Whether it is the end of a taxing day, a quiet evening or perhaps an evening when one finds himself or herself nostalgic for tranquil afternoons wine tasting in California wine country, sometimes one wants simply a glass of wine.  This desire for a lone glass of wine may be driven by the need for less fuss and more simplicity in one’s daily life.  It may be a wish to have a glass to slowly sip at while painting or writing.   Regardless, wine does not always have to pair with food and given the theme of my web site, it certainly does not have to be shared with great fuss.

Without dispute, wine is romantic.  It awakens the senses if one takes his or her time with it.  The nose opens to find aromas of various fruit, herbs, flowers, spices, wood, chocolate, desserts, smoke or tobacco at times.  Just taking the time to take in the aromas of a good glass of wine before indulging the palate takes the senses on a journey.   The palate rarely disappoints the connoisseur as it experiences not just flavors ranging from herbal, sweet to acidic but it also processes texture as wine can be silky, smooth, velvety, tannic and drying or perhaps guide and command with a firm structure.   Even the most uncreative, nonplussed fool can become romantically expressive with a few sips of wine.

Nearly every single article that I have written over the last several years has devotedly paired a particular bottle of wine with a recipe that I have created around that bottle of wine.  These tailored pairings are fun, but not so long ago in the past, during a conversation with a friend, the discussion of how I went about this in the beginning ensued.  The simple answer is that in the very beginning, during the first year of the web site, I would plan to open the bottle of wine either several hours before I would have to prepare a pairing or I would open it the day before and simply take my time with a singular glass of wine.  This was done to get to know the wine, to experience it on its own and to know what I was dealing with:  was it overly tannic and in need of fat in a pairing; was it more acidic and longing for a tomato-based recipe; did it have such herbaceous aromas and flavors amid dark berry fruit that it whisked you away mentally to a damp St. Helena Redwood Forest Floor; and the list goes on . . .

Looking back, I have decided that from time to time, it would be nice to feature a wine without a food pairing.  The intent is to simply visit a singular glass of wine, to contemplate its attributes all by its lonesome.   This week’s article is doing exactly that.

To make it a bit different, this week’s article also takes us to San Luis Obispo County as a reminder that the site does have its “SLO Vine” column and if you find yourself tasting in the area, the column is a nice resource of recommendations.  I have some more articles coming forth in the following weeks featuring a number of wines and different varietals from the area so please make sure to check the column or join the web site’s Facebook Fan Page.

Chamisal Vineyards was the first vineyard in San Luis Obispo County and while it has changed hands over time, the vineyard has remainded true to its sense of place and plantings yielding award-winning Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Grenache, Syrah and some Pinot Gris.  Given the vineyard’s proximity to the ocean and location at the southern end of San Luis Obispo County, Chamisal Vineyards is situated to experience some of the longest growing seasons in the state of California.   The fruit harvested from the vines and painstakingly made into wine show off everything from the soil, the climate, the prize winning fruit and the long growing season.

Pinot Noir and Chardonnay thrive in this area of California and are similar in character to that found in the Santa Maria AVA of Santa Barbara County.   Chamisal Vineyards primarily makes two (2) Pinot Noirs:  Estate and Califa.   Both yield grapes from the estate vineyard, the Califa bottling however yields the higher quality fruit.   The winery describes the wine used for their Califa wines as “the most opulent, seductive and powerful barrels of the vintage.”  Year after year, these vintages are wonderful and the palate is never disappointed. 

In my possession, I still have some of Chamisal Vineyards’ 2008 Califa Pinot Noir.   This vintage in particular was as close as the winery has seen to its 2004 vintage which almost scored 100 points in rating.   That 2004 vintage was the highest rated wine in San Luis Obispo County history.

The coloring for the 2008 Califa Pinot Noir is rich and ruby-like.  It reminds you of deep red velvet and with warm lighting nearby it picks up jewel tones.

