Easter Feaster! A last minute pantry pairing day.

Apr 14, 2020

Planning a last minute Easter Dinner

So I’ve been planning pairings recently and on Easter Morning realized that I had not even thought of an Easter pairing. So…I dove in on a last minute pantry pairing. Immediately I thought of gnocchi and got a craving. The sage in the backyard was in bloom and I visualized some Trader Joe’s sweet potato gnocchi with fresh sage and sage blossoms. Easy delicious and beautiful!

Change of plans

Sadly, when I went to the freezer, I found there was none there. (I thought for sure I had unpacked that from the stuff Michael picked up a week or so ago). So I asked Michael, who confirmed he had not picked that up and he suggested I make some homemade gnocchi. Hmmm…so he found a recipe and huzzah! We had all the ingredients.

You can’t eat just gnocchi

Well, now I was going to be really cooking, so we should probably have a protein, right? We have steak and fish and chicken in the freezer. Steak…red meat is not pastel and wouldn’t do for today. Fish? Not feelin’ it. Chicken? Okay, except I suck at cooking chicken. I have a tendency to dry it out or under cook it. But…I do have a sous vide cooker. Maybe I could find a recipe to sous vide the chicken.

Coincidences and kismet

So I set out to the internet and searched for a sous vide chicken recipe and since I wanted it to be pretty, I searched via images. One image caught my eye and I popped it open. The author was PlatingsandPairings.com! We met Erin of Platings and Pairings, last October at the Wine Media Conference in Australia. She has a stunning site and her photos are both magazine and drool worthy. Her Sous Vide Chicken Breasts Recipe gives you the basics as well as lots of flavor options.

Ingredients for our Sous Vide Chicken Breasts

Our Sous Vide Cooker set to 145 degrees — Ingredients for our Sous Vide Chicken Breasts

As we had traveled with Erin and her husband on a post conference tour through Orange Australia, I chose to season my chicken with orange slices and rosemary with a bit of salt and pepper. We had a great time in Orange and you can look forward to plenty of videos and posts on our trip there coming up!

There ought to be a salad

Lastly I had zucchini in the fridge and I determined I could make a beautiful decorative and delicious side salad with zucchini ribbons.

We did the dishes separately, starting with the gnocchi and then later the chicken and zucchini salad.

Making gnocchi

The gnocchi really is not difficult, it’s just a bit time consuming. The important thing is dealing with the potatoes to get the starch right.

Get the potatoes right!

Scrub the potatoes, and put them in a pot of cold water. No peeling, no cutting, no poking. Bring it to a boil and boil 35 to 45 minutes (depending on the size of your potatoes) until you can easily stick a knife into them. Then let them cool just enough to handle them. Peel them. The jackets will slide off easily now. Then if you have a ricer, get it out and rice them! If not mash them with a fork or potato masher. I love any opportunity to use my Grandmother’s ricer.

Ricing potatoes for gnocchi
Potato, flour, salt and a egg for gnocchi
Cutting up Gnocchi
Gnocchi ready to cook after being rolled on a fork
Butter, sage, and cheese for the sauce for our gnocchi.

Add the other ingredients and roll it out

Now let the potato cool. Once it is fairly cool, you add 1 ¼ cup of flour and 2 tsp of salt. Just pour or sprinkle it on top. Make a well in the center and crack your egg into it. Then mix it all up with a wooden spoon (some people use their hands…go for it if you are feelin’ it!).

Flour a surface and knead the dough on it for 2 minutes. Then cut the ball into 4 pieces. You will roll out each piece to about 24 inches long and ideally ½ wide (it’s tough…mine were bigger and I’m okay with that). Roll out from center. Then chop them into ½ inch pieces (again…mine were probably a little bigger).

Then you can use the back of a fork to roll them on, creating great little indentations for your sauce to stick to when they are done. Stick them on a cookie sheet and dust them with flour.

Cook the gnocchi and make the sauce right in the bowl

Cook them in hot salty water in batches. All at once and you will end up with them sticking together.

I had a big bowl waiting for them with ¼ cup of butter chopped into little pieces, fresh sage leaves and ¼ to ½ cup of shredded cheese (I used parmesan and asiago). As the gnocchi float to the top of the pot, scoop them out with a slotted spoon and stick them on top of the butter, sage and cheese. When they are all complete, add a ladle full of the water from the pot to the gnocchi mixture and stir until the cheese and butter make a delicious sauce.

Plating – Make it pretty!

I was determined to make a pretty plating, so we used some fancy bowls and garnished with salt, pepper, fresh parmesan, sage leaves and the beautiful (and edible) sage blossoms. The pastel colors were beautiful and I loved the purple, which was a celebration of my friend Emily’s birthday (her favorite color is purple and it was her birthday!).

Pantry pairing with Gnocchi in butter, sage and pamesan sauce — Gnocchi in butter, sage and parmesan sauce

On to the chicken!

So the chicken was sous vide according to Erin’s recipe and it was waiting now to be seared and served. But I was determined to have a pretty plating today, so I started with a zucchini salad. I made ribbons of zucchini, and soaked them in olive oil, orange juice, salt, pepper and a little dried orange zest. Then I rolled some and twisted some and added some strips of orange zest and a little arugula. Then I seared the chicken and topped it with some seared orange slices. Et viola!

Seared Sous Vide Chicken with zucchini salad and a 2018 Larner Viognier.

Pairing 2018 Larner Viognier

I picked the pairing to go with the chicken originally. A Chardonnay would have done the trick there, but the Viognier was likely to pair well with the gnocchi also.

Michael pulled out a bottle of 2018 Estate grown Viognier from Larner Vineyard and Winery in Santa Barbara’s Ballard Canyon. They are a favorite of ours and you can read so much more about this winery and see some great video interviews we have done with Michael Larner here on our site.

Larner Vineyards Ballard Canyon Santa Barbara County Bird netting

Syrah Grapes on vines, Larner Vineyard, Ballard canyon

It’s a big wine at 14.5% abv, but the weight and texture paired perfectly with the food. It was lovely with the herbs and pulled out the orange notes. It has great acid to balance the heavier notes of the gnocchi and the fat in the chicken dish. They only made 45 cases of this wine, so it will go fast and it’s a bargain as $30.00 SRP.

So all in all I was pretty pleased with our dishes and our pairing. It was a lovely day that revolved around the kitchen. Cooking can be such a comfort. Even unexpected cooking from the pantry.

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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.

Tasting blind – globetrotting at home

Jun 30, 2019

We gathered a bakers dozen of folks for a blind tasting of 3 white wines and 3 reds. There were aroma jars and tasting sheets and lots of glasses! After the reveal for each, we had small bites to pair with each of the wines. People discovered varieties and places they did not know they liked. Here’s the run down on the wines we tasted.

The White Wines

When choosing these wines, we didn’t want to pick wines everyone was already familiar with and we also wanted them to be from a range of places around the globe. Without realizing it at first, we had chosen three wines, with somewhat similar profiles, which made the guessing a bit harder. Here are our 3 white wines.

