Author: Stephen Hawk

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Hedges Family Estate

A winemaker, Nicole Walsh of Ser Winery, recently recommended a wine to me. And I thought, “If a winemaker recommends someone else’s product, it must be worth seeking out.” That wine? Hedges Family Estate Red Mountain Syrah.

In June of 1976, Tom Hedges and Anne-Marie Liégeois married in a 12th century church in Champagne, France, the area where Liégeois was born and raised. This melding of New World and Old World experiences and sensibilities would directly inform them once they entered the world of wine years later.

Liégeois was born near the medieval town of Troyes. Her upbringing was “maison bourgeoise,” where three generations of the family lived and worked together. The family was prosperous, and could afford to enjoy traditional home-cooked meals and the best of the local wines.

Hedges was raised as a “traditional” American, in a home of strong work ethics guided by his father, who had a background in apple growing and dairy farming before becoming an engineer. The younger Hedges was born in Richland, Washington, located at the confluence of the Yakima and Columbia Rivers. It was established in 1906 as a small farming community, but in 1943 the U.S. Army turned much of it into a bedroom community for the workers on its Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb at the nearby Hanford Engineering Works (now the Hanford site).  The B Reactor, the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world, was built here. Plutonium manufactured at the site was used in the first nuclear bomb, which was tested at the Trinity site in New Mexico, and in Fat Man, the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan. Nuclear weapons development continued here throughout the Cold War. Now now-decommissioned, Hanford leaves behind a grim legacy of 60% of the high-level radioactive waste managed by the US Department of Energy, including 53 million US gallons (200,000 m3) of high-level radioactive waste stored within 177 storage tanks, 25 million cubic feet (710,000 m3) of solid radioactive waste, and areas of heavy technetium-99 and uranium contaminated groundwater

Tom Hedges spent the first ten years of the marriage working for large multinational agricultural firms. He was employed by Castle & Cooke foods from 1976 to 1982 where he headed up four international offices. Next, he worked for Pandol Bros., a small Dutch trading company in Seattle, which at the time was importing Chilean produce and exporting fruit to the Far East and India. In 1984 he served as President and CEO of McCain Produce Co. in New Brunswick, Canada, farming potatoes for export. Then, in 1986, the Hedges created an export company called American Wine Trade, Inc., based in Kirkland, Washington (which is also the home of Costco), and began selling wine to foreign importers, primarily in Taiwan. As the company grew, it began to source Washington wines for a larger clientele, leading to the establishment of a negociant-inspired Cabernet/Merlot blend called Hedges Cellars in 1987. This wine was sold to the Swedish government’s wine and spirit monopoly, Vin & Sprit Centralen, which was the company’s first major client.

During this time, the Hedges discovered the developing wine region called Red Mountain, three hours southeast of Seattle. After buying fifty acres here in 1989, they planted forty acres to Bordeaux grape varieties and transformed American Wine Trade from a negociant and wine trader into the classic model of a wine estate. Today, this Biodynimacally-farmed Red Mountain property continues to be the core of the Hedges family wine enterprise. In 1995, they began construction of the Hedges Chateau.

Hedges Chateau. Photo: Jacob Hughey

The Hedges ‘children, Sarah and Christophe, are now involved in the business, and each has a special set of skills for understanding the terroir.

Sarah attended the University of San Diego and graduated with a degree in business and philosophy. She later attended UC Santa Barbara to study chemistry, and at the same time worked for a Santa Barbara winery managing the tasting room and helping with harvest. From 2003 to 2005 she worked for Preston Vineyards in Healdsburg, Sonoma County, doing wine production work. She became assistant winemaker for Hedges in 2006 under the tutelage of her uncle, Pete Hedges (younger brother of Tom). Pete Hedges schooled Sarah in both terroir and chemistry, believing that each works to show a wine the path to exhibit the truth of its place. Sarah ascended to head winemaker in 2015 after her uncle retired.

The elder of the two, Christophe, is a graduate of the University of San Diego with a Business Degree and minor in Theatre Arts.  In addition to being the general manager at Hedges, he farms his own property using modern Biodynamic techniques, executed by John Gomez, the Hedges Family Estate vineyard manager.  He has been long opposed to the numerical point scores used by several wine critics, and he urges consumers to rely on their own knowledge about a specific varietal or the region from which it came. (I’m with you there, Christophe!)  Ten years ago he created scorevolution.com, an online petition promoting the elimination of 100-point rating scales from wine reviews altogether. “The final decision about a wine is personal, and it belongs to the wine drinker alone,” he explained. (As of this writing, the site is still online, but seems to be closed to any further activity.  I.E. you can’t even read the manifesto, much less endorse it, which I would have been happy to do.  Regardless of where you stand,  you can read a criticism and defense of the point-score system here.)  Christophe is also responsible for the very European-style Hedges bottle labels.

Hedges Cellars eventually transitioned to Hedges Family Estate, and farming practices have become more focused towards being organic and vegan.  Rather than commercial strains, only wild yeast is used, and the wines are neither fined nor filtered.  They are also gluten free.  The Hedges estate vineyard is certified organic by CCOF, nonprofit organization that advances organic agriculture for a healthy world through organic certification, education, advocacy, and promotion. It is certified Biodynamic by Demeter, the only certifier for Biodynamic farms and products in America. While all of the organic requirements for certification under the National Organic Program are required for Biodynamic certification, the Demeter standard is much more extensive.  The vineyard is also rated by Salmon Safe, which works with West Coast farmers, developers, and other environmentally innovative landowners to reduce watershed impacts through rigorous third-party verified certification.

Hedges estate vineyard.  Photo: Jacob Hughey

Hedges Family Estates Red Mountain Hedges Vineyard Syrah 2017

The grapes are from the Hedges Estate Biodynamic vineyard.  After being harvested they were crushed into bins where they underwent indigenous yeast fermentation. After pressing, the wine was aged in barrel where it underwent indigenous malolactic fermentation. The wine was aged in 56% new oak (65% French and 35% American) for 22 months before bottling.

This Syrah pours a nearly opaque dark purple into the glass.  There are full aromas of dark stone fruits accompanied by earth.  On the palate, those flavors are rather recessive, in the European style, but primarily pomegranate, and  blueberry.  Or it might just be that they are being masked by the big, black-tea tannins.  These come with good supportive acidity.  259 cases were made, and the ABV is 13.5%.

Hedges Family Estates C.M.S Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

The grapes were sourced from the Sagemoor, Wooded Island, and Bacchus vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA and Hedges Estate, Jolet and Les Gosses vineyards in the Red Mountain AVA. The must was pumped-over for eight days and pressed to tank, where it underwent malolactic fermentation. The Columbia Valley portion of this wine (59%) was fermented to dryness in 100% American oak and aged in 100% French oak. It was then barrel aged for five months in 100% neutral oak. The Red Mountain AVA wines (41%)were barrel aged in 100% neutral American and French oak for 11 months.

C.M.S (named for its blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, and 16% Syrah) is a semi-transparent but deep red.  The rich aromatics feature blueberry, blackberry, and black cherry, with support from dark cocoa and vanilla.  These deploy in the mouth as the same flavors.  Both the acidity and tannins are excellent and harmoniously balanced.  5976 cases were produced, and the ABV comes in at 14.0%.

Descendants Liegeois Dupont 2011

This Syrah is an homage to both sides of Anne-Marie Hedges’ French families.  the Liegeoises and Duponts.  The fruit was sourced from the Les Gosses vineyard in the center of the Red Mountain AVA. The juice was pumped over on skins for eight days before pressing to barrel and undergoing malolactic fermentation. The wine was  barrel aged for an average of  12 months in 52% new oak and 48% older oak( 62% American, 31% French, and 7% Hungarian).

The wine pours a semi-transparent dark purple color. It shows full aromas of dark stone fruit, especially plum, bordering on prunes, with hints of maple bacon. leather, and smoked cedar.  The plums plus blueberry are revealed on the palate.  The ABV is 14%, but seems higher due to the wine’s richness.  It’s all supported by strapping tannins and plenty of tart acidity.  1202 cases were made.

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Ozeki Karatamba

Let’s be clear about this right away: Saké, the national alcoholic beverage of Japan, is often called rice wine, but this is a misnomer.  While it is a beverage made by fermentation, the production process more closely resembles that of beer, and it is made from grain (rice, of course), not fruit.

