Howdy Wino’s!

I may be finding a way back into Wine-dom and go figure, it may be an Australian wine at that! I’m interested in a Social Media and/or Event Marketing gig. Naw, we’re not talking big money but quite possibly big passion and in the long run, life is short baby! Enjoy it while you can.

Which leads me to ponder; Has anyone tried Razor’s Edge Wine before? I haven’t found it yet in my local market. I’d love some opinions on the product if anyone has one/some. Don’t be shy!

I made this clip simply out of inspiration.

Elizabeh White From SLO Country

The more I learn about wine, the less I know.

Structure.
Terroir.
Chewy.
Smoky.
Leather.
Mid-palate.
Malolactic fermentation.
Cult wine.
Food pairing.

Since my self-imposed wino education began three or four years ago in San Luis Obispo County, I feel as if I’ve immersed myself in a new world…and a new language. I carry on with my new-fangled wino terminology that continues to challenge me, forcing me to make use of handy vino books and magazines that sit quietly on my coffee table; and my resolve to stake my claim as a SLO County wine expert continues with no end in sight.

After three or four years of wine immersion in SLO County—even after dozens of winery visits, countless tastings of local varietals, booking wineries into celebrity events for an international film festival, and loads of self-wino education, I am smart enough to realize that I still don’t know a hell of a lot. But maybe that’s okay. After all, isn’t edification a part of life, each sip a stepping stone?

Perhaps I take a step forward with every taste, as I bask in the fruits of the local terroir and continue to find local vines that speak to me. My palate morphs; I find new favorites; I experiment; and I go with my wino instincts. Recently I hosted a small dinner party and frazzled a bit about finding the perfect wines to pair with a lovely appetizer course of sliced baguette that begged to be smothered in assorted cheeses (cow, sheep, and goat), tart olives, fresh farmer’s market veggies, and a zingy citrus dip loaded with fresh garlic and rich olive oil. For the main course: Drunk Chicken (smothered in an intense molé sauce brewed with rich Mexican beer). What SLO County wines could measure up to this miscellany of flavors?

I went with my instincts and headed south to find suitable wines. My first stop led me to Claiborne and Churchill Vintners in the cooler climate of the Edna Valley region (where the more delicate and cooler climate grape varietals such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir thrive). In the slightly heated summer weather, my mind and palate beckoned a cool sipping wine—I took home a bottle of 2009 “Cuvée Elizabeth” Dry Rosé. I then headed even further south to Pismo Beach, and hit up the popular new wine bar, Tastes of the Valleys, that offers myriad choices. After a tasting flight, I allowed my palate’s intuition to lead, and took off with a bottle of Cass Winery’s 2009 Roussanne (produced in San Luis Obispo’s North County).

Both the Rosé and the Roussane were well-received with the starter course, and the Roussanne morphed well into dinner. Its clean, fresh essence didn’t interfere with the rich chicken dish, leaving our palates bright. I suppose I could have relied on one of my wine books for resolved wine-pairing advice, but I’m glad that after three or four years of amateur self-imposed wino education, I know enough to experiment and go with my instincts.

I will go forward, continuing my vino-schooling—bringing my guests and readers everything I know about wine—which isn’t much. But perhaps the less I know is better. Maybe less is more. After all, too much instruction can take away from the fun, the instinctual part of you that knows. I hope you go forward in your own wine education with a bit of instruction…a lot of experimentation…and a tremendous amount of impulse.

Jakki from Temecula

It was one of those crazy Saturdays in wine country where in the tasting room required me to project my voice so much that I sounded like Betty Davis by day’s end. It was also a day when a few of us winos shared some wine and debated about random stuff. We had actually begun with a few wines from Monterey brought back by a coworker who had made a recent visit and done some swaps. (It’s pretty typical for us to send our wines with anyone heading to a wine region to trade them out so everyone gets a new experience from the deal. For the most part…I am finding that the wine industry is like one big extended happily dysfunctional family.) Anyhew, there was a great Chardonnay done my favorite way-50% aged in oak, 50% in stainless. I am not a big white wine drinker but the complexity of a heartier white grape done this way just turns me on. It had fruit…melon, apple….but it had some serious butter too. And the finish went on so long I couldn’t decide at first if I like it simply because it surprised me.

There was a weirdly heavy Tempranillo, and a somewhat forgettable Cabernet. Then we sipped a taste of our wineries currently barreled Reserve Tempranillo/Petit Syrah (the barrel is currently tapped to sell some futures on this amazing blend), and that’s when things got interesting. Once again, I personally was blown away by our wine when positioned next to another wine regions “best” wines. The reds we just tried, while fairly good, did nothing to make my taste buds dance the way this humble locally grown number did. So I commented on how sad it is that many local wineries made such crap when this kind of stuff was obviously not only possible, but consistently made by our winemaker, Doug. There are quite a few other craftsmen (wish I could say I knew of a female winemaker out here but I don’t!) making some great elixirs….but there are at least as many helping perpetuate our bad reputation.