White Wine #1 Carhartt 2018 Sauvignon Blanc

Carhartt 2018 Savignon Blanc bottle shot with apple, lemon zest and honeydew melon — Carhartt 2018 Savignon Blanc

This wine is from California, Santa Barbara Country and more specifically from the Santa Ynez Valley. It hails from 2 vineyards, the Carhartt Vineyard in Santa Ynez (60%), and Grassini Vineyard located in Happy Canyon (40%). Carhartt is great about the deets on their labels: 100% Savignon Blanc, Clone 1 on 101-14 rootstock, vertical trellis system, sustainably farmed, fermentation in both oak and stainless steel, cooperage :6 months in neutral oak and stainless steel 50% each.

Aromas, flavors and pairings

We set out scent jars for this wine that included pear, green apple, lemon zest and honeydew melon. We paired this with herbed goat cheese on crostini.

This is a great summer sipper sitting at 12.5% alcohol, it will drink fresh through 2022 and can age beyond that. They made 900 cases of this wine and it will set you back $25.00.

About Carhartt

And yes….this is the same Carhartt that you see on work wear. They family had a ranch in the Santa Ynez valley that Mike and his family decided to grow wine grapes on. They still have some livestock and they work the ranch and vineyard. Here is a link to a video that will give you a feel for Carhartt.

Carhartt Hand Made Films Presents: Carhartt Vineyard

You can find their tasting room in Los Olivos at 2939 Grand Ave If you have visited before, know that they are no longer in the tiniest tasting room at the north end of Grand Ave. You can find them in the new larger spot across the street about a block south.

2939 Grand Avenue
Los Olivos, CA 93441
Ph #: 805.693.5100
Open daily 11am-6pm
No reservations. First-come, first-serve.
Closed only on Christmas Day

White Wine #2 Spier 2017 Vintage Selection Chenin Blanc

Chenin Blanc hails form the Loire Valley in France. While it is grown in France and elsewhere, this is a variety that has become most notable in South Africa, where locally they refer to it as “Steen”.

Spier Wine Farm

This wine is from South Africa from Spier Wine Farm which dates back to 1692. The fruit comes from the Western Cape in the Breede River and Coastal regions. For a video about this winery…

A visit to Spier Wine Farm and Hotel

More details: alluvial, well-drained and aerated soils with decomposed granite from the mountain foothills. Grapes are both trellised and bush vines (head pruned). They hand harvest, destem and slightly crush before pressing. There is a bit of skin contact then they let the free run juic settle in tanks overnight. In the morning they rack from the lees and innoculate with yeast strains (so this is not a native yeast wine). They let the wine mature on the fine lees for 3 months to add body. We could see the results of this in the richer fuller mouthfeel of this wine.

Aromas, flavors and pairings

Fragrance jars for this wine included pear, peach, vanilla beans and a mango/guava/passion fruit jam, as there were notes of tropical fruit and green guava in the wine. We paired this with two different bites, a cracker with brie and a dab of the mango/guava/passion fruit wine as well as smoked trout on a baguette slice with either a russian pickle or a cucumber slice. (Here we were lucky that one of our guests had recently been fishing and caught a trout and another had taken that trout and smoked it! Thank you for this great bite to pair with this wine!)

You can look for this wine locally as it is widely distributed. It sits at a higher alcohol level than the Sav Blanc at 14.5% and you can find it for around $18.00.

Here is a video to give you a little more information on this South african Winery. https://www.spier.co.za/

White Wine #3 Martin Codax Albariño

We headed to another country for our final white wine. This is an Albariño from Spain’s Rias Baixas region. Michael actually tasted this wine last year at a session at WBC18 on Rias Baixas.

Rias Baixas

The region of Rias Baixas, if you are unfamiliar, is on the coast of Spain above Portugal. The area is known as Galacia. Most grapes here are grown on pergolas, and the region is green and lush. This wine comes from Val do Salnés, which runs along the coast south of the Ria de Arousa. This area is known as the birthplace of the Albariño grape.

Bodegas Martin Códax was founded in 1986 and was named after the most known Galacian troubadour whose medieval poems, the oldest in the Galician-Portuguese language, have survived to the present. In the poems, the troubadour sings to love, the sea and the coastline.
http://www.martincodax.com/en/

The winemaker for Martin Códax is Katia Alvarez. That she is a woman is unsuprising in Spain’s Rias Baixas region, where roughtly half of the winemakers are female.

Aromas, flavors and pairings

The scent jars for this wine were simply, pear, green apple and the mango/guava/passion fruit jam (this time for the passion fruit). We paired this with a slice of Guyere and a slice of pear. It sits at 13% abv and runs about $16. Widely distributed, this is a fairly easy to find wine.

Find out more about this beautiful wine region by visiting the Rias Baixas site.

The Red Wines

When looking to red wines, we again wanted to go a bit out of the box, but not too far. Here though, the wines that we chose had flavor profiles that varied quite a bit so it was easier to differentiate the wines. All of these wines were international varieties that have ventured out from their homeland.

Red Wine #1 Carhartt 2016 Estate Sangiovese

Carhartt 2016 Estate Sangiovese with wet stones, strawberries, black tea, clove, and cedar plank — Carhartt 2016 Estate Sangiovese

We spoke earlier about Carhartt. We have been fans of Carhartt for awhile and on two separate occasions were able to visit the ranch. Once for a wine dinner (which was a blast) and once to take a tour with Joe, who at the time ran their wine club. We walked the Hilltop vineyard and he pointed out the Sangiovese on the 11 Oaks vineyard across the way.

Sangiovese? Think Chianti

This is a Sangiovese, the famous Italian variety that you might think of as Chianti. You remember the wine in those straw wrapped bottles?

The Geeky bits: 100% Sangiovese from 11 Oaks Vineyard in Santa Barbara’s Santa Ynez Valley. Fontodi & isole e olena clones that are own rooted, sustainably farmed, fermented in small lots with a cold soak, 18 months in barrel 25% of which is new. Unfined and unfiltered (see Zeina, that was the floaty stuff!)

Aromas, flavors and pairings

Jars for this included: wet stone, wild raspberry jam (couldn’t find wild raspberries), black tea, cedar plank, clove and strawberry. We paired this with an Asigo cheese topped with a bit of prosciutto and a touch of raspberry jam.

Asiago Proscuitto and raspberry jam appetizer

They made just 565 cases of this wine, it sits at 13.6% abv and is a crowd pleaser. It is medium to light bodied, so lots of folks guessed it was a Pinot Noir. It will drink well through 2029 and was the most expensive wine we poured at $40 per bottle.

Red wine #2 Gascon Malbec Reserve 2015

Gascón 2015 Reserva Malbec from Argentina with blackberries, plum and spice — Gascón 2015 Reserva Malbec from Argentina

This grape is a little more well traveled. Malbec is originally from Cahors in France where it is known as “the black wine of Cahors”. Long ago it travelled to Argentina where it found it’s voice. In Cahors he dressed in black, in Argentina he wears purple and red!

Don Miguel Gascón Wines

This particular wine is from Mendoza where more than 70% of the country’s vines can be found and most of which are high altitude at 2,000 to 4,000 feet above sea level. Argentina currently has just 2 DOCs: Luján de Cuyo and San Rafael. This wine hails from Luján de Cuyo, and more specifically from the Agrelo and Uco Valley regions. It is labeled “Reserva” which indicates it must have been aged at least 6 months.