To make saké, the starch of freshly steamed glutinous rice is converted to sugar and then fermented to alcohol.  Once fermented, the liquid is filtered and usually pasteurized.  Sakés can range from dry to sweet, but even the driest retain a hint of sweetness.

In 1711, the Manryo brewery, was established by the first Chobei Osakaya of the Osabe family in Imazu, Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture.  This is a significant saké production region , and  the head office is still located there.  The famous water found here is known as Miyamizu, groundwater originating in the Rokko mountain system. The region is also ideal for rice production, including Yamada-nishiki, a renowned saké rice.

In 1810 the fifth-generation owner of Manryo built a lighthouse to help guide home the ships that had delivered Manryo’s products to Edo, as Tokyo was then known.  The  Imazu lighthose has been an important cultural edifice in Nishinomiya ever since.  In 1984 it underwent an extensive restoration.

The Imazu lighthouse.

In 1884 the company was rebranded from Manryo to Ozeki.  The name originates from the world of sumo wrestling, where the grand champion was originally known as the Ozeki (now the second highest rank).  Additionally, odeki is Japanese for ‘good job.’  Because it sounds similar to ozeki, this was intended to motivate the production of good saké.  As sumo was becoming popular in the late 19th century,  it exemplified many of the ideas that were considered  important for success, including strenuous hard work and technical skill.  Ozeki aimed to build the brand through these concepts, just like winning sumo wrestlers try to do.

Ozeki’s facilities were destroyed by fire due to a WWII air raid in 1945, but were rebuilt following the end of the war.  In 1966, Ozeki introduced a saké vending machine, something we will never see in the United States!  They entered the U.S. market in 1979 by establishing Ozeki San Benito Inc. in Hollister, California.  The company celebrated 300 years in business in Japan in 2011,

Ozeki Karatamba

Like my wines, I prefer my sakés to be dry.  Karatamba is one of the driest I have found, with a Sake Meter Value* of +7.  The ABV is 15.5%, and the polish rate** is 70%.

Karatamba (Dry Wave) is brewed and bottled in Japan.  It is a honjozo saké.  This classification, one level up from the most basic, is made with better-quality rice, and a higher proportion of the alcohol is produced during fermentation rather than being added (a characteristic of honjozo).  Also, Karatamba attains its dryness level by the added alcohol; it would be difficult to do so without it.

Predictably, this saké is crystal clear.  The nose offers up melon and lychee.  These continue on the palate (without the tartness) plus some caramel richness and perhaps a hint of maple syrup.  It has a round smooth mouthfeel ending in a pleasant soft finish.

*An important gauge of saké  is the SMV (Saké Meter Value).  This measures the density of saké relative to water, and is the method for determining the dryness or sweetness of saké. The higher the SMV, the drier the saké. The range is -15 to +15.

**The rice used in saké is called “saka mai” in Japanese, and it is not the same type of rice used for eating.  The grains are larger than food rice,  contain more starch, and less protein and fat.  The rice is first milled, aka “polished,” to remove the outer layer that could cause off-flavors in the finished product.  Typically, this will be 25 to 70%, but I have heard of exotic sakés with 99% starch removal!  Not surprisingly, the more the rice is milled, the more expensive the saké becomes.

http://www.ozekisake.com/products/product_detail.php?product=12

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Cape Red Red Blend 2020

When I profile a wine, I like to start with the story of the producer, and then get into the wine itself.  I couldn’t find much about this offering, which is just as well as it is low-quality plonk.

It is sourced from Zidela Worldwide Wines.  Their website states, “Our Company aims to be the prime South African supplier of value-for-money wines in the international private label market.  [We have} the capability to offer a wide range of bulk wines from all the wine regions in South Africa. Our long-standing working relationship with various wineries enables us to get involved in the wine-making process to meet our clients’ specific needs.”  So, no need to look for a winemaker’s personal approach or vision here.

The wine is exclusively distributed in the United States by splashwines.com, where I bought it through a Groupon offer for a mixed case of two bottles each of nine different wines.  The per-bottle price came to $5, much more than this particular wine is worth.

Cape Red Red Blend 2020

The color and clarity of this wine is fine, but then the wheels fall off.  It has thin aromas and a recessive palate of weird, unidentifiable fruit.  The acidity is totally out of balance, plus bitter tannins and an odd funk on the finish.  The only way I was able to get through it with dinner (a delightful grilled pork roast) was by refrigerating the hell out of it.  The packaging is nice; too bad they didn’t put half as much effort into the wine.  I don’t know how many cases were made, but, frankly, any was too much.  ABV is 13%.

https://www.splashwines.com/products/cape-red-2019?_pos=1&_sid=b92ded527&_ss=r

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The Story of Saké

L to R: Sensei, Karatamba, Momokawa Heart and Soul, Kiku-Masamune Taru.

Let’s be clear about this right away: Saké, the national alcoholic beverage of Japan, is often called rice wine, but this is a misnomer.  While it is a beverage made by fermentation, the production process more closely resembles that of beer, and it is made from grain (rice, of course), not fruit.  To make saké, the starch of freshly steamed glutinous rice is converted to sugar and then fermented to alcohol.  Once fermented, the liquid is filtered and usually pasteurized.  Sakés can range from dry to sweet, but even the driest retain a hint of sweetness.

History
Saké is an ancient drink, so much so that its origin has been lost in the mists of time. Ironically, the earliest reference to the use of alcohol in Japan is recorded in a third-century Chinese text, the Book of Wei in the Records of the Three Kingdoms which wrote of Japanese party habits.  The Kojiki, Japan’s first written history, compiled in 712, is the earliest to mention alcoholic beverages in Japanese itself. Historians place the probable origin of true saké (which is made from rice, water, yeast, and kōji mold (aspergillus oryzae) in the Nara period (710–794).

Saké  production was a government monopoly until the 10th century, when temples and shrines began to brew saké  as an essential part of religious ceremonies, evolving into the main centers of production for the next 500 years. That being said, the saké of antiquity was not the same as the clear beverage we know today.  It was reserved for nobles and priests, and was thick and milky or yellow in color, with a low alcohol content.

In the 16th century, the technique of distillation was introduced into the Kyushu district from Ryukyu. This led to shōchū (literally, fiery spirits), a beverage typically distilled from rice (kome), barley (mugi), sweet potatoes (satsuma-imo), buckwheat (soba), or brown sugar (kokutō), though it is sometimes produced from other ingredients such as chestnut, sesame seeds, potatoes, or even carrots.  It usually contains 25% alcohol by volume, and is most often used as a beverage outside of meals.

During the Meiji Restoration, laws were written that allowed anybody with the money and know-how to construct and operate their own sake breweries. Around 30,000 breweries sprang up around the country. As time passed, the government levied increasing taxes on the saké industry and the number of breweries eventually dwindled to 8,000.

Once  the 20th century arrived, saké-brewing technology advanced beyond the centuries-old traditions. The government opened a saké-brewing research institute in 1904, and in 1907 the first government-run saké-tasting competition was held. Yeast strains specifically selected for use in brewing were isolated, and enamel-coated steel tanks came into use, which were easier to clean than the traditional wooden barrels, lasted forever, and were devoid of bacterial problems.

During the Russo-Japanese War in 1904–1905, the government banned the home brewing of saké. At the time, saké comprised 30% of Japan’s tax revenue. Home-brewed saké was not taxed, so the thinking was that by banning it sales and tax revenue would increase. This ban ended home-brewed saké, and the law remains in effect even today.

World War II brought rice shortages, and the saké-brewing industry was hampered as the government discouraged the use of this essential food for brewing.  Postwar, breweries slowly recovered, and the quality of saké gradually increased. Even so, beer, wine, and spirits became increasingly popular in Japan, and in the 1960s beer consumption surpassed saké for the first time.

While the rest of the world may be drinking more saké and the quality of saké has been increasing, production in Japan has been declining since the mid-1970s. Predictably, the number of saké breweries is also declining; there were 3,229 Japanese breweries nationwide in 1975, but the number had fallen to 1,845 by 2007.

Courtesy of Ozeke Saké

Ingredients
As noted earlier, saké is made from just four ingredients: rice, water, koji, and yeast.  With so few components, the quality of each is crucial.  Akita is known for its high-quality rice.  Some of the best water is found In Nada near Kobe, where rivers course through granite canyons, or Fushimi with its pure spring water.

Although saké breweries often pride themselves on the quality of the rice and local spring water that they use, unlike wine this does not translate into terroir, as the brewing process effectively cooks out any such nuances.

