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

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

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.

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 natural wine of Lencioni Vineyard in Healdsburg

Lencioni Vineyard: Ever since my first vintage in 2007, I have used minimally farmed Lencioni Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon in Dry Creek Valley. I’m going to use the term minimalist or natural to describe what Lencioni Vineyard is and it's typical of small farms in Sonoma County.

From a distance, Lencioni Vineyard looks like any other vineyard in Sonoma County. Rolling hillside. Beautiful view. The vineyard is laid out in clean rows, the Cabernet has a wire set up, the Zinfandel is head trained and there are remnants of the old drip irrigation system in place from 35 years ago. No water has flowed through those drip lines in 27 years.

Minimalist, Feral, Natural or Wild?

It’s the up-close and personal view, walking each row, inspecting each vine that changes your perspective from bucolic vineyard to individually wild vines.

Lencioni vineyard is ‘feral’ for lack of a better term, or perhaps ‘natural’ since that seems to be a term being used more widely in the wine business these days. The rows are difficult to walk, as thorny blackberry bushes are everywhere. Some vines are long gone, dead, forgotten. The occasional poison oak plant shows up from time to time, right next to a grape vine. The vineyard is in some places terraced and undulating and rarely ever flat due to the once, sometimes twice a year tractor work.

Two things happen in the vineyard each year, the rows get disced and the vine gets pruned. That’s it. Nothing else. No sulfur has been applied on these vines in over 10 years. No soil amendments, no cover crop (unless you count blackberry bushes) and most of all, no human applied water. Only Mother Nature provides water.

With this minimalist approach, in 10 years I’ve never seen mildew or rot. The birds don’t eat the grapes. I don’t see bugs or pests. No deer or wild pigs. And without a single drop of pesticide, fungicide or foliar spray, the vineyard survives.

The Wabi - Sabi of the Vineyard

I recently highlighted the struggles micro winemakers, like me, have with small farms, irregularity in harvests being one of them. In 2011, a wet and tempermental year in Dry Creek Valley, I had zero crop from Lencioni. In 2012, regarded as a great, near perfect vintage, I received over 6 tons of fruit from the Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard, the most I’ve ever received. Since the banner year crop of 2012, I’ve seen decreasing yields each year. In 2017 I’ll have harvested less than 1 ton of fruit from the Cabernet vineyard.

Working with the minimalist Lencioni Vineyard is indicative of what micro winemakers, like me, experience; high quality, pure expression of fruit with an unreliable yield and fickle vineyard management, near textbook example of the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi. It's strange to hear the words unreliable and fickle in the wine business; we're conditioned to hear perfect and dependable. Working with small farms is anything but perfect, but in that imperfection is beauty, the beauty of the fruit in the final wine.

What's Love Got to Do with It?

It took one full week of labor to pick 2 tons of fruit, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon in 2017.  We started picking September 1 for Zinfandel and September 5 for Cabernet. The vineyards are spread over 4.5 acres. It’s a pain to pick. It’s pure labor. Love has nothing to do with it. Paid crews don’t want to work it. The fruit is scarce, so hourly labor, not by-the-ton, is how crews got paid in the past. This year, I paid myself to pick it. Let’s hope that I can persuade someone to disc the vineyard a couple times in 2018 and get someone, other than my family, to pick Lencioni Cabernet and Zinfandel in 2018. Picking isn't easy, but like an old climbing buddy told me, "picking was easier than climbing the Eiger:" True.

The upside, after all this labor to pick such a vineyard? The fruit is delicious. The wine I make from Lencioni is intense, beautiful, colorful and full of character. I don’t need to do much of anything to it, as heartiness in the vineyard translates into heartiness on the crushpad and full-flavored wine in the bottle. The 2014 Signature is currently released and is 100% Lencioni Vineyard. The wine was completely on used barrels in 2015 and 2016 and will likely be released under my Signature label sometime in late 2018 and 2019 respectively. 

Micro Winemakers Under Threat

Jon Bonne’s book The New California Wine gave voice to many winemakers. He wrote more recently in PunchDrink, questioning what the future looks like for winemakers such as me.

You can’t make a living on 500 cases.

