It's 2006. Do you know where your food is?

I dashed through the last few weeks before the holidays, working long hours to prep wines for bottling, getting tanks topped as much as possible, and making some final blend decisions for 2004 reds that will bottle in March. We actually bottled 2004 Chardonnay right up until Thursday evening at 6pm when I left to make it (late) to KLC's office party in Paso Robles, and start the Holiday season.

The winery is shut down, at least as far as production goes, from now until January 2nd. This has been great, I spent the first day with KLC taking a long, beautiful hike on the mountain ridgetops above the city, where you can see away to the ocean on one side, and over into the Salinas & California valleys on the other; even the Temblor range, thrust up by the San Andrea's Fault is visible from there.

KLC is back at work, and I am spending my time catching up on some reading. I finished MFK Fisher's "An Alphabet for Gourmets" yesterday, which I have been working on for a few weeks now. Spectacularly well written, as she always is. I am now making my way through a stack of wine industry periodicals that have been piling up since harvest!

One article discussed the FDA's Bioterrorism act. If you have not yet heard about this piece of rulemaking, it has already begun to affect the foods and beverages that you eat and drink every day. It will have huge implications for the company that I work for, as well as for our clients, customers, transporters, suppliers, growers, and distibutors.

The basic idea of the the provision, passed in 2002 is that a record of every ingredient, material, packaging supply, etc... has to be tracked from start to finish, even including the transport of said materials. These records have to be immediately available to inspectors, (the regulation requires a full accounting be available within 24 hours notice.) Every winery with more than 11 employees will have to be fully compliant by June of this year. Non-compliance will mean that the non-compliant products would be pulled from the shelves and destroyed!!

For a winery like ours, making wine for many different clients, using chemicals provided sometimes by the client, sometimes from our own stock, we need to track to the gram every lot number of every chemical and where it came from, who transported it, when it was produced and the provenance of every ingredient used in its production. Now multiply this traceability by nearly one-hundred clients, many different chemical additions, suppliers, origins of lots, and transportation of those chemicals to our plant. And then imagine blending multiple wines together that may have been produced in many different facilities. The paperwork alone becomes mind-numbing. And it will be still more bewildering for even larger companies, like Diageo and Constellation.

What does this mean for a small winery that grows all of its own fruit? Well, any chemicals or nutrients (sulfur, compost, micronutrients, etc...) that go onto the crop have to have complete traceability of the lot number, and transport from the manufacturer all the way through to the end user. Much of this is already in place in California, as registered agricultural chemicals are required to be reported monthly, it would just take a few tweaks. But trucking of the fruit to the winery has to be tracked, as well as origin and lot numbers for SO2 (Germany or Italy,) tartaric acid, (China, Italy,) tannin additions, (France, Australia) yeast (Canada, Netherlands, Belgium.) As the wine is finished, even filtration aids (Germany, USA) bentonite (USA) and other fining agents may be added.

Supposing you used all your own fruit, grown entirely organically, you trucked it to the winery yourself, you did not add any chemicals of any kind, let the native yeast conduct fermentation, etc... You still have to track the origin of the barrels (France, USA, Hungary) SO2, whether from KMBS or liquid SO2, corks (Portugal, Spain) and glass bottles (USA, Mexico, France, Italy.) As you can see, wine production is a complex international web, even at the simpest levels.

I imagine that this is going to extend to the rest of the food & beverage and agricultural system as well. All this red tape is designed to maintain the security of the United States' food supply, but in fact it really just exposes the vulnerability of the present, globally dependent system. The chain, especially for processed foods, extends out of the United States, with dependence on farmers in China, South America, Mexico, Canada, and elsewhere. Tampering at any point along the line can comprimise the safety of our food supply, and expose us to pathogens, poisons, or other dangers. As we scramble to become compliant in the wine industry, with relatively short production chains, and limited numbers of ingredients, it exposes the near impossibility of compliance for other parts of the food industry. And what will the stance be on regulation of suppliers outside of the United States? Does it mean a ban on food and beverage products that are not compliant in the same way?

Perhaps the fragility of a globally dependant system is one of the strongest arguments ever for knowing where your food comes from, and how it is produced. Plant a garden. Get to your local Farmer's Market. Talk to the people who grow and supply your food. You can have a very direct influence over how safely it is produced, the effect of agriculture on your local environment, and economically reward those who are striving to grow sustainably and produce the highest quality.