Rice Polishing, Washing, and Soaking
The rice used in saké is called “saka mai” in Japanese, and it is not the same type of rice as food rice.  The grains are larger, contain more starch, and have less protein and fat.  The rice is first milled, aka “polished,” to remove the outer layer that could cause off-flavors in the finished product.  Typically, this milling will be 25 to 70%, but I have heard of exotic sakés with 99% starch removal!  Not surprisingly, the more the rice is milled, the more expensive the saké becomes.  As an example, it takes 800 grams (28 ounces) of polished rice to make 720 mL (the size most like a wine bottle) of Ginjo saké.  (Ginjo designates that at least 40% of the rice has been polished away.)

After polishing, the rice is soaked, either by machine for simple sakés, or by hand for higher-quality ones.  Next the rice is steamed.  Unlike rice for the dinner table, which is typically simmered in hot water either in a pot or automatic rice cooker, saké rice is prepared by steaming, which allows the rice to maintain a firm outer texture and soft center, thereby helping the brewing process.  It is this heating step that more closely aligns saké with beer, which also requires heating, rather than wine, which must not be heated.

Rice Cooling
The rice must be cooled after it has been steamed to the desired degree.  Large breweries use a refrigerated conveyor system to lower the temperature, while craft brewers rely on traditional methods of tossing and kneading to adjust the temperature, giving the brewmaster more precise control.

Koji Making
The heart of a saké brewery is its “koji muro”, the cedar-lined room in which koji is made.  It is kept at 86 to 90 degrees F. (30 to 32 degrees C.), making it much like a sauna, so you have to enjoy warm weather to work there!  Cedar has natural anti-bacterial resins which help to create a clean environment conducive to efficient koji production.

Koji requires 48 hours to prepare, during which the rice is  inoculated with koji mold spores, and carefully kneaded in controlled temperature and humidity.  The mold converts the starch in the steamed rice to glucose, and microorganisms multiply to create a snow-white fuzz with a strong, sweet fragrance. The finished koji will be about 20 to 35% of the rice used in the production of the saké, depending on the recipe.

Fermentation
Once the koji is ready, it is mixed into chilled spring water and yeast in a fermentation tank, and then the steamed rice is added.  The tank is filled gradually, in three stages over a four-day period.  This allows the yeast to retain its strength to keep consuming sugar and producing alcohol throughout the fermentation period, which typically continues for 21 days.  The temperature is maintained at 46 to 64 degrees F. (8 to 18 degrees C.).  The brew, called “moromi,” is stirred on a daily basis to ensure consistent fermentation.  Each day, tests are performed to check specific gravity, acidity, and alcohol content.

Pressing And Racking
Once the moromi reaches maturity as determined by the brewmaster, in a craft brewery it is drained into cloth bags which are placed in the traditional “fune” press which works with gravity and hand-applied mechanical pressure. The first run of saké starts emerging from a spout at one end of the press under the natural weight of the filled bags, resulting in a light-and-fruity first-pressed sake known “arabashiri.”

In a large commercial brewery the moromi is machine-pumped into a large accordion like hydraulic press called a “yabuta.”  Activated charcoal is usually added to the pressed saké  and then filtered out.

Bottling
Once pressed and racked the saké may either be bottled immediately or temporarily tank-stored at close to 32 degrees F. (0 degrees C,). “Go” is the measurement unit traditionally for saké. One go is about 180 mL. Saké bottle sizes are also based on these units, with the most common sizes being: 180 mL (1 go; about 6 ounces); 360 ml (2 go); 720 mL (4 go); and 1800 mL (10 go, the magnum-like bottle you often see in izakayas, informal Japanese bars that serve alcoholic drinks and snacks. The glass may be either green, brown, or clear.   After bottling, most sakés are pasteurized.

Storage and Consumption
The entire saké production process takes about 45 to 60 days from start to finish.  There are no vintage years, and the product is best consumed within the year it is bottled, as aging does not enhance its flavor in any way, and indeed may degrade it.   Once a bottle is opened, it should be refrigerated and drunk fairly quickly.

Grades of Saké
Saké is divided into two main categories.  Jozo-shu is made with added alcohol, and junmai-shu is not.

Jozo-shu
Futsu-shu is ordinary table saké and the most widely consumed grade.  It is best served warm, and is suitable for use in cooking.
Honjozo-shu is made with better-quality rice, and a higher proportion of the alcohol is produced during fermentation rather than being added.
Honjozo-ginjoshu and honjozo-dai-ginjoshu are the highest grades of alcohol-added saké.  They are made with more care from top-quality rice.  They should be served cold.

Junmai-shu
Junmai-shu is similar to honjozo-shu, but relies on all of its alcohol from the fermentation.  It is more likely than jozo-shu to be found in the U.S., and can be served warm (not hot) or cold.
Junmai-ginjoshu and Junmai-daiginjoshu are the highest grades of junmai-shu.  Like the highest grades of jozo-shu, they are made with more care from top-quality rice.  50 to 70% of the rice is polished away, respectively.  They should be served cold.

Serving Saké

L to R: glass carafe and cup, masu, and two tokkuri with matching ochoko.

The glass carafe above is used for serving cold saké.  The blue cavity is filled with ice to keep the saké cool.  The wooden box is a “masu.”  In addition to being a drinking vessel, it was also traditionally used for measuring  rice, appropriately.  In traditional restaurant service, the masu is placed on a small saucer and filled until the saké overflows, thus ensuring an honest pour.  Some people, particularly native Japanese, will add a small pinch of salt to the corner of the masu before drinking, but I don’t recommend doing so.

In Japan, the process of heating saké is called “okan suru” and the resulting warm saké is called “kanzake.”  The ceramic pots used for the heating are “tokkuri,” and the accompanying cups are “ochoko.”  These are usually sold as sets, and are available in a very wide variety of styles.  And, “warm” is the operative word here.  Most heated sakés, both at home and in restaurants here in the U.S., are made too hot.  Warm saké  should be about 108 degrees F. (42 degrees C.).  If you like it a bit hotter, the limit is around 122 degrees F. (50 degrees C.).  Heating releases saké’s bright rice aroma, and causes the alcohol to be quickly absorbed into the blood.

In addition to it being a beverage, saké is also used as one of the principal seasonings in Japanese cooking, the other three being dashi stock, fermented bean paste (miso), and soy sauce.  Saké acts as a food tenderizer due to the amino acids it contains.  It also can suppress saltiness, eliminate fishy tastes, and take away strong odors.  It is used sparingly in cooking, and as with wine, only use saké that you would drink on its own.

An important gauge of saké  is the SMV (Saké Meter Value).  This measures the density of saké relative to water, and is the method for determining the dryness or sweetness of saké. The higher the SMV, the drier the saké. The range is -15 to +15.

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Rütz Proprietor’s Reserve Chardonnay 2018

Keith Rütz’s first career track was  in the fashion industry.  He was the proprietor of two trendy clothing boutiques located near the UC Berkeley campus.  To search out the latest styles, he frequently travelled  to both London and Paris. It was in France where he began to develop his love of Burgundy and interest in wine generally.

This growing interest was also informed by Rütz’s ancestral roots, which go back six generations to his great great grandfather, Fernand Lebegue, who grew up in Aigne, in France’s Languedoc region.  There he worked as a cooper, fashioning barrels from the Vosges, Nevers, Allier, and Troncais forests, all famous sources for top-quality barrels used in wine production.

After graduating from UC Berkely, Rütz spent several years working in the fashion industry, eventually starting his own business in 1982 that produced belts for such icons as Kenneth Cole and Anne Klein.

Due to the demands of ever-changing fashion, Rütz traveled frequently, visiting Asia and South America five times each year, Europe (and France in particular) another three times a year, and an annual pilgrimage to New York for the beginning of the fashion season.

“It finally became very exhausting,” Rütz recalled. “I led what you would call a completely hectic existence. The fashion industry is one of getting to the top and staying there. There is little respite.”

Although during this period Rütz’s life was quite frantic, in 1992 he carved  out enough free time to start Rütz Cellars in the Russian River Valley, where, in addition to being the owner, he was also the winemaker, focusing on California Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the tradition of his favorite Burgundian wines. From the beginning, his stated goal was “to make the finest small-batch wines possible that would stand up to those made by the top French producers.”

“I had been able to combine the fashion and winery aspects of my businesses quite easily,” Rütz noted, “whenever I traveled to Europe for a fashion event I was able to tote some wines and get people interested in my products. They found my approach quite novel and that was all right by me. When I finally realized that we were represented in twelve countries and just about every major market in the United States, I knew I had to do something about it.”