So I comment that it’s a shame that many local places were kind of forced to “water down” their wines to stay in business. You see, it has been my understanding that because of the party crews that started coming to Temecula by the busloads (literally) it was not lucrative to manage a vineyard in the way necessary to make some truly drinkable wines. Good wine ALWAYS starts in the vineyard. You cannot make good wine from less than good grapes. But it’s costlier, and requires a knowledgeable and creative hand with a commitment to caring for the entire process. I know this because I have worked in both kinds of wineries, and the wines are dramatically different. Point is, I thought that the bad wines came about as a reaction to the massive numbers of people within an hour’s drive that saw us as nothing more but a place to go for bachelorette parties.

So, then my fearless leader who knows more about wine, the history of wine, the history of Temecula, and is a virtual walking wine encyclopedia who hails from England and has been everywhere, says the bad wine actually came first. He says that although there were always a few winemakers that were making good stuff, its mostly been in recent years we are seeing a lot more winemakers who know what they are doing and that the proof is in the pudding, or well, the wine. I usually defer everything to Bob, and my first instinct is to take his word as law. He’s my wine mentor, and one of the neatest people you will ever meet. But I am still not convinced…which came first? Was the crappy wine in our beloved valley the beginning of our history or a reflex to the lack of wine buyers that would make producing good wines feasible, if not extremely lucrative?

And then someone said what I guess may be obvious to you….who really cares? For me, it’s an important point to ponder because I want to see “us” succeed as a wine region. I want us to not repeat any part of a history that earned us a sketchy rep. I plan on doing more “research” on the subject, and hopefully will find some answers and some good wines along the way. There is great wine out here…and more to be made. So next up, lets talk varietals…we got ‘em.

Jakki from Temecula

If you pick up the “Wine Bible”, touted as the “most complete wine book ever” by Karen MacNeil, you will not find Temecula California Wine Country. You will not even find the word Temecula in the index. That’s right folks…a book copy written in 2000 about wine by an American author doesn’t so much as acknowledge that there are vines in Temecula, let alone 40 year old vines, 36 (or is it 37) wineries, and a whole fascinating history more colorful than Sonoma in September. That infuriated me, as person who has been working in the wineries of Temecula for more than five years learning about an ancient craft that has been carried on with passion and integrity by dozens of viticulturists (wine growers) and winemakers here for more than a quarter century.

Alright, so maybe 25 years is not all that long, relatively speaking, when it comes to wine regions. Still, there is much to tell about the success, struggles, and failures of the Temecula vines and their keepers. There is a lot of amazing wine to talk about, and to hopefully have a chance to share with you. Sadly, there are many wines made in this Valley that are little more than expensive, fortified Kool-Aid’s. I cannot deny that. That’s what happens when a wine region is close enough to, hmm, say nearly 25 million people for them to drive an hour to go “winery hopping”. Hey, that does have its place, but it also made it difficult for “real” winemakers to gain clout for many years if the Temecula zip code was attached to their name.

My goal is to share with all of you some of the great wines, eclectic and beautiful wineries, history and goings-on in this largely misunderstood, beautiful and accessible valley of vines. From a huge diversity of varietals due to the microclimates found from the basin to the edges of the surrounding mountains to a great selection of live music, Temecula has a lot more to offer than most people realize. Hell, apparently a lot of people don’t even know we’re here! I gotta change that!

I have been living and working in Temecula for about five years now, but the vines and wineries have been here much longer. And I am an inquisitive one, so I have been asking questions of every wine person I have met since I started in the business, sometimes to the point of annoyance. But I am big into authenticity, which is part of what drew me to wine in the first place. Let’s face it, twenty years ago when I tasted my first French Merlot my tongue didn’t quite get it. I mean, it wasn’t cough syrup or vinegar, but it certainly wasn’t a Margarita or Pina Colada. But I was a bartender in Pavilion French Café, and if a guest bought a glass of wine for me, it was good form to drink it. Within a short time, the allure of the fruit that is the canvas for so many works of art has raised my curiosity (and changed my pallet) enough to start “researching” it. Well, and drinking more of it.

That was back in the mid-nineties. In 2005, my former spouse and I found ourselves buying a very overpriced “lake front cottage”, which was neither “lake front” nor “cottage” in Temecula. Temecula, a suburbia of 100, 000 people who were either military, as we were, in construction (there were lots of “cottages” going up), or were commuting to one of the three metropolises an hour plus away. The saving grace of this generic bedroom community for me was that not ten minutes from the tract homes and Applebee’s was Temecula Wine Country.

Today I work in one of the truly authentic wineries in Temecula Valley owned and operated by the Wiens Family. Wiens Family Cellars is known for producing some of the biggest, boldest reds in Temecula including some stellar, complex blends. Producing around 9500 cases a year, we are too big to be a boutique winery and but not large enough to distribute commercially. I have also worked for Ponte Winery, and moonlighted for Longshadow Ranch and Winery a couple of times.

Until next time….peace, love and vino!
J.

Every so often while surfing the Wine Blogosphere I come across a bit of visual insanity. It’s that wackiness that keeps the Wine world interesting. As a Wine blogger, It’s those freaky folks that I personally want to bring to the forefront of Wine Time TV, though I’m only one of several writers around here…thank Goddess for you!

This recent HOT WINE PIC is from Eva Clark. ‘Nuff said…

Got a HOT WINE PIC of your own to submit? Contact me here!