Notes from the Vineyard_Part 2

In my last post, Every Meal A Feast shared how much grapes, and ultimately wine, an acre of vineyards typically produces. So want to grow your own grapes? Here's a typical planting cycle, courtesy of my friends at Nord Vineyards.

Year 1: Plant

Year 2: Grown

Year 3: Harvest 1 ton/acre

Year 4: Harvest 2 tons/acre

Year 5: Harvest 3.5 tons/acre

Year 6: Full production

The beauty, of course, is that with the proper care, grapevines can produce for 50+ years. Anyway, with a little patience...

Notes from the Vineyard_Part 1

With the 2008 Napa Valley grape harvest and 2008 Sonoma County grape harvest winding down, I thought I'd share some fun vineyard-grape-wine facts and figures, courtesy of my friends at Nord Vineyards.

* A typical acre of vines produces about 4 tons per acre.

* A ton of grapes produces 160 gallons of wine.

* A barrel holds 59 gallons of wine, or, at 2.5 gallons per case, about 25 cases of wine.

* Thus, 4 tons makes 640 gallons of wine, which is about 250 cases per acre.

Now let's take this one step further. Say a wine has a retail price of $20 per bottle. That's $240 per case. So each acre of grapes produces a total of $60,000 worth of wine -- $240 times 250 cases. Wow!

You Ladies are EXPENSIVE!

Brrrrr -- it's been cold of late in the mornings! And that means potential frost damage to -- be still your heart -- our grapes. Yesterday I was on my way to that awesome Napa Valley lodging site, The Wine Country Inn, when I saw all the various keep-the-vines-frost-free "things" going: big fans whirring away (to circulate air), sprinklers spitting, portable pots puffing out warm smoke, etc. Later, talking to my friends at Nord Vineyards, who own or manage 900 Napa Valley vineyard acres, I learned several things, including:

* The Nords believe they've lost about 10% (or 90 acres) of grapevine buds

* Spring frost can't kill the grapevines, it can only damage the new growth, and thus make those vines not produce any grapes that year

Foreground, warming pots; background, sprinklers

Well, 90 acres doesn't sound like a whole lot, does it? But I did the math: you get approximately 4 tons of grapes per acre, which translates into about 250 cases of wine per acre. Say each bottle is $25, that's $300 per case. So each acre produces about $76,800 of wine. Multiple that by 90 acres... and that's $6,912,000 in lost revenue to wineries, grape growers, etc. Ouch! Mother Nature (one of the "Ladies" referred to in the title) can be humbling, and expensive, force! Anyway, keep warm this weekend, and know that the vineyard management folks are working hard to keep the vineyards warm, too.

Cover Crop Cropper

As I've mentioned earlier, vineyard folks around the Napa Valley and Sonoma County are busy cutting the cover crops between vineyard rows (now that the buds are starting to break on the vines, you don't want the cover crops sucking up the water/nutrients that could be going to the vines). Anyway, on my dallies around the Napa Valley, I saw not a tractor but these fine cover crop croppers in action. The place: The Napa Valley Reserve. (Check em out: great web site, awesome concept... IF you've got $160,000 to invest.) Ciao.

Napa Valley New

You know that you've found a place with quality wines and a careful attention to detail when you stop into a winery's tasting room and meet the owner... and he's not only behind the counter pouring wine, he's also hand-drying the wineglasses for that perfect "sparkle."

Such was the case the other day when I stopped in at Envy Wines, just north of Calistoga at the upper northern part of the Napa Valley, and met owner and vintner Mark Carter. Mark has partnered with his winemaker buddy Nils Venge to form Envy, which opened in March 2007. They make high-quality, low-production, pleasing-to-the-senses wines, including a Sauvignon Blanc and a Cabernet Sauvignon. Now while I really liked the Envy wines for their drinkability, I REALLY liked Mark's very-low-production, high-end ($100+ per bottle) Carter Cellars wines. My favorite (which I bought one bottle!) was their 05 Cabernet Sauvignon from the "Beckstoffer to Kalon Vineyard", of which only 150 cases were produced. This wine has great flavors and feel, and while it could easily be cellared for several more years, it doesn't hit you with the harsh tannins so many other "big" Napa Valley cabs can do. Anyway, check out Envy Wines sometime...and say "hi" to Mark behind the counter paying attention to those details!

