April 2004 Newsletter

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WineCountry • Gold Country • Monterey • Mendocino • Napa Valley
San Luis Obispo • Santa Barbara •Santa Cruz • Sonoma • Virginia

Hot Wine News – Stelvin Caps - "Uncorking the Closure Debate"

Cork has been used for centuries to stopper wines. Unfortunately, it has an Achilles heel. As a living organism, the product of the cork oak tree can house and transmit a negative quality known as corkiness or cork taint, a dank, musty smell that can spoil a wine and strip it of its fruit. The culprit is trichloranisole (TCA), a chemical compound created by the interaction between the chlorine used to clean wine corks and the mold that can form in cork bark as the result of excessive moisture. The high incidence of cork taint in wine has led to the development of a wide range of alternative closures, from synthetic corks to non-cork devices like the Stelvin, an advanced screwcap. While many consumers still associate cork with wine tradition, romance and quality, closures like the Stelvin actually do a better, more reliable job of preserving a wine's character and freshness.

I am very sensitive to cork taint and am always dismayed when I open a bottle of wine that turns out to have been spoiled by a bad cork. When our family lived in England, we experienced this problem frequently with the European wines we drank. After we moved to California and got involved in the wine business, we learned what a huge problem this is for wineries.

Once, while dining with friends in San Francisco, one of them ordered a white wine that was badly corked. After tasting it, he said, I don t care for it, but I think my wife will, explaining that she drank many such wines, which is why he preferred red wines. After determining the wine was undrinkable, I had the sommelier replace the bottle, but the episode taught me a lesson: people can easily attribute cork spoilage problems to the style of the wine.

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Winery of the Quarter– Kuleto Estate Family Vineyards

Interested in seeing a truly special winery in the Napa Valley? If you are looking for a memorable tour of a significant winery estate property, with great wines to match, you should plan a visit to Kuleto Estate Family Vineyards. This unique property with awesome views, outstanding architecture and great wines has just opened to the public. Include it in your next visit to the valley...you'll enjoy an extraordinary treat!

Kuleto's stone gate is easy to recognize soon after you pass Lake Hennessey on Highway 128 heading into the hills. As I wound up the narrow but well-maintained road, I started to realize that I was visiting a real estate...the result of combining four ranch properties into one. The eclectic architecture of the winery is a unique cross between Frank Lloyd Wright and rustic Italian Tuscany. As I toured the property, every design thought showed careful attention to natural materials, custom craftsmanship and warm yet spectacular lighting, all integrated respectfully with the landscape. This intent, along with carefully placed, picturesque hillside vineyards and gardens, has allowed the extraordinary beauty of the natural setting to remain at center stage, giving the marvelous illusion that this wine estate has been operating for a long time.

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Wine / Food Pairing – Chili--Make It Your Own!

Chili stew...this wonderful food is so versatile. In cool weather it is a comfort food, in the heat a spicy treat. Relatively low-fat and low-carbohydrate, it is full of big flavor. It's also a practical one-pan meal that is best when made in advance. This dish, is a perfect match to the current state of American cuisine, offering quality nutrition, convenience, health and pizzaz.

Over the years, I have come to understand the making of chilis the way I understand making Italian-style red sauces. We are working with a recipe class more than a recipe. Some of us like it more red (more tomatoes), some like it more green (more of those mild tomatillo peppers), some with beans, others not. Some like it hot, some more sweet. Follow your desires as you cook, taste carefully, and make it your own!

Each iteration of my recipe is a variant of this outline, following a tried and true theme. I started making chili with my mother's base recipe 30 years ago, it is one of the first things I ever learned to cook. While the original recipe was more mid-western in spirit and a bit short on spicy character, it has slowly evolved to become my chili voice of today. I have made hundreds of chilis over the years, different each time, and often to great acclaim.

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Wine Wisdom – Part II: Preventing Heart Attacks
by Ellen Mack, M.D., M.P.H - Russian Hill Winery

Part 1 in this series of articles looked at some of the recent epidemiological evidence that demonstrates a positive association between moderate wine consumption and improved cardiac health. Part 2 of this 3 part series examines the scientific basis underlying this association, in other words, how could regular, moderate consumption of wine allow us to live longer?

We all know that laughter is the best medicine and that wine makes you laugh. Is it as simple as that? Perhaps. However, because 750,000 Americans die every year of heart attacks, medical scientists have taken a more critical approach to answering this question.

A heart attack is usually the result of coronary artery disease. The heart is a pump which supplies the rest of our body with freshly oxygenated blood. Its uninterrupted function is therefore critical for life. The heart itself requires oxygen to function and gets its supply via the coronary arteries. A heart attack occurs when the heart stops getting oxygen, usually due to a plug in coronary artery system.

There are two major factors at play in causing heart attacks. The first, atherosclerosis, is one of the great scourges of life in the modern, industrialized world. The term refers to a building up of deposits, consisting of cholesterol and other materials, along the walls of our arteries. The deposits narrow the diameter of the artery, decreasing blood flow to the end organ.

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Upcoming Wine Events

Featured Sonoma County Event:
April 23 -- Rodney Strong Winemaker Dinner
The Inn at the Tides, Bay View Restaurant in Bodega Bay proudly hosts Winemaker Michael Eddy of Rodney Strong Winery for a spectacular 5-course dinner including a specially selected wine with each course. Reservations are a must! 800 Highway 1, Bodega Bay.
Fee: $70 per person, plus tax and gratuity
Time: 7 PM
Phone Number: 800-541-7788
www.rodneystrong.com


Featured Napa Valley Event:
April 25 -- Valley Men Who Cook
Teams of local amateur chef create culinary delights while raising money for a variety of charities. Day includes live music, art show, live & silent auction, wine & spirits tasting + more. Premiere tickets also include theater style celebrity chef demos featuring Michale Chiarello of Napa Style and Cindy Pawlcyn of Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen and Mustards. Event is held at Napa Valley's Culinary Institute of America at 2555 Main Street, St. Helena
Fee: $75 Premiere Tickets, $45 General ($50 at door) Time: 1 PM - 5:30 PM Phone Number: 707-963-4456

Featured Santa Barabara Event:
May 15 -- Santa Barbara County Vintners Festival
Wineries from across Santa Barbara County will showcase their latest releases, complemented by local cuisine, stunning scenery, live music and ample good cheer. Don't miss this fun and fabulous event. For information and tickets, please call the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association at the above number. Event will be held at the Firestone estate.
Fee : Please call Time: Please call Phone Number: 805-688-0881


Featured Virginia Event:
May 31 -- Oakencroft Spring Fiesta
Closest winery to Charlottesville and the University of Virginia. Our first event of the year. Featuring tours, tastings of our premier wines, picnic by the lake,enjoy the spring time in Jefferson Country and the panaromic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Live Music, light fare. 1486 Oakencroft Lane, Charlottesville
Fee: $10.00 per person includes wine glass
Time: 11 AM - 5 PM
Phone Number: 434-296-4188 x 21
www.oakencroft.com

For more upcoming wine events, please visit our events page.

Wine News • Winery of the Quarter • Food Pairing
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