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Morgan Clendenen winemaker/owner of Cold Heaven
When I think of Harvest Festival, I imagine there is an autumn chill in the air and I’m sipping red wines bundled up in a cozy sweater. However, this year, the 20th year of the festival, we were in the midst of a late summer heat wave, so shorts and sandals were de rigueur. This year there were over 115 different wineries represented at the festival. Of the 115, there were many wonderful, familiar wines from Ampelos, Beckmen, Brander, Dragonette, Fiddlehead, Foxen, Margerum, Jaffurs, Tre Anelli, Stolpman, Ken Brown, Cold Heaven, Palmina, Qupé, being poured, so I a made point to seek out wines that I had not sampled before.
Bob Lindquist winemaker/owner of Qupe and his son Theo
With far too many wines to sample everything, I had to really pick and choose carefully from the offerings. Of the wines I tasted, there were a few real stands outs. Jim Vogelzang was pouring an absolutely lovely ’06 Vogelzang Cabernet Sauvignon, but his superb 2009 Sauvignon Blanc was what took my breath away. Jim took a few minutes to explain to me what they do differently. Naturally, they start with great fruit – after all you cannot make an outstanding wine if you start with bad grapes. Here is where it gets interesting. After the grapes are picked; they are put on refrigerated trucks which are driven to Napa. In Napa they delivered to renowned winemaker Robbie Meyer (of Versant, Jericho Canyon, Peirson Meyer and L’Angevin) who works his oenological magic. Jim also let me know that for the Sauvignon Blanc, Meyer uses neutral French oak barrels that have been used for Chardonnay. Another outstanding white was the unreleased ’09 Dragonette Happy Canyon Sauvignon Blanc which was heady with the aroma of honeysuckle and tasted of creamy lemon curd. Yes, dear reader, I know I said I was going to avoid familiar labels, but this was an unreleased Sauvignon Blanc from Dragonette, so I had to bend my own rule. It was less of a hard and fast rule and more of a guideline really, anyway. 😉
Dan Reeves of Reeves Ranch Vineyard
Even though it was a very warm day and white wines were helping me cool off, I did taste some wonderful reds at the festival. I loved the 2006 Jalama Paradise Road Syrah, which is co-fermented with 3% Viognier in the classic French Côte–Rôtie style. Young winemaker, Mark Cargasacchi is crafting some truly beautiful wines. It runs in the family; Mark’s brother is making some outstanding wine too. Speaking of Mark’s wines, he wasn’t pouring it at the festival, but his 2006 Jalama El Capitan is *really* worth getting your hands on (while you still can). It is a red blend of 47% Syrah, 30% Mourvedre and 23% Cabernet. He only made 92 cases of this rich beauty, and last time I checked they only had 8 cases left, so if you’re a fan of GSM blends, give the folks over at Jalama Wines a call: 805-735-8937 or go visit the new tasting room in the Lompoc. Tell them that Anne from Wine Nation Underdog sent you. You’ll thank me later after you’re tucking into your first glass. Overall, my favorite Syrah of the festival was the 2008 Reeves Ranch Syrah. I had heard of the name Reeves Ranch Vineyard because Kris Curran (winemaker/owner of Curran) made a Reeve’s Ranch Reserve Syrah from fruit from this vineyard a few vintages ago. It was extraordinary, so naturally I had to go investigate the source of this outstanding fruit. Boy was I in for a treat. Dan Reeves poured me some of his 2008 Reeves Ranch Vineyard Syrah and I really enjoyed the well integrated flavors of coffee, mocha and spice. Most of the fruit is from the estate which is located in the foothills above Los Olivos. The vines which were originally planted in 1989, were grafted over to Australian and French Syrah clones (Shiraz clone 3, Estrella and Clone 99) in 1994. The rest of the fruit is from Black Oak vineyard in Los Alamos. Though the grapes from Reeves and Black Oak were fermented separately, it was eventually blended together and aged for 18 months in French oak, some of which was neutral. After I tasted this wine, I thought it would be priced around $35 a bottle. Are you ready for this? The wine sells for $24 on the Reeves Ranch website and you get a discount if you order a case. Don’t you love it when you find a great wine at a really good price? I do! If you are in the Central Coast area, you can taste this wine at Avant Tapas and Wine bar in Buellton. It is also being poured by the glass at Los Olivos Café (in Los Olivos). Don’t wait too long though, because they only make 400 cases a year.
Peter Stolpman of Stolpman Vineyards
There were lots of great events over the Harvest Festival weekend, including an open house at Au Bon Climat / Qupé winemaking facility. There was also an open house event at Cold Heaven – as soon as I get my notes and snapshots organized I will post again. Until then, let me leave you with this thought. Those who abstain from alcohol die sooner than those who drink moderately (1 to 3 drinks per day)…as if you needed an excuse!