Winemakers who are adaptable, not doctrinaire have the greatest chance for success. The trouble is, if your hit eclectic varietal is limited in acreage or is planted in a distant part of the state, how does a New Californian style winemaker follow up their big local winemaking hit if their resources are limited to 2 tons or roughly 100 cases? Or even 500 cases? You can’t make a living on 500 cases.

The next generation of start-up winemakers will have to have a portfolio of adaptable skills, both boutique and industrial. Winemakers have to be well versed in wine style, interventionist and non-interventionist, what sells to distributors, direct to bottle shops, sommelier driven restaurants and in the tasting room. The approach is practical, not dogmatic and not out of step with some of the winemakers in New California. Defining the terms natural and industrial seems to be the hottest topic in wine making these days, when only 5 years ago wine making was all about balance, as in pursuit of. How will natural be re-defined in 5 more years? How will the broad California appellation evolve?

Cabernet in Sonoma Vs. Barbera in Mendo

We as winemakers have to be both aggressive and flexible in simply finding fruit. I can find Cabernet in Sonoma County pretty easily if I can afford it. But I can’t find Sangiovese and Barbera, at least not at the price I’d like. I could go to the Foothills, but good luck if they deliver in 2 ton lots to Cloverdale. I could go to Lake or Mendocino County for a couple tons, but I’ll have to pick it up and prices aren’t $500/ton any more for small lots. Try closer to $1500/ton and many growers won’t sell 2 tons lots.

A wine sold at $25/bottle full retail is not a sustainable model for a stand-alone winery if the fruit alone sells for $2500/ton, not including crush fees. $2500 per ton and higher is not uncommon for many varietals in Sonoma County, my backyard. Winemaking can work as a side-hobby, but not as a self-sustaining business with a 500 case production, so don’t quit your day job.

Sure, there are pockets of small vineyards in Dry Creek and Alexander Valley looking to sell to “home winemakers”, but fruit quality and consistency can be painfully erratic. I know; I purchase from small farms every season. As winemaker, I have to be part time vineyard manager and viticulturist.

Mechanization

Lodi is already dealing with lower yields on old-vine Zinfandel and increases in labor and facility costs. Much of that planted acreage will sell to the highest bidder or simply be torn out and replaced with younger, more vigorous varietals and planted for mechanized harvesting. Recent articles show the increasing economic concerns of growers dealing with decreasing yields and increasing labor or skills costs. Mechanization is here and is growing.

There was (past tense) a wave of New Californian winemaker using forgotten varietals at cheap prices. Now, everyone is using them (again). Unfortunately, those varietals are more expensive as demand has increased, or simply, those vines have been ripped out in favor of more vigorous and popular varietals that demand higher prices.

Small vineyards with eclectic varietals lack scale. Custom crush fees have increased from the time The New California Wine book was written. Today, with more elaborate “cooperative” spaces that require higher fees for smaller lots and minimum sizes of 10 or 20 tons crushed, not a grand total of 5 tons for a micro winery. Increases in varietal price and crush fees have squeezed margins on the entire boutique winemaking industry. Prices for Cabernet and Sangiovese are going up, not down, in premium wine growing regions.

As a winemaker, I make natural wine from a less popular varietal, Sangiovese. I also make a full-flavored Cabernet Sauvignon with plenty of new oak. I exist in four worlds, the natural and the industrial, the non-interventionist and interventionist. I even have a winemaking manifesto ascribing to a particular belief, Make Great Wine from Great Grapes! I’m a winemaker, playing the hand dealt to me by each season’s harvest and always thinking about the future.

I AM the New California winemaker and proud of it.

Harvest 2017, Mid Season Report

Every indication, leading up to harvest in 2017, showed a gradual ripening schedule, perhaps 7-10 days behind 2016. Fruit quality looked good, with some vineyard concerns of powdery mildew. Canopy growth was vigorous, fruit set was good. Yields in some vineyards were lower than expected, but healthy vines from all the rainfall.

Personally, I’m happy to have high quality, low yield, if there has to be some trade-off.

Lencioni Vineyard Dry Farmed Cabernet Sauvignon

The gradual and stable weather gave way to hot temperatures beginning the end of August and came in a couple waves. 100+degrees in Healdsburg on 8/26, 27, 28 with an overnight low on the 28th at 56 (which helps); as Dry Creek Valley behaves differently than Alexander Valley, the fog lingered a little longer in Dry Creek Valley.

