French Wine…where to begin? #Winophiles

January 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.

Fall, Thanksgiving and the flavors of Rasteau #Winophiles

November 15, 2019

The beautiful embossed Rasteau AOC Cru bottle Photo Courtesy of Inter-Rhône

Rasteau. Perhaps it’s a name you are not familiar with. This region in the Southern Rhône has long been known for their sweet Vin Doux Naturel wines. It was just recently (2010) awarded Cru status for it’s dry red wines.

This post is a sponsored post. In conjunction with the French #Winophiles I recieved 4 bottles of wine from Rasteau as samples to taste and write about. The opinions provided are my own.

Rasteau

The name itself comes from the French word “râteau” meaning rake. The hills and valleys here look like the tines of a rake.

The Fortress in Rasteau Photo Courtesy of Inter-Rhône
Rolling vineyards showing the altitude in Rasteau Photo Courtesy of Inter-Rhône

The region is east of the famous Chateauneuf-de-Pape. Perspective…it is 21 miles from Avignon, at the very south of the Rhône River and 12.5 miles from Orange. Writing this out made me realize how small this area really is. This is a small medieval village with cobbled streets. Located in the Haut-Vaucluse, this little village faces south and looks to the Dentelles de Montmirail mountain range.

Haut-Vaucluse

The name might not be familiar to you, but this is the region that inspired Cézanne and Chagall. Farmlands with orchards, olive groves and lavender fields cover this area of Provençe. Here you find ancient cities, including Rasteau.

Dentelles de Montmirail

This small mountain chain is just south of the village of Vaison-la-Romaine. Dentelles translated to English is “lace” as the mountains have a scalloped lace like feel as you look at them.

Geography, Climate & Soils

As I mentioned the village faces south. The soils differ depending on the altitude. Lower altitudes have pebble rich soils, a little further up you reach sandy marl (between 525 and 951 feet) and the highest vineyards have red and grey marl with galets, those pudding stones that the Rhône is so famous for.

Pudding stones in AOC Rasteau Photo Courtesy of Inter-Rhône
Old vines and galets or pudding stones AOC Rasteau Photo Courtesy of Inter-Rhône

As far south as they are you get loads of sunshine and it’s relatively dry. Plus the Mistral wind keeps the vines healthy. All that air keeps the vines dry and free from mold and disease. But…the vineyards on this south facing slope are arranged in a bowl or amphitheatre shape which keeps them safe from the most brutal of the winds. So they get the good breezes, not the damaging wind.

Red Rhône Blends with some rules

The wines here are made up of red Rhône varieties that you are likely familiar with, but with a couple of rules.

The blend must be at least 50% Grenache Noir
At least 20% of the wine must be Syrah & Mourvèdre (that’s 20% together)

Syrah grapes in Rasteau Photo Courtesy of Inter-Rhône

Mourvèdre grapes in Rasteau Photo Courtesy of Inter-Rhône — Syrah grapes in Rasteau Photo Courtesy of Inter-Rhône

We recieved 4 samples, each with a slightly different blend. Two of which were 2015 vintage and two that were the 2016 Vintage.

All of the wines were food friendly, made to bring to table, to share and enjoy with food and laughter.

2016 Rasteau wines from Domaine M. Boutin and Domaine La Fond de Notre Dame

Domaine La Font de Notre Dame 2016 Rasteau Le Chêne

This is an old family estate renamed by the sons in 2016. The Domaine has vineyards in several regions including Gigondas, Sablet and Lirac in addition to their vineyard in Rasteau.

The vineyard sits on the top of a hill at 350 meters between the Ouvèze and Aygue valleys with soil of brown marl and pebbles.Vines here average 80 years old, so they were the oldest of the samples we recieved.

The wine is Grenache driven at 80% with 10% Mourvèdre and 5% each of Syrah and Cinsault. The Grenache is grown in the gobelet style (bush style, untrellised)

The Domaine La Font de Notre Dame was the lightest bodied of the 4 Rasteau wines we tasted and was also the highest percentage of Grenache. It was bright and elegant.

Domaine M. Boutin 2016 Rasteau

Mikael Boutin, the winemaker is a 5th generation winemaker. Domaine M. Boutin is a small operation. His facility is the size of a two car garage size and he works mostly with concrete tanks. He has almost 5 acres of vines scattered over 8 parcels. The vines average 40 years old and are are varied soils and have different exposures. Regardless of the fact that they are scattered, they are all organically certified.

Mikael hand harvests and does wild yeast ferments in his concrete tanks. The wines are kept on the fine lees for 8 months (still in the concrete tanks). Wines are held in bottle for 12 months before release.

Chateau du Trignon 2015 Rasteau

This property had been kept for generations as a traditional farm by the Roux family, who gradually turned the focus to vineyards. In 2007 the Quiot family purchased the property, 12 acres are with in the Rasteau AOC.

This is a 60/40 blend of Grenache and Mourvèdre from vines that average 30 years in age. The grapes are de-stemed and after around 3 weeks of masceration do a 3 week indigenous yeast ferment. They age for a year in foudres and concrete.

Lavau 2015 Rasteau

2015 Lavau Rasteau bottle shot — 2015 Lavau Rasteau

This wine comes from east facing stony hillsides. Harvests here are small and late. This blend in 50/50 Grenache and Syrah. Destemmed, 25 day masceration and a year of aging in mostly neutral oak.

A little on the 2015 vintage from Lavau

After a wet winter and spring, followed by a few showers in June, the vines were able to withstand the extreme summer droughts due to the water reserves. Ripening conditions were optimal with sunny days and cool nights, accompanied by a light Mistral wind. The harvested grapes showed exceptional concentration and balance.
Groupe Lavau Maucoil www.lavau.fr

Thanksgiving Pairing with Rasteau

With Thanksgiving right around the corner here in the US, I looked at these wines and determined that the flavor profiles would pair nicely with those fall foods we indulge in at Thanksgiving.

The menu

Thanksgiving flavors to pair with the wines of Rasteau

With just 2 of us, we took a simpler route than roasting an entire turkey. I found 2 turkey breast marinated and applewood smoked to cook like a pork loin, roasting it in the oven. This took my cooking time to a little over an hour, rather than the 3 or so for a full bird.

I looked to flavors that would match the wine. Herb de Provençe was a no brainer for this area of southern France and the berry notes of raspberry, blackberry and cherry noted in the wine…well I figured that adding some cranberry and making a sauce would be pretty perfect.

Smoked roasted turkey breast with a berry sauce, roasted mashed sweet potatoes with herbs de provençe and sauteed green beans with fried shallots, almonds & balsamic reduction.
Rasteau Rouge with turkey, sweet potatoes and seared brussel sprouts.
Thanksgiving and Rasteau

I roasted the sweet potatoes (a regular sweet potato and a purple sweet potato with sweet white flesh) in olive oil, herb de provençe, salt, pepper and a bit of nutmeg and then mashed them with butter and a dash of stock. The nutmeg brought out that bit of spice in the wines.

For our green vegetables… we did fresh green beans, cooked in butter and a bit of stock, drizzled with a balsamic reduction and sprinkled with sea salt, as well as boiled brussel sprouts, that I then sliced and pan seared to pull out the sweetness. Both of course got a dash of the herbs de Provençe,

We did start with a cheese platter, with a decided feminine feel. I picked up “New Woman” cheese which has jerked spices in it, and Two Sisters Gouda. We rounded this out with dried cherries, blackberries, raspberries, apple and almonds.

Honestly, all the foods paired beautifully with all of these wines. Not a bad pairing in the bunch. Tying in the fruit notes as well as the herbs and spices really made these pairings sing.