Envy Wines
1170 Tubbs Lane, Calistoga 94515

envywines.com

707-942-4670

An Oscar of a Winery

With Sunday's 80th Academy Awards still fresh in most people's minds, why not talk about an Oscar food-and-wine connection: Francis Ford Coppola's (he of multiple Oscars fame) Rosso y Bianco winery near Geyserville. The winery is a great facility which the Great One has Big Plans For in terms of updating and remodeling, including (I've been told) adding a swimming pool and other goodies to turn it into a family day adventure. And the wine is... well, I like (though not love) it but it's early in their Sonoma County stay so stayed tuned...because FFC has a habit of doing great things. Enjoy the pics....

"That's gold, Jerry! Gold!"

Yes, we did a cellar tour...

Friend Tim at the piano...

Great views from the patio...

Anyway, check out Rosso y Bianco for a little bit of the Great One...and some nice wines, too.

On the RR Wine Road

Wow, just back from a grueling day of work (!) touring Sonoma County wineries with my friends/clients G. and R. I., as part of our education of Sonoma County wine, food, and wedding options. Today, we began in Healdsburg, then went south on Westside Road, visiting wineries which fall in the Russian River appellation. Hop Kiln Winery has a great location, Garry Farrell Winery stunning views, but we all agreed that the "wow' wines (at least for us, on this day) were found at relatively new (about four-six years old) Arista Winery. We all LOVED their 2006 Sonoma County Pinot Noir, which was just released February 1, 2008 (400 cases; $30/bottle). Owned by the McWilliams family, Arista (which is derived from the Greek word aristos, which means "the best") is definitely a place to check out...and wines to know about.

Later, lunch at the Hoffman House Cafe in Geyserville. Had the crab cake reuben--very nice. Is life good or what?

Arista Winery

7015 Westside Road, Healdsburg 95448

707-473-0606

open daily 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

New Wine Web Site

I'm excited to announce that my friends at Nord Estate Wines in Yountville, in the Napa Valley, have just launched a new web site: http://www.nordvineyards.com/. I think it's a great reflection on their three core businesses, which are: vineyard management, wine making, and vineyard ownership. In fact, it's the Nord's family love of the land that I think sets them apart among all Napa Valley wineries. The Nord's are first and foremost vineyard folks. They get their boots dirty and have their hands on the vines. This translates directly into their winemaking, where they focus on producing the most superior fruit possible and then "touching" the fruit as little as possible during the winemaking process.

And best of all, they've been practising sustainable vineyard management practices for more than thirty years and are recognized throughout the Napa Valley and the State of California as leaders in this movement.

Anyway, check out their new web site, and by all means, check out their great wines: drinkable, affordable, and with something else most other Napa Valley wineries lack -- a sense of fun.

Tours and tastings by appointment.

Contact Julie Nord for information: 707-945-1094

Wine Trip!

Had a wonderful time this past Saturday with my friend Dan Christensen, Jr. (whose family owns both the Geyserville Inn and the Hoffman House Restaurant in Geyserville) on a wine outing to several Sonoma Country wineries. Not only did we get to taste some great wines while hanging out with old friends, we made some new friends, too. (Funny how wine makes that happen!)

That's Dan in the Red Sweatshirt (Thanks Dan!)

We stopped first at Seghesio Family Vineyards in Healdsburg. Wow, very nice, as in the past year or two the winery has been completely remodeled. Seghesio has been "sharing uncommon ground" since 1895. And while in the past they have focused on bulk wines, they have now moved to higher-end wines, and in particular Zinfandel and Italian grapes, such as Sangiovese.

We had a private tasting in one of their upstairs rooms. Too cool for school! My favorite was the 2005 Home Ranch Zinfandel from Alexander Valley ($36/bottle). Many others in the group, though, really liked the 2004 Omaggio (Italian for "homage", in tribute to the Seghesio grandparents), which is a blend of Cab Sauvignon and Sangiovese.

Anyway, it's a great location, a cool tour, nice facility...and awesome wines. Check it out sometime.

Seghesio Family Vineyards

14730 Grove Street, Healdsburg

Open for tasting 10:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m.

