A Wine Country Visit to New Friends and Old

We just returned from a visit to California Wine Country (Napa and Sonoma counties) where we had the opportunity to make some new friends and to renew some old friendships.  I have been traveling for the last couple of weeks and so this trip, right in the middle, provided a nice respite.

We left Chicago early Friday morning so that we wouldn't waste a complete day traveling. After arrival, we made the trek up to Napa. Our objective was to be at the Pine Ridge Winery at 2 o'clock for their vineyard and caves tour and tasting.

Since we arrived just before 10 am on Friday, we made it up to Napa in time for us to have a little lunch. We drove into the town of Napa and headed to the historic downtown area.  After navigating around a little, we found a parking lot behind the correction facility and walked to the visitor's center.

Not only did they have some great information on the Napa Valley, they also had some items perfect for wine country.  There was one we couldn't ignore -- it was a picnic kit complete with two wine glasses, plates, utensils and a cutting board that fit into the size of a lunch box.

Whoever thought up this design was a genius.

The community is in the middle of restoration work on the river so there's a lot of equipment around. I imaine that when this project is complete the riverfront part of town will be quite beautiful -- and active.  On the hunt for a place to try we passed the Pear, a New Orleans bistro. It was also the location for Chef Anne Burrell's "Chef Wanted" program that evening.

While we were intrigued, we wandered a little further until we came to Morimoto Napa.  Iron Chef Morimoto's Napa Valley restaurant.  I've never eaten in an Iron Chef's restaurant before so I couldn't pass this up. It's both a restaurant and purveyor of Asian items, too.

I started with a glass of white wine -- a Rhone blend from Joseph Kent called 'vieux carre'. I found it to be quite nice.  It went really well with the Ishi Yaki Buri Bop. Prepared table side in a 500 degree stone pot. I had seen the Iron Chef prepare something like this on the show but I never had a chance to try it myself.

Until now.

I found the flavors to be quite pronounced as I ate everything. My dining partner had the ramen noodles. Two very outstanding dishes. Sometimes you're easily disappointed at restaurants of famous Chef's. This clearly was not the case here. I'd definitely recommend it anyone who's looking for a place to eat in Napa.

After lunch (and the purchase of the picnic kit, it was off to the Stag's Leap AVA for our visit with Pine Ridge. We arrived just before 2 and had an opportunity to taste some wines that were not part of the tour. I had first learned of Pine Ridge right after Crimson Wine Group had purchased Seghesio Family Vineyards.

We had two other groups of people joining our tour and met them as we left the tasting room and headed out to the demonstration plot. This makes for an interesting visit. They have samples vines of Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and others in a variety of trellis options.

With the grapes close to ripe, it gave us an opportunity to taste a variety of grapes. Very different than table grapes. Much more acidic and sweeter. The skins can be a bit tougher than table grapes, too.  I was trying to remember what I learned last year on my visit to sister winery, Chamisal Vineyards.

From there, we toured the winery. I was intrigued by the set-up that Pine Ridge has for barrels.  The barrel room is set up with these wine racks that allow for easy turning throughout the process. They didn't seem to take up any more space than standard barrel racking.

We then moved into the fermenting room to check out the various fermentation tanks. Unlike some of the smaller wineries where they utilize open tank fermentation methods, all the fermentation takes place within the tanks utilizing special yeast cultures.

As we were walking through fermentation room as they were getting ready to bring in this year's grapes as the tanks were all clean, empty and ready to go.

From there we moved into the caves where the traditional barrel aging takes place. While these caves are man-made, they are cut into the hills surrounding the winery. They keep the temperature consistently cool.

As we entered the tunnels, the winemaker, Michael Beaulac, and assistant winemaker, Jason Ledbetter, were there in front of a series of barrels.  They are in the midst of a barrel test to determine the barrels they'll be using into the future. We also had a chance to take part in the testing as we tasted some wines from a couple of the barrels.

