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.

Food, Inc. is coming!

Smoke Gets in Your ...

Wine.

There's a lot of buzz and concern about smoke taint in wines throughout California from last summer's fires. Like so many wine growing regions in Northern California, our little Anderson Valley was not spared.

I expect the nature and intensity of taint will vary wildly depending on the varietal, its amount of skin contact time, and exposure to smoke. As we start to see those wines being poured in tasting rooms, I will be just as curious as the next tire kicker to taste them. I've heard discussions about tasting notes range from "yeah, it's smoky" to "comparable to licking an ashtray".

I tasted an Anderson Valley pinot noir last night with smoke taint and I was happily surprised that the bouquet was not as offensive as I expected. Unmistakeable smokiness but in a hickory smoked bacon fat kind of way. And being a Burgundian style fan, bacon fat and some stinkiness is a good thing. However, further examination of the underlying notes did display an unpleasant charred wood and brush quality. Upon my initial tasting, I also thought it was not as horrible as I expected. There were some nuances from the charcuterie end of things but then there were also smoke flavors from the non-food spectrum as well as an element of petroleum, and, I noticed as I drove home that there was a lingering taste of burnt brush in my mouth.

Of course, depending on the severity of taint and what each winery does to minimize the taint (rafting, fining, blending, reverse osmosis, etc.) some wines may not be salvageable. I hope that many wines will be salvaged. Ever the optimist and mad scientist at heart, I find myself thinking of possible flavor pals to pair with the wines. I know how to boost inherent fruit, earth and spice qualities, how to raise or lower the perceived sweetness and acidity, and how to focus or neutralize flavors in untainted wines, but can I use those food and wine pairing principles to "fix" smoke tainted wines?

I will look for an opportunity to try....

Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival

Now that the frenzy has died down, I've had a chance to sort through all that happened at this year's Pinor Noir Festival. Thanks to Toulouse Vineyards, this year, I was a guest at the grand tasting and actually TASTED THE WINES (yay!)! In years past, I've always been too busy working on some part of the festival to even consider taking the Saturday off to taste.

There were so many wines I've been curious to taste in depth...Woodenhead, Copain, Black Kite, Jim Ball, Littorai, new Harmonique, etc. It was a luxury and a treat to have them all in one place -- to be able to taste one against the other. But the one that stood out for me among all of the fruit forward, New World style pinots (and oh yes, there were many) was Mary Elke's of Elke Vineyards. Such an elegant, perfectly balanced Burgundian style I have been missing for some time now.

The Toulouse Vineyards Open House on Sunday was gloriously sunny, non-stop crazy busy fun and wildly successful. We estimated over 300 guests visited that day. Inside, the tasting room staff poured bottles and bottles of the 2008 Rosé of Pinot Noir, the 2006 Estate Pinot Noir and the 2007 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir. Outside, I taught an all day palate development and pairing theory workshop for the wines. Hundreds of guests learned about their own palate, the principles of similarity pairing and walked away with a custom pairing idea. I'm always thrilled with the response to our pairing workshops. Watching people get turned on to how they taste and what they like never fails to inspire me.

What is it about the energy of that place that is such a magnet for the public? Even with the drizzle and cold during the Alsace Festival , Toulouse's tasting room (actually the production floor) was packed all day long. There is a constant stream and righteous buzz of wine lovers that tend to taste and hang out for hours. Pinot Noir Festival was no different except we had the great outdoors to spread out into. Everywhere you looked, groups of tasters with wine glasses in hand were avidly tasting and talking about the wines, participating in the workshop and trying the pairings. If I could just bottle up whatever that is that draws wine enthusiasts to Toulouse, I could retire this very minute.

This year, we offered two pairing samples to taste. I'm ecstatic with the Lemon Rose Panna Cotta with Ruby Grapefruit and Tarragon pairing for the Rosé. It was the Rosé infoodcarnate. The earthy aspects of the 2007 AV Pinot Noir came into focus with an intensely tasty, umami riddled (thank you coconut vinegar) Philippino Beef Adobo with crispy shallot rings. From the moment the gates opened at 11AM, I did not stop talking once until 5PM. Needless to say, a grand time was had by all. Recipes and tasting profiles are available from the winery.

Tasting Elements

The cobbler's child has finally got shoes!!!

Okay, I'll admit that I'm obsessed with taste. At least, what we think we know to be taste: sweet, sour, bitter, salty and previously elusive, umami. Everything else that we think is a taste is actually a flavor derived from aroma. And yeah, I'm obsessed with those too.

For 17 years, I've made it my business to search out, identify, integrate, manipulate and ultimately, balance taste with flavors. Add wine to the equation and everything becomes much more intriguing...and challenging...fun. Sometimes, the wine is improved by the food. Sometimes, the food is improved by the wine. And SOMETIMES, the combination of the wine and food are BOTH improved and, together, they create a taste experience beyond the two components. This is the alchemy of tastes that I seek.