Monthly Archives: February 2012
Uncorked: Happenings in the Wine World
Here’s a recap of the week’s happenings and news in the wine industry:
- This Saturday, February 25th, is “Open That Bottle Night.” The night has been designated for those of us who have been holding on to a bottle for that ‘special occasion’ which has never come. So make Saturday your ‘special occasion,’ wander into your cellar and open that bottle and drink it!
- Skinnygirl, Bethanney Frankel, one of the biggest drinks industry success stories in 2011 expands to wine next month. She will introduce three low-calorie California wines priced at $15 each: a red blend made primarily with Syrah, a white blend made primarily from Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio, and a rosé blend featuring Grenache and Syrah. Each of the 2011 vintage wines will check in at 12 percent alcohol and 100 calories per 5-ounce serving.
- It wasn’t that long ago that Pinot Grigio (Pinot Gris) displaced Sauvignon Blanc as the second most popular white wine variety in the United States. Now Sauvignon Blanc has ceded its third place status to fast-growing Muscat wines. Chardonnay remains by far the best-selling wine, red or white. Muscat’s market share has grown by almost 85% in the last year.
- University of California, Irvine Extension recently announced “The Great American Wine and Food Revolution”, a six-week online course from April 2 to May 13. With the proliferation of ethnic cuisine and cross-cultural combinations, such as Mexican/Korean or Japanese/French, and unusual “gastro-fusion” dishes that are finding their way into the mainstream society, acclaimed wine expert and course instructor Marlene Rossman will show course participants how to identify mutual elements that create the perfect pairing of wine and food.
$24 Date Night
Leese-Fitch Zinfandel 2008: $12
Steakhouse Sliders with Kale Chips: $12
Easy, delicious Date Night without leaving the house: Priceless
Affordable wine seems to be all the rage these days. This is a good and a bad thing. Good because you can get more for you money. Bad because it’s hard to determine which of these “affordable” wines are actually a great tasting wine. Well we’ve found you a great Zinfandel, Leese-Fitch Zinfandel 2008 – only $12 and absolutely delicious!
Now onto the food – Steakhouse Sliders. All the flavors for your favorite steakhouse within a $12 budget. The key to keeping this meal in budget (and any meal for that matter) is to only buy what you need. Don’t be afraid to ask the budget for exactly how many pounds of meat you need and don’t be afraid to visit the cheese counter and ask them to cut a large piece of gorgonzola in half. That’s what they’re there for!
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef (80-20)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 small tomatoes, sliced 1 inch thick
1 small red onion (the smallest you can find), sliced 1 inch thick
1/4 cup gorgonzola cheese, softened
6 potato slider rolls
1 bunch kale, leaves removed from stem
Add beef to a large bowl. Season with Worcestershire sauce and combine. Form meat into one large mound in the bowl. Using your hands, first portion the meat into two equal parts. Then form each half into three equal rounds. Form each round into a flat patty.
Preheat a stove top grill over medium-high heat. Add beef patties. Cook until caramelized on both sides and cooked to medium rare, 3-4 minutes per side. Remove from grill pan and set aside to rest.
Meanwhile, add red onion slices to the grill. Turn off the heat. Cook on both sides until caramelized.
While the onions are cooking, get started on the kale chips. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spread the kale leaves across a baking sheet in one even layer. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake until darkened and crispy. Yum, Yum, Yum. (The dipping sauce is an extra, just a little mayo, garlic, paprika and lemon juice – if you’re up for it).
Build that burger. First top bun bottom with tomato, then a few rings of red onion, then the burger and finally a small dollop of gorgonzola.
Wineries to Watch: The Scholium Project
Owner of Scholium Project, Abe Schoener, celebrating a win at our 2010 Throwdown.
Last week we hosted our Cult California Wine Throwdown featuring owner/winemaker of The Scholium Project, Abe Schoener. We have had the pleasure of getting to know Abe and his unique wines over the last couple years and have come to appreciate his truly unique approaches to the winemaking process.
