Author: Paul

If you read a lot of barrel reviews like I like to do, you hear the term ‘hard to taste’ often. Steve Tanzer in particular uses this phrase when talking about Burgundy.

Yesterday was a perfect example of ‘hard to taste’. I was in the winery all afternoon. The wines needed topping off, the Chardonnay needed to be stirred and I had to take final sample to send to the lab of our last 07’s still in barrel.

I wanted to taste all the barrels of 07’s left. 13 barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon in all. I also wanted to check on select 2008’s. Yesterday was a hard day to taste wine. It was cold in the cellar. The tanks read 48 degrees, which meant the wine in barrel was probably just a bit cooler. At that temperature the tannins will really stand out in a red wine and the nose will be muted and dominated by less volatile smells. Less volatile means less fruity in general.

It was hard slugging getting through the samples and getting through the cold induced limitations. I was happy with the 2007’s. The 2007 Chaine d’Or vineyard has a good classic Cab nose, with black fruit and tobacco notes, with a peppery finish. The tannins are big, but round and the wine is very dark. Removing the press wine seems to really have helped tame the tannins in this wine. It will still be very long lasting, but this may be the most approachable young CdO I’ve had.

The 2007 Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon is not as dark, but still full of color. There are deep cherry notes and notes of dusty plumb, mint and tobacco box. It’s very fruity and the tannins coat the palate. This will be a good follow up to the 2006, with less of the minty notes on the nose.

I also sampled our 2008 Chardonnay and 2008 Pinot Noir. The Chardonnay is pretty amazing. It’s sitting in 70@ new wood right now, but it’s hardly showing any wood notes at all. There is deep ripe peach, figs and apple pie flavors. It’s very full bodied and extremely rich.

The Pinot Noir is going through it’s ‘light’ stage right now. The color is light, but I know it will darken some in barrel. The nose is all cream and strawberry right now. The wine really seems like it will have loads of fruit as it ages and this wine is showing a firmer structure than the 2006 at this point. It could be a Pinot Noir to hold for a few years, but we’ll see how it develops. I think at this stage it’s much better than the 2006 was at the same stage.

I headed home about 6PM, and never did get warm. It was one of those chilled to the bone days and nights. I’m glad to have the work done though as we’re heading out on the road the next few weekends.

Yesterday I sent Jerry out to spray for the first time this season.

We spray to prevent Powdery Mildew and to a lesser extent, Grey Rot or Botrytis. The plants have not yet started to grow so this was a dormant spray.

Normally I don’t do dormant spraying. There’s no scientific evidence that it does anything, and there’s not even a really good hypothesis on how it could work. Because both Powdery Mildew and Grey Rot need green growth to attach spores to there’s no reason it should help to dormant spray. Still this year I decided to do it. There’s a lot of ‘field’ evidence that it helps. Which is a way of saying people think it helps.

I have read a lot over the past year though that Stylet oil is more effective if you first do a dormant sulfur spraying, and that does seem to make sense.

I haven’t used sulfur for a few years now. It is an organic, but the amount we have to spray and the discomfort it causes when spraying make me an anti-sulfur guy. The bad part about using sulfur to is that it requires not just a high dose, but a lot of spraying through the year. I was glad to get away from it, and this might be the only time we use it this year.

JMS Stylet oil on the other hand, I really like. It works by coating the plant with a micro layer of inert mineral oil. The oil prevent the spores from Powdery Mildew from attaching to the plant and growing. It uses a low dose and I don’t have to spray as often as with sulfur.

Both are ‘contact’ sprays though. If it rains, you have to spray again because the treatment is on the surface of the plant, not inside it. Stylet oil is also an organic.

This year we will treat all our vineyards except Vista Verde with 100% organic treatments. Vista Verde is a new vineyard and I had really bad luck a few years ago trying to take a non organic vineyard to all organic in a single year. Now I phase out the systemic chemicals slowly over a year or two and phase in the organics. Vista Verde may complete the transition this year, I’ll just have to watch and see how it goes.

Jerry finished Vista Verde and Arastradero then helped stack some firewood at home. Monday he’ll do Crimson Clover, and Sesson, then Tuesday Chaine d’Or. The weather looks good for the next week and we may see bud break at home next week.

I’ve had lots of bumps and bruises since we started, and more soreness and stiffness than most people would guess. In fact I did an interview for a blog last year and the question was, “What would surprise people the most about winemaking?” and my answer was – “How physically demanding it is.