The bouquet of the wine presents notes of ripe red cherries, smoke, bits of oak and spices inherent to the winery and property.  In the mouth, the palate delights to discover sugared red cherries, lingering flavors of roasted fennel, gentle notes of milk chocolate and toffee finished with a juicy red plum and a beautiful note of candied lavender.   The wine gives the illusion of being tart on the entry, but as it coasts back across the palate, it is as smooth as silk and shows off perfectly balanced flavor.  Pinot Noir itself as a varietal is historically acidic but with this wine, the acidity is masked and hidden by exquisite estate fruit. 

Each sip allows the palate to explore the wine a bit more, finding each of the above-described flavors.  Similarly as the glass of wine “opens up” over the course of a few hours, the wine warms and the flavors become fuller and increasingly flavorful.  Flavors of candied cherry trace the lips and roof of the mouth long after the sip of wine is gone.   If a wine could leave a kiss, Chamisal Vineyard’s Califa Pinot Noir does.

If one were to fixate on serving this wine with a meal, the pairing questions are complicated.  The difficulty, however, only rests with the fact that this wine is intuitively special and it merits perfection (since it carries itself that way in the wine glass on its own).  Easily coming to mind, however, is a roasted rosemary balsamic pork dish adorned with a cherry-red wine reduction chutney. 

While this might be a pairing in the making, another sip allows the palate and mind mull and encourages one’s creativity to unfold and yield perhaps what else one might do . . .  Cheers!

Often I will mention that autumn is my favorite time to feature and drink Cabernet Sauvignon but an equal front runner is winter.  If you have been reading my articles over the past few years, rarely will I feature the Cabernet Sauvignon that is presently for sale in the winery’s tasting room as I like to give my wines of this varietal a chance to age.  And frankly, too many tasting rooms simply sell this varietal “too young”.   The Cabernet Sauvignon grape, particularly if coming from a high quality vineyard, will have the ability to age:  not just for a few years, but likely for a decade or two, and if you are truly fortunate, for a few years beyond that.   Knowing that, it becomes understandable why the proper cellaring of quality Cabernet Sauvignon wines is desireable as it gives you a chance to truly get to know the wine at a later date and not be rushed to consume the bottle now.

And truth be told, Cabernet Sauvignon is expensive in Napa Valley.  The varietal grows best here of all the locations where grown in the United States and these Cabernet Sauvignons often compete on an international level.  So, the price, dollar per dollar is worth it and it comes across in each and every sip.

Similarl y, Cabernet Sauvignon varies greatly depending on the American Viticultural Area (“AVA”) where the grape is grown and the Napa Valley AVA has the more AVAs within it per geographic regional size than most other wine regions:  16 sub-appellations total.  Of those perhaps one of the most cherished for Cabernet Sauvignon is the Rutherford AVA.  The Rutherford AVA is moderately warm, yet still influenced by morning fog.  It is visited by marine winds coming over the western mountain range of the valley and locals love to claim that the winds create that distinct mocha dust in the wine that is characteristic of the Rutherford AVA.

Sequoia Grove Winery’s 2004 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon yields an enchanting and coy bouquet that is typical of Rutherford Bench fruit:   dark fruit, mocha dust, hints of caramel and vanilla cream.   Across the palate, the wine is soft and caresses the mouth as silky tannins slip past and delicious notes of blackberry, plum and bits of chocolate mocha.

During the winter months (particularly in January), certain cool weather vegetables and herbs thrive in the garden yet by contrast, at the grocery store, pickings are a bit slim in the produce section for truly flavorful vegetables.   Leeks from the garden are sautéed with garlic and lemon thyme.   Zucchini from the store has an inherent nutty flavor coaxed out of it by allowing it to slowly grill over a charcoal fire.  Also from the grill comes grilled rosemary bread topped with tender slices of petite sirloin steak, the leeks and fresh chopped sage.  Suddenly a simple dinner becomes worth of Provence Bistro fare.