I lagged behind a bit to ask Micheal and Jason their favorite wines to make.  With so many wines produced by Pine Ridge it's a little like asking a parent which of their children is their favorite. As it turns out their favorites are different but complimentary.  Michael's wine was the Stag's Leap Cabernet -- a little more subtle, more lush.  Perhaps, as Micheal suggested, the Stag's Leap carried with it more feminine qualities.

Jason's favorite was the Howell Mountain Cabernet. If the Stag's Leap had feminine characteristics, what Jason liked about the Howell Mountain was it's masculinity. A perfect pair, masculine and feminine. I've enjoyed both of these wines. It's amazing to me the opportunities that a winemaker has to mold a wine to their liking  I've had several wines from the Stag's Leap district and from Howell Mountain.  They're all different.

We finished out tour with a tasting in the caves.  They had paired three different wines with different artisan cheeses. I'm always intrigued by the way a wine works with different cheeses. Since we had three very different cheeses, I thought I'd try each wine with a little of each cheese.  I was surprised that some worked and some didn't.

I think, perhaps, the best part was interacting with other folks on the tour. We had a two couples from Miami and another group of college roommates from around the country.

Since we had come in early after a full week of work and travel. The college roommates were tired after a day full of tastings.  They were headed up to Sonoma later in the weekend.  Since we typically spend more of our time in Sonoma rather than Napa, I was able to suggest a couple of options to visit later in the weekend.

After the tasting, we were back in the tasting room to add a couple of bottles to my existing wine club order and to visit further with a couple friends before heading over to Sonoma. I had thought that planning the weekend and a stay and a very attractive Bed and Breakfast was a great idea.

As it turns out the air conditioning wasn't working so well. But more of that in the next post. Thanks, Pine Ridge, for a great visit. Make sure if you're in the Napa region and haven't stopped by before, please put this vineyard on your list of must see places.

Mexico, One Glass at A Time

Forgive my homage to one of my favorite celebrity Chefs, Rick Bayless, but part of my "work" for my week of vacation was to look into the wines just south of the border. I've had a number of wines from in South America like Chile and Argentina but never from Mexico.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the band.

Now for this trip, we were staying at an all inclusive resort where all the house drinks were included ... including the vino tinto. Most of the time this red wine was a Malbec but I didn't really get a chance to look at the bottle. I suspect it came from an area on the Baja Peninsula called Valle de Guadalupe.

I say that because virtually all the bottles of Mexican wine I ran across while in Los Cabos came from this particular valley.  It started on Monday night. After spending a couple of hours of sitting through a timeshare presentation, we received a couple of free passes for a sunset dinner cruise and show. I have to say I wasn't expecting a lot.  I've been on several dinner cruises that seemed nothing more than a nice trip around a harbor and some very mediocre food.

El Arco, the view from the Pacific Ocean.

But this trip was worth every minute of the presentation.

The adventure began when we decided we'd take the local bus from San Jose del Cabo to Cabo San Lucas. Talk about moving me outside my comfort zone. But the truth is it was a cheap option from one town to the other. Instead of a taxi ride for around $50, it cost us less than $6.  It might have taken a little longer but the adventure was worth it.

The salad course was surprisingly fresh and delicious.

Arriving at the port, it took a little while until we found the spot for the launching point of our dinner cruise. This was a pleasant surprise.

Not only were the views spectacular, but the food was surprisingly good.  First, the views.  This trip took us past El Arco, the symbol of Los Cabos. The first part of the trip, while the sun was up, was touring the harbor. But it was more than a simple tour of the harbor with some city views.



We had the opportunity to see all of the many different sights around the area from Lover's Beach to Divorce Beach. One is on the Gulf of California (Lover's Beach) and the other is on the Pacific Ocean (divorce beach). Actually, you can walk from one to the other.

I found that to be a little ironic.

All the while a band was playing covers of classic and contemporary rock. I was surprised by the quality of the band. It was a lot of fun being on a boat with a lot of people I've never met and won't meet again.