Still I’ve avoided anything really serious in the vineyard or winery. Until Sunday. Stefania and I were out looking at a new vineyard site and I took a bad tumble down some old wet stairs. It had been raining all day, and was still coming down when I started down the stairs. My boots are a size 15 and my feet don’t really fit on most steps. My right boot slipped and down I went.

I twisted my ankle, and bruised my wrist. I put my right hand down to stop the fall and hit my thumb hard. My thumbs are already in bad shape from old hockey injuries, and this aggravated that injury. Worst though was I really landed hard on my right thigh.

The bruise is about the size of a cantaloupe and dark black and yellow now. I can’t sit for long and it aches most of the time. It’s a bummer because the rain is just ending and Jerry and I have a lot of work to do in the vineyards, but it looks like for the next week or two, he’ll be on his own.

Stef wanted to take a picture and post it, but I didn’t really think a picture of my butt with a bruise was a good thing to put up. I just hope it’s better by next weekend as we have a long drive down to San Diego.

We arrived early for the event yesterday. There’s not much to our set up, especially compared to some of the elaborate displays some people put on. Stefania got us all ready to go, and our award was waiting for us on our table.

The hall was large and the event well run. We had been to other events at Fort Mason that we’re overcrowded and under spaced, so it was nice to see we would be in the big hall. We spent the time before the show started playing gin and catching up with friends and other winemakers.

One of the strange things about making wine in the Santa Cruz Mountains is that events like these are the only time we really get to see other winemakers. The mountains are so rugged and the drives between wineries so long that we rarely get to visit. We talked with Ted Mederios from Uvas Creek, Therese Martin from Martin Ranch and met the winemaker for La Honda for the first time.

Stef and I took turns doing the pouring and had help from Alice. One thing we wanted to try was putting one of us in front of the table to talk with people. We know one of our frustrating things when we go to these events on the other side of the table is that people can crowd around the winemaker and it makes it impossible to get to the table to get a pour. We thought if one of us was in front of the table it would encourage people to step away to talk with us and let other people come up for a pour. That actually seemed to work.

The crowd came early and the hall filled up. We had a good time and enjoyed talking with people. I still don’t think events like this do much to sell any wine, but it was still enjoyable for us. We will probably do one more event like this in San Francisco this year – the Family Winemaker’s this summer.

Last night we visited Nazca, a Peruvian restaurant that opened last March in downtown San Jose. We’re always on the look out for good South American food so Stefania can sample dishes she grew up with in Chile.

http://www.nazcaperuviancuisine.com/home.html

The interior is a sleek open space with a small wall separating the large bar and lounge area from the dinning area. The colors and lighting give it a feeling of a club or lounge. The only oddity was the pan flute music in the background. We soon amused ourselves though figuring out what song was getting the flute treatment. ‘We Are The World’ on the pan flute is odd, but half way through our meal the music kicked over to something a little less goofy.

Service was crisp and efficient. Our waitress set the stage for us and checked with us on timing and clearing often. The right mix of friendly chattiness and professionalism that matched well with the lounge/club feel.

We started with five items from the Appetizer menu that we passed around between the four of us. Each dish was presented on a long plate which worked well for sharing if not passing. The Pastel de Choclo was light and fluffy with the filling centered in the whipped corn bread crust. This is something Stef makes at harvest every year. It’s hearty and satisfying. This take brought a lightness to the dish.

We had the Ceviche de Pescado, which featured Red Snapper. The fish is always ‘of the day’ for the Ceviche’s we were informed and our waitress recommended this highly. We were not disappointed. The Anticuchos de Corazon takes a leap of faith for an American Suburban palate, but they were cooked perfectly and had a nice gamy – mineral mix. We also sampled Choros a las Chalaca, mussles with a corn salsa, and Papa Rellena, a deep fried version of the hearty ground meat, egg, olive and raisins stuffing combo.

No appetizer disappointed, in fact we could have ordered another round after the first. Each executed well with a great variety of flavors and textures.

For our main course we again passed around four dishes; Aji de Gallina is a pulled chicken in a cream sauce, Arroz a las Criolla de Mariscos, is the Peruvian take on paella, Seco de Cordero, a savory lamb shank, and Bistec a lo Pobre a grilled steak with fried egg.

