long as they are on a leash and friendly. They are on the Monticello Wine Trail

It is well worth it to make it a day! Visit Monticello in the morning, stop at Blenheim Vineyards and have lunch at the Historic Michie Tavern. Find another winery (there are plenty in the area) and then go for dinner downtown in Charlottesville. We had amazing burgers the first night at Miller’s (you remember I mentioned the Dave Matthews connection there earlier) and the 2nd night we had an amazing meal at the Downtown Grill (and a great bottle of Frank Family Pinot Noir from Carneros) followed by drinks upstairs at the Sky Bar. This is a college town so it is eclectic and busy. If the weather is nice I highly recommend enjoying a table out on the Downtown Mall which is one of the longest pedestrian malls in the country. It is located on Main Street and the center is set with tables for outdoor dining for all of the restaurants.

We will be posting more on our trip and of course on lots of other wine related things so stop back here at Crushed Grape Chronicles. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

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Sparkling wine or Champagne

October 21, 2016

In honor of #ChampagneDay…here is a little primer on Sparkling wines and Champagne that we put together as we planned our Sparkling pairing for our Crushed Grapes and Open Minds Event.

The Sparkling Wine

As we planned for our Crushed Grapes and Open Minds event we knew that we wanted to begin with a sparkling wine. Bubbles are celebratory and a great way to get an event off to the right start. We also knew that with our sparkling wine we would serve it in glasses rather than flutes, which would not keep the bubbles as much, but would allow guest to smell the aromas behind the wine. We looked at many different sparkling wines, and it was important to me to find something with some yeast or bread on the nose, to give us a chance to talk about how Sparkling wine is made in the traditional Champenoise method.

Quick lesson on Sparkling wine:

There are two methods of making a sparkling wine. One is the “Charmat” or “Tank” Method, the other is Methode Champenoise.

The Charmat Method

The Charmat method is a less expensive way to make a sparkling wine. The secondary fermentation (the one that causes the bubbles) is done in a large pressurized tank instead of in the bottle. Because you can only get 2-4 atmospheres of pressure in this way, the bubbles tend to be larger. Prosecco and Lambrusco are made in this way.

Methode Champenoise

Methode Champenoise or Methode Traditionnelle is more expensive because it is more labor intensive. This starts by making a base wine then adding sugar and yeast to the bottle which starts a secondary fermentation. The bottles are placed in riddling racks, which tip the bottle slightly upside down allowing the lees (the dead yeast cells) to collect in the neck of the bottle. You know that Veuve Clicquot Champagne? Well Madame Nicole Barbe Clicquot was the inspiration behind riddling racks. She hated the cloudy look of champagne, because at the time the lees would settle in the bottom of the bottle and when your poured it, it would get all cloudy (think Kombucha). So she had these racks created which would hold the bottles at a forty five degree angle with the neck down. Several times a week, workers go in and turn the bottle, in some cases giving it a small shake to make sure the lees are not caking or clinging to the glass. Then they freeze the neck of the bottle so that they can “disgorge” the plug of lees that has settled in the neck of the bottle. They then refill the empty space in the bottle often adjusting the sweetness in the process and cork and cage the wine. Because these wines do the secondary fermentation in the bottle (the big heavy champagne bottles) the pressure is higher, at 6-7 atmospheres of pressure which is what gives you those very small fine bubbles.

Popping a champagne cork!

Sweetness levels in Sparkling wine

Yep, this can be confusing. Dry is not really dry. Typically in a wine, dryness is dependent on the amount of residual sugar in the finished wine. In the fermentation process, yeast eats the sugar, in the end, if it eats all the sugar you get a dryer wine, if there is sugar left over…well that is the residual sugar! In Sparkling wines dry comes in the wrong place for my brain on the sweetness scale. Here we go with our rundown of wine sweetness.

This is from Sweetest to driest:

Doux: Sweetest (this will give you over 2 teaspoons of sugar for each glass)

Demi-Sec: a little less sweet (only 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar per glass)

Dry: Not REALLY dry (3/4 to 1 teaspoon of sugar)

Extra Dry: Well, it’s dryer than dry! (1/2 to ¾ teaspoons)

Brut: Now we are getting dryer (1/4 to ½ teaspoons of sugar)

Extra Brut: Dryer than Brut with (less than ¼ teaspoons of sugar)

Brut Nature: Okay here we go…this is the driest! (less than 1/6 teaspoon of sugar in a glass)

This is important to keep in mind, because unless you go to a great little wine shop where they are smart and knowledgeable, it is unfortunately likely that they will point you in the wrong direction on the dryness scale. (toss this info in your phone for when you go champagne shopping!)

