For those interested in finding my wines across the state of California, here is an interactive map from Google. The map is updated regularly as new restaurants and retail will feature Mastro Scheidt as their lists change.
Grilled Lamb Chops with Mastro Scheidt Superstrada
Cucumber, tomato and onion salad with grilled lamb chops and Mastro Scheidt 2016 Superstrada 75% Sangiovese / 25% Cabernet Sauvignon
2 Persian Cucumbers, rough cubes
A couple handfuls of Cherry or Grape tomatoes, cut in half
¼ of a red onion, sliced long
Juice of ½ a Meyer Lemon
Parsley, rough chopped, solid pinch
Dill, rough chopped, a solid pinch
Splash of olive oil
Salt and pepper
Handful of Mixed greens, it could be arugula or baby lettuces
I didn't trim my lamb at all, but you have to be mindful of how much fat they have, they will flare up on a grill. I tend to put the lamb initially on the bottom rack, closest to the fire to get some grill marks and some flame, then move them to the top rack, fat side down to cook. They are rested off heat for 10 minutes before I slice them
I’m serving the 16 Superstrada because the grilled lamb has both weight and fat. The Cabernet adds backbone here in the form of tannin that Sangiovese just doesn’t have. Simple as that.
To make the salad, put everything together in a bowl and give it a good mix. Adjust for salt, pepper, lemon and olive oil. Place your mixed greens in the center of the plate and take a good handful or two of your mix and place directly on top of the greens as the salad with dress itself. If you want more of your dressing, add a tablespoon or two over the top
Arrange your lamb chops decoratively for an Instagram picture
Use your hands to eat the lamb like an absolute savage and a fork to eat your salad like a civilized human
Polenta and sausage with Mastro Scheidt Sangiovese
Polenta and tomato sauce with Mastro Scheidt 2017 Sangiovese
1 cup Corn Meal/Grits/Course Polenta (each of these has a different cooking time and broth amount. You have been warned)
4 Cups Chicken Broth
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Get a stock pot and fill it with all the course corn meal and broth and turn it on. You'll need to stir it initially to break it up and give the polenta time to hydrate. If you follow chefs on TV they have you heat the water and slowly incorporate the corn meal. You don't need to do that, it's overly complex and prone to clumping if you don't do it right
As the polenta gets hotter, you'll need to stir it more until there are no clumps. In about 30 minutes, the polenta will be pretty much ready. You can add fresh cracked black pepper and sage if you'd like as a nice diversion from the normal
Turn off the heat and add your butter and cheese. Start stirring it in. That's pretty much it. You could add cream if you'd like or even more butter
The red sauce and sausage recipe I'm not going through, everyone should know how to make a red sauce by now
Petrale sole over lemon dill risotto paired with Mastro Scheidt The Hunter
Petrale sole over lemon dill risotto paired with 2019 Mastro Scheidt The Hunter
To start the Risotto
1 half yellow or white onion, chopped fine
1 tablespoon of butter
½ cup of Arborio rice
2 cups of chicken broth, warm
Melt your butter in a hot sauté pan and add your onions and then turn the heat down to medium. You don’t want the onions to burn, scorch or turn brown; you just want to sweat them out. Once the onions have gone a little translucent, add your rice and stir the pan regularly for a couple minutes so that the rice cooks and also turns milky white/translucent
Add three ladles of warm chicken broth to the sauté pan and stir through. Now the technique. If your timing is right and you don’t allow your saute pan of rice get too dry, after the initial stirring, you shouldn’t have to stir the rice again until the very end of the process. There should be enough bubbling broth in the pan at all times so the rice never sticks or gets dry
Fast forward about 30 minutes
As you come near the cooking process for the rice you’re going to need the following
¼ cup of heavy cream
¼ cup of grated Parmigiano Cheese
A squeeze of lemon juice
A pinch of chopped fresh dill
A bit more freshly cracked black pepper
Taste your rice and see that it is almost, I repeat almost cooked through but not quite there yet. Don’t worry, you’re going to add a bit more liquid. There shouldn’t be much broth left, about a ¼ cup of broth add it to the pan along with the heavy cream and begin stirring again. Within 5-10 minutes the risotto is taking shape. This is not an exact science. Taste it again and again and again. The rice should be basically done but have a bit more chicken broth handy if it’s not. When the rice is done, add your Parmigiano cheese, lemon juice, dill, adjust for salt and pepper and plate the risotto
At the 5-minute mark for your risotto above, you’ve got to prep your fish. In a sauté pan heat some butter and olive oil. Pat your fish dry and season with salt, pepper and some Panko on the side that goes into the pan first. Place your breaded sole in the sauté pan and cook until golden brown plus on the breaded side. Flip over your fish and cook 1 minute
Filet Mignon with green salad and ranch dressing
Filet Mignon with green salad and paired with Mastro Scheidt 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon DCV
You may have noticed this is the first picture of beef since the beginning of the shelter at home order. I don't eat a tremendous amount of cow to be honest. I like cow and cow pairs with Cabernet really well, but it has taken a back seat for special occasions these days.