Danish visitors who are cellar ratting at Ampelos for the summer
So much has happened since I last posted. Nope, I am not part of the witness protection program – I’ve just been really, really busy. Let me try to condense the last month into a few words and some photos. First and foremost I moved from Santa Barbara to a lovely house out in wine country with a view of the edge of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. Moving is never easy or fun, but in this case the massive effort was worthwhile. I’m reminded daily about what makes Pinot Noir so good, when I wake up to a view of the Santa Rita Hills. Often times the hills are shrouded in fog that burns off by mid-morning. The east-west coastal valleys combined with fog, wind and rocky soil stress the vines and reduce crop yield. This results in incredibly complex and layered Pinot Noir. If you want to taste what I am referring to, check out Ampelos Cellars’ 2005 Rho Pinot Noir. You’ll be happy you did!
Though I’ve only been in my new place about a month and a half, so much has happened! In the few weeks I:
- unpacked a seemingly infinite number of boxes, many of which were full of wine or books…I wonder if I really need all these books?
- enjoyed some of my favorite fabulous local wines (De Su Propia Cosecha, Brander, Tre Anelli, Stolpman, McPrice Myers) while unpacking boxes – no wonder it took so long!
- poured Consilience wines at an event at Blush in Santa Barbara
- ate amazing woodfired pizza at Full of Life Flatbread (and oysters – WOW!) – if you’re into woodfired pizza come to Los Alamos to eat at Flatbread
- wrote the tasting notes for a couple of fabulous soon to be released wines from Tre Anelli (2007 Pinot Grigio, 2007 Sangiovese, 2008 Diavolessa)
- went wine tasting at Brander (Thank you Fabian and Louise for the tour and barrel tasting!) – I *love* the Purisima Sauvignon Blanc and the reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
- encountered all sorts of wildlife out here in the country – deer (see photo below), red tailed hawks, turkey vultures, mice, moles, skunks (unfortunately one of my dogs got too close to the skunk, sigh) a myriad of songbirds, mice, horses and a tree frog (oddly enough the frog was in my shower…go figure)
- visited chef Paul Kulik at the Boiler Room restaurant and La Buvette in Omaha – my two favorite places to eat and drink in the Old Market district
So much has happened and so many wonderful things are on the horizon! First and foremost, there is lots of great news from one of my local favorites, Dragonette Cellars. Very soon you won’t have to go out to the wine ghetto in Lompoc to visit Dragonette, because they are opening up a tasting room in Los Olivos, right across the street from Stolpman. Also, any day now, Dragonette will release a wine that consists mostly of the co-fermented Syrah/Viognier that I fell in love with while barrel tasting last year (there are a few photos from this below). The wine is a reserve release and is called MJM. John Dragonette, Steve Dragonette and Brandon Sparks-Gillis dedicated this wine to their wives (Mitchi, Jen and Michelle), hence the name MJM. Smart husbands. 🙂 Recently I visited Dragonette and tasted the 2007 MJM with winemaker Brandon Sparks-Gillis. He was quite proud (and rightly so) of the almost released blend of 96% Syrah, 3% Grenache and 1% Viognier. This is a gorgeous wine with layers of flavors – definitely one to save for a special occasion! It wasn’t officially for sale yet (the bottles had not yet been hand dipped in wax) however I was able to convince him to let me go home with a couple of bottles. Thanks Brandon! Last but not least, Dragonette now has a wine club – you can join online too!
On Saturday May 15th, the Wine Hound Santa Barbara County Wine Futures event is happening. Last year was an amazing opportunity to taste incredibly fabulous local wines. Check out my post with details from last year’s event. This year I promise to charge my camera battery. There will be around 130 different wines available for tasting from local producers. Old favorites, including Au Bon Climat, Jaffurs, Qupé and Stolpman will be there and also some newer producers like Rey, Kaena and Shai. I am really looking forward to this event!
Last but not least, my wine tasting group is collecting bottles for a special Colson Canyon Vineyard themed tasting. So far we have collected red wines made from Colson Canyon fruit produced by Cleb, Tensley and Brander. If you know of any other wineries that make a Colson Canyon vineyard designate wine please drop me an email.
Here are some random snapshots of food, wine and other miscellany. Cheers!