Herbs are a wonderful aphrodisiac for Cabernet Sauvignon.   Here the herbs bring out a myriad of layers of flavor in the wine.

Leeks are a tender vegetable that when they slowly cook, they soften and mirror a fondue.   With an aging wine that has a soft silky texture like this one, the texture of the leeks parallels.

Each bite is tender, sweet and savory.   Take a sip of wine and watch the wine come alive with its inherent Rutherford AVA mocha notes. 

The meal, while it is simple on its face, it shows the merit of time in the kitchen, at the grill and in the garden to bring together a simple harmony of flavors that embody the very essence of life in Napa Valley.

Wine is meant to pair with food and some wines are simply destined for food.  Earlier this week I posted an article featuring a unique red wine varietal found at Benessere Vineyards in Napa Valley called Sagrantino.  By itself, it is a complex wine that surprises the senses as it steps farther away from the traditional red wine profile.  Upon tasting, it is evident that your mouth literally begins to salivate.  Pair the wine with food and suddenly both the wine and the dish taste better than either would alone.    This phenomenon of wine triggering the mouth to salivate is not isolated to Sagrantino; it also happens with Syrah Noir.

Most people have tried a Syrah wine at one point or another and depending on the style in which it is made, people quickly have a preference.   Yet, specific clones of syrah can create a unique wine.   In particular, Syrah Noir accomplishes this in a single varietal bottling. 

Syrah Noir is alleged to have arrived in the United States in the 1980’s and is a unique clone of the Syrah grape.   It grows in loose clusters but produces grapes capable of delivering dark, inky red wine that is intensely flavored and firmly structured with readily recognizable tannins.  Flavors typically display a certain acidity such as cherry, blackberry or plum and yet the texture of the wine can be velvety smooth.  To find this unique varietal, you have to search but with a simple trip down Highway 101, you can find it with the good folks at Casa Dumetz Winery (“Casa Dumetz”).

Casa Dumetz’s 2009 Syrah Noir finds its place at home, at the table, with holiday meals and throughout winter at the classic Sunday supper.  On its own, the wine is strikingly unique.  The collective consensus is that this wine makes you salivate . . . and salivating goes hand in hand with good food.

Alone the wine is dark, nearly brooding in the glass.  Yet on the palate, the wine is soft and dominated by blackberry juice and a bit of black plum.   The wine does not try to masquerade behind dramatic oak, it stands on its own legs and slips across the palate cleanly:   as if to arrive without pretense, say “this is who I am” and after baring its wine soul, impose to you that you figure out what to do with it.

I have tried this wine before in the summer and spring and found my palate “pondering” after a sip but it was not until now during the final days of autumn and on the cusp of winter that I realized that I knew exactly what to do with it.   With certain cuisine and produce in Napa Valley, I knew exactly how to invite this truly artisan bottle of wine from my friends in Santa Barbara County to the table:

• ·        Sauteed Portobella Mushroom Slices with Lemon Thyme, Rosemary & Red Wine

• ·        Classic Roast Beef, braised in red wine, sweet onion and lemon thyme and garnished with Ragout of Mushroom, Leek and Garlic

• ·        Mushroom Leek Risotto with Lemon Zest

• ·        Red Wine Thyme Braised Onions, seasoned with cloves, allspice, lemon thyme and rosemary

• ·        Simple salad of Arugula

While alone the wine’s tartness may cause you to almost pucker, when coupled with the food, the wine finds its place.  Its acidity calms, yet it still makes you salivate.   As you salivate, this heightens the flavors of the meal and the wine weaves itself throughout, like an integral ingredient. 

With some candles lit on a dark early December evening, this takes the classic holiday meal at home to a heightened level of finer dining.   Savoring food and wine abounds and a meal quickly becomes a conversation among your holiday friends.