Then the real heat came and the morning fog disappeared.

August 31 through September 2 saw 110 degree temps in Dry Creek Valley with the crushpad up in Alexander Valley at 119. Overnight lows were in the high 60's. We “cooled” down  to 104 on Sept 3 and 90 degrees on Sept 4 with a bit of humidity and a thick haze throughout Alexander and Dry Creek Valley.

So what did all this wild weather mean to Mastro Scheidt Cellars?

All hands on deck at Mastro Scheidt...it was 110 degrees that day

It meant all hands on deck to pull my dry farmed feral Lencioni vineyard grapes off as soon as possible! 100% hand picked and sorted means you don’t take raisins. Hand-picked also means you start early and finish early because it’s hot, real hot and you don’t want the fruit fermenting in the vineyard if you can help it. 

And then, strangely enough, on 9/7 there was precipitation early morning and up through 11am. Not a light rain, but real rain. On 9/13 the rain came again and dumped pretty good in the morning and the sun never came out, maybe a high of 70 at the crushpad.

Cabernet and TL can handle the rain. They're both tough

There are still a few things to bring in before the season is complete and the steady weather pattern is back in effect. But who knows, the sooner I'm off the vine the better.

December Feasting

Fresh sea urchin in Santa Barbara, right off the boat. Whole roasted, bone in rib-eye cooked by yours truly only to be followed up by braising the bones and pulling the meat for Bolognese the following night. Lobster tails on Christmas Eve. Hand-made pasta at Cousin Vince's house paired with one of the first wines I ever made, a 2007 Dry Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. Freshly made cannoli by Mom.

I lost track of how many times I had rib-eye over the month of December. House to house, night to night, city by city it seemed rib-eye was being served. The only break in the rib-eye action was on Christmas Day when Cousin Jeff brought over some antelope (outstanding) and wild duck breasts from three different types of ducks, canvasback being one of them. Delicious (please ignore the unceremonious plating job). Wild ducks are not what most people are used to being served in restaurants, there isn't much fat on these, but the breast meat has a depth of flavor that rivals almost any beef. Cabernet is still too harsh for duck, but Pinot shines with duck, and I've always got some Pinot on hand.

From the Cellar a 2007 Dry Creek Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

It was a fantastic December of family, friends, food and drink. A great way to end 2016.

Google Trends: Prime Rib and Cabernet Sauvignon

It's December, so guess what people in the United States want?

Prime Rib and Cabernet Sauvignon! Lucky me.

Steak sealed in butter and finished in the oven

Prime rib is the go-to meal in December or as the trends show, the day after Thanksgiving people start searching Prime Rib.

It's also curious to research what people are searching related to Prime Rib, like "Christmas Dinner Ideas" as if there were anything better.

I'll be highlighting a few meals of my own along with friends and family showcasing all forms of beef and some of my Cabernet Sauvignon. Enjoy the show.

The Jug from 1976 to 2016

A jug of wine is nothing new in my family. Below is a photo from 1976, summer vacation in Aptos, CA. My Dad in the foreground, my Grandma and my brother John in the back; I'm there on the right in the yellow shirt. And in the middle of it all, a big 3 liter jug of red wine with a screw cap. No fancy wine glass, just something to drink with the meal. Let's face it, those old jugs weren't the best red wine in the world or California. They were drinkable.

Fast forward to 2016, I've improved the quality of wine I put in my half-gallon growler. The Mastro Scheidt Jug Red Wine is purposely made, not an afterthought or with 'left-overs'. I blend several varietals from Sonoma County to craft an easily drinkable red wine for the entire table. It is bottled unfined, unfiltered, and without additional sulphites. The Jug is 64 oz or 1.89L of wine, nearly 3 normal size bottles.

Give the Jug a try. Find it online or at your local retailer in Fresno and Bakersfield. Sorry, no out-of-California sales.

---

My Mastrogiacomo Rosso is a Sonoma County product, filled with top quality, hand-picked fruit. 

Signature 2013 Sold Out

Another vintage, another sell-out. Signature 2013 was a pure Cabernet Sauvignon from Dry Creek Valley. It was rated 90 Points on release earlier in 2016 and was sold out by October. 