If you simplify your personal food chain of supply, you won't have to depend on the accuracy and honesty of industry or government to know that your family's food is safe!

Tasting Notes- Joseph Drouhin, (Burgundy)

Whites- The 2003 whites I tasted were different from most white Bourgogne wines that I have tasted in the past; lacking a bit in intensity of flavor and acidity. In fact, the acidity balanced by great flavor and richness are what I really appreciate in Chardonnay from Burgundy. The Vero, a second label 'negociant' bottling, is a decent enough value, but there may be other wines that would provide a greater level of pleasure for the same price.

2002 'Vero' Bourgogne Blanc ~$20 retail- This is a generic Chardonnay from Burgundy, but in the mouth it is anything but generic. Hazelnut aromas, solid structure for early drinking, not a long ager. Sweet cream, a bit of 'struck match' & minerality. Devoid of oak. Nice wine.

2003 Joseph Drouhin, Mersault- Light oak aromatics; spice, quince, cardamom. Hints of Matsutake mushroom, fennel seed, pear. Delicate lilly floral accent in the finish. Minerality and nice build; not at all racy, but rather measured and full.

2003 Joseph Drouhin, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru, 'Folatieres'- Medium richness, creamy texture, minerality. White peaches, wet stone, flinty 'struck-match' sulfurous touch. Soft, subtle.

Reds- These were 2003 wines, a very warm vintage in Burgundy, and the Vero from 2002. (Also included is a bottling from Drouhin's Oregon estate.)

2003 Domaine Drouhin Oregon, Willamette Valley- Very Oregon. Slightly herbaceous, with stewed leaf, balanced by raspberry and loganberry. This is their basic bottling, and it shows characteristic restraint with the oak. Not overripe, which was a danger for Oregon in 2003. Very enjoyable!

2003 Joseph Drouhin, Chorey-les-Beaune- Deep color for a Bourgogne. Plum, cherry and ripe strawberry aromatics, with light structure and open tannins. Grapey, with lightly reduced character. Nearly Grenache-like. Not very typical for Pinot Noir.

2003 Joseph Drouhin, Gevrey-Chambertin- Northern Rhone aroma, with white pepper, violets, and raw meat. Tough grainy tannins, slightly bitter. Oak pronounced, with vanilla, coconut lactones, and some raw oak tannin. Slightly alcoholic.

2002 Vero, Bourgogne Rouge- Stemmy green tannins, spice, clove & cinnamon. Decently elegant, if focused on these dry spice flavors. Angular, with grippy, rough 'cat's tounge' tannins. I liked it quite well.

Tasting Notes- Burgundy & CA Pinot Noir

2003 Merry Edwards, Russian River Valley, ‘Olivet Lane Vineyard’ $54- Pleasant aromatics, orange rind and strong coconut oak lactone character. The weight of this wine is lighter than I am used to in Merry’s wines, and the oak treatment seems to have been tailored to a bigger wine. The result is a somewhat awkward mouthfeel, with oak tannins sticking out the edges of the wine a bit. Successful overall, despite the intense oak character.

2003 Capiaux, Santa Lucia Highlands, ‘Pisoni Vineyard’ $45- Pisoni is a very highly respected site in Monterey County’s beautiful strip of benchlands above the Salinas River, near Greenfield and Soledad. Unfortunately, this wine does not convey that beauty well. The slightly aldehydic nose made me suspect neglect, or misused micro-oxygenization, and in the mouth, this wine tastes exactly like store-bought tannins. I don’t know very much about this winery, or their winemaking methods, but according to their website they don’t add anything at all to their wines. If you love big, dark, anonymous, obnoxious wines, this may be one to try. If you truly love Pinot Noir, in all of its Burgundian elegance, look elsewhere.

2003 Fritz, Russian River Valley $29- Love the aromatics, campfire, sweet spiced oak & vanilla. The structure of the wine is somewhat racy at first, but supported by lots of pretty fruit and spice character. This was one of my favorites of the tasting; unmistakably California Pinot Noir, and definitely delicious.

