In my last post I mentioned how we are fans of Frog’s leap vineyard – for a variety of reasons. The main reason is that we really like their wines, but also we like the fact that for years and years now, they have practiced organic and biodynamic farming, and they have a great sense of humor (their motto is “Time’s fun when your having flies”). We are members of the Frogs Leap wine club, and we periodically drive up to the source to pick up our shipments. This past weekend there was an event going on in the Rutherford Appelation region the ‘Rutherford Passport Weekend’. In this event, you purchase a passport, and many of the wineries in the area offer special tastings of their wines. The money raised by selling the passports benefits local Napa Valley charities. Many of the wineries are small, family operations that don’t normally keep a tasting room open, so we saw this as an opportunity to taste several wines which we wouldn’t normally get the opportunity to sample, along with some old favourites. We spent one day (Sunday) at this Rutherford sip fest, and samples wines from 10 different wineries. I won’t go into everything, but rather just mention a few of the highlights.
Our first stop was not even in the Rutherford region – I have been listening to podcasts that are produced by Goosecross cellars, in Yountville, just to the south of the Rutherford area where we were heading. Our cellar is loaded with many heavy red wines, and one of the things that we were looking to do was to expand into lighter fare which would be good to sip on our deck in the summer, or to enjoy with a barbeque. One of my favourite white varietals is Viognier, and Goosecross offers a nice rendition of this dry white wine. It doesn’t have the complexity of my favourite viognier (Joseph Phelps), but it is less expensive. The Goosecross Viognier is all fruit – it has the peach and pear flavours up front, which fade into something more citrusy for the finish.
Then on to the Rutherford wines – we had to pick up our Passports at a winery which was new to us – Honig. Honig is right next door to Frogs leap, and in many ways is very similar. Regina in the tasting room treated us to a 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon from their ‘Campbell’ vineyard. It started with ripe red fruit, moved into a smooth, velvety phase with nice tannins. Not only did we buy a couple of bottles, we joined their wine club. Honig, like Frog’s leap have a great sense of humor.
Another pleasant surprise for the day was at Sullivan Vineyards. Sullivan was new to us, and two of their wines really stood out for me – their 2006 Chardonnay and their ‘Red Ink’. I don’t drink a lot of Chardonnay but the Sullivan example was quite nice. The fruit had not been beaten into submission with oak and overlayed with butter – the wine had a flowery fruity taste with meyer lemon and was very smooth. Quite nice, although we resisted buying any (the trunk was getting full by this point in the day). The other wine was a shock – the 2006 Red Ink was very bright with lots of ripe fruit – strawberry, red current, then had a phase with more earthiness and a long leathery finish. This was a great wine for sipping on the deck on a summers day, and was very reasonably priced. The shock was looking at the composition of the wine – it is 81%Cab, and 19% Merlot – I never would have guessed that blend from the taste. We bought half a case of the red ink.
Our next two visits were to vinyards which boasted big reds – Alpha Omega and Rubicon. Both had decent wines, but in my opinion, ‘Ils peter plus haut que leur cul’ and were not worth the premium prices that they were asking. One of the vinyards however was hosting a small family run operation for the tasting – Martin Estate. Martin was pouring two classic cabernet wines – rich, velvety, and evoking all that I think of when I think of my favourite Rutherford reds. We bought two bottles of their 2003 vintage from Petra, who was a charming hostess. We would have joined their wine club, but they are new at this, and their only options involved more wine than we would like to get from a single vineyard – especially one which specializes in a single grape. We will definitely be seeking them out and buying more of their wines. One other surprise was their location – they grow across the street from Frogs Leap and Honig – to other wines that we really like.
Our last stop of the day was at the Rutherford Grange. The Grange is a gorgeous old building, which is in need of a bit of TLC. It is one of the recipients of the funds raised by the Rutherford weekend, and they were hosting three wineries who did not have tasting rooms of their own. Winemaker Amy Aiken was represented with two different labels – Meaner wines, and Conspire. The Conspire Pinot was a lovely, fruit forward Pinot which we needed to have a little of, and the other wine that we really enjoyed in the Grange was a Cabernet from Lieff – we wanted to buy two bottles of the Lieff Cabernet, but an embarrassed Gretchen came back to tell us that she only had one bottle left.