That “something” was to leave the world of fashion behind and focus solely on Rütz Cellars.  “I have always believed that quality will dictate the size of any winery,” he shared. “What I want to do at this point is produce the very finest wine I am capable of producing. I am also a firm believer in not rushing the process, so I imagine what I envision could take quite some time.”

In 2020, Rütz Cellars expanded into the Chalk Hill appellation for Cabernet Sauvignon production, as well as Napa Valley in the Rutherford AVA working with the Morisoli Vineyard.  Rütz brought on winemaker Mike Trujillo to oversee the production of that varietal under the Domaine Rütz label.

The Russian River Valley AVA

The Russian River Valley got its name when Russian settlers arrived along the Sonoma Coast at historic Fort Ross. There, they found that the fertile soils of the area were excellent for farming in general and grape-growing in particular.

Fort Ross.  Photo: Harald Padeborn

This AVA is best-known for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, The region earned AVA status in 1983, and comprises 15,000 vineyard acres and 70 wineries.  Rütz Cellars sources fruit from such respected vineyards as Dutton Ranch, Martinelli , and Bacigalupi.

In the growing season, warm daytime temperatures plummet when fog regularly intrudes from the Petaluma Gap to the south, and the Russian River to the west.  In the late afternoon, a fog bank can often be seen hovering above the appellation’s border in the hills west of Sebastopol.

Rütz Proprietor’s Reserve Chardonnay 2018

This is 100% Chardonnay, all sourced from the Russian River Valley. While it was  aged in French Allier and Troncais oak, all of it must have been previously used, as the wood is barely noticeable.  It is the typical pale gold, with moderate aromatics of citrus and a hint of stone fruit like golden apple and pears.  Grapefruit and limestone dominate on the refreshing palate.  There is plenty of supporting acidity, and just a bit of bitterness at the end. 950 cases were produced, and the alcohol is 13.9%.

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How To Be Better Informed About Wine

OK,  if you’re reading this I have to assume you enjoy wine, but don’t know much about it, and would like to become more knowledgeable.   In that case, you are the very person that Winervana is intended for.  So, how can you learn more about wine?

First, drink more wine!  Now, this isn’t a call for overconsumption, but rather for broadening your wine horizons.  If you gravitate towards Cabernet Sauvignon, try some Merlots.  If you like Chardonnay, try Pinot Grigio.  If you mostly drink wines from the U.S., sample some from Europe.   At a more basic level, if you usually drinks reds, include some whites, or the other way around.  And definitely dive into some Rosés!  You get the idea.

Rely on wine professionals.  These can include salespersons at your local wine shop as well as sommeliers at high-end restaurants.  Don’t be intimidated that these people know more about wine than you do.  Of course they do, that’s their job.  Their job is also to sell you something you might like rather than make you feel ignorant.  (If any of these people does that, immediately take your business elsewhere.)  Feel free to provide as much information as possible, like “I don’t like sweet wine.” “I only drink sweet wine.” “I prefer wines from Hungary.” (Hey, it could happen.) “I like the idea of organic wines, but can’t seem to find any.”

I myself am not a particular fan of Rieslings.  Before I pretty much gave up on them, I told the seller at a local wine shop that I kept hearing about how versatile and food-friendly Rieslings were, and I really wanted to find one I could embrace.  It would need to have only a little spiciness or floweriness.  It would need to be bone dry. It would need to cost about 20 bucks.  He suggested a wine from Sonoma, which I sort of enjoyed, but didn’t make me a convert.  (Although this one just about did.)  So, guidance from a pro won’t always ensure success, but it will certainly increase the odds in your favor.

And, never, never feel embarrassed about price.  Any time you are dealing with a wine seller, don’t hesitate to tell them, “I don’t want to go above X dollars for this purchase.”  Again, if the seller can’t respect that, go elsewhere.

Host a wine tasting party.   Invite six to eight friends for the party.  Each person should bring a bottle of wine made from the same variety, such as Syrah, and all the bottles should be roughly in the same price range, which you can specify in the invitation, like $20 to $25. (If you have a wealthy friend, it can be amusing to have that person bring a “ringer,” a bottle that costs four or five times what was called for in the invitation.  This is a good way to reveal that price and quality are not necessarily in lock step.)  When people arrive, you should wrap the bottles in individual brown paper sacks or in aluminum foil with just the neck exposed, write a number on each one with permanent marker, and pull the cork. Sit down at a comfortable location, give everyone a piece of paper, a pen, a wine glass, a glass of water, perhaps some bread sticks, and start tasting the wines one at a time.  I suggest going with pours of no more than one or two ounces for the tasting session, much like you would get at a winery’s tasting room.  Wine left over can be consumed as people socialize afterwards.

Follow the six esses: see the color of the wine, swirl it in your glass, smell it, sip a little, swish it around in your mouth, and then swallow or spit. (Spitting is how professionals can taste dozens of wines at a time and remain lucid.  All well and good, but it is unlikely to happen at a home party, where the point is to have fun as well as learn about wine.)  Write down your impressions.  Taste through all the wines, then talk about them as a group and hear what people liked and didn’t like. Once you’ve tasted all the wines, take them out of their wrapping one at a time, and next to the notes you made about that wine, write down the vintage year, the winery, where it was made, and how much the bottle cost. If you hold on to these notes, they can be the foundation of your wine education, a growing ability to remember what style of wine you like, along with what wineries you think make good wine. With any luck, your guests will all host parties of their own.  That would give everyone a chance to try 36 to 64 different wines!

Consider a wine club.  Here are some examples:

https://www.firstleaf.club/

https://wineinsiders.com/

https://www.winc.com/

https://www.wsjwine.com/

https://www.goldmedalwineclub.com/

Nearly all of these clubs offer a first case at a loss-leader price, with the wines often costing about $10 per bottle.  After that, they want to ship you a case of wine on a regular basis, usually quarterly.  I have tried a number of these clubs., but, I am no longer active with any of them.  I still recommend that you give a few a try, though.  You will be exposed to wines and producers you never heard of, from all around the world.  I think the best plan is to buy that first case, try the wines, and then cancel and move on to another club.  If you do this, say, once every three months for a year, you will have tried 48 new wines and expanded your palate for the better.  You will like some wines more than others, which is the whole point, and you might even get lucky and discover one you love.

Almost every winery has a club of their own, as well.  These usually ship two or three bottles on a monthly or quarterly basis.  But, I suggest you hold off on these until you have focused your tastes on what you really like.  I myself have been a member of Cline, Clos Pegase, Keenan, and Truchard for years.

I was also a long-time member of V. Sattui, until the owner, Daryl, aka “Dario,” drove me away by his arrogant attitude.  I won’t bore you with the details, but it was unfortunate because the wines are quite good and only available directly from the winery.  However, I have no interest in supporting a producer who doesn’t care about his customers, or one who won’t respect your intelligence or your budget, and neither should you.

There are plenty of wine courses, catering to every level.  As a way to increase your wine knowledge, these can range from easy and nearly effortless, to a real commitment of both time and money.  It all depends on what suits you.  Here are just a few:

Wine Folly

World of Wine: From Grape to Glass

Introduction to Wine and Winemaking from U. C. Davis

The Great Courses

And, there are thousands of wine-related videos on YouTube.

Finally, there is self-education through reading.  There is a wealth of resources both in print and online, such as right here at winervana.com.  One of the books I rely on is The New Wine Lover’s Companion by Ron Herbst.  Jon Bonné’s The New Wine Rules is great for demystification.  Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson’s The World Atlas of Wine is just that, a comprehensive overview of wine places, terroir if you will.  Kevin Zraly’s Windows on the World Complete Wine Course is highly regarded.  And Robert Parker’s Wine Buyer’s Guide, although definitive, is like drinking from a fire hose.  (Parker retired in 2019, so his seventh edition from 2008 is likely to be the last.)

There are magazine’s too, of course, such as Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, Decanter, and Imbibe.  But frankly, these can be overwhelming for the casual wine drinker, especially the first two.  I read them occasionally, but don’t subscribe, and, predictably, find their numerical rating systems capricious and rather unhelpful.

Drink more wine!

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Sustainable, Organic, and Biodynamic Wine

These days, wine drinkers are increasingly seeing the words sustainable, organic, and biodynamic on wine bottles and in wine producers promotional materials.  Stewardship of the land and the lack of chemicals sound appealing, and who doesn’t like something that is dynamic?  But what, really, do these terms mean?  In fact, they are not just amorphous “feel good” terms, but do have specific definitions as well as institutional certifications to go along with them.

