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A Côtes du Rhône from Franck Balthazar and a deconstructed pairing #Winophiles

Sep 18, 2020

At long last, we have a reprise from the 114 degree days. It is time to again venture outside and perhaps in the evenings, as the stars begin to dot the sky, don a sweater. It is time to dig back into red wines in a different way. A Côtes du Rhône is the perfect way to ease into this season.

The French Winophiles (#Winophiles) are throwing a wide net this month with a venture into the Côtes du Rhône. Led by Cam of Culinary Adventures with Camilla, we will explore these wines. You can read her preview post here.

Scroll to the bottom for the pieces written by my colleagues on the subject and for details on how you can join us to talk about your favorite Côtes du Rhône on Saturday, September 19th at 8 am PDT

The Rhône Valley

The Rhône Valley sits between the Massif Central and the Alps, which long ago was flooded by the Mediterranean. The Greeks brought grapes to the region in the 4^th century BC and gradually wine-growing spread north.

In the 14^th century, the papacy moved from Rome to Avignon. Vineyards in abundance popped up in the region. In fact, Châteauneuf de Pape was the summer residence of the Pope.

The Rhône river became a means of shipping and the “Côste du Rhône” on the right bank, became famous for its wines. Later in the mid-19^th century, it became the Côtes du Rhône and extended to include the left bank.

As you can see, this is a really old wine region.

The Côtes du Rhône AOC

Paysage du Cotes du Rhone / Cotes du Rhone landscape| Photo © Christophe Grilhé courtesy Inter Rhône

The Côtes du Rhône AOC stretches from Vienne in the north to Avignon in the south taking in some 171 communes over an area of 30,000 hectares. Over such a distance and space you can expect some variety. Within this overarching AOC, you will find many small appellations. But today we focus on the Côtes du Rhône.

Domaine Franck Balthazar

The wine that we enjoyed is from Domaine Franck Balthazar.

This Domaine goes back to 1931 when it was founded by Franck’s grandfather Casmir. Franck’s father René took over in 1950 and eventually moved to bottling their wines in the late 1970s or early 80s. Franck took over in 2002 when the Domaine had just 2 hectares of vines, ½ of which were 100-year-old vines in Chaillot, and the other ½ 50-year-old vines in Mazard.

Franck Balthazar

2018 Côtes du Rhône

This wine is made in a traditional (old school) manner and Franck Balthazar is a purist. The vineyard these grapes come from 3 hectares close to Vinsobres, an AOC on the Aigues River. They plough with a horse and do whole cluster native yeast ferments in concrete.

The wines are aged in 600 liters demi-muids and are bottled unfiltered.

The blend is 75% Syrah and 25% Grenache, 14.1% abv.

Imported by Savio Soares Selections, I picked this bottle up at my favorite local wine bar/shop Garagiste, for $23.

What to pair with a Côtes du Rhône?

Classic pairing for a Côtes du Rhône is Daube, a Southern Rhone stew. Michael is not a lover of stew, so we decided to deconstruct this.

A Daube typically is a stew cooked in wine in a daubière which is a deep casserole dish or a Dutch oven. You would cook the bacon first, then sear your meat, which is cubed. Then you cook up onions, shallots, garlic, carrots, maybe parsnips or potatoes, add a little brandy, put the meat back in, and dump in a bottle of red wine. Top it with a bouquet garni (herbs like thyme, and rosemary), cover, and cook in the oven for a few hours.

Our deconstructed version included bacon-wrapped fillets, roast carrots with thyme and rosemary, potato cakes, and a red wine sauce for the steaks. All the ingredients, just in a different order.

Deconstructed daube to pair with a Côtes du Rhône

How was the wine? How did it pair?

This is a medium-bodied wine with a pretty big nose. I got volcanic rocks (have you ever smelled a lava rock that has been sitting in the sun?), roasted meat, cigar box, allspice, dried herbs, berry bramble, and a little smoke (think smoke from meat roasting on a grill). In my mouth, again I first found tobacco leaf, then currant, blackberry, and black cherry, dark juicy fruit. While the wine was dry, I sensed a little brown sugar.

