Category Archives: Recipes

Wine Blogging Wednesday: Put a twist into your holiday! Or celebrate a twisted holiday?

The Wine Blogging Wednesday prompt for December comes from Twisted Oak Winery’s El Jefe–

who naturally adds a twist to it. The point, he says of this WBW, is to come up with your own holiday pairings, and to have fun:

Pick any winter holiday or observance EXCEPT Hanukkah, Christmas Day, Kwanzaa, or New Years Day or Eve, and choose a wine to celebrate it! For purposes of this WBW, the holiday date chosen must be between December 7, 2009 and January 7, 2010. You may also pair a food with your chosen holiday and wine, but that is optional. Here’s the complete Wine Blogging Wednesday #64 prompt on El Jefe’s blog.
So my holiday was a Winter Solstice Santacon which we celebrated on Sunday December 20 with a pre-Santacon brunch serving a BBQ ham. I wanted to serve a sparkling shiraz but it was easier for me to conjure up 25 men, women, and children in Santa suits on bikes than a sparkling shiraz at any price point. I did have a “Biker” zin that seemed appropriate, a Poema cava and a friend promised to bring some sparkling wine and orange juice. So I left it up to the potluck gods to see what came: a bottle of Zonin Proseco which we opened as well as the Poema Cava which ended up on the ride with us.

But what I was curious about, what I wanted to open but didn’t, was the Four Vines 2007 zinfandel “biker” from Paso Robles. Not only was the wine appropriately named for a Santacon Bike Ride, but I was curious how it would go with ham, and just plain curious about it. I’m a huge fan of zinfandel in general, and I love what Eberle does with the varietal so much that I was a member there for a while. (In fact, I have a bottle of 1999 Eberle zin I just found in the cellar; I imagine I need to drink it up soon!)

And there was the fact that Wine Spectator had talked about this wine back in February and tempted me, then in December it showed up on the WS 2009 Top 100 list and my local wine shop had it–so I bought a bottle.

So on Tuesday night, with Wine Blogging Wednesday looming, and only a Zonin Proseco and a Poema cava to brag about in my Santacon post, I broke open the bottle to enjoy with the last bit of Santacon ham, and to imagine how it might have been on Sunday with the Santacon.

Now, we don’t usually drink $20 wines on a week night. In fact, on our budget we don’t often drink $20 wines. But I knew this wine was not going to last long at The Ventura Wine Store and I’d just got an email saying they’d received a few more bottles. I wanted to go for it and buy a few more but figured I’d best taste this one first, you know, to be sure…

Well it was FABULOUS! From my first tentative swirl, sniff, and sip, I was telling the Big Monkey, wow, this stuff is really good! Lots of nice zinfandel character and color: a nice deep cherry red,  nicely balanced, some dusty blackberry charm, some cedar, a wonderfully long finish.

Best–it was AMAZING with the ham. The spice and fruit in the zin brought out the spice –especially the clove and sweet smoky flavors in the BBQ ham. It tasted decided different with this wine that it had before. And what an great difference. When they talk about the chemistry of wine and food interacting on your palate, it’s easy to roll your eyes. The Big Monkey didn’t plan to have any wine at all; we thought he’d have some on Weds or Thurs when he’d be off the next day.

But on my insistence, he tasted it. And loved it, even though he’s more of a cab or cab/syrah kind of guy. He liked it so much that when I ran off to hear Dottie Grossman and Michael Vlatkovixh perform with my pal Jeff Kaiser sitting in, he drank up most of the bottle that we’d intended to save!

This well-balanced baby had plenty of structure and tannin to put down for awhile (but how long?) so I left it with the cap on to see how it would hold up. The last half glass on Friday night indicated  that by Saturday night it would be  a bit too flat and blah.

So really, the bottom line is, this wine hits the spot. It really does. It’s absolutely wonderful for a holiday dinner dominated by ham (New Year’s anyone?) and it’s forgiving for most sides.

Wine Predator’s Murphy-Goode Wine Blogging Job Video is UP!

Soooooo Goode: watch my video & vote, please!

MG ap pagesmHere’s a screen shot of my application video for the position of Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent!