After cocktails on the top deck, we came down for dinner.  We had previously selected the L.A. Cetto Cabernet Sauvignon to go with dinner. When selecting the cruise, we were given the option of fish, chicken or beef.  Now that didn't really set us up  for anticipating a delicious dinner. We selected one fish and one beef.  I assumed the fish would be a tilapia or other generic fish.

So as we sat down to dinner, I was thinking that the wine might be the highlight of the dinner.  I was wrong. Now don't assume the wine was bad. It wasn't. It was actually quite good. I was expecting something along the lines of a Two Buck Chuck. But this wine had a really nice, complex flavor.

The fish selection turned out to be a delicious sea bass with a shrimp cream sauce. The sauce was incredibly flavorful. Frankly, it was a big enough dish that it even stood up to the Cabernet. And that leads me to the beef. Or should I say ... side of beef.



The picture to the right says it all. This was not a simple Filet. This must have come from a giant cow. I ordered the filet to come medium rare. I didn't expect a piece of meat of this size which means cooking this to a nice medium rare all the way through was going to be tough.

Frankly, the chef nailed it. Wherever they sourced their food, this was no tough piece of meat. It melted in my mouth. The Cabernet was a great addition to the meal. It really complemented the beef.

Overall, everything worked well together. After the meal the cabaret show began. Again, I was impressed with the quality of the performers. When the evening ended, we even ended up buying a couple of the photos that were taken of us aboard the ship.

Taking the bus back to San Jose del Cabo, we made our way back to the hotel both pleasantly surprised by the quality of evening. The wine made me want to begin to look for sources for Mexican wines. Next up is our last dinner in Los Cabos.

Christmas: A Family Celebration

It really doesn't matter how big your family is, there's nothing better than celebrating Christmas with family. Over the last few years I've visited with various family members for Christmas.  

Since I no longer have any children living at home with me, Christmas isn't like it used to be. No excited children hoping that I'll get out of bed so they can get to their presents. That's why visiting with my brothers is always a treat. They still have children at home.

With four children and two dogs, my younger brother's house can be quite exciting. This year, we visited them after Christmas, so this Christmas was a lot quieter. There were just five of us.  Now I never want to run out of food, but perhaps 4 ribs of a standing rib roast might be a little bit too much.

With our horseradish encrusted standing rib roast we had mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry salad, brussel sprouts with a cheese sauce and some fresh bakery rolls. I wasn't sure what to serve with dinner so I tweeted out a couple of selections in hopes of getting some feedback.

My friends at Pine Ridge Winery suggested their 2009 Fortis.  Now I don't pay a lot of attention to how wines are rated. Mostly I pay attention to whether I like the wine or not.  I've had a lot of unrated wines that I really enjoy. But the 2009 Fortis was rated 93 by Wine Spectator and 92 by Robert Parker. 

I'm not sure what number I'd rate the wine but it was a perfect pairing for the standing rib roast. This Cabernet was selected from the very best vineyard blocks from the 2009 vintage. 

This is what Pine Ridge says about the wine:  

The 2009 Fortis presents an intense nose of cassis jam, black mission fig and blackberry fruit, supported by balancing aromas of rich caramel, dried rose petal and French vanilla. The black garnet color hints at the extraction of this gorgeously complex wine, confirmed by the intensity of flavors of sweet juicy blueberry and stewed black fruits beneath a harmony of chocolate ganache, dark espresso bean, brown butter and toast. Creamy tannins follow through the smooth and lasting finish of this rich and full-bodied wine.

As I've said before, I can't always pick up the aromas and flavors outlined but I did pick up on the blackberry, caramel and the vanilla. It's inky dark color hints at its bold, robust taste. The only thing bad I can say about the wine is that I only had one bottle.

The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging in the man cave with a fire in the fireplace and enjoying what I'm sure will be a new Chistmas tradition: watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. We did open a bottle of the Onyx and a bottle of Seghesio's Chianti Station to go with some cheese, salumi and crudites.

But most of all, it was a day full of family, food and fun. As the fire died down and the Christmas lights dimmed, we went to bed content. It's hard to imagine a better day.