The Scholium Project represents an experimental and educational approach to wine. Abe approaches each wine as a project, trying to emulate those in the industry whose methods and wines he admires.
Abe’s background begins at the famed Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars where he interned during a sabbatical from teaching at St. John’s College. While at Stag’s Leap, Abe worked with John Kongsgaard. After Stag’s Leap he continued to work with John at Luna Cellars, then White Rock Vineyards. In 2005, he made his first Scholium selections: Naucratis and Cena Trimalchinos.
Scholium wines are all sourced fruit from the best vineyards for the specific grape varietals in each wine. Grapes often found in the wines include Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Syrah, Merlot, Zinfandel, and Cinsault on the red side. And white varietals including Verdelho, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Gewurztraminer.
The Scholium Project offers a large array of wines to explore, each one is not for everyone but they are all wines to challenge your thinking and evaluation of what your mind thinks a ‘standard’ style of each grape is. We always say that the Scholium wines can make red drinkers love white and white lovers drink reds.
Our favorites? With this winery, you can have a favorite. But must tries include: Bricco Bebelico, Choepheroi, Gardens of Babylon (awesome!) , Prince in His Caves (a red drinker’s white).
Wineries to Watch: Tamber Bey Vineyards
Tamber Bey Vineyards
Barry Waite purchased his Yountville Ranch in 1999 for the primary purpose of raising his beloved horses. The name is after his first two Arabian endurance horses, Tamborina and Bayamo. But the fertile Yountville land called to him and before long he was planting grapes alongside the pastures, the Deux Chevaux Vineyards. He teamed up with winemaker Thomas Brown for his inaugural vintage and has been rocking since then. Brown has an impressive background in the wine industry including a little project known as Schraeder ($350/bottle).
Thomas Brown brought on “apprentice,” Mike Smith to help with the production of Tamber Bey. Smith is no slouch though, he has worked for a number of labels including Myriad. Barry later added a property in Oakville where they have been making a single vineyard Cabernet. The Tamber Bey wines overachieve given the price/quality ratio. Barry has strived to keep his price points reasonable, since this is not his primary business. These wines are under the radar and not submitted to press for ratings, relying on more word of mouth and delivering a high quality product. They make 3 wines: 2 from the Yountville and one from Oakville, all 100% estate wines.
Our favorites from Tamber Bey include: Tamber Bey Deux Chevaux Cabernet, Tamber Bey Deux Chevaux Rabicano, Tamber Bey Oakville Estate Cabernet.
Wineries to Watch: Shafer Vineyards
A view of the Hillside Select Vineyard from our trip to Shafer this past Fall.
Doug Shafer was in town a couple weeks ago and I had the pleasure of having an intimate lunch meeting with him. Doug moved to Napa when he was 17 and like most caught the “wine bug.” From there he went to UC Davis and shortly thereafter began making wine with his dad, John. They have become an iconic Napa Valley team and set a bar for others in the Valley when it comes to consistent, quality wine.
Doug, who was the winemaker, mentioned the wine became much better once Elias took over in the mid 1990s. Doug recruited the Elias out of UC Davis in 1984 as the assistant winemaker for his first and only job in the wine business.
The toughest part of producing great wines year after year is vintage variation; great wineries make adjustments since a major component to any winemaking process is weather (which we all know is unpredictable). In off vintages grapes are sold off in bulk; possibly ending up in some $10 Napa Valley Cabernet. In great vintages, prices escalate.
When talking recent vintages with Doug, his comments were:
2008: A fantastic vintage, reminiscent of 2006 with great fruit forward wines. It was very underrated from living in the shadow of 2007, which was equally great but produced a much different style of wine.
2009: Very reminiscent of 2007, producing wines of intensity and structure for some age.
2010: Challenging vintage but has resulted in some good wines, the yields will just be much lower.