Verdict

Michael found both of the 2015 wines to be more weighty and substantial. I would agree. There might be several components to this, the age, the vintage, which as we saw above was very warm and the blend. Both of these wines were simply Grenache and one other variety and the Mourvèdre and Syrah that they used can both be weighty. I did really enjoy the Domaine La Font de Notre Dame, for exactly the reason that it was not weighty. Perhaps I was in a very Grenachey mood. I was also really enamoured by the story of MB Boutin and his 2 car garage size set up and his scattered hand picked vineyards. Mikael’s story definitely influenced my tasting and I savored visualizing his harvest while sipping the wine.

All of these wines were delicious, but they are decidedly food wines. On their own, they were fine, but not wines to sit and deeply contemplate with your nose in a glass. They are wines to pop open and enjoy with people and food. They are not showy, they are complimentary, quietly, each in it’s own way, adding to the meal and elevating the food.

These wines are in the perfect price point. Running from $18 to $25 SRP, these are wines that you can easily bring to the table to enjoy without the pressure of needing to stop and take detailed tasting notes.

For more information on these wines on social media, check out

Twitter: @RhoneWine
Instagram: @rhonevalleyvineyards, @vinsderasteau
Facebook: @RhoneValleyVineyards, @aoc.rasteau
Or search for the hashtags: #rhone #rasteau #rasteauwine #rhonewine

Or visit Vins-Rhône.com for details on wines and vineyards throughout the Rhône region

The French #Winophiles

We will be gathering on twitter under the hashtage #Winophiles to talk about the wines of Rasteau on Saturday morning November 16th. It’s early at 8 am if you are in the Pacific time zone, a more reasonable 10 am in the midwest and a luxurious 11 am on the east coast. Join us to chat about these wines and the pairings we all found!

Here is a list of the other terrific articles written on the wines of Rasteau by the other #Winophiles!

Cathie from Side Hustle Wino “Getting to Know the Wines of Rasteau”
Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Cam shares “A Birthday Tradition + Side-by-Side Sips of Domaine de Verquière Rasteau”
David from Cooking Chat Food writes about “Chicken Lentil Stew and Rhône Wine from Rasteau”
Deanna from Asian Test Kitchen tells us how to “Become a Rasteau—farian”
Gwendolyn from Wine Predator says “Go Grenache, Go Rasteau”
Jane from Always Ravenous writes about “Flavors of Provence Paired with Rhône Rasteau Wines”
Jeff from Food Wine Click explains “Rasteau and the Côtes du Rhône Quality Pyramid”
Kat from The Corkscrew Concierge explains how she is “Expanding My Rhône Valley Palate with Rasteau Wine”
Linda from My Full Wine Glass writes about “Basking in the Glow of Rasteau”
Liz from What’s in That Bottle says, “You Like Big Reds? Get to Know the Wines of Rasteau”
Lynn from Savor the Harvest writes about “Rhone Valley Rasteau Cru – A New Generation Wine with Duck Confit”
Martin from Enofylz writes about “Getting To Know Rasteau”
Nicole from Somm’s Table shares “Five Nights of Rasteau”
Payal from Keep the Peas writes about “Rasteau: Not So Rustic in the Southern Rhone”
Pinny from Chinese Food & Wine Pairings writes about “One Rabbit, Two Turkey Drumsticks and Four Rasteau Wines”
Rupal from Syrah Queen writes, “Rasteau – Exploring The Gems of Southern Rhone”
Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm shares “A German-Style Shepherds Pie with French Rasteau”

Shout out to Michelle Williams at Rockin Red Blog who was terrific in helping secure samples from Rhône Valley Vineyards for some participants (one of which was me!). Thanks Michelle!

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

The 12th Day arrives…2009 Esprit de Beaucastel Panoplie & Duck

December 24, 2018

Assorted cheeses with the 2009 Tablas Creek Panoplie

The 12th Day of Wine demanded digging in the cellar for something special and Michael perused the Tablas Creek Wines that we patiently wait to open, allowing them to age as we gaze longingly at the Vintage chart waiting for them to be in their prime.

It’s worth noting that as we gazed at the Vintage Chart, we opted to open the 2009 even though it is listed as “Drinking Well: Youthful”. The 2010 that we have is in a closed phase. We probably could wait another 5 years to open this bottle and have it in a “Drinking Well: Mature” stage, but…life is short.

Tablas Creek 2009 Espirit de Beaucastel Panoplie

Tablas Creek Vineyard 2009 Esprit de Beaucastel Panoplie

What makes the Panoplie different from the other Esprits? Well this is the most age worthy wine they make.

“sourced from the most age worthy lots in the cellar and blended for intensity and balance.”
Tablas Creek (from the bottle!)

This is why this wine that is almost 10 years old, is still drinking “Youthful”.

This vintage had the Panoplie blend at 65% Mourvèdre, 26% Grenache and 9% Syrah.

Tablas Creek Vineyard Winery in Paso Robles Adelaida AVA

Monica from Tablas Creek was kind enough to send me a link to a post Jason Haas had done a few years ago “We Warm-up for the Holidays with a Vertical Tasting of Panoplie, 2000-2015”

This was written in December of 2016 (so 2 years ago). In it Jason describes how the 2009 Panoplie was showing then.

2009 Panoplie (65% Mourvedre, 26% Grenache, 9% Syrah): A very cool, savory, and exciting nose of dark blue/black fruit, seemingly less about Grenache than the 2008. The fruit is fresh but concentrated, cherry and plum, with a powdered sugar character to the tannins that we often see in great vintages. Some cocoa powder on the finish, which is still youthfully grippy and fairly primary. It’s still quite a young wine, from a powerful vintage, and may also still be emerging from its closed phase. Should make great drinking over the next decade.
Jason Haas from the Tablas Creek Blog December 2016

What to pair?

We looked at options for pairings, and while Neil Collin’s recipe for Boeuf Provençale looked wonderful, I am beef stewed out this holiday season. So…we opted to go for something celebratory, like duck! And for an extra bit of celebration, (and to be sure I didn’t mess up cooking the precious duck), we chose to pick up some superbly made duck dishes from Cured & Whey and eatt here in Las Vegas.

Cured and Whey – Duck Reuben

I have been meaning to try this great sandwich from Cured & Whey and managed to be on this end of town today to stop by and pick one up. Rocksan was kind enough to have them prepare it for me uncooked, so I could grill it at home for Michael and I for dinner. What’s in it you ask? Hudson Valley Duck Ham, Swiss Cheese, Sauerkraut, Dijon and house sauce.

Cured & Whey Gourmet Market and sandwich shop storefront

Cured and Whey is a great little gourmet/sandwich shop created by Chef Michael Stamm. They are in a warehouse area, but don’t be afraid, they are well worth searching out. They get busy at lunch time, because they are so good. So plan ahead and leave enough time to order and sit with your eyes closed soaking in each and every bite.

6265 S Valley View Blvd Ste K Las Vegas, NV 89118 | 702-429-3617

eatt – Duck with sunchoke three ways & black currant sauce

The Tablas 2009 Panoplie with Slow Cooked Duck Breast and sunchokes 3 ways

eatt is a neighborhood restaurant in Vegas that is serving amazing Michelin Star worthy food. The duck is “Slow cooked and seared served with
sunchoke three ways and a black currant sauce” The chef was kind enough to prepare it for me slightly deconstructed, so that I could warm the sunchokes and duck later for Michael and I to enjoy. The 3 ways for the sunchoke were confit, puree and chips. Sadly my plating is probably no where near as beautiful as it would have been had I enjoyed it at the restaurant.