2003 Gary Farrell, Russian River Valley, ‘Russian River Selection’ $34- Aromatics were somewhat sulfurous at first, but blew back toward minerals, light berry and a juniper freshness. Felt thin and incomplete in the mouth, perhaps a slow fermentation or some other problem? Not my favorite, but at the same time not undrinkable.

2003 Saintsbury, Carneros $26- Subtle aromatics, apple & beetroot earthiness. Structurally a bit severe at this point, sharp tannins on the attack that are not supported by midpalate richness. Although the above does not read like a huge endorsement, the whole works together quite well, and it was actually one of my overall favorite wines of the tasting. Someone mentioned that they produce 26,000 cases of this bottling, so you have to applaud that kind of availability at this quality level, especially for Pinot Noir!

2002 Domaine Vincent Girardin, Santenay 1er cru, ‘Les Gravieres’ $39- Devoid of aroma, either positive or negative. Thin, minty, herbal on the palate, with only sharp, gritty tannin on the attack, a muddled mess in the mid-mouth. Suspect Brettanomyces.

2003 Domaine Anne Gros, Grand Cru Clos Vougeot, ‘Le Grand Maupertui’ $160- The fruit and oak are complexed seamlessly in this wine, from the nose through to the finish. Rich, harmonious, supple, and absolutely likeable. This is a wine that seems simple on the surface, but promises more interest with time.

2003 Domaine Louis Jadot, Savigny-Les-Beaune 1er Cru, ‘La Dominode’ $35- Nothing worth noting in the nose at this point, thin, severe build. (Corked?)

2003 Domaine Du Comte Liger-Belair, Vosne-Romaneé, ‘La Colombiere’ $75- The single most interesting wine of this flight. The nose was pungent and powerful, expressing minerals, clove and hard-spice, and zest of orange, along with a powerful ‘marine’ freshness that persists onto the palate. Some fat in this wine, but compensated by the mineral intensity. Quite lovely.

2003 Domaine Christophe Perrot-Minot, Vosne-Romaneé, ‘Aux Champs Perdrix’ Vielles Vignes $153- Amazingly aromatic; sweet oak notes, brown sugar, iodine, Laphroiag, and the briny, marine aromatic again. Very fat on the palate; almost lacking in acidity. Tannin is persistent through the wine. A ‘tiramisu’ cocoa suggestion on the finish. Was not a favorite of mine early on, but as this wine opened, it revealed a lot of layers of complexity. (This vineyard is just slightly uphill from the world-famous Grand-Cru sites of La Romaneé, La Romaneé Conti, Romaneé Saint Vivant, and La Tache.)

2003 Robert Groffier Pere et Fils, Gevrey-Chambertin $70- Delicately scented with raspberry, melon, and strawberry. Harmonious on the palate, but lacking aroma and fruit intensity.

Holiday Arugula?

The nights have been quite chilly lately, even though the short days have been warming regularly into the high 60F degree range, even hitting 70F occasionally. The ground must still have some warmth, as my arugula has started to emerge from the recently prepared garden bed with tiny green shoots emerging quite uniformly from the soil in a tidy row. I planted just two weeks ago, taking out a disused bed of Santa Barbara Daisies, digging in some homemade compost, and trenching some seed starter soil into a few shallow rows, where I tucked the seeds in.

I planted a few other wintertime foods, including beets, (I used a cultivar that is primarily used for its greens,) as well as cillantro and two short rows of edible pod peas. Not a peep yet from those rows; but I have faith that the peas will emerge, judging from my sucess last year in Oregon's icy winter.

Cilantro fresh from the garden is a wonderful way to dress winter soups, salads, and homemade Mexican foods. Even in San Luis Obispo's moderate climate, the summertime sun seems to send it to seed almost as soon as it gains its first few leaves. But growing it over the winter provides an extravagance of the pungent leaves; and when it finally does bolt, we will let the seed pods mature, finally collecting the coriander for further kitchen use. In the past, we have even dedicated a pepper grinder to exclusive use for the purpose of grinding the flavorful, almost orange-like floral spice of coriander over eggs, curries, tuna, and other dishes. In my opinion, this is one spice that you must grow; I've never been as satisfied with purchased corriander as with my own home grown produce.

Perhaps I will have some fresh, spicy arugula greens in time for a Christmas salad?