There was good acid and tannins that coated my teeth. This was tasty and well balanced. It is young and I bet it will age nicely, but it’s joyful enough now, that you shouldn’t wait.

I did use half a cup of this wine to make my red wine sauce and the steak with the wine was a highlight. My potato cakes might have gone better if they had a bit more fat in them, but I drizzled some more of the red wine sauce on them and that made them perfect. If you like stew, by all means, try the daube, it would be delicious. Really any red meat dish that is grilled or roasted, braised or stewed, would be delicious.

Côtes du Rhône from Franck Balthazar with bacon wrapped filet, roasted carrots and potato cake.

The French Winophiles

I can’t wait to hear about the rest of the adventures that my fellow #Winophiles wine writers tackled! We will be gathering on Twitter on Saturday Morning September 19^th at 8 am PDT to discuss Côtes du Rhône wines. You can join in by following and using #Winophiles. Read on to hear more about the Côtes du Rhône!

A Côtes du Rhône Tasting by Payal of Keep the Peas
All the Colors of Côtes du Rhône with Famille Perrin by Nicole of Somm’s Table
A Trio of Côtes du Rhône Pairings by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
A Window Into The Côtes du Rhône Through Maison M. Chapoutier by Avvinare
Back on the Rhône Again by Christy Majors
Beef Tongue Stew with a Côtes du Rhône Gigondas by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm
Côtes du Rhône and Clearwater Camping: Charcuterie in God’s Country from Terri of Our Good Life
Côtes du Rhône: Essential French Wines by Jill at L’Occassion
Lamb Meatballs Paired with Côtes du Rhône by Jane at Always Ravenous
Linda shares Leaning Savory with a 2016 Alain Jaume Côtes du Rhône from My Full Wine Glass
Rhône Roam for Viognier and Syrah by Gwendolyn at Wine Predator
Rhône Wine with Brisket by David at Cooking Chat
Turkey Does the Côtes du Rhône from Andrea with The Quirky Cork
What the Heck is Côtes du Rhône Villages? by Wining with Mel

Resources & sources

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.

Nesting and pairing – polenta with red pepper and eggplant with a Rhône Style blend

Mar 12, 2020

Many of us, find ourselves staying in more these days. As I write this, Broadway has announced that all theatres over 500 seats will go dark through April. I sit in Vegas, a member of the entertainment industry, waiting to see what will happen here. I have friends in Washington, who are staying at home. It’s an angsty time. We are all a little nervous. Many will be nesting out of necessity, not choice. I feel lucky to know that if I am stuck at home, I have a cellar to allow me to travel. If you find you must stay at home. Take the time for a bit of self care. This recipe and pairing is just an example. I look forward to hearing what amazing creations you pull out of your cupboard.

Staying in and traveling through a bottle of wine

Last week, I didn’t want to got to the grocery store. I was willing to cook, just not to drive.

So, what to pair?

What’s in the cupboard?

In the fridge I found a 1/4 of an onion, a red pepper, an eggplant, some olives and capers and a lemon. In the pantry a canned of diced tomatoes, garlic and polenta and in the back yard my rosemary and sage were taking off!

Polenta, eggplant, red pepper, lemon, garlic, onion — Ingredients on hand

Fresh herbs sage and rosemary — Ingredients on hand

Roasting vegetables

I diced the eggplant, onion and red pepper. Then I tossed in a couple of cloves of garlic, some fresh sage and rosemary. This all was doused with olive oil and sprinkle of salt and pepper. I lined a baking dish with parchment (for ease of clean up) and tossed the mixture in. The oven went to 450 degrees (on convection roast mode) and in it went for 45 minutes.

Chopped onion, pepper, eggplant and garlic with rosemary and sage

A couple minutes later it occurred to me that roasted lemon would play nicely in this so I sliced some lemon tossed it in.

