Beets, Petite Sirah and more Memorial Day wines

We pulled our first beet harvest out of the garden a few days ago. Being rather new to beets, I put my own spin on what looked like a good recipe from an old "Molto Mario" show and ended up with roasted beets, sauteed beet greens and goat cheese on grilled bruscetta.

We were already sipping on a bottle of 2009 Susana Balbo Crios Torrontes, Argentina. For many vintages now I've considered this my favorite Torrontes and my first bottle of 2009 did not disappoint! Effusively peachy and floral, I like to compare this to a nice Vioignier at 1/3 of the price. An outstanding wine that really shines with guacamole and ceviche, it was merely servicable with the beets.

If the Torrontes pairing left us a bit flat, the 2005 Eaglepoint Petite Sirah, Mendocino proved to be a truly sublime pairing. Still blacker than night and still throwing copious amounts of sediment, the aromas and flavors of Bourbon (I'm assuming this is from the American oak) soy sauce, briery blackberry and dried meat brought out all the deep earthiness of the beets. Finishes with fierce, chalky tannins, dried baker's chocolate and crazy acidity. I'll say it again, it's a damn shame that Casey Hartlip has given up winemaking to become a full-time grape grower!

Roasted Beet Bruscetta

6 medium beets, greens intact
1/2 cup olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup good quality balsamic vinegar, plus more for drizzling
2 oz. goat cheese, at room temperature
12 slices crusty bread (French baguette or rustic Italian loaf)

1) Prepare the beats by cutting off the root and removing the beet from the stems. Leave the skin on. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt, wrap in aluminum foil and roast in a 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until soft enough to easily pierce with a knife.

2) While beets are cooling, prepare the beet greens. Remove the tough stems and cut the leafy greens into 1/2" wide strips. Heat a saute pan over medium heat and add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and the beet greens. Season with salt and pepper. After 1-2 minutes add balsamic vinegar. Cook, covered, for additional 4-5 minutes until greens begn to wilt. Remove from heat.

3) When beets have cooled slightly, slip skins off and discard. Cut beets into 1/4" dice and add to pan with greens.

4) Brush remaining olive oil onto slices of bread and toast. While toast is still warm, spread with goat cheese and top with warm beet/beet green mixture. Drizzle with additional balsamic vingear.

On Monday night we grilled up some beef and apple bratwurst that we get from our Homespun Hills CSA. With the brats and my soon-to-be world famous cilantro and blue cheese cole slaw, we enjoyed the 2009 Eclipse Zinfandel, Alexander Valley. I reported on this wine last summer and I'm happy to say the wine is still showing quite well. Deep magenta in color, the nose shows crazy deep raspberry and spice aromas. Medium bodied with sweet raspberry and blackberry fruit. Great tannins and acidity. Really worked well with the brats and spicy mustard. A very reasonable $18. A side project of wine broker Rick Raiffini. Let's hope he goes full-time with this venture.

Fleshier than most Barberas, the 2006 Castello del Poggio Barbera d'Asti, Piedmont was the wine of choice with Tuesday night's braised lamb shoulder (also from Homespun Hills) over soft polenta. Garnet color with a really pretty nose of dark fruit compote vanilla and a hint of tar. Medium-bodied with good fruit, tar and, of course, nice acidity. $16

Brief notes on a weekend of wines

It's been quite a week and it only promises to get more exciting. My father-in-law (the man who got me into wine nearly 20 years ago) came into town to visit last week just as the kids were getting out of school for the summer. He always shows up with a small arsenal of firearms, a couple cases of wine and a box of cigars. I highly recommend partying with the man if you get the chance. Some of the wines we have sampled so far include:


The 2009 O'Reilly's Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley features a pale color with a slight copper hue that I look for in Pinot Gris. Muted aromatics of lemon/lime soda on the nose. Seems a bit flat on the palate. Suffers from a lack of acidity and finishes with an odd note of residual sugar. Lacks the acidity and minerality of better domestic Pinot Gris. This is the value label of Owen Roe Winery. Consumed as an aperitif. About $10


With Thursday night meatloaf we tried the 2009 Altos del Cuco, Jumilla. I was quite impressed with this Spanish blend of 40% Monastrell, 30% Syrah and 30% Tempranillo. Deep color. Beautiful notes of black fruit compote, earth, jammy fruit, licorice and a sweet herbaceousness. A touch alcoholic, but it has enough jammy fruit, dusty earth and smoke to carry the palate. Nice, long, herbaceous finish. I like the balance of tannins and acidity here. Should make a nice pairing with a meaty paella.


