Name: Baked Basmati Rice with Apple and Saffron
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 10
Cuisine: Side dish
Ingredients: ¼ tsp saffron threads; ¼ cup warm water; 7 tbs unsalted butter; 1 medium white onion; 2 cloves of garlic; ¼ tsp ground cinnamon; 2 ½ cups basmati rice; 4 cups chicken stock; 1/2 tsp salt; 2 green onions; 1/3 cup of sliced almonds; 1/3 cup pistachios; 8-10 apricots; 1 Granny Smith apple; ¼ tsp Fresh ground black pepper

Lenné Estate – Poor Soil, Hardworking Grapes and a Beautiful Reserve Chardonnay

May 27, 2021

Poor soils – great wine

Steve Lutz is extremely proud of the soil in his Lenné Estate vineyard. He brags that his vineyard has the poorest soil in Yamhill County. Vines here must work hard and prove themselves to survive.

The Lenné Estate Vineyard covers 20.9 acres of steep hillside with Peavine series soils. This soil is ancient marine sediment and lacking in nutrients so the vines have to dig deep to survive. They don’t always make it, but those that do, well they make some tasty grapes. Small and concentrated these grapes turn into delicious wine.

Steve Lutz of Lenné Estate (photo courtesy Lenné Estate )

The Lenné Estate Vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA

Located on the East side of the horseshoe that is the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, the vineyard sits between 420-575 feet in elevation. After founding Lenné Estate in 2000, Steve planted the first vines here in 2001. They produce between 1500 and 2000 cases each year.

The style here is mostly minimalist, with the goal to showcase the site with the fruit, letting it develop in bottle.

We received 2 wines from Lenné Estate, one of which was a Chardonnay and we felt it was appropriate to share with you today, which happens to be Chardonnay Day! Now you may have seen some posts earlier about Chardonnay Day, but the official day is not a “date” it is set as the Thursday before Memorial Day in the US. Oh, and it is still Oregon Wine Month! So…

The steep vineyard at Lenné Estate (photo courtesy Lenné Estate)

Lenné Estate 2018 Scarlett’s Reserve Chardonnay

This is only the 2^nd vintage for the Lenné Estate Scarlett’s Reserve Chardonnay. It ages 9 months in oak puncheons then does an additional 8 months “sur lie” in Stainless Steel. That “sur lie” aging gives a creaminess to the wine and a bit of bread or brioche on the nose added to the underlying notes of pear, apple, and something tart and tropical.

The wine is clean, bright, and elegant. Not flashy, but casually poised, and authentic, like a baby grand played in a cabin.

They are primarily a Pinot house, the Chardonnay in the vineyard is just a few rows on the edges. Several rows were planted in the eastern part of the vineyard in 2005 and then more grafted on the eastern side in 2015.

*This wine was received as a media sample. All opinions remain our own.

Vineyard map Lenné Estate (courtesy Lenné Estate)

Lenné Estate 2018 Scarlett's Reserve Chardonnay

Pairing Aromatic Compounds

As I looked for a pairing for this Chardonnay, I wanted to play on the apples on the nose and tie in saffron.

*Geek break: Carotenoids, aldehydes, and terpenes are volatile compounds that give saffron its aroma.

Chardonnay and apples have carotenoids also, so these things work together well.

Baked Basmati Rice with Apple and Saffron

We made a side dish of basmati rice with apples and saffron. This bakes in the oven adding crispy bits and amping up the aromas of the apple and saffron. This dish makes quite a bit! We had rice for days, so luckily it was really delicious. The apples and saffron paired beautifully with the wine. (the recipe is at the bottom)

Sea bass on white beans, cherry tomatoes, and spinach

For our main course, we splurged on sea bass, which pairs well with a crisp white wine. The Lenné Estate Chardonnay was crisp, but it also had some depth from that “sur lie” aging that seemed to call for something a little richer.

We plated our sea bass on a mixture of white beans, cherry tomatoes, and spinach cooked in chicken stock, with fresh thyme and a splash of lemon. The beans gave just the right weight to the dish and worked beautifully with the creamy notes in the Chardonnay.

We did a dessert pairing also. Well, not everything can pair perfectly. Sadly the sweetness of the dessert made the wine too acidic. (Keep in mind, it is the food that changes the wine, not the other way around. You should also make sure the wine is sweeter than the food, to avoid the wine being perceived as too acidic).

Nonetheless, this dessert did pick up on all the notes from the dinner and the wine, it stays thematically in line, just don’t sip the wine while you enjoy it.

Stuffed apples with rabri

This recipe by Tarla Dalai played to both the apple and saffron that I wanted and they are beautiful. Apples are cored and cooked in a simple syrup with saffron, stuffed with a sweetened mixture of cottage cheese (or paneer) and pistachios, and served on a lake of rabri, a North Indian sweet of milk sugar and saffron.

This evokes the flavors of this Lenné Estate Chardonnay, with the tartness of the apples and the richness of the rabri.

Want to know more about Lenné Estate?

Feel like you want to know more about Lenné Estate and its wines? No worries, we look forward to sharing more of this winery’s story with you soon, as we taste the Lenné Estate 2018 Kill Hill Pinot Noir.

Until then, you can visit their website at https://www.lenneestate.com to order wines and learn more about them. If you happen to be in the Willamette Valley and want to visit, you will find details on reserving a tasting and their current hours here.

It’s Oregon Wine Month!

We did not drink nearly enough Oregon Wine this month, there are so many amazing wines in Oregon to enjoy! Check out what is still happening in the Willamette Valley to celebrate, as well as what is happening beyond in the rest of Oregon at the Oregon Wine Board Site! (check out their #PourItForward campaign on Instagram & Twitter, where you can find videos of Winemakers paying it forward, tasting and describing another winemaker’s wine!)

10 servings

Baked Basmati Rice with Apple and Saffron

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

This dish beautifully combines tart apple and apricot with the aromas of the fragrant basmati rice and saffron. Sliced almonds and chopped pistachios add crunch. This cooks briefly on the stove, but most of the time is in the oven, where the rice will crisp up on the edges adding another texture to the dish.

It is based on a recipe from FoodandWine.

Ingredients

¼ tsp saffron threads
¼ cup warm water
7 tbs unsalted butter
1 medium white onion
2 cloves of garlic
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
2 ½ cups basmati rice
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 tsp salt
2 green onions
1/3 cup of sliced almonds
1/3 cup pistachios
8-10 apricots
1 Granny Smith apple
¼ tsp Fresh ground black pepper

Instructions

Finely chop the onion
Mince the garlic
Slice the green onions thinly (only the white parts)
Quarter the dried apricots
Set aside
Preheat the oven to 375°F
Crumble saffron into ¼ cup warm water and let it stand for 5 minutes
Heat a large skillet
Melt 4 tbs butter
Cook the onions and garlic on med heat for about 7 minutes
Stir in the cinnamon
Add the rice & stir to coat
Add the chicken stock
Add the saffron & its liquid
Season with salt
Bring to a boil
Transfer to a 9 x 13 glass baking dish
Cover with foil and Bake for 45 minutes
When the rice is done, set aside with its foil still on to cool slightly
Core the apple and slice it into 1-inch pieces, leaving the peel on. (I know this seems big, but trust me it works in the final dish)
Melt 3 tbs of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat
Add the green onions and cook for 30 seconds
Add the almonds, pistachios, and apricots and cook for 2 minutes. The apricots will just be starting to brown.
Add the apple and cook just for 1 minute until it is warm.
Stir this into the rice in the baking dish, scraping down the sides where the rice has browned.
Place in a large bowl and serve family-style.

Nutrition Information

Yield

10 servings

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 231Total Fat 13gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 24mgSodium 275mgCarbohydrates 23gFiber 2gSugar 7gProtein 6g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

2 servings

Sea bass on white beans, cherry tomatoes and spinach

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

This recipe marries the freshness of the fish with the warm savoriness of the beans. It is quick and easy to make. We went with 2 larger sea bass fillets, but you could easily cut these in half and serve 4.

This paired beautifully with an Oregon Chardonnay from Lenne Estate.

It is based on a recipe from Cooking Light.

Ingredients

2 (8-oz.) sustainable skinless sea bass fillets
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
5 garlic cloves, sliced
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
2/3 cup unsalted chicken stock
1 (15-oz.) can unsalted white beans (Great Northern White, Cannellini or Navy Beans any will do), rinsed and drained
5 ounces fresh baby spinach
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Heat a non-stick skillet big enough to hold your fillets of seabass over medium-high heat.
Season both sides of the fish with salt and pepper
Add 1 tbs of olive oil to the skillet and swirl to coat
Add the fish cooking 3 minutes per side
Remove the fish and tent with foil to keep warm
Heat 2 tbs of olive oil in the skillet again over medium-high heat
Add the sliced garlic and cook until golden brown, stirring often (about 1 minute)
Add the thyme and tomatoes and cook for 1-minute stirring often
Add the chicken stock and beans and bring to a simmer.
Add the spinach a handful at a time, stirring until it wilts.
Squeeze in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper
Plate the beans in the bottom of a serving dish, and serve with the seabass on top
Garnish with extra sliced cherry tomatoes and fresh thyme

Nutrition Information

Yield

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 428Total Fat 23gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 18gCholesterol 31mgSodium 607mgCarbohydrates 33gFiber 9gSugar 4gProtein 26g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

4 servings

Stuffed Apples with Rabri

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Sweet rabri (a milk sweet from Northern India) makes the bed for these saffron poached apples with a sweet filling of paneer and pistachios. These are the perfect balance of tart and sweet, crisp and creamy. This is based on a recipe from Tarla Dalal.

Ingredients

4 small apples
1 2/3 cup sugar (divided)
1 cup water
10 saffron strands (divided)
¼ cup crumbled paneer (or cottage cheese)
¼ cup chopped pistachios
2 tbs powdered sugar
2 2/3 cups of milk

Instructions

Dissolve 5 saffron strands in 1 tbs of water
Combine sugar and 1 cup of water in a deep pan, mix and boil stirring constantly
Add the saffron mixture and mix
Pull off the heat
Core the apples
Add the apples to the syrup and mix well
Simmer 5-6 minutes till apples are soft, turning twice
Remove and drain apples
Mix the paneer or cottage cheese with the pistachios and powdered sugar
Divide the filling into 4 portions and stuff each apple
Heat the milk in a non-stick pan and simmer stirring constantly until reduced by 1/3
Add the sugar and saffron and mix well.
Simmer 15 min until the sugar is dissolved and the milk is thick and creamy
Just before serving heat the rabri and place the stuffed apples in the mixture and heat
Serve immediately.