We stopped for a meal on the way back home, and thouroughly enjoyed our first Rutherford Passport weekend.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
Frog's Leap 2006 Merlot - with Porkloin in Loquat sauce.
One of our favourite wineries is Frog’s Leap. Frog’s Leap is in the Rutherford region of Napa, and they have a great sense of humor, yummy wines, and have been way ahead of the curve in their organic and biodynamic farming practices. In our back yard we have a loquat tree, which is just starting to bear fruit. Loquat is new to us, so my lovely wife is experimenting, and last night featured a dinner with a main course of pork loin with a sauce made from loquat, strawberry and Madeira wine. It was joined by broiled zucchini and a rice dish. We pulled the cork on a bottle of 2006 Frogs Leap Merlot to go with the pork, and I was quite pleased with the results. The wine had the typical blackberry and red current flavours that you expect with a merlot, along with a nice undertone of earthiness. We put colored stickers on the capsules of the wines in our cellar – initially for the kids, with the rules being that a green sticker is fair game, pull the cork and enjoy – a yellow sticker means that you should ask first, and a red sticker means that the wine shouldn’t be touched. Most of our red stickers are wines that need to age more before they will get yellow stickers on them. The Frogs Leap Merlot was a ‘yellow sticker’ wine.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Le Mistral Blending Seminar
The wine that began our relationship with California wines was ‘Le Mistral’ which was made by Joseph Phelps vinyards. We have been members of the Joseph Phelps wine club for over 10 years now, and they remain one of our favourite vinyards. ‘Le Mistral’ is a blend, mostly of Syrah and Grenache, which is done in the style of the Rhone wines. The grapes for ‘Le Mistral’ come from a vineyard in Monterrey county, to the south of Napa (where Phelps is located), and in 2008, Joseph Phelps shifted the production of the wine from their own winery to Ventana vineyards which is where the grapes are grown. Shortly after this shift, a new wine club was formed, specifically for ‘Le Mistral’ and we joined. This wine club is unique in that it is centered around one wine – and as members we get a case of the wine each year shortly after it is released. This last weekend Sharon and I celebrated our anniversary by attending our first winery event – Le Mistral hosted a blending Seminar and dinner. The evening began with some ‘hors d’oevres and wine at the ‘C’ restaurant in the Clement Hotel in Monterey. Because of some poor communication, we got to the first part of this evening a bit late, but we enjoyed a nice glass of Ventana vinyards Sauvignon Blanc, and two hors d’oevres. One – which involved a savoury sausage in a breading, and had a chipotle aioli was very tasty, but I would have appreciated a smaller serving size, it was that awkward size which is just a bit too big to pop in your mouth whole, but not so big as to warrant a plate to hold it on. The wine was pleasant, with summer fruit tastes and perhaps a hint of vanilla. It was nice and dry and I think it would have done well against different foods, although the chipotle sausage things were a bit overpowering – especially when coming in the form of a full mouthful. At the reception we met Randy Pura who is the grower for Ventana vinyards. Randy was very pleasant and it was nice to meet one of the people responsible for one of the wines that we so loved.
After the reception, we moved upstairs and were seated at tables which had several bottles, and place mats with seven wine glasses on each. Each placemat had a pour of the 2007 Le Mistral, A barrel sample of the 2008 Le Mistral, and glasses of Syrah, Grenache, Petite Syrah, and Alicante Bouschet which are the four varietals that went into the 2008 Le Mistral blend. Wine maker Reggie Hammond gave a brief talk. In fact his talk may not have been that brief, but it started with asking us to taste each of the wines before us, and in doing so, I was transported to another realm and missed the rest of what Reggie had to say. In any event, each of us played with mixing together the different wines to create a blend which we liked, and once we had the perfect blend, we made up enough to fill a bottle, made a label for the bottle, and corked it, leaving each of us with a nice souvenir of the evening. After the blending fun, we moved to a patio overlooking the pacific and sat down to a dinner that had been created by Chef Jerry Register to go with the wines from Ventana vinyards. I brought my glass of 2008 barrel sample Le Mistral to the table with me, since I was quite enjoying it.