The holidays are upon us and holiday celebrations are in full swing.   Whether they are large gatherings or simple dinners among close friends, there are people to entertain and hearty food to serve.

Red wines abound at the holidays as the weather dips in temperature and people begin to reach for those darker, rich, tannic and robust red wines.   Cabernet Sauvignon is opened at holiday parties left and right, but there are plenty of opportunities for other varietals to shine and particularly when paired with food.

Some wines which by themselves might seem too tannic or uniquely acidic despite being a red wine find a perfect place alongside certain traditional dishes that are served during the holidays and the upcoming winter months.   One in particular is a unique wine that originates in Umbria, Italy but can be found at Benessere Vineyards in Napa Valley: Sagrantino.

Sagrantino is an Italian varietal that is grown in Umbria, in only a small total of 250 acres and with only approximately 25 growers involved.   The grape itself creates distinctly tannic red wines that are nearly inky black and yield a unique acidity that is not comparable to any other varietal.   Its flavor notes can yield cinnamon, plum, earth, orange citrus and chocolate.   That simple description fits with many aspects of Christmas.

In Napa Valley, Benessere Vineyards (“Benessere”) makes a Sagrantino and presently has it available for purchase in its tasting room.   The grapes are grown on the estate and the present vintage available is the 2010 Sagrantino.   2010 was a very challenging year for Napa Valley as it was one of the coldest growing years in decades.   Many red varietals and white varietals struggled that year to ripen and yields were very small.   Yet in 2010, certain varietals did exceptionally well in Napa Valley.   Sagrantino happens to be one of those wines as the growing conditions of 2010 allowed the grapes to develop flavors yielding great depth and structure.

Benessere’s 2010 Sagrantino presents a lovely bouquet that is gently herbaceous, forest moss, subtle aromas of mushrooms and a hint of forest floor.  On the palate, there are flavors of traditional plum accompanied by delicious notes of milk chocolate with candied orange peel.   The wine is tannic but it is countered by a lovely acidity that makes the 2010 vintage approachable now.   It is a unique wine but one that is seasonally fitting.

To pair with food, the 2010 vintage of the Sagrantino can easily pair with chocolate mousse, chocolate hazelnut torte with candied orange peel or homemade fudge.  It is an easy wine to enjoy with some of the sweet treats of Christmas but similarly it can be the star of the dinner table and pair with rich main courses.   To show off its pairing ability, this menu hosts:

• ·         Braised Chuck Roast with Orange Zest with Red Wine Shallot Reduction Sauce atop Creamy Polenta with Sauteed Crimini Mushrooms

This dish welcomes winter in many senses as it uses lemon thyme, cloves, seasonal orange citrus, cumin, and a hearty red wine to braise this roast into a seasonal celebration of flavor.  It warms the soul and brings a sense of comfort on a cold December night.   The sauce is a lovely red wine, shallot and thyme reduction sauce that folds in the drippings of the roast.  Crimini mushrooms are sautéed with lemon thyme from the garden.

To brighten the roast, I have used some zest from some oranges picked from my tree.  Despite recent cold temperatures, my orange tree is in full swing as citrus is in season at this time of year.  Bits of orange zest from the roast brighten an otherwise potentially heavy meal and deliciously embrace the acidity in the Sagrantino allowing bright delicious fun fruit to race forward.

Each bite and sip feels like a happy culinary celebration.  Similarly a creamy polenta delivers a rustic element that can take the quintessential arm chair tourist on a jaunt to rural Italy.  The fat of the butter and cheese used in the polenta cut the tannins in the wine. Despite being a unique varietal, with the right food the wine is a seamless transition.

This is a wonderful hearty meal that does not overly stuff one but instead leaves one content, full of good food, great wine and jubilant conversation with those others lucky enough to have been invited.  Cheers!

Hot new toy; hot new gift; hot new wine?   Perhaps it is all the same for some adults.  The holiday season is in full swing, welcoming in a bevy of gatherings, parties, dinners or casual festive soirees.