Please click on the link below to watch the video on their site and to vote for me, please!

http://www.areallygoodejob.com/video-view.aspx?vid=MEPRrfj1uHU

Thank YOU!!

Wine Predator: Passionate about Murphy-Goode Wine Blogging Job

MGbeachbikesunArt Predator aka Wine Predator on the Prowl for Murphy-Goode Wine Blogging Job

So I know you’re wondering, “what’s up with this Murphy-Goode wine blogging job you’re going for?”

Glad you asked! In this June 5 LA Times article, Murphy-Goode winemaker Dave Ready Jr admits they jumped on the “best job in the world” idea and made it their own by offering $10,000 a month for six months and a house in Healdsburg in the heart of Sonoma County wine country to the winning applicant via a 60 second video:

Ready said he got the idea of hiring a “lifestyle correspondent” via video application from the Australian state of Queensland. Early this year, tourism officials there caused an online sensation by inviting people to submit videos for “The Best Job in the World.” The gig: spending six months as caretaker of a palm-fringed island surrounded by azure sea, and using blogs, video updates, photo diaries and other online media to promote tourism. More than 34,000 people applied for the roughly $120,000 job, which went to Ben Southall, a self-described adventurer from Britain.

“We thought, ‘Wow, can we apply this to the wine industry?’ I guess we can,” Ready said as applicants joined him in sipping samples of Murphy-Goode wine. Many said they had learned of the job — which calls for an imaginative, inquisitive “people person” who is also a communications whiz — through e-mail lists or from friends.

With the deadline looming on Friday, Murphy-Goode has over 1300 videos posted on their website; they’ve warned they won’t accept more than 5,000. But according to Ready:

the main weakness among the applicants so far was their inability to show a passion for wine or for life in the bucolic Alexander Valley, not their mastery of the Web as a marketing tool.

Hmmn passion, passion, passion…I just think that’s a Predator attribute if there ever was one. And passion for wine? For life in the great outdoors in a special place like the Alexander Valley? Hhmmmm, I would say while there’s plenty of evidence for that all over this blog, it’s gonna be up to me to lead the Murphy-Goode folks there!  And I need to make sure that comes through in my video as we finish editing it!

Because, honestly? The tech stuff and how to use social media stuff can be learned rather quickly by anyone who’s a good writer.

Being passionate, enthusiastic? Ahhh, now see, that I have learned, my friends, that I have learned is one of my gifts. It was my passion and enthusiasm, the poetry I had for describing coffee which got me a tasting room job at Ridge Winery in my early 20s.

I am like the Pied Piper, leading my charge on bicycles with 50 people along for the ride in Santa suits or prom dresses, by organizing community cleanups and planting days, or simply in the college classroom, keeping my students awake, showing them how to be ALIVE, encouraging them to be human. To lead a life full of aesthetic, participatory experiences, not anaesthetic spectator ones.

Hmmn, now isn’t that what social media is all about anyway? Being human and interacting with each other?

Wine Predator: Going for A Really Goode Job

Art Predator aka Wine Predator: I Want “A Really Goode Job”

Murphy-Goode wineJust over a month ago, Queensland Tourism announced Ben Southall Gets Best Job in the World!

Which meant that Art Predator aka Wine Predator did not. And for those of you who follow this blog (and there are a lot of you, lurkers and commentors alike), you know my huge disappointment. You likely recall that I wrote a lot about Australia (not just my typical AUS wine posts!) and the Great Barrier Reef  in the weeks leading up to that announcement–posts that, I must admit, have very long tails and continue to be quite active.

In the same post, I mentioned that Murphy-Goode was a week or so into a contest looking for a “Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent,” and I wondered whether I should throw my hat into the ring. I even bought a bottle of 2005 Murphy-Goode Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon at the Ventura Wine Store on Telephone.

But I was still licking my wound, letting the warm consoling words of friends wash over and heal me.

Until now. Yes, friends Helen and Dave have been after me to apply ever since I told them about the Murphy-Goode wine blogging and social media job while we were en route to the Delicious Wine Tasting in Santa Monica. Dave keeps giving me that “I’ll never forgive you if you don’t apply” look. So I’ve decided to go for it.