Notes

Ideally you would have an apple corer for this job. If, like me, you don't have one (and I couldn't find one at the grocery store!) you can use the old school method my husband taught me that his grandmother used. From the top of the apple make 4 cuts with your paring knife straight down through the apple. Turn the apple over to be sure you can see your cut in the bottom. Push the core out (you might have to check and see if the square is bigger on the top or the bottom, push from the smaller side toward the larger side, if this is the case).

Nutrition Information

Yield

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 574Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 18mgSodium 185mgCarbohydrates 120gFiber 5gSugar 103gProtein 9g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

More on Oregon Wine Country!

There is so much to explore in Oregon Wine Country! Here is a sampling of some of the exploring we have done!

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

Robin 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.

Uruguay more than Tannat with Don Pascual Coastal wines

May 25, 2021

Not too long ago, it was Uruguay Wine Week which included Tannat Day. We shared with you a lovely Tannat we enjoyed from Establecimiento Juanico in Uruguay. It was delicious and it is the National Wine, but there is more to the wines of Uruguay.

We enjoyed two wines from the Coastal region of Uruguay from Establecimiento Juanico that is owned by the Familia Deicas. Santiago Deicas is the winemaker. There was a great IG Live interview that he did with Amanda Barnes of the South American Wine Guide that we watched where he spoke about the recent vintage. He has amazing energy and is passionate about what he does.

Red Blend by Don Pasqual in Uruguay with Barbeque and fries

Coastal White from Uruguay by Don Pasqual with Seafood Feast on the Rooftop Deck

In case you missed our earlier posting, here is a quick rundown on the region.

Uruguay sits in South American between Argentina to the West and Brazil to the Northeast. The Southern portion of the country sits on the Atlantic Ocean and the Rio de La Plata. The regions of Canelones and Maldonado get a lot of coastal influence and that impacts the wines.

Establecimiento Juanicó is located in the Canelones District, but the winery has invested in vineyards in the Maldonado region also.

You can learn more about the history of Uruguay and Establecimiento Juanico in our piece Tannat – at home in Uruguay.

*We received these wines as media samples, but all opinions are our own.

Don Pascual Red Blend 2018

This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Tannat, Merlot and Marselan. If you have not heard of Marselan, you are not alone. This grape is a cross of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache and the largest plantings of it can be found in China. In the 90’s they began planting this grape in Uruguay.

Marselan ripens earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon so this variety is suited to this region that often struggles with rain at the end of harvest. With deep color and low tannins, this is a great tool for blending, especially with the highly tannic Tannat. Santiago told us that by itself it is sweet and soft in the mouth.

The wine is generous and juicy, a wine to be enjoyed with friends and laughter. It bursts with fresh berries, strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, and cherry with notes of violet. It is a joyful wine.

We paired it with Pork Barbeque sandwiches, purple cabbage slaw, and sweet potato fries and it was delicious.

Red Blend from Coastal Uruguay by Don Pasqual with Barbeque and fries

Don Pascual 2020 Coastal White

This wine is a blend of Albariño and Chardonnay from Moldonado on the coast with a touch of Pinot Grigio and Verdejo from Canelones.

This is a new experimentation as they have very little of the Albarino. Santiago traveled to Galicia and spoke with winemakers. The Chardonnay blends in to give the wine backbone but the Albarino is definitely dominant. This wine is aged on the fines lees for 2 to 4 months in tank to provide roundness.

This wine is fresh with citrus notes as well as nectarine, lemon peel, a floral note, and a bit of wet stone. It is tart and fresh and just a little salty, with high acid and a beautiful roundness.

We enjoyed this with a rooftop feast of steamed mussels, scallops, pea risotto, and a fresh salad. Again this is a food-friendly wine and was delicious with all the food.

These are the perfect wines to kick off summer, as we can begin gathering with a few friends. They are wines that are meant to be shared.

If you are intrigued by these wines and would like to learn more about South American Wines, Check out the South American Wine Guide. Amanda Barnes has wonderful information on the wine regions of South American and her new book on the wines of this part of the world is coming out soon. You can pre-order it on her site.

For more information on the Wines of Uruguay, visit Uruguay Wine.

Here are links if you want to know more about the wines visit Establecimiento Juanicó or Bodega Familia Deicas .

More on the wines of South American from Crushed Grape Chronicles

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.

Utopia 2017 Estate Chardonnay with an aromatic salad and warm cozy pork chops with apples

Mar 10, 2021

When I was looking for a pairing for a beautiful Utopia Chardonnay we received as a sample, I went to a book I have been reading to find the aromas and flavors that would pair.

As of late, I have been diving into François Chartier’s book “Taste Buds and Molecules – The art and science of food and wine”. It’s pretty fascinating. It breaks down scientifically why some pairings are so wonderful, and inspires new creations.

I knew from the wineries tasting notes, that I was likely to find “notes of pineapple, banana, citrus, and white peach”. I cross-referenced this with the notes in the book on Chardonnay as well as my knowledge of what I knew to be good Chardonnay pairings.

This 2017 Utopia Chardonnay from the Ribbon Ridge AVA, was a whole cluster press. It aged in multiple vessels, 20% new French oak, 40% neutral French oak, and 40% stainless steel.

So…do look at this as an oak-aged Chardonnay or a stainless steel chardonnay? Stainless steel would have more anise notes, whereas barrel-aged leans to spice.

I narrowed my list a bit and came up with these potential elements to include:

Yellow apples, saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, citrus fruit, dried lavender, dried rosebuds, eucalyptus, fresh figs, ginger, juniper berries, leeks, mint, paprika, parsley, pink grapefruit, quince, rosemary, rosewater, sage, spruce beer, basil.

Utopia 2017 Estate Chardonnay Ribbon Ridge AVA

Well, that’s a pretty diverse list, right? A bit more fine-tuning and we settled on…

Avocado, roasted blood orange, and kumquat salad with a citrus, cardamom, and rosewater dressing

&

Pork chops with yellow apples, sage, apple butter & maple

Avocado, roasted blood orange, and kumquat salad with citrus, cardamom, and rosewater dressing

This dish tied in the notes of citrus from the wine and layered in the notes of cardamom and rosewater. The avocado added a bit of fat and creaminess. I will admit that this was my first time working with cardamom and rose water and I am kind of swoony about it! The fragrance of this salad made me a little weepy with joy. Scent memory is a thing, and I was transported back to my mother’s rosebushes. The aromatics were wonderful.

On top of that, the dish is a real stunner. The colors really pop and you get multiple textures.

I chose blood oranges, mostly for the drama. I knew I was going to roast them and I loved the thought of them coming out so dark and dramatic. The juice also lent a lovely deep color to the dressing.

So I sliced the blood orange and kept the ends to juice. The slices got tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper and roasted for 15 minutes at 425. In the meantime, I worked on the rest of the dish.

The dressing was a citrus mix of lemon, lime, and blood orange juice, then olive oil, of course, salt, pepper, honey, cardamom, and rose water. The cardamom I had in pods which I crushed with the flat side of a knife and popped out the seeds. Since we were filming, I went the pretty route (although it takes more muscle) and used the mortar and pestle to grind the cardamom seeds. You can easily toss them in a spice grinder or your coffee grinder, just wash it!

I stirred things up in a bowl and as usual, was not happy with the emulsification of the olive oil, so I used my favorite trick and threw it in a jar and shook it!

I sliced up a shallot into thin strips and tossed the shallot and roasted blood oranges (once they had cooled) with ½ of my dressing.

The rest went into the bottom of my salad bowl. I tossed my greens in on top. I used red leaf lettuce and some sliced purple cabbage and mixed them with the dressing. I sliced up my avocado to lay out on top, the blood oranges were next, followed by the shallot and sliced kumquats.

I finished the dish with a sprinkle of sliced almonds and dried rose petals.

With the Utopia Chardoannay, I found that the wine popped the rosewater note. It was bright but not overpowering and balanced well with the salad, amping up the brighter notes, like the kumquats, and blending beautifully with the rest.

Pork chops with yellow apples, sage, apple butter & maple

I knew I was going with white meat and chicken can just be so boring…so I pulled out 2 boneless pork chops. Pork and apples are classic, right? This tied in the Yellow apple note.

Cinnamon & maple were other spice notes that I thought might pair with the wine. Apple butter (which is typically high in cinnamon) was slathered on the pork chops after they were seared.

Then the yellow apple slices are cooked in butter with garlic and fresh sage for just a couple of minutes.

The slathered pork chops returned to the pan and the whole thing was drizzled with maple syrup. Then this hits the broiler for 2 minutes to finish it off.

The yellow apple was still a bit firm and was great with this Utopia Chardonnay, the aromatics of the apple, cinnamon, and maple were heavenly. We found the dish pulled out tropical notes in the wine.

Again, a really lovely pairing, and the butter, maple, apple juices in the bottom of the pan? Don’t waste those, they are delicious! Drizzle them over your pork and apples and savor those aromas.

Ingredients for pork chops with yellow apples with Utopia Chardonna

Utopia 2017 Estate Chardonnay pairings Avocado and Roasted Blood Orange with kumquats in a citrus, rosewater and cardamom dressing and Pork chops with yellow apples, sage, apple butter, and maple

2017 Utopia Estate Chardonnay

A few details on the wine. The Utopia Vineyard & Winery is located in the Ribbon Ridge AVA, which is one of those Russian Doll AVAs, it sits within the Chehalem Mountain AVA which sits within the larger Willamette Valley AVA.

Utopia is a small producer and they only made 337 cases of this wine. As I mentioned, it is whole cluster pressed and spends 11 months in 20% New French oak, 40% neutral French oak, and 40% stainless steel. It is 13.2% abv and runs $45 a bottle.

We also tasted the Utopia 2017 Estate Pinot Noir watch for the recipe details on our pairing with that wine, coming out soon!

To learn more about Utopia Wines visit our post

Oregon’s Utopia – A bit of vineyard perfection in the Ribbon Ridge AVA

More on Oregon Wines

We collected our stories on a page called Oregon Wine Country. You will find information on the state and some of it’s AVAs as well as wineries we have visited, some interviews with winemakers and more recipes.

