Quivira Winery - My First Time in Dry Creek Valley

Quivira Winery - Biodynamic

It was a beautiful fall day, happened to be Veteran's Day, when my tribe from Nantucket visited Quivira Winery.  Nestled in the hills outside of Healdsburg, this winery made a true, lasting impression on everyone in our group.

Our tour guide for the morning was Nancy Bailey, General Manager of Wine Creek Cellars who oversees Quivira, Follette Wines and Torbreck Vintners.  The estate prides itself  on their use of Biodynamic Farming in order to create a healthy, self-sustaining biodiversity, as we saw through out our visit.

In the garden with Nancy Bailey

We started the day in the Quivira Gardens - 120 raised garden beds where seasonal plantings are rotated.  Items grown in the garden are used for consumption at winery events along with being 'sold' to local restaurants.  Instead of the restaurants paying Quivera for the produce, the money is donated to support the Healthcare of Northern Sonoma County.  In the garden is a small bee hive whose unique design allows minimal intervention to the core beehive when removing the honey.  Fruit trees planted around the perimeter of the garden are all heritage varietals of pear, apple and peach.  Nearby, we see the chicken coop whose eggs are used at local restaurants and their manure is a important component to the composting program.

Quivira is also participating in a creek/coho restoration program where small pools are artificially created in the creek to allow fish to rest, spawn and grow as they make their way back upstream.

Carlos farming...

Next, we fed the cows, crossed the Wine Creek that feeds into the Dry Creek River, saw the famous fig tree from their label and the picturesque view from the top of their property, passed by the piggies and made our way back to the winery.  Makes you want to move there...

Jenny Benzie - Dry Creek River

As usual, there is a connection between Quivira and Nantucket.  The former winemaker who recently left to work in Oregon is Stephen Canter.  Stephen is known for his days working at The Wauwinet on Nantucket many years ago.  I had met Stephen several years ago when he did a market visit in South Florida.  There is much excitiement about the new winemaker on board, Hugh Chappelle.  Hugh was most recently at Lynmar Estate, where I met him when I attended the Russian River Valley Pinot Forum in 2008.  What a full circle here!

Winemaker Hugh Chappelle

Now, on the the tasting!  What a great surprise to see that our tasting would be hosted by Ron Washam, who I knew from my days in Los Angeles.  Ron was the sommelier at the Pacific Dining Car and has relocated to this beautiful area (can't blame him!).  All wines noted below are from Quivira.

Sauvignon Blanc, 'Fig Tree Vineyard,' DCV 2009 - about 4,000 cases made; all stainless steel, aged 6 months on the lees; fresh and lively, hint of chalkiness on palate, moderate plus acid
Zinfandel, DCV 2008 - 5% syrah; wet tobacco, black pepper, dried cherry; moderate plus tannin
Zinfandel, 'QUEST,' DCV 2008 - 25% Petite Sirah; debut vintage; almost opaque, concentrated ruby color; cedar, dried hay, jammy sweetness; power without a punch
Grenache, DCV 2008 - one of my favs!; made in large French foudres; rhubarb, wild strawberry;slightly dry with a cherry finish
Syrah, 'Hommage a Ampuis,' DCV 2007 - fermented on viognier skins; plummy color; very floral - lavendar/violet; moderate plus acid, juicy and gamey 
Petite Sirah, DCV 2008 - from Wine Creek Ranch Vineyard (you need a 4X4 to get there practically); deep, dark color; plummy and rich on the palate 

You can bet you will see some of these wines on the list at The Pearl and The Boarding House next season! 
 

Jenny Benzie, Dre Solimeo, Erin Zircher, Liam Mackey, Angela & Seth Raynor

 

Tasting at ELYSE Winery

Elyse Winery, Yountville

A beautiful way to start a fall morning is to wake up in the middle of a vineyard in Napa Valley.  I did just this last week while staying at Elyse Winery, located in Yountville. 