We narrowed our choices to a California Sparkling Wine, a Cremant, and a Champagne and brought them home for a tasting.

The Finalists

Three sparkling wines, Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut, Louis Bouillot Cremant de Bourgogne and Champagne AJ de Margerie a Bouzy

The California Sparkling wine was a Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut

I picked this one up because the description said “crisp” and “toasty”. This wine was hand-harvested Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (traditional Champagne grapes) from Sonoma County in California and specifically in the Carneros District. Carneros is the lower part of the Sonoma/Napa Region, closest to San Francisco. They have over 40 selections of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay planted on their estate. This gives them some diversity in the grapes they are harvesting to create a consistent cuvee. With sparkling wines a Cuvee is a non-vintage blend, which means multiple years can be blended together. That means a warmer vintage can be blended with a cooler vintage to make a cuvee that matches the one you put out last year. So year after year, customers can be sure that the wine will taste the same. This blend is mostly Pinot Noir, which has little skin contact so that you don’t get any pink in the wine.

Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut

Louise Bouillot Cremant de Bourgogne Blanc de Blanc

The nose on this said ”aromas of citrus and flowers, evolving into butter and brioche notes with age”.

So lets start with the “Blanc de Blanc” part. That indicates that it is a sparkling made from white grapes (blanc is white, so white of white). In this case it is mostly (85%) Chardonnay.

Now the “Cremant” .Cremant (“cray-mont”) is a method champenoise sparkling wine that is made outside of the Champagne region. It can be made from grapes other than the traditional Champagne grapes. It originally indicated that the wine was less fizzy or bubbly than Champagne.

Onto the “de Bourgogne” part…so the region this wine is made in is Bourgogne (Burgundy), a region known for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Louis Bouillot Cremant de Bourgogne Blanc de Blanc

Champagne A. J. de Margerie a Bouzy Grand Cru

This wine is from the Champagne region and is 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Chardonnay. The tasting notes said “Dry, cherry, berry, toast”.

It is from the famed Bouzy is a village in the Montagne de Reims Region of Champagne where Pinot Noir is mostly grown (there you go with why it’s 90% Pinot!)

Champagne AJ de Margerie a Bouzy

And the winner is…

So we tasted and they were all very nice, but the Champagne had the bread I was looking for on the nose. It wasn’t quite toast and brioche was not a term that I felt would resonate with people. As I continued to smell the visual of hamburger buns came to me. When I mentioned this to Michael, he immediately could smell it. We had our sparkling wine.

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The Pairings for the Party

So now we had our Sparkling wine. Time to move forward with the pairings! Since we wanted to “Open Minds” to the aromas and then the emotions that the aromas brought with them, we wanted to set up scent jars, to let our guests compare the scents that they might be getting in the wine with the real thing. We also needed a food pairing, something to munch on that would spark conversation and of course the art.

The Aromas

The aroma jars with this wine were cherries, berries and hamburger buns. As cherries were not in season, I picked up a bag of frozen cherries and defrosted them. Our berries were blueberries, cut strawberries and blackberries.

So why do you smell berries when this is a white wine? Well, Champagne is typically made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. They do very little skin contact so you don’t get the red color from the Pinot Noir grapes. So the berries and cherries you smell come from the Pinot Noir as this is a 90% Pinot Noir Champagne.

And the hamburger buns…that would be the dying yeast. The yeast is eating up the sugar in the wine making it ferment, much like what it does to make bread rise. So you get that yeasty/bready nose, which on this wine hit me as hamburger buns.

Hamburger Buns

The Food Pairing

Champagne can often seem pretentious, being paired with caviar and fancy things, but it’s really a beverage about celebrating.. The Champagne maker at Laetitia in San Luis Obispo says that his favorite pairing with Champagne was popcorn. So we had movie theatre popcorn and potato chips to pair. Champagne is really the perfect pairing for food, going great with salt & fat. Salt & fat are delicious, but the fat will coat your tongue and block up your taste buds, and the salt makes you thirsty. The bubbles in Champagne are perfect for clearing all the fat of your tongue and quenching your thirst making every bite taste as good as the first. So, when it doubt as to what to pair with a meal? Go with something sparkling!

Buttered Popcorn or Potato chips are a great pairing for sparkling wines.