Thanks to everyone who picked up this wine on release and throughout the Summer of 2016. Many thanks! Until the next release.

Comfort food dinner in Healdsburg

Now that Fall has dropped in, the timing was perfect for me to stop being a winemaker for the night and put on the apron to cook a comfort food meal among friends. Warm, hearty, rich foods with copious amounts of Mastro Scheidt red wines, pair perfectly with the Fall season; and yes, I slipped in a barrel sample of Rose, because I can (Rose pairs nicely with the sliders...)

Duo of Brioche Sliders

Italian Salsa Verde

Delicata Squash

Toasted and Seasoned Nuts and Seeds

Sugo di Funghi

Fregula

Rigitoni Bolognese

Skirt steak

Skirt Steak

Mastro Scheidt Dinner

The Grapes of Harvest

Sample. Taste. Repeat.

It's all about the grapes. Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Sirah, Syrah, Merlot, Barbera, Cabernet Franc, Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Muscat Blanc was harvested by Mastro Scheidt in 2016.

No two seasons are the same and no two varietals are the same. My wines change with the seasons. Winemaking is not an exact science, it's subject to undiversifiable risk, known as Mother Nature.  I'm showing the beautiful pics, the highlight reel. There's a lot, behind the scenes, the day in, day out unromantic reality of what I do with these grapes. There are a lot of steps to get raw grapes from the field to the bottle.

Enjoy the beauty of harvest.

Overseeing the Pick

One of the earliest vineyards we picked was Sangiovese

A classic pick and Zinfandel

My family hand picked a vineyard of Syrah and Zinfandel

A full bin of Sangiovese

A view of the Russian River Valley vineyard from behind the bin

Row 12 of Dry Creek Merlot

One of the most well maintained vineyards in the Valley

Hand picked Merlot

Hand picked and Hand sorted

In full color

Great looking Merlot from Dry Creek Valley

A plump cluster

Sample, Sample, Sample

You gotta get in the vineyard and take your samples

It's all about the juice

Rose of Sangiovese

More hand picking

Early morning grapes

Night picked Cabernet Sauvignon

Hillside Cabernet came in to the crushpad at 6am

Dry farming...for 30 years

Dry farmed Cabernet Sauvignon in Dry Creek Valley. It's not easy, but the results are excellent

Harvest Weekend with the Family

"Each man delights in the work that suits him best"

Homer, The Odyssey

The 2016 Harvest marks the first time the entire family came out to pick some grapes and see the process, from start to finish. Three generations of family were on site to see what the harvest is all about.

John hauling Zinfandel

Watching the grapes destemmed

TL and The Judy

Preparing to Pick

Watching

On the crushpad

TL, same picture, different year

Coordinating the picking

In the cellar

Just watching the process

Cuginos in Dry Creek Valley

A stylish grape harvest

A big haul

Sharing some grapes

She found some fruit

Testing the grapes

Last minute instruction

Coordinating the grape dumps

Another big haul of grapes

In the vineyard

Having some fun

I picked these grapes!

All together in the cellar

Harvest 2016 is Just Getting Started

HARVEST 2016

After a brief period of cool weather in late August, the Sonoma County wine grape harvest has started for Mastro Scheidt Family Cellars.

The white grapes, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadelle, and Semillon are 100% in, while the Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Syrah, Pinot, Merlot and dry-farmed Cabernet are all coming in within the next 7 - 10 days. Conditions are very good and the weather is stable, all good news. The vineyard and Mother Nature did their work well.

If you are a follower or would like to follow on Instagram or Facebook, I'm posting behind-the-scenes videos and pictures of the harvest. Everything from broken down trucks to tasting press wine, it's not always glamorous, but it is real.

SAVE THE DATES

Save the Dates for November 4 and 5 if you are one of my Fresno / Central Valley customers. Those are the dates for our Harvest and New Release Party. I will send you an invitation as we get closer to the dates. The Bulldog football game is away that weekend.

David Scheidt
Proprietor / Winemaker

2013 1TL Cabernet - Sold Out!

Released back in April of this year, the 2013 1TL D. Rafanelli Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, rated 90 points is now SOLD OUT!

Done! Finished! Gone!

Don't worry, the 2014 1TL Cabernet Sauvignon is already in the bottle and sitting tight, waiting to be released. 