Oregon Wine Country on Crushed Grape Chronicles

Avocado, roasted blood orange and kumquat salad with a citrus, cardamom, and rosewater dressing

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

This salad is meant to be eyecatching. A bed of greens with purple cabbage to help it pop, topped with creamy avocado, roasted blood orange slices, and tart pops of kumquat are dressed with an aromatic dressing of lemon, lime, and blood orange juice with cardamom, and rosewater. The scent of roses mingling with the citrus is enchanting. The kumquats bring a great pop of acidity and the creaminess of the avocado is a great contrast. It is definitely a show-stopper!

Don't be afraid to mix this recipe up with different citrus, greens, and even spices!

We paired this with a beautiful Oregon Chardonnay from the Ribbon Ridge AVA that was not too oaky and not too sharp. It was just right and sang with the food.

Ingredients

¼ cup + 2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp honey
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs lime juice
2 tbs blood orange juice
1/8 tsp cardamom
1 1/2 tbs rosewater
1 shallot thinly sliced
1 avocado sliced
1 blood orange
4 oz kumquats
½ head of red leaf lettuce Salad greens
1 cup Purple cabbage
1 tbs Sliced almonds
1 tbs Dried rose petals

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F
2. Slice the blood orange into slices. About 4 slices about ¼ inch thick. Keep the rest for juicing
3. Toss the slices in 2 tbs of olive oil, plus a dash of salt and pepper
4. Roast 15 minutes at 425 degrees F
5. Slice shallot into thin slices
6. Slice kumquats into 1/8 inch rounds
7. Mix dressing of the ¼ cup Olive oil, honey, juices of lemon, lime, and orange, cardamom, and rosewater. Put it in a jar and shake it!
8. Take oranges out to cool.
9. Toss cabbage and greens with ½ dressing
10. Toss shallots in ½ the dressing, then add cooled orange slices
11. Top the mixed greens & purple cabbage with shallots, blood orange slices, kumquats, sliced avocado. Finish this off with a sprinkle of sliced almonds & dried rose petals

Notes

*Sidenote on the cardamom. Rather than buying it ground, buy the pods and grind as you need it. This keeps it fresher and more fragrant. You can smash the pods with the flat side of a knife and pull out the seeds, then crush them with a mortar and pestle as I did, or if you have a spice grinder use that. I have read that you can grind them with the pods also, but I didn’t try that. Some recipes call for toasting the pods first, again, I didn’t do that with my first exploration with cardamom.

Nutrition Information

Yield

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 229Total Fat 15gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 12gCholesterol 0mgSodium 32mgCarbohydrates 22gFiber 8gSugar 11gProtein 4g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

Pork chops with yellow apples, sage, apple butter & maple

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Warm but bright these pork chops, slathered in apple butter, drizzled in maple syrup, and cooked with butter, garlic, sage, and yellow apple slices, are fragrant and delicious. Done in 20 minutes and perfect to pair with a Chardonnay.

Ingredients

2 tbs of vegetable oil
2 pork chops (mine were ¾ inch thick & boneless)
2 tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper
3 tbs butter
2 tbs of fresh sage
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 tbs apple butter
1 yellow apple apple, cored and sliced
2 tbs Maple syrup

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to Broil
2. Heat a rod iron skillet with the vegetable oil
3. Sear chops 2-3 min on each side (don’t move them around)
4. Reduce the heat and cook for 3 minutes
5. Remove from the pan and tent with foil to keep warm.
6. Into the skillet add the butter, garlic, apple slices, and sage, cook 2 min
7. Spread the pork chops with apple butter
8. Add the pork back to the pan
9. Drizzle with the maple syrup
10. Brown under the broiler 2-3 min
11. Drizzle the butter from the pan over chops.

Nutrition Information

Yield

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 906Total Fat 62gSaturated Fat 19gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 37gCholesterol 178mgSodium 385mgCarbohydrates 47gFiber 5gSugar 36gProtein 41g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

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.

Oregon’s Utopia – A bit of vineyard perfection in the Ribbon Ridge AVA

Mar 4, 2021

Utopia. It’s a place of ideal perfection. That’s what Dan Warnshuis thought when he first saw the site on Oregon’s Ribbon Ridge in the Willamette Valley. The site was a horse pasture. It wasn’t even for sale. None-the-less, he walked to the door of the house on the property and knocked. The next thing you know, he had the start of his vineyard, of his own Utopia.

Dan had fallen in love with wine while working in Silicon Valley. His original plan in life was to teach math and science and coach swimming, having completed his degree at Michigan State on a swimming scholarship. But the Universe had a different path.

Out of college, and at home with his parents in the Bay area, he ended up with a job in the Tech field due to a connection of his father’s. It definitely paid better than teaching, so he didn’t look back.

Dan Warnshuis of Utopia (photo courtesy Utopia Wine)

Looking forward, however, there was the pull of wine country. His boss introduced him to some beautiful wines and he began collecting. Then he started doing a bit of import and export with wine, then marketed wines in Napa and did some custom crush work. This was all during the time of Napa’s climb into the spotlight.

By now he had visited Oregon and loved Oregon Pinot. While land prices in Napa were not friendly, in Oregon this wine thing was just getting really going, and land was available and a bit more affordable.

He found his Utopia in 2000. Soil tests followed and then the hard work of planting a vineyard. 16.8 acres of south-facing hills on Ribbon Ridge which at that time was not even its own AVA. (The AVA was established in 2005).

It is the petit nesting doll in the Willamette, contained within the Chehalem Mountains AVA, which itself sits inside the Willamette Valley AVA.

Chehalem Mountains, Ribbon Ridge AVAs (Willamette Valley Map courtesy of Willamette Valley Wine Association)

Ribbon Ridge AVA

This, the tiniest of Oregon’s AVAs, spans around 3,500 acres, with about 400 acres planted to vine. For a bit of perspective, it’s about 3 ½ miles long and 1¾ miles wide. It’s set out a little from the Chehalem Mountains, like its own island.

Soil & climate geekiness (scroll by if you want, but I love digging into the dirt!)

This AVA is protected by geographical landmasses on 3 sides, north, south, and west, so it’s warmer and drier than the valley floor.

Soils here are younger and finer sedimentary soils than you find in the regions surrounding them. These silty-clay loam soils are part of the Willakenzie series.

This is primarily marine sediment created through a tectonic upheaval 30 to 40 million years ago. The mountains came up and the sea was pushed back and this strip of land was left behind.

When Dan arrived in 2000 there were only about 7 vineyards in the Ribbon Ridge area, now there are over 40.

Planting and planning a vineyard

Luckily this was pasture land, so there were no trees to pull out. After the soil tests were complete, then the process of selecting the vines and getting them in the ground began.

The region was (and is) known for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Rather than limit himself, Dan designed the vineyard to incorporate 12 different Pinot Noir clones. He can vinify each clone separately and then blend which gives him both freedom and control over his Pinot.

They farm sustainably here and became L.I.V.E. certified back in 2008.

Dan is the President of the Ribbon Ridge Winegrowers Association. This year all the members will sign a pledge to go herbicide-free. Eventually, the goal is to have everyone farming organic or biodynamic in Ribbon Ridge.

The Ribbon Ridge AVA has a pretty inspiring statement of principles. Small, but mighty.

A family affair

Dan’s first vintage was in 2005 when he made 97 cases of Pinot Noir. Since then they have increased to 2,500 cases annually from the estate with some additional bottlings with contracted fruit.

His wife Kathy and their daughter Erin round out this family business. Kathy is the “quiet inspiration” behind the brand. Erin worked side by side with her dad during the first harvest in 2005. She continues to expand her wine education and gains experience working on the family wine business.

In 2018 they purchase an additional 36 acres in Ribbon Ridge. The property had a building which they have turned into their winery. They are looking to put in another 15 acres of vineyard here on the new property including they say “some non-typical fruit varietals”. I look forward to hearing more about that!

The new property also boasts a cabin where guests can stay, nestled into the forest of the 37-acre property. The perfect getaway in the woods with all the modern amenities.

*These wines were received as media samples. All opinions are our own.

Onto the wines.

Utopia 2017 Estate Chardonnay

The Utopia Estate Chardonnay is made up of 3 Dijon clones: 76, 95 & 96 that are planted in blocks 12, 13 & 14.

This wine is 100% whole cluster press. It spends 11 months in a mix of 20% new French oak, 40% neutral French oak, and 40% stainless steel.

13.2% abv – 337 cases made – $45 SRP

My notes:

The first thing to hit my nose was lemon pith, then lemon and green apple. There was a hint of salinity and fine notes of chalk.

The wine was soft and light on its feet. We found this opened to more tropical notes. This wine is round with a lovely texture.

Pairings for the 2017 Utopia Estate Chardonnay

Avocado Blood Orange and Kumquat salad with citrus, cardamom and rosewater dressing

With the Chardonnay, we paired a pretty complex, but visually stunning salad of Avocado, roasted blood orange, and kumquats with a dressing with citrus, cardamom, and rosewater.

The salad smelled heavenly, I was transported to my mother’s rose garden. Being new to using rosewater I was worried that it might be overpowering, but it was beautiful.

I found that the wine popped the rosewater note. It was bright but not overpowering and balanced well with the salad, amping up the brighter notes, like the kumquats, and blending beautifully with the rest.

Utopia 2017 Estate Chardonnay with avocado, roasted blood orange and kumquat salad with a citrus, cardamom and rosewater dressing and Utopia 2017 Estate Chardonnay pairings Avocado and Roasted Blood Orange with kumquats in a citrus, rosewater and cardamom dressing and Pork chops with yellow apples, sage, apple butter, and maple

Pork chops with yellow apples, sage, apple butter, and maple

Our main dish was Pork chops with yellow apples, sage, apple butter, and maple.

The pork chops were seared in a rod iron skillet, then cooked for just a few minutes. They came out and the apples, butter, garlic, and sage went into the same pan. The pork chops were slathered with apple butter, put back in the pan with the apples drizzled with maple syrup, and broiled for 2 to 3 minutes.

The yellow apple was still a bit firm and was great with the wine, the aromatics of the apple, cinnamon, and maple were heavenly. We found the dish pulled out tropical notes in the wine.

Utopia 2017 Estate Pinot Noir

Here is where the clonal diversity comes into play. The Pinot Noir clones in this wine include: Wadenswil, Pommard 4 & 5, Dijon 115, 777, 667, Swan, Calera, Arcus 2 & 3, & Shea, Wadenswil.

The grapes are 80% destemmed and 20% whole cluster, aged 11 months in 40% new Burgundian oak and 60% previously-filled Burgundian oak.