You can find them at:

7865 W Sahara Avenue Suite 104-105
Las Vegas, NV 89117 702-608-5233

Funny Coincidence. When I told Rocksan that I was picking up her duck sandwich and then heading to eatt for their duck dish, she asked if I was basing this on Michael’s article in the RJ on duck dishes. Nope! I had missed that, but you know what they say about “great minds”! (Looks like there are a few more places I need to hit up!)

Article in the RJ on Duck Dishes around the Valley

The Pairing

Ah duck…so adorable, but so delicious. The wine took a bit to open up. I suggest decanting an hour before (which I did not do, so we waited for it to open in the glass.)

Assorted cheeses with the 2009 Tablas Creek Panoplie
Slow Cooked Dusk Breast with confit sunchokes, sunchoke puree and sunchoke chips from eatt
Duck Rueben from Cured and Whey with the 2009 Tablas Creek Panoplie

The pairing was divine. The duck breast melted in your mouth and the sunchokes were the perfect companion adding a bit of brightness to the rich and beautiful duck. The currants set the dish off with that sweet/tart/acid component and made the pairing with the wine even better.

We moved on to the duck rueben…mmmmm…great flavor without being too overpowering. I had worried about the sauerkraut with this, but it was perfect. And I have to do a shout out on the tiny pickle medley that accompanied the salad. Mini gherkins, and tiny grape size and smaller tomatoes along with some heritage tomato slices in the lightest of pickling that were perfection (where can I get more of those Rocksan?)

A surprising pairing with goat cheese

Honeyed goat cheese with cherry preserves and rosemary

One last surprising pairing. We still had some goat cheese around from other pairings and I had thrown together a cheese plate. The goat cheese with cherry preserves and a bit of rosemary was really nice with this wine, as did the Haymarket Goat Cheese I had picked up at Cured & Whey.

Want some?

This particular wine is sold out on their site. The idea with these wines, is to get them when they are released and then sit on them while they get tastier and tastier. So…go find a bottle on their website https://tablascreek.com/story/vineyard_and_winemaking/our_wines

You really should go visit

Mourvedre ripening at Tablas Creek in the Adelaida AVA of Paso Robles
Vineyards at Tablas Creek
The Grounds at Tablas Creek

Make your way to Paso Robles. There is wine in abundance. Take the time to make the drive out to Tablas Creek. I really believe that these are some of the finest wines being made in this country. And…you can learn all about all of the Rhône varieties here

Tablas Creek Vineyard
9339 Adelaida Road, Paso Robles, CA 93446
Phone: 805.237.1231

More Info…

We have tons of information on our site about Tablas Creek. They really are an inspirational winery. There is a whole page of information, posts and a great series of interviews that we did with Jason Haas the GM for you to check out!

Want more? Click through to all of our 12 Days of Wine posts!

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

Un repas de Noël pour les fêtes de fin d’année (A Christmas Dinner for the end of the year celebrations)…with wine. #Winophiles

December 14, 2018

The wines of Vignobles & Signature for our French Style Season Dinner

When the French #Winophiles mentioned that they were going to make a “French-Style Season” the theme for our December discussion and tasting, I was all on board. I knew I wanted to pair these wines with authentic French holiday and winter foods, so…I went straight to my favorite Frenchman, Arnaud, to ask for suggestions. He had a tête à tête with one of his foodie friends in France and they put together a list for me of their favorite holiday and winter foods for gatherings. Thus began the planning for a party. These are foods and wines that are meant to be shared.

Well, the food part began there. The wines…ahhh…the wines were graciously sent from Vignobles & Signatures through Michèle Piron/Vinconnexion. 7 of their producers participated, and I received 3 wines.

I received the 3 wines as samples and I was not paid for this post. The opinions expressed here are all my own.

The Wines

Château de Tracy 2017 Pouilly-Fumé

Château de Tracy has been run by the same family since the 14th century. The Domaine is 33 hectares. Soils here are limestone and flint.

This 2017 Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley comes from a vineyard overlooking the Loire. This was a tough year with spring frost that came after budbreak and limited the crop.

Quadratur Collioure Rouge 2015

This wine comes from Coume Del Mas in Banyuls/Collioure. This region is in Occitanies near the border with Spain.

Coume del Mas has only been around since 2001, when Philippe and Nathalie Gard created it. They have about 15 hectares of vines mostly on the very steep slopes near Banyuls sur Mer. Everything in the vineyard must be done by hand, you can’t get a tractor or even a horse up these steep slopes.

This wine is 50% Grenache Noir, 30% Mourvèdre and 20% Carignan. The soil is schist. Manually harvested, the berries get a cold soak and macerate for 3-5 weeks, then spend 12 months in barrel.

I was lucky enough to correspond with Andy Cook at Coume del Mas. I was looking for cheese pairings. He was a bit reserved on cheese with their red wines. They typically pair cheeses with their white wines. He suggested something creamy to smooth out the tannins. He also recommended that I decant the wine for two hours prior to serving (a tip that was used and I was rewarded!)

Château Haut Selve Red 2015

This is the 20th anniversary vintage of this wine. Yep, a new vineyard in Bordeaux. They are the only vineyard created in Bordeaux int he 20th Century. Château Haut Selve is located in the Graves appellation, they found a property that had been well known for grapes before the phylloxera epidemic. The land had been lying fallow for 120 years and was now overgrown with pine.

They took care clearing the trees and planting the vines. Owners Arnaud and Denis Lesgourgues brought in a talented crew to create a sustainable winery that has state of the art technology.

This wine is 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. It spends 3 weeks in masceration and then is aged 12 months in French Oak, one third of it new.

A few other wines

Well…3 bottles was not going to do the entire party right? We needed bubbles to start the party. I referred to my Cremant post from last month and picked a few white, rather than rosé versions to start the night. Michael had really enjoyed the Levert Frères Cremant de Bourgogne so I picked up a couple bottles of that as well as of course a Cremant d’Alsace, from Lucien Albrecht.

Our friend Jill brought a bottle of Côtes de Bordeaux from Château La Grange Clinet that was 68% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc. This 2015 vintage was labeled Grande Reserve. It ferments in stainless steel and then ages in oak for 12 months. The vineyard is sustainable.

We also needed a wine for with dessert so we went with a wine from Sauternes from Chateau Doisy-Védrines.

The menu!

So Arnaud came up with a quick list for me of suggestions that included: Oysters, smoked salmon, foie gras, escargot, La dinde aux marrons, boudin blanc, boeuf bourguignon, pot au feu, tartiflette, raclette, mont d’Or chaud and Bûche de Noel. We narrowed down the list by time, wine pairing issues and product availability. We couldn’t find boudin blanc locally even after I had a friend with connections call around for me (Thanks Roxanne). So…here’s what we settled on.

The Cheese platter

Proscuitto, Haymarket Goat Cheese, filberts and cashews
Tomato marmalade
Lobster pate with cognac
Grapes, pecans, almonds, and goat cheeses, herbed and honeyed
Cornichons
Cherry preserves
Dijon mustard
Blackberries, comte and gouda

Gouda
Comte
Haymarket aged goat cheese
a honey goat cheese
an herbed goat cheese
smoked salmon
proscuitto
grapes
blackberries
assorted nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, filberts)
Lobster pate with cognac
Dijon mustard
cherry preserves
tomato marmalade

I’ll admit, this was for grazing and sadly we didn’t end up pairing these with the wines, just munching with the Crémant. If we had…I would expect that all of the goat cheeses would have been exceptional with the Pouilly-Fumé and the blackberries, prosciutto, gouda and compte would have played nicely with the red wines.

