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.

An Evening with Four Sisters

The other night we went to the Ravinia Festival for our third concert of the season. Tonight's show? The B52's and the Go-Go's. Nothing like enjoying a little bit of the 80's all over again. After a week of rain off and on, Saturday night was perfect.

Three sisters lined up for the evening

For those in the Chicagoland area, there's nothing like being able to spend a beautiful evening at the Ravinia Festival. They have concerts virtually every night all summer long. And for the really popular concerts it helps to be a donor.  A small contribution and you can enter the park 30 minutes before the gate opens to the general public.

This was one of those concerts. We arrived in time to take advantage of the early donor entrance. This allowed us to set up in close proximity to the pavilion so we could see the the stage screens from our seats. There's nothing like a delicious picnic on a beautiful evening with good food and great wines.

For this night's concert, I chose four sisters to share with my cousin Elizabeth and her husband Dale. These four sisters come from sister wineries, Seghesio, Pine Ridge, Chamisal and Archery Summit.  We started with the Fiano from Seghesio Family Vineyards. All of these wineries are owned by Crimson Wine Group.

Fiano is a wine enjoyed by the ancient Romans who referred to it as Apiano because bees were attracted to it as the harvest approached. The Seghesio family's introduction to this wine came through a blind tasting and they soon became the first grower in Sonoma County to grow this particular grape. With origins in the marine -influenced Italian village of Avellino, Fiano grows very well in the Russian River Valley.

This wine reminds me a little bit of a Pinot Grigio but more complex. It starts with floral aromas and a hint of pear and lime zest. The pear flavors come through very strongly, too. There's a hint of honey that comes through at the end. (Perhaps this is what the bees of ancient Rome were looking for!).

It paired well with our appetizers of several cheeses, a goat cheese, a cheddar and havarti. We also had some olives and some homemade pickles.  We also had some smoked salmon and a few slices of various charcuterie.

Our second bottle of wine was the Estate Rose from Chamisal Vineyards.  This was also a fruit forward wine with strong aromas of strawberry and cream.  Up until last summer's visit to wine country I had never really thought much of Rose wines. I put them in the same category as white zinfandel.

But I was wrong. I've found that the Rose wines make for a great summer wines. With both the Fiano and the Rose being chilled, provided some relief to a warm afternoon.

I found the Rose surprisingly fresh and yet complex. That may be the result of the calcareous, clay-rich soils of Chamisal Vineyards. Having been on the tour on a recent visit to the Vineyard, I can see how the soil could impart unique flavors.  I found the wine to be more than just a smooth drinking wine.  I found the flavors to be very rich . . . reminiscent of the Pinot Noir that forms the base of this wine.

My cousin Elizabeth determined that everything tastes better with Reddi-Whip. That includes not just the fruit and pound cake but also the peanut butter cups.  It's certainly something to keep in mind in the future.

The music began as we just finished this bottle. It was time to open up the Archery Summit Estate Pinot Noir.  From the Dundee Hills region of Oregon's Willamette Valley, this wine really reflects the quality of wines from Oregon.  I recently wrote a post about my recent visit to the winery -- it was the last of the four sisters for me to visit.

Each one of the wineries is producing fabulous estate wines but they're all unique. Each one of the winemakers takes the unique terroir of each vineyard and the grapes to develop really spectacular wines.  The Estate Pinot Noir from Archery Summit is no exception.

This wine opens with aromas of slate. You can really pick up on minerals of the wines.  When you taste the wine you can really pick up on the dark red cherry flavors of this wine along with depth of flavors. The finish of this wine is velvety smooth.

As it turns out it was a great way to finish the evening. Since we still needed to drive home from the concert, I decided not to open the Onyx from Pine Ridge Winery.  This is one of my favorite Bordeaux blends.

As the concert wound down, we ended the evening with a little coffee and pound cake (and of course the Reddi-Whip).  As we were putting away the tables and chairs, the B52's were belting out their hit single Rock Lobster.

Over the years we've developed a pretty good pattern for what we bring to Ravinia. We've seen so many different set-ups that we've created our own picnic package.  Now I'm looking forward to our next concert -- Heart.  A continuation of the 80's theme for this year.

If you haven't tried some of the other wines from these great wineries, I would encourage you to do so

Does Wine Have to be So Complicated?

Do a search on wine books on Amazon and you'll find nearly 100,000 results. That's just books. There's videos, software and apps. Really?

Can wine really be that complicated?

Perhaps we're making it more complicated than we need it to be.  Just for fun, I did a search on wine pairings for Chinese chicken with cashews.  I got all kinds of recommendations. Red wine. White wine. Bold wines. Light and fruity wines.

Over the last few years I've done a number wine tastings. Some of those have been really fun experiences and some have been . . . well less than joyful.  In fact, several friends have told me how one of those wine aficionados have almost ruined their enjoyment of wine.

I've talked to others who've been incredibly intimidated by those types of folks and it's made them afraid to step out of their comfort zone. They drink the same wine all the time.  Sometimes it comes out as: "don't serve any good wine, I can't tell the difference."

That is until they taste some really good wine.  It's not the price of the wine that determines whether it's good or not.

At the end of the day, wine is something that should be enjoyed.


I'm grateful to my friends at Seghesio who helped me expand my palate from drinking just their Zinfandels to enjoying their great Grenache, Petit Sirah, Barbera, Anglianico, various field blends and of course their Sangiovese. I've branched out to other Sonoma County wineries like Frick, John Tyler Wines, Arista, Francis Ford Coppola wines.  I've enjoyed wines from Pine Ridge in Napa and Chamisal Vineyards in San Luis Obispo.


When I'm out with folks for dinner I'm often asked to choose the wine. I know I don't have a better palate than any of the people I'm with.  I tend to be a bit adventurous.  I don't always order a wine that I've had before.  I like to try something new.

But that doesn't mean that I don't have a plan. Sometimes I've had a wine that I liked from the same region.  For instance, I've never had a Chardonnay from the Russian River Valley that I didn't like.  Just last night I was out to dinner with clients and was asked to select the wines for dinner.

I had never really had any of the wines before but I do know that the Willamette Valley in Oregon has some really great Pinot Noirs. It was an Italian restaurant so I found a nice reserve Chianti as well.  As it turns out, the choices were pretty good.

This year I want to encourage those who are a little unsure of themselves to step out and try something new. Mostly I want people to enjoy making memories with friends and families over great food and wine.

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.