14.1% abv – 1203 cases made – $48.00 SRP

My notes:

Medium ruby in color, this wine had boysenberry, currant, and fruit punch mix on the nose upon opening. It opened to black cherry and black fruit with notes of green peppercorns, rose petals and potting soil.

Pairing for the Utopia 2017 Estate Pinot Noir Ribbon Ridge

A cheese plate to begin

We began with a cheese plate of manchego that I happened to have, some Iberico ham, and a Camembert cheese that I macerated with ground clove and five-spice.

Utopia Pinot Noir with manchego, Iberico ham and camembert macerated with five-spice and clove with a black cherry rosemary compote

Lavender Earl Grey Tea smoked Yellowfin Tuna with roasted golden beets and rosemary

Dinner was Lavender Earl Grey Tea smoked Yellowfin Tuna with roasted golden beets and rosemary.

This dish sounds very fancy (and it is) but it’s not very hard to do. The tuna marinates for 30 minutes in a marinade that includes some brewed tea, ginger, olive oil, garlic, honey, and orange juice.

The smoking takes place on the stove in a wok with a metal vegetable steamer and it steams it for about 10 minutes. Give it a quick sear and then plate it on a bed of the roast golden beets.

We plated this beautiful dish on a bowl of steaming rosemary and star anise, the fragrance enhancing the pairing with the wine. This really set the experience over the top.

Dessert

We finished with mini pineapple upside-down cakes with a black cherry and rosemary compote. The caramelized pineapple, cherries, and rosemary all paired well with the wine. The tartness of the cherries making this dessert pairing work.

Utopia 2017 Pinot Noir with mini pineapple upsidedown cakes with cherry rosemary compote

Here are the links directly to the recipes!

Here’s the link for the Chardonnay pairing recipes!

Utopia 2017 Estate Chardonnay with an aromatic salad and warm cozy pork chops with apples

And the Pinot Noir!

Tea smoked tuna and roasted beets with an aromatic plating paired with a Utopia 2017 Pinot Noir

Visiting Utopia

The Tasting Room at Utopia is currently open daily from 11-6. You can make an appointment on their website at https://www.utopiawine.com/visit-us

Sources and Resources

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.

Champagne & BBQ, Chartogne-Taillet meets Rollin’ Smoke (#Winophiles)

Jun 19, 2020

Champagne. Possibly the most enchanting liquid on the planet. Joie de vivre in a glass. Is there anything better? Well, perhaps…if it is Champagne with a story and a great pairing.

This month the French #Winophiles are diving into the “Unexpected Pleasures of Champagne”. We are led for this discussion by Gwendolyn Alley of Wine Predator. You can read her invitation post here.

So “Unexpected Pleasures”. What does that mean? I think you will find a variety of interpretations in the pieces by the #Winophiles. It will definitely be an fun and interesting conversation when we gather on Saturday, June 20th, on twitter to discuss! Join us that morning (8am PST/ 11am EST) by following the hashtag #Winophiles on twitter and join in the conversation. It’s a Saturday morning, so sipping bubbles will be appropriate!

Garagiste LV

I went in search of a wine that would suit this topic. I have newly discovered a wine bar/shop in our Las Vegas downtown Arts District called “Garagiste LV“. Owned by Somms Mario Enriquez and Eric Prato, who are carrying so many wines that are outside the box that I really want to taste. You may have heard me rant before of the Vegas wine desert and how the only 2 local wine shops are all the way on the other side of the valley. Well, now I have a go to shop, with a really fantastic list.

Garagiste LV Wine Bar does wine sales by the bottle for pickup

Garagiste LV Downtown Las Vegas interior shot

I pulled up their online list and ran through each of the Champagnes and researching for the story. I settled on the Chartogne-Taillet Sainte Anne from Merfy.

Merfy in Montagne de Reims

This village is northwest of Reims in the Marne department and is known for it’s clay and sand soils. (This is in the yellow section of the map below in Montagne de Reims) The region has been making amazing wines since the Middle Ages as far back as the monks of the Saint-Thierry monastery in the village next door. Vineyards are south of the village between Merfy and Chenay. Vineyards here are flat with a slight southern exposure. These slopes were planted soon after the Romans arrived. In the 9th century, the vines around the Abbey of Saint-Thierry were the largest concentration of vines in Champagne. Chartogne-Taillet is the only RM winery in the region.

Map of the regions within the Champagne AOC

Chartogne-Taillet

The winery has Cru sites in the Montagne de Reims region, which is the Northernmost region in Champagne. They have cru sites in Merfy, Chenay and Saint Thierry.

Wines here are made by Alexandre Chartogne, who makes wines from his 12 ha family estate. While the vineyard does not hold a certification, he uses organic practices. There are no chemicals here. He uses cover crops and often ploughs by horse. He uses indigenous yeast and chooses his fermenting containers depending on the wine. These might be oak, stainless steel, amphorae or concrete eggs.

He is trying to convey a feeling of the place in his wines. He works with Claude and Lydia Bourguignon the renowned microbiologists to analyze his soils. 1/2 of his site is ploughed by horses and most of the work is done by hand.

Jancis Robinson tells us that there is a Commonwealth War Grave cemetery near by. These cemeteries were mass graves for soldiers or perhaps the bodies were buried where they fell in the battle. This brings a somber note and a bit of risk to any ploughing nearby. It reminds us that the history of Champagne is not all joyful.

Chartogne-Taillet Sainte Anne from Merfy

Sainte Anne Cuveé from Chartogne-Taillet in Merfy within Montagne de Reims in Champagne

Chartogne-Taillet has been in Merfy in the Champagne Region since 1683

Chartogne-Taillet Sainte Anne Cuveé Champagne back label

Anticipation...waiting to pop open this bottle. The top of the bottle, cork still under the foil of Champagne Chartogne-Taillet

This is a village wine that is non-vintage, but it is based on the 2016 vintage. The idea is to express the different terroirs of Merfy. This is his introductory wine and shows how wonderful a village wine can be if made with expertise.

The total hectares for the estate is 12. With the amount of this wine available, it obviously is not all from the estate. The wine is well distributed in the US.

The blend is determined, not by formula but on the vintage. This wine is 50% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Meunier and is made from parcels within Merfy that average 25 years old. It spends 10 months in stainless steel and 3 years on it lees and has a low dosage of 4-5 g/l. This particular wine was bottled on July 26, 2017 and disgorged in December of 2018. Most of this fabulous information can be found easily on the back label.

My tasting notes

In the glass this was a medium intensity, with a lemon color that seemed almost a bit rosy to me. On the nose I got white flowers, almond, yellow apple and just a hint of bread. It was a very integrated and comforting nose. It was brighter on the palate with Green apple, starfruit and citrus. Over all this was a wine that I found it difficult to pick out individual notes, because everything was so well integrated and harmonious. It had a medium to long finish.

This wine was 12.5 abv and ran $49.99.

As if this wine was not in itself, enough of an unexpected pleasure, we went searching for a pairing that we had not tried before.

Pairing with Champagne

We had a wonderful pairing the other evening, where the weight and balance of the wine matched perfectly with the weight and balance of the dish. Michael suggested we do something similar for our Champagne pairing. On a side note, we were watching Food Network and started binging Michael Symon and Bobby Flay’s “BBQ Brawl”. In the middle of this, I thought “Champagne & BBQ!” This low brow, meets highbrow pairing seemed just right. Now, on to find a local BBQ spot to support (NO, I am not doing my own BBQ. There are experts for this!)

Rollin Smoke BBQ

Pit Special from Rollin' Smoke Barbeque in Las Vegas

We googled local BBQ and found Rollin’ Smoke BBQ. They had a Pit Special that was perfect with Brisket, Pulled Port, 1/4 chicken, Spare Ribs and Hot Links with 3 sides and bread. We added burnt ends and chose Bacon Potato Salad, Collard Greens with Brisket and Corn nuggets. There were also 3 sauces, a honey mustard (heavy on the mustard), a mild sauce and a spicy sauce.

How did it pair?

The blowout best pairing, strangely enough was the bacon potato salad. Something with the eggs and the bacon mixing with the wine was just comforting and spectacular. Michael doesn’t like the texture of potato salad and had to be convinced to try it. He agrees. While many of the pairings were really delicious, this was the best of them.

Chartogne-Taillet Champagne with Rollin' Smoke BBQ

Don’t bother with the greens. I love these greens, but eat them separate from the Champagne. It’s not a match.

The wine elevated the sweetness in the corn nuggets, it highlighted the char on the burnt ends. It was also good with the sauces. The hot links and hotter sauce were amped up a little heat wise by the alcohol. Really, this was a great match all around.

I think the depth of fruit in this wine helped the pairing. If it had been a Blanc de Blanc it might not have worked. The mixture of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier (have I mentioned that I am a sucker for a Pinot Munier?) helped to blend with the mix of sweet and tart in the BBQ sauces. Of course it is a given that the Champagne would cut through the fat in the meats and clean your palate for the next bit. The wine just seemed to blend and accentuate the smokey flavors.

The French #Winophiles

As I mentioned before, the French #Winophiles will gather on twitter on Saturday June 20th at 11 am EST or 8 am PST to talk about Champagne and its “Unexpected Pleasures”. Join in the conversation! Share your story! Just follow #Winophiles.

Be sure to check out all the pieces below and discover more of Champagne’s Unexpected Pleasures!

From Martin: “Champagne Drappier’s Blanc de Quatre Blancs; A Taste of Champagne’s White Heirloom Grape Varieties” www.enofylzwineblog.com aka @martindredmond
Cam gives us: “Pour un Pique-Nique Sur le Patio: Roasted Citrus Tart + Jacquart Brut Mosaique” on Culinary Adventures with Camilla https://culinary-adventures-with-cam.blogspot.com/ aka @Culinary_Cam
From Cindy: “A Stroke of Serendipity – Discovering Champagne Louis Brochet Brut 1er Cru in London” aka @GrapeExp_Cindy on grape-experiences.com
Nicole shares: “A Super Fancy Pants Grilled Cheese Pairing: Salmon Caviar Croque-Monsieur with Charles Dufour Bulles de Comptoir 6 La Benjamine 2.0 Champagne” on SommsTable.com
From Terry: “Champagne and Sticky Asian Chicken Thighs: Whoa!” on Our Good Life Www.terristeffes.com
Jeff gives us: “The Polar Opposite of House Style at Champagne Coessens” on “Food Wine Click!” https://foodwineclick.com/ aka @Foodwineclick
From Katrina: “Seven is a Charm with Laherte Freres Les 7 Champagne” on https://thecorkscrewconcierge.com/ aka @corksconcierge
Susannah shares: “Falling In Love with Champagne: My First Visit to a Wine region” on avvinare
From Gwendolyn and Sue: “10 of Champagne’s Unexpected Pleasures: 24 Hours in and around Reims, France for #Winophiles” and “Tasting Biodynamic Champagne with Philippe Lancelot” on winepredator.com aka @artpredator

Sources & Resources

We have written about Champagne before…

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

Robin Renken CSW (photo credit RuBen Permel)

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

Chardonnay: Nuances in expressing site – an example from the Yakima Valley

May 21, 2020

Chardonnay is one of the world’s most popular grapes. A noble grape, its parents are Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc. We first see mention of it in the 16^th century in Burgundy.