Making polenta

While that roasted away, I whipped up the polenta. It takes about 30 minutes by the instructions on the bag of Bob’s Red Mill polenta. I kept long sleeves on and used oven mitts for stirring, cause it will bubble and pop and can really burn you, so stay safe. After 30 minutes I added some butter and then poured it into a pyramid shaped glass bowl that I had to mold it.

The roasted veggies came out of the oven and I added the can of diced tomatoes drained.

Finishing the dish

Polenta with roasted eggplant, garlic, lemon, red pepper with tomatoes, olives & capers — Polenta with roasted vegetables

After 10 minutes, the polenta was set (I threw it in the fridge to set faster). I sliced the polenta, and pan fried it in butter and olive oil to make it a little crispy. I found a pretty plate to put it on, and topped with my roasted vegetables. This was garnished with black olives and capers and some more fresh herbs.

Larner 2017 Elemental

I had pulled out a bottle of Larner Vineyards and winery 2017 Elemental. This wine from Santa Barbara’s Ballard Canyon AVA is 65% Grenache, 19% Syrah and 16% Mourvèdre. It is aged 22 months in neutral french oak.

This wine had a beautiful acidity that was really wonderful with this dish!

So, take an opportunity to nest. To curl up with a bottle and do some virtual travel. Dig through the cupboard. You might be surprised at the amazing things you can make.

For more information on the Larner Vineyard and Winery

Larner Vineyard & Winery (our page with lots of details on this vineyard and winery)
Larner Wine (their site)

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.

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

Dec 24, 2018

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 — Assorted cheeses 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 — Mourvedre ripening at Tablas Creek in the Adelaida AVA of Paso Robles

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.

Comparing Rhône blends from California’s Central Coast

Feb 3, 2018

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.

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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.

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

May 19, 2015

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.

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Wine Pairing: Cod, Clams & roasted citrus avocado salad with a 2012 Esprit de Tablas Blanc.

Feb 11, 2015

I was going through our wine selection trying to find a wine that I could find a great pairing to go with. So I went through our Tablas Creek Wines. The great thing about Tablas is that they set you up for a great wine pairing. They have a vintage chart on their site, so you can see which wines are ready to drink. Tablas Creek does mostly Rhone varieties in the French style, so most of their wines are meant to age. I found a 2012 Patelin de Tablas in the rack in the dining room that was ready to drink and found a recipe and pairing ideas on the Tablas site (yep, they usually have one or 2 recipes to pair with each of their wines, as well as some additional suggestions…it’s really foodie heaven).

There was a fish with fennel recipe and suggestions for citrus avocado salad, fish with tropical salsa and Mussels or clams cooked in butter and wine. We determined we would do the citrus avocado salad, fish with tropical salsa and the clams. We thought we would go to whole foods for a good citrus selection, but since I wanted clams and I wanted them to be easy, we stopped first at Trader Joes.

Foodies might be appalled, but while I wanted clams, I didn’t want the worry of cleaning them, so we picked up a box of TJ’s steamer clams, which are frozen and have an herb butter sauce already. We picked up some frozen Alaskan Cod, a mango, limes, a red bell pepper, a red onion, Meyer lemons, blood oranges, a Minneola, arugula and mint. I had an avocado at home from the farmers market. This was probably a Zutano or a Pinkerton avocado and it was a little different from the well-known Haas. It was smooth skinned and green with a pear like shape with a smooth light flesh.

Cooking

So now it was time to cook. We started by making the salsa, dicing ½ of the red pepper, the mango and ½ of the onion then squeezing the juice of 1 lime over it and seasoning with salt and pepper. Mix this up early if you want and toss it in the fridge to let all those flavors meld.

Fresh Mango Diced

Mango Pepper Onion Salsa

Mango Salsa

Next we sliced up our citrus into rings. In retrospect I could have sliced them thinner. They get tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper and go in the oven at 425 for 10-15 minutes to roast and caramelize. While they were in there, I tossed my arugula and some fresh mint together and mixed a dressing of small diced red onion and the juice of 1 Meyer lemon.