Only the chicken disappointed. The cream sauce was sweet and dominated the dish with out a good balance of spice or acidity. The lamb had a nice gamy finish and fell from the bone. The paella though was the highlight with spicy dark rice and a perfect mix of seafood in each bite. It came topped with a beautiful full head on shrimp.

We sampled all four desserts on the menu and no disappointments at all in that group. In fact when faced with the dessert options at other downtown restaurants, I think my preference would be to head here to finish. Each was a nice combination of fruitiness and sweetness.

The wine list was small and mainly South American, keeping with the theme and we were pleasantly surprised by the two Peruvian selection on the menu we sampled. As a wine guy I’d like to see a little deeper selection on the menu, especially given the complexity and depth of the menu and food. A Syrah from the Northern Rhone would have been excellent with the lamb, and the corn based appetizers would have sung with a full bodied Chardonnay from Sonoma, or Burgundy.

Nazca will become a regular stop for us, I’m sure.

Tomorrow we will be at Fort Mason in San Francisco pouring wine the the Chronicle Wine Competition Public Event:

http://stefaniawine.blogspot.com/2009/01/our-upcoming-public-schedule.html

I wrote in the past about the amount of requests we get to donate wine. It’s truly overwhelming. In the past two weeks the pace has picked up. Between public events, charity requests, and private events, I’ve had 17 requests in the last 10 days. Almost two a day. An art gallery wanted us to donate 4 cases of wine for an opening. A legal conference in Portland wanted us to sponsor a table at their conference, at a cost equal to two weeks pay for Jerry. We’ve been asked to enter two competitions and six festivals.

In all I calculated the requests to come to 51 cases of wine and $6900 in ‘fees’. That works out to about 18% of our total budget for the year. Not 18% of our charity budget, 18% of our total budget.

I do say yes to some. There are events we do decide to do Of those 17 requests, we’ve decided to do two of them. We’ll do a fund raiser for the Los Gatos Jewish Center, and an event at the Capital Club in San Jose. We won’t be dropping off four cases of wine at that art gallery, or riding the dirty choo choo train at the SCMWA event.

I will try and keep our schedule update here.

We get asked very often: “What else do you drink?” People are talking about what other wines do we drink and there are a number of producers Stefania and I buy regularly.

We both also like a good margarita though also.

There are many times when we end up working late. Monday night was one of those nights. If you look closely you can see my lap top in the background of the picture below. Stefania and I worked until about 8 PM. We had to review upcoming events, our next release letter and order form, and planning for our next bottling.

A few years ago we made up a company rule. “No working past 5 PM with out a cocktail or a glass of wine.” We can make up the rules, and I bet you wish your company had that rule too. So we left the office and moved to the living room to watch the Sharks beat Dallas and have a cocktail. As you can see below we’re pretty serious about our Tequila collection.

The bar greets visitors as you come in the house, and we have a TV set up to watch sports while people sit at the bar. Stef calls it “The Best Sports Bar in San Jose”.

So Monday night it was margarita time. I use a recipe that I adapted from Rick Bayless’s Frontera Grill in Chicago. Frontera Grill and Topolobombo is a place we try and stop at every time we are in Chicago.

Here’s the recipe:
Two frozen martini glasses.
Salt
Ice
3 limes
Cointreau
100% Blue Agave Tequila

First step is to squeeze 3 limes. Not lime juice, not lime concentrate, and never, ever, ever anything called ‘margarita mix’. We planted two lime trees in the backyard to have a fresh supply. Then pour a small amount of kosher salt to a small plate. You don’t need ‘margarita salt’, kosher salt is best. Next rub the rim of two frozen martini glasses with a small amount of lime juice and coat the rim with salt.

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the lime juice, 2.5 oz of Cointreau, and 2.5 oz of Blue Agave Tequila. I never use Triple Sec. It’s harsh and has volatile compounds that can give people a headache. Grand Marnier and Citronage are two other orange liqueurs I’ll use from time to time. All the tequila we have is 100% Blue Agave. That means it comes entirely from the Blue Agave plant. Things like Jose Cuervo Gold can have up to 49% cane alcohol. A good bottle of tequila will always say “100% Blue Agave” on the label.