That said, I talked to my long-time friend John, who happens to own a prime steakhouse in Clovis, to see if I could get some steaks off of him. Think of it as "take-out" that you cook at home. And another message, continue to support your local, family owned restaurants, they need and want your support not just now but all the time.
I love cooking steak classic French style in a saute pan and finishing in the oven. Take a hot pan, using bacon renderings, then sear off each side of the filet in the pan and transfer the steaks to a small pan and put in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 10 minutes. Remove the steak from the oven and place on the open oven door. Season the steak with a pat of butter and allow to rest on the door of the oven for another 5 minutes. Yes, it takes patience to see your steak sit there (please don't walk into the oven door or burn yourself), but it's best that the steak stays warm but doesn't cook. Season the steak again with salt. I'm going for Mid-Rare+ on a thick cut 8oz filet.
Salad Dressing
3 tablespoons Mayonnaise
3 tablespoons Yogurt
2 tablespoons Vinegar
Several shakes Worchester Sauce
A couple shakes of Celery Salt, Garlic powder
Plenty of ground black pepper
Fresh or dry Dill
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and let stand in the refrigerator for 20 minutes and test to see if you like it. The dried ingredients need time in the bowl to hydrate an incorporate into the wet ones, so don't taste the dressing until after it sets
Make a green salad however you'd like, my version in the picture was romaine lettuce, tomato, cucumber and homemade croutons
Recipe for Fried brown rice with grilled chicken
Fried brown rice with chicken and a Screwdriver
We got fancy with the Screwdriver and freshly squeezed several oranges from the backyard. Way better than your Dad's 70's Screwdriver
1 Cup Brown Rice (I get the Trader Joe's brand that is cracked and takes about 15 minutes to cook)
2 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces
1 Carrot, minced
2 Handfuls of Green Peas
3 Green Onions, Minced
3 Eggs, scrambled
5 Tablespoons Soy Sauce or Tamari
2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil (off heat, for flavor not for cooking)
1 Teaspoon of Hot Chili Bean Paste (Optional)
1 Chicken Thigh, sauteed (optional)
Fry/render your bacon and add your carrot. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add your rice and begin incorporating in your saute pan. Work it over for a while, you wanna dry it out, 10 minutes
Clear a space in your pan for the eggs. Drop them in and scramble them. When they are scrambled, incorporate your green onions, peas and mixed everything together, 3 minutes
Turn off the heat and add your soy sauce and sesame oil. Mix. Top with additional green onion
I like my fried rice in a tighter, narrow bowl so it stays hot. I topped with the optional chicken thigh and chili bean paste otherwise I'd be still be hungry
Recipe for Ziti with wilted kale, collards and chili
Recipe for Ziti with wilted kale, collards and chili paired with Mastro Scheidt 2017 Zinfandel
This is a rift on classic orecchiette with rapini and chili from Puglia. The collards give a slightly bitter edge to the dish and the chili I used is actually a Japanese style chili rather than standard red chili flakes from the grocery store. I’ve also used Aleppo pepper for this dish. I picked my 2017 Zinfandel as another rift on Puglian/Manduria Primitivo common in the south of Italy. This is a classic pairing
4 handfuls of Ziti pasta
½ cup of fully cooked collard greens and kale
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon dried chili
Pecorino Cheese, grated
Olive oil both for a quick sauté of the garlic and chili and for dressing the finished pasta
Fully cooked collards and kale...basically put the greens in a pot with a little water, olive oil, garlic, salt, cover it for an hour on low. Done, it's not rocket science.