The Art Pairing

RuBen’s Painting for this wine evoked a warmth that for me brought out the bread on the nose. The painting was bright but also warm and comforting and there was texture on the canvas evoking the texture and bubbles in the Champagne.

RuBen’s spectacular interpretation of our Champagne – Act2Art by RuBen

What people had to say

We asked our guests for their thoughts, maybe a memory or phrase that came to mind as they smelled and tasted the wine, smelled the aroma jars, tasted the pairing and gazed upon the art. Here were some of their thoughts…

A perfect first date.

happy – like a picnic in an apple orchard

a field with dandelions and fresh grass

early summer

A beautiful sun shower in late April, early May

movement of life

crisp pears – a cool spring afternoon

Of course after the Champagne it was time to move on to the Sauvignon Blanc. Join us back here for more on that!

Note to wine geeks, I’m kinda excited about a new book coming out called “But First, Champagne: A Modern Guide to the World’s Favorite Wine”. It’s by David White (of the Terroirist the wine blog) with a forward by Ray Isle (of Food And Wine Magazine) and promises to be a perfect book for both the newbie and the longtime Champagne lover. It is available for pre-order on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/But-First-Champagne-World%C2%92s-Favorite/dp/1510711449 and will be coming out in about 8 weeks.

For more on Champagnes here is another blog post Sparkling Wine, Champagne and those tiny bubbles

Oh and for this event I perfected my method of opening Champagne bottles! Want to look extra cool and professional opening Champagne? Do want I did and follow Madeline Puckette’s advice! Visit her blog Wine Folly and check out “How to Open Champagne Safely”

Check back here at Crushed Grape Chronicles for more on the details on the wines we paired with the Art and our Crushed Grapes and Open Minds Event! You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

And you can find RuBen and his gorgeous art at Act2Art or on Facebook

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Santa Barbara Wines with Savory Spring Tarts

June 25, 2015

Savory Spring Tarts….you are questioning what that means, but your mouth is watering anyway. You can find the details on 4Farm2Mrkt. 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.

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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!

Grassini 2012 Sauvignon Blanc

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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

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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.

Anacapa Vintners 2010 Santa Maria Pinot Noir

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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

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 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.

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!

To learn more about Santa Barbara Wines, visit the Santa Barbara Vintners site.

And for more great recipes for fresh farmer market produce visit 4farm2mrkt.com

Chanterelle & Fava Tagliatelle

March 20, 2015

At the Farmers Market, as usual I was looking for something fresh and seasonal for dinner. I was at the Downtown Summerlin Farmers Market, strolling through the Intuitive Forager indoor produce market and Stu, the Produce Manager (and my go to guy for recipes) had introduced me to the Fava beans. These favas, while a little work, are fresh but warm and creamy, and they are a go. Tagliatelle (fresh if I can find it), is Stu’s suggestion for a pasta and we turn to Bonnie for advice on the mushrooms. The morels are beautiful, but better with a red meat (and I admit to being a little intimidated by them). We determine to go with the Chanterelles. So favas, chanterelles, in maybe a carbonnara or a little Burrata….? Maybe not so creamy, perhaps a little lemon or chicken stock and a little wine. Stu pulls fresh thyme and a branch of fresh pink peppercorns for me, my basket is full and I am off to put together this creation. First, to choose the wine, since we need to have it ready to include in the dish.

Fava Beans

Prepping Ingredients

Opening Fava Bean

Prep Ingredients Herbs

Wine with Chanterelles

Mushrooms & pinot noir are a classic. The earthiness of the two meld perfectly. But my dish really wants a white wine. Lighter, springier, but still with a bit of warmth. I find suggestions for pairing a lightly oaked Chardonnay with Chanterelles. Chanterelles have a symbiotic relationship with oak trees. The mushrooms tap into the tree roots for nourishment and in turn provide the tree with minerals. So the oak on the wine and the oak in the mushrooms seem symbiotic for our pairing. Luckily, I had a 2012 Riverbench Estate Chardonnay from the Santa Maria Valley AVA in Santa Barbara. We picked this wine up when we did a Vineyard tour at Riverbench with the Vineyard Manager Rawley Hermreck, last year during the Santa Barbara Key to Wine Country Weekend. Enjoying a wine pulled from vineyards that we had walked through should just enhance the experience.