The Girl & The Fig- Sonoma

I was in Sonoma County for winery business the latter part of last week, and had opportunity to dine at The Girl & the Fig; on the town square in Sonoma, (110 West Spain Street, Sonoma California (707) 938 3634.)

This is Sondra Bernstein’s comfortable wine-country bistro, casual and homey; informed by traditional French bistro fare and hearty country cooking. The wine list is all Rhone varieties, (with the exception of a few bubblies…) and well chosen, with none of the usual cop-outs, or uninspired name-dropping. Several of our hometown favorites were represented, including several selections each from Robert Hall in Paso Robles, & Alban Vineyards; next door to our own vineyards here in Edna Valley. They even had two selections that were purchased at the Hospice du Rhone barrel auction, and bottled specifically for The Girl & The Fig, including a Jaffeur’s Syrah from my friend Michael Larner’s vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley, of Santa Barbara County.

Nestled in a comfortable location below the Sonoma Hotel, it has the added bonus of being just 2 blocks from the excellent Friday morning Farmer’s Market. The menu certainly seems to draw, in substance or inspiration, on the marvellous local produce on display there each week.

We started with the “Tower of Cheese,” a selection of several local and international examples of the art of fromage. In addition to the cheeses we were served several thin slices of charcuterie, as well as a fig paste, and a chutney of onion. Here are a few of the selections we were presented with:

Vella Dry Jack Reserve- This is an excellent local Sonoma cheese. It is no newcomer to the artisinal cheese movement, indeed it has remained basically as-is for decades. Similar in grain to a Parmigino, it has a bit more richness, less salty, more earthy. According to the table notes, the rind is cured with a mixture of vegetable oil, cocoa, and pepper.

Redwood Hill Boucheret- This was a domestic, bloomy-rinded goat’s milk cheese with a distinct sour-rich flavor, and a silky texture. Was quite good; but overshadowed by some of the drier cheeses we were tasting. I intend to order one of these cheeses and enjoy it further.

Fiscalini Bandaged Cheddar- I loved this cheese!! From Modesto, it had an amazing tang, and rich, full, nutty expression, almost like an aged Gouda from Holland. I bought a pound to bring home for KLC.

Pierre Robert- If you have not had this cheese, you have not experienced one of the most pleasurable, decadent experiences available to your palate, courtesy of our friend the cow. A rich, triple crème cheese, the menu stated that it is enriched with crème fraiche. Although this is a cheese that I am well acquainted with, it was a welcome presence on our cheese tower. Just another brilliant example that proves “fat equals flavor.”

Cypress Grove, “Pee-Wee Pyramid”- As its name implies, this is an exquisite goat’s milk cheese in the shape of a pyramid, (minus the chopped off tip…) From the makers of the fabulous Humbolt Fog, it is similar to the crumbly exterior portion of its famous sibling, with a great tangy flavor. Has layers of creamy and crumbly texture contrasts that makes it a beautiful cheese to served sliced on a plate or salad. This is another that I had to take home!

Ailene des Vignes- I did not have this cheese on our cheese tower, but was intrigued by the description on the cheese menu, and had to bring some home. “This Tome de Chevre is a white wine washed ‘drunken goat’ cheese. This is a small, artisan student-produced production- each wheel is numbered.” I found it to be fairly bland, safe, and uninteresting compared with some of the other really striking cheeses. Perhaps if I allow it to warm to room temperature, some of the aroma will come out of it, but it was not my favorite overall.

So enchanted by the cheeses we enjoyed at the beginning of the evening, I continued in a similar vein, with a charcuterie plate. Really great thin-sliced salami and thicker, dried Portugeese style chorizo. In addition, there was a pate of duck liver, coarser and more rustic than foie gras, but flavorful and quite a tasty match with the Syrah we were drinking with dinner.

I chose a small plate as my entrée course, the Duck Confit. It was amazingly tender and delicious, with a fall-off the bone richness and depth of flavor. The duck was served on a leaf of butter lettuce, with a lentil ragout, richly flavored with smoky bacon. This was a great dish for the rich Rhone varieties on the menu, and paired well with the Grenache we had on the table. This would be a stellar partner with a racier Pinot Noir; something to echo the earthiness of the duck, and cut through the richness with some acidity and persistance.