As the collards and kale are already fully cooked; it will take longer to cook the pasta than the sauce. About 3 minutes before your pasta is fully cooked, heat the sauté pan and add 3 tablespoons of olive oil, the garlic, chili flake to the pan and let cook for about 30 seconds; then add all your collards and kale and toss everything through and keep the pan hot
When your pasta is cooked, drain quickly and add all the pasta to the saute pan with your greens and toss everything through. Shut off the heat and garnish with a couple more splashes of uncooked olive oil and your pecorino cheese and toss through again quickly. The dish is ready to serve
Bucatini all’amatriciana
Bucatini all’amatriciana with Mastro Scheidt 2017 Sangiovese Vecchio
1 slice double thick bacon cut into small chunks (yes, I know it’s should be Guanciale or Pancetta, but it’s a crisis and it’s what I’ve got in the kitchen)
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon dried Aleppo pepper (or a regular red pepper flake is fine)
1 cup of tomato sauce (my previously made sauce included several whole sausages, yellow onions, garlic and black pepper – I removed the whole sausages from the sauce for this recipe)
Half a pound of bucatini
Grated Parmigiano or Romano Cheese, whichever you prefer
Small handful of chopped parsley
Get your pasta boiling, bucatini can take longer than you think
Cook your bacon in a sauté pan until cooked thoroughly and crispy. There should be just enough bacon drippings to complete the sauce. Add the three crushed garlic cloves and Aleppo pepper and cook for a minute. Then add all of your tomato sauce and warm everything through. It takes longer to cook the bacon than the actual sauce
When the bucatini is ready, drain the pasta quickly and drop all the pasta in the sauce (yes, I want a little of the pasta water in the sauce) Toss through the pasta and the sauce off heat until the pasta is thoroughly coated. Add some of your grated Parmigiano or Romano, all of the chopped parsley and serve
Mom's Pork Roast with carrot, onion and potato
Mom's Pork Roast with carrot, onion and potato, paired up with a 2009 Mastro Scheidt library wine, another shelter in place dinner.
One pot meals are about as easy as it gets, with an extra step, brown your pork roast. After that, just add your carrots, onions, garlic, potato and chicken stock. Put the top on the enameled cast iron and shove it in the oven on 350 degrees for about an hour.
Done.