Back in the early part of the 2000s, Mark West used to make a really nice value-based Pinot Noir. And then things went really wrong one year when he sourced his fruit from Corsica of all places. And I haven't tried once since. But my father-in-law happened to have a 2009 Mark West Pinot Noir, California with him and it appears as if the winery, now once again sourcing California fruit, has returned to form. The current vintage features a light, ruby-garnet color with delicate notes of strawberry, sweet-tart cherry and light herbal nuances. The palate mimics the aromatics. Good balance of fruit, citrus acidity and tannins. Not especially complex, but a solid effort.

On Friday night, our friend the professional food stylist came to visit and she was kind enough to bring four huge NY strips and 2 ribeyes that she had left over from a recent photo shoot. With rub applied and coals a'blazing we sunk our forks and knives into some decadent meat with a couple of excellent Cabernet blends:

There's an interesting story behind the 2007 Once Wines The Table Cabernet Sauvignon, California. As the story goes, a distinguished panel of American Sommeliers and French winemakers chose the blend of this wine in an attempt to create a food-friendly style of Cabernet Sauvignon. The resulting blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petite Verdot has a nose reminiscent of sweet herbs, cherry and light vanilla oak. Very acidic from the get-go. Quite herbaceous, but in a really nice way with lavender, rosemary and thyme coming to the forefront. Quite acidic throughout with moderate tannins. Difficult to consume on its own (kind of like trying to suck down a Chianti without food), but really hits the mark as a food wine. This is a very interesting, successful attempt at creating a restrained, elegant, food-friendly Cabernet. About $25

I've had the 2008 Seventy Five Wine Company The Sum Red Wine, California on numerous occasions and it has never failed to deliver the goods. This blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Syrah and 10% Petite Sirah has a nose of sweet/tart cherry/raspberry and a dash of cedar. Develops a piny/resinous note after sitting in the glass for a while. Palate is much more full-bodied than the nose would suggest with sweet/tart cherry fruit with big powdery tannins. $20

We have a big cook-out planned for Memorial Day with a number of my wife's work friends and their families coming out to the farm for paella. No doubt there will be many more wines consumed in the very near future. Stay tuned.....

2006 Castello di Farnetella Chianti

Sipped on the 2006 Castello di Farnetella, Chianti Colli Senesi while munching on a plate of pasta and checking out all of the tornado activity throughout Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. Rather deep color for this blend of 92% Sangiovese and 8% Merlot. Nose revels tart cherry fruit, hickory smoke, moderate fennel seed and a dusty herbaceous quality. The palate is lean and acidic with more tart cherry fruit and substantial tannins. Really needs food to balance the tart flavors and astringent texture. About $15

2009 Charles & Charles Red Wine

The 2009 Charles & Charles Red Wine, Columbia Valley is an imminently gulpable red wine that should be enjoyed by everyone this summer over a BBQ grill, 4th of July fireworks show or campfire. A blend of 51% Cabernet and 49% Syrah, the wine shows a seriously dark color and features aromas of white pepper and tart blackberry on the nose. The tart blackberry flavors are reinforced on the palate where hickory smoke, cured meat Provencal herbs and light clove play a supporting role. Long, dusty, tannic finish. Although the blend is roughly equal parts Cabernet and Syrah, the Syrah seems to be dominating at this point. About $12

This wine is a collaboration between iconic Washington winemaker Charles Smith (of Charles Smith Wines and K Vintners fame) and value advocate Charles Bieler (Chateau Routas, Bieler Pere et Fils, Three Thieves). Enjoyed tonight with burgers from the grill and bacon-studded baked beans.