Blood-Orange

Meyer-Lemon

Minneola Orange

Roasting Citrus

We started the clams at this point and Michael seasoned the cod. The box of clams went into our preheated pan and then instead of the water called for on the box, I went to add the white wine… only it was red. Silly me…I saw the label and didn’t look to see if it was the white or red Patelin de Tablas. So, Plan B…I grabbed a bottle of 2012 Esprit de Tablas Blanc and tossed in a bit of that.

Steamer Clams with Butter and Wine Reduction

Steamer Clams with White Wine

Michael got some butter (by that I mean almost a stick) going in a skillet and added the cod pieces, these cooked while I sliced the avocado for the salad and pulled the citrus from the oven to top it. Last the dressing of Meyer lemon juice and onion went on.

Stick of Butter

Alaskan Cod poached in Butter

Alaskan Cod

Alaskan Cod topped with Mango Salsa

The Wine Pairing

The fish was plated and topped with our salsa and we were ready to eat! Our wine pairing wasn’t what we originally expected, but we enjoyed the Esprit de Tablas Blanc with dinner and then enjoyed a glass of the Patelin de Tablas after. While the Patelin de Tablas Blanc would have potentially made for a better wine pairing with the mango salsa and with the citrus salad, the Esprit went very well. The difference? The Esprit is a blend of 75% Roussanne, 20% Grenache Blanc & 5% Picpoul Blanc, where the Patelin Blanc would have been 52% Grenache Blanc, 27% Viognier, 16% Roussanne & 5% Marsanne. That Viognier would have lended itself nicely to the tropical salsa, but regardless the Esprit was wonderful with it!

The fish and clams were delicious. The salad…the peel and pith were a little bitter. Perhaps if I had sliced these more thinly, it would have soaked up more of the olive oil and been a little sweeter, less chewy and caramelized a little more. It was beautiful though and the mint and arugula were nice with it.

All in all, this was a pretty simple dinner. It took us about 35 to 40 minutes total, but that was with shooting while we cooked. You could multitask and complete the whole thing in about 20 minutes.

Alaskan Cod, with Butter, Fennel, Orange, Mango Salsa

Arugula Salad with Roasted Citrus and Avocado

Steamed Clams with Butter and Herbs

Tablas Creek, Esprit Blanc 2012

So dive in! A fantastic looking dinner doesn’t have to take hours in the kitchen; in fact the best stuff usually is simple and cooks up pretty quick. And even an accidental wine pairing can turn out to be delicious!

À la Vôtre!

A weekend in West Side Paso.

Aug 27, 2013

Our trip to Paso this time is a little more focused as we hit the North end of Vineyard Drive and the West end of Adelaida Road. The big events we are attending are a Tasting through the Vineyard with Neil Collins (winemaker) and Levi Glenn (viticulturist) at Tablas Creek and a Vineyard View Sunset BBQ at Halter Ranch. So our other tastings we chose to keep in the neighborhood.

Tablas Creek and Neil Collins you will find plenty of blog posts on. They are perhaps my favorite winery on the planet. This event will give us the history of the vineyard and winery as well and learning about the farming techniques and tasting grapes on some of the blocks and then the wines that have been made from them. There will also be small bites to pair. Really, this sounds like heaven to me and I can’t wait to tell you all about it when we get back!

Halter Ranch Spring Vines

At Halter Ranch we will enjoy a Vineyard View Sunset BBQ on the deck of the new winery. The dinner line-up sounds amazing, and the views are sure to be spectacular.

At some point there will be lunch at Kukkula. The name means hill or high place in Finnish. The vineyard is on 80 acres overlooking the Adelaida schoolhouse. The tasting room is beautiful and modern and built into the hillside. It was designed to be energy efficient. They serve lunch on the weekends so this looks like a perfect spot.