Note: These criteria and certifications only specifically apply to wines made in the United States.  Other nations may or may not have similar programs.

Sustainable

When a wine is termed sustainable, it means the winery engages in eco-friendly practices such as using drip irrigation or dry farming; limiting or eliminating chemical waste and the use of pesticides; replanting crops or trees to replace those harvested for production; reducing the winery’s carbon footprint; using cover crops between vineyard rows  to improve soil health; prevent erosion, control vine vigor, discourage weeds, and promote the sustainable health of the vineyard; deploying beneficial insects to control pests whenever possible; recycling packaging; taking part in energy efficiency initiatives; wildlife conservation; and other ‘green’ initiatives. Sustainability basically implies that the business is leaving as little negative impact on the land as possible.

CERTIFICATIONS

Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing (CCSW) is a statewide certification program that provides third-party verification of a winery’s commitment to continuous improvement in the adoption and implementation of sustainable winegrowing practices.

Sustainability in Practice (SIP) Certified helps farmers and winemakers demonstrate their dedication to preserving and protecting natural and human resources.

Global Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) Certification is an internationally recognized system that sets standards to ensure safe and sustainable agriculture and ensure product safety, environmental responsibility and the health, safety, and welfare of workers.

The Napa Green organization supervises two programs.  Land is an umbrella program that recognizes growers with validated environmental compliance and verified farm plans as meeting standards for watershed stewardship. Winery is one of only four sustainable winegrowing programs nationwide, offering the opportunity for comprehensive soil-to-bottle certification in both the vineyard and winery.

The California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance is a certification program that provides verification that a winery or vineyard implements sustainable practices and continuous improvement.

Organic

Organic wines are about the protection of natural resources, to promote biodiversity, and limit the use of synthetic products, especially in the vineyards.  Organic wines are made with organic grapes, of course.  That starts with the use of no synthetic pesticides in the vineyard.  Once the vinification process begins, substances like commercial yeast must also be certified as organic. Further, for the wine itself to be organic, there can be no sulfites added during production, although some sulfites do occur naturally in all wines.  Sulfites are chemicals used as preservatives to slow browning and discoloration in foods and beverages, including wine, during preparation, storage, and distribution. Sulfites have been used in wine making for centuries, but some people are sensitive to them.  If you’re not asthmatic, sulfite sensitivity would be very unusual. If you do have asthma, your chances of being sensitive to sulfites is in the range of between 1 in 40, and 1 in 100.   (I myself am asthmatic, and have no sulfite sensitivity.)

Certification

Certification is an arduous, three-year process during which producers have to transition vineyards by discontinuing any use of prohibited substances.  To be “Certified Organic,” wines must meet the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Organic Program’s criteria in both farming and production, as well as requirements set by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

Biodynamic

Biodynamic is the most rigorous of these three protocols.   Although based on both sustainable and organic, it goes much further.  It is a spiritual-ethical-ecological approach to agriculture, gardening, food, and nutrition. Biodynamic wine is made with a set of farming practices that views the vineyard as a complete organism. The idea is to create a self-sustaining system with natural plants, materials, soils, and composts. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are forbidden.  Instead, a variety of animals and insects will typically live in the vineyard to fertilize it and control pests. Biodynamic farming also has an association with ancient agricultural concepts such as following lunar growing cycles and astrological charts, connecting the earth, the vines, and the solar system.  (This last part gets a little squishy, imho.)

And more than just  concept, Biodynamic is a registered trademark of Demeter Association, Inc., the United States’ branch of Demeter International, a not-for-profit incorporated in 1985 with the mission to enable people to farm successfully in accordance with Biodynamic® practices and principles. Demeter’s vision is “to heal the planet through agriculture.”

Certification

The Demeter Biodynamic Farm Standard applies to the certification of farms and ranches for the purpose of allowing them and their resulting agricultural products to carry the Demeter certification marks Biodynamic®, Demeter® and Demeter Certified Biodynamic®.  The Demeter Biodynamic Farm  Standard meets the minimum requirements set by Demeter International.  These base standards form a common legal foundation and agricultural framework for Biodynamic practice worldwide.

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Kokonor Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

There are many ways to buy wine: at a wine shop or liquor store, at a grocery store, or through a winery’s wine club, among others.  There is another option that I use on occasion.  These are online “flash sites” that offer one or even a few different bottles for sale per day, at discounts of around 15 to 70%, often with free shipping if you place a minimum order, which tends to be three to six bottles and varies with the price.  How do they do this?

  1. The winery approaches the site (or vice versa), looking to sell some wine that the winery has not been able to sell as quickly as they would like.  The winery may be stressed by lack of cash flow, not enough storage space, or some other unknown.
  2. They agree on a price that enables the site to sell the wine at well below retail.
  3. The site buys all (or most) of the available stock.
  4. The site then offers the wine at a discounted price, often substantially so.

Here are a three such sites you might want to try:
www.invino.com
www.lastbottlewines.com
www.wtso.com

This Kokonor came from wtso.com.  It had a listed retail price of $135 (true retail prices are sometimes difficult to verify, but on Kokonor’s web site the 2016 was selling for $125 before the allocation window closed.  The 2017 and 2018 were not available there.)  WTSO sold this bottle for $33, with free shipping on three bottles.  Quite a deal, almost too good to be true, so I contacted the winery for clarification.   This is what their representative had to say, “Due to Covid-19 and wildfires in 2020 all but shutting all of our sales channels down (tasting room, on-premise sales) we released our 2017 and 2018 vintages on Wines Til Sold Out [at] well below our cost.”  So, sometimes when it’s gotta go, it’s gotta go.

Kokonor is owned by a Chinese company, Qinghua Huzhu Barley Wine,* under the subsidiary Koko Nor Corp., which purchased Sundown Ranch LLC in late  2013 for $15 million. Sundown’s main asset was a 1000-acre property in St. Helena at the north end of Napa Valley, of which 100 acres were under vine. Kokonor makes the wine from fruit sourced from this vineyard at the  Maxville Winery in the Chiles Valley AVA east of Napa Valley.  (The CEO of Maxville, Anthony Hsu, was born in Taiwan and spent time there off and on before adulthood.  Coincidental that a Chinese company should make wine at Maxville?  I leave that up to you to decide.)

The Winemaker

George Bursick grew up in Sonoma County, where many of his friends’ families were grape growers and he was exposed to vineyards and winemaking early on. After attending UC Santa Barbara for a while, he was hired part-time at Beringer Winery in St. Helena. His first duty was assembling Christmas gift packs for the tasting room. Soon after however, he graduated to the cellar where in 1970 he was, “…dragging hoses for $5.26 an hour. I was glad to be making such good money.”

“Myron Nightingale [Beringer’s winemaker at the time] was my first mentor, my first serious inspiration to become a winemaker,” said Bursick. “He encouraged me to return to college and finish my undergrad work in plant physiology and to get a Master’s Degree in enology from UC Davis. In the meantime I was learning the winery business from the ground up working in the cellars at Beringer.”

Upon graduation from UC Davis, Bursick began his first solo winemaking job at the now-closed McDowell Valley Vineyards in Mendocino County on the recommendation of John Parducci. One of his most significant accomplishments there was the first varietal release of Syrah in California. This was in 1980 from the 1978 vintage of 100-year-old vines, which had long been misidentified as Petit Sirah, at least in this vineyard. Bursick suspected the mistake and brought in ampelographists to verify his opinion that the vines were in fact Syrah and more than worthy of a special bottling.

After nine years at McDowell, old friend Justin Meyer recommended him to Rhonda and Don Carano. They were in the early stages of their plans for a new winery in Sonoma County called Ferrari-Carano and Bursick joined the team as Director of Winemaking.

“From the beginning, I think we were all what you might call progressive; maybe aggressive,” he said of the early days at Ferrari-Carano. “We wanted to make really great wine and we explored all possibilities. We were among the first to bring in ENTAV clones from the France’s viticultural authority. We experimented with barrels, fermentation, yeasts, we researched everything and we’d try anything, in the winery and in the vineyard. And for the most part, the results were worth it.”

Bursick left Ferrari-Carano in 2006 in order to focus on his expanding consulting business, and later through that work become Vice President of Winemaking at J Winery. He agreed to the take the position with the stipulation that his existing consulting clients would not be affected. Bursick ushered J Vineyards into a new era of wine production focused on cool-climate, site-specific Russian River Valley Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

He produced the Kokonor as a consultant at Maxville.