Enkidu Tasting

I had the pleasure of tasting through six offerings from Enkidu Wine with winemaker Phil Staehle last week. These are small lot wines coming from grapes sourced from Napa, Sonoma and Lake Counties. I love everything about this winery - from Staehle's commitment to French oak to the quirky literary names to the dedication to making the best wines from individual lots from small growers.

The first wine we tasted was the only white of the evening. The 2009 Enkidu Tin Cross Chardonnay, Alexander Valley was a beautiful, hypothetical blend of Chablis and Mersault that Staehle is striving for. Mineral, dry pineapple and even a hint of truffle on the nose. In the mouth it features creamy/earthy flavors with high acid and a long, toasty finish with a hint of matchstick. Overall, this is a beautifully restrained, perfectly balanced Chardonnay. No malolactic fermentation. 215 cases made. $28

The 2009 Enkidu Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast is a blend of grapes from four vineyards that sees just 10% new oak. Raspberry, spice and tart cherry aromas and flavors tantalize the nose and palate on this medium-colored, light-bodied Pinot Noir. Strawberry flavors emerge after the wine has had some time to open up in the glass. The acid here is the key to keeping this a very food-friendly rendition of the grape. $28

How many times have I had the 2008 Enkidu Rosso Fazekas, Napa Valley over the past 6 months? I have no idea. But I do know that I've enjoyed it immensely every...single ...time. Dried cherry, spice, licorice, coffee and French oak on the nose and palate. Thick, yet a perfectly balance of high acid, coarse tannin, sweet fruit and alcohol. 86% Sangiovese, 7% Petite Sirah and 7% Syrah. A ridiculous $20

The 2008 Enkidu Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma Valley is aged in 100% French oak (20% new) and gets an infusion of 15% Petite Sirah. Super sweet cherry, vanilla and licorice flavors with huge dusty/coffee ground tannins that promise to reward a few years in the cellar. I always look for licorice and coffee flavors in Sonoma Cabernets and this one has both in spades. $24

Next up was the super peppery 2008 Enkidu Diener Ranch Zinfandel, Lake County. Mocha, French roast coffee, black pepper and French oak run amok with chalky tannins, nice acidity and a long, peppery finish. Co-fermented with 10% Petite Sirah. $23

The final wine of the evening was the 2007 Enkidu Humbaba Rhone Blend, Sonoma County, Lake County and Napa Valley. Whereas the previous wines were mostly driven by fruit and oak flavors, this blend of 65% Syrah and 35% Petite Sirah evokes flavors of France's Rhone Valley with its meaty, oil-cured olive aromas and dried blackberry flavors. Insanely dark with monstrous tannins, aeration brings out the much-coveted garrigue bouquet of sage, rosemary and pine resin found in the great wines from France's Mediterranean coast. $25

These wines are fantastic across the board and represent outstanding value in the very competitive $20-30 range. I look forward to following this winery over the next few years.

Schug Chardonnay, Merlot with dinner

We enjoyed a really nice dinner tonight featuring a couple of ingredients from our garden which is now in full bloom. The salad was garden-fresh arugula tossed with a lemon vinaigrette and Parmesan cheese. For the entree, we had medallions of pork tenderloin smoke-grilled over charcoal spiked with apple wood and pecan shells. The pork was served on a bed of risotto with wilted spinach; also from the garden.