Ray Coursen

Ray Coursen  is a man who enjoys life and it shows.  He grew up on a dairy farm in New Jersey and, like most people, had a taste of wine and wanted more.  He relocated to the Napa Valley in 1983 and eventually became the head winemaker at Whitehall Lane.  Ray was finally able to branch out on his own in 1997 when he bought the property where Elyse Winery is currently located.  His winemaker since 2001 is Mike Trotta, who has previous experience at Bernardus Winery in the Carmel Valley and Yalumba in the Barossa Valley.

Angela Raynor, Dre Solimeo, Mike Trotta

My trip to the Napa Valley was organized by Angela & Seth Raynor who I worked for this summer at The Pearl on Nantucket.  They have had a long-time relationship with Ray as he has attended the Nantucket Wine Festival for years and they share many mutual friends in the wine business.  Ray was gracious enough not only to host our accommodations, but also to spend an afternoon with us and his winemaker to taste through his wines paired with a plate of cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery.  Our cheese selection included: Fromage Blanc, Inverness, Pierce Point, Mt. Tam, Red Hawk and Wagon Wheel. 

L'Ingenue 2007 is made somewhat in a Chateauneuf-du-Pape style from mostly Roussanne, with Marsanne, Grenache Blanc and Viognier.  Ray says that while Roussanne is the work-horse of this wine, it is the synergy of all four grape varietals that really makes this wine what it is.  Mildly aromatic with tropical fruits, aged about 18 months in all old barrels, this is a perfect food wine.  I have worked in several restaurants around the country and was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to sell this wine this summer.

C'est Si Bon 2006 is a wine made to have fun with -a blend of Grenache, Mourvedre, Carignane, Counoise, Syrah and Cinsaut.  Again, aged in all old oak barrels. The grapes for this blend (and the one above) are both sourced from the Sierra Foothills.  An appealing combination of light red and dark fruits makes this wine easily accessible as a seafood wine paired with meatier fish.

Le Corbeau 2005 (translates to 'The Raven') is mostly Grenache, with about 10% Syrah, from the Hudson Vineyard.  What is unique about this wine is they take the cuttings from the vineyard, dry them in an oven, wrap them in cheesecloth and tie them together with a cloth cord.  These bundles are near the grapes when they are fermenting and the wine pulls some spice from the canes during fermentation.  While this was a type of 'bouquet garni' method that Mike brought back from Australian, the wine is neither Australian or Spanish in style, but more French.  The slightly aromatic compound from this process creates a wine that is a bit sauvage!


Zinfandel 'Morisoli Vineyard' (Napa Valley) 2007 is sourced from a vineyard relationship that Ray conceived in his days at Whitehall Lane.  Some of the vines are 130 years old and the soil is a gravely loam.  The wine has a sweet nose and pleasant (not too pungent) on the palate.


Zinfandel 'Black Sears Vineyard' (Howell Mountain) 2007 is blended with 9% Petite Sirah and is a wine of a different beast.  Pepper, tar and resin resonate in this wine, with chewy black cherry on the palate.

Petite Sirah 'Barrel Select' 2007 does have a small amount of Zinfandel added to it.  The wine is bright in color, juicy big black fruits and almost 15% alcohol.


*Cabernet Sauvignon 'Morisoli Vineyard' 2005 was my wine of choice for this tasting (although I am rarely one to have a favorite).  Aged 30 months in barrel and another one and a half years in the bottle before being released, this wine is very complex.  Mocha, chocolate nose, cinnamon stick, velvety texture on the palate.  It's the kind of wine that makes you think a) about the terroir from where it was grown and b) what kind of food you would pair with it!

Many thanks to Ray and his team for such a lovely afternoon!  For those of you in the trade, the wines from Elyse Winery are available through MS Walker in Massachusetts and recently with Selected Brands in Florida.