Dessert was a nice touch; pumpkin cheesecake, and a glass of Muscat Beaume de Venise. The cheesecake must have included some cheddar or gouda, or some other slightly pungent cheese that made a nice balance to the sweetness of the pumpkin. A bit of clove echoed the floral spice of the Muscat well. (Perhaps this was a bit of a sweetness overload, but I only get to do this once in a while…)

I definitely enjoyed the experience, great service, small cosy room, and food that will be remembered for a long, long time! Looks as though work will continue to bring me up to Sonoma with some regularity; I am looking forward to getting to know this great area better!

The 'Dirt' on Soil Microbes

"I think the average person should be more interested in microbes, because it is good to know who is running your world..." -Ignacio Chapella, in "Intimate Strangers"

• For every unit of animal mass in soil (insects, worms, gophers, etc...) there are ten times as much mass in microbes!
• 60-80% of all soil metabolism is due to microbial activity!
• Soil microbes cycle carbon and nutrients, store them, and mediate chemical reactions in the soil, even breaking down toxic pollutants and controlling plant disease.
  

I attended a soil microbiology workshop today, it was the second day of two put on by SARC, Cal Poly's Sustainable Agriculture Resource Consortium. The speakers were Vicki Bess, of BBC labs in Phoenix AZ, and Ralph Jurgens, of New Era Farm Services in Tulare county; both pioneers in their fields of microbiological analysis and management of soil and compost.

One of the main points that was underscored by both presenters was that compost should not be looked at as primarily a source of nitrogen, or other macro or micronutrients. Much more importantly, compost is a source of rich biological diversity, and in understanding your own soil's microbial population and chemical makeup, one is able to manage compost and nutrient applications to build stable and beneficial communities that will sustain crops, build soils, and reduce cost and inputs.

In one of Ralph's client's fields, by manipulating the microbial population, minerals were made available by the microbes during plant growth in a lettuce crop, resulting in thicker cell walls. The analysis of nutrients within the plants were almost identical for the control and treated lettuces, but the treated heads could stand up much better to storage conditions than the control, retaining marketable quality for an average of 14 days longer than the control.

Other trials showed the effect of microbes on soil structure, permeability, and nutrient availability. And the point was made that more compost is not always better; in a cotton crop composted at 10 tons/acre, maturity of the bolls was irratic and delayed due to continued slow nutrient release far into harvest. In another block with 2 tons/acre, maturity was very uniform, and the costs associated with inputs much reduced. In some crops, inputs of as little as 40lbs of compost per acre provide enough microbial inoculum to have dramatic effect with low input associated costs, (although it was difficult to develop a method to apply such low rates.) Compost teas can be another excellent way to introduce specific microbes for certain purposes.

Vicki had a great analogy for soil microbes, defining them not by species (only about 5000 species are clearly defined and understood, and we know there are well upwards of 1,000,000 that commonly exist in agricultural soils.) She likened them to the workforce that you would employ if you had a company. Multiple jobs have to be accomplished within a company, and you may divide your workers into departments that specialize in accomplishing different jobs. But within each department, you will want to have people with diverse talents and abilities, so that the appropriate talents will be available to complete daily tasks.

She scores soil health based on types of microbes based on criteria such as aerobic, anaerobic (and functional anaerobes,) groups that have enzymatic activity, and those that can fix nitrogen. In addition to quantifying each catagory, she assigns a diversity score to each group, indicating how many different kinds of microbe exist within that niche. This can be very important to the long term stability of the microbial community.

Most people know that we get some of our most important medicines from microbes, such as penecillin and bacitracin, etc... But a lot of people do not realize how soil microbes do exactly the same thing for plants. The specific toxins that microbes give off can help them to compete for nutrients and 'defend' their territory in the soil, inhibiting diseases that can attack plants, all the while feeding off plant wastes, or 'exudates' that are excreted from the roots. Many of these soil microbes are being developed into commercial products to help suppress plant fungal diseases. Other microbes help to chelate iron and make it available to plants. Microrhyzae are fungi that actually take up residence in the fine tips of plant roots, and help greatly to pull in nutrients and water to the plant. Many soil microbes are responsible for producing plant growth regulators that directly influence vegetative development.

"Biodiversity above ground equates to biodiversity below ground," was one of the key messages that I heard early on. Because each microbe has evolved to compete in different circumsances, and since their food source and habitats are plant root structures and exudates, this simply makes sense.