The grapes for our Don Miguel Gascón Reserva Malbec were harvested by hand in the early morning hours in mid to late April from the high elevation vineyards of Altamira, Agrelo and Tupungato, then crushed and cold soaked for 72 to 96 hours. The juice maintained contact with the skins for up to three weeks through the end of fermentation, which occurred in upright conical tanks at 85°F for six days. Malolactic fermentation was completed prior to racking and aging. Sixty-five percent of the wine was aged for 15 months in a combination of medium toast French and American oak barriques.
http://www.gasconwine.com

You should really visit the Gascon site for great information on this winery that dates back to 1884.

This wine is 97% Malbec with just a touch (3%) of Petit Verdot. It sits at 14.8% abv and runs a little over $20 a bottle.

Aromas, flavors and pairings

Scent jars here included blackberries, plum and spice. We did two bites here a cracker with blue cheese and cherry jam, as well as a slice of smoked gouda.

Red wine #3 Larner 2014 Syrah Ballard Canyon

Larner 2014 Syrah Ballard Canyon with plum, blackberry, cherry, peppercorn, earth and leather. — Larner 2014 Syrah Ballard Canyon

If you have visited our site before, you know we are big fans of Michael Larner of Larner Vineyard & Winery. He helped to put Ballard Canyon and their Syrah on the map. He was instrumental in founding the Ballard Canyon AVA in Santa Barbara County.

Michael’s background is in geology and he is an invaluable resource for discussing the soils of the entire Santa Barbara Region. He is passionate about the region and it’s wines, most especially the Syrah from this little corner of the universe.

This wine is all Estate grown fruit that is aged 22 months in 33% new French oak and 8% new American oak (the rest is neutral oak).

Michael Larner speaking on Syrah.
Larner Vineyard Syrah
Larner Fête 2016, Larner Vineyard
Larner Vineyard Sunset

Aromas, flavors and pairings

This wine was the biggest we served at 14.9%. With a complex nose, we set out scent jars of blackberry, plum, cherry, pepper corns, leather and earth. We paired this with our favorite bite with syrah, bacon wrapped dates.

Visit Larner

If you want a bottle of this wine, or to taste his other wines, head to Santa Barbara and Los Olivos. You can find the tasting room at the corner of Grand Avenue and Alamo Pintado Ave next to the Los Olivos General Store. Grab a tasting and a sandwich from next door and sit at a table in front in the shade, behind the historic gas pump.

dt watermark 21 — The patio in front of the Los Olivos General Store and the Larner Wine Tasting room

Larner Los Olivos Central Coast Wine Country — The patio in front of the Los Olivos General Store and the Larner Wine Tasting room

2900 Grand Avenue
Los Olivos, CA 93441
Email: [email protected]
T: (805) 688-8148

Open Daily 11-5

It was a fun evening and hopefully everyone discovered a new wine that they enjoyed! We got up today to 85 dirty glasses! I have a new appreciation for tasting room staff who deal with this, and then some, daily! Was it worth it? Damn straight! We got to explore the world with wine while sitting in the living room with friends. What could be better?

A sampling of the 85 dirty wine glasses after last nights tasting.

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A Trio of Syrahs from California’s Central Coast

Jan 25, 2018

I started out with a plan. It actually wasn’t Syrah. The plan was dinner and a Roussanne. We have spent a couple weeks doing research on Syrah and were almost complete. Our next varietal to focus on is Roussanne and we were going to start with that tonight. But…it got a little cloudy out and it was feeling a little cold and rather than the seafood companion to the Roussanne, we wanted something a little warmer and cozier.

I came across a post on my Twitter from Bonny Doon of two of their Syrah’s the 2013 Bien Nacido and the 2013 Le Pousseur. I was inspired and pretty sure I had a Le Pousseur in the cellar, so I did a little pairing research on the Bonny Doon site, and Randall Grahm their winemaker, suggests lamb chops with chimichurri. I don’t do lamb, (can’t eat baby animals) so I look a little further on the web for pairing advice and see sirloin as a pairing. Off we go to shop for dinner. We pick up a marinated sirloin with a chimichurri sauce! Upon arriving at home, I head down to grab the wine, only to find, well, to not find, the Le Pousseur. We must have already enjoyed that bottle! Luckily, we have a few other Syrahs (that’s kind of an understatement). So I debate between a 2013 Carhartt and a 2014 Larner Transverse. Both are from Santa Barbara County. Finally I decide that with a Tablas Creek 2014 Syrah already open, we might as well do a side by side with all 3.

Grilled sirloin & Syrah Tablas Creek 2014, Carhartt 2013 and Larner Transverse 2014

Grilled Sirloin with a chimichurri sauce, grilled eggplant and a salad to pair with our Trio of Syrahs.

The Syrahs

2014 Tablas Creek Syrah

The Tablas Creek Vineyard 2014 Syrah

At Tablas Creek in Paso Robles they have 4 clones of Syrah that were brought from France, from Chateau du Beaucastel. They planted these in 1994, so the vines are almost in their mid 20’s. The 2014 is the tenth bottling of this single varietal that they have done. This was fermented in open-top fermenters and was aged in a mix of smaller newer barrels (note that they are “newer” not “New”) and Neutral 1200- gallon foudres for 20 months. It is 100% Syrah and sits at 14.6% alcohol. If you are familiar with Rhône Syrahs, they say this wine is “more Cote Rotie than Cornas,”. Only 800 cases were produced. Visit https://tablascreek.com/ for all the details.

You will also find Vintage Charts (I love these) on their site, to let you know where their wines are at drinkability wise. Many of the Tablas Creek Wines are meant to age. They taste through their wines and update the vintage chart annually. The chart will let you know if the wine needs more aging, is drinking well but is youthful, is mature, is in a closed phase, if it’s time to drink it now, before it passes it’s prime or if you have waited too long. It will also tell you if they currently recommend decanting the wine.

2013 Carhartt Syrah

Carhartt 2013 Syrah.

This Syrah comes from Rancho Santa Ynez in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County. Carhartt prints all the good geeky details right on the back label and I love them for that! This vineyard is just 10 acres and sits on a mesa in the Santa Ynez Valley. The wine is 100% Syrah from clones 470 & 174 on 1103p Rootstock and 877 & Estrella clones on 5c rootstock. It is grown on vertical trellis. It is sustainably farmed, and fermented in small lots with a cold soak, punch downs and pump overs & gently pressed. It spends 17 months in barrel (35% new french oak). It sits at 13.5% alcohol. This wine is unfined and unfiltered and only 435 cases were made.

To learn a little more about Carhartt head to their website http://carharttvineyard.com On the home page you will find a digital magazine, written by Chase Carhartt. He will tell you the history of this small family business, where they produce only 5000 cases of wine per year and are dedicated making quality wine and treating customers like family. Their tasting room in Los Olivos is only 99 square feet, making it the tiniest tasting room, but then there is the back patio, which is the best place to be a 5 pm in Los Olivos.

2014 Larner Transverse

Larner 2014 Transverse Syrah

Michael Larner has a background as a Geologist, so his labels and names for his wine stem from this background. Transverse is the name for his Syrah that is not an estate wine.