Butternut Squash Soup

Okay, I know this was no where on Arnaud’s list, but we needed a soup to start us out! My french tie in for this is that I found the recipe on FrenchWomenDontGetFat.com

This soup went without the cream and was lovely with the Pouilly-Fumé.

Ratatouille

Yes, I know…this is typically a summer dish, but it really is lovely in the fall also as a vegetable side. It is so rich in flavor. So this was our vegetable dish and it was delicious.

Escargot

Yep, that was on Arnaud’s list and I found a can at Cured & Whey (thanks again Roxanne). I didn’t splurge for shells and I didn’t have it in my budget to buy multiple escargot pans, so I went with a South African Recipe I found which simply cooked the escargot in butter, garlic and lemon juice and then put them in a dish, covered them with mozzerella and stuck them under the broiler. Michael has discovered that he likes escargot!

If you want to find the recipe…snails in butter on Food24

Tartiflette

I made two versions of this extremely decadent potatoe dish! I had no idea what tartiflette was when Arnaud mentioned it. Now that I have made it, I don’t know how I lived without it!

I had a friend who is Jewish and does not eat animals (with the exception of Thanksgiving), so I wanted to make a tartiflette that she could enjoy also (no one should go without tartiflette). So I made one classic tartiflette and one with mushrooms rather than bacon. This was based on a BBC recipe for Tartiflette.

Bouef Bourguignon

This was a slow cooker recipe based on Julia Childs recipe. It was a bit of work, but it was well worth it.

Bûche de Noël

Okay, I was going to make a Bûche de Noël. I mean I had just watched the Great British Baking Show – Holidays! So I should be good to go! I chickened out and visited Patisserie Manon and ordered one (they have amazing desserts)

How the cooking went down

So the party was on Saturday, so I shopped on Wednesday, and started cooking on Thursday (thank goodness I’m on Vacation!).

It began with making the Butternut Squash soup on Thursday. It will sit in the fridge and the flavors will marry. This way it will be even happier when I reheat it in the crock pot the day of the party.

Friday I began the boeuf bourguignon and the ratatouille. After the initial prep the boeuf spent the day in the slow cooker and then went to the fridge to become even more flavorful. I did this before the addition of the mushrooms and wine.

The ratatouille, I was a little concerned about. What if it got soggy as it waited a day to be reheated? As this was a savory fall inspired ratatouille I decided it was okay. It smelled like heaven as it cooked.

Ingredients for Ratatouille
Ratatouille on the stove

Saturday I did the tartiflettes. Roxanne at Cured & Whey had just posted a recipe using the Le délice du Jura cheese which is a Reblochon style cheese from Jura. I put the two tartiflettes together (one bacon, one mushroom) and then stuck them in the fridge until I was ready to bake them. Then I prepped the escargot in the same way, ready to have the mozzerella topping added and sit under the broiler.

Ingredients for the Tartiflette
Le délice du Jura cheese for the Tartiflette
Tartiflette ready for the oven
Escargot

Before guests arrived I laid out the cheese plates. And when we were almost ready for soup, I popped the Tartiflette in the oven, followed by the escargot.

The Pairings

This was a feast, so we were drinking the wine, eating the food and enjoying the company. We did have a few aha moments:

One of my guests who typically avoids white wine, was smitten by the Château de Tracy Pouilly-Fumé. And we found it went nicely with the Butternut squash soup and the Ratatouille as expected.

I was enamoured by the Quadratur. I am terrible at decanting, I am always paniced that it will lose to much. This wine with the Rhone grapes that I love was huge, but opened beautifully as it decanted. It was my favorite of the night and I enjoyed it most with the boeuf bourguignon, although it was nice with the bacon tartiflette also.

My Bordeaux loving guest, stopped dead in his tracks when he tasted the Haut Selve. He spun and looked at me and said “That’s really good!”. Again this wine was really happy with the Bouef Bourguignon.

The Bûche de Noël, beautiful as it was got lost in the fray. I presented it to a group of people in deep conversation. But we did pour tiny glasses of the Sauternes and have a toast before everyone dug in to the cake as well as the macarons that Jill brought.

The Takeaway

This was a brilliant evening filled with great wine, food and conversation. Everything was delicious and a good time was had by all. That really seems to me exactly what a French Style Season should be.

And….it makes for outstanding leftovers which we enjoyed with the Crémant D’Alsace the next day!

Join Us to chat on Twitter

There were many other French #Winophiles taking part in this French Style Season. We will be gathering on Saturday December 15th, to discuss the wines and the foods on Twitter.We hope you’ll join– 8am PT, 11 am ET, and 5pm in France— and chat with us (I know 8 am is early Pacific time, but I’ll be up for it!) It’s easy to participate: just log in to Twitter at the times mentioned and follow #Winophiles. Feel free to chime in, making sure to append #Winophiles to your tweets so we can welcome you.

Here’s a preview of what each writer will contribute to the discussion – all articles will be live on Friday or Saturday, December 14 or 15th:

Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla whips up “A French #Winophiles Fête: Foie Gras, Pain d’Épices & Champagne Drappier”
Jill shares from L’OCCASION shares “How To Bring French Holiday Traditions Home”
Gwen at WinePredator has “Season’s Greetings French-Style”
Wendy at A Day In The Life On The Farm gives us “A Holiday Gathering with French Foods and Wines”
Martin at ENOFLYZ Wine Blog shares “A Taste of French Inspired Holiday Food and Wine”
Deanna from Asian Test Kitchen tells writes about “Ants Climb a Tree with French Wine”
Lauren at The Swirling Dervish tells us about “Parisian Holiday: A Few of My Favorite Things”
Michelle of Rockin Red Blog writes about “A French-Inspired Holiday Alsatian Style”
Kat from Bacchus Travel and Tours writes about “Noel en Provence“
Jeff from foodwineclick discusses “What is French-Style Season?”
Payal writes at Keep The Peas shares “Bonnes Fêtes à la #winophiles”
Lynn with Savor the Harvest shares how to “Give a Little Touche Française to Your Holiday #Winophiles“.
David Crowley from CookingChat shares “Festive Pairings for Pouilly-Fumé and Other Special French Wine #winophiles“
Lyn writes at L.M. Archer tells us about “The Hedonistic Taster: French-Style Season Edition”
Jane cooks things up at Always Ravenous shares “A French Inspired Winter Dinner”
Nicole from Somms Table shares “Crocus l’Atelier Malbec de Cahors with Château Mercuès Saffron Chicken Soup“
Liz from What’s In That Bottle tells us how to “Frenchify Your Festivities with Fun Wines“
Rupal from Journeys of a Syrah Queen shares “French Inspired Holiday Wines”

12 days of Wine

Here at Crushed Grape Chronicles we are counting down the days to Christmas with wine! Join us as we taste great wines and pair them with winemaker suggestions. Day One is here : On the First day of Christmas my true love gave to me a Gewürvignintocloniger!

Follow all 12 days on our 12 days of wine page

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

Comparing Rhône blends from California’s Central Coast

February 3, 2018

2011 Pateline de Tablas & 2013 Le Cigare Volant Rhône Blends with cheese pairings

I love Rhône wines. Wait…let me classify. I love Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache, Viognier, Tannat, Roussanne, Marsanne, Terret Noir, Picpoul Blanc….I love the varieties and the blends of said varieties. My experience with these wines is mostly from those Rhône Rangers in California. I am just beginning to explore further into French wines and Rhône Blends. In France the wine or blend is named by the area in which it is grown, the AOC , which is a completely different way of learning about the wines.

So as I learn about these wines, I start with comparing a couple of Rhône Blends from two of my favorite California wineries for Rhônes, Tablas Creek and Bonny Doon. We chose the 2011 Patelin de Tablas from Tablas Creek and the 2013 Le Cigare Volant reserve from Bonny Doon.