OENOTRI - A Southern Italian Restaurant in Downtown Napa

Jenny Benzie and Sur Lucero

Having lived on the East Coast for more than five years now, it is easier sometimes to get to European wine destinations than those on the West Coast.  It has been some time since I visited Napa (the town and/or the wine area), especially since I moved to Florida from California.  Oh, my - how Napa has grown and changed!  I was fortunate enough to be invited by Angela and Seth Raynor (owners of The Pearl on Nantucket where I worked this summer) on an end-of-season thank you/research and development trip with the chefs and managers of their three restaurants.  With seven out of ten in our group being chefs, needless to say... there was going to be a lot of food involved in our East Coast Meets West Coast adventure.

Open Kitchen at Oenotri

First stop along the way was OENOTRI, located in downtown Napa across from the AVIA Hotel.  The restaurant features Southern Italian cuisine while showcasing 'local, fresh, in-season ingredients.'   Specials for the evening our written on brown butcher paper on the wall at the bar.  Another feature of Oenotri are the pizzas from the wood-fueled oven.  Our group was hosted that evening by Maria Helm Sinskey, Culinary Director at Robert Sinksey Winery.  Maria had arranged with Chefs Curtis de Fede and Tyler Rodde a special tasting menu for us that high-lighted what the restaurant does best (see the attached menu).  The restaurant was full this evening and people were waiting for our tables at the bar as we left.  Tourists and local wine peeps alike could be seen in this bustling place, a great sign that an Italian restaurant is so well supported in Napa Valley.

I have been on several wine and culinary adventures; you soon learn to pace yourself throughout the evening for both food and wine.  I was delighted and surprised to see Sur Lucero as our Sommelier for the evening!  Sur and I traveled together just a year ago in Italy as recipients of the Banfi Vintners Scholarship through the Guild of Sommeliers.  While Sur chose all Italian wines for us, he told me that 35% of his list are wines from the Napa Valley.

Maria Helm Sinskey, Sur Lucero, Angela Raynor

Let the meal begin: our selection of house-cured meats was amazing.  I loved the presentation on the 'lazy-susan' made from the end of a wine barrel.  Our wine selection as an aperitif and for the first course was Tiefenbrunner's Feldmarschall 2008.   The wine is made from Müller-Thurgau (riesling x sylvaner), a grape that matures early, is lower in acid and mildly fruity. This is a winery high in the Dolomiti of Italy where I have had the pleasure to visit many years ago.



Our treviso/puntarella salad was delicious.  Fresh, crisp, slightly bitter - which I thought would be somewhat of a challenge for wine pairing.  Sur proved this not to be the case - Biondi M.I. 2007 from Etna (Sicily, think volcano...), made from a blend of 80% Nerello Mascalese and 20% Nerello Cappuccio.  This wine was decanted and had a slight bitterness as well that matched accordingly with the food.



 

Next came the house-made pennette with mozzerella di bufala.  The cheese becomes delightfully stringy as it cools, so this dish is called the 'telephone wire' as you pull a bite to eat.  The simplicity and execution of this dish made it a winner for the chefs in my group.  Our wine pairing (another winner with the challenge of tomato sauce) was Arnaldo-Caprai 'Collepiano' Sagrantino di Montefalco 2004.



I was most impressed with our last wine and talked about it the rest of my trip.  Macarico Aglianico del Vulture 2004 from Basilicata.  (Mind you, when I was first studying wine, someone in my study group came up with 'Vultures eat Basil' to remember that the wine region and the grape go together!)  This wine had depth, character and resonated on my palate obviously for days later.  Its' strength and meatiness was a nice accompaniment to the mild gaminess of the cotechino and blood sausage with parmesan fonduta.

And my favorite course - dessert! - was a winner for all.  Something that may seem not so hard to make, yet usually falls apart easily, our vanilla bean panna cotta was just firm enough to wiggle on the plate and still stay intact.  Bravo!  While the pears added a nice flair to the plate, I would have preferred another piece of the dolce.

What a fabulous way to start my trip - great food, new and old friends, and wines to prepare my palate for a week long of tasting!