“Transverse: A geologic structure lying or extending across an area, in a cross direction to other distinguishing local features” From his blog post on this wine

This wine is a blend of Syrah from across Santa Barbara County. The grapes come from 4 estates spread across the area: Verna’s vineyard is on the east side of the Los Alamos Valley, Coquelicot vineyard sits in the southern part of the Santa Ynez AVA east of Solvang, Rodney’s vineyard is in the Northern part of the Santa Ynez Valley AVA on Foxen Canyon Road (at Fess Parker) and Star Lane vineyard is in the Eastern most part of the Santa Ynez Valley in the Happy Canyon AVA. So these vineyards span the area and all sit outside the Ballard Canyon AVA, where Larner Vineyard is located.

The grapes for this wine were harvested between October 1st and November 10th, 2014. It was aged for 14 months in 100% neutral french oak puncheons and then spent 4 months in bottle before it was released. It sits at 14.7% Alcohol.

“100% Syrah, 10% Whole Cluster. All vineyard lots were fermented individually, macerated for a total of 15 days, initiated fermentation using native yeast, later inoculated with BM 45 yeast and pumped over 1x per day plus punched down 3x per day. Peak Temp averaged 86˚F.”

All these details can be found on the Larner site at http://www.larnerwine.com/product/2014-Transverse

The Tasting

2014 Tablas Creek Syrah

As you pour this wine you immediately notice how dark and opaque it is. The first thing I got when I stuck my nose in the glass was leather and earth, followed by dark fruit like black currants, folloowed by pepper and savory herbs. When I went back to it later, I was struck by the salinity and minerality that it gave off as it opened up. In my mouth it was tart blackberries with a bit of cranberry, you know that extra tartness and tannin you get from cranberries. It made my mouth water and my teeth dry just a little. It was mellow and the most food friendly of the wines.

2013 Carhartt Syrah

This wine was decidedly lighter as I poured it, and more translucent in the glass. The first thing I smelled here was wet straw and barnyard, followed by cranberries, red currants and brighter spices like white pepper. There were also light floral notes like violets. In my mouth it was a much lighter wine than the others and tasted of tart red apple skin and dark red berries. It numbed my gums a little without drying them. It had a strong medium finish. It heightened the spice in the chimichurri sauce without making it too hot.

2014 Larner Transverse

This wine was darker, like the Tablas Creek. Was this due to the 2014 Harvest? It also sits at 14.7 alcohol (the Tablas is 14.6 and the Carhartt 13.5), so perhaps the depth of color has something to do with the hang time? The nose was pepper and spice immediately followed by Eucalyptus, black currants and leather. In my mouth it was all rich red and black fruit with spice and bright bold pepper. The bright red fruit really hits you mid palate. It was tangy on the sides of my tougue and had a sweetness on the finish.

After tasting the wines, I was fascinated by the differences. Were the differences due to wine making techniques, the location of the vineyards, the vintage year and it’s weather? So I did a little digging and here is what I found out about the harvests.

About the Vintages

Paso Robles 2014 Harvest

2014 was the 3rd year of drought in Paso Robles. The yields across the area were down, although Tablas Creek’s Syrah Harvest yields were up by 13% over 2013. The year was noted for depth and concentration in the berries.

Santa Barbara County 2013 Harvest

While 2013 was the 2nd year of drought it was also the 2nd year of ideal growing conditions. It was a warm, dry growing season without any considerable heat spikes. It was an early harvest, starting on August 14th and like 2014 it was a fast harvest. A typical harvest is spread out over 3 months, 2013’s harvest lasted only 7 weeks. Yields were above average, with an early bud break and large fruit set.

Santa Barbara County 2014 Harvest

In Santa Barbara they had a shorter growing season. The winter was mild and harvest for many was the earliest ever. Harvest was also fast, with vineyards bringing in lots of fruit at the same time putting wineries into quite the scramble. For all intents and purposes it was a solid crop and the fruit had good intensity.

The Regions

Map of California's Central Coast with Paso Robles and Santa Barbara Highlighted

Paso Roble and Santa Barbara Regions in California’s Central Coast Map by GoogleMaps

The areas that these wines come from spans around a hundred miles on California’s Central Coast. Tablas Creek is in the Paso Robles Region, while the Carhartt and Larner Syrahs are from the Santa Barbara Region.

: Tablas Creek Vineyard in the Adelaida AVA in Paso Robles. Map by GoogleMaps

: Carhartt Vineyards in Rancho Santa Ynez in the Santa Ynez Valley Map by GoogleMaps

: The vineyards for the Larner Transverse Syrah, span the Santa Barbara Region. Map by GoogleMaps

Tablas Creek, Paso Robles, Adelaida AVA

Tablas Creek Vineyards is located in the Western Portion of the Paso Robles wine region in the Adelaida AVA. The elevations in this AVA are between 900 and 1200 feet for planted vineyards. Because they are the closest AVA to the Ocean, hot summer days are typically tempered by the Maritime influences. Warm days and cool nights are an ideal growing condition.

For more on the Adelaida AVA you can watch our interview with Jason Haas.

Carhartt Vineyard, Rancho Santa Ynez, Santa Ynez AVA

Carhartt Vineyard is located in Santa Barbara County. It is in the Santa Ynez Valley AVA, which is a larger AVA encompassing most of the southern part of Santa Barbara County. Within this AVA you find the Sta. Rita Hills AVA to the West, Ballard Canyon AVA in the Central part of the area and the Happy Canyon AVA to the East. Carhartt Vineyard sits in Rancho Santa Ynez on a hill top.

Larner Wines Transverse, Santa Barbara County

This wine is called Transverse because it comes from 4 estate vineyards that span the Transverse Valley of the Santa Barbara Area. So…as you can see from the Map above it takes in multiple regions.

Verna’s Vineyard is in Los Alamos off of Cat Canyon Road. The vineyard was planted in 1999 by the Melville family and is now owned by Cat Canyon / Shokrian Vineyards. It is a or 100 acre parcel east of the 101 with warm winds and cool nights.

Rodney’s Vineyard is on the Fess Parker Ranch which is on the east side of Foxen Canyon Road. It is included in the Santa Ynez Valley AVA in it’s Northernmost region. Fess Parker, so well known as “Daniel Boone” bought the property in 1988. The vineyard is named after his late son-in-law.

Coquelicot Vineyard is in the Santa Ynez Valley, just east of Solvang. It is one of the Southern most vineyards in the Santa Ynez Valley AVA. This 58 Acre vineyard is Certified Organic.

Star Lane Vineyard is located in the Happy Canyon AVA which is the furthest West region of the Santa Barbara area and as such the warmest. It sits north of Happy Canyon Road.

So, the differences in the wines? It could be the growing season and the fact that it was just the 2nd year of drought was part of what made the Carhartt a bit lighter. Or perhaps it was the wine making style. Or the type of soil in the vineyards (we didn’t even really talk about that variable!) And don’t get me wrong, the fact that it was lighter than the other two was not a bad thing. It was lighter on my palate, but it was still full of flavor and nuance. This whole side by side tasting is about finding the nuanced differences in the wines and enjoying each for their uniqueness. There are differences in soils, in weather, in the clones, in the yeasts…Michael mentions inoculating with BM 35 yeast after the initial fermentation was started with native yeasts. Tablas Creek is all native yeast and I actually don’t have the details on the yeasts used on the Carhartt, as this is one of the few details that they don’t include on this label. The choice of when to harvest is dependent on the winemakers preference for ripeness typically, but for Michael Larner was harvesting from 4 vineyards that were not his own, which often can mean that you are subject to being harvested a little earlier or later than your preference depending on who else the vineyard is harvesting for at the time. Then there are the subtle differences of where the block is located within the vineyard and what time of sunlight and wind it gets. Really, there are just so many variables.