P.S. More details from our trip later!

Cool in the Clouds

Wow, had a great time earlier this week with my friend G. at the ultra-trendy, ultra-hip -- and extremely welcoming -- Upper Fourth bar in downtown Santa Rosa. Upper Fourth, owned by locals Molly Gallaher and Ivan Richard, is celebrating its one-year anniversary this month.

I love the feel of the place: leather chairs, fireplace, great lighting. Plus in addition to the central room complete with bar, there are two or three other small rooms for more intimate gatherings -- including a "game" room with full-sized poker table. Too cool!

Upper Fourth of course specializes in hip drinks, and has a nice wine list. Food options are limited, though the two appetizers I had -- Spanish-spiced almonds and a wonderful red pepper humus -- were awesome.

Definitely check out Upper Fourth, which gets its name from being on the second floor. (And yes, it has some great views of the city down below.) It's a hip crowd, but hey, I hung out there and didn't get kicked out so you can too.

G.: Whispers in the Dark

Upper Fourth

96 Old Courthouse Square (next to Flavor Restaurant)

573-0522

Happy Happy Happy Dec. 5

Good morning all, and happy December 5th... which of course (!) is the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition! (In fact, this Dec 5th is the 75th anniversary.)

That's right: 75 years ago today the 21st Amendment to the Constitution became ratified, thereby repealing the 18th Amendment which had, nationwide, prohibition the making, sale, or drinking of alcohol.

So tonight, lift a glass of beer or wine or champagne and give a toast to our Constitution that allows us life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...and to drink!

(Interesting side note: The 21st Amendment is the only Amendment repealing an earlier amendment.)

The Thrill of Victory...

...tastes so much better when compared to the agony of defeat. I'm disappointed to report that the St. Rose Fighting Eagles 6th grade girls volleyball team came up short in their quest for the NBCS league championship, losing on Saturday 19-25 and 17-25 to arch-rival St. Helena. Overall I was very proud of the girls for their improvement over the course of the year, how they learned to play well as a team, and for how they handled themselves in defeat (and yes, before the game we did talk about how, win or lose, to act). Mad in particular had a great year. Here's a pic of her with the second place trophy:

The game reminded me of a quote I saw recently on a blog about Soviet champagne posters:

In victory, you deserve champagne;

In defeat, you need it.

Anyway, the Soviet poster blog is pretty cool. Here's an example:

And if you like champagne (or simply want to learn more about it), a great place to visit is Schramsberg in the Napa Valley. Schramsberg's history dates to 1862, when it became the first Napa Valley hillside winery. The grounds are beautiful, the tour is very educational and interesting, and the wines, well, awesome. The tour is a bit pricey--$25 per person--but I would strongly recommend this splurge. (And if nothing else, drive up to the winery and just walk around---the drive up the hillside is strikingly beautiful, among the redwoods and old oak trees.)

The Old Winery

Through the Forest

And Mad: We'll get em next year!

State of the Grape: Part 2

The 2007 Sonoma County grape harvest and 2007 Napa Valley grape harvest are in full-swing right now. Workers are tromping through vineyards throughout the night (to pick the grapes in the moonlit coolness); trucks are busily--and noisily--plodding across back roads, main roads, and highways. Winemakers and other winery workers are busy crushing. All in all, it's an exciting time, full of the promise--and the flavor--of things to come.

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit my friends at Nord Estate Wines to witness their bottling. This process usually takes place in August, primarily to empty the tanks and barrels to make free space to take in the new grapes which will be coming in in September and October. The "mobile bottling" is a fun--and fast!--experience. Here's how it works:

1. empty bottles enter a convey belt at the back of the mobile bottling truck



2. each bottle is shot with air, to blow out dust and other unwanted particles

3. each bottle is shot full of Nitrogen, to push out the air (oxygen, of course, damages wine)

4. each bottle is over-filled with wine


5. the extra wine is pulled out, and the bottle sealed with nitrogen

6. the cork is placed inside each bottle

7. a foil cap is placed on top of each bottle (pretty much the only by-hand step)

8. a machine seals the foil cap

9. the label is placed on each bottle

10. the bottles return to the back of the truck, where they are placed into cases

The bottling company can do up to 2,000 cases a day. Like I said, it's a fun process to watch...and an exciting one, knowing that all that great Napa Valley and Sonoma County wine is that much closer to being enjoyed by all!