Guild of Sommelier Tasting - Typicity of Bordeaux

As a member of the Guild of Sommeliers, you are offered a handful of Educational Foundation Enrichment Tastings throughout the year.  I happen to be fortunate to live in an area of Florida where there are 8 Master Sommeliers in close proximity who donate their valuable time and effort to facilitate these events for those of us aspiring to learn more about wine.

This week found about 35 us in Ft. Lauderdale for a two-hour tasting on the Typicity of Bordeaux.  Opening remarks and introductions were made by Andrew McNamara, MS, followed by a brief overview of Bordeaux.

Bordeaux is located in the Gironde department of western France.
The maritime climate is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Gironde River that runs through the region as it splits into the Dordogne and Garonne.
Merlot is planted more than Cabernet Sauvignon.

Now to the juicy part...the wines!
There were two flights of four wines each that were tasted blind.  I was seated at a table with Eric Hemer, MS, as moderator, and 5 other sommeliers.  We went through the wines in a round-robin style, calling out descriptors as they came to us, then Eric made a tally at the end of each wine for everyone's 'final conclusion' as to what region in Bordeaux the wine came from, was it a 'classified' wine and the vintage based on the character of the wine and key 'markers.'

WINE 1: slight orange color on rim, not as vibrant in color; herbaceous nose, combination of red & black fruit components, old school in style (not so fruit-forward) with grippy tannins.
Chat Lafleur-Gazin, Pomerol 2006
WINE 2: medium ruby dark color with staining on the glass; dark fruits, tobacco leaf, cocoa, sweet spices; ripe fruit tanning and barrel spice, fleshy on palate and bit austere.
Chat Malmaison, Moulis-en-Medoc, Cru Bourgeois 2004
WINE 3: almost opaque, deep color; powerful nose of blackcurrant, new French oak; new school 'Michel Rolland' style with high extraction and ripe, chewy tannins
Chat Fonplegade, St. Emilion Grand Cru Classe 2006
WINE 4: deep purple hue; slight raisiny, concentrated dark dried fruits, black tea; powerful tannin and length
Chat La Louviere, Pessac-Leognan 2005

After a brief break and re-fill of the wine glasses, we were on the second flight - all classified growths, all same vintage, all left bank.
WINE 1: lightest in color, but rich opulence; violet, layered, exotic; dry tannin, sous bois and earthy
Chat Giscours, Margaux, Grand Cru Classe 2004
WINE 2: tea leaves, meaty aroma, dark cherries, dried tobacco; juicy palate, luxurious, weighty, drying oak tannins (my favorite wine of all we tasted)
Chat Ducru-Beaucaillou, St. Julien, Grand Cru Classe 2004
WINE 3: pencil lead, dried tomato leaf, pruny, dried fruit; firm tannin, moderate in length (reminded me some of an Italian wine)
Chat Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Paullac, Grand Cru Classe 2004
WINE 4: opaque, inky color; lots of new oak, blackberry, mocha/cocoa; hi tannin, hi alcohol, oak monster, slight bitterness, lots of texture
Chat Cos d'Estournel, St. Estephe, Grand Cru Classe 2004


Special thanks to the other Master Sommeliers on the panel: Virginia Philip, Juan Gomez and Brian Kozial (not pictured).  Support and funding for the wines was from Sopexa and Southern Wine & Spirits, while the sight location was compliments of Morton's. 

To learn more about Bordeaux wines, check out my Le Bordeaux Buff friends - Rebecca Chapa and Megan Wiig!

How I Spent My Summer Vacation on Nantucket

After living in South Florida full-time for almost 5 years, I decided it was time to do what so many of my clients do and head North for the summer.  Nantucket was the perfect destination for me as I had already visited there a handful of times  for the annual Nantucket Wine Festival held each year as a pre-season event the weekend before Memorial Day.  I also a few restaurant connections as several employees from the Palm Beach area restaurants have been flocking to this island as well for years.

