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.

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

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…

The 2003 Pujanza Rioja is a blend of 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano.  Our consensus is that it has medium bodied aromas of cherry, raspberry and white peppercorn. The predominant flavor is of raw cocoa powder and light red cherry. The wine was served with two Spanish dishes:   Plate 1: A mild chorizo baked in a moderately spiced variation of patatas gravas.  The wine went very well with this dish.  Plate 2: A chicken and spicy chorizo pealla.

The wine as a stand alone and with Plate 1 got a consensus rating of 3.5 stars but with Plate 2 it did not fare as well; the wine simply lacks the body to stand up to the richer flavors in the paella. So for this pairing the wine gets 3 stars.

Overall the 2003 Pujanza Rioja is a decent but unexciting 3.5 star value at $25 so long as its paired with mild dishes.

Rioja, Ribera, Bierzo, Priorat… this place has ‘em all.  And the lady who owns it is friendly and knowledgable too.  Check them out. Tinto Fino at the corner of 5th Street and 1st Avenue.

Me:      ”Hey guys, this wine has aromas of lychee nut and warm wet
               gravel”
Them:  “Sure Stew, whatyever you say.”
Me:       “I swear I’m serious and Ill prove it to you– just give me a
               moment to heat up some water and get some gravel out of
                the goldfish bowl…”

All kidding aside,  I’m looking forward to getting this weekly tasting program under way.  I hope you are too.