P.S. For "State of the Grape: Part 1", see my post of August 14, 2007.

You're Drinking Pineapple What?

Whew, temperatures here in Northern California/Sonoma County continue to jump above 90 degrees, making the one-last-hurrah-of-summer three-day Labor Day weekend perfect for some cold, refreshing wine--pineapple wine, that is.

That's right, pineapple wine. I was recently introduced to this by my friends Richard and Leslie Mansfield, who in addition to owning Mansfield Winery in the Napa Valley, also have Tradewinds Winery. TWW's first release is a 100% pineapple fruit wine. According to winemaker Richard, he puts the pineapple juice through the exact steps he does for a high-quality Chardonnay. The results? Well, I have to say, following my first few sips, I wasn't certain that this was for me. However, as I continued to drink, the wine grew on me. It's a bright, fruity (obviously!), and off-dry: sweeter than an oaky Chardonnay but close to a good citrusy Sauv Blanc. It's best served ice cold, and is a great accompaniment to spicy foods such as tacos, a Thai stir-fry, or a Mexican mole. And Leslie makes a mean sangria with it. I had to do some serious arm-twisting, but came away--just for you FROTB--with her Sangria recipe. Enjoy this cool, refreshing drink on this, the last hurrah of summer.

Tradewinds Pineapple Sangria

1 cup cubed fresh pineapple

1 cup cubed fresh mango or cantaloupe

1 cup sliced fresh strawberries

1/2 orange, quartered and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons Triple Sec or other orange-flavored liqueur (optional)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 750-ml bottle of Tradewinds Pineapple Wine

1 12-ounce bottle of 7-Up or ginger ale, chilled

Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish

In a large pitcher, combine the pineapple, mango, strawberries, orange, Triple Sec, sugar, and Tradewinds Pineapple wine. Stir gently to mix. Cover and chill in the refrigerator overnight. When you are ready to serve, stir in the 7-Up. Divide the fruit into six tall glasses along with two ice cubes. Pour in the Tradewinds Pineapple Sangria and garnish with a spring of mint. Serves 6

P.S. By Tuesday, September 4, there will be on this blog a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT. You will NOT WANT TO MISS THIS. Trust me on this. EXCITING STUFF coming. I would give you a hint, but, well, isn't the ANTICIPATION delicious too?

State of the Grape: Part 1

Whew, am only now coming down off my sugar high following the Gravenstein Apple Fair this past Saturday (and have finally slept after two days, too; I neglected to mention that with my apple cobbler I also bought an iced coffee--which came in a 32-ounce cup that took both my hands to lift to drink). There's SO much going on the Every World A Feast blog world right now that it's hard to get my mind around things. First, COMING SOON, a SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT regarding the FIRST EVER Every Meal A Feast "Gathering" in which YOU TOO can participate. Plus this Friday, I leave for VEGAS BABY with my good friend JS, and in the spirit of my buddy Jay's recent blow-by-blow account of his across-country "cannonball run", I plan to post frequent updates regarding my Vegas food & drink escapades. Trust me, this will be something NOT TO BE MISSED, so if you have any weekend plans, you might just want to cancel or postpone them to stay in close contact to the Internet. More soon about Vegas, but let me just say now that Vegas to me is ALWAYS a cannonball-type run where the real question becomes not did I have fun or even did I win any money, but did I SURVIVE???

With all this talk of late about apples, I thought now I'd turn to grapes. I talked yesterday with my good friend Todd Anderson, who's the owner and head winemaker at Conn Valley Vineyards in the Napa Valley, to get the Every Meal A Feast inside scoop on this year's pending grape harvest. Here's a verbatim interview with Todd (with my mental comments in parenthesis):

Me: Hey.

Todd: Hey.

Me: How's it going?

Todd: Good. (This is warm-up guy-talk.)

Me: Tell me about the grapes.

Todd: This year they're hanging to the left.

Me: Really? Is that a good thing? (Is he pulling my leg?)

Todd: No, you idiot. I'm just kidding. (He WAS pulling my leg, the bastard!)

Me: Oh, O.K. So when you are going to pick those suckers?