The Wines

These two wines differ in where the grapes were grown, the makeup of the blends, the vintage and the wine-making techniques. So first lets look at the wines themselves.

2011 Patelin de Tablas

2011 Tablas Creek Patelin de Tablas

https://tablascreek.com/wines/2011_patelin_de_tablasHere you can find all the geeky details.

This wine comes from Tablas Creek Vineyard in Paso Robles, but this is not an estate wine. This wine comes from multiple vineyards that they source from.

“Patelin” means neighborhood in French, so these are grapes not from the estate, but from the neighborhood. The list of vineyards is long (16 different vineyards across 4 different AVA’s in the Paso Robles Region). The AVA’s range from Adelaida Hills (higher elevation and warmer), to Templeton Gap (cooler with a coastal influence) to El Pomar (which is more moderate in climate) and then Estrella which is warmer. The soils differ in these AVA’s also, Adelaida Hills, Templeton Gap and El Pomar tend to be limestone, where as Estrella is sandy loam.

Tablas Creek first produced this wine in 2010 after having a very light harvest in 2009. This was second vintage of the Patelin de Tablas in 2011.

The blend is 52% Syrah, 29% Grenache, 18% Mourvedre and 1% Counoise, and sits at 13.7% Alcohol.

As to the winemaking techniques: the grapes were de-stemmed and fermented in a mix of Open-top and closed stainless steel fermenters as well at 1500-gallon upright oak casks. As usual for Tablas Creek it was only native yeasts that were used. After blending they were aged in stainless steel and 1200 gallon oak foudres. So, kind of a variety (I think some of that may be due to available space). They made 8460 cases of this wine. That’s alot compared to the Côtes de Tablas of which they made 1560 cases.

2013 Le Cigare Volant Réserve “en bonbonne”

2013 Le Cigare Volant reserve from Bonny Doon

Randall Grahm has been making this homage to Châteauneuf-du-Pape since 1984. The name comes from a weird wine law in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The story goes that a railway worker in northern France claimed he saw two Martians on his property who had landed in a cigar-like machine. Soon the reports spread and the French were all worried about these “flying cigars” or Cigare Volant. The Mayor of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape region put a law into place banning these “Cigare Volants” from landing or even flying over the area or vineyards. And…it worked, there have been no alien sitings in the region since then. Randall came across this law and in his own inimitable fashion, names his homage to Châteauneuf-du-Pape “Le Cigare Volante”.

This wine is from the Central Coast. This wine comes from multiple vineyards that are not necessarily close to each other. It is a bit more diverse in soils and climates that they Tablas, which at least sources from the same region.

When you talk about wine-making techniques…well in Randall’s own words

“The idea of “raising” the wine in glass demijohns was also a bit of a fever dream, occasioned in part by the many hours I spent in deep contemplation of the mysteries of redox chemistry; there was something dream-like (à la Carlos Castaneda and Don Juan) about the many hours driving around southern France with Patrick Ducournau, deep thinker about oxygen and wine (and inventor of microbullage, or micro-oxygenation). I’ve already written quite a bit about the nature of the esoteric élevage en bonbonne—bâtonage magnetique, etc., the opportunity for the wine to digest a substantial volume of yeast lees, and the extraordinary texture and savoriness this protocol engenders.” From his Production Notes

When you visit the tasting room you can see one of the demijohns (or carboys)

A “Carboy” or demijohn on the counter at Bonny Doon Vineyards. This is used for élevage (the progression of a wine between fermentation and bottling)

This wine is 55% Grenache, 25% Syrah, $16% Mourvedre and 4% Cinsault and it sits a little bigger than the Tablas with Alcohol at 14.3%.

This wine’s production was only 554 cases.

What to Pair with these Rhône Blends?

I took inspiration from Randall’s suggestions.

“All manner of cute creatures: rabbit, tiny birds, etc. Rabbit in Mustard Sauce (We suggest our Cigare Blanc mustard for this dish). Beef Kidneys. Stilton. Braised Oxtail.”

Well I have a thing about eating cute creatures, so we settled on the Stilton as well as a Cambozola (a triple creme chees with the flavor of a bleu cheese).

Tablas Creek suggested Grilled Steaks, rich beef stews and spicy sausages with the Patelin.

We set off and got some sweet italian sausage, a shepard’s pie and steak and stout pie.

So here is the spread: Sweet Italian Sausage with a brown mustard, Shepherds pie, a steak and stout pie, some zuchinni noodles sautéd with spices, black olives, a fig jam, the Stilton, Cambonzola, some manchego and aged gouda.

Eccelctic pairings for 2011 Patelin de Tablas and 2013 Le Cigare Volant

Tasting the Rhône Blends

In general, the Patelin was more fruit forward, with a bit of wet hay on the nose (I love that funkiness), and you get a little mineral. The fruit is red and bright, but then there is spice and a bit of anise. The tannins here are light, but the wine still has great structure. It has developed, but still will be great for further cellaring.

The Le Cigare Volant was mellower on the nose, But when it hit your mouth, it was richer than you expected from the nose. My first impression was Thyme in cooked strawberries with hints of smoked spices (like a sweet smoked paprika that is very mellow)

Pairing the Rhône Blends with Food

Both of the wines were fantastic with the sausage, but each brought out something different in the wine. The Steak and stout pie was also good with both, when paired with the Patelin, brought the fruit forward, with the Cigare Volant it highlighted the more savory notes. Michael liked the aged gouda best with both wines (mostly because he’s not so into the Bleu cheeses). The Bleu cheese with fig jam and the Patelin de Tablas was a big hit for me. We got less scientific as we tasted on savoring every bite and pondering on it. We pondered quite a bit and I forgot to write down all the notes, job hazard. Regardless, we enjoyed both wines thoroughly and I am inspired to dive further into Rhône blends, from California as well as digging in deeper to the history of the AOC’s of the Rhône Valley in France.

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

Santa Barbara Wines with Savory Spring Tarts

June 25, 2015

Savory Spring Tarts….you are questioning what that means, but your mouth is watering anyway. You can find the details on 4Farm2Mrkt. Of course we needed to do wine pairings so you get those here. We had 3 different types of tarts and I ended up choosing 4 different wines to taste with them. All of these wines ended up being Santa Barbara Wines. So, here we go… Let’s start with the video, then after the jump you can read the details!

Tercero 2013 Rosé.

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This is a Mourvedre Rose made by Larry Schaffer of Tercero. We met Larry at the Wine Bloggers Conference in 2014. He is fascinating and were lucky enough to speak with him in his tasting room earlier this year. Watch for the video interview which covers a WIDE range of subjects!
Larry’s tasting room is in Los Olivos and it is off the beaten path with the entrance on San Marcos St. They don’t have tasting notes here, but rather encourage you to see what you find in the wines.
Larry loves Rhones and is the president of the local Rhone Rangers Chapter, so a Mourvedre Rosé is right up his alley. These grapes come from the Vogelzang Vineyard in Happy Canyon. Larry foot stomps all of his grapes. (I think it’s a great way for him to expend some of his extra energy, because this gentleman has quite a bit!).
This is a rosé with depth. After a slow cool fermentation he puts it in French oak for 3 ½ months. It’s older French Oak so on the neutral side, but he says the wine develops some “funk” while there. I Love This Wine!