Chanterelle & Fava Tagliatelle with Riverbench Chardonnay

Fine tuning the recipe

So I know I am using Chanterelles, Favas, and Tagliatelle. Stu gave me thyme and fresh pink peppercorns, and I talked about not wanting a really creamy dish, so it didn’t cover up the beautiful mushrooms and the freshness of the fava beans. And…I know that I want to incorporate the Chardonnay. Stu also reminded me to scent my oil. This is a great way of adding garlic flavor that is not overpowering. I settle on creating a light sauce by adding green onions, chicken stock, lemon zest (not juice) and creme fraiche. This will give it a little creaminess but still keep it light. We will finish it with parmesan, fresh chives and fresh basil. I will be honest with you, I didn’t measure. This was a bit of this and a bit of that with liquid enough to keep the sauce at the consistency that I was looking for, but here is the basic list

Tagliatelle pasta
fresh fava beans
fresh yellow footed chanterelle mushrooms
olive oil
1 clove of garlic
sliced green onions (about 3 and only the white part)
a splash of white wine (I’m telling you, a lightly oaked Chard is the way to go)
a splash chicken stock
fresh thyme
fresh ground pepper
salt
zest of 1 lemon
1 heaping spoonful of creme fraiche
freshly grated parmesan
fresh chives
fresh basil chiffonade

Chanterelle & Fava Tagliatelle

Time to cook

Now to cook.

I didn’t find fresh tagliatelle, so this will take a little longer to cook (8 minutes for dried as opposed to 2 minutes for fresh). So a pot of water, salted like the sea goes on the stove.

Now on to shelling the fava beans. The velvet interior makes this a very calming and meditative practice. Once shelled we blanch them in boiling water for just 2 mintues and then put them in an ice bath to quickly cool. Now shell again, popping open the outer lining and releasing the bright green bean inside. These can sit to the side while you prep the rest of your ingredients.

In the meantime there are more ingredients to prep. The chanterelles have been stored in a brown paper bag in the crisper. They get a quick plunge bath to clean them, then the bottom of the stem is sliced off and they are cut in half, top to bottom. The thyme is pulled from it’s stem, a bit of fresh garlic chives come in from the garden, a clove of garlic sliced into thirds, 3 green onions sliced on a diagonal using just the white base, I pull out the wine, some chicken stock, and the pepper corns which I crush with a mortar and pestle. My meyer lemon and some parmesan are standing by to zest and grate, as well as a couple of fresh basil leaves to chiffonade.

Olive oil goes in the pan and the garlic is tossed in to scent the oil. Just a couple of minutes then scoop it out. The onions go in to soften for 2 minutes, then the chanterelles, thyme, peppercorns and salt go in. After a minute or two a splash of white wine and let it cook off a bit. Then drizzle in just a little bit of chicken stock. After this cooks for a couple of minutes, the heat is turned off. Now in goes freshly zested lemon. I used a Meyer lemon which is a little softer both in skin texture and flavor and seemed to meld perfectly with the dish. The bright green fava beans go in and a heaping tablespoon of crème fraiche. Stir it all around.

By this time the pasta is perfectly al dente. It gets drained, put in a bowl and tossed with olive oil. Add all the wonderful sauce and toss it then top with shredded parm, basil and chives.

Pour a glass of lightly oaked chardonnay and enjoy.

An Evening in Burgundy – at home

December 18, 2014

I have been researching a trip to France for Michael and I and have started looking into a few days in Burgundy. So…Michael and I, who have a supply of beautiful California wines, set out to find a couple of wines from Burgundy. We picked up a 2011 Pouilly-Fuissé Les Galopieres and a 2011 Bourgogne Pinot Noir from Louis Latour.

Dinner

So what to pair with them? Well both of these wines are great food wines. I had a Delicato Squash from the Downtown 3rd farmers market as well as 2 ears of sweet corn and we picked up some Wild Salmon and scallops.

The squash, Stu had told me could be cooked just like summer squash, “slice and sauté it like you would a zucchini” he said! I love the color and markings on it and was excited to try this! Then…I tried to cut it. I think I was confused by what Stu meant. So after a little online research, I discovered that I needed to peel and seed the squash then cube it for roasting, steaming or microwaving. So… treat it much more like a butternut. We went the microwave route and Michael added an herbed ice cube (olive oil and chives). We nuked the corn also and Stu was completely right on this one…this corn was soooo sweet. Michael grilled the salmon, skin side down on the stove with a little salt and some of the Spanish blend of spices from Spicy Camel Trading Company. He did the same with the scallops. We also had some Spanish cheeses to munch on while things cooked.