"To understand soil health, we look to Mother Nature," Ralph finished, showing a slide of a forest. "She does not incorporate materials raw, but lets them break down on the surface, and forms a compost tea every time that it rains." Seeing the slide, with many different species and types of plants and vegetation, it drove home the point that we are trying to manage very complex systems of balance, which are difficult to duplicate in our modern monocultural ag operations.

Sauvignon Update

Just to update on the Sauvignon tasting yesterday afternoon:

Overall, we were disappointed in the quality of the wines we laid in. Even some very highly regarded wines from New Zealand, with accompanying high scores from the publications seemed 'off' in many ways. Two of the California wines were absolutely undrinkable, one from some mysterious combination of poor cooperage, unhealthy lees and possible slow fermentation, the other from residual sugar that was so high and out of balance with the acidity to make it a caracature of Sauvignon Blanc. The third was a Napa Valley sauvignon, which while flawless, was absolutely uninteresting in a 'Sauvignon blanc tries to be Chardonnay' sort of way. Overall, we were surprised at the levels of residual sugar in the wines; I am having the lab run full analysis on what is left of the wines to see where they ended up.

Here are the wines that we did like:

2004 Marlborough (New Zealand), Kim Crawford- Impression of softness in the mouth, green aromatics are not out of line, lime-zest and green fig fruit, more floral and perfumed than the other NZ examples, which were more overtly vegetal. The most "inoffensive" and "commercially acceptable" in the words of one of our panel.

2003 Pouilly Fume, "Les Champs du Cri," Marc Deschamps (Loire Valley, France)- Sulfurous nose initially, with a cooked-cabbage note. This blew off quickly, revealing more of a wet-stone, mineral, and lime character. This is a very solid, big example of Loire Sauvignon. This was not one of my favorites, but the rest of the panel liked it quite well. (I reserve the right to change my mind, if faced with a plate of perfect, fresh oysters!) At any rate, everyone else liked it so much that there is not enough left for the lab to even run a sample on!

2004 Chevery, Domaine du Salvard- I tasted this wine a few days ago, and really liked it as well. It confirmed my thoughts about this being more of a new-world weighted wine in the mouthfeel and the assertive aromatics. Surprisingly, not many of the panel liked this wine much at all, except for one of the other winemakers. (Am I just a total acidity freak?)

2004 Nelson (New Zealand), Neudorf- This was not one of the panel's favorites either. I liked everything about this wine except for the level of residual sugar. The nose was more elegant than the other NZ examples, and in the mouth the acidity was tempered by the residual sugar, making it seem more balanced to a point. But on the finish, the R.S. spun the wine wildly out of balance. (Disclaimer: My friend, Jim Esper (now Assistant Winemaker for Lemelson winery in Carlton, Oregon; great pinots, and GREAT Riesling!) did a harvest at Neudorf a couple years ago, so I really, really wanted to like this wine. They are primarily a Riesling and Pinot Gris producer, and this may influence their Sauvignon style.)

The rest of the wines failed, to one degree or the other. Even wines that have been highly rated by the press. A couple of the NZ wines under screwcap seemed as if they may be suffering from reductive problems, it would be interesting to know more about them. Others may have suffered in transit or storage.

On the bright side, our favorites of the tasting were samples of our 2005 wines, spun down in the centrifuge to clean them up from the yeast and sediment still in suspension. Despite being high in alcohol, the aromatics were absolutely correct, acidity searing in some cases, and a good, lengthy finish. I made a sample from both the standard Sauvignon block as well as the Musque clone, which is amazingly aromatic in the grape form, but always seems to become the more muddled, 'sweaty armpit' style as it ferments. The main block has very heady aromatics, but the texture of the musque, rich and animal and yeasty adds a lot of interest in a small addition to the more straightforward fruit and floral notes, (anyone know what a fejoa tastes like? That is exactly the fruit character!) So things look good for our 2005 Sauvignon if we don't muddle them too badly from here out!

Salad & ... Syrah???

Went to a great lunch today at Calago, a restaurant that always seems to do food deliciously, but with spotty service.