Grassini 2012 Sauvignon Blanc

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We met Katie Grassini a little over a year ago, in the Stunning Grassini tasting room in Santa Barbara’s El Paseo. Their family vineyard is in Happy Canyon which is on the Eastern end of the Santa Ynez Valley. The warmer climate here (the temperature rises by a degree each mile from the ocean in the Santa Ynez Valley) is perfect for Bordeaux varieties. They do high density farming of Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet, Cabernet Franc, Merlot & Petit Verdot. You will find “Grassini Vineyard” on many Sauvignon Blancs around the valley, their fruit is coveted by many winemakers. Their beautiful Sauvignon Blanc is whole cluster pressed and fermented primarily in Stainless steel, with a portion of it going into neutral oak puncheons.
This wine is bright without being too tart and is well rounded in your mouth.

Jamie Slone 2013 Aloysius Chardonnay

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Jamie Slone Wines is also in the El Paseo of Santa Barbara. His winemaker is Doug Margerum, but Jamie is very involved in the process. The day we stopped in, Jamie himself was behind the bar pouring and as it was early in the day, we were able to monopolize his time and hear many great stories. This Chardonnay “Aloysius” (pronounced alowishes) is named for his wife Kym’s late father. The grapes come from the Sierra Madre Vineyard in Santa Maria. This is a beautiful well rounded wine with just a touch of oak.

Anacapa Vintners 2010 Santa Maria Pinot Noir

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Anacapa Vintners, otherwise known as AVA Santa Barbara, The Valley Project, is a project by Seth Kunin of Kunin Wines. It explores the Santa Barbara area and looks at how the wines differ in the various AVA’s.
This wine is a pinot noir from the Santa Maria Valley which is in the northern part of Santa Barbara County. This was actually the 3rd AVA in the United States. The temperature rarely gets over 75 degrees and the growing season here is long making it perfect for Pinot Noir.
This Pinot had a bit of funk on the nose and I liked it! There were only 243 Cases of this wine produced.
If you find yourself in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone this is a “Don’t Miss” stop. The tasting room features a large Elkpen mural of the Santa Barbara Region which describes the climate and soils. As they pour your tasting, they will pull out soil samples so you can see what the different soil types are around the area. It is really an incredible educational experience, WITH WINE! What could be better?

Now to the pairings

Santa Barbara Wine Pairing

Grassini Sav Blanc

Strawberry & Onion Balsamic Tart

Potato, Cheese & Tarragon Tart

Arugula & Goat Cheese Tart

tercero Wines Rose

Grassini 2012 Sauvignon Blanc Bottle

The Strawberry Balsamic Tart we tasted with the Rose, the Sav Blanc and the Pinot Noir. I liked it best with the Rose. The earthiness of the wine, lent itself to the depth of the balsamic with the onions.

The Arugula Tart was meant to pair with the Rose and the Sauvignon Blanc, but it ended up working nicely with everything. Of course the natural pairing is with the Sav Blanc because of the herbs and goat cheese and indeed that was my favorite pairing, but surprisingly it went very well with the Aloysius Chardonnay by Jamie Slone. This wine is bright and tart and Michael liked it very much with the Arugula tart.

The Potato and Tarragon Tart is what I had opened the Chardonnay for and it did indeed pair well. The Pinot Noir also went well with the tarragon on the potatoes.

The lesson?

Suggested pairings are a great place to begin. But wines are individual and some of the nuances may surprise you and lead you to unexpected pairings. Don’t fight it! Give in to the experimentation!

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

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

A Conversation with Jason Haas of Tablas Creek Vineyard, Paso Robles, the Drought, Dry farming

May 19, 2015

Tablas Creek Vineyards, Paso Robles, Central Coast Wine Country

While on the Central Coast in April we were lucky enough to meet with Jason Haas, General Manager of Tablas Creek Vineyard in Paso Robles. Jason graciously took time out of his busy schedule to spend a couple of hours with Michael and I in the vineyard and the winery.

Tablas Creek Vineyard is the collaborative effort between the Perrin Family of Chateau de Beaucastel in Chateauneuf du Pape in France’s Rhone Valley and the Haas Family. Vineyard Brands, the wine import company founded by Robert Haas had been the exclusive importer for Beaucastel wines. In 1989 they founded Tablas Creek Vineyard in the west side of Paso Robles to grow Rhone varieties. In this part of the interview Jason tells us how the soil and climate brought them to Paso. Average rainfall was also one of the draws and Jason tells us how the current drought is affecting them, which segues into a discussion on planting dry farmed vines and the benefits of a head-pruned vineyard.

More on Tablas Creek Vineyard to Come

This is just part one, we will release additional segments where we discuss biodynamics, similarities and differences between the Beaucastel wines and Tablas Creek Vineyard Wines, native yeast fermentations, the use of Foudres (1200 gallon barrels), as well as aging wines and the library of wine Tablas keeps. We do a walk through the vineyard to look at the new acreage as well as Scuffy Hill where they grow their field blend. We look at the soil, the biodiversity in the fields and then explore the winery and it’s barrel rooms, before Jason talks us through how they create their blends. So stick with us…there is lots more to come.

And if you are fascinated by this discussion, visit the Tablas Creek Blog. Jason has a 3 part series on his blog about dry farming in California’s drought.

See More Conversations with

In the Vineyard with Steve Beckmen – Shoot thinning

July 30, 2014

The drive to Purisima Mountain was like taking a step back into my childhood, the curving roads at the top of this canyon reminded me of southern West Virginia, with one dramatic difference…there were vineyards on these hills. WE made this trek during the Spring Vintners Weekend, when we were lucky enough to do a Vineyard hike with Steve Beckmen at the Purisima Mountain Vineyard.

Located in the new Ballard Canyon AVA this property sits at the north end of the Canyon. From Ballard Canyon Road you drive up and around the Stolpman property to reach the 365 acre property. This estate vineyard is planted primarily with Syrah & Grenache with smaller blocks of Roussanne, Marsanne, Counoise, Mourvedre, Grenach Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. This vineyard became 100% biodynamic in 2006 and uses a gravity fed drip irrigation system.

The elevations at Purisima Mountain reach 1250 feet. The wind, the fog, the climate all affect the grapes and I had a fascinating conversation with Steve about the “architecture” of the vineyard and how that was still evolving.

We had hiked part way up the Mountain and stopped in the shade of a large Oak tree to taste some wine, have some water and enjoy some snacks. Then Steve pulled us over to the nearest vines and showed us the process of shoot thinning that was beginning to happen all over the vineyard.

The vines here are bi-lateral cordons and they pull off the suckers and try to leave 4 evenly spaced shoots on each cordon. Sometimes you are just pulling suckers (shoots with no blossoms or fruit) and sometimes you are doing some pre-thinning on your fruit this way. The shoot thinning does a couple of things, it gets rid of the suckers that are pulling energy from the vine, it thins out the leaves to allow better sunlight and airflow through the vines and it thins your crop a little to allow your berries to be a little more concentrated. As they thin they also start to train the shoots up into the trellis system above.

Watch as Steve explains:

The Beckmen Winery and Tasting room are not located here at Purisima Mountain, but are one valley over. They have a tasting room on a duck pond with gazebos where you can enjoy a picnic lunch, that is located just outside Los Olivos.

2670 Ontiveros Road, Los Olivos

1-805-688-8664

They are open Daily from 11-5.

You can learn more about the new Ballard Canyon AVA at their new site or on our Ballard Canyon Page here on Crushed Grape Chronicles.

For more information on the entire Santa Barbara Wine Region visit the Santa Barbara Vintners.

A harvest vineyard walk at Tablas Creek Vineyards

September 10, 2013

We gathered in the shade just outside the Tablas Creek tasting room. You could tell why we were here by our sturdy shoes. Yes it was almost 100 degrees, but we were wine lovers ready to brave the elements to find out more about this wonderful winery with a vineyard walk and tasting.

