Peay Vineyards tasting

I was fortunate to be able to attend a tasting of 6 wines from Peay Vineyards last week. We had originally scheduled a tasting featuring the wines of another prominent Sonoma winery, but the winemaker had to cancel his trip at the last minute. So in steps Aaron Meeker from LDF Distributors and put this together at the last second. Bravo, Aaron!

Peay aims for a Burgundian style with their Chardonnay with the vineyard proximity to the sea lending a saline quality to the wine. I found their 2007 Estate Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast to be bristling with aromas and flavors of toast, mineral, yeast and coconut. Alcohol is quite pronounced as is the astringent acidity. I think this could easily evolve over the next 5-7 years and turn into something even more special.

Of their three Pinot Noirs, I preferred the 2008 Estate Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. Beautiful notes of black tea, and raspberry with considerable alcohol, firm tannins and good acidity. Long finish is reminiscent of dried bay leaf. Shows wonderfully now, but has the balance to age.

The first of the cuvees we tasted was the 2008 Scallop Shelf Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. Coming from a ridge top that was once at the bottom of the ocean, Scallop Shelf is named for the marine fossils found in the vineyard's soil. This wine stays true to it's Old World roots with aromas of camphor and cherry compote. The palate is quite yeasty with medium tannins and the trademark Peay astringency.

The 2007 Pomarium Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast comes from a vineyard that was once planted to Bartlett pears and Gravenstein apples. The terroir is expressed in the mushroom, earth, dark cherry and licorice flavors. No surprise that it is rather high in acid and tannins. Great ageing potential here, too. A note of hickory smoke lingers in the glass.

Both of the Syrahs from Peay show classic notes of this grape when grown in a cooler climate. The 2007 La Bruma Syrah, Sonoma Coast has a wonderful nose featuring the sweet aromas of cinnamon, clove, blackberry and wintergreen. Restrained French oak is apparent on the palate as well as graphite and cranberry flavors. "La Bruma" refers to the mist or fog that rolls into the vineyard off the Pacific Ocean.

The final wine of the evening was the 2006 Le Titans Syrah, Sonoma Coast. More Old World in style than the first Syrah, the Titan shows classic Northern Rhone aromas and flavors of black olive, smoky bacon fat, fig jam and coffee bean. Both of the Peay Syrahs were, unsurprisingly, quite acidic and tannic and built to age.

It was a real treat to be able to taste wines of such distinction and pedigree. Overall, I found them to be very complex and built to age. All had a sense of restrain and a certain austerity rarely found in wines from California.

I prepared a number of appetizers designed to go with each of the wines. My favorite combination was Wine-Poached Dried Fig and Sausage Skewers that went quite nicely with the two Syrahs.

Wine-Poached Dried Figs and Sausage Skewers

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
1/2 cup fig preserves
16 dried black mission figs, halved
1 pound (4 links) Italian sausage
2 tbs fresh basil, sliced thin
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, crushed
32 small bamboo skewers

Preparation

In a small saucepan, over medium heat, bring the wine, sugar and pepper to a simmer. Add the figs and continue to simmer for 15 minutes. The figs will absorb some of the wine, but will remain firm. Remove the figs from the wine mixture and let cool completely on a plate. Add fig preserves to wine mixture, increase heat to medium-high and reduce until slightly thickened. Allow sauce to cool.

Prepare a charcoal or gas grill and cook sausage links until just done, let cool to room temperature and cut each sausage into 8 pieces.

Push a wooden skewer into a fig half and then into a piece of sausage. When all sausage and figs are skewered, arrange on serving platter. Drizzle with wine-fig reduction sauce and garnish with crushed hazelnuts and sliced basil.

Makes 32 skewers

2007 Delas St.-Esprit C-d-R

One of my favorite cheap and easy meals is to cut up a whole mess of fresh vegetables (squash, zucchini, eggplant, red onion, etc.) and grill them alongside a few links of Italian sausage. I like to call this my "mixed grill" and my favorite wine to drink with it is Cotes-du-Rhone. Tonight I gave the nod to the 2007 Delas Saint-Esprit, Cotes-du-Rhone. This blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre and Carignan hails from the southern Rhone, but it is made by a winery more renown for its Crozes-Hermitage and other wines from the northern half of the Rhone Valley.

The nose reveals stunning aromas and flavors of sour cherry, rhubarb and black pepper. Classic Rhone herbs, known as garrigue, play a supporting role. Acidity and moderate tannins are perfectly balanced with the fruit. Long, refreshingly tart finish. Outstanding wine for about $15.