Recipe for Frittata with Mushrooms and Green onion
Just so you know it's not all about wine, here's a recipe that pairs very well with your coffee in the morning. I prefer mine with a double espresso
Recipe for Frittata with Mushrooms and Green onion
6 Eggs beaten
2 tablespoons Bacon drippings (from all that bacon you hoarded)
6 Large Mushrooms, thinly sliced
3 Green Onions, thinly diced
Large handful of shredded cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
Turn on your oven broiler before you start
In a sauté pan, heat bacon drippings on high heat then add all your mushrooms and toss through. Let cook undisturbed for about 2 minutes. Add green onions and toss through. Continue to stir so nothing burns or sticks. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and then add all your eggs. Stir through everything so that it comes up to temperature, meaning, the eggs are starting to noticeably cook but aren’t quite scrambled eggs. You don’t want scrambled eggs. Once the eggs have set on the bottom add all of your cheese to the top and put the whole sauté pan in the oven to broil. As you begin to see the cheese bubble, let it go until the cheese throughout the pan is rapidly bubbling and pull out the frittata to rest. Serve it once it cools down and the egg separates from the side of the sauté pan
Tortellini in Tomato Cream
Recipe for Tortellini in Tomato Cream with a green salad, served with the Jug. Another Shelter in Place meal
¼ cup Tomato sauce + ¼ cup chicken broth
¼ cup of Heavy Whipping Cream (use it at the end)
Finely chopped parsley (toss in with the cream)
Salt and Pepper
Parmigiano cheese (a little is good, a lot wouldn’t be very Italian)
If you raided the grocery store for some pre-made sauce, now’s the time to use it. If you made your sauce from scratch like I did, then you already know how to make tomato sauce/gravy and you don’t need me to tell you the recipe
Heat up your tomato sauce in a sauté pan. You can use fresh tortellini or a frozen one (lots of people are right now). Boil your pasta until al dente (drain water) and toss the pasta in the sauté pan with the Heavy Cream and parsley. Toss all the pasta through the sauce and allow to thicken for about a minute or so. You should notice the sauce get thick, so cook it until it does. If you like more sauce, add more tomato or cream sauce, that’s fine, especially if you’re eating some bread with this dish. Don’t add the extra sauce at the end, at it at the beginning or you’ll overcook your pasta
I chose the Jug on this one because this is an easy-going meal that I had complete in about 12 minutes. I’m not fussing with a cork and just want a good glass of Sonoma County’s finest Jug
Green Salad
Handful of Mixed Greens
Sliced tomato
Tablespoon of Parmigiano cheese
Fresh ground Black Pepper
Drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar
Drizzle of Olive oil
Seriously, if you don’t know how to make a green salad, you’ve got problems
Minestrone Soup Version 384
There are so many versions of Minestrone, there is no definitive one. All that matters is that you have something in the pantry and refrigerator to make it from. This is what I had that day.
Minestrone Soup (one version of many variations)
Bulk Italian style sausage, medium hot
2 Carrots, rough chop
½ large Yellow Onion, more finely chopped
2 Celery stalks, rough chop
2 Garlic cloves, finely minced
1 Potato, I prefer Yukon Gold, rough chop
1 can of diced, stewed tomatoes
Kale of Choice, ribs and all, cut up good so it breaks down
Chopped Parsley
2 cups of Broth of Choice or Water (I used half chicken broth and half water)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Break up the bulk sausage into smaller pieces and brown it in a 3qt sauce pot on medium heat. When the sausage is browned (and make sure there is enough fat to do a little sauté), add the garlic and onion and slowly cook for about 5-8 minutes. When that’s done add all of your other ingredients to the pot and turn the heat up to high and bring this pot to a boil. Once it reached a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook the soup until it gets some flavor, say 30 minutes or so. Taste for salt, pepper and flavor (it shouldn’t taste like water or tomato juice). If you want it “brothy” (if that’s a word) add some chicken/beef stock to the desired consistency.
Wine of choice, Mastro Scheidt 2017 Cuvee. It’s the all-weather, all-purpose wine.
Pasta with Artichokes and Bacon recipe
As many of us are experiencing during the time of crisis around the world of the global pandemic of Covid-19, we are reminded that we can actually cook at home. To that end, I’m a fan of pasta.
Pasta with Artichokes and Bacon recipe
Pasta, enough for two people, the shape should pick up stuff, like Fusilli, Bowties, Big Shells
2 strips of bacon, rough chopped (not a sweet style)
1 can of artichokes, with artichokes cut in half and drained of any excess water/oil
1 garlic clove, minced
3 solid pinches of a generalized dry Italian seasoning
3 pinches of rough cut parsley
1 tablespoon of butter (to finish)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano to taste
Cook the bacon in a hot sauté pan until almost fully cooked. Pour off any excess bacon fat (don’t worry, you’ll use it for another dish) Add your artichokes flat side down and slow cook with the remaining bacon in the pan until artichokes develop a caramelization on the bottom. Turn the pan heat down to mid-low and add the garlic, pepper, Italian seasoning, parsley and toss everything through.