I landed a job as the Sommelier at The Pearl, one of three restaurants on island owned and operated by Seth and Angela Raynor.  The Pearl features coastal cuisine with an Asian influence and is open mid-May through mid-October with this being their 11th year.  My duties this summer were simple - show up, sell wine and have fun!  With all of these requirements met, I wanted to share with you some of the highlights of my summer adventure (in no particular order)...

- My Wednesday Wine Beach Club - What better way to bond with your co-workers and enjoy the many splendors of the beaches Nantucket has to offer!  Our wine selections varied each week based on what was in the cooler at The Cellar, Epernay or sometimes even Hatch's.
Below is a small sampling of some of our vinous libations...
Week One:  Pirineos Mesache Somantano White 2008
                    Segura Viudas 'Aria' Cava NV
                    Reffault Rose Chinon 2009 (yum!)
Week Two:  Chateau Soucherie Anjou Blanc 2009
                    Chateau de Campuget Rose Costieres de Nimes 2008
                    Chapoutier 'Bellerouche' Rose Cotes-du-Rhone 2008
                    Cristina Ascheri Gavi 2008
Week Three:  Angrove's Nine Vines Grenache/Shiraz Rose So. Australia 2008
                      Notte di Luna Vernaccia di San Gimigniano 2009 (almost lost friends on this purchase)
Week Four:  Clos de la Pepiere Muscadet Sur Lie 2009
                     Shaya Verdejo 2008
                     Sansilvestro Piemonte Cortese 'Adelasia' 2008
                     Domaine la Manarine Cotes du Provence Rose 2009
                     Segura Viudas Brut Reserva Cava NV
Week Five:  Wishing Tree Unoaked Chard Western Australia 2008
                    Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc Sonoma County 2009
                    Domaine Horchart Rose Cotes du Provence 2009
Week Six:  Well, you get the picture...

- Working with Sam Mason, famous NYC Pastry Chef, formerly of WD-50, has a show 'Dinner with the Band' and owner of Lady Jay's bar in Brooklyn.  Sam had something to offer everyone at the restaurant - front of the house, back of the house and guests included.  He shared his recipes, his insights and talents with anyone who was willing to learn.  His humbleness and dedication to his craft and sharing with others made everyone a bit melancholy after he departed from his three week stint.  Not to mention, dessert is my favorite!

- Being re-introduced to Jim Clendenen, the mind behind Au Bon Climat winery. The Raynor's have been fans and friends of his for years.  He and I talked about my former days at Michael's in Santa Monica where we first met.  We also discussed the Cuvee Daniel Chardonnay that he makes and was served during my time at Cafe Boulud.  I look forward to seeing him again at Daniel Johnnes' La Paulee Burgundy event in the spring.  This man is a walking wine encyclopedia! 

- My favorite dinner place on island (not including where I worked) was Straight Wharf Restaurant.  While I only had so many nights off all summer as I was mostly working, I made a point to try as many restaurants as I could around the island.  It just so happened that I made it to SWR three times, the last two within the final weeks of leaving Nantucket.  Whether I ate in the dining room or the buzz of the bar, I was always impressed with the service, the food and the wine selections.  Meo-Camuzet Corton 2000 literally brought me to tears.  Thanks so much to Scott Fraley, General Manager, for always accommodating me and Carlos when we arrived so late in the evening and without reservations!

- My favorite wines of Summer 2010: (all served by the glass @ The Pearl)
Chateau d'Esclans 'Whispering Angel' Rose Cotes-du-Provence 2009 (Nicknamed the 'Screaming Devil' by the end of the summer; it was so good, it was bad!)
Martinsancho Verdejo Rueda 2009 (This reminded me of my month-long trip to Spain last year; this region is  considered a 'sister' region of white wines to the red wines of Ribera del Duero.)
Pol Roger Champagne Brut NV (AKA The Jolly Roger; if champagne doesn't make you happy, then pass your glass over to me...)

As the dog days of summer have come to an end, I will treasure my new friendships, the memories that we created together and the fabulous experiences I had working at such an incredible establishment.  I look forward to being able to return to Nantucket - to do it all over again next summer!