But it won't be released today.

If you want to be on the waiting list for your allocation of the 2014 1TL, please fill out the form below and press the SUBMIT button. I will contact you directly regarding release date and your allocation.

The 2016 Harvest is Coming

I love watching movie trailers. A good friend was at ComicCon updating me on what's coming out this year and next; lots of DC, Marvel and Disney (you know, the company that owns Star Wars) stuff.

Not to be left out of the trailer game, The Scheidt Brothers, in association with One Take Productions (what we call ourselves when we produce a goofy video) put together a Harvest Trailer for this season. My brother and I have been doing these fun little skits since we were kids. And like many trailers, I wasn't afraid to embellish... a lot! Please be kind, it's my first video production. Remember, goofy video, serious wine. Enjoy!

Paradise Patio Party Couscous Recipe

Paradise, California. 

There is such a place. It's just off Highway 395 nestled in at 5,200 feet. I've been to a few patio parties there in the last couple years. For this party, I prepared a couscous salad, along with my tri-tip beef skewers. 

Here's the recipe for the couscous salad:

Cooked Couscous
4 cups Couscous
4 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
2 teaspoons salt
½ cup olive oil
Follow package instructions for the cooking of the couscous.

After couscous is cooked, let cool on an oiled large sheet tray so that the couscous can be worked over by hand. Using your hands (kitchen gloves make this easier and less messy), make sure the couscous is coated in the olive oil. Break up any clumps of couscous with your hands. This will prevent it from clumping up later if you are making your couscous in advance and it sits. Couscous should be “light and fluffy” not clumpy and starchy. 

For the dressing
1 small handful of fresh mint, chiffonade
4 red bell peppers, minced
10 green onions, minced
½ cup Olive oil
½  cup Rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Ras el Hanout (to be found at places like Trader Joe’s and Cost Plus)
1 teaspoon salt

Combine all the dressing ingredients in a large bowl and allow ingredients to marinate together for an hour. This will help soften the edge of the bell peppers and green onions.

Combine Couscous and Dressing

Combine the cooled couscous and the dressing together in the large bowl. You can serve immediately or hold for a couple hours at room temperature.

If I may be so bold, grilled tri tip skewers and couscous salad pair really well with my Cabernet Cuvee. Yes, that is a picture of several red wines kept cool on ice. It's 100 degrees in Paradise at 5pm in the summer, I wouldn't want to drink my red wine either if it were "room temperature"!

2013 Mastro Scheidt 1-T-L receives 90 Points

As I mentioned, more 90 point ratings in the pipeline.

The 2013 1TL bottling is a very special selection of vineyard designate fruit from D. Rafanelli Vineyard and is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. It's a bit of a monster early, but given time in cellar, will show wonderfully over the next 10 years.

Signature Cabernet - In Depth

I've received plenty of questions in the last couple days about the Signature Cabernet since the 2013 received 90 points. 

The overwhelming difference between each of the Signature bottlings is the year harvested. 2011 was a leaner year, with more rainfall and less warm temperatures and longer hang time. 2012 was the “perfect” vintage, with virtually zero anomalous weather, plenty of warm sunshine and an abundance of fruit. 2013 was a drought year with significantly lower yields in every vineyard, thus higher concentration of fruit and flavors and picked a month ahead of the 2011.

With regard to vineyards used, in 2013, 100% of the Rafanelli crop was bottled into the 1-T-L series. The 1TL has always been a hand-selected lot of vineyard designate fruit since the first vintage in 2007 and therefore was not blended in the Signature bottling. Both the Signature and 1TL bottlings in 2013 received 90 points. The 1TL bottling is more concentrated and powerful than Signature in 2013, is pure Cabernet Sauvignon from Dry Creek Valley and a true example of terroir within a vineyard.

All three Signature wines are available, but with limited quantity, as I hold a certain portion back for retrospective tastings on development of each vintage and for wine dinner exclusives.

The Results: The 2011 wine shows more like a French styled Bordeaux wine, leaner with minerality and tobacco but without green characteristics. 2012 is the richly flavored California Cab so many people have come to identify with, while 2013 has become generous and velvety in style. Each wine will continue to develop in the bottle over the next 10 years.