Ingredients for a Burgundy pairing

The pairings

The Puilly-Fusse was bright and made my mouth tingle a little. It was heavier in viscosity reminding us of a Viognier, one review of the wines of this region called the texture “opulent”. With the cheese it was beautiful, as well as with the scallops. The Pinot was lovely, light and elegant with great flavor and it was perfect with the salmon.

So it was not a typical dinner from Burgundy…being as we had so much seafood with it, but none the less we enjoyed the pairings and the wines and now I am ready to dig further into this area and learn some more.

The Wines – some background

I will admit that I find it very hard to find information on French wines. I suppose mostly, it is because I look for information like I do with US wines. I want the story behind the vineyard and winemaker, I want to know what the terroir is like and the climate. French winemakers don’t market their wines in the same way that American winemakers do, so it’s hard to find this info. So…here’s a little information.

2011 Pouilly-Fussé and 2011 Bourgogne

Pouilly-Fussé Les Galopieres 2011

The Pouilly-Fuissé Les Galopieres is a White Burgundy or Bourgogne…which translates to Chardonnay. This wine comes from the Maconnais subregion in Burgundy which is in the Southern part of Burgundy just above Beaujolais. The soil here is clay and limestone. The appellation was instituted in 1936. The area takes in the four villages of Fuissé, Solutré-Pouilly, Vergisson and Chaintré. In Solutré and Vergisson you can see the rocky outcrops of hard fossil corals which have resisted erosion.

2011 Vine de Bourgogne Pinot Noir from Louis Latour

The 2011 Vine de Bourgogne Pinot Noir from Louis Latour was labeled – A Beaune – Cote-D’Or – France. It is 100% Pinot Noir from Bourgogne and is aged 10-12 months in stainless steel. The soil here is clay and limestone and the average vine age is 25 years, all grapes are handpicked. Not much cellaring potential…it says 2 to 3 years. This wine is considered by importers to be a classic reliable Burgundian Pinot Noir.

If you find yourself interested in the wines of Burgundy, but like me are having a hard time finding information you can connect with, I suggest renting the movie “A Year in Burgundy”. This movie allowed me to get to know some of the Burgundian wine makers and their individual styles and gives me a starting point that I can identify with. So head to your local wine store and take a trip to Burgundy right in your living room. It’s a great way to travel without having to pack!

Non-Traditional Thanksgiving Wine Pairings

December 5, 2014

So we did a non-traditional Thanksgiving this year. We bagged the turkey and instead did a stuffed flatiron steak, and instead of potatoes for a starchy side, we went with a pumpkin lasagna. We of course tied in some traditional sides with cranberries in red Belgian ale, green beans almandine and a bright arugula salad with flavors of the season with apples, pecans, maple syrup and bacon. So what to pair with our eclectic Thanksgiving? We dug into the cellar and here’s what we decided.

Start with a sparkler!

It’s a celebration and I was ready to celebrate when we finally had dinner complete and ready to eat. We looked in the wine fridge and Michael pulled out a sparkling wine from a very (I mean VERY) small winery called Lumiére in Temecula, California. We did a blog post on them awhile ago which you can read here. Lumiére is only open on weekends and only once have we been able to stop by. The owner and winemaker’s mother, Martha was there pouring. They have a charming tasting room on a hill off of Calle Contento Road on the North side.(more on the winery here). One of the final things we tasted was their Voulez Vous Brut sparkling wine.

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This is a Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc and it was lovely with the salad of arugula, pink lady apples, pecans, maple brown sugar bacon and the dressing of maple syrup and yogurt.

Chardonnay with Pumpkin Lasagna

So an Oaked Chard with a rich cheesy pumpkin lasagna seemed the right choice and allowed us to relish some great memories at the same time. We pulled a bottle of 2011 Au Bon Climat Chardonnay. This Santa Barbara County Chardonnay comes from the Los Alamos Vineyard and was a gift when we stayed at the Clendenen Ranch in the spring. This vineyard is beautiful, take a look at the photo on our homepage. That was the view we were privileged to enjoy. The home is warm and obviously meant for relaxing and entertaining friends & family. There is history here also. The first Au Bon Climat Winery was in a small barn that you can see from the house. The story, as Marissa told us is, after long days of harvest the folks that owned the house on the hill and had the olive orchards would invite the entire gang up for dinner. When the owner was looking to sell the property,s Jim Clendenen quickly bought it up, as it was filled with so many fond memories. The previous owner still makes olive oil from the olives on the trees, which you can find in her olive oil tasting room in Los Alamos called Global Gardens.