And that is what makes this beverage so fascinating. The variables all add up to a complex story in the glass. It’s a story of the place, of the soil, of the season, of the people… and it’s a delicious story.

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Lompoc, the Wine Ghetto and Beyond

Dec 6, 2017

We visited Lompoc. It was a Thursday…so limited wine tasting rooms were open, but it gave us a chance to do a few tastings and scope out tasting rooms we would like to return to. But perhaps you have never heard of Lompoc? Let me bring you up to speed.

Lompoc

Lompoc is located on the Central Coast of California in Santa Barbara County. From a wine perspective, it is the area just west of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. The Chumash Indians were the first known settlers here and enjoyed relative peace and quiet for what is thought to be 10,000 years until the first European Settlement was built in 1787 with the La Purisima Mission. The original mission was destroyed in 1812 by an earthquake and was rebuilt several years after at another site. The mission is now a state park and is host to the Wine and Fire Event held annually by the Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance. the name Lompoc comes from the Chumash Indian word “Lum Poc” for “Lagoon” (or for stagnant waters, but lagoon sounds better).

The city of Lompoc was Incorporated in 1888 and many wharves were built for incoming supplies to the coast. At the turn of the century the rail system took over transport of goods and slowed traffic to the coast by boats, but the new rail system ran from San Francisco to LA with a spur coming into Lompoc. The city is known as the City of Arts and Flowers and indeed they became know as the capitol for the flower seed industry. The area became agriculturally based and still grows many flowers.

In 1941 Camp Cooke was established as a Army Training base and was renamed Vandenburg Air Force Base in 1958 when the Air Force began using it as a test site for intermediate-range ballistic missles. In the late 1980’s this was to be the new spot for launching Space Shuttle Missions and the town grew and boomed with the expectation of people coming in to see the launches. Sadly the Challenger shuttle explosion in 1986 ended that program and the city struggled to find a way out of the recession they found themselves in.

They turned to Tourism and now in addition to their arts and flowers, they are home to many wineries with around 30 tasting rooms, which are typically open on the weekends.

The Wine Ghetto

The Lompoc Wine Ghetto came about in 1998 when Rick Longoria moved his winery operations to an industrial Warehouse in Lompoc. It was close to the vineyards and allowed an affordable space to make wine. Others soon followed suit, and while Longoria moved out of the Ghetto, in to a new facility down the street (in the historic JM Club), there are still plenty of great tasting rooms in the Ghetto.

We had tasted in the Lompoc Wine Ghetto before at Palmina by Steve Clifton and a little further outside the Ghetto at Brewer Clifton back in 2012. It seems like not so long ago, but really it has been a bit of time and things have changed. Brewer-Clifton was founded in 2001 by Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton. In 2015 Ken Frederickson and his team joined Brewer Clifton and recently the winery was purchased by Jackson Family Wines.

We also visited Fiddlehead Cellars during a Vintners Spring weekend event and enjoyed a great tasting with Kathy Josephs the winemaker there as well as some great home-cooked food!

Currently the Lompoc Wine Ghetto is home to 18 wineries and tasting rooms. In addition there are individual tasting rooms like Longoria and Brewer Clifton further to the West and just east of the Ghetto is the Santa Rita Hills Wine Center Where you can find 4 tasting rooms and several other wineries. The tasting rooms here include Zotovich, AVE, Kessler-Hawk and Transcendence. In the Ghetto you will find Ampelos, Arcadian, Bratcher, DSP, Fiddlehead, Flying Goat, Holus Bolus, Jalama, La Montagne, La Vie, Montemar, Morretti, Pali, Palmina, Piedrasassi & Stolpman. Check out the Lompoc Wine Trail for details and a map.

During this visit we stopped at A Taste of Sta. Rita Hills tasting room, which shares space with Moretti, located in the Wine Ghetto and then visited AVE and Transcendence located a short walk away at the Santa Rita Hills Wine Center.

You will find that most of the tasting rooms and wineries here focus on the varieties of grapes coming from the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, meaning lots of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but there are other varieties available also.

While I was unable to get there, on Friday afternoons, Piedrasassi, Sashi Moorman’s Winery also has it’s Bakery open run by Melissa Sorongon. You can get fresh baked bread and taste some great wines all at one time. It’s on my list.

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We will be sharing the details of our tastings in Lompoc in future posts. 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

Flash tour Central Coast Wine Country and Beyond – Day 5 – Santa Barbara County

Aug 19, 2017

We are winding up our Flash Tour of the Central Coast and Beyond in Santa Barbara County. This was our final day of fun, before we made the drive home to Vegas. This final day allowed us a little less driving.

Day 5 Solvang, Santa Barbara County and Los Olivos

Solvang

Day 5 started with a stroll of the charming city of Solvang in the morning. The sun was out, the temperature was just right and it was the perfect way to start the day. Nestled in the middle of Santa Barbara County, Solvang feels like you have stepped into another world. This historic Danish Village in the middle of California was founded by Danish-Americans in 1911. Solvang translates to “sunny field” in Danish. The town has embraced the Danish Architecture and the town is dotted with windmills. The streets are enchanting and you can find aebleskivers (a Danish dessert that is like a donut hole) at many restaurants. If you enjoy shopping or window shopping, you will be in heaven. There is a store for everything here. Walking the town you will find courtyards and corners to explore. Or you can rent a bicycle or a 4-wheeled surrey! They have an outdoor theatre, the Solvang Festival Theatre that runs productions throughout the summer. Every Wednesday there is a Farmers Market in Solvang Park in the afternoons. There are great restaurants, wine tasting rooms and really, something for everyone.

: Even on a Monday Morning Paula’s Pancake House in Solvang has a line of people waiting for tables for breakfast!

: The Charming Hamlet Inn in Solvang.

: The Solvang Brewing Company and it’s windmill

: The Solvang Festival Theatre entertains all summer with productions by the Pacific Conservatory Theatre.

: Beautiful trees and sculptures in Solvang Park

: This beautiful carved wooden entry and the ivy on the bricks capture my attention as we strolled the streets.

: This charming Gazebo in Solvang Park often houses bands for events in the park.

: Four-wheeled Surreys are a great way to see Solvang. They can be rented by Solvang Park and seat 4 or 6.

Foxen Canyon to the Santa Maria Bench

We finished our walk and got in the car again to head up into Foxen Canyon. With over 200 wineries, 6 AVAs, and over 21,000 acres of vineyards Santa Barbara County has quite a bit of area to explore. We had limited time so we headed north from Solvang. We took Ballard Canyon Road though the Ballard Canyon AVA which is known for it’s Syrah, and noticed that Larner Vineyard had netted for birds. As the fruit starts to sweeten the birds like to feast so the green netting helps to keep them out and save the fruit. At the top of the Canyon we stopped for another gorgeous view from above Saarloos & Sons beautiful Windmill Ranch Vineyard.

: Veraison is happening and the vines are netted at Larner Vineyard in Ballard Canyon to keep the birds from eating the fruit

: The top of Ballard Canyon overlooking Saarloos & Sons Windmill Ranch Vineyard is always one of the greatest views in the area.