Kokonor Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

The fruit for this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon was hand-picked from select blocks, hand-sorted, and then whole-berry fermented in micro-fermentation batches.  It was aged for 22 months in 100% French oak.

A predicable dark opaque purple, Kokonor serves up classic aromas of blackberry and cassis, which continue on the palate.  However, the wine is fruit-recessive, in the Old World style.  It is supported by notes of tobacco and cedar, as well as zippy acidity and grippy tannins.  336 cases were produced, and the ABV is 14.5%.

Would I pay $135 for this wine?  Well, no.   Would I pay $33?  Hell yes.  As indeed I did.

* Barley wine isn’t wine at all, but rather a strong ale with between 6 to 12% alcohol by volume.  The beer writer Michael Jackson referred to a barley wine by Smithwick’s as, “This is very distinctive, with an earthy hoppiness, a wineyness, lots of fruit and toffee flavours.” 

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Tuna with Lotus Root and Udon Noodles

My wife recently came home with a lovely 7 ounce tuna steak.  Well, I love tuna, and because of this I thought, “this isn’t going to feed the two of us.”  So I began to consider how to stretch it out.  The answer?  Tuna pasta, Japanese-style!

Serves 2

6 to 8 oz. tuna steak (mine was sushi grade, but that isn’t necessary since it will be cooked)
4 oz. of udon noodles
3 or 4 green onions (scallions)
Lotus root, about 3″ long
2T soy sauce
2T mirin
2T peanut oil (I used ginger-infused oil for a bit of flavor boost)
Chives, chopped fine
Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese hot pepper mix, available in Asian markets, the Asian section of some supermarkets, and online, of course.)

    1. Heat lightly-salted water to boiling in a saucepan large enough to fit the udon noodles easily.
    2. Peel the lotus root, then rinse under cold water. Slice the lotus root into 1/4″ rounds. then cut the lotus root into 1/4″ dice. Rinse again, then set in a bowl with cold water and splash of vinegar to prevent discoloration.
    3. Meanwhile, chop the scallions, green parts and all.
    4. Heat the oil in a 10″ skillet on low, and add the scallions and drained lotus root until slightly softened.  Browning is not necessary.
    5. Cut the tuna into 1/2″ cubes.
    6. Add the tuna, soy sauce, and mirin to the skillet until the tuna is cooked to medium rare (140 degrees F) and a sauce forms.  This will only take two or three minutes.  Turn off the heat, but keep the skillet on the burner.
    7. Cook the udon in the boiling water until not quite al dente.  This will vary with the brand of udon, but plan on 2 to 8 minutes.  Mine took about 4 minutes.
    8. Remove the udon with tongs, keeping the water in the saucepan at a low boil, and rinse in a colander under cold water to remove excess starch.  Return the udon to the saucepan, bring to a boil, and heat for one minute.
    9. Drain the udon, place half on each plate, top each plate with half of the tuna mixture from the skillet, garnish with chopped chives, and finish with the shichimi togarashi

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Keller Estate Casa Chardonnay 2019

Many years ago, while driving through Sonoma County, Arturo Keller and his wife Deborah came upon a piece of property overlooking the Petaluma River with a tremendous view and expansive terrain.  Keller, a passionate antique car collector and native of Mexico, purchased the 50-acre parcel in 1982.   He soon had a paved road built that wove about the property to serve as his own miniature racecourse. Keller also recognized the potential of the property as a grape-growing site, and in 1989 the La Cruz Vineyard was began.

Over time, Keller added more acreage, and planted Pinot Noir, Syrah, Viognier, and Pinot Gris, and began making wine for family and friends.  Keller soon called on his youngest daughter, Ana, who had studied chemistry at the University of Mexico, to become the nascent winery’s winemaker.

Keller Estate released their first wines in 2001, an estate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.  The name ‘Keller Estate’ pays homage to the Keller family’s Swiss heritage, since the word ‘keller’ is cellar in German.

Ana also started a sister brand, Casa Wines, which are sourced exclusively from the family’s La Cruz Vineyard. Casa Wines produces Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a red blend.

Keller Estate has completed the California Sustainable Winegrowing Program. The winery utilizes a natural water source, promotes local wildlife to live on the property, and is home to thousands of newly planted trees. The vines are all grown sustainably and organically.

The Keller Estate Winery

The Winemakers

Ana Keller – Estate Director and Winemaker

Raised in Mexico, Ana’s first exposure to wine came early in life when she spent her holidays in France’s Loire Valley harvesting grapes.  “When my father asked me to join him in establishing Keller Estate, I was overjoyed,” she related. “We have accomplished much of what we initially set out to do, and it’s up to me to continue to make sure our quality never fluctuates.”

She holds degrees from both the University of Mexico (biopharmaceutical chemistry) and a Masters in Pharmaceutical Development from the prestigious King’s College in London.  While there, she took her first formal wine tasting lessons.

Keller was heavily involved in the effort to make her property part of the AVA (American Viticultural Area) called the Petaluma Gap AVA.

“When you consider what the winds of the gap do to the area and to the grapes themselves, it seems to be a no-brainer. The winds force our (Pinot Noir) grapes to develop thicker skins and that in itself changes the equation.”

 

The fog-shrouded Petaluma Gap

Keller devotes 100 percent of her time to Keller Estate, and confided that her parents are still active in the business as well. “Whenever my father is available, he sits in on our meetings and tastings. He is still quite active and his passion for cars takes up a great deal of his time. He cares a great deal about the winery since it is still a relatively small family operation.”

Julien Teichmann – Winemaker

Born in Goettingen, Germany, Julien Teichman joined Keller Estate in 2018. His passion for fermentation began with an internship at a brewery.  He next spent some time in Florence, Italy where he had his first contact with winemaking and vineyards.  Julien then earned a degree in winemaking from the Weincampus Neustadt in Germany.

Julien traveled the world working harvests and finally came to the United States in 2013, where he spent time at Kosta Brown and Merry Edwards before joining Keller Estate. He espouses a profound respect for the vineyard, and a holistic approach to farming and winemaking.

About the Vineyard

The Keller Estate La Cruz Vineyard features an intricate stone cross sculpture that boldly stands over the vines, and was named to represent the family’s Mexican heritage.

The majority of the La Cruz Vineyard, where Keller Estate grows all of their Chardonnay, Syrah, Pinot Gris, and slightly over half of their Pinot Noir, resides on the lower hills of the property. The soils here are multi-layered, mineral-laden clays there were once San Pablo Bay seabeds. This mineral character comes through in the wines and is very much a part of the Keller Estate’s unique terroir.

Keller Estate Casa Chardonnay 2019

To start with, this bottle was sealed with a synthetic plastic cork.  Not the worst one I’ve ever encountered (although the one in the second bottle was harder to get out than the first), but I’m just not a fan.  I’m fine with manufactured corks, where cork is ground up, treated to prevent cork taint, and then reconstituted as closely as possible to the bark itself.  But failing that, I’ll take a screw cap over a plastic stopper any day.

Moving on to the wine.  The fruit was sourced from the Keller Estate’s La Cruz Vineyard, in the Petaluma Gap region of the Sonoma Coast. The wine was fermented in both barrels and stainless steel.  This 100% Chardonnay is very pale yellow in the glass.  The moderately aromatic nose features grapefruit and honeydew.  These are on the palate as well, with moderate but bright acidity and mineral notes.  Although it saw some oak aging, the result is subtle at best. 1,600 cases were produced, and the ABV is 14.2%.

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Garlic-Infused Olive Oil

Garlic Olive Oil is a wonderful and versatile condiment.  Sure, you can buy it,

https://oliveandvinnies.com/product/garlic-olive-oil/

https://www.theolivetap.com/roasted-garlic-olive-oil/

https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/olio-santo-garlic-extra-virgin-olive-oil/?pkey=cgarlic%20olive%20oil

but it’s going to cost about $1.50 to $2.50 an ounce.  For around 75 cents an ounce, you can easily make it yourself, and know exactly what goes into it as well.  Most recipes for garlic olive oil roast the garlic in the oven.  My method uses just the stovetop, which is more streamlined but delivers the same amount of flavor.  Here’s how to do it:

  • Pour 3 cups of extra virgin olive oil into a medium saucepan.
  • Cut the tops off of 9 whole heads of garlic (Trust me on this.  When I first started making this recipe, I began with 3 large heads.  9 are not too many.)  Break the heads into individual cloves, and add all of the garlic to the oil.
  • Add two stems of rosemary, as much fresh thyme as you want, and 2 tsp of toasted whole  black peppercorns to the oil.
  • Cover the saucepan, turn the heat on low, and simmer for 45 minutes.
  • Remove from heat, uncover, and let sit for 1 hour to cool.
  • Strain the oil into a bottle.  A clean green wine bottle works great for this, but you’ll need the cork or some other closure.  The oil will keep for at least a month, unrefrigerated.
  • Discard the herbs and pepper.  Squeeze the cooked garlic out of the skins and into a convenient container.  Refrigerate until ready to use, like for spreading on home-made bread still warm from the oven.  It can last about a month, but mine is usually gone in less than a week.

