The Pulse interview Part 1 (right click and open in new window or tab)

Part 2

Part 3

Since this is a brand new vineyard (3’rd year vines) I’ll be spending a significant amount of time discussing and observing viticultural techniques with the owner.  The soil is sand and granite with excellent drainage.  With close attention to quality and low yields, this may very well end up being one of the top sites for high elevation Spanish varietals in the state.

As many of you know, my vineyard site’s well ran dry a few years ago.  We didn’t know at the time how that would affect the vineyard or if there would still even be a vineyard. There has been a learning curve in ways to handle the water issue. We built cistern to collect runoff and rain water. We upgraded to fanjet drip emitters to reduce water waste and where once we got 3-4 total yield per acre which we now grow in the 2 ton range. Ultimately we may change over to sub-surface drip irrigation to conserve even more water. I can say now that the vineyard is, if not actually thriving, it is at least healthy.

This year, in part due to the uncharacteristically cool weather, the yield will be cut back (a process called cluster thinning) by roughly half– partly to accelerate ripening and to assure that I’ll still get the quality that I’m hoping to attain.  We are looking at it from the point of view of long term vineyard sustainability.

Right now the clusters are still uniformly green.  That means that veraison has not yet begun.  The term refers to two processes in the final stages of grape development.  First, at least in red wines, the green berries get their color (turning red) and second, the berries (both red and white) soften.  After veraison the grapes rapidly increase in sweetness. Generally one can figure that harvest will occur about 6-7 weeks after the color change.  One of the cool things this year is that we can now electronically monitor soil water density right at root depth (called the rootzone) at approximately 30-36 inches.  This is exciting because it allows us to precisely quantify the amount of irrigation necessary to stress the vine to improve flavor development and concentration in the berries while making sure that the vine has enough water to remain healthy.  Until these were installed we could only make educated guesses.  Sometimes with less than desirable results…

 
Stew “That vine looks kinda spindly”
Dave “Maybe we should’ve put more water on it”
Stew “Oops”

 
Anyway, not that bad really but you get the point.

• 4 chicken thighs (skinless)
• 1 tsp Spanish Pimenton (Paprika) smoked works best
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 8 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 bay leaf
• pinch of salt
• fresh chopped parsley (garnish)

First, cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and season liberally with the smoked pimenton (Hungarian paprika works too but add a bit of red pepper).

Heat the oil in a large saute pan and fry the garlic slices for about a minute. Remove the garlic and set aside on a paper towel to drain the oil.

Now add the chicken pieces to the pan and cook, turning occasionally, for about 10 minutes until the chicken is browned on all sides.  Add the wine and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for another 10 minutes or so until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Add the fried garlic pieces, mix well then season with the salt.

Serve it on a plate and sprinkle the chopped parsley on top.

As a more robust variation, instead of the parsley you can add warmed chopped green olives.

Traditional ports are massive sweet wines with loads of structure that are far from soft or smooth– but smooth is what consumer studies and competitions such as Lodi’s Consumer Wine Awards last year show year after year.  While most of us in the trade are conditioned to think that everybody wants bone dry wines or complex ports that is simply not the case and we are likely discouraging folks from being able to enjoy what they drink . If I were new to wine I’d be either intimidated or insulted or both!

The folks who are drinking a Desaronno on the rocks could just as easily be a wine drinker if they were’nt embarrassed to ask for a sweet red wine over ice.  But even if they wanted it they can’t order it… At least not in the US. They can get sweet Shiraz in Australia. A common and wildly popular bar drink. But not here because obviously they only “think” that they want a sweet wine…

And that leads me back to my original question. What shall I do with my port program. Well maybe I’ll pitch some fining agent into my port barrels to knock out the tannins.  It’s totally against conventional wisdom but really, where has that gotten us?

Here I am LIVE on KJWL radio (right click and open in new window or tab)

Sofrito sauce is basically a tomato and onion sauce, but contrary to what one might think, it’s the onion that’s gotta be just right.  The onion must carmelize before the tomato is added. So without further adieu:

Stew’s Sofrito

8 ripe on-the-vine tomatos

1 cup Spanish olive oil

1 1/2  large red onions, finely chopped

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 bay leaf

1 tsp smoked pimenton (available at Whole Foods or Williams Sonoma)

1/2 tsp sea salt

Saffron threads, 1 pinch

Peel the tomatoes and finely dice them, set aside.  Heat the olive oil in a medium to large saute pan over a medium-low heat.  When warmed add the salt, onions and shallot and cook, stirring frequently, until they become tender and lightly browned- about 45 minutes.  If the onion starts to darken before they caramelize add a bit of water.  Next, add the tomato, the pimenton, the bay leaf and the saffron threads and continue to cook for an additional 20 minutes or so over low heat.  When the tomato has deepened in color and the oil has begun to separate the sauce is ready.

I use the shallot to make a richer, more complex sauce.  You can use this in a paella immediately or store it in the fridge for future use.

Fried Goat Cheese with Honey

1/4 pound of a creamy goat cheese

1 small red onion, finely sliced

1 egg, beaten

flour

1 tsp sugar

Spanish olive oil

Honey

Fry the onion over medium heat until it is really soft then drain off the oil, add the sugar and carmelize.  As soon as thats done, chill it. Next, form the goat cheese into 4 equal size balls. Dip cheese balls in egg and then lightly cover in flour. Fry in a shallow pan of olive oil until golden brown.  Put the carmelized onion in the center of a plate and arrange the cheese balls evenly around it. Drizzle the cheese with honey.  Serve with Sherry if you have it!

Crostini with Chorizo and Bittersweet Chocolate Drizzle

Spicy dry cured Spanish Chorizo, cut to 1/4 inch slices.

3 oz bittersweet dark chocolate (Guitard wafers are great for this)

A baguette

Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375. While waiting for the oven to heat up, add a couple tablespoons of olive oil to a frying pan and briefly sear both sides of the chorizo. Set aside the chorizo and brush the chorizo infused olive oil onto the crostini slices– one side only.  Place the crostini onto a baking sheet and cook for about 10 minutes.  Melt the chocoalte wafers or chips over a low heat.  When the crostini is done put a slice of chorizo on top and drizzle it with the melted chocolate.  Serve with a full bodied Tempranillo.

We hope to have the 2007 Tempranillo ready to release by the first week of February.  Also in February we plan to blend and bottle the next Cabernet which has been residing in several gorgeous Vicard Distinction  barrels. I’m a bit of a geek about barrels…

This morning at the winery when we picked up yesterday’s mail we found a letter from 2011 SF Chronicle wine competition. This year there were a staggering number of entries, 5,050 from 23 states which now makes this the largest wine competition in the U.S.

I am absolutely delighted announce that we won a Silver Medal for our latest Tempranillo!