Todd: I don't know. In all seriousness, it depends on what Mother Nature does in the next couple-three weeks. We monitor things in the vineyard very closely this time of year.

Me: Monitor sugar levels, right?

Todd: Yeah, plus some other factors, like color. And a lot of times we make our final determination of when to pick based on taste.

Me: Really?

Todd: Yeah. After growing grapes for 25 years, you get an idea of what the grapes are supposed to taste like at harvest.

Me: That's very cool.

Todd: Yeah. It's all about getting great fruit. The better the fruit, the better the wines.

Me: O.K., thanks. Say, do you have that five bucks you owe me?

Todd: See me next week, O.K.? I gotta go do a vineyard walk-through.

Me: (&^%$##%^)

Here are some grapes-on-the-vines pics; enjoy.

My Cup Runneth Over

The world can be a depressing place. Wars rage. Prices rise. Ice caps melt.

I, on the other hand, was born an optimist. I can always find something positive to enjoy, even savor. Take now, for example. It's the beautiful summertime with open-toed shoes and swimming and backyard barbecues. My beloved Cleveland Indians are only a game or two out of first place in the AL Central. The last poker tournament I played in, I won. I could go on. While others see the glass as half-empty, I'm definitely a half-full kind of person.

Sometimes though, by grace and mystery, my cup not only fills completely, it overflows. Like the other night. Picture this setting: I'm deep within the bowels of Howell Mountain, off the Silverado Trail in the Napa Valley...having dinner prepared by a classically trained chef (a graduate of the Ecole Ritz Escoffier at the Hotel Ritz in Paris)...while drinking wines prepared by the chef's husband, who's a classically trained (in Germany, no less) winemaker...while overlooking their Ghost Winery. Not only is G. with me, but so too are my good friends G. and R., and my friend K. and her husband C. And the chef and winemaker eat with us. It just doesn't get much better than that!

Let me introduce Richard and Leslie Mansfield. Leslie is the classically trained chef and has written 10+ cookbooks. Richard presides over Mansfield Winery, which produces ultra-premium wines. Together they host (on a referral basis only---it is their home) private dinners where they not only prepare the food and provide the wine, but dine with the guests.

For our meal, Leslie, who collects vintage menus, prepared a vintage menu for dinner. It reads like a what's-what of an incredible meal. Crostini with fig-olive tapenade; escargot from the Ritz; rack of spring lamb; mint orzo; apricot parfaits with late harvest Sauvignon Blanc toffee. With each course, Richard matched an appropriate (and, to me, perfect) Mansfield Winery wine. In short, it was the type of meal that one has maybe once every ten years. Maybe. Incredible, incredible, incredible.

My specific likes and thoughts? I've only had escargot once before in my life, and was a little hesitant this time, but it was wonderful: hearty yet not chewy (and, as Richard said, it's basically a distribution system for butter and garlic). The hit of the night was probably the orzo, the rice-like pasta with the bright summery mint. While I enjoyed all the wines, my favorite remains The Mansfield Winery's Umpqua Valley (OR) Riesling--clear, with amazing feel and, to me, clean without the heavy sugars so many rieslings have to me. We ate and drank and laughed. And there were no mishaps, either. C. kept his pants on (long story). G. and K. successfully passed through the metal detector on the way out so no vintage silverware went missing. And R. and G. invited us, on the spur of the moment, to another party the following evening.

As enjoyable as the food and wine were though, perhaps the highlight of the evening was simply the laughter among us all. To dine well and to do so with special friends...now THAT makes a meal truly a feast. The evening made me think about those special times and special moments in our lives. When our cups runneth over, what spills out isn't wasted, it isn't lost; those spilled nutrients, that spilled-over life, I like to think, fertilizes the world around us, leading to more great meals, fun times, and deeper connections with the special people in our lives.