You can find it grown all over the globe. From its home in Burgundy to Australia’s Hunter Valley. You find it in Italy, South Africa, Spain, Chile, Argentina, California, Oregon, Washington…Yes, Washington. We will get to that later.

The Different Styles of Chardonnay

These different regions bring in some of the differences in the wines. With wine grapes, flavors and aromas come from the variety, the location where it is grown (climate and soil) and then the winemaking. Chardonnay is incredibly adaptable.

Chardonnay can have aromas and flavors of yellow apple, citrus, tropical fruit, butter, vanilla, chalk, lime, white flowers, or stone fruit. Warm climates give you tropical notes, cool climates more citrus and pear.

The wine makers hand…

Here there are many variables. It can be as simple as when the winemaker chooses to pick, what the sugar levels are at. Then you can ferment in stainless or in wood. You can allow the wine to go through malolactic fermentation or not, you can age on the lees, you can filter or not filter….so many options that will affect the taste of the wine.

A tale of two Chardonnays

With all these variables that can affect the outcome of a bottle of Chardonnay, what if you eliminate a few. Would the wines then taste the same? We had a chance to investigate the nuances of Chardonnay with two vineyards in Yakima Valley. These vineyards sit in 2 different AVAs within the larger Yakima Valley AVA. DuBrul Vineyard in the Rattlesnake Hills AVA and Roskamp Vineyard in the Snipes Mountain AVA. While they are in two separate AVAs, if you were a crow you would have a 6 to 7-mile flight to get between the two vineyards. Standing in one vineyard, on a clear day, you can easily see the other.

Last year we visited with two winemakers we had met there before. Co Dinn of Co Dinn Cellars and Kerry Shiels of Cote Bonneville. The two both make Chardonnay from these vineyards that look across the Yakima Valley at each other.

Map Yakima Valley 2019 courtesy of WineYakimaValley.org

Co Dinn Chardonnay Roskamp Vineyard Snipes Mountain AVA

Co in Vineyard — Co pointing out DuBrul vineyard to the North

Co Dinn makes his Chardonnay from the Roskamp Vineyard on the Snipes Mountain AVA. Snipes Mountain sits in the middle of the Yakima Valley, an anticline in the Yakima fold belt. The north side is a gentle slope, while the south side is steep, with basement rock exposed.

His Chardonnay sits on the north slope. While that might be odd in most regions, you have much longer days in the growing season here and they rarely have trouble getting fruit to ripen. Keeping the Chardonnay on the north slope gives it the morning sun and keeps it protected from the afternoon heat. They have 3 blocks of Chardonnay here at Roskamp, the one Co pulls from is the most protected. It is planted to the Dijon clones 76 & 96 in a field blend.

These grapes, thanks to the sandy soil in Washington are own rooted. They keep the west side shaded and expose the east side. The vines need more protection from the southwest heat and wind. Soils here on the gentler north slope are deeper, you can see the difference in vigor between these vines and the syrah vines growing closer to the south side.

Co makes his wines in a very traditional way. His chardonnay is barrel fermented with full malolactic fermentation and ages 17 months on the lees. His goal? To really showcase the site.

“I believe that the ultimate expression of a wine is to capture the character of the site. You can make beautiful wines by blending but you lose specificity. I’ve decided to find these special places and to express them. For example, this place is very unique and so are the wines.”
Co Dinn, July 2019

Roskamp Vineyard 04 — The view of Rattlesnack Hills and DuBrul Vineyard from Roskamp Vineyard

Co points out DuBrul Vineyard across the valley to the North. The vineyard there is southwest facing. Theirs is the older clone.

Kerry Shiels, DuBrul Vineyard, Rattlesnake Hills AVA

Dubrul Vineyard with Kerry Shiels — Talking with Kerry Shiels of Côte Bonneville in her DuBrul Vineyard in Yakima

A few days later, we spent the morning with Kerry Shiels at DuBrul Vineyard. This site sits on a basalt upthrust. They have a south facing slope with a cutout that allows for southwest and southeast aspects. They sit high in the foothills of the Rattlesnake Mountains. This unique vineyard with its aspects grows quite a range, from Cabernet Sauvignon to Chardonnay to Riesling!

Mt Adams — Mount Adams, West of the Yakima Valley

The morning we visited the Mountains were out. When you looked to the West you could see Mount Adams to the south and further north in the distance Mt. Rainier.

We spent some time in the cool chardonnay vineyard. This was early July, and they would not pick the Chard until the beginning of September.

Kerry also does her Chardonnay in a classic style with a barrel ferment, full secondary, full malolactic. They keep it on the lees, and it spends about a year and a half in barrel.

“I have a friend who doesn’t like Chardonnay, she says “your chardonnay is good, I recognize the quality, it’s not my favorite grape. Which is fine, but it’s good enough that she says “If I’m going to drink Chardonnay, I’ll drink yours. But I’d rather drink coke”. If you like Burgundian styled classical age-worthy complex balanced Chardonnay, then you are going to like our Chardonnay.”
Kerry Shiels, July 2019

We look across to the South to Snipes Mountain and Roskamp vineyard.

“I think it’s really interesting how different that Chard taste from this Chard.
I mean they are different clones, but also the soil is different. Snipes is its own, geologically it’s totally distinct from this. It’s fun to see that sense of place.“
Kerry Shiels, July 2019

Similarities and Differences

So how did our side by side tasting go? It was interesting. Let’s run down the similarities and differences again.

Chard Pairing — Cote Bonneville 2015 DuBrul Vineyard Chardonnay and Co Dinn 2015 Roskamp Vineyard Chardonnay

Both were barrel fermented, with 17 to 18 months on the lees. They were both unfined and unfiltered and from the same 2015 vintage. Both come from the Yakima Valley, from vineyards just 6 to 7 miles apart. They were both made by winemakers with similar styles, both wanting to showcase the site.

They were Chardonnays from different clones, from 2 different AVAs (regardless of how near they are), the aspects were different with the Roskamp Chardonnay on the gentle North slope and the DuBrul on a South west facing slope. The soils and the microclimates (most definitely the microclimates) are different. Lastly, quite honestly, I don’t know what yeast they each used.

Tasting & Comparing

The Co Dinn Roskamp Chardonnay was plush and creamy with baking spice, whereas the Cote Bonneville was leaner and more elegant with not quite ripe pear notes and a lovely mineral note.

How much of this was the soil, the different aspect, perhaps the picking date? I don’t know, I just find it wonderful and amazing that two wines made from grapes in vineyards that look out on to each other, can be so subtly different.

I’m going to also mention that these are probably two of the finer Chardonnay’s that you will find in the Yakima Valley and they don’t come cheap. In fact, the Cote Bonneville may no longer be available. Pick up the latest vintage. They pride themselves on consistency and it is bound to be good.

The Wines and where to find them

Both of these wineries can be found in Sunnyside Washington, at about the mid point of the Yakima Valley. Both has beautiful historic buildings for tasting rooms and are well worth the trip. But, in these days, when travel is not so easy…you can order them online.

2015 Chardonnay Cote Bonneville SRP $50

Cote Bonneville, Tasting Room Sunnyside Washington

https://www.cotebonneville.com

2015 Co Dinn Chardonnay Roskamp Vineyard SRP $45

https://codinncellars.com/

Other resources on Chardonnay and the Yakima Valley

More on this region from Crushed Grape Chronicles

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.

Nostalgia in a Wine and Food Pairing with Chardonnay

Apr 28, 2020

Not all things go as planned. We made chicken adobo, a dish from the Philipines, the day before and had planned to pair it with a Chardonnay. Chicken adobo is best enjoyed on the 2nd day, when the flavors have melded together. It’s a pretty simple dish with chicken thighs, onions, garlic and the adobo sauce which is a blend of vinegar and soy. After simmering to cook the chicken, we put this in the fridge to let all the flavors incorporate.

Chicken Adobe bowls

I came across a Chardonnay that we picked up from Temecula. I knew it had been a while and I figured we had better drink it up. There was a bit of a nostalgic feel to this pairing. Growing up in Southern California, Temecula and the San Diego area often feel like home to me. And, our Filipino neighbor taught my mother many recipes when we lived in Hawaii and I was a child. I grew up with Filipino dishes being a regular part of our diet.

We reheated the chicken, cooked up the vermicelli rice noodles and prepped the carrots, mint and cilantro to finish off this Sun Basket dish.

Chicken Adobo with vermicelli rice noodles, mint, cilantro and carrots

How old is that Chardonnay?

We took a couple shots with the bottle, after the dish was plated. I was surprised to see it was a 2004, which was a little older than I expected. When I went to open the bottle, the cork broke. I tried again (sadly without a butler’s friend) and found it was stuck. Finally, I managed to drill down through the cork and make a hole. The liquid that came out was deep yellow. This wine was obviously aged and slightly oxidized. Not great, but quite honestly, not horrible. Nonetheless, it was not going to pair with this dish.

The deep gold color of this 2004 Chardonnay from Thornton

Michael headed off to look for another bottle and came back with a #travelinabottle trip to Australia’s Hunter Valley.

Let’s #travelinabottle to the Hunter Valley instead!

Scarborough 2014 Yellow label Chardonnay from the Hunter Valley NSW Australia — Scarborough 2014 Yellow label Chardonnay from the Hunter Valley

The 2014 Yellow Label Chardonnay from Scarborough Wine was perfect for this pairing. Scarborough Wine is located on the west side of the Hunter Valley, against the Brokenback range. They are well known here for their Chardonnays. We visited in October and interviewed Jerome Scarborough. After the interview, we tasted through their Chardonnays and left with this bottle from 2014.

Scarborough Wine Co.