When your pasta is done, drain it and add all the pasta to the sauté pan and the extra butter and toss all the items over and over to incorporate all the flavors together. Check for salt and pepper and make additions as necessary. Add some of the grated Parmigiano and serve.
I recommend the 2019 Mastro Scheidt Hunter Bordeaux inspired white wine blend.
First Impressions of Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona
As a neophyte to Spain, #thewinemaestro saw Barcelona like he sees Rome, a great place to fly into, but the whole point is to move on to a smaller city. The advantage of Rome over Barcelona, Rome has plenty of things you can see (from a historical perspective) just from walking around. There is no Coliseum, Spanish Steps or Trevi Fountain in Barcelona; sorry. Barcelona's main attractions, Sagrada Familia and other Gaudi attractions are all “pay to see inside”, which means you have to plan your visit, buy tickets, and schedule stuff. Same with the Picasso Museum. Let’s face it, #thewinemaestro is not a huge museum goer. I’d rather wander around town and see what people do and what they’re eating and drinking.
In terms of where tourists congregate in Barcelona, it’s all about El Born, Gothic and La Rambla (all of the world is on La Rambla). El Born and Gothic are neighborhoods with plenty of things to eat and drink. La Rambla is one big long street with a lot of humans and shops.
We stayed in Poblenou, a neighborhood nearly 2 miles away from El Born and an easy walk each day to see whatever sites interest you. I didn’t see a single tourist in Poblenou, or at least none that stuck out. Poblenou in the summer could be a great place to stay; the beach was a 10 minute walk from the apartment. In many ways, Poblenou was much like The Outer Richmond District in San Francisco that I lived in in the late 90’s; locals only, no tourist attractions, great neighborhood to live in, close to the beach, quiet and a couple miles from the hustle and bustle of the city.
I think after my stay, Barcelona, like San Francisco, is all about the neighborhood. Find ones you like and explore them. El Born and The Gothic will always be there, just like The Financial District and Union Square will be there when I return to SF. If and when I return to Barcelona, I’ll check out some different neighborhoods and skip the museums, I want to see how people are living today while enjoying a glass of vermut.
Pork Char Siu Recipe paired with Mastro Scheidt Zinfandel
Just a quick update and new recipe item for those interesting in pairing my 2017 Zinfandel. The 2017 Zinfandel, Lencioni Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley is dry farmed with a ton of blackberry fruit all over this wine, which is typical considering the location and the wild blackberries that grow everywhere. 2017 was a hot year, but we got the fruit off in the first couple days of September, so I'm not getting any cooked or raisin fruit flavors, but a lot of ripe black fruit. BBQ will be your friend here. Grilled meats would be a second choice, lamb to pork and everything in between. Certain types of complex sauces like mole’ and Hoisin will work well.
New York, New York Steak
I just ate 10 steaks in one hour!
Recently, I was asked to evaluate 10 different cuts of steak from two different beef suppliers for an upcoming restaurant opening. All of the beef was Certified Angus or Prime and all the steaks were prepared the same way (salt and pepper over a flame grill) by chef Tommy Chavez. I paired each steak with three of my wines, 2014 Cab Franc, 2014 Superstrada (Sangiovese/Cab Sav) and 2015 RWSC (Bordeaux Blend).
What did I learn?
First, that I consumed about 3 pounds of beef! More importantly, not all steaks are created equally and no two steaks paired equally well with the same wine. All the steaks were delicious, as it’s difficult to go wrong with prime steaks expertly cooked, but there were differences in texture, density, ‘meaty’ flavor, chew, tenderness, and fat content.