2006 Felsina Lucilla

The 2006 Felsina Lucilla, Toscana IGT is a nice value in the "Baby Super Tuscan" arena. A blend of 70% Sangiovese, 15% Cabernet and 15% Merlot, it has a nose packed with saddle leather, licorice and tart cherry. The palate is typically Italian with acidity in spades. Tough to enjoy on its own, but really shines with appropriate food such as tonight's Bistecca alla Fiorentina made with locally-sourced, grass-fed KC strip and arugula from our garden. Very nice value at $11.

2008 Ch. Routas Rouviere

The 2009 Chateau Routas Rouviere rose Coteaux Varois en Provence, is a beautiful little sipper for these dog days of summer. Pale salmon in color with orange highlights, it is a blend of Cinsault, Syrah, Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon. Shows really pretty light red fruit (cherry, strawberry) on the nose and palate with good acidity. Bone dry and very pleasant to drink with summer sausage, cheese and crackers. Great bargain at $10.

Farm update....

If you follow my page on Facebook, you might remember that we had a wooden playscape blow over in a rough storm a few weeks ago.What the picture doesn't show is how much of the wood was splintered and many of the metal supports were twisted beyond repair.



So we've spent the past few days taking the playscape apart and putting it back together for the benefits of the chickens or dogs. Anything we put to good use just about everything salvageable. The rock climbing wall became a feeding/watering platform for the chickens.



The ladder is now used for roosting and climbing into their roosting boxes.



The main floor of the playscape was left pretty much intact after the storm. We then modified to make it a chicken coop that we can keep the chickens in when we clean or modify their main coop. We even used the chains from the swings to hang the feed container.



The only thing we haven't thought of a good use for is the monkey bars assembly. Any ideas out there?

The rest of the wood (very fragrant cedar) is destined for a bonfire in the new fire pit that I made this morning; mostly from rocks that were being used as a fire pit down by one of the ponds.



If I may indulge in a NASCAR-like moment, I'd like to thank my DeWalt power tools (sander and two cordless screwdrivers), my Ryobi compound miter saw and my John Deere L130 who did all the hard work in hauling a ton of rock from the pond to the back yard. My Gorilla ladder (a cheaper knock-off of the Little Giant) was invaluable as were numerous boxes of Multi-Mate brass screws - those things are so awesome! And finally I'd like to thank New Glarus Brewery in New Glarus, WI for making Stone Soup Belgian Ale, Spotted Cow Ale and Moon Man "No Coast" Pale Ale; of which many were consumed after long, hot days under the Kansas sun.

2009 Valentin Bianchi "Elsa" Malbec

Opened the 2009 Valentin Bianchi Elsa Malbec, Mendoza tonight with burgers and Caprese salad. Very pretty nose of plum, chocolate and black pepper. Plum comes through on the palate as well. Quite acidic for a Malbec. It's quite apparent on the palate as well as on the finish. Really demands food (especially tomato) to facilitate a sense of balance. Nice $10 red so long as you know what you're getting into with all that acidity.

2008 Four Sisters Shiraz

The 2008 Four Sisters Shiraz, Central Victoria, Australia is a very nice, varietally-correct entry level Shiraz. Nose of mentholated cherry cough syrup with hints of black pepper. Nice and thick in the mouth. Not terribly complex, but delivers lots of flavor. Perfectly happy with hot dogs off the grill or a post-dinner cigar on the patio as the sun goes down.

Chickens!

Those of you who know me from other websites or follow me on facebook know we got 16 chickens last week. 5 Black Australorps, 5 Barred Plymouth Rocks and 6 Buff Orpingtons. These are our first official farm animals and we look to get a steady supply of eggs from them in a few months. They will give us eggs for about 2 years before heading for the rotisserie or stew pot.

Here's a shot of them on the day we got them:



They need to stay indoors under a 95 degree heat lamp for about 2 weeks; changing the paper (LOTS of poop) twice a day. A few days from now we will be transferring them to their chicken coop, but they will be confined to the coop.



I have to say, I love the chicken coop. It's a converted dog kennel that I turned into a coop by using old bunk bed rails, the bunk bed ladder and wooden wine crates. Two roosting perches are made from leftover stair rail. We've got a grand total of $19 invested the chicken coop - some wire used to enclose a gap in the existing chain link fence.

Tonight we wedged an old piece of stair rail in their black bucket (a cattle feed troft) and they have already started practicing "perching."



Kind of hard to tell from the pictures, but they've gotten so much bigger in just a week. I'd say they've doubled in size. And they've all gotten their wings now. I had no idea, but they are born without wings.