There is some dispute about using Blanco, Reposado, or Anejo tequila. Blanco is clear, un-aged tequila. Reposado and Anejo have been aged in wood, Anejo for at least one year. They are darker and richer more complex tequilas. Many people prefer to have Anejo’s neat and some say a margarita should only be made with Blanco. I will use all three types at different times. Blanco’s tend to show the lime fruit more. Reposado’s and Anejo’s bring richness and complexity to a margarita. Monday I used an Anejo.

Shake very, very well. Strain into the prepared martini glasses. Enjoy!

I know I’ve been hinting that Pinot Noir allocations are going to be very small in the Spring Release. We made a very small amount from an old, low yielding vineyard. The wine came out very good and people have been pretty excited about the wine based on barrel tastings many have done.

Today I sat down though and worked out allocations based on what we have left. The first thing I had to do was let our sales people in New York and San Francisco know that there was not any available for distribution. There won’t be any going to restaurants at all. We also will not be pouring this wine at all at any events.

Even with those strict limits it was still so tight I couldn’t really believe it when I filled out the numbers. Just 21 people will be getting an allocation. That’s right – 21. The point cut off level is 1200 points to get a single 3 pack. Normally I over allocate wine and give out more wine than we have. I know some people won’t order and that way people lower on the list can get more if they would like it. This time I’m not going to risk that though. There will be a spot on the order form to request a 3 pack if you don’t have an allocation. If one of those 21 people don’t buy their Pinot Noir, the next highest person on the list who has requested some will get a 3 pack.

We also decided we are going to do a combo case. On a first come, first serve basis we will offer 20 combo cases with 8 bottles of 2007 Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah, 3 bottles of 2006 Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon, and a bottle of 2007 Pinot Noir. I’m still working on pricing, and shipping will be free, but this was the best way we could think of to give some of the newer people on our list a chance to at least try the Pinot Noir.

I’m afraid with the amount we produced in 2008, and some retraining we’re doing in 2009, this lottory like system will be the way we allocate Pinot Noir for at least the next three years. I wish we had more to go around.

Today we’ll get out the last few shipments we have from late orders. Most are going to California and will arrive tomorrow. The rest will make their way via UPS across the country. Everyone should have their wine by the end of this week or the start of next week.

We closed out with pretty good sales. Wine sales have been hard from everything we’ve read and we were worried about this release, but it went well. We have some wine left still, but not too much and we felt pretty good about how things went. We can cover any late orders that come in and should have enough for the restaurants that want wine still and the events we have upcoming.

Given all the bad news about the economy, we’re glad to make it through one more release and have the bills paid. Tomorrow we start working on the Spring Release and hope it goes as well.

When we had our first pick up day in the Fall of 2007 I remember talking to Judy at Windy Oaks about their pick up days. Now for their Spring and Summer open house’s Jim and Judy require reservations, a strict limit on guests, and the sheriff comes out to do traffic control. They’ve had to cap the events at 500 people. She told me for their first open house they had three people. She said for the next few years they had 4 more people each time they had an open house and it took them about 4 years to get over 30 people.

Well our first Pick Up day had 3 people, and we’ve added 4 more each time. Yesterday was our 4th Pick Up Day and we were at 16 visitors.

Below Stefania pours wine at the little table we set up in the cellar. She made a few small snacks for people. We decided to pour in the cellar this time since it was cold outside.

My IPhone was a little blurry with the cellar light, but the shots are ‘ok’. It’s nice to be in the cellar and really feels like visiting a winery I think vs being in a tasting room. I did a short walk in the vineyard to talk about our pruning and winter vineyard practices. The weather was cold but it stayed dry.

We poured five wines for everyone and had barrel samples of our 2007 Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s sure not a fancy tasting but everyone has a good time, and there is lots of catching up and chatting. I really like this way of tasting wine. It gives Stef and I a chance to talk to every one and answer questions. It’s also un-rushed and people can linger and enjoy the wine.

I took this picture as we were cleaning up. The barrels are back in place from the sampling. I did two different barrels. A regular Sequin Moreau Bordeaux barrel with medium toast and a special S.V.T. Sequin Moreau barrel especially designed for extended aging of Cabernet Sauvignon. It was a great way for people to see the effect even a small change in barrels can have on the wine.

The last shot of the day. Just my car left in the parking area besides the vineyard. I know I’ve had this shot before but the car really gives a good scale of the redwoods and the slope of the upper vineyard. Everything is green now from the recent rains and the vineyard is ready for spring. We’ll have our next open house just after tax day in April.