The most dramatic difference in flavor, texture and wine pairing was a prime bone-in New York strip (Club steak) versus the prime boneless NY strip.
My 2014 Cabernet Franc and 2014 Superstrada paired nicely with the boneless NY strip. Complimentary flavors, the steak was lean and well textured, my wines integrated well with this classic restaurant cut.
Change gears to a longer cooked bone-in NY strip a.k.a. Club steak and suddenly the integration of the wine with the steak changed. The bone itself was flat and nearly 2 inches wide and covered the length of the strip, which effected cooking time. Whatever the bone and cooking time did to change the flavor profile of the steak was dramatic enough to favor a more tannic and heavy-weight wine. The Cab Franc didn’t have enough heft or tannin to hold up to the Club steak. Superstrada was good, but showed better with other steaks.
Enter the 2015 RWSC.
The 2015 RWSC is my 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc from Dry Creek and Alexander Valley, with a 50% new Minnesota 36 month medium toast water bent oak and 50% neutral oak profile. Yes, I’m being very specific about my oak. Simply calling it “American oak” is an inadequate generalization.
While the 15 RWSC paired well with nearly every steak in the line-up (except perhaps the filet mignon where the wine overwhelmed the lean cut), it shined with the Club steak. This is where some combination of alchemy, meat sweats, and badly needing a plate of fries might be affecting my palate, but it was an enlightening moment in the tasting. How could one wine and one steak pair so well together? Why is this pairing so outstanding? This isn’t just me bragging about my wine. I’m sure other wines would have paired wonderfully, but in that moment, with those selections, the RWSC shined bright.
Next time I’m asked to evaluate steaks, I’m bringing more wine.
Maestro Meme Monday
Alliteration and Memes are fun to use, so the Maestro Meme Monday was born.
You may have noticed some self-depricating humor recently on the Mastro Scheidt Instagram account, depicting me and my father in some photos over the last few seasons. What often makes a meme funny is that the meme is true. I can tell you for certain, the phrases and expressions in these memes are true and have been thought about or said aloud.
We hope you enjoy them throughout 2018, every Monday, for Maestro Meme Monday.
Where can I make natural wine?
You want to make a natural wine? Good. But where are you allowed to make it?
I make a few natural/low/no intervention wines each season. One of my more popular wines is Sangiovese. It will typically (because nothing is typical in a native ferment) start native fermentation within 24 hours of being destemmed. After fermentation and press out, the wine is placed in clean (steam cleaned), neutral oak for a period of between 9-20 months, where it will be racked once, regularly topped and minimally sulfured during that time. That’s it.
Sangiovese was the first native fermentation I ever allowed to complete. I was scared to have a native fermentation go poorly or just plain bad. As a boutique winery under 2000 cases, I can ill-afford mistakes for such a substantial part of my winemaking program. Throwing away 5 tons of fruit is simply not an option for me.
Are you new around here?
Suppose you’re a new winemaker in Sonoma County who would like to make a natural rose’, white and red wine. You have your vision and your manifesto for making a great natural wine. You want to use ancient fermenting vessels like amphora, egg shaped fermenters, and 500 liter wood barrels. You want spontaneous native fermentations and in-barrel malolactic fermentations.
The boutique winemaker has three choices:
1. Make wine at your own facility (lucky you that you have all the equipment)
2. Make wine at a custom crush facility (Alternating Proprietor Type 2)
3. Make wine on the side at the winery you probably work for (You probably have a nice employer)
A brief break during Harvest 2017 of dry-farmed Cabernet Sauvignon in Dry Creek Valley
Everyone has access to a concrete egg fermenter, right?
The debate about natural wine often misses the point of what’s practical in making, storing and maintaining the actual wine in a modern custom crush facility, (aka a facility you don’t own and make wine with as many as 40 other winemakers). As a winemaker with a Type 2 license I am an alternating proprietor at the custom crush facility and abide by the rules of the host facilities wine making protocols or suffer the consequences. For instance, I can't operate the forklift or bring in barrels that have tested for brettanomyces.