I'll be sure to take some pictures once they are outside.

Mixed bag

Some brief notes on some wines consumed last week when my father-in-law passed through town:

I really enjoyed the inexpensive 2007 Windfall Old Vine Zinfandel, Lodi for its fruit and spice. Not too serious, but a great quaffer.

I've enjoyed many, many bottles of the Saint Cosme Little James Basket Press, Vin de Table (2008 bottling), but this one was sadly not showing very well. Not sure where all the bright raspberry fruit of previous bottles has gone, but it wasn't here.

I think we went through 3 or 4 bottles of the 2008 Sean Minor 4 Bears Pinot Noir, Carneros. Really delivers with vanilla-oak and sweet strawberry and cherry flavors. What more could one ask for from a $15 Pinot Noir?

The 2006 Felsina Lucilla, IGT is a serviceable Tuscan red blend to be enjoyed with pizza or pasta and red sauces.

I'm glad I drank the last of my 1995 Banfi Summus, Montalcino at this time. Shows uncanny amounts of licorice. Medium-bodied, but the tannins are fully integrated and the fruit is receding. Better palates than mine may recommend aging this longer, but I say "drink up!" Quite enjoyable with a traditional bistecca alla fiorentina.

The 2006 Merkin Vineyards Chupacabra, California is a Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah blend that offers tons of licorice, sweet/tart blackberry and toasty French oak. Full-bodied with dusty tannins and a long finish.

I'm a huge fan of the Hell's Kitchen TV reality show and I figured opening my lone bottle of 2006 Jada Hell's Kitchen, Paso Robles seemed appropriate for the season finale. This blend of 40% Syrah, 28% Grenache, 16% Tannat and 16% Mourvedre was quite layered and complex. You can really taste the blackberry and spice from the Syrah, the raspberry of the Grenache, the earthy leather of the Mourvedre and the structure and tannin of the Tannat. A bit pricey at $40 (from the winery), but a very well made wine.

A grilled salmon salad was faithfully accompanied by the 2005 Trivento Select Chardonnay, Mendoza. I was initially a bit worried about opening an inexpensive 2005 Chardonnay thinking it might be on its downhill slide. But the wine was fresh and youthful with pear and apple flavors and just a hit of oak.

The 2007 Chateau Beauchene Cotes-du-Rhone Villages is textbook C-d-R with sweet/tart raspberry fruit and a bit of briny green peppercorn. Well done.

2008 Felino Malbec

The 2008 Vina Cobos Felino Malbec, Mendoza is an exceptional wine. The deep blueberry and cakespice aromas and flavors are reminiscent of a nice Cabernet from Napa's Stag's Leap District. Black pepper and roasted coffee bean play a supporting role. Balance is provided by the nice tannins and acidity that hits you on the sides of the tongue. I would expect no less from the genius of Paul Hobbs. Worth every penny of $20.

2007 Trenza Tinto

Yeah, yeah, I know I've written about this wine before. But it's one of my favorite wines of the past 5-10 years and I think everyone needs to pick up a 6-pack of this stuff. The 2007 Trenza Tinto, San Luis Obispo County is a blend of Tempranillo, Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache. Shows fantastic licorice, dark berry, sweet earth and a bit of vanilla oak. Great, thick texture with acidity and tannins to match. Really shines with food. About $26.


We drank this tonight yet another winning recipe from Weight Watchers (no, I'm not on the Weight Watchers regimen); this time an interpretation of the chicken with sherry vinegar and grape tomatoes. The acidity of the Sherry vinegar and tomatoes really worked well with the acidity of the wine.

2006 Tablas Creek Syrah

I have to say I'm a bit disappointed with my experience tonight with the 2006 Tablas Creek Syrah, Paso Robles. Cloudy, medium color. The nose offers some faint black olive and herbs de Provence and the palate has some tart raspberry. But there's no spice here. No licorice. No meat. Not even much concentration to speak of. The finish is tart and clipped with modest tannins. Just seems to lack the richness and concentration I'm used to from this region and this winery. I really love everything this winery stands for and I've enjoyed everything I've ever tasted from this estate. But this wine really missed the mark for me tonight. About $30.

Dinner was grilled beef kabobs with red pepper and red onion. I somehow lucked upon a flat iron steak at Wal-Mart and that was just too fortuitous to pass up. If you aren't familiar with this cut of meat, you should make it a point to seek some out. It's really cheap and lends itself quite well to a marinade/grilling. The marinade was something I ripped from *gasp* Weight Watcher's magazine; basically thinned-out fig jam, rosemary and balsamic vinegar. Quite tasty!