We have been tasting through the 2004 Rhone variety wines; some amazing pieces here that we will have to reassemble back into a coherent whole. They run the gamut from Bacon-fat and smoked meat aromatics to more simple, but solid structural components with dried spice and grapey fruit flavors. So when "B", one of the owners suggested lunch, we all went; myself, "E" the senior winemaker, "L" our really great consulting winemaker, and "B".

The restaurant was a bit slow on the cadence for lunch, with more of a leisurely dinner pace to their service, and they had trouble figuring out which of our wines we had ordered from the list, (they kept thinking we wanted the Chardonnay, but in fact we were after the Syrah, a previous bottled vintage.) It took a bit to get the proper selection, but they must be doing a great job of selling our wine, because the next table had a bottle of our Chardonnay, (iced down below the point at which anyone had a chance of actually tasting it, I am afraid!) Overall it was a very good lunch, with small portions of well-prepared, reasonably authentic Italian food.

We were drinking a 2003 Syrah, one of our Estate wines, so very solid, cool-climate Syrah texture and aromatics, with white pepper, even a bit austere at first, and opening well, richening on the table.

As I bit into my arugala and goat's cheese salad, it was a bit of a revelation to have the spicy, woody, almost smoky bite of the Arugala compliment the Syrah so completely. I commented on this aloud.

"Yeah, a lot of people tend to discount how well Syrah and Zin can match up with salad," 'L' said. There was no question that the salad, lightly dressed with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt was having a wonderful synergy with the wine.

I have always enjoyed the more European menu sequence, with a salad served after the main course. A bit of refreshment and contrast before the richness of the cheese course, or the sweetness of dessert. And it makes very good sense to use a Syrah, or perhaps a Tempranillo to bridge the salad and move into the cheeses. One caveat; the salad must not be too acidic, or it will rob the wine of it's richness and aroma. Preferrably the slightly bitter greens, such as raddichio, mustard, and arugala, and dressed simply; just a splash of high-quality extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of fleur de sel, and perhaps some toasted hazelnuts, or pignoles.

I am starting to feel quite hungry suddenly! It is time to hit the Farmer's Market, to lay in a supply of greens and vegetables for the weekend.

2004 Cheverny, 'Domaine du Salvard'

We are tasting a flight of Sauvignon Blanc wines at work tomorrow, in an effort to solidify some sense of where our wines can and do fit into the marketplace. I can't wait, as I really feel that I need some more specific guidance from Marketing and the owners as to where the wine should be going, stylistically. I should have a lot more info to guide some critical blending decisions that need to be made early next week.

I have been busy procuring some examples of wine types from around the globe, and the selected wines have begun to arrive this week. In one of the shipments, from The Wine Cask, in Santa Barbara, I ordered an extra bottle of an inexpensive wine from the Loire appellation of Cheverny. I do not know much about this AOC, but turned up some info on the web. Apparently Cheverny AOC allows reds from Cab Franc and Pinot Noir, and whites from Sauvignon and Chardonnay. I think I remember seeing a note to the effect of 60-85% Sauvignon being typical in the appellation whites. (If someone has more solid knowledge, please share!)

SO, I have a bottle here at home this evening of the 2004 Domaine du Salvard Cheverny (blanc,) imported by Kermit Lynch, and retailed at $13.

Definitely a familiar Loire aromatic in the nose; a tiny touch sulfurous, but yielding to a kind of struck flint, crushed granite minerality. Fans of solid acidity will appreciate this wine, and yet it has a very new-world richness on the palate. I would guess that we are in the 13%+ alcohol range here, almost a new-worldish opulance, but tempered by the minerality and structure of the wine. Lime zest is the nearest we come to overt fruit in this wine, perhaps along with slightly underripe apricot. I think that this is definitely worth the price of admission, maybe more bang for the buck than a lot of California Sauvignons...

This is going to be LOVELY with dinner tonight; I am making a homemade pizza on crisp handmade crust, with sliced yellow squash, fresh chevre, cracked peppercorns, fennel seeds, and a drizzle of a fruity, slightly bitter olive oil. Some salad on the side, (using up the last of the store-purchased salad, as I am starting some arugala this weekend, per my last post.)

There is a bit of chill in the air this evening, but I just got the fireplace started, and it will soon be glowing with a gentle heat. A good night to read, I guess!

Sacramento Delta Blues

A few years ago, I was hiking with my parents & youngest brother and sister in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park. We could see the high peaks in an arc above us, capped with snow even in the height of summer, forming the Continental Divide.