Foxen Canyon Road is a beautiful drive with the San Rafael Mountains on the right and views of Firestone, Curtis (where Andrew Murray has his winery) and Koehler Vineyards as you round the curve to meet with Zaca Station Road. This is a perfect drive to get a sense of the sweeping area that Santa Barbara County covers.

: The San Rafael Mountains through a Coastal Oak on Foxen Canyon road.

: Firestone, Curtis and Koehler Vineyards on Zaca Mesa Station Road viewed from Foxen Canyon Road.

: A view of the San Rafael Mountains as we drive up Foxen Canyon Road

We had some vines to visit at Riverbench to see how they were growing. Back in 2014 we watched as they planted a new front block. Still in Santa Barbara County, this does take you into the Santa Maria AVA. You can see below how much these vines have grown since we saw them as babies in 2014.

: The front block at Riverbench all grown up (they just turned 3)

: Riverbench new vines Waiting to be planted

: Riverbench planting new Vines

We continued into the Santa Maria AVA to see how Bien Nacido Vineyard was doing after the Alamo fire. The Whittier fire pulled much of the fire department away and vineyard staff worked very hard to keep the vines at Bien Nacido safe. This is a revered vineyard and you will find it’s name on some of the best labels. We met Chris Hammell their vineyard manager at a Syrah Seminar. While they are known for their Pinot Noir, they are also growing some amazing Syrah. You can hear Chris talk about it here.

: Bien Nacido Vineyard Safe from the Alamo Fire

: The Beautiful Bien Nacido Vineyards in the Santa Maria Valley

Los Olivos

From here we headed back to Los Olivos where you can find the largest selection of Santa Barbara County Tasting rooms within walking distance of each other. After a walk about town we headed to Crawford Family Wines for a tasting. We had met Mark Horvath, owner and winemaker a while ago at a Syrah Seminar at the Spring Vintners Festival and had wanted to get by to taste his wines. His wife Wendy was manning the tasting room and we had a great conversation and tasting with her.

: The Tasting Room at Crawford Family Wines

: Crawford Family Wines Los Olivos

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

We stopped at Larner for a tasting and to have lunch out front on the patio in front of the Los Olivos General Store. This sits on the corner of Grand Avenue and Alamo Pintado Avenue by the flagpole in the center of town. You get the view of Andrew Murray’s Tasting Room across the street among others.

Larner Tasting Room Los Olivos General Store View Santa Barbara County

The view from lunch with a tasting at Larner Vineyards Tasting Room in Los Olivos

We then finished out the day at the best place to finish your day in Los Olivos, Carhartt’s. It’s just down the block on Grand Ave. They stay open a little later than the other tasting rooms and get pretty busy at the end of the day. They have the tiniest tasting room (you can squish 5 people in if you try really hard, but the back patio here has a bit more space and is heaven. Joe, as always, took great care of us.

Los Olivos Carhartt Tasting Room Santa Barbara County

Carhartt’s, the “World’s smallest tasting Room”.

: The view from the Adirondack Chair in the Carhartt Vineyards patio at the Tasting room.

: Sauvignon Blanc on the Carhartt back patio in Los Olivos

As you can see, we had to gloss over most areas. You could easily spend 2 to 3 days or more in each area. We put almost 2000 miles on the Prius, but we tasted a variety of wines and saw an amazing portion of the beautiful state of California. Day 6 was the drive back to Vegas. We soaked in as much of the coast as we could on the drive. But this was just the quick version of the trip. Check back here as we delve into the details on each of the places we visited.

For more information on the wonderful wineries in Santa Barbara County visit http://www.sbcountywines.com/

The Santa Barbara Vintners Celebration of Harvest is coming up September 29th to October 2, 2017 and it is a great time to visit. You can attend the Taste of Santa Barbara Wine Country Event and enjoy wines from 50 of the different wineries in the region on September 29th in downtown Santa Barbara. And there are event all over the region during the weekend where you will learn more about the wines, wineries and winemakers.

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

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A Celebration of Albariño Day

Jul 29, 2017

August 1st is “Albariño Day”. To celebrate, we are doing a group blog post with some of our friends who are wine bloggers, organized by Andrew over at Wine Thirty Flight. Now Andrew and team are experts on Spanish wines and so Albariño is one of their deep loves. To get us in the mood we thought we would dive back into some of our favorite Albariños.

Back in 2014 I was just learning about Albariños and I wrote a piece Albarino Portico da Rio, a crisp zesty white wine from Spain Here’s a bit of the blog:

“The stories of it’s origin are interesting. One legend has monks bringing Riesling or Petit Manseng from Burgundy to this part of Spain in the 12th or 13th centuries. It has since been proven to be indigenous to Spain, but it does resemble Riesling’s minerality. It often has the body and weight of a Viognier and the acidity of a Pinot Gris.
I read quite a bit about the history of the area, but it was much more fun to hear about it from my friend Pepe who is from Spain. He was so excited to tell me about Galacia. The area is often wet and cloudy and feels more like Ireland than Spain. He says this is not just the weather, but the fact that the Celts settled this area long ago, so you see many ginger haired blue-eyed Spaniards here. In addition it is not uncommon to hear bagpipes and Celtic crosses dot the landscape.”

Portico da Rio Albarino

So as with most grape varieties this Spanish grape is now grown in California. A few years ago we tasted with Rick Longoria of Longoria Wines in Santa Barbara and picked up a bottle of his beautiful Albariño to take home. We enjoyed it with shellfish and I posted an article Longoria Albarino and Shellfish

Rick Longoria is legendary in Santa Barbara and is soft spoken and humble when speaking of his incredible wines. We had a wonderful conversation with him at the Santa Barbara Vintners Spring Grand Tasting. Here is a bit from that post:

To make this wine Rick does a whole cluster press then lets the juice rest overnight before racking it into stainless steel to ferment. He cold ferments at 60 degrees which he says helps to preserve those beautiful aromatics. This spends another few months in stainless steel before it is bottled. Only 254 cases were produced
This wine has such a lovely nose, with beautiful soft white florals and a little bees wax. The tartness was refreshing on the palate.

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As Albariño Day approaches we headed out to find a few more Albariños to taste and share with you! The best of our tasting will be shared on the group post with Wine Thirty Flight! Watch for our Albariño tasting, where we try 3 Albariños from Rias Baixas and pair them with some delicious foods.

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

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The Syrah Clones at Larner Vineyards

Apr 18, 2017

Michael Larner has helped to champion Syrah in Ballard Canyon. He got the ball rolling on the Ballard Canyon AVA in Santa Barbara.

We spoke with Michael last year about the Syrah planted on Larner Vineyard. We had discussed the different rootstocks that they chose for the vineyard and then went deeper into the Syrah clones that were grafted to those various rootstocks.

There are 23 acres of Syrah planted at Larner Vineyard, broken into 11 blocks of around 2 acres each. With his 3 root stocks he pairs a Syrah clone, so he has 11 different mixes of clone/root stock.

Blending a monovarietal Syrah from different Syrah clones

For his Estate Syrah he has a blend of Clones 877, Estrella, 174 and Clone 3. Each of these clones brings something different to the wine, the Estrella brings a Velvety softness, the 174 pulls up mid-palate strength, and the 877 and Clone 3 give you full body. So in essense he is making a mono-varietal blend. Add to this the variation in rootstock, in the placement in the vineyard and you have quite a bit of variety.