Based on a recipe from epicurious.com.

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Vale do Bomfim Red Blend 2017

In the 1970s, Portugese rosés such as Lancers and Mateus were the height of sophistication to many young wine drinkers: “It’s imported, and comes in a fun bottle!” With age comes wisdom however, and these wines were largely abandoned for the justifiably famous fortified wines of Portugal, Port and Madeira, produced by many ancient and famous houses.

Much less well-known is Portugal’s status as a producer of both red and white table wine, ranking in the world’s top ten in production.  With a population of just 10 million, but #2 in per capita consumption as of 2019 , much of that wine is sipped by the thirsty Portuguese.  (The U.S. is 44th out of a total of 167 countries.)

Winemaking in Portugal has a long and storied history. It was the first country to implement an appellation system, the Denominação de Origem Controlada, in 1756, almost 180 years before the French established their own similar system. The DOC established early quality-control standards, but because it has been in place for over 350 years much Portuguese winemaking is tightly bound by tradition; even calcified, some would say. However, this has been steadily changing, and many producers are updating their winemaking equipment and methods and are producing good high-quality wines.

The Vineyard

This wine comes from the Douro [DOO-roh], a wild mountainous region located along the Douro river starting at the Spanish border and extending west into northern Portugal. The grapes for many Ports originate here also, but the vineyards for the table wines are at higher altitudes, where the grapes don’t ripen as fully or produce the higher sugar levels desirable for fortified wines.

The Douro

In the 19th century, the area around the village of Pinhão was known as Vale do Bomfim, which translates as ‘the well-placed valley.’  The specific vineyard from which this wine comes was acquired by George Warre for Dow’s in 1896 (his family had been involved in the Port trade since its earliest years).  In 1912, Andrew James Symington became a partner in Dow’s and made Quinta do Bomfim his family home in Douro.  (Quinta is Portuguese for farm, estate, or villa.)

The Vale do Bomfim vineyard.

Quinta do Bomfim sits in the upper Douro Valley, located in an area of transition between temperate and Mediterranean climates. Predominantly south-facing with ample solar exposure, the terraced vineyards sit on schist, a medium-grade metamorphic rock formed from mudstone or shale.  The total property is 247 acres (100 hectares) with 185 acres (75 hectares) planted to vine.  The elevation varies from 262 to 1,260 feet (80 to 384 meters).

The Lagare Method

Historically, Portuguese wine was pressed by foot in granite treading tanks called lagares on the upper level of a winery, and then gravity sent the juice from the lagar to oak or chestnut vats for fermentation on another floor below.  The original winery at Quinta do Bomfim was modernized beginning in 1964 with the introduction of automated lagars to increase winemaking capacity, as increasing labor shortages made treading in stone lagares impractical and too expensive.   The automated lagar is an open stainless steel vinification tank in which mechanical treaders, powered by compressed air, replace the human foot in treading the grapes. It was designed to replicate the gentle treading action of feet and the configuration of the tank itself recreates the shape and the capacity of the traditional stone lagar.

The Quinta do Bomfim winery.

Vale do Bomfim Red Blend 2017

This wine is made by Dow, one of the premier Port producers in the Douro Valley for over two centuries.   For many years it was only available to the family and their guests.  It is made from a blend of 50% Touriga Franca, 20% Touriga Nacional, and the remaining 30% is a field blend of indigenous varietals.  It was aged in an equal mixture of stainless steel and French oak (30% new for the half of the wine in wood) for six months.

The wine is a medium dark purple in the glass.  It is quite aromatic, wafting of dark fruits.  These continue on the palate, particularly black cherry.  But, it is perhaps predictably lean in the European style, so the fruit is complemented by slate, sage, and a bit of earth.  It is all bound together with racy acidity and moderate tannins.  ABV is 14%.

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Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

If you are looking for an easy and delicious week-night meal, you can’t go wrong with Spaghetti Aglio e Olio, or literally Spaghetti Garlic and Oil.

Here’s how to make it:

Serves 4 to 6

1 lb. of spaghetti
3 tsp. salt
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup garlic (about one whole large head), sliced, chopped very fine, or run through a garlic press, depending on how you like it
2 2-oz. cans of anchovies*
2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 cup chopped parsley. (The stems are slightly bitter. Remove them if you don’t like that, include them if you do.)  Flat-leaf Italian parsley is traditional, but curly parsley will work about as well.

Because this is a “peasant” dish, it is susceptible to many variations.  With Italian sausage?  Tuna?  Shrimp?  Broccoli?  Except one: no cheese.  Never any cheese.

1. Add salt to 4 to 6 quarts of water and bring to boiling. Add pasta, stirring occasionally during the first couple of minutes to prevent sticking. Total cooking time will be about 10 minutes, or according to package directions.

2. While the pasta is cooking, put the anchovies, olive oil, garlic, and pepper flakes in a large skillet (12″ is best) and turn on heat to medium low. Cook and stir the garlic until it becomes colored a pale gold. Do not let it become brown. Depending on your stove, this may take a very short time; monitor it constantly. Once done, remove from heat and add 1/3 cup of the pasta cooking water to the skillet to stop the cooking.

*Note: Don’t fear the anchovies!  Personally, I love anchovies.  They lend no fishiness to this pasta, but they do bring a big umami punch.  To maximize this, I don’t drain the anchovies, adding the entire contents of the cans including the little fishes and the oil they are packed in. However, this may be too intense for younger or more sensitive eaters. If you like, drain before adding to the skillet, or if you are really nervous, drain, rinse, and pat dry before adding.  You can omit them entirely, but you will miss out on a lot of flavor.

3. Using tongs, remove the pasta from the water and add to the skillet. (Or, if the pasta water has already been added to the aglio e olio in the skillet, drain in a colander if you prefer.) Turn the strands over and over in the skillet to coat them evenly until a slightly creamy texture forms. Add the chopped parsley, toss once again, and serve immediately.

Based on a recipe by Marcella Hazan in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

This pasta would go nicely with some of these wines:

https://winervana.com/ser-winery/

https://winervana.com/lightning-ridge-cellars/

https://winervana.com/lachini-vineyards/

https://winervana.com/brutocao-cellars/

https://winervana.com/cecchi-wines/

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Blind Horse Winery

Established in 1846, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, sits on the western shore of Lake Michigan, about 50 miles north of Milwaukee. Although once a bustling Great Lakes shipping port, Sheboygan is now largely focused on manufacturing, including furniture, plastics, household equipment, automotive parts, metal products, air compressors, and wood and paper products. The city is also noted for its bratwurst and cheese; indeed, Sheboygan bills itself as “The Bratwurst Capital of the World.” Kohler, the village and company due west, is primarily known for the manufacture of plumbing fixtures, but also makes furniture, cabinetry, tile, engines, and generators.

Bob Moeller retired at age 56 after a lucrative career as a roofing contractor in Sheboygan.  As he was relaxing and ruminating on a beach in Clearwater, Florida, one afternoon, this thought came to mind, “If I continue to do this, I’m going to die.”

The Blind Horse

Once he returned to Wisconsin, he started making plans to open a restaurant, and if that proved successful, a winery as well.  In 2011 Moeller and his family purchased a seven-acre property that had been a small part of an 80-acre family farm in Kohler, started in September of 1862 by Anton and Josephine Dreps.  The Dreps family continued to farm this land for over 130 years, until 1996.  Like most farmers of that era, they used teams of horses to work the land. But, there was one, a Percheron draft horse in particular, that was the family favorite.  That horse’s name was Birdy, and Birdy was blind.   Many years later, Birdy was the naming inspiration for The Blind Horse restaurant, which opened in 2012.  A statue of Birdy stands in front of the restaurant.  Crafted by artist Carl Vanderheyden, it is made from old fuel oil tanks and stands seven feet tall and 10 feet long.

