2012 Alsace Festival Toulouse Open House

Hundreds of attendees turned out on Sunday, February 19th for the Toulouse Vineyards Alsace Festival Open House in Philo,California, despite that the weather report called for rain. As it was, Sunday was beautiful and sunny all day. The palate development and food & wine pairing workshop was conducted out of doors on the crush pad until chilly winds in the late afternoon forced us to move our venue indoors for the last few hours of the Open House (see photo above).

Attendees tasted the 2011 Pinot Gris, 2011 Rosé of Pinot Noir, newly released 2012 Gewürztraminer, and the three 2008 Pinot Noirs: the Lautrec, the Anderson Valley and the Estate. The line up for the day's pairing menu was as follows:

Lemongrass Ginger Coconut Reduction on Roasted Mussels on the Half Shell

2011 Toulouse Vineyards Pinot Gris

Silver Goat Cheese on Belgian Endive with Moroccan Preserved Lemon

and Fennel Fronds

2011 Toulouse Vineyards Rosé of Pinot Noir 

Abbaye de Bellocq Cheese on Grilled Bovolo Bacon Bread

2008 Lautrec, Anderson Valley and Estate Pinot Noirs

I recognized so many repeat attendees from the Pinot Noir Festival Open Houses as well as previous Alsace Festival Open Houses. All in the all, the mood was infectious as guests enthusiastically worked their way through the two tasting boxes of eight profile elements and three sample pairings. 

As always, I feel singularly fortunate to have the honor of working with Vern and Maxine Boltz's lovely wines. I am particularly excited about the 2012 Gewurztraminer. I hope their devout following learns from the 2009 vintage and jumps on cases of the 2012 Gewurz. I am still kicking myself not to have cellared a few of the 2009. Apparently, a notable speaker at the technical conference referred to that vintage as being of particular quality and perfection.

Finally, at 6pm, tired but happy, we shut down the workshop and said our goodbyes to this year's Alsace Festival...until next year.