We also plan to get out to DAOU which we missed doing on our last trip. They will have music Friday afternoon, so the goal is to make it for that. This winery is perched at 2,200 feet on the hills on the south side of Adelaida Road. The views from their Spanish Colonial style winery are spectacular. An anomaly in this area of the valley, they grow and focus on Cabernet! The property, the Hoffman Mountain Ranch was originally found by non other than Andre Tchelistecheff. Dr. Hoffman purchased it in 1964 and this was the first commercial winery in Paso and…they grew Cab. We will enjoy some music, taste some Cab and learn more about this amazing property!

Lone Madrone is Neil Collins personal label and he has a new tasting room across from Adelaida. This is perfect to keep his tasting room and Tablas Creek close. He sources grapes from small, locally owned and sustainable vineyards on west side Paso, working closely with the vineyards. The new tasting room is in a converted barn and has two patios where you can enjoy the wine and the view. I am hoping that we can also taste some of the Bristols Cider that Neil makes.

Jada, which is on Vineyard Drive, offers cheese pairings from Vivant, and how can you pass that up! They have an open air tasting room and you can reserve tables on the patio. They focus on Rhone and Bordeaux style wines here.

After reading Alice Feiring’s book “Naked Wine”, I felt I had to plan a visit to Carmody McKnight! Gary and Marion Conway purchased this land near Justin more than 40 years ago and have been making “Natural Wines” here ever since. Soil studies on the property show that there were once three volcanoes here and the soils here have been dubbed super soils and wonder soils that are seen nowhere else on the planet. So…we will taste their natural wines and learn about the super soils and get some of their opinions on “Natural Wines” which is a pretty hot topic these days! Oh and on the celebrity side, Gary Conway began as an actor and artist and Marian McKnight Conway is a well-known former Miss America. Their daughter Kathleen is the winemaker.

In all the times that we have been to this area of Paso Robles, we have never managed to stop at Pasolivo the olive oil company. The trees here are over 15 years old and they are an award winning olive oil company. With a variety of flavored oils I may just stock up!

Winemaker Kevin Riley is the consulting winemaker at Shale Oak and several other wineries locally. Proulx (Pru) is his own winery with his wife Genoa. The vineyard here is 55 years old. In addition to their own fruit, they source from the best Paso vineyards. This tiny winery produces just 1500 cases yearly. Maybe, we will get lucky and Kevin will be around and we can talk winemaking with him!

And it’s close to harvest so we hope to get lost of great shots of grapes ready to pick, maybe some harvest action and get to speak with fabulous wine makers!

Yes, it’s an ambitious trip and while we want to fit lots in, we will stop along the way to smell the wine. We will sadly have to edit stops on the way so that we can spend time and fully appreciate the places we do stop. You can look forward to great blog posts on our return!

Paso Trip to Cass Winery

Dec 14, 2011

The drive to Paso started very early. The drive was uneventful and we arrived at Cass Winery in Paso Roble at 1:30 or so. To get to the winery you take Union road off of 46 West right by Tobin James, follow Union to Geneovese and turn right on Linne. The winery is ahead on your right. Although there was patio seating outside, we opted to go in as it was a little cold. The tasting bar is n the left as you go in and the cafe is to the right. Lindsay told us to have a seat anywhere we liked and she would be right with us. With the cafe, you can choose a glass of wine or a tasting free with lunch. We opted for the tasting and a cheese pairing platter, plus I had the soup of the day which was an incredible deconstructed french onion soup with a veal broth (that was incredibly balanced) andouille sausage and of course onions. Michael chose the pit roasted pulled pork tri tip sandwich.. Lindsay started us off with a 2010 Sparkling Grenache done in the Champagnoise style that is a Paso Roble Blanc de Noir. 12.5 % Alcohol. $55.00 225 cases. Yeasty on the nose with bright tart green apple on the palate it was a refreshing start. It is harvested early to keep the crisp acidity. Cool weather made this especially good. Michael who typically does not like sparkling wines, enjoyed this. Jacob Lovejoy the chef brought the cheese platter and came out to describe each of the incredible cheeses that they had paired with their wine tastings. We tasted the Midnight Moon from the Netherlands which is a pasteurized goat milk cheese done in a Gouda style. This paired with the2010 Rockin’ One Blanc which is a White Rhone blend of Viognier (52%) Rousanne (20%) Marsanne (28%). Alcohol 13.6% $32.00 Golden in color, you could smell the oak on the nose (18 months I think in neutral oak?) You get white peach and candied lemon on the palate. The cheese is aged 24 months and has a great brown butter flavor with a bit of nuttiness. Really good with the wine.