Levi Glenn, the Tablas Creek Viticulturist gave us some basics on the winery history before we got started. The Perrin and Haas families joined to find vineyard land here in California to grow the Rhone varieties that the Perrins’ have long grown at Chateau de Beaucastel in France’s Rhone Valley. The Tablas Creek property is on the same latitude, the climate and soil are both similar and when they bought this 102 acre property in 1989 they began the process of bringing the traditional Rhone varieties grown on the Perrins’ estate to this country. The cuttings from France had to go through a three year process to be sure that they were virus free. In order to have enough vines to actually make wine, they started a nursery, bench-grafting vines to plant on the estate and enough to sell to other vineyards. While they no longer have the nursery, they partner with NovaVine in Sonoma to create Tablas Creek clones from grafted vines and bud wood. Many wineries are now raising Tablas Creek clones to create their Rhone style wines.

They grow sustainably, organically and use biodynamic practices. There is a compost tea that they use to fertilize the vines and they plant sections of the vineyard with insectaries to encourage beneficial insects.

We headed down the drive then past the head-pruned Mourvedre by the gate and continued down to the lambing barn and barnyard. Levi talked about the animals, they have 2 donkeys and 5 alpacas that guard the herd of 40 sheep. The sheep are primarily used to mow down the cover crops. Over the season they can cover 30-40 acres of vineyard. In addition they fertilize as they mow. Once the vineyards are growing the sheep have to be moved elsewhere and still need to be fed. Typically they grow legumes as cover crops to add nitrogen back into the soil. They had some vines that were showing a little too much vigor so instead they planted barley as their cover crop. This works beautifully as they can then harvest the barley to use as feed for the herd.

While here they poured us a cool and refreshing glass of the 2012 Vermentino, one of only 2 non Rhone varieties grown on the estate. This was the wine that got me hooked on Tablas Creek when I recieved it as a gift from a friend. Enjoying this wine as the sun came dappled through the poplars, we took in the animals, the view of the cutting shed and the beautifully ripening Grenache.

Refreshed, it was time to move on up the long hill to the top where Chef Jeff Scott waiting under the oak trees. The vineyard views are beautiful. At the top of the hill you have a view of the las tablas creek area including Halter Ranch next door. Reveling in the shade they poured us glasses of the 2011 Estate Rose, a blend of Mourvedre, Grenache and Counoise. We enjoyed the view and Chef brought out a tray of figs topped with goat cheese to pair.

We headed back down the hill to the head pruned Roussanne block. We believe these are the only head-pruned Roussanne vines in the state. The 2009 Roussane is a gorgeous golden color. Rousanne is often very difficult to grow (NovaVine calls it “the princess”). This is the backbone to the Esprit du Beaucastel Blanc their flagship white wine adding richness, weight and honey with a nice salinity on the backend. Chateau du Beaucastel makes their Roussanne Vielles Vignes which is considered one of the greatest white wines in France. “Roux” is the French word for “russet” which describes the color of the grapes when ripe and gives us the base for the name “Roussanne”. This is the latest ripening white Rhone varieties that are grown at Tablas Creek. The vines respond highly to sunlight and bunches that get sun on the western side will ripen faster than those on the eastern side. This is also a wine that will age well, case in point we were drinking a 2009 and it was rich and stunning. After Levi gave us the run down on the grape, Chef Jeff pulled out the pairing. This was a crostini with fresh ricotta and thyme roasted golden beets topped with a piece of candied bacon. Beets and bacon pair well and both were gorgeous with the wine.

Across from the Roussanne there are scattered fruit trees including some Quince. Levi supplied me with a quick recipe for quince paste.

As we had walked down I noticed a large rack with netting and asked Levi when they netted before harvest. He said that they no longer net. There are so many vineyards locally that the birds no longer descend and feast, but rather just stop in here and there for a snack which is not an issue. They still have air cannons when needed.

We headed back up the hill to the head trained Tannat. This is the other non Rhone variety grown on property. Levi said that it has been called Tablas Creek Zin, as it is so rich, deep and flavorful. This grape thrives in the Tablas Creek climate and soils. Levi says that it takes almost no work and produces consistently good fruit. Tannat is found most notably in the Basque country on the Spanish border. Growing this at Tablas Creek was actually a little bit of an accident. The Perrins’ French nurseryman included cuttings when he packed up the Rhone varieties in 1990 even though it was not requested. His instincts told him that this grape would do well in Paso Robles and I for one would like to thank him! The berries have very thick skins which add to the tannins in the wine. It is fermented open top to allow more oxygen to soften the tannins and then is aged in small barrels again to introduce more oxygen. In 2010 most of the 248 acres of Tannat planted in California came from Tablas Creek cuttings. This wine is beautifully balanced with acid, fruit and tannin. Chef Jeff Scott then had to figure out a way to do a cold red wine pairing out in the vineyard! He succeeded overwhelmingly with this small bite, which still makes my mouth water whenever I think of it (and I think of it often!). He prepared Rillettes in the style of the south of France. The pork is slow cooked for 6 hours in it’s own fat then sits in olive oil, thyme and garlic to soak up some more goodness. This is placed on crostini topped with caramelized onions, drizzled with a pommerey mustard aioli and sprinkled with fleur de sel and black pepper. The fat in the rillettes paired with the acid and tannins in the wine were perfect. We enjoyed the wine, watched the sun set, had some great conversations and suddenly turned around to find that only 1/3 of the group was left! We headed back down to the winery and tasting room in the slowly dimming light, sated and fulfilled. There’s really nothing like being part of the Tablas Creek family. The staff was incredible and the other wine club members we met share our love for great wine and fascinating wine facts. Levi was extremely patient as we all pummeled him with questions, answering and enlightening us. All in all it was a glorious evening.

Sculpterra Wine & Art – Roaming the sculpture garden

August 22, 2013

Sculpterra is located on the East side of Paso off of Linne Road. This unique winery greets you with a magnificent sculpture garden. Surrounded by gorgeous iron fencing by master black smith Robert C. Bentley the garden itself is filled with the beautiful sculpture work of John Jagger.

Dr. Warren Frankel bought this property back in the 1980’s and moved his family there in 1990. Paul his son is the winemaker, a graduate of Cal Poly in Viticulture and Enology. Paul is more than just the winemaker, he also manages the vineyards, deals with fruit and juice sales and occasionally can be found pouring in the tasting room.

As we were here on a Saturday, the winery was busy and had an accordion player playing live in the tasting room. In addition to making their own wines, they also sell bulk fruit and juice to small independent winemakers. They do a wide variety of wines here, including Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Chardonnay, Grenache, Pinot Noir, Primitivo, Mourvedre, Merlot, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Franc, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon.

The wines are lovely and it is a wonderful place to come grab a glass of wine and wander the sculpture garden for a little art fix.

Enjoy a virtual stroll through their amazing sculpture gardens…you’ll have to provide your own wine, I recommend a rose.

Zaca Mesa at 40

May 17, 2013

Zaca Mesa WIndmill foggy morning

This weekend Zaca Mesa Winery will celebrate it’s 40^th birthday. This winery has quite a bit of history. The property was purchased by a group of friends in 1972 and the vineyard was planted in 1973 and they have been sustainably growing grapes in Santa Barbara ever since. The winery itself was built in 1978 and expanded in 1981. By the early 90’s they had determined that Rhone Varieties grew best on the property. They were the first Central Coast winery to appear in Wine Spectator’s Top 10 back in 1995. They are down to the last of their original owners and have been family owned for about 25 years.