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This Chardonnay is one of their Historic Vineyard Collection Wines. They harvest by hand, gently press and then ferment in 75% new French Oak and leave them in these barrels to age surlee for another year. The amazing thing about this wine is that you get the richness of the oak and a full nose and then it is beautiful and bright on the palate. If you ever want to explain to someone what French Oak is…pour a glass of this and stick their nose in it. Au Bon Climat has a tasting room in downtown Santa Barbara and a history that is as rich and exciting as their wines.

Au Bon Climat 2011 Chardonnay

Pumpkin Queensland blue & Sweet meat squash Lasangna

So as a pairing the richness of the nose of the Chardonnay, went beautifully with the lasagna and then the brightness of the wine on the palate kept you from getting bogged down in all of that glorious cheese! One sip had your palate reinvigorated for another decadent bite. The Lasagna was more than just pumpkin too. We did 3 different types of puree, pumpkin, queensland blue and sweetmeat. Each got a layer in the lasagna between layers of ricotta, parmesan and fontina.

Stuffed Flatiron Steak Screams for a Red

This recipe called for a dry red wine. While it suggested a not too fruity Syrah or Zin…Michael found a beautiful 2008 Ferrari-Carano Merlot. We opened this way early to start cooking with it and give the wine time to open up. We have a history here too. While working on Smokey Joe’s Café in Reno we were at the El Dorado Casino, which is owned by the Ferrari-Carano’s and got hooked on their wines there. We have since made a couple of trips to their Northern Sonoma Vineyard and Winery.

So these steaks are flatiron steaks which are a shoulder cut. They are pounded out and filled with a stuffing of toasted bread in olive oil, prunes rehydrated with the red wine, rosemary, roasted chestnuts, pancetta, pecorino, salt, pepper & cayenne. The Merlot went beautifully with this.

2008 Ferrari-Carano Merlot

Flat iron Stuffed Steak

So there you have it. A feast to be thankful for with beautiful pairings that brought back great memories of visits to 3 different areas of California Wine country. Now that’s a perfect Thanksgiving.

For more information on these wine regions:

http://www.temeculawines.org

Santa Barbara Vintners

Sonoma.com

And don’t forget to visit us on Facebook

And on Twitter

You can find more great Farm to Table recipes on our sister site 4Farm2Mrkt

Chardonnay

Continuing our conversation with Rudy Marchesi at Montinore Estate

Pinot Noir

Pinot Gris

Riesling

Chardonnay

Bubbles

Other Varieties

Blends and specialty wines

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Are you ready to drool?

How to find them

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Balletto Vineyards

#VineyardAdventures

Preservation of Habitat

Water Conservation

Trellising

Grapes

Soils

Pomace for Fertilizer

Field of Dreams

On to the Wines

2013 Brut Rosé 2013 $42

2016 Savignon Blanc $19

2016 Teresa’s Unoaked Chardonnay $20

2014 Cider Ridge Chardonnay $38

2016 Gewütztraminer $19

2016 Rosé of Pinot Noir $18

2014 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir $29

2014 Cider Ridge Pinot Noir $42

2015 BCD Pinot Noir $44

2014 Zinfandel $28

2014 Syrah $28

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Crawford Family Wines 2016 Albariño

2015 Tin Shack Chardonnay

2016 Rosé

2013 Bentrock Pinot Noir

2014 Pinot Noir, Walk Slow

2014 Second Street Cuvée

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2009 Extra Brut

2013 Brut Rosé

2005 Carneros Cuvée

2014 Blanc de Blancs

2008 Royal Cuvée

2015 José Ferrer Chardonnay

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The Ferrers

Freixenet

Gloria Ferrer

The Winery and Vista Terrace

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The grapes of Blenheim Vineyards

The tasting at Blenheim Vineyards

Doesn’t Somebody Famous own this winery?

But why is it named Blenheim Vineyards?

The Women of Blenheim Vineyards

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Quick lesson on Sparkling wine:

The Charmat Method

Methode Champenoise

Sweetness levels in Sparkling wine

The Finalists

The California Sparkling wine was a Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut

Louise Bouillot Cremant de Bourgogne Blanc de Blanc

Champagne A. J. de Margerie a Bouzy Grand Cru

And the winner is…

The Pairings for the Party

The Aromas

The Food Pairing

The Art Pairing