The Night My Poker Buddies Drank VERY Well

Once a month, I hook up with eight or nine guys to play some Texas Holdem poker. It's a fun time: we start about six p.m. and end around one or two a.m. In between is pizza, beer or wine, and, usually, a lot of laughs (although when Jimmy Z. draws out on the &^%$# river AGAIN, you just want to slit your wrist). Anyway, right before our last game, I had bought some wine from a new winery which I've recently discovered in Napa Valley, Conn Valley Vineyards. Their specialty is Bordeaux-style reds. Now, CVV has an inexpensive everyday wine called Prologue. They also have a high-end red blend called Eloge (which means "praiseworthy", and is 65% cabernet sauvignon, 25% cab franc, 5% merlot, and 5% petite verdot). At our last poker game, I somehow got those mixed up in my mind: I MEANT to take to the guys a bottle of the (inexpensive) Prologue. What I REALLY TOOK was a bottle of the high-end Eloge ($75/bottle retail). Needless to say, the wine was a huge hit. Garris, Jim D., and others---including myself---all raved about it. It wasn't until the next morning when I realized (to my horror!) that my generally beer-swilling/pizza-eating poker buddies had been drinking the good stuff. Oh, well. Such is life. I guess I can't complain too much, because I've won off them enough to buy plenty of bottles of Eloge. If you love big reds that are drinkable now, check out Conn Valley Vineyards: http://www.connvalleyvineyards.com/

P.S. If Jimmy Z. posts any sort of comment about my cork-extraction abilities, I just want to go on record as saying that I can pop em out with the best of them...when given the proper tool.

"...and nervous."

The pressure mounts: Will he or won't he? "He" of course being the esteemed wine writer and wine critic Robert Parker. The "show or no show" refers to the Nord Estate Wines dinner on June 13. (For the complete story, see my post on June 10: The Greatest Sentence Ever.) Will The Great One come? Or will he forever blacklist the Nord family, and all those who buy grapes from them? Will I have played a bit-role (O.K., O.K.--THE role) in relegating countless wineries to the "do not review" pile? Only time will tell. My only solace at the moment: a glass of Nord Estate Wines Page Nord Cabernet Sauvignon.

The Greatest Sentence Ever*

*IMHO

I'm a HUGE Dr. Hunter S. Thompson fan. The Gonzo journalism, the scathing writing, the ability to be both truthful and funny...all, to me, amazing stuff. I can sit for hours thumbing through his books reading only favorite sentences or paragraphs I've marked previously. The other day, I came across again what I consider perhaps the Greatest Sentence Ever Written, which also applies to my life right now. It's from his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas:

"Into the Ballantine Ale now, zombie drunk and nervous."

Amazing! It's an entire three-act play in one sentence. "Into the Ballantine Ale now" speaks to the past. What's happened that's led him to drink? What was he drinking before? etc. "Zombie drunk"; the now. We've all been there, literally or figuratively. And then the kicker: "and nervous." Boom! What's coming, the future. Nervous about what? What evil/danger lurks just around the next corner (or, in this case, on the following page)? I defy anyone to read that sentence and not have to read the following sentence.

I'm in a "and nervous" stage right now. One of my clients, the Nord family, which manages vineyards in Napa Valley, wanted to hold a dinner for the wineries who purchase their fruit. But how do you get people to actually come to an event...when all the events start to sound and seem the same??? So on a take-off of "Big Night," we decided to announce that the famous wine critic Robert Parker would be attending as our guest. What winery would dare miss the opportunity to have Robert Parker taste their wines??? They'd HAVE to attend the dinner.

Now, like in the movie, we don't expect him to attend. But before he received our invitation, someone had forwarded to him our "announcement" that he would be attending. His assistant called the Nords. Robert Parker was very upset; this dinner was not on his schedule; etc., etc. Soothing sounds were made. Ruffled feathers were somehow smoothed.... And thus my "and nervous." What if he doesn't have a sense of humor? What if he's pissed and forever black-lists the attending wineries, NEVER REVIEWING THEM???

On the other hand, what is he does has a sense of humor---maybe even a soul---an actually shows up??? What if he comes and tastes and ends up putting several of the wineries on the map, so to speak, via his reviews???

This will all be resolved soon. The dinner is next week. Time has a way, so they say, of catching up to us one and all. In the meantime, don't be surprised to see a post from me in the next couple-three days along the lines of "Into the Nord Estate Wines Jonquil Vineyards Petite Sirah, semi-drunk...and nervous."

P.S. The Nord family also produces a line of high-quality, low production---i.e., awesome---wines under Nord Estate Wines. Check em out.