Their first winemaker was Ken Brown who has since gone on to start the very successful Byron in Santa Maria. The rest of the list of previous winemakers continues to look like a who’s who of Santa Barbara & Paso winemakers including: Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat, Bob Lindquist of Qupe, Daniel Gehrs of Daniel Gehrs Wines, Clay Brock of Wild Horse, Chuck Carlson of Curtis and Benjamin Silver of Silver Wines.

Their current winemaker is Eric Mohseni. He started his career in wine retail then worked at Edna Valley Vineyards in 1997. It was there that he got hooked on winemaking. He started at Zaca Mesa in 2001 as the enologist worked up to Assistant Winemaker, then Associate Winemaker and finally took the reins in July of 2008.

All the wines here are estate bottled and grown. They don’t buy or sell grapes. They have about 750 acres of which 244 are planted with grapes. 20 acres are newly planted with Syrah. They sit about 30 miles from the Pacific Ocean in the Northern portion of the Santa Ynez AVA. Soils here are mostly Chamise loam over gravelly beds of silk and clay so the soil is well drained. Many of their vineyards are up on a high mesa at 1500 feet. This gives them lower high and higher low temperatures. The more consistent temps allow for slow consistent ripening. The height also causes higher UV radiation, which makes the grapes smaller, and thicker-skinned giving them increased color and phenolic compounds, which can provide more flavor to the wine.

Zaca Mesa glass

As to “sustainable” there is a “Code of Sustainable Winegrowing” developed by the California Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrape Growers. It spells out “practices that are sensitive to the environment, responsive to the needs and interests of society-at-large, and economically feasible to implement and maintain.” Zaca Mesa is sustainable using organic products, conserving energy and working efficiently to reduce waste. They farm only one-third of the acreage leaving open space for wildlife and preserving ground water.

Zaca Mesa was the third stop in a little trilogy we were doing in Santa Barbara, the day before we had tasted at both Au Bon Climat and Qupe. We rolled in early on a Friday morning and watched the coastal fog roll through the valley coming in from the North. The property is beautiful with huge trees greeting you as you walk from the parking area to the tasting room.

It was the beginning of a busy weekend for them as they had their wine club pickup party happening the next day. We rolled up and were the first guests in the tasting room.

Now onto the tasting!

2010 Estate Viognier. This wine received 91 Points and was the Editor’s Choice in Wine Enthusiast Magazine in the Feb 2013 issue. The nose is very Viognier but on the palate it is dryer than expected and has lots of lemon lime. It has the body of a Viognier but is crisper and brighter on the palate with a bit of minerality. This wine starts out in stainless steel and then transfers to new oak after about 3 months. $16
Z Blanc. This wine was not on the tasting menu but we managed a taste. It is a blend of Grenache, Roussanne and a little Viognier. The grapes for this were hand harvested, fermented and barrel aged for 10 months. This had minerality and a little oak and would go great with shellfish. This has great layer of flavor.
2009 Estate Roussanne: Michael does not normally like Roussanne. There is some flavor in there that he usually finds off-putting. This Roussanne has great weight and viscosity in your mouth. It is aged sur lee so it is mellower. Michael didn’t mind this Roussanne. Wine Enthusiast liked it and gave it 93 point in the February 2013 issue. $25.
2009 Estate Grenache Blanc: A little brighter than the Z Blanc Blend with a bit more mineral, but less depth then the blend (obviously). $25
2010 Estate Mourvedre: This was smoky with a beautiful nose. First I got smoke then blueberry. It was cool on the palate and had a long finish. I could have kept my nose in this glass all day. $35.
2008 Estate Z Cuvee: This GSM Blend is mostly Grenache (68%) with 18% Mourvedre and 14% Syrah. Lots of blackberry with big fruit on the nose. This will cellar for another 7 years. $20.
2008 Estate Z-Three: Another GSM with 51% Syrah, 37% Mourvedre and 12% Grenache. This was a really wonderful blend (my favorite here) Loads of blackberry with a little blueberry from the Mourvedre and then a touch of raspberry from the Grenache. This again will cellar for 5 or so more years. Wine Enthusiast gave this 89 points in their February issue. $42.
2009 Estate Syrah: I got blackberry, smoke, salted meat and a little bit of dried herbs. Bigger tannins that lightly coat your palate and the roof of your mouth but not your teeth. Warm on the back of the palate without being hot. Yeah, this would be perfect with rack of lamp in rosemary and garlic. This is great now and can cellar for up to 10 years, if you can keep from drinking it before then. $25.

After our tasting we wandered up on the hill to where they have a small picnic area overlooking the winery and vineyards. I could have strolled the grounds all day and maybe gotten Michael to play me a game of chess on the oversized chess board outside the tasting room, but….we had to press on to our next tasting! (Coming up next…Talley!)

Monte de Oro – “Vines, Wine, People”

February 25, 2013

This Temecula Valley winery is impressive as you drive up toward the end of Rancho California Road. The building sits on a rise and is expansive and inviting. In the early mornings there are typically balloons taking off from here making for picture perfect morning shots with their vineyards out front.

Tasting Room Window View

The Monte de Oro winery is owned by OGB (One Great Blend) Partners, which is a collection of 68 family owners from across America, South Africa and the UK.

The Vineyards are located around the valley. The first, Vista Del Monte was planted in 2002 with 18 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. They added 18 acres at the DePortola vineyard and 23 acres at the Galway vineyard in 2003 planted with Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Zinfandel, Viognier, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat Canelli.

In 2007 they broke ground on the winery and in 2008 planted their 4^th vineyard at the winery growing Cinsault, Mourvedre, Grenache, Petite Sirah, Malbec, Petit Verdot and Tempranillo.

Monte de Oro Underground Cave

Committed to sustainability the winery created a basement wine cave under the winery rather than building a barrel room above ground that would need to have a system for climate control. One of the most impressive sites in the building is walking across the glass floor that allows you to see down into the barrel room. They are also planning to build a gravity flow winery which reduces the energy needed to pump the wine as well as being gentler on the grapes, and they are looking to add solar panels to supply energy in the future.

The tasting room here is huge with beautiful views of the patio and beyond that the valley. They offer a variety of tours and private tastings that you can schedule in advance in addition to the Standard and Black Label Tastings available daily in the tasting room. Also open on the weekends is the MDO Bistro offering a Bistro menu Friday thru Sunday from 11-4.

Monte de Oro patio

When we visited the winery was busy and it was towards the end of the day. We tasted through a wide variety of their wines, most of which they produce about 250 cases each. All of the wines are very affordable running from $18 to $33 per bottle. watched a group head out for a tour while we were there and I would like to return to do a tour and learn a little more about their wines.

Mourvedre

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

For more…

Other regions

For more…

More from the Winophiles!

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Rasteau

Haut-Vaucluse

Dentelles de Montmirail

Geography, Climate & Soils

Red Rhône Blends with some rules

Domaine La Font de Notre Dame 2016 Rasteau Le Chêne

Domaine M. Boutin 2016 Rasteau

Chateau du Trignon 2015 Rasteau

Lavau 2015 Rasteau

Thanksgiving Pairing with Rasteau

The menu

Verdict

The French #Winophiles

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Tablas Creek Vineyard 2009 Esprit de Beaucastel Panoplie

What to pair?

Cured and Whey – Duck Reuben

eatt – Duck with sunchoke three ways & black currant sauce

The Pairing

A surprising pairing with goat cheese

Want some?

You really should go visit

More Info…

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The Wines

Château de Tracy 2017 Pouilly-Fumé

Quadratur Collioure Rouge 2015

Château Haut Selve Red 2015

A few other wines

The menu!

The Cheese platter

Butternut Squash Soup

Ratatouille

Escargot

Tartiflette

Bouef Bourguignon