Rebel Rose

Yes, Kathy nailed the basketball hoop. Stress relief is very important. What I meant by cutting our production is that, in addition to our estate fruit, we also purchase fruit from other growers, generally 60-70 tons a year. This year, which is iffy for the varietals we specialize in, we will probably purchase about 35 tons. If the weather holds as it is now, sultry and warm, we may buy more, although our decision will also depend on quality and not just degrees of ripeness as measured by sugar. At this point in the year, it's not clear that the grapes will ripen appropriately even if the weather holds. When daylight hours decrease and nighttime temperatures drop, the vines herald this as a signal to shut down and go dormant, so vines are already exhibiting autumnal colors and lignified stems. Lignified stems are turning brown, woody and fragile, losing their steady current of moisture and nutrients. On Monday, we will will pick all the syrah. That's an easy call as it's all uniformly ripe! We are monitoring the zinfandel. Zin always ripens unevenly--over a field, per vine, and even on single clusters. A single zin cluster usually features mostly ripe berries, with some lavender-green, and some completely raisined. This uneven ripening is a classic characteristic of zinfandel. That's why zinfandel has a reputation for high alcohol. Say you're at a sorting table working your way through clusters of pinot noir grapes. Here's a fat, juicy cluster, and another one, and another one, and then oops, here's one that's all raisins. And you toss it. But in zinfandel, most of the clusters will have some degree of raisining. When the wet must is fermenting the raisins will soften and release their sugar without a corresponding ratio of moisture, thereby spiking the resulting alcohol. So, back to tonnage. We have a lot of green fruit that we didn't finish dropping which we will leave behind, but we hadn't really figured that into our final projection anyway. And as the pickers go through the vineyard, we'll be looking over their shoulders to make sure they don't pick clusters that are predominantly lavender. Or raisined. We want only those clusters that are fat, juicy and purple. We'll also be spot-tasting the clusters to make sure that the fruit inside is as voluptuous as the outside. In other words, the zin is going to be a lot trickier than the syrah.

Were I not a lady and a forum moderator, I would say that you can pull out your pig for me anytime, baby. Is there a future possibility of an annual Varmint's Pig and Pinot?

Does the term "dessert wine" mean that a wine is designed to go with dessert? Or does "dessert wine" mean that the wine is a dessert? In most restaurants, the dessert menu ranges across cheesecake, chocolate decadence, and ice cream. Customers select a sherry or port or whatever to go with an already sweet, cloying, oily dessert dish that will completely encapsulate the palate. What's the point? If you could pick a dessert wine for the "main dish," what would you serve to highlight its flavors? Related thread: Dessert Wines for the Holidays

Back when I was single, someone talked me into a blind date. Having been informed that I like wine, the guy produced a 1984 XXXLOCAL cabernet. Pretty much the worst producer in our area, and a 12-year-old wine at that. I was touched that he went to some significant effort to impress me, but aghast at the wine. It tasted like pureed asparagus. When he asked me what I thought, I exercised my dimple and said, "It tastes like, mmm, dinner in a glass!" Add to that the fact that he serenaded me with some really awful guitar playing, and that date was a bust. Is anyone else here influenced by the pheromones of wine? And before everybody gets their knickers in a twist, I would not judge a potential romantic partner totally by their taste in wine, but let's be honest, if you love wine, don't you notice? Conversely, if you are a guy, would you go for Sandra Oh's cheeky, tight jeans strut behind the tasting bar, or Virginia Madsen's softfocus riff on the personality of wine? If you were dating an uptight schoolteacher, what would you pull out that would blow her socks off?

I agree, it's sloppy reference on our, the American wine industry's, part. It's a "quick reference." Perhaps it is a practice we should drop? But as in any field, when marketing our product, we need to convey as much as possible in as few words as possible, so telling a restaurateur, for example, that the "Bone Blend" is a Rhone blend with a dog on the label works in a 30-second, hello, howareya, buymywine presentation. It is indeed a disservice to the French regions, and American consumers alike. But what would you call a California or Paso Robles syrah~mourvedre~grenache blend? P.Rone? Calzone?