Here’s a quick list of 5 things you might want to know about custom crush facilities before you embark on your natural wine journey:
1. Regularly testing of oak barrels for brettanomyces and volatile acidity by the cellar master. The Cellar Master may remove barrels with unacceptable levels or not allow used barrels you’ve purchased into the cellar. Consolidating your natural wines into a single facility for bottling and efficiency may be stopped at the door after laboratory testing because your existing bulk inventory may have unacceptable levels of VA or brett detected and are rejected by the cellar master. Unacceptable levels may be determined by the custom crush facility, not you. Remember, there may be other winemakers in the custom crush that don’t want any hint of brett in their wines.
2. Does the cellar master use a combination steam/ozone/SO2 to clean their barrels and yours before filling them? Standard protocols in many custom crush facilities require monthly monitoring of free sulfur levels in finished wines and regular sulfur (SO2) additions to finished wines in barrel. Topping schedules are completed monthly.
3. Access to amphoras, concrete cone fermenters, large format exotic wooden casks or other non-standard fermenters. The facility may not have use or budget for less common fermentation vessels. As the start-up winemaker, you may not have the budget to buy your own less common fermentation vessel, therefore, you will use standard plastic macro bins for small lots. If you buy your own fermentation vessel and use it at a custom crush facility, who holds liability for the proper care, use and potential damage to a concrete egg or clay amphora?
4. Extended macerations on white wines take up tank space, add time and labor costs to production
5. Gravity feeding wines without the use of a pumps takes more time, which means more labor and not all facilities are built for “100% gravity fed” wines.
Just some food for thought for those considering the natural wine route.
The Shameless Winemaker
Winemakers the world over can write manifestos and mission statements until their heads explode, but in the words of Mike Tyson, "everyone comes into the ring with a plan, until they get hit."
So imagine getting hit with requests from consumers to add lemon lime soda to your wines? Sound crazy? It's not. In fact, it happens to me at nearly every large event.
How about a wine glass filled full of ice for a $50 Cabernet? It's happened. Not everyone lives in a cool climate. Take my hometown, Fresno, California. It gets hot, real hot, in summertime, 110 degrees hot and it 'cools' down at night to 92 degrees around 11pm. Who wants to drink Cabernet for dinner? Virtually no one.
People pay good money for my wines at tailgates, festivals, events and parties throughout the year. As much as I like my wines without residual sugar or sweetness, not everyone does. What's the easiest way to add sugar to a finished wine? Add your favorite lemon lime soda. What's the easiest way to cool down some wine? Add ice.
I now come equipped with both Lemon Lime soda and a couple bags of ice to almost every event I participate in and I'm making more people happy.
Listen up winemakers, we all have a plan, until we get hit.
New Release Rose of Sangiovese and The Hunter White Wine
2017 Rosé of Sangiovese was created using the saignée method, a technique whereby I drain off juice from the main body of the Sangiovese crop, which has had skin contact for a 24 hour period. The resulting juice for this Rose is light pink in color.
The juice was placed in last year’s Sangiovese barrels for primary fermentation for 14-60 days and stirred twice on the gross lees. The wine was then racked off the gross lees and returned to barrel, where it was stirred again twice, or bâtonnage, adding texture to the wine. The wine was allowed to go through partial secondary (malolactic) fermentation. The result is pale pink in color, with a bit more depth on the palate due to barrel fermentation and the partial malolactic. The wine was fermented dry.
The Hunter 2017 is a classic Bordeaux inspired white blend. The backbone is all Semillon adding structure and notes of grapefruit and melon to the blend, without any unripe flavors. I'm personally not a fan of grassy Sauvignon Blanc, so the remaining 20% is ultra-ripe Sav Blanc to lend tropical flavors to the finished blend. Added complexity comes from barrel fermentation in neutral French oak.
For those that want all the technical specs The Hunter and Rose of Sangiovese