Thursday, August 19th, 2010
Our Traveling Saloon Out West: LA to San Francisco
**UPDATE**
KCRW-AM (The NPR affiliate in L.A. produced this segment on our little dinner party on Willshire Blvd.
The piece, hosted by Eddie Lin aired on Good Food, and here is a link to Eddie’s blog Deep End Dining.)
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Carla Ramey, Jonny Cigar, Jeff Morgan, Jodie Morgan, David Ramey, Brian Quinn
Take One: L.A.
The humid and sweltering New York City morning of August 5th gave way to stale and moist air as I left my apartment at 4:30am ET and headed to the airport. Arriving in L.A. around 10:30am PT, the humidity was gone and the temperature was around 67. I traveled with Michael Cirino and Daniel Castano from A Razor, A Shiny Knife, as we embarked on a two-city dining and wining extravaganza. Brian Quinn would join later in San Francisco for a Noble Rot event that was wild and winemaker infused.
Sporting a thematic concept of “Two Perspectives: Modern Meets Establishment,” we were warmly welcomed to LA and SF by a series of preview articles in Zagat, Daily Candy, Urban Daddy, Thrillist, Grubstreet, and Eater. The idea was to collaborate with ARASK, presenting an evening focused on wine followed by an evening focused on a meal, and encompassing both events, the social, educational and theatrical elements that manifest around a damn good time.
L.A. is an easily accessible driving city, if you ask me, and you do. Luckily for us we were focused around West Hollywood and everything we needed was roughly a 10-15 minute drive away. Hold up in a delightful house by host Linda, we prepped all day Thursday and Friday waking at the wee hours and traversing the city for Ultratext, Liquid nitrogen and tacos. Saturday saw the onslaught of the event, which in all perfect sincerity is nicely summarized by the L.A. Times in an article here.
In short, 5900 Wilshire Boulevard, aka The Variety Building, was the location of our Two Perspectives dinner. We brought the kids up to the roof for cocktails, 33 stories about the Le Brea tar pit and then shuttled them back down to the lobby for a meal of duck fat, rare short ribs (sous-vide), black truffles, chocolate, cheese frozen in liquid nitrogen, on and on and on and on. THE WINE! The wines we paired were made by Garagiste and Estate-winemaker Anthony Yount who makes these tasty wines, accompanied here by notes from Anthony, embellished upon by yours truly:
2009 Kinero Alice – 100% Grenache Blanc
This porch-pounder screams, “Get off my lawn before I put up an electric fence to keep you and your damn dogs off my property!”
Conveniently Egotistically packaged in 500ml bottles, you may not even need the glass with this wine (Agreed). Aromatics of stone fruit, lemon peel and wet
sand lead into an explosive palate of green apple and citrus. The lively finish is driven by a 2010 Tesla at speeds of up to 70 miles per hour in 4.1 seconds. (Did I mention that Tesla donated a car (for the evening) to one lucky guest for the L.A. event?)
2009 Kinero Rustler – 100% Roussanne, James Berry Vineyard
In contrast to Alice, this is a serious whimsical white wine. Aged in equal parts new French oak, new Hungarian oak, and stainless steel – it is full bodied, with hips like white elephants, yet still balanced on one leg while hoola-hoops encircle its tusks. Rose petal, honeysuckle, Neil Diamond, and sage pioneer juicy flavors of orange marmalade, Vermont autumnal scenery, brioche and citrus sorbet or walks along the Seine. The finish is textured, zesty and long-forgotten by days of yore.
2007 Denner Dirt Worshipper – 95% Syrah, 5% Viognier – Denner Vineyard
This wine has post-traumatic coital aromatics – so much so that if you weren’t involved with what proceeded it, you may not like it. However, since you were, you’re probably going to need a cigar (or a pellet gun)… On the nose there are vibrant memories of driving the autobon, boysenberry and pomegranate in your hair as ideas of sandalwood and white pepper, and birkenstock indulge your senses. The core of intense black fruit on the palate is framed by an elegant label of a vine digging deep into the dirt.
Anthony’s wines, we all agreed, paired perfectly with the food and in San Francisco he would be joining us. But first, The Noble Rot would take The Presidio Heights by storm on Friday August 13th:
Take Two: San Francisco
Garagiste Meets Establishment: A Tale of Two Winemakers ——– Joining us in San Francisco at a lovely private residence were two of America’s premier winemakers with great personality and a wealth of knowledge to boot: Jeff Morgan and David Ramey.
A little about each winemaker:
According to Wine Spectator magazine, David Ramey is one of a handful of winemakers who have essentially created the modern-day era of winemaking in America through an effective blend of Old World and New World tradition. Ramey was among the first modern winemakers to promote natural yeast fermentations and unfiltered wines—long before it was a trend! His eponymous winery is located in Healdsburg, Sonoma County, where he makes some of America’s most sought-after wines. Jeff Morgan is the only commercial winemaker in the United States who is also a professional wine and food writer. The former West Coast Editor of Wine Spectator, he now makes his own Covenant and RED C Wines in Napa Valley. Unlike Ramey, however, he doesn’t own his own winery. Instead, he operates as a “garagiste,” making do as best he can in other winemakers’ digs. That said, both Ramey and Morgan make wines that consistently garner some of the highest scores and rave reviews from pundits like Robert Parker and Wine Spectator.