A little geekiness on these Syrah clones

Estrella: Gary Eberle of Eberle wines in Paso Robles planted suitcase cuttings from Chapoutier in Hermitage (in the Rhone Valley in France) This clone has become one of the most widely planted in the Central Coast region.

174: This came in from France in 1995. It is a low yield clone which gives balanced aromatic fruit.

877: This French clone brings in tannins that hit the mid palate.

Each year one of the clone/rootstock variations will stand out. This is where the Reserve wines come from, and the Dedication which is all Clone 3. But all the blocks are treated as if they could be stand alone wines. These stand alone wines would be a wonderful expression of one thing…mid palate tannins or velvety softness. The blending of these is what creates the depth and layers within the wine. The idea is to pull together the ultimate expression of Syrah in this vineyard to make a complete wine that fires on all synapses.

We spoke with Michael about this once before and at that time he shared with us the details of his experimental Syrah block.

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You can taste some of Michael Larner‘s exceptional wines at their Los Olivos Tasting Room at 2900 Grand Avenue.

The patio in front of the Los Olivos General Store and the Larner Wine Tasting room

A glass of Larner Malvasia Bianca with lunch from Panino

Larner Tasting Room

Los Olivos General Store

For more on the wines of Santa Barbara visit Santa Barbara Vintners.

They will be holding their Vintners Spring Weekend April 20-22, 2017, where you can attend the Grand Tasting and taste wines from all over this amazing region.

And you will find plenty of information here at Crushed Grape Chronicles and lots of videos on Santa Barbara, it’s wines and people. As well as information on previous Vintners Spring Weekends.

And stop back to visit us here at Crushed Grape Chronicles. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Michael Larner on choosing wine grape rootstock

Apr 13, 2017

Last year after the fabulous Larner Fête we had a chance to sit down with Michael Larner and talk about wine grape rootstock.

Michael and his family did quite a bit of research before choosing what they would plant at Larner Vineyard. Luckily Michael’s background is in Geology, so that had some inside expertise on soils.

Choosing which wine grape varieties to grow

The first decision of course was climate based, figuring out what they could realistically grow in this area. This came down to Rhone or Italian varieties. They already knew that Syrah did well, because Stolpman was already successfully growing it, so Rhone varieties were the way they decided to go. After that it’s a matter of seeing what soils you have and how water is managed in those soils.

Choosing Rootstock

Rootstock is the footing for your vines, it is the foundation in your vineyard, and there is quite a bit to take into consideration when choosing a rootstock.

Own-rooted vs grafted rootstock

For the Larners, it was an easy decision to not go with own rooted varieties. Being a vineyard first, they grow grapes for many winemakers, all of whom stop by to visit the vineyard and check on their grapes. Phylloxera is a tiny aphid that feeds on grapevine roots. There is no cure. Phylloxera hit Europe back in the late 19th century taking out most of the vineyards. It was discovered that American rootstock was resistant to phylloxera and so grape vines all over Europe were transferred to American Rootstock. This grafting of rootstock keeps vines safe. Own-rooted vines are available, but you take the risk of your vines getting phylloxera. With winemakers coming and going from other vineyards, this risk was unappealing to the Larners.

Choices in Wine Grape Rootstock

After determining that you are not going with own-rooted stock, you look at the soil. There are differences in soil pH and water retention. You find something that, in these soils, will not cause the vines to be overly vigorous (cause then they don’t want to produce grapes) and then also vigorous enough to keep the vines healthy. They look at where they were planning on planting their blocks and looked at the soil pits. Michael found 3 major soil types in the vineyard and chose 3 rootstocks based on that. Of course there are slight variations in the soil within those areas, but that can be treated separately to compensate for the differences.

They chose Rootstocks 101-14, 5C and 110R. I did a little research and found some information from UC Davis on the differences in these rootstocks. These rootstocks differ mostly in their drought tolerance but also somewhat in Wet soil tolerance, and tolerance of salinity and lime.

So the vineyard blocks are broken into 3 sections depending on the soil, which each have a different rootstock. Then…you choose the clones that will be grafted to the rootstock. With 4 different Syrah clones, they ended up with 11 blocks of Syrah that because of the differences in rootstock and clones are each farmed differently. This makes farming a little harder, but in the end you want each block to perform to the best of it’s ability. Even when the wine isn’t estate, your vineyard name is on their bottle and you want the wine to be the best it can be.

We had time to talk with Michael even further about the clones of Syrah he grows, so check back here for more on that!

You can taste some of Michael Larner’s exceptional wines at their Los Olivos Tasting Room at 2900 Grand Avenue.

The patio in front of the Los Olivos General Store and the Larner Wine Tasting room

A glass of Larner Malvasia Bianca with lunch from Panino

Larner Tasting Room

Los Olivos General Store

For more on the wines of Santa Barbara visit Santa Barbara Vintners.

They will be holding their Vintners Spring Weekend April 20-22, 2017, where you can attend the Grand Tasting and taste wines from all over this amazing region.

And you will find plenty of information here at Crushed Grape Chronicles and lots of videos on Santa Barbara, it’s wines and people. As well as information on previous Vintners Spring Weekends.

And stop back to visit us here at Crushed Grape Chronicles. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

How the Grenache King got his block

Apr 11, 2017

In Santa Barbara, Mikael Sigouin is known as the “Grenache King”. This Island Boy has a winery called Kaena in Santa Barbara County where he makes some amazing Grenache as well as other wines. He sources his grapes from local vineyards, many of whom specially farm his blocks to his particular specs. One of these vineyards is Larner Vineyards in Ballard Canyon. He has the best Grenache block on this vineyard, but it wasn’t always that way. Let’s hear him tell the story….

You can visit Kaena and try some of this amazing Grenache at their tasting room in Los Olivos at 2890 Grand Avenue.

The beautiful Kaena tasting room

Mikael Sigouin of Kaena

Kaena Los Olivos Central Coast Wine Country

Beautiful Tree outside the Kaena Tasting room in Los Olivos

For more on the wines of Santa Barbara visit Santa Barbara Vintners.

They will be holding their Vintners Spring Weekend April 20-22, 2017, where you can attend the Grand Tasting and taste wines from all over this amazing region.

And you will find plenty of information here at Crushed Grape Chronicles and lots of videos on Santa Barbara, it’s wines and people. As well as information on previous Vintners Spring Weekends.

And stop back to visit us here at Crushed Grape Chronicles. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Crushed Grapes & Open Minds – The Event

Apr 5, 2017

Crushed Grapes & Open Minds

an interactive experience

Last August we held an event entitled “Crushed Grapes and Open Minds”. My friend RuBen with Act2Art by RuBen is an accomplished artist and created some works specifically for this event. The idea connected scent memory and art, both in the creation of the pieces and peoples reactions to them.

We chose 5 wines, a Champagne (A.J. de Margerie a Bouzy Grand Cru), a Sauvignon Blanc (Starborough Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough New Zealand) a Syrah (Carhartt 2013 Estate Syrah Santa Barbara), 2 Zinfandels (Tobin James 2010 Fat Boy & French Camp Zin) and a Dessert wine (Chateau Megyer Tokaji Aszu 2010)

Champagne bottle posed 3 There was a station for each wine, with a pairing, aroma jars, the wine and of course the associated work of art. Cards to explain the pairings were located at each station.