The cellar door at Gillards Rd is the old family home. Jerome’s mother’s dream home. It’s beautiful and warm and is a perfect tasting room. Jerome told us about turning the house into a tasting room, as he looked out the back windows onto the lawn that he played on as a child.

Jerome’s father Ian, bought the vineyard and property in the late 70’s. In the 80’s he ripped out the Shiraz and put in Chardonnay. In 1987, they made their first vintage of Chardonnay in the garage on the Gillards Rd property. While they continue to make other varieties and blends, the Yellow label Chardonnay remains their flagship wine.

Tasting glasses at Scarborough Hunter Valley NSW

Scarbourgh Wine in Hunter Valley Australia Vineyard

Scarborough and the Brokenback Mountain Range Hunter Valley Australia

Chicken Adobo with an Aussie Chardy!

This 2014 vintage is a richer expression of Chardonnay, but it is not overly oaky or buttery. The wine has citrus and pith, white peach and some subtle tropical notes all rounded with a bit of nuttiness. I found this wine to be balanced. It was lovely with the chicken and made the mint pop! We enjoyed it with the food and later, on it’s own.

Chicken Adobo and Scarborough Chardonnay

Where to next?

Hmmm….maybe Spain or Italy? Join us for our next trip as we #travelinabottle.

Where are you traveling to virtually these days? Are you daydreaming of a vacation. We’d love to hear about your favorite wine regions or the regions you would like to visit! Share with us in the comments below!

More info

For more information on Scarborough Wine and the Hunter Valley, try some of these links!

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter 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.

Exploring New South Wales – Hunter Valley

Feb 27, 2020

The Hunter Valley is a large region and holds the lions share of wineries when you look at New South Wales. In this region which covers more than 30,000 square kilometres (that’s over 18,000 square miles) you will find more than 150 wineries and cellar doors.

This is the oldest wine growing region in Australia. James Busby, the father of Australian wine, brought cuttings to the region in the 1820’s. Originally known for Riesling and Semillon, the region now produces a wide range of varieties. Semillon, is it’s signature wine. The grapes expression here is like no other region in the world.

When we visited in October of 2019 for the Wine Media Conference, we took a bit of time to explore the region, before, during and after the conference. Here is a bit on the few of the places we had time to visit. This is just the tip of the iceberg, there are many more that we did not have time to get to, but we will drop a link at the bottom to help you find all the other amazing wineries and more in the region.

Muse at Hungerford Winery

We start out with a restaurant. Not just any restaurant, Muse is a dining experience. With a seasonal menu that makes your mouth water just to read and dishes that are almost too beautiful to eat, this is an experience not to miss when you are in the region.

What you find on every beautiful plate is sourced sustainably and locally, with some of the vegetables coming out of the garden on site that they maintain.

The wine list is filled with local wines and it is well worth tasting some of the aged Hungerford Semillons on the list. Did I mention the food is beautiful? I dare you to get through the slide show of our dinner without drooling.

1st course at Muse restaurant in the Hunter Valley Australia NSW

Dinner at Muse Cured and charred kangaroo, wattleseed yoghurt, mulberry, purple daikon, native pepper berry salad Hunter Valley NSW Australia

Dinner at Muse entre Slow cooked lamb breast, black garlic glaze, fresh and salt baked beetroot, garlic shoots Hunter Valley NSW Australia

Dinner at Muse dessert Red gala apple, miso custard, verjuice caramel, brioche, macadamia, wattleseed Hunter Valley NSW Australia

Dinner at Muse in Hunter Valley NSW Australia Amuse bouche

2nd course Muse Petuna ocean trout served raw, smoked bonito mousse, Hunter Valley NSW Australia

Dinner at Muse 3rd Course Barbequed Murray Gold cod, kohlrabi, XO butter, nasturtium seeds, leaves and flowers Hunter Valley NSW Australia

Palate cleanser between courses at Muse in the Hunter Valley NSW Australia

Dessert at Muse Raspberry, white chocolate, rhubarb, wild fennel, liquorice Hunter Valley NSW Australia

Tamburlaine

Tamburlaine is organic. They had been on my radar, and then I met winemaker Aaron Mercer at the opening gathering for the Wine Media Conference. I had an opportunity to taste his wines, while he told me about the winery and their organic vineyards. They work hard to limit their impact on the environment and are one of Australia’s largest organic producers. They do also have some Vegan Friendly wines!

Scarborough

We spent our first afternoon in the Hunter with Jerome (Jer-Oh-Me) Scarborough of Scarborough Wine Co. They are known here for Chardonnay, which is a little atypical for the region. We tasted in their beautiful tasting room on Gillards Road, which was originally the family home. His father Ian, known by most as “Scarbie” is one of the Hunter Valley “Legends”. Scarbie replanted the Gillards Road Vineyard when they took it over, pulling up the Cab and Shiraz and planting Chardonnay on the red clay soils.

Jerome took time with us for a wonderful interview and we look forward to sharing that with you in the future.

Tyrrell’s

Tyrrell’s is one of the oldest wineries in the region. They have been family owned since 1858. Known for their Semillon & Shiraz, the Vat 1 Semillon is one of Australia’s most awarded white wines.

In 1858 Edward Tyrell took up 320 acres of land in the Hunter that he named “Ashmans” which is the name of his maternal grandmothers ancestral home in Suffolk. They built an iron bark slab hut as a residence. The historic building stands today.

If you are looking for history in the Hunter…this is the place.

Keith Tulloch

Keith and his wife Amanda got into the wine business back in 1997. They grew the business purchasing the “Field of Mars” vineyard in 2008 and opening their state of the art winery in 2011. Keith Tulloch is a carbon neutral winery. I had messaged with Keith, but he was out of the country during our visit. Brendan their Winemaker took us out into the vineyard to show and tell us about the varieties they are growing, their sustainable methods, show us their insectary garden and then the winery.

We finished with a tasting upstairs at their beautiful cellar door. Cameron their Cellar Door Manager walked us through a tasting, answering all of our in depth questions.

They also have another of the Muse restaurants onsite. This is the Muse Kitchen. They serve lunch most days, and dinner a few days of the week so check ahead of time.

Krinklewood

If you know me you know that I will search out bio dynamic wineries. They are my people. Krinklewood was no exception. We headed out to Broke/Fordwich to meet Rod Windrim, the Vigneron (and owner). We were greeted by the sparkle of mirror balls lining the driveway at the end of each vineyard row. This keeps the birds away and it looks spectacular!

Rod met us and walked us around the property. He is passionate about bio dynamics and sustainability and was happy to talk with me about his views and practices. He took us past the solar panels into the winery, which itself is a pretty spectacular building and we were treated to some barrel tasting before we headed back to the cellar door and the gardens.

There are formal gardens here as well as some stellar organic produce gardens and a peacock or two that wander the property. We finished with a tasting with Rod before he had to jet off to Sydney for a meeting.

Brokenwood

We were lucky enough to make a couple of trips to Brokenwood. It’s centrally located and pretty easy to get to.

We did a morning meeting for an interview with Senior Winemaker Stuart Hordern, who is also a Director on the Hunter Valley Wine & Tourism Association Board. He came in from the vineyard to tell us about the region and then a bit more about Brokenwood itself.

We visited again for the “Legends of the Hunter Valley” event and…once more for dinner on the winery crush pad with a group of wine writers.

This winery was established in 1970 by 3 businessmen from Sydney, one of which was James Halliday, the noted Australian wine writer and critic who is known for Wine Companion, his annual overview on Australian Wine.

Audrey Wilkinson

While at the “Legends of the Hunter Valley” event, I met Daniel Byrom. We had a great conversation while he poured me the Audrey Wilkinson wines. He did tell me also that they have a stunning vineyard with the best sunrise shots in the Hunter Valley.

So we got up early and headed out to see the sunrise their ourselves. He was right, it was stunning, as were their wines.

So much more…

There are so many more wineries in this region. Many we caught up with at the conference like First Creek, de iuliis, Briar Ridge, 1813, Wombat Creek, Whispering Brook, Tulloch, Tintilla, Mount Pleasant, Margan, Thomas, Peter Drayton, Oakvale and so many more. (You can look forward to more on these wineries coming up)

It’s a beautiful region, with lots to do, that sits just 2 hours from Sydney. They have a big concert series in addition to fantastic restaurants, festivals, hot air balloon rides, nature retreats, golfing, spas…there is really something for everyone. For more information visit Hunter Valley Wine Country

French Wine…where to begin? #Winophiles

Jan 17, 2020

This month the French Winophiles are diving into a French Wine 101. It’s timely as we all enter our comments to the government in opposition to proposed 100% European wine tariffs. (If you have not heard about this, I’ll post some links at the bottom for more information.) We have done a bit of writing on French wines and you will find links to those pieces. Many of these pieces were written in conjunction with the French #Winophiles, which means there is the extra bonus, of each of those pieces having links to other articles written by the rest of the #Winophiles! If you are interested in French wine, you will have plenty of reading available!

French Wine 101

I’m here to rally for French wine. If you are new to wine, French wine can be a bit overwhelming so let’s start at the beginning.

Old World vs New World

To be sure, when we say “Old World” in reference to wines, we think first of French wines. But what does “Old World” mean? From a scholastic point of view: Old world wines are dominated by terroir, they are defined by place. Typically these wines are more restrained and elegant. New World wines, on the other hand tend to be reflective of the winemaker’s style and are often more fruit forward and bold.

That is a really broad definition of the differences, and doesn’t always hold true, but when people say “Old World” and “New World” this is what they are thinking.

French wine names

In France, wines are named for the region they come from, not by the variety of grape as we do in the new world. This takes us back to that idea of “terroir” which is a sense of place, with soil, and climate. So rather than speaking about Chardonnay in France, you would speak of Chablis or White Burgundy. Both of those wines are made with Chardonnay, but the wine is named for the region.

When we think of Bordeaux, we think of age worthy reds. These are typically Cabernet or Merlot based, depending on which bank of the river the region sits. And you will notice that I said “based”. These wines are blends of the different varieties of grapes that grow best in this region.

There is one exception to this. In Alsace, the white wine region on the German border in the North East of France, wines are often labeled with the variety. This comes from the German culture and this area throughout the ages, has bounced back and forth between French and German control.

Without going too deep into the wine labels (that’s a rabbit hole best saved for another day), let’s talk about some of the most well known French Wine Regions, and I’ll give you a translation for what varieties you will see from each.