"The snow on this side of the divide all flows into the Mississipi Delta," my brother told us. They had learned about this in his Junior High Geography class over the past year.

"So where does the snow on the other side end up?" my father quizzed him.

After a few puzzled minutes, he admitted he wasn't quite sure. "I don't exactly remember, but it goes to the Pacific, I think. The Colorado River?"

"LA," I said, smiling. "It actually mostly ends up going to Los Angeles." Which wasn't exactly true, but not too far from the truth.

I had been reading a copy of "Cadillac Desert," a fantastic book that covers the water policy in the Western US over the past 75 years or so, in all of its absurdity. I was amazed to learn about the government building hundred-million dollar water projects in the West so that farmers here get free or cheap water to grow the same crops that the government is also paying farmers in the southeast and midwest to plow under; the fact that the thirst of Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, and the Imperial Valley had placed so many demands upon the Colorado River that it ceased flowing into the Gulf of California, destroying a historically rich estuary and the accompanying ecosystem; the destruction of a rich Salmon fishery in the American and Sacramento rivers through diversions and dams.

This morning, a story caught my ear on NPR's Morning Edition. It was about many fish species experiencing severe population decline over the past three years due to diversion of water from the Sacramento River Delta. One of the species involved was the Delta Smelt, listed as an Endangered Species, which could potentially trigger reductions in the flow of water for irrigation purposes.

KLC and I just returned from visiting great friends in Sacramento over the Thanksgiving holiday. The five hour drive to Sac parallels the amazing California Aqueduct through the San Joaquin Valley. Millions of acres of farmland stretch for hundreds of miles; cotton, pistachios, citrus, row crops, almonds, stock yards, grapes, poultry barns, alfalfa, dairy units, and every other imaginable agricultural product. In addition, hundreds of cities, large and small, depend on this aqueduct both for municipal drinking water and for economic stability and purpose.

Much of this abundance would not be possible without the water projects. The value of the crops produced in the Westlands Water District every year is upwards of $30 Billion. 2/3 of the cities in California depend to some degree on this water, diverted from the Sacramento and American rivers. The story said that during the months of November, December, April, May, and part of June, the Westlands Water district supplies 95% of the salad greens consumed in the United States! And all of this despite the fact that many advocates of sustainable agriculture maintain that the water district should have never been irrigated in the first place, with soils containing toxic levels of selenium, arsenic, and molybdenum.

Just another reminder that irrigated agriculture is, by definition, very difficult to justify as sustainable agriculture. I know this, and yet I work in an industry where our vines are irrigated aggressively throughout the season, altering both the yield, and the essence of what the vineyard sites would otherwise be, and what the wines would be like. In the north part of our county, the exponential growth of vineyard acreage over the past 20 years has lowered the water table alarmingly; hundreds of feet in some cases, at the same time as a housing boom increases the demand for water to drink, flush, and keep lawns green.

Water rights are destined to become one of the central issues of existence in Western America over the next several years; maybe even more important than gasoline prices, housing costs, or immigration.

I think that I'll plant some of my own greens this weekend, to get me through the winter without adding to the depletion of what little water is still allocated to the Delta Smelt.

NPR: Morning Edition, Wednesday November 29, 2005 'Delta Smelt Endangered'

First Posting

Hello!

I wanted to stake out a place on the web to create and to share. This will be my first weblog project ever, and I don't know just what the frequency and/or length of contributions may be, but perhaps ultimately I will develop a pace and cadence that feels right.

I think that the main focus for creating this log is to foster sustainablity within my own life, and the lives of those around me. On so many levels, our society rushes headlong into the future while considering only the present. All of life on this planet is a complex economy of inter-related species, ecosystems, regions, cycles and ideas that wind throughout every animate and inanimate action and reaction; even forward and backward through time itself, connecting everything and everyone together at once. I wish to force this consciousness upon myself, and to hold myself accountable to living in accordance with this understanding in my daily life.

I especially wish to explore some of my favorite, meditative activities; growing things, creating things, and gathering good people and ideas around myself. There will definitely be discussions of gardening, preparation and enjoyment of food and wine, and celebration here.

Well, here it goes! I am excited and intimidated all at once, but this should be an interesting process.