Heads up, everyone. Please visit the "Future of Wine and Fine Dining" thread in the Future of Dining roundtable this week. The roundtable features our own Steven Shaw, aka FatGuy, author of Turning the Tables; Michael Ruhlman, author of The Soul of a Chef and The Making of a Chef; and Clark Wolf, restaurant consultant. If these guys want to talk about the future, they should be talking to the people who buy futures!

Ah, now I really have an image of both of you. So when we're all posting late at night and the lights in my house are dimmed, only the glow of my laptop and my SO snoring (sorry, resting his eyes) in front of a basketball game, I can more easily imagine you sitting not so very far from me--just a vibration or a string theory away. Next time I am on late I will post honestly about what I am drinking. I'm afraid it won't be Cognac.

I really like Doug McCrea's stuff. It's very clean but layered. And I'm not a fan of Cigare anymore--it tastes too artificially smoky for me. (But I used to love it, back when I was first introduced to Rhones.) Do you think that California Rhones should emulate a French Rhone? Perhaps this is something we could follow more in the terroir thread. We do frequently encounter the theory that a Rhone is a Rhone is a Rhone--or should be. But local producers here generally refer to "Rhones" as a historically established origin, and not necessarily a definition of style and flavor. We ask our grapes to offer up the best of their genetic makeup but also their individual personality. In fact, the Quality Alliance established with local vintners and growers has regular monthly tastings (except during harvest) where we taste through samples of a single varietal and ask ourselves Does this taste varietally correct? and Does this taste like Paso Robles?

For many of us here, restaurant wine selections (and prices) are a key component of a fine dining experience. Do you think we will be seeing wine featured in more family and chain restaurants? What kind of wine? Will the growing number of women vintners, sommeliers, and consumers influence wine and food offerings? If so, how? Is there a growing public awareness and acceptance of various wine regions? Will wine lists try to incorporate them all? Will ethnic restaurants begin to feature ethnic wines? Many restaurants feature a "wine of the month," but few offer a dish specifically created for that wine. Any possibilities that restaurants of the future will create weekly specials specifically around a particular wine or varietal? And when are all these sissy frozen kiwi concoctions in martini glasses going to give way to some really delicious wine-themed desserts in 16 oz. wine glasses? Give me ABC--anything but chocolate!

I agree entirely. In fact, I find it alarming that discussion here among wine lovers is still so . . . phobic. My 13-year-old stepson lives at a winery. He is not offered wine, nor does he expect to be offered wine. He does, however, hoe the vineyard rows, and like other vignerons' kids, his favorite privilege in the whole world is getting to ride the ATV up and down the vineyard rows on errands. His second favorite job is operating the pressure washer--he's supposed to spray out the bins as we empty them, but we pretty much accept that everyone and everything nearby will somehow get doused. In fact, I started this thread after observing him observing us the other night crushing fruit. He was surfing around the crush pad on the pallet jack, far more interested in how the equipment works (primarily the buttons) than the wine, but he did ask about the quality of the grapes. He's not allowed to drive, but he's fascinated by cars, reads car magazines and memorizes every speed and safety rating he comes across. He writes school papers on cars. He also wrote a two-part short story in school titled "My Secret Vineyard," in which he and his dog (an ATV also featured prominently) discovered a neglected, weed-choked vineyard, and brought it back to health. Kids here are surrounded by vineyards and wineries and they accept that wine, like marriage, sex, driving, credit cards, and their own apartment, is something they can look forward to as an adult. So why not involve our children in interesting discussions about our wine collection or wine choices? As Linda points out, a single bottle can spark a discussion about geography, history and politics. Champagne riots, Hitler's stolen wine collection, French resistance, bombed vineyards . . . ah, the stories! The passion! Do you know that tarantulas in the vineyard at harvest are considered a sign of good luck, and an omen of a good vintage? Did you know that bats are encouraged to roost around wineries, because a single small brown bat can eat 5,000 fruit flies a night? What else can we teach our children about wine?

Here's a well written review in Slate: The Wino in Winter.

In yesterday's Sf Chronicle Paul Bertolli has left Oliveto, to be replaced with chef Paul Canales.