French Wine regions

I love maps. It gives you a better sense of the geography and influences on a region. I could dive into the climates and soils in each of these regions (I do love to get geeky on these things), but this is French Wine 101! So let’s put together some dots for you, on what varieties you will find in each of these regions and what you might want to eat with each of these wines!

Loire Valley – Val de Loire

Map of the wine regions of the Loire Valley

This is white wine country! You will find a bit of red, but the white wines are likely to be the ones you have heard of.

Muscadet

On the West end of the Loire Valley closest to the Atlantic Ocean. Melon de Bourgogne, which you will hear called Muscadet, is most prevalent here. This is a dry white wine that pairs really well with seafood. You will get citrus, and green apple and pear along with a lovely note of salinity. Go for shellfish with this wine

Chenin Blanc

Moving east Chenin Blanc begins to shine. Vouvray and Saviennières are well known Chenin Blancs from the regions of Touraine and Anjou-Saumur respectively. The two can be very different. Vouvray can be made from dry to semi-sweet to sweet, and you will find you need to do a bit of research to determine which sweetness level you are getting. Saviennières has been called the “most cerebral wine in the world”. These wines have depth of flavor, great acidity and minerality.

Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc, is mainly found in the Upper Loire, the area furthest east and inland. Here you hear of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. These wines are crisp and high acid. Pair them with fish or poultry. With cheeses these are wonderful with goat cheese or other creamy cheeses (think brie).

Cabernet Franc

Not to be overlooked is Cabernet Franc which in this region is the primary red wine. Chinon or Bourgueil in the Touraine region produce elegant Cab Francs. These wines can be slightly spicy with raspberry and violet notes and are a favorite at Parisian Bistros.

For more…

Champagne

Well you know what Champagne is! This region and it’s soil and climate produce some of the world’s finest sparkling wines primarily from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.

These wines, while often looked at a just for celebrations or just with the hors d’oeuvres at the top of the meal actually are perfect during a meal. The bubbles and acidity clean your palate making every bite taste as amazing as the first.

There are plenty of classic pairings, but try potato chips, buttered popcorn or fried chicken! The bubbles and acid with the fat and salt are heaven.

For more…

Alsace

This region sits on the German border and as I mentioned earlier has bounced back and forth between French and German control. The names and architecture here reflect that mixed heritage and the wines do as well.

These bright aromatic white wines are perfect to keep your nose in all day or dab behind your ears. But…if you must move on to drinking them, pair them with fish, aromatic cheeses, schnitzle, salads…there are so many great pairings. These are also wines known for pairing well with spicy foods like Thai! You will find riesling, pinot gris, muscadet and gewurztraminer lead the pack on varieties.

For more…

There are a few other varieties including Pinot Noir, but you are less likely to run into them.

Chablis

Chardonnay

This is Chardonnay land, but not those big buttery California Chardonnays that your Aunt might drink. These are sharp and bright with great mineral quality! Pair with fish or chicken, oysters or other shellfish, mushrooms or cheese (think goat cheese or Comté). The sharp acid makes this great with creme sauces.

For more…

Mont de Milieu Premier Cru Chablis from Simonnet-Febvre and Pôchouse #Winophiles

Burgundy (Bourgogne)

Chablis, above, is in Burgundy sitting 80 miles northwest of the rest of Burgundy. Burgundy is known for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Pinot Noir

The Côte de Nuits is the Northern part of the Côte d’Or and is the region that Pinot Noir calls home. It ventures further afield, but this is it’s homeland and you will find some of the most expensive Pinot Noirs on the planet, hail from here.

Pinot Noir is perfect for red wine with fish. It is the go to wine to pair with salmon. Many Pinot Noirs also have earthy notes and pair beautifully with mushrooms.

Chardonnay

The Côte de Beaune is dominated by Chardonnay. These are likely to be aged in oak. They will be richer and more buttery than those lean Chardonnays from Chablis, but they are still dry. Try this wine with pasta, chicken, risotto, shellfish or salt water fish and with cheeses like gruyere.

There is more to the region, the Côte Chalonnais and the Mâconnais, but we will leave those for another day.

For more…

An Evening in Burgundy – at home

Beaujolais

Just south of Burgundy you find Beaujolais. This is a wine you will know better by the region name than by the grape, Gamay, that it is made from. Beaujolais Nouveau is the first wine released each year on the third Thursday in November. These early release wines are fresh and fruity, but the region does have other Gamay’s that are meant to be deeper and more age worthy.

Beaujolais Nouveau will be fruit forward and downright perky! Sometimes you will hear people say that they smell bubblegum or bananas in addition to raspberries and cranberry.

Aged Beaujolais might have notes of forest floor, mushroom, violet, tart cherry and smoke.

These are lighter wines and can pair across the spectrum from salmon to barbeque. Visit the Beaujolais site for a great graphic to assist with pairings for all the varied wines from this region.

The Rhone Valley

M.Chapoutier Crozes Hermitage vineyards in Tainl' Hermitage Rhone valley France — M.Chapoutier Crozes Hermitage vineyards in Tainl’ Hermitage Rhone valley France

I am a lover of Rhônes. Guaranteed…many of mine come from the Rhône Rangers that you find in California, and many of which were brought from Chateauneuf-de-Pape in the Southern Rhône.

The region is broken into the Northern and Southern Rhône. The Northern Rhône is the land of Syrah and Viognier and typically very pure and expensive versions of these.

Syrah

The Côte Rotie is known for some of the most amazing Syrah on the planet. I’ve heard it described as bacon and violets. Which sounds pretty amazing to me.

Viognier

Condrieu is well known for 100% Viognier. This white wine is full bodied and round with notes of apricot, pear and almonds.

There are other appellations like Crozes Hermitage above and Cornas, there is more to explore here, if you have the budget.

The Southern Rhone is warmer as it heads down the Rhone river to the Mediterranean and you will find blends of multiple varieties. The famous Chateauneuf-du-Pape is here with blends of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre and more. Wines here lean toward blends.

Red Rhône Blends

These will have berry notes (think raspberry and black berry) baking spice, and maybe some garrigue (think underbrush), lavender, dried herbs. The more Mourvedre, the more likely you will have meaty notes to the wine.

These go well with mediterranean foods, like olives and red peppers, and herbs like rosemary or sage (or herbs de Provençe).

White Rhône Blends

Marsanne, Roussanne & Viognier make up the body of most white wines in this area. These blends are medium bodied and have notes of beeswax (I love that), as well as moderate citrus, like a meyer lemon, then stone fruits like peach and apricot.

Pair them with richer dishes with white meat (chicken or fish or even pork) and perhaps with fruits that are stewed or roasted. Dried apricots are a definite must on a cheese plate with these wines.

For more…

Bordeaux

If you have heard of any region in France other than Champagne, it will be Bordeaux. This is the region that Napa Valley wants to be. It is the big daddy of French wine with bottles that can be very pricey and many that need considerable aging. When people pull out dusty bottles from their wine cellar, typically they are Bordeaux wines.

Left Bank Reds (Cabernet Sauvignon based)

Red wines here are classified by which bank of the river the vineyards sit on. Left bank wines are west of the river in Médoc and Graves. The reds here are Cabernet Sauvignon based.

Right Bank Reds (Merlot driven)

The Right bank wines are on the other side of the river in the Libournais. These wines are Merlot driven. The Entre-deux-mers, the area in the middle between the two, has much more fertile soil producing less concentrated (but more affordable) wines.

The bold reds of Bordeaux are perfect with rich meaty dishes, like a big steak.

Sweet wines of Sauternes

Down in Graves you find the region of Sauternes. These are my friend Corinne’s favorite wines. These are sweet wines made from grapes with “Noble rot”. The botrytis fungus takes hold of the grape and dries them out considerably. They are pressed into tiny amounts of wine that when fermented becomes sweet and delicious. These are wines to pair with bleu cheese or with desserts.

For more…

Provence

Rosé

This is Rosê country, more than 1/2 the output of wine from this region is rosé. The mistral wind that whips down from the mountains keeping the vines in this Mediterannean region dry and free from disease. The landscape is dotted with lavender fields. It’s pretty dreamy.

In addition to those delicate ballet slipper pink rosés you will find Bandol, which is a rich red wine from Mourvedre.

Pair pink with pink. It’s delicious and pretty. Smoked salmon, ham, prosciutto, crab, lobster….you get the picture.

Yes…these wines are great in the summer. Their high acid and bright flavors are perfect to help you cool down on a hot day. But don’t overlook them at other times.

For more…

Other regions

Is there more to French Wine? Why yes…so much more, there is the island of Corsica, the black wines of Cahors, Picpoul de Pinet from Languedoc-Rousillon…and then there are the wines that I have yet to discover!

Oh and did I mention Crémant? That would be sparkling wine from any region outside of Champagne! You want bubbles and value? It’s your go to!

Dive deep into the links and the links in the links and take a little vacay to France sans airfare!

For more…

More from the Winophiles!

There are so many ways to dive into French Wine, I have only scratched the surface. Why not check out the other #Winophiles and their approaches to the subject! You can join us for the conversation on Twitter on Saturday Morning January 18th (8 am PST, 11 am EST) by following the hashtag #Winophiles!

Pierre and Cynthia at Traveling Wine Profs share “Exploring French Wine on a tight budget at Trader Joe’s”
Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Cam shares “Deciphering French Wine Labels”
Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm shares “Mediterranean Shrimp with a Corsican Wine”
Jill at L’Occasion shares “Your Ticket To French Wine Is Actually A Map“
Nicole at Somm’s Table shares “French Wine 101 Cheat Sheet”
Pinny at Chinese Food and Wine Pairings shares “Learn about Wines from the Bourgueil AOC While Eating Pork Tongue Head Cheese + Napa Cabbage Salad”
Linda at My Full Wine Glass shares “One Name to Get You Started on French wine”
Jane at Always Ravenous shares “Discover French Wine: Where to Start”
Gwen at Wine Predator shares two:
“Introduce a Friend to French Wine 1: Chateauneuf – du – Pape and Cassoulet”
“Introduce a Friend to French Wine 2: Loire’s Amirault in Nicholas Bourgeil”
Susannah at Avvinare adds “Start Your French Wine Study With Beaujolais ”
Terri at Our Good Life shares “Newcomers Guide to French Wine: The Burgundies”
Jeff at Food Wine Click! shares “French Wine 101: Taste for Yourself”

Remember I said I would include more about those potential tariffs.

US Considers 100% Tariffs on European Wine The drinks business
US floats prospect of 100% tariffs on all EU Wine Decanter
With Threat of 100 Percent Tariffs on EU Wines and Spirits, Fears Loom Large SevenFiftyDaily

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter 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.