Our meal started with a Kobe Beef Carpaccio, with a piece of Dungeness Crab, Chardonnay Gastrique, Marcona Almond, and a hint of truffle oil. This was accompanied with a 2008 Ventana Chardonnay. I found the beef to be sweeter than I would have liked, I am not sure what was giving it the sweet taste, but I felt that it shifted the taste of the wine. I don’t drink a lot of chardonnays, so I hesitate to say too much about this. It did have a bit of that vanilla-oak taste that chardonnays have, and tastes reminiscent of apples and pears. There was not a lot of depth to the wine, but it worked quite well with the piece of crab.
Next was a cocoa dusted Ricotta Gnocchi, with Porcini mushroom, Pancetta, Sun dried strawberry, and Pinot Jus. The menu did not mention it, but it seemed to me that there was a bit of maitake mushroom as well as (instead of?) the porcini. This was paired with the 2006 Le Mistral. This dish was the highlight of the evening for me. Very nicely balanced, and the flavours of the food mixed delightfully with the 2006 Le Mistral. The 2006 is fruity with lots of blackberry and cherry. Le Mistral often has a spicy, peppery finish, which is present in the 2006, but not as much as in other years, making this a slightly softer, flatter wine than the years that I have liked the best. The pairing worked out perfectly – Chapeau to the chef.
Our main course was an Acme Coffee braised short rib, with carmelized fennel-potato gratin, Savoy cabbage, and what Jerry Register referred to as a Syrah infused Mole Sauce. This was accompanied by the 2007 Le Mistral. For me, both the wine and the dish were very good, but each would have benefitted from a different pairing. The Short ribs were flavourful, and kept good texture which is sometimes lost when braising. The savoy cabbage did a great job of transporting flavours from every other part of the dish into a single mouthful, allowing you to get a bit of everything with one bite. The 2007 Le Mistral is more the Le Mistral which we love than is the 2006. It retains it’s fruity feel, with berry and a hint of a smoky taste, and finishes with that spicy peppery taste. I fear that Le Mistral though might be a bit too delicate for the braised short rib. I probably would have paired this dish with a fuller red – perhaps a cab, or done a dish with more delicate flavours to pair with Le Mistral – perhaps a veal dish?
Finally, we got two different desserts, paired with two different wines. I am not a big dessert fan myself, but the Chocolate Orange Terrine went nicely with the 2008 Pinot Noir, and the Pinot was a lovely wine to sip at the end of the meal. We were also offered a ‘Pinapple Financier with Coconut and Citrus Caramel’ which was paired with a 2008 Orange Muscat – both of which I found sweeter than what I generally like, but I have to admit, that at the end of the meal, mine were the only plate and glass at the table that were not empty.
After the end of the meal we enjoyed some pleasant conversation with our table mates, and then retired to our room (in the same hotel). This was my first winery event, and it will definitely not be the last (we have something on the Calendar for this Sunday).
After the reception, we moved upstairs and were seated at tables which had several bottles, and place mats with seven wine glasses on each. Each placemat had a pour of the 2007 Le Mistral, A barrel sample of the 2008 Le Mistral, and glasses of Syrah, Grenache, Petite Syrah, and Alicante Bouschet which are the four varietals that went into the 2008 Le Mistral blend. Wine maker Reggie Hammond gave a brief talk. In fact his talk may not have been that brief, but it started with asking us to taste each of the wines before us, and in doing so, I was transported to another realm and missed the rest of what Reggie had to say. In any event, each of us played with mixing together the different wines to create a blend which we liked, and once we had the perfect blend, we made up enough to fill a bottle, made a label for the bottle, and corked it, leaving each of us with a nice souvenir of the evening. After the blending fun, we moved to a patio overlooking the pacific and sat down to a dinner that had been created by Chef Jerry Register to go with the wines from Ventana vinyards. I brought my glass of 2008 barrel sample Le Mistral to the table with me, since I was quite enjoying it.
Our meal started with a Kobe Beef Carpaccio, with a piece of Dungeness Crab, Chardonnay Gastrique, Marcona Almond, and a hint of truffle oil. This was accompanied with a 2008 Ventana Chardonnay. I found the beef to be sweeter than I would have liked, I am not sure what was giving it the sweet taste, but I felt that it shifted the taste of the wine. I don’t drink a lot of chardonnays, so I hesitate to say too much about this. It did have a bit of that vanilla-oak taste that chardonnays have, and tastes reminiscent of apples and pears. There was not a lot of depth to the wine, but it worked quite well with the piece of crab.