Whether it is cheese, sweets or full multi-course dinner, holiday celebrating is upon us.  Some welcome it, some abhor it.  No matter how you look at it, a good bottle of wine is always a welcome guest.

Suggesting wines or what you might taste in wine can wield a certain amount of power . . . particularly if your palate is on point.   But when the holidays roll around, there is a multitude of events, types of cuisine served and guests with varying palates in attendance.   In these circumstances, a wine that is recommended needs to traverse a variety of latitudes and please not only a crowd, but the variety of individuals within it.

Time and time again, Pinot Noir will be mentioned as a varietal that pairs well throughout the holidays.  As a red wine, it has a notable acidity compared to other heavier red wines.  It is generally recognized by easy to identify fruit, bits of spice and low tannins.  The palate does not dry out from a mere sip and if one is lucky, the fruit in the wine will be jubilant and bright making it a wonderful companion at holiday events.

Markham Winery (“Markham”) located in St. Helena in Napa Valley has a unique offering in its tasting room this year:  2012 Pinot Noir.   Typically its Pinot Noir wine never makes it to retail sale and instead is hustled off to restaurants.  But when Markham’s winemaker tasted the 2012 vintage, it was an easy decision to hold some of the wine back to offer it to the public.   Offered at an affordable price, the wine in the bottle does not hint at its youth.  Instead, a bright bouncy fun Pinot Noir awaits your glass.  

What is not to like?  Bright, wonderfully sweet juicy cherries shift effortlessly to smooth delicious milk chocolate and vanilla cream as it cascades down the palate.  Given these notes, it is easy to understand that not only is the acidity in check, but it is precisely in balance in the wine.   If you like to detect a bit of spice in your wine, you will find a dash of allspice and a breath of clove.  A sip, a healthy drink, no matter:  this wine embodies holiday cheer.  It welcomes another sip, drink or glass and moreover, it is so fantastically fun that it welcomes any friend or guest to the holiday table with a smooth satin bow.

For those who like the fruit of Central Coastal California, this wine will stop you in your tracks, disorient you and baffle you that this fruit is hailing from a vineyard near Yountville.  It is in a small planting that catches more of the coastal fog than not and planted near a grove of eucalyptus trees.

For those who want to serve a red wine at a holiday meal, this wine transitions effortlessly from dish to dish showing off its different attributes.

If you serve bacon, shallot, balsamic drizzled flash-seared brussel sprouts, the Pinot Noir becomes rich and shows off nuances of bacon fat as the dish flushes out nuances of smoke.  This also demonstrates the wine’s versatility for light barbeque fare as well.

Pinot Noir in general loves acidity in food.  When paired with the varietal, the acidity in the food and the acidity in the wine cancel one another out.  The wine is left to show off its fun, flirty festive fruit.  The cherry flavors become perfectly ripe, juicy and round.  This is particularly good for the novice palate.

With my turkey recipe, the 2012 Pinot Noir really flushes forward the flavors of the herbs in the most romantic way possible.  Fresh nuances of bay, marjoram, lemon thyme, sage, oregano and rosemary come forth even if you are a few days into leftovers.

If you are serving succulent roasted butternut squash that melts in your mouth, if paired with the wine, the wine will turn into roasted cherries tempered with clove.

Our recipe for herbed stuffing tastes almost like dessert:  herbs, butter, fuji apple and sweet yellow onion.  Alone the stuffing melts in your mouth.  Add a bit of wine on the palate and subtle seductive notes of milk chocolate and cream of vanilla wink back at you.

Finish the meal with a lingering sip of the wine and taste wistful ever-present notes of milk chocolate and vanilla cream.

Rarely do I hold something out as perfection, but this vintage of Markham’s Pinot Noir really embodies the definition of holiday for 2013.  Get it before its gone and celebrate merrily among you and yours.   Cheers!