Speed Dating for Wine – the Lighter version – White/Rosé Social

Dec 11, 2019

At the Wine Media Conference, they have an events called “Wine Socials”. Sounds like something you would expect, right? It’s a wine conference, they will drink wine and be social. But if you caught our Speed dating for wine – Red Wine Social at the Wine Media Conference piece, you know that it’s a different play on the word “Social”. Well, they do the lighter version also, the White/Rosé Social.

So today we revisit those wineries and winemakers that we had a brief 5 minutes each to speak with, and share with you again, our instagram posts from this tasting. It was 50 minutes, 10 wines, 5 minutes each for them to tell us all they could about their winery and the wine…and for us to post about it on social media. It’s alot to fit into 5 minutes.

I did my posts on InstaGram, so …

Here we go….

Tulloch 2018 Verdelho Hunter Valley

Tulloch 2018 Verdelho #wmc19 White/Rosé Wine Social
Matt pouring the 2018 Tulloch Verdelho

Tulloch 2018 verdelho one of 5 verdelhos (including a fortified) that you can find at their cellar door #wmc19 @huntervalley @visitnsw
crushedgrapechron IG post October 11

Tulloch Wines poured in the Red wine Social and I told you about them then. Here is the synopsis: early winery – 122 years & 4 generations making wine – vineyard owned by other companies for a bit – 2003 bought back from Rosemount – now again family run.

This wine is part of their Tulloch Range, which sits at a very affordable $16 au per bottle. If you look online, they are now on to their 2019 release. This wine is lush and tropical with a zesty finish.

de iuliis fiano two thousand and nineteen special release

2019 Special Release de Iuliis Fiano #WMC19 White/Rosé Social
Mike De Iuliis pouring his Fiano

This fiano was bottled just 10 days ago! From Broke Fordwich…pretty nose! @huntervalley #wmc
crushedgrapechron IG post October 11

So as I mentioned before…(he poured at the Red Wine Social too), we got to hang with Mike a bit during the Dinner Excursion. He had our bus off roading in a vineyard on our way to tasting Semillon and oysters. James Halliday (the Australian wine guru) has only the nicest things to say about Mike. He’s making amazing wine and does not take himself too seriously (I never saw him wear anything fancier than a t shirt).

The De Iuliis Fiano he brought us was under their special release label and had just been bottled. This variety from northern Italy does well here in the Hunter Valley. Mike let this sit on it’s lees (the dead yeast) for 6 months before bottling, which gives it a creamy texture, but it still retains great acidity, with white peaches and herbs on the nose. This sits at 12.5 abv and runs $35 au.

Tyrrell’s Hunter Valley Semillon 2019

Tyrrell's 2019 Hunter Valley Semillon — Tyrrell’s 2019 Hunter Valley Semillon

161 year old vineyard. This glorious sem is just $25. #wmc19 @huntervalley
crushedgrapechron IG post October 11

Tyrrell’s has been family owned since 1858. It is the old dog in these woods.

They are well known for their Semillon. This one comes from 4 blocks in the HVD vineyard (planted by the Hunter Valley Distillery back in 1903). They hand pick and sort in the vineyard and press with a small percentage of whole cluster. This sees very little time on lees, to keep it crisp and fresh and there is no oak use. This sits at 10% abv and runs $25 au.

Thomas Braemore Semillion 2018 Individual Vineyard Hunter Valley

Thomas 2018 Braemore Semillon #WMC19 White/Rosé Social
Pouring the Thomas Semillon

this one (oops that should have been “was”) one of my favorite wines from last night. 2019 sem! #wmc18 @huntervalley
crushedgrapechron IG post October 11

Okay…the name on this probably needs a little explanation. The Winery is “Thomas” with wines made by namesake Andrew Thomas. Braemore is the vineyard. Sadly, he was one of the winemakers we were unable to meet. We did indeed taste his Semillon, both this and one that was 10 years older, on our vineyard dinner excursion. With Semillon there is often a note of “lanoline”. On a personal level, I find this slightly offputting. Some people enjoy it, for me…I tolerate it. But these wines did not have that note. I found them crisp and clean and with a vibrancy that I really enjoyed.

As I mentioned the grapes for this wine come from the Braemore Vineyard. Planted in 1969, this vineyard is known to be one of the best sites in the region for Semillon (some say handsdown the best). This wine is bright with lemon & lime zest. I’m not sure of the abv, but I would imagine it to be around 10%. It was brilliant with the oysters. It runs around $31 au.

Taylor’s St. Andrews Riesling Clare Valley 2017

Taylor's 2017 St. Andrews Riesling, Clare Valley #WMC19 White/Rosé Social — Taylor’s 2017 St. Andrews Riesling, Clare Valley #WMC19 White/Rosé Social

Stunning Clare Valley Riesling from Taylor’s in the Clare Valley. #wmc
crushedgrapechron IG post October 11

So Taylor’s is one of the few wines we tasted from outside the Hunter Valley. I had met Anna from Taylor’s on the Dinner Excursion and we hit it off. This winery is located in South Australia in the Clare Valley, where they have been making wine for three generations. The area is known for it’s riesling.

This wine is in the St. Andrews line, named after the historic property that was established by Scottish immigrants back in 1892. This is their flagship line and it is only released in the best vintages.

This wine was delicious with great acidity and notes of lemon & lime. It runs around $37 au.

Tamburlaine Reserve Semillon 2013 Hunter Valley New South Wales

2013 Reserve Semillon Tamburlaine #WMC19 White/Rosé Social
Aaron Mercer Winemaker Tamburlaine

2013 sem from Tamburlaine poured by winemaker Aarom Mercer #wmc19
crushedgrapechron IG post October 11

Okay…first off, his name is Aaron Mercer…speed tasting leaves no time for spellcheck. I had the opportunity to meet and speak with him at the Welcome event at Brokenwood. He is charming and passionate about his wines.

Tamburlaine is an organic winery and proudly so with vineyards in the Hunter Valley and in Orange. The winery was founded in 1966, but was purchased in 1985 by a group of friends who turned to contemporary organics.

Aaron poured for us their 2013 Vintage Reserve Semillon. This wine recieve 96 points from James Halliday. The nose has floral notes, green apple and a hint of pinapple. It has good acidity with citrus notes and a little creaminess from resting 4 months on the lees. This one is not currently available from the winery, but you can find the 2018 which will run you $33 au.

Scarborough “The Obsessive” Chardonnay Gillards Rd Vineyard Hunter Valley

Scarborough 2017 “The Obsessive” Chardonnay #WMC White/Rosé Social
Jerome Scarborough of Scarborough Wines
Terra Rossa Soil from Scarborough’s Gillards Road Vineyard

The Obsessive chardonnay with Jerome Scarborough from Scarborough wines. #wmc19
crushedgrapechron IG post October 11

We had the opportunity to do an interview with Jerome Scarborough before the conference and did their Chardonnay tasting at their Gillards Road Vineyard. So this was a revisit for us.

The Obsessive from Scarborough is their cellar door exclusive range that is single vineyard. The fruit for this wine comes exclusively from their Gillards Road Vineyard which holds their tasting room that was previously the family home. The soil here is red/brown terra rossa, and Jerome brought a soil sample for us.

This wine exhibits notes of butter, roasted nuts and spice from the 15 months it spends in new french oak. It’s creamy texture comes from the monthly lees stirring while in that oak. It sits at 12.7% abv and runs $40.00 au.

Peterson House 2007 Sparkling Semillon

10 year sparkling Semillon stunner! #wmc19
crushedgrapechron IG post October 11

Okay…I am a sucker for bubbles. These were 12 year old Semillon Bubbles! This Peterson House wine was a Museum Release that they broke out for us. Toasty but fresh, you get all those warm brioche notes and fullness in the mouth and then a clean fresh citrus finish. It is available on their site at $60 au.

Peter Drayton Anomaly Vermentino 2019 Hunter Valley

Peter Drayton 2019 Anomaly Vermentino #WMC19 White/Rosé Social
Peter Drayton and his daughter Natalie

2019 Vermentino from Peter Drayton they grow 16 different varieties @huntervalley #wmc19
crushedgrapechron IG post October 11

The Drayton family goes back 5 generations in the Hunter Valley and Peter owns and runs a construction company in addition to his winery.

Peter Drayton and his daughter poured us this 2019 Anomaly Vermentino. I am a Vermentino lover, so I was happy to have this variety in my glass.

The fruit for this wine comes from the Upper Hunter Valley. Made all in stainless this wine has great minerality with notes of citrus and pear. 13% abv and $30 au.

Oakvale 2018 Rosé Hunter Valley

Oakvale 2018 Rosé of Shiraz #WMC19 White/Rosé Social

A lovely rosé of Shiraz from Oakvale Wines! Beautiful onion skin color! #wmc19 @huntervalley
crushedgrapechron IG post October 11

At last! A Rosé! Oakvale Wines believes in minimal intervention. They also make vegan friendly wines. This winery was founded in 1893 and was owned for generations by the Elliot family. In 2010 the Becker family purchased the vineyard and eldest son James became the winemaker.

This rosé of shiraz is a pale onion skin color. Notes of strawberry and cranberry and a crisp finish. 11.5% abv $26.00 au.

I will admit…the White/Rose Wine Social is decidedly easier than the red. Lighter wines that don’t blow your palate make life much easier. And…having the practice in from the previous day was helpful.

There was more, oh so much more, at the 2019 Wine Media Conference and you can look forward to hearing more…we can only write so fast!

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

Montinore Estate – About the wines

Dec 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

A little Sleight of Hand with dinner at Doubleback

Nov 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!

Chardonnay

Poor soils – great wine

The Lenné Estate Vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA

Lenné Estate 2018 Scarlett’s Reserve Chardonnay

Pairing Aromatic Compounds

Baked Basmati Rice with Apple and Saffron

Sea bass on white beans, cherry tomatoes, and spinach

Stuffed apples with rabri

Want to know more about Lenné Estate?

It’s Oregon Wine Month!

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Avocado, roasted blood orange, and kumquat salad with a citrus, cardamom, and rosewater dressing

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Pork chops with yellow apples, sage, apple butter & maple

Avocado, roasted blood orange, and kumquat salad with citrus, cardamom, and rosewater dressing

Pork chops with yellow apples, sage, apple butter & maple

2017 Utopia Estate Chardonnay

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A family affair

Utopia 2017 Estate Chardonnay

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