Next we tried the Western sage cheese. The sage is beautiful in this cheese with the2010 Oasis Rose. The Rose is a Syrah based Rose with a little Grenache, a little Cab and some other stuff kitchen sink style. It is not a Rhone style grenache, probably due to the cab addition. You get warm strawberries and guava on the nose. On the palate it is crisp clean and refreshing cool strawberries and watermelon. 15.8 Alcohol. 225 cases $22.00 It was beautiful with the cheese.

Next was a central coast Holey Cow cows milk cheese. Soft chewy nutty in a swiss cheese style. This paired with the 2009 Grenache. 14.5% Alcohol and 18 months in french oak. $28.00 620 cases.This was a clear and clean wine with a nose of ripe cherries and strawberries. This would pair well with turkey or duck.

Onto the cheese that Lindsay made! This was a truffled goat cheese and it was paired with the 2009 Mouvedre. 15.3 Alcohol. 18 months in french oak$36.00. The cheese is a creamy spread that we put on crackers. Later I added a little of Jacobs fig compote and it paired well also. The Mouvedre was 2009. It is a light red, soft round and gentle. Strawberries on the nose and palate. Light mouth feel.

Next was a cheddar aged 5 years from Hooks cheese company in Wisconsin. Jacob loves this and calls it velveeta on crack. This paired with the Rockin’ One red blend. This is a Rhone Style blend with 50% Syrah plush Grenache, & Mouvedre, petite Sirah . 15% alcohol and 18 month in the barrel. The wine was dark red and peppery. Michael found it hot when he paired it with his pulled pork.

Now to the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon (700 cases produced) this is a typical cab blend with 75% cab, some merlot, cab franc, petit verdot. Aged 22 months in 75% new french oak. 14.2 alcohol. This is a big wine with a short finish and a clean aftertaste. You could smell the tannins but they were not assaultive on the palate like the Petroni wines it left you ready for the next bite. Great food wine. This paired with the Paive Vecchio cheese. This is a cows milk cheese aged 12 months. It has a texture between cheddar and parm. Paired beautifully with the cab. Roasted red pepper on the nose, deep red color, nice spice.

Last we tasted a syrah port 2009 1350 5 mil bottles produced paired with a 72% cacao chocolate. Very nice.

Listened to Jacob working with the catering manager to plan a burger bar for a wedding. He gets exceptionally excited about this stuff. He mentioned that he had been to Wild Horse the other day and really liked the 3rd Pinot down, so we went looking for that.

More to Come.

Rhone Blends

The Rhône Valley

The Côtes du Rhône AOC

Domaine Franck Balthazar

Franck Balthazar

2018 Côtes du Rhône

What to pair with a Côtes du Rhône?

How was the wine? How did it pair?

The French Winophiles

Resources & sources

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Staying in and traveling through a bottle of wine

What’s in the cupboard?

Roasting vegetables

Making polenta

Finishing the dish

Larner 2017 Elemental

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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

2011 Patelin de Tablas

2013 Le Cigare Volant Réserve “en bonbonne”

What to Pair with these Rhône Blends?

Tasting the Rhône Blends

Pairing the Rhône Blends with Food

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Crawford Family Wines 2016 Albariño

2015 Tin Shack Chardonnay

2016 Rosé

2013 Bentrock Pinot Noir

2014 Pinot Noir, Walk Slow

2014 Second Street Cuvée

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More on Tablas Creek Vineyard to Come

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Cooking

The Wine Pairing

À la Vôtre!

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