Enjoyed before dinner (with a bit going into the risotto) was the 2007 Schug Chardonnay, Carneros - Light golden in color, the nose is initially dominated by diacetyl/buttery aromas. But as it warms, the buttery aromas give way to lush tropical pineapple and lemon aromas. Quite thick and sweet on the palate, the acidity doesn't kick in until the (slightly sulfuric) finish. Overall, I found this to be a bit monolithic and sadly, the buttery characteristics tend to overshadow the tropical Carneros fruit. About $25

With dinner, we had the 2006 Schug Merlot, Sonoma Valley. This wine has a pretty, medium ruby color and features a complex nose of pencilly French oak, wintergreen, tart cherry fruit, a bit of licorice, and a hint of burnt rubber. Medium-bodied with nice tannins, the palate is slightly green with sweet/tart cherry fruit and the somewhat hollow mid-palate I've come to expect from most Merlots. Long, toasty finish. Quite nice with dinner. About $25

Those of you asking for a farm update will be interested to note we've now more than doubled the size of the chicken flock. Our initial investment in 12 (actually 13) chicks eventually dwindled to 9 through natural death, killing a few roosters for food and predation. But the rooster and his harem of 8 hens have now spawned 15 chicks that we are in the process of integrating into the flock. With the size of the current chicken coop being inadequate for 24 chickens, we're exploring our options for expanding the coop. We'll probably end up turning the dog kennel (adjacent to the coop) into another coop and build the dogs another house.

2006 Il Nero Casanova Sangiovese

We had something of a double celebration today as we were excited about Mother's Day as well as our first mini-harvest from our organic garden. We've got everything from soybeans and garlic to blueberries and asparagus to heirloom tomatoes and planted, but our first clipping of the season was the intensely peppery arugula that we had so much success with last year. If you enjoy arugula from the grocery store, you have no idea just how good this stuff is! Anyway, our favorite treatment for arugula is to toss it with a lemon vinaigrette and shaved Parmesan cheese and use it as a bed for thick-sliced, grilled ribeye steak.

The wine of choice for the meal was the 2006 La Spinetta Il Nero Casanova Sangiovese, Toscana. Unfortunately, while nice, it didn't live up to the lofty expectations set by the last time I had this wine. The color is still nice and dark; especially considering the varietal. And there's still a bit of licorice on the nose. But it has lost a considerable amount of concentration and "baby fat" and turned into a much more restrained example of the grape. In addition to the light licorice, the nose also features carob, light blackberry and some primal/yeasty aromas. On the palate, the notes are limited to to meager black fruits and a distressing yeasty/musty taste. This bottle clearly lacked the bold fruit and definition of previous bottles. Still has good acidity, moderate tannins and lots of dust on the finish.

I would buy this again for $25 based on the strength of previous bottles. But this one didn't deliver for the money.

An amazing comparitive tasting of barrel samples...

I had an opportunity to taste some really unique wines last week that were used as a part of an education series designed to show some of the different ways winemakers can manipulate grapes via hang time, fermentation and aging. A virtual high-five goes out to Aaron Meeker of LDF Wine and Spirits for calling the winemakers and procuring these bottle samples. Big thanks also go out to Hirsch Vineyards and Robert Keenan for donating these most interesting wines.

2008 Nikolaihof and Alzinger Grüner Veltliners

The first two wines were examples of how a winemaker and/or vineyard manager can affect the grapes by allowing them to hang on the vine for an extended time before picking. These two wines are from the same vineyard, but the grapes that eventually made it into the Nikolaihof were picked one week earlier than the Alzinger grapes.

The 2008 Nikolaihof Grüner Veltliner Hefeabzug, Wachau shows a very floral/tropical nose with notes of coconut, peach and lime. The palate is lively and acidic with leesy/waxy, mineral-driven flavors and a long, clean finish. This is old school, biodynamic Grüner Veltliner at its best.

In contrast, the 2008 Weingut Alzinger Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Mühlpoint, Wachau reveals an obviously sweeter nose with orchard fruit notes of peach and pear. The palate comes across as being significantly richer with much lower acidity and an overall roundness which I thought was, frankly, easier to appreciate without food.


2008 Hirsch Vineyards Chardonnay

Next up were three examples of how a fermentation vessel can affect the sensory profile of a wine and a fourth bottle containing the blended finished product. The wine was the 2008 Hirsch Vineyards Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast. The sample that was fermented in glass was very primary and yeasty still exuding fermentation aromas and banana notes usually associated with carbonic maceration. It was rich and smoky yet still raw and untamed. Apparently, fermentation in small glass demijohns makes for a long, slow fermentation that leads to complex textural and aromatic nuances.