 

Birdy the blind horse.

The Dreps farmhouse, probably in the 19th century. 

The Blind Horse Restaurant is in the original farmhouse on the left.
The winery is the new gray building on the right,
which was built on the foundation of the old barn.
Photo courtesy of OnMilwaukee.com.

The Blind Horse Winery followed in 2014, becoming the Sheboygan area’s first commercial winery.   Like many ambitious producers in the midwest, the fruit is sourced from third-party growers in California and Washington.  (Shipping in grapes rather than juice is more expensive, but allows for greater control over the final wine.)  Once the grapes arrive, all other winemaking, including crushing, fermenting, barrel aging. and bottling happens on site.   There are plans to make wine from grapes grown by local Wisconsin farmers and to possibly start a vineyard to grow some of their own grapes.  To that end, a two-acre test parcel was recently planted with cold-climate varietals, including Marquette and St. Pepin.  At any one time, fifteen to twenty red and white selections are offered that cover the entire sweet to dry spectrum.  The property also includes the Granary that opened in 2018, a whiskey and bourbon bar housed in a renovated barn.

 

The Blind Horse Winery and Events Patio.

The tasting room.

The Winemaker

After working in the IT field in New Jersey, Thomas Nye started The Grape Escape winery there with his wife, Nancy, a Sheboygan native.  They sold The Grape Escape when Nye was presented with the opportunity to move to Wisconsin and become winemaker and general manager at The Blind Horse Winery.  A 12-year winemaking veteran. Nye follows a minimalist style of winemaking, believing that this enables the natural qualities of the fruit to dominate in the finished wine.  He strives to “make wine in the field,” a terroir-driven approach.  Nye’s winemaking team includes Winemaking Assistant Patrick Regenwether who has been at Blind Horse for four years.

“We wanted to start a winery making the types of wines we liked, which are drier wines,” Nye said. “When I came aboard, the idea was, ‘let’s create Napa Valley, right here in Kohler.’ That was the dream.”  Making dry wines in a state with wine drinkers who largely have a taste for sweet wines (not to mention beer!) was a bit of a risk. But it paid off. “That was really unusual in the state when we did that. There were 110 wineries in Wisconsin five years ago, and most of them were making all sweeter wines,” Nye continued.  Today, the Blind Horse’s top-selling wines are mostly red (four of the top six) and/or dry (seven of the top 10), Nye confirmed.

Nye uses a combination of French and American oak barrels that range from new to neutral (aka used).   Neutral barrels are typically four or more years old and no longer impart oak flavors but help with micro-oxygenation — the process that creates smoother wines.  “I don’t want to overwhelm [my wines] with oak,” Nye said. “That, to me, is hiding a lot of the fruit characteristics of the wine.”  Many of his wines age for at least a year, some longer.

The Blind Horse barrel room.

“Perfect food and wine pairings are what made me fall in love with wine,” he shared. “We want people to experience those on a daily basis.”

Nye’s long-term goal is to increase the operation’s current 4.200 annual case production up to as much as 10,000 cases

The Blind Horse offers a wine club with three shipments per year of their various selections, which currently include nine dry reds, five dry whites, one sweet red, three sweet whites, and one sweet rosé.

Two of the Wines

The Blind Horse Golden Bay White Blend NV

Packaged in an unusual high-shouldered bottle, this selection is a blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, and Viognier.  The first three varietals are sourced from a specific vineyard in Suisun Valley just east of Napa that Nye has relied on for ten years.  The Viognier comes from Lodi, California. The wine was barrel aged in two-year-old American oak. It was originally made as a separate 2018 and 2019, but after conducting extensive taste tests, Nye decided that the wine was even better when blended.

This wine pours a very pale yellow.  It is lightly aromatic, with subtle citrus and a suggestion of green apple on the nose.  That citrus blooms into lemon and grapefruit on the palate.  Since the barrels were essentially neutral, there is little or no detectable wood, “butteryness,” or vanilla.  (Nye claims to taste some vanilla; I didn’t.)  It offers just enough acidity, and ends in a short but crisp finish.  Nye made 134 cases.  ABV is 14.4%.

The Blind Horse Malbec NV

The fruit for this wine is sourced from the same Suisun Valley vineyard as the Golden Bay. It was aged in a combination of American and French barrels, some new and some three-years old for two to three years. This wine is also a blend of vintages.

It pours a transparent red, with a delicate nose.  It features flavors of cherry and blackberry, with a smooth mouthfeel.  There is moderate acidity, and subtle tannins, to be expected because of Nye’s penchant for used oak in his aging.  There were 394 cases produced.  ABV is 13.9%.

Here’s some nitpicking about the bottle labels: my wife is a horse person, and when she saw them exclaimed, “That’s not a drawing of a Percheron!  That’s more like a Thoroughbred!”  There is also a bit of Braille on the labels that spells out “The Blind Horse.”  However, it seems gratuitous to me, as the dots are so shallow I seriously doubt any blind person could read it.

Maison M. Chapoutier has included Braille on their wine labels since 1996, and it more usefully includes information on the producer, the vintage, the vineyard, the region, and the color of the wine.  But even there the embossing is quite shallow, so I am suspicious of how useful it really is.

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Barr Hill Gin

When it comes to a martini, I roll hard-core old style.  Pimento stuffed olive.  Just a few drops of vermouth.  Shaken, not stirred.  Gin and glass straight out of the freezer.  And, that gin is almost always Bombay Sapphire.

But I will sometimes wander, on the gin itself at least.  I recently got an email from liquor.com touting “The 14 Best Gins to Drink in 2021.”  Who doesn’t like The Best?  One of their recommendations was Barr Hill Gin, and they had this to say about it:

Best to Drink Neat:
Barr Hill
Barr Hill Gin is made by Vermont’s Caledonia Spirits, and this gin incorporates a unique ingredient that makes it sip extraordinarily well on its own: raw honey. The honey provides a subtle sweetness that complements the juniper flavor—the only botanical used in this gin—and gives this spirit its uniqueness. The creamy mouthfeel and slightly sweet, slightly floral flavor make this a great sipping gin, whether you like it neat or with a large ice cube to dilute it a bit.

And on the bottle, Caledonia proclaims, “Ryan and Todd perfected the use of raw honey in their distillery, capturing the countless botanicals a honey bee forages into their spirits.”

Todd Hardie, left, and Ryan Christiansen, right

Barr Hill  was founded in 2011 by a beekeeper, Todd Hardie, and a distiller, Ryan Christiansen, in Vermont.  Hardie is a lifelong beekeeper who had been caring for bee hives across the state.  Christiansen had previously operated a home-brewing supply store in his hometown of Plainfield, Vermont.  Their partnership began with a single 15-gallon direct-fire copper still inside of a 6,000 square foot distillery located in Hardwick, near the town of Greensboro and the Barr Hill Nature Preserve.

The original distillery, top and the current one, bottom.

Quickly finding success, by the end of 2012 production increased from one to three distillations per day.  In June 2019 a new, larger distillery was opened in Montpelier.  In addition to Barr Hill Gin, Caledonia also produces Barr Hill Vodka and Tom Cat Gin.


The original still, left, and the current one, right.

Barr Hill Gin

This gin technically falls under the Old Tom category, and with apologies (barely) to Hardie and Christiansen, it is ghastly.  There are plenty of rave reviews on the interwebs about this horrible potion, and all of those, including the one on  liquor.com, baffle me.  The very last thing to do with this gin is to drink it neat.  From the producers, “It is distilled with juniper in a custom-built botanical extraction still and is finished with raw honey – the delivery vessel for countless other botanicals and a hint of sweetness – to perfectly balance the juniper.”  O … M … G.  There is more than a “hint” of sweetness, and I don’t want any sweetness in my martini.  Plus, the juniper is way out of balance.  I like a strong juniper presence in my gin, but with nothing but the honey to offset it, this is JUNIPER, with a taste much more like needles than berries.  (And to be clear, I’m not afraid of pine notes.  I’m the only person I know that enjoys Retsina.)  My wife and I got through two sips, and down the drain our martinis went.  The following day, it did make a barely serviceable Negroni, but hell, Campari will mask just about anything.  Unfortunately, that weird pine flavor still came through.  Finally, this gin ain’t cheap, coming in at about $40 per bottle.  Buy one at your own risk.

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