It does, and it's been improved, but I don't have a copy as I no longer have kids in elementary. Basically, it talks about vineyards first, and the important work done there, then it talks briefly about how the grapes are processed, with a final family scene where the adults have a glass of wine. The focus is on the fruit, how it's grown and processed. Note to all: what I'm reaching for in this thread (and maybe I'm reaching too far?) is not another discussion about whether or not it's okay for kids to have alcohol. Let's assume that in a wine-appreciating family, kids are aware of wine. When do they start understanding why Daddy swirls his wine? Can they pick out aromas? Do they understand that wine is made from grapes? Have they seen vineyards? Can they pronounce tempranillo? Do say they cute things about wine?

We have a soft rock station with a sultry voiced DJ that drives me nuts. She's always talking to people, asking them how she can make their night "just a little bit better." Yeah well, just give me a glass of sangiovese and some caramelized onions and play the damn rock and roll. So, sending it out there to all you people who are still working online after 8 pm. Are you sliding on over to eGullet while waiting for pages to load? Do you have a glass of wine by your elbow? And maybe it isn't the glass of wine you would choose, but is it working for you? Would you trade it for anything else right now? Or is that familiar wine just right? Or maybe, you're taking a closer look at something you didn't appreciate before?

And let's remember that teaching kids about wine does not necessarily mean drinking wine. Certainly my seven-year-old son was not tippling with his cousins. The amazing thing to me was that he had observed and remembered the process of tasting, and even more amazing, he could pronounce Italian varietals correctly (back when most of our traffic came from Bakersfield and they asked for Nebbolio.) Fifteen years ago, the schools here in San Luis Obispo County had a very bad attitude toward local wineries because we are "alcohol." That was awkward, because even though there were only twelve wineries at the time, there were 200 vineyards, and of course the many agrarian-based families, shall we say. Someone came up with the idea of writing a coloring book about wine for the elementary schools, which went a long way toward smoothing relations.

I think that's beautiful. She'll have plenty of time after her 21st birthday. As we can all attest.

When my son and oldest niece were about seven, and I had just moved to Paso Robles, we had a family Thanksgiving in our (then) rented home. I had just started working in the wine industry, for a winery that specializes in Italian varietals. While the ladies were enjoying a glass of bubbly, and the guys were muscling the turkey into the oven, the kids disappeared into the back bedroom. After a while, we realized that the four children present were awfully quiet, so we went to check on them. We found them sitting powwow on the floor around a tray holding four wine glasses and an open bottle of Martinelli's sparkling apple cider. Colin poured each of his guests a very correct two ounce pour, and announced solemly, "THIS is Nebbiolo." They all drank. He poured again. "And THIS is Sangiovese." My SIL and I made it all the way back to the kitchen before collapsing into bubbly-fueled giggles. My son is now 22, and an excellent cook with a pronounced affection for sangiovese.

Wow. So I guess he was okay with guests whipping out a notepad, eh? Are the wines you enjoyed on his restaurant menu, or was this a co-planning choice? Does his restaurant have a website? After this write up, inquiring minds want to know!

Yes, which I thought was a nice touch! The French Colombard grapes were sweet and incredibly fragrant . . . floral and orange rind aromas. Tons of tomatoes, peppers, squash, a bundle of herbs, and rainbow chard. I got a basket last week, too.

What an incredible dinner and wine presentation. I'm getting fat this morning just reading these posts from you and Jim. Were any of these wines decanted first, and did you have an opportunity to try one of the older vintages after it had some air? I'm just curious because I've had some older vintages that opened up after half and hour, and some that were beautiful when first opened but turning to sawdust when revisited a little later.

Hi, PCL. Of course you can play along!

Ugh, I'm envious. That's way too much good wine for just two guys. Was this dinner out, or was Diane cooking?

From the above link: Wine reviews as poetry, by Lane Steinberg:

Ken Volk, founder of Wild Horse Winery, recently purchased the Byron Winery facility in Santa Maria. He is returning to small (well, sorta small) productions of his favorite varietals, with a focus primarily on pinot noir, soon to be released under two labels: KQV, and Aqua Pumpkin. As of last week, I heard he had processed about 74 tons of pinot, with more coming in. Does anyone have any Ken Volk stories to share? Is anyone here interested in inviting Ken as a wine forum guest for a chat about his current and future plans?

Right. It is a challenge, after all! That would work! I'm not asking anyone to completely step outside their comfort level, especially on a day that should be enjoyed with family. Now we're talkin'. Let us know what you decide on. Oh, and pictures will be welcome, too!