I figured the glass-fermented Chardonnay would be distressingly similar to the wine fermented in stainless steel but was I ever wrong! "Neutral" media can certainly impart wildly different aromas and flavors. The stainless steel fermented wine was visibly thicker and sweeter than the previous wine. On the palate it was all about lush tropical-pineapple fruit. Classic, pure, fruit-driven Chardonnay.

The final component of wine was fermented in oak and showed all of the buttery and smoky aromas and flavors that one expects from a full-throttle California Chardonnay. Considerable dill (American oak?). Fat and decadent, the finish goes on forever in this wine.

The finished wine is a tremendously complex, full-bodied California Chardonnay. Although harmonious and seamless, I love the fact that you can pick out nuances contributed by each of the components in the final blend. There's a bit of banana still in there from the glass fermentation. There's tropical fruit reminiscent of the portion fermented in stainless steel. And there's the buttery dill noted from the oak fermentation. A beautiful, balanced Chardonnay with great acidity that may very well reward 5-7 years in the cellar. Long, silky finish. If you're interested in the percentages in the finished product, this is from the winery:

Fermentation was done 11% in fourteen-gallon glass demijohns; 53% in stainless steel tanks; and 36% in oak. Total new oak was 16%. When the ferment went dry, half of the stainless wine was racked to neutral oak for aging.

2009 Robert Keenan Cabernet Sauvignon

Then I got to try barrel samples of 2009 Robert Keenan Cabernet Sauvignon, Spring Mountain District from three types of oak: new American, new French and 5 year old French.

The wine aged in new American oak (I don't know how long any of these samples had been in oak) showed the expected dill and Bourbon aromas with a touch of varnish and some rich black cherry notes on the palate. Overall quite tannic and oaky. Dare I say a bit harsh?

The barrel sample from the new French oak was creamy and rich with aromas and flavors of vanilla, licorice. A touch of green on palate but I suspect this was more a character trait of the Spring Mountain terroir than the French oak. Overall just a richer, more balanced wine.

The wine from the 5 year old French oak was by far the most perplexing wine of the bunch as it smelled and tasted more like the new American oak than the new French. Had I not known what kind of oak this was aged in, I would've sworn it was of American origin. A touch dilly with latex and high alcohol, this was quite tannic with with modest tart cherry flavors and screaming acidity. How the older French oak started to impart flavors and aromas typically associated with American oak is beyond me and really left me scratching my head looking for answers.

My goodness, what an educational experience! Once again, thanks to Aaron Meeker, Winemaker Ross Cobb of Hirsch Vineyards and Nils Venge, Winemaker at Robert Keenan Winery for putting this together and supplying us with these most fascinating components.

2007 Seghesio Barbera and.....ducks???

Thoroughly enjoyed a bottle of 2007 Seghesio Barbera, Alexander Valley tonight with a bowl of baked ziti. Fans of Italian Barbera will recoil in horror at the near-black color and massive concentration of this wine. But to me, this is how Italian varietals should taste. There's a small distillery in Oregon that goes by the name of Clear Creek. I've never had their cranberry liqueur, but if I had to guess, I'd say it probably smells a lot like the Seghesio Barbera. The nose is so thick and sweet with cranberry and licorice aromas; aromas that follow right through to the palate. Wonderful trademark acidity that one would expect from Barbera with moderate tannins and a long, dusty finish. Just a beautiful wine - California fruit meets old work acidity. (Yes, this is the wine that every Piedmontese winemaker would make if he could.) Worth every penny of $28.

No, duck wasn't on the menu tonight, but we did get a pair of runner ducks from our neighbors. They reluctantly took them from some relatives who didn't want them any more and immediately gave us a call. We'd actually been eying a couple of runner ducks from the beginning since they are prolific layers and they don't fly away. A male (brown) and a female (white), right now we are calling them foie and gras. But they won't wind up on the dinner table as their meat isn't particularly prized. We'll keep them around as pets and (hopefully) incorporate them into the chicken flock.