Chardonnay Archives | Crushed Grape Chronicles

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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/

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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

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

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

Balletto Vineyards in the Russian River Valley

Feb 8, 2018

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

Balletto Vineyards

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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

#VineyardAdventures

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

Balletto Vineyard, Vineyard tour

: Balletto Vineyard, Vineyard tour

: Balletto Vineyard, Pinot Noir Grapes

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

Preservation of Habitat

Balletto Vineyard, Vineyard tour

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

Water Conservation

: Balletto Vineyard, Vineyard tour

: Balletto Vineyard, Pond

: Balletto Vineyard, irrigation

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

Trellising

: Balletto Vineyard, Trellis Pinot Gris Grapes in Veraison

: Balletto Vineyard, Pinot Noir Grapes

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

Grapes

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

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Soils

Balletto Vineyard, Vineyard tour

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

Pomace for Fertilizer

: Balletto Vineyard, Winery Pomace Pile

: Balletto Vineyard, Vineyard tour, Pomace pile

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

Field of Dreams

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

Balletto Vineyard, Vineyard tour, field of dreams

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

On to the Wines

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

Balletto Vineyard, Tasting Menu

2016 Rosé of Pinot Noir

Balletto 2016 Teresa’s Unoaked Chardonnay and pairing

2016 Sauvignon Blanc

2014 RRV Pinot Noir

Balletto 2013 Brut Rosé

2016 Gerwurztraminer

2014 Cider Ridge Chardonnay

2013 Brut Rosé 2013 $42

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

2016 Savignon Blanc $19

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

2016 Teresa’s Unoaked Chardonnay $20

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

2014 Cider Ridge Chardonnay $38

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

2016 Gewütztraminer $19

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

2016 Rosé of Pinot Noir $18

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

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

2014 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir $29

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

2014 Cider Ridge Pinot Noir $42

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

2015 BCD Pinot Noir $44

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

2014 Zinfandel $28

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

2014 Syrah $28

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

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

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

Crawford Family Wines

Sep 13, 2017

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

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

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

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

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

Crawford Family Wines Los Olivos Santa Barbara County Tasting Room

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

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

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

Speaking of the Wines….

: 2016 Albarino

: 2015 Tin Shack Chardonnay

Crawford Family Wines 2016 Albariño

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

$28.00

2015 Tin Shack Chardonnay

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

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

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

$42.00

: 2016 Rosé from the Santa Ynez Valley

: 2013 Bentrock Vineyard Pinot Noir

2016 Rosé

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

$25.00

2013 Bentrock Pinot Noir

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

$52.00

: 2014 Pinot Noir, Walk Slow

: 2014 Second Street Cuvee from Santa Barbara County

2014 Pinot Noir, Walk Slow

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

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

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

$48.00

2014 Second Street Cuvée

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

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

$32.00

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

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

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

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

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

Save

Bubbles to start the day – at Gloria Ferrer

Aug 25, 2017

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

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

2009 Extra Brut

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

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

$50

2013 Brut Rosé

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

$50

2005 Carneros Cuvée

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

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

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

$75

2014 Blanc de Blancs

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

$50

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

2008 Royal Cuvée

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

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

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

$37

2015 José Ferrer Chardonnay

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

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

$40

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

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

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

Gloria Ferrer, a view from the Balcony

Gloria Ferrer Grapes waiting to be Sparkling Wine.

Chardonnay Gloria Ferrer Carneros Sonoma County

Chardonnay in the morning at Gloria Ferrer

Sparkling tasting at Gloria Ferrer

Sparkling flight Gloria Ferrer Carneros Sonoma County

Sparkling Flight to start the day at Gloria Ferrer

Vineyards Gloria Ferrer Carneros Sonoma County

Vineyards over the lavender at Gloria Ferrer

Tasting room at Gloria Ferrer Carneros Sonoma County

The beautiful Tasting room at Gloria Ferrer

Gloria Ferrer Winery

Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards in Carneros

Gloria Ferrer entrance Carneros Sonoma County

The entrance to Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards

The view of the Carneros Vineyards from Gloria Ferrer

Morning Sparkles at Gloria Ferrer with a vineyard view

Gloria Ferrer – a little history

Aug 23, 2017

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

The Ferrers

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

Freixenet

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

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

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

Vineyards over the lavender at Gloria Ferrer

Gloria Ferrer

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

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

The beautiful Tasting room at Gloria Ferrer

Chardonnay in the morning at Gloria Ferrer

Chardonnay grapes at Gloria Ferrer

The Winery and Vista Terrace

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

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

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

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

Save

Chardonnay

Garagiste LV

Merfy in Montagne de Reims

Chartogne-Taillet

Chartogne-Taillet Sainte Anne from Merfy

My tasting notes

Pairing with Champagne

Rollin Smoke BBQ

How did it pair?

The French #Winophiles

Sources & Resources

Share this:

Like this:

The Different Styles of Chardonnay

The wine makers hand…

A tale of two Chardonnays

Co Dinn Chardonnay Roskamp Vineyard Snipes Mountain AVA

Kerry Shiels, DuBrul Vineyard, Rattlesnake Hills AVA

Similarities and Differences

Tasting & Comparing

The Wines and where to find them

Other resources on Chardonnay and the Yakima Valley

More on this region from Crushed Grape Chronicles

Share this:

Like this:

Chicken Adobe bowls

How old is that Chardonnay?

Let’s #travelinabottle to the Hunter Valley instead!

Scarborough Wine Co.

Chicken Adobo with an Aussie Chardy!

Where to next?

More info

Share this:

Like this:

Muse at Hungerford Winery

Tamburlaine

Scarborough

Tyrrell’s

Keith Tulloch

Krinklewood

Brokenwood

Audrey Wilkinson

So much more…

Share this:

Like this:

French Wine 101

Old World vs New World

French wine names

French Wine regions

Loire Valley – Val de Loire

Muscadet

Chenin Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc

Cabernet Franc

For more…

Champagne

For more…

Alsace

For more…

Chablis

Chardonnay

For more…

Burgundy (Bourgogne)

Pinot Noir

Chardonnay

For more…

Beaujolais

The Rhone Valley

Syrah

Viognier

Red Rhône Blends

White Rhône Blends

For more…

Bordeaux

Left Bank Reds (Cabernet Sauvignon based)

Right Bank Reds (Merlot driven)

Sweet wines of Sauternes

For more…

Provence

Rosé