Dragonette winemaker Brandon Sparks-Gillis with a bottle of MJM
De Su Propia Cosecha red (Grenache/Mourvedre/Syrah)
Me pouring Consilience wines at Blush in Santa Barbara
Lunch at Terravant (a fun place to taste wine - ask for a tour)
This is the first meal at the new house -we hadn't unpacked much yet
Dragonette 2008 Sauvignon Blanc - it makes unpacking boxes better
McPrice Myers 2007 L'Ange Rouge at Side Street Cafe (we were too tired to cook)
Tre Anelli 2008 Diavolessa - red blend of Dolcetto, Barbera, Petite Sirah, Zinfandel
First course of salad and oysters at Flatbread
Happiness is eating at Flatbread
What a fun surprise - a deer in my yard
2007 Duckhorn Decoy at Urban Wine Company in Omaha's Old Market district
La Buvette - you'll think you're in France, but it is really Omaha's Old Market district
One of the walls of wine at La Buvette
The view from the patio - cool foggy mornings help make good Pinot Noir
Foggy mornings turn into warm, clear days
- Barrel tasting at Dragonette (photo courtesy of pixillusion.com)
Dragonette extracting wine with a wine thief (photo courtesy of pixillusion.com)
A foodie friend of ours Lee from Vancouver was going to be in Los Angeles and called to see if we wanted to meet up for dinner at Animal a couple nights ago. Jason and I haven’t seen Lee in a while and we love to try out new restaurants so we accepted the invitation. There were 7 of us who ended up at Animal at 8:45pm on a Tuesday night. As we waited for our table to open up, someone spotted Bobby Flay eating at a table near the bar. That is a good sign…I figure Flay knows a little something about food. Another good sign was a local who’d eaten there numerous times who was also waiting for a table absolutely gushing to us about the menu. He listed about 6 things off the menu that we “had to order”. I noticed that many of the tables were full in spite of the fact that it was late on a Tuesday – another good sign. The restaurant was sparsely decorated…actually to call it “sparse” implies too much. There were bare lightbulbs screwed into sockets on the walls and a couple of framed animal skulls hanging on the walls. Clearly the decor won’t be distracting us from the food. We were seated and started ordering almost immediately. I was pleasantly surprised to see the 2008 Dragonette Rose (Grenache / Syrah) on the bottle list. Dragonette is a premium quality, boutique winery located in Lompoc in an area affectionately called the “wine ghetto”. They’re making some beautiful wines – we barrel tasted there a few months ago and I fell in love with a barrel of co-fermented Syrah and Viognier. The rose was a perfect beginning to a fabulous meal! We ended up ordering nearly everything on the menu – it was all outstanding! Here is a photo of the menu for the evening that we were there.
Menu at Animal: 435 N. Fairfax Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90036 (323) 782-9225
We loved everything with the exception of the green garlic broth with grilled toast, but there were a few dishes that you really must order. First and foremost, the barbeque pork belly sandwiches with slaw. We ordered this dish three times over the course of the evening and each time when it arrived at the table, I wasn’t able to get my camera out quickly enough to snap a photo before the food was devoured! Suffice it to say it was amazing – especially with the bottle of 2005 Anjou Chateau Perray Jouannet (a red blend dominated by Cabernet Franc). Another dish that went too fast for me to get a photo was the pig ear with chili, lime and fried egg. I like bacon – alot- however pig ear sounded more like something my dogs would enjoy. After tasting the saltiness of the pig’s ear countered by the tart acid of the lime juice , I won’t be sharing this with my dogs, ever. Wow – this was really good! Also, the rabbit loin with parsnip, pear mostarda and Benton’s bacon was fabulous (this dish and the barbeque pork belly sandwiches were my two absolute favorites of the evening). Skatewing isn’t something you see on menus in the United States much – this preparation with collards, rutabaga and grainy mustard was wonderful. We ordered two of these because the other side of the table kept hoarding the skate. Skatehoarding is not a crime! 😉 Sorry, I just had to say it. If you are into foie gras, Animal offers some really creative and very tasty versions. a) Foie gras, biscuit, maple sausage gravy and b) foie gras loco moco with quail egg, spam and hamburger. Both were out of this world! By the time we got to the end of the meal we were all too full for dessert…this fact wasn’t enough to stop us from ordering every dessert on the menu. The tres leches with dulche de leche was rich and sweet – my husband gave it two thumbs up. I was partial to the bacon chocolate crunch bar with s&p anglaise…bacon, chocolate and anglaise. Need I say more? Joe’s doughnuts with cinnamon sugar and caramel were also very good and so was the panna cotta with saba (which I learned is a sweet reduction of grape must). Ultimately, I cannot do the food at Animal justice with words and photos…you simply *must* go there. Better yet, go with a group so you can order the whole menu!
Foie gras loco moco quail egg spam hamburger
Sweetbreads, creamed spinach and hen of the woods mushrooms
Melted Petit Basque with chorizo and grilled bread
Poutine, oxtail gravy, cheddar - Poutine ("poutine québécoise") is French Canadian comfort food.
Skatewing with collards, rutabaga and grainy mustard - Skate hoarding is not a crime. 😉
2008 Dragonette Rose and Animal's by the glass list
Foie gras, biscuit, maple sausage gravy
Rabbit loin with parsnip, pear mostarda and Benton's bacon
Sallie, Michael and Maggie - Note the incriminating balsamic barbeque sauce on Michael's fingers from the pork ribs. 🙂
Liz wonders who ordered the vegetables as she eyes the balsamic glazed pork ribs.
Happy Birthday Lee!
Wine Nation Underdog 
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