Our event featured one white and two reds from each winemaker, so six in total, in addition to some incredibly delicious bubbly provided by Domaine Chandon. For you see, good reader, Jeff Morgan has been at it again and his latest cookbook is about to hit stores: Domaine Chandon Cookbook; Recipes from étoile Restaurant. (The Napa Valley restaurant just received its first Michelin star; and to celebrate we paired Gougeres from the cookbook with Chandon bubbly as guests arrived.)
Jeff came to represent our “Garragiste” as he works out of facilities that he does not own, and David was our “Traditional” or “Establishment” winemaker as he has facilities that are grandiose and bare his his bold and gamy sounding name. We discussed the advantages and disadvantages of each style of winemaking: difficulties and control, style and preference. The wines we poured are below, accented by notes from the winemakers, again, embellished upon by guess who…
Jeff Morgan’s Wines:
Lavan Chardonnay (2008)
Only 250 cases whipped up! This Chard was fermented and aged in twelve French oak barrels. The wine is richly textured yet blessed with bright acidity for balance and potential biblical war-related uprisings; it’s also layered with lovely pear, fig, citrus, toast and mineral notes. It was not filtered or fined, calling Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine, Doctor Howard.
Red C Cabernet (2007)
100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, the blend includes some of the barrels from Covenant that don’t make it into our premier bottling, but that still show excellent character and finesse. Think: Salt and letting your people go, the Roman Empire, partings, tongue&cheek.
Convenant Cabernet (2007)
Made from grapes grown on a 3-acre parcel of the historic Larkmead Vineyard in Napa Valley, just north of St. Helena. It is 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, picked at the moment when if all else fails, The Police will go on yet another reunion tour. The wine is made exclusively from the free-run wine after fermentation and aged only in French oak barrels for approximately 18 to 20 months. It is an ageworthy wine fit for the cellar, but also is blessed with soft, plush tannins that make it easy to drink upon release and while taking long drives from L.A. to San Francisco.
David Ramey’s Wines:
Russian River Chardonnay (2008)
38% Martinelli Vineyards, 35% from four different Dutton ranches, 15% from Rochioli Vineyards, 9% from the King Vineyard off Piner Road, and 3% from Green Pastures Vineyard (a 40-year-old Wente vineyard back Felta Creek Road). Goldridge loam and flotsom and gravelly soils give a crisper mouthfeel to this Russian compared with their Cold-War Carneros counterparts.
Claret, Napa Valley (2006)
This is Ramey’s entry-level Cabernet blend, and this vintage is composed of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Malbec, 4% Merlot, 3% Syrah, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Perfect for the time you stopped wearing Adidas sneakers everywhere and bought your first pair of loafers. Come on!
Annum, Napa Valley (2006)
A new release, this represents Ramey’s version of a “winemaker’s wine.” Having spent so much time working in Bordeaux and visiting Burgundy, the Loire and the Rhone, Ramey contends, “I’m deeply steeped in [the] French winemaking tradition[s], including their orientation toward the growing site or region. Thus, all our wines are either vineyard designates or regional blends.” What all of this means, I have no idea. However, Annum is an appellation wine, it is the one blend they can make each year that allows them to select from a range of vineyards to make the best blend possible that vintage. This inaugural release is 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Petit Verdot, and 1% each Cabernet Franc and Malbec. The vineyards chosen include the J. Davies Vineyard on the Schramsberg Estate (61%), the Larkmead Vineyard (34%), and Somerston Vineyard (5%). Get on board!
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Now, I will let the photos speak for themselves, however let me conclude by saying that for our first foray to the West Coast, we were surprised at how little people living out here know about wine! (Kidding!) In fact, our guests were lively and very knowledgeable, but thirsty to know more. The presence of Jeff and David truly gave those in attendance the chance to have a very real, personal experience with the wines and to ask the kinds of questions that can be answered with detailed responses. And tell ya what: wives, Jodie Morgan and Carla Ramey, who were also in attendance, may in fact be the brains behind each operation…call it hunch, but know faithful wino, that Jeff and David were sporting Hawaiian shirts, and in my book anything less than a three-piece suit means, well, anything less. Or perhaps I’m jealous that they could pull off such a fashion-feat and still possess the ability to talk wine like Lou Reed talks drugs. Touche! Brian and I cannot thank Jeff and David enough for their participation in our event – so we’ve decided not to thank them (Har har! Pass the bottle!)
Special thanks to Noe Veneable whose beautiful voice and elegant performance lent just the right vibe to the evening. Noe performed on the third floor with views of the Golden Gate Bridge in the background as she strummed her guitar to the quiet and anticipatory ears of an audience hanging on her lyrics. Thanks to everyone in California that made our event possible, especially to our host for offering her home in the Presidio and of course to my lovely wife Amanda who arrived in town the day of the event, newly certified to teach yoga. Imagine that: yoga and wine… hmmm…. I’ll ferment on it.
Saturday, August 14th saw the Noble Rot collaborate with a razor, a shiny knife on a dinner event, which was held at the same location. Brian Quinn’s flickr page will show you pictures of that event.