Individuals bring their personal experiences and memories as they interpret a work of art. Scent memories are similar, an aroma can trigger a very personal memory. Mixing the two and stirring in a little wine and good food can make for a powerful experience.

We asked guests to smell the aroma jars, taste the wine, and look at the art, then jot down a word, a phrase or a memory that came to them.

A.J. de Margerie a Bouzy Grand Cru

We chose this Champagne for the bread on the nose. When we were sampling Champagnes, Cremants and Sparkling wines, we dipped our nose in this glass and got hamburger buns. Yep, hamburger buns. That yeasty smell of bread came across in a very approachable way that we thought would make this wine less intimidating for those new to finding aromas in wine, so it made a great start.

This Champagne is mostly Pinot Noir so you also get berries on the nose and so there were scent jars of hamburger buns and berries for people to smell. For a food pairing we matched it with Salty potato chips. The salt and fat are a perfect pairing, the salt making you crave another sip of the champagne and the champagne’s bubbles and acid clean the fat off of your palate after each bite, making every bit as delicious as the first.

The Art – Champagne

Champagne

Some of the responses to this piece: “A perfect first date” “Crisp pears – a cool spring afternoon” “Happy – like a picnic at an apple orchard” “Fields of dandelions – fresh grass” “A beautiful sun shower in late April or Early May”

Starborough Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough New Zealand

Crushed Grapes & Open Minds w/ Crushed Grape Chronicles.com

Starborough Sauvignon Blanc w/ Crushed Grape Chronicles.com

We had a bunch of Sav Blancs to choose from, but the nose on this one was just captivating! This wine, is not fancy, you can find it in your local grocery store. We had jars of lime, grapefruit, cut grass, stone fruit, and lemongrass and everyone found something different in the wine. We paired this with Guacamole and chips. The avocado is fatty which is nice with the acid in the wine and goes well with the lime and fresh greenness of the wine.

The Art – Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc Painting by Act2Art Ruben Permel

“Blowing out candles on your birthday cake” “Very content and peaceful – smells like our smoothie day” “Blood splatter on the grass from when I split my lip” (I love this childhood memory)

Carhartt 2013 Estate Syrah Santa Barbara

We love the wines from this Winery and Syrah from Santa Barbara is almost always wonderful. These are the same “Carhartts” that make the work clothes. They owned a cattle farm in Santa Barbara that Mike Carhartt turned into a vineyard. His wife Brooke and their son Chase now make the wines and they have my favorite tasting room on the planet in Los Olivos.

Carhartt Syrah

This wine has quite a bit going on with aromas of Black berries, dirt, allspice, tobacco, vanilla bean and beef jerky and we had scent jars with all of these. As to a pairing? Well there is a pig on the label, so bacon was the perfect pairing.

The Art – Syrah

Carhartt Syrah Painting by Act2Art.com Ruben Permel

“The calm after a winter storm – perfect tranquility” Dark – cosmos – blanketing” “Thirsty – the kind of thirst when flying” “A very tempestuous sunset”

Tobin James 2010 Fat Boy and French Camp Zinfandels

Tobin James Zin at Crushed Grape Open Minds Event

We were members of Tobin James for a while and pulled these two older Zinfandels from the cellar to try. Tobin James is in Paso Robles California and their wines tend to be pretty big. The aromas on these were earth, pepper, fruit jam, leather and chocolate. We paired them with chocolate fountain mini cup cakes from Retro Bakery.

The Art – Zin

Zinfandel Painting by Act2Art.com Ruben Permel

“Making a picnic lunch for the family” “Costy – like a warm blanket wrapped around me during the winter” “tobacco warmth – a little earthy – comfortable”

Chateau Megyer Tokaji Aszu 2010

Chateau Megyer Tokaji at Crushed Grape Open Minds Event

Tokaj is an area in Hungary and this wine is made from a grape called “furmint”. This is a wine made through “noble rot” or “botrytis cinerea” a fungus that shrivels the grapes like raisins. The raisins are then made into a paste which is added to a dry base wine. This is a sweet wine with citrus, apricot and honey on the nose. We paired it with Brie and Comte cheese.

The Art – Tokaji

Chateau Megyer Tokaji Painting by Act2ARt.com Ruben Permel

“Oceanside Cliffs on a summer evening” “My first visit to Montreal – wonder and excitement – Christmas eve” “Tending to my fathers garden”

In addition to the wine stations, there was more to eat with a table filled with delicious things with notes to suggest pairings to try with the wine as well as more of RuBen’s beautiful art around the space.

Perfect pairings with wine at Crushed Grapes Open Minds Event

This was an evening of exploration, discovery and animated conversations.

Check back here at Crushed Grape Chronicles for more on wine and the people behind the wines! You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

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

To have an evening like this created for you, contact 42Aspens Productions at…. 702.463.4242

Save

The Art Installation – Crushed Grapes and Open Minds

Mar 11, 2017

A few days before the “Crushed Grapes and Open Minds” event. The Artist RuBen Permel came by to install the art works. He brought the 5 paintings inspired by the wine, as well as a selection of other pieces. Including his Upland Flight series, “Three Angles Walking”, “Landscape Series 6” parts of the “Whispering Goliath Series” and the beautiful “Open Minds”. We spent the morning finding just the right spot for each work.

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

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

Santa Barbara County

Planning a last minute Easter Dinner

Change of plans

You can’t eat just gnocchi

Coincidences and kismet

There ought to be a salad

Making gnocchi

Get the potatoes right!

Add the other ingredients and roll it out

Cook the gnocchi and make the sauce right in the bowl

Plating – Make it pretty!

On to the chicken!

Pairing 2018 Larner Viognier

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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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The White Wines

White Wine #1 Carhartt 2018 Sauvignon Blanc

Aromas, flavors and pairings

About Carhartt

White Wine #2 Spier 2017 Vintage Selection Chenin Blanc

Spier Wine Farm

Aromas, flavors and pairings

White Wine #3 Martin Codax Albariño

Rias Baixas

Aromas, flavors and pairings

The Red Wines

Red Wine #1 Carhartt 2016 Estate Sangiovese

Sangiovese? Think Chianti

Aromas, flavors and pairings

Red wine #2 Gascon Malbec Reserve 2015

Don Miguel Gascón Wines

Aromas, flavors and pairings

Red wine #3 Larner 2014 Syrah Ballard Canyon

Aromas, flavors and pairings

Visit Larner

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The Syrahs

2014 Tablas Creek Syrah

2013 Carhartt Syrah

2014 Larner Transverse

The Tasting

2014 Tablas Creek Syrah

2013 Carhartt Syrah

2014 Larner Transverse

About the Vintages

Paso Robles 2014 Harvest

Santa Barbara County 2013 Harvest

Santa Barbara County 2014 Harvest

The Regions

Tablas Creek, Paso Robles, Adelaida AVA

Carhartt Vineyard, Rancho Santa Ynez, Santa Ynez AVA

Larner Wines Transverse, Santa Barbara County

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Lompoc

The Wine Ghetto

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Day 5 Solvang, Santa Barbara County and Los Olivos

Solvang

Foxen Canyon to the Santa Maria Bench

Los Olivos

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Blending a monovarietal Syrah from different Syrah clones

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Choosing which wine grape varieties to grow

Choosing Rootstock