Next was a cocoa dusted Ricotta Gnocchi, with Porcini mushroom, Pancetta, Sun dried strawberry, and Pinot Jus. The menu did not mention it, but it seemed to me that there was a bit of maitake mushroom as well as (instead of?) the porcini. This was paired with the 2006 Le Mistral. This dish was the highlight of the evening for me. Very nicely balanced, and the flavours of the food mixed delightfully with the 2006 Le Mistral. The 2006 is fruity with lots of blackberry and cherry. Le Mistral often has a spicy, peppery finish, which is present in the 2006, but not as much as in other years, making this a slightly softer, flatter wine than the years that I have liked the best. The pairing worked out perfectly – Chapeau to the chef.
Our main course was an Acme Coffee braised short rib, with carmelized fennel-potato gratin, Savoy cabbage, and what Jerry Register referred to as a Syrah infused Mole Sauce. This was accompanied by the 2007 Le Mistral. For me, both the wine and the dish were very good, but each would have benefitted from a different pairing. The Short ribs were flavourful, and kept good texture which is sometimes lost when braising. The savoy cabbage did a great job of transporting flavours from every other part of the dish into a single mouthful, allowing you to get a bit of everything with one bite. The 2007 Le Mistral is more the Le Mistral which we love than is the 2006. It retains it’s fruity feel, with berry and a hint of a smoky taste, and finishes with that spicy peppery taste. I fear that Le Mistral though might be a bit too delicate for the braised short rib. I probably would have paired this dish with a fuller red – perhaps a cab, or done a dish with more delicate flavours to pair with Le Mistral – perhaps a veal dish?
Finally, we got two different desserts, paired with two different wines. I am not a big dessert fan myself, but the Chocolate Orange Terrine went nicely with the 2008 Pinot Noir, and the Pinot was a lovely wine to sip at the end of the meal. We were also offered a ‘Pinapple Financier with Coconut and Citrus Caramel’ which was paired with a 2008 Orange Muscat – both of which I found sweeter than what I generally like, but I have to admit, that at the end of the meal, mine were the only plate and glass at the table that were not empty.
After the end of the meal we enjoyed some pleasant conversation with our table mates, and then retired to our room (in the same hotel). This was my first winery event, and it will definitely not be the last (we have something on the Calendar for this Sunday).
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Introduction
About 12 years ago, my wife returned home raving about a wine that she had drunk at a friend’s house. At the time, we lived in Maine, and purchasing wines in Maine is not easy – they did not (and still do not) allow direct importation of wines, and wholesale distribution is limited so that the selection is not the best. The result was that we were frustrated in our ability to buy wines that we wanted to try. I work for a company based in the bay area, and made frequent business trips to California. On one of these trips, my wife came with me, and we visited the winery which had created the wine which she had liked (Joseph Phelps Winery, the wine was ‘Le Mistral’, probably one of their first vintages of that wine). We joined their wine club, and arranged to have wines shipped to an address in New Hampshire where we could drive to collect our illicit booty.
Over the past several years, we joined a few other clubs associated with wineries that we liked, and continued to circumvent Maine law until last year, when I was relocated to California. Wines no longer have to be shipped to us (of the five wineries where we are members, four are within driving distance). In addition there are events hosted by several of the local wineries, which give us the opportunity to try out even more wines.
My intention with this blog is to put down my notes and impressions of the wines that we (my wife Sharon, and I) drink, and some of the events that we attend. Neither of us have any formal training in food or wine, we just go by what we like, tempered by what we can afford.
Over the past several years, we joined a few other clubs associated with wineries that we liked, and continued to circumvent Maine law until last year, when I was relocated to California. Wines no longer have to be shipped to us (of the five wineries where we are members, four are within driving distance). In addition there are events hosted by several of the local wineries, which give us the opportunity to try out even more wines.
My intention with this blog is to put down my notes and impressions of the wines that we (my wife Sharon, and I) drink, and some of the events that we attend. Neither of us have any formal training in food or wine, we just go by what we like, tempered by what we can afford.
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