2011: This was the most challenging vintage Doug has seen since he started making the wine for Shafer. Lots of grapes were sold off in bulk. The vintage will still produce quality wines, but production will be way down. It’s extremely important to buy from an excellent producer in challenging vintages.
Shafer’s selections include Red Mountain Chardonnay, Merlot, One Point Five Cabernet, Relentless Syrah (our personal favorite), and their flagship…Hillside Select Cabernet. We get a lot of inquires about Hillside Select, the best way to get it? Get on our waiting list now! (It doesn’t help to support Shafer’s other wines as well…)
Smoked Pork Chops with Fancy Potatoes and Pomegranate
Serve with Hanzell “Sebella” Pinot Noir 2009
This is the ultimate easy meal that looks so fancy. Using pre-smoked pork chops adds a ton of flavor and saves you time and extra steps because they are already fully cooked. To keep in line with our Valentine’s theme, pomegranate seeds add a pop of red color and a punch of sweetness.
Ingredients
1-2 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
4 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 large shallot, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup half and half
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 smoked pork chops
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add carrots and cook for 5 minutes. Add potatoes and continue to cook for 7-10 minutes until vegetables are fork tender. Drain. Immediately add potatoes to a ricer and process into a large bowl. In a seperate bowl do the same with carrots.
Meanwhile, add 1 tablespoon butter to a small skillet. Add shallots and garlic. Cook over medium heat until they are soft and translucent, 4-5 minutes. Add half of the mixture to the riced carrots and half to the riced potatoes.
Add remaining butter and half and half to the potatoes and carrots (splitting the amount between the two). Mix each until combined and fluffy. Add to a warm oven to keep temperature until you’re ready to serve.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork chops to sear, 4-5 minutes per side until a brown crust forms. Remove from pan, allow to rest before serving.
Turn off heat on the pan and add 1/4 cup water to deglaze. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the brown bits on the bottom of the pan, creating a simple pan sauce.
While the meat is resting, begin to plate your potatoes and carrots. Add two large scoops of potatoes to each serving plate in the center of the plate, diagonal from each other. Add two small scoops of carrot in between the potatoes to create a circle. With a knife, swirl the potatoes and carrots together, making a tie-dyed design.
To plate add pork chop on top of the potatoes. Add 1 tablespoon of the pan sauce and generously sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.
Blood Oranges with Cinnamon Goat Cheese
Serve with Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Let’s start this romantic meal off with a pop of color and flavor. The citrus and sweet taste of the blood oranges brings out the best in a creamy, tangy goat cheese – just like you bring out the best in your partner.
Ingredients
1 blood orange, peeled and segmented
1/2 cup goat cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Whole grain crackers
In a small bowl, mix goat cheese and cinnamon until well combined. Using two spoons form into an oval shape and add to the center of your serving platter.
Add oranges and crackers to the plate. Simple as that!
Raspberry Grapefruit Napoleon
Serve with Champagne Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve
It’s Valentine’s Day, why not go all the way with it and serve a pink and red dessert. 
Ingredients
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 pink grapefruit, peeled and segmented
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons arrowroot
1 sheet frozen puffed pastry, thawed
Flour for dusting
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
Add raspberries and 1 tablespoon honey to a blender. Add 1/4 cup water. Puree until smooth, adding more water, 1 tablespoon at a time until sauce reaches your desired thickness. Pour into a small bowl and set aside.
Add grapefruit, remaining tablespoon of honey and arrowroot to the blender. Puree until smooth. Set aside in a small bowl.
On a lightly floured board, roll out puffed pastry sheet. With a cookie cutter of your choice, cut out 6 shapes.
Place on a parchment covered baking sheet. Poke gently with a fork, just a few times per shape. Bake until puffed and golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Add whipping cream to a blender and beat until soft peaks form. Add sugar and almond extract. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
Layer dessert on the serving plate; raspberry sauce first, then pastry, then whipped cream (be generous with this). Once you’ve formed three layers, drizzle generously with raspberry and grapefruit syrup.