One minute video applications are due Friday June 19 at midnight, California time. I’ve got my script ready, and my lines rehearsed. Some filming and editing is done, my friends and family are lined up, and the tritip is marinating for the fine dinner party we’re going to have with some Murphy-Goode wine up at my mom’s house.

And then. And then.

And then I’m cruising the internet and find this: a wine marketing think tank, VinTank, has already vetted the existing candidates, chosen their favorites, and even helped them promote their candidacy. At one point, they even offered Murphy-Goode $100,000 in services if M-G chose one of their favorites!!

Hello? Murphy-Goode Dream Job? My dream has been squelched before I even finished my video!

OK, I admit, this is a great way for VinTank to draw attention to their white paper on the wine business and social media. And one of the candidates they chose (Todd Havens) was one I chose and even featured on my blog in this post: Art Predator Gets Best Mom, Ben Southall Gets Best Job in the World!

Yep, he’s really good. And his video is really good–or is that goode?

Anyway, now I am in a quandary. The invites are out. Friends and family have made plans. I’m looking forward to seeing them, to enjoying the great meal I have planned, and to drinking this Murphy-Goode wine I bought!

So–The party’s is ON!!

PS And you know it–you will be the first to know how it goes! I am counting on you, my faithful readers, to vote and support my candidacy! Together we can do it, we can put the Art Predator to work at a Really Goode job!

And, if you get a chance, drop those folks over at VinTank a note and ask them to save a spot for the Art Predator aka Wine Predator. They won’t regret it!

Wine Blogging Wednesday #58: wine & music symbiotics

A month or so ago I went copper river salmon to a tasting at Paradise Pantry in downtown Ventura where Vino V winemaker Michael Meagher showed off his chardonnay, his Confundido blend, his pinot noir, and his syrah. I knew the syrah and even used it for the Wine Blogging Wednesday North vs South Challenge, so I was excited to experience the others. At a rushed tasting that night (we had a documentary on loons we’d planned to catch that night and we were on bikes), I loved the chardonnay because it was NOT overwhelmed by oak, and I was super impressed by the pinot which means a lot because I’m not always impressed by California pinots. I knew when it was wild salmon season, I wanted to pair it.love copper river salmon with Red Rex

Fast forward to Copper River salmon season, those fleeting, magical few weeks in early June which I wish would last for months, but this year may even be shorter than the typical Memorial Day weekend to Father’s Day or sometimes July 4th weekend. The Copper River salmon season lasts as long as the allotment, and this year the allotment is so small that Von’s won’t even commit to having it one day to the next; when they have it, it’s $29.99 a pound unless you’re a Vons Club member which means it ranges in price from $8.99-15.99. Right now it’s $12.99. Typically we prepare it simply: some olive oil, salt and pepper, a squirt of fresh lemon then cook it on the outdoor grill.

Vino V pinot 2005 smSo when I learned that Gonzo Gastronomy’s Wine Blogging Wednesday #58 Prompt “Now I’m waiting for Wednesday, waiting for Wednesday…” was to do a tasting under different musical influences, I thought: FUN! Then I thought: Gotta get some of the Vino V pinot and taste it with some Copper River salmon and then sit around and listen to music! (This is how I broke the news to the Big Monkey–you be my dj and I’ll be your dancer and we’ll both do the drinking! You can imagine this suggestion was greeted with enthusiasm!)

Just to make it more interesting, and because I’ve become quite fond of NZ pinot noirs following the Wine Blogger’s Conference last October, I opened a bottle of Babich 2004 Lone Tree which I found on clearance for $8 at Vons. It typically retails between $15 and $20. babich pinot 2004 sm

The Vino V has super limited distribution but since they’re local, I was able to pick up a bottle that night from winemaker Michael Meagher who was hosting a winemaker dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Brooks.  It typicaly retails between $40 and $45 but for members of their email club, it’s 10% less or on special at $35 which is what I bought it for.

While we were preparing our dinner, we of course opened the wines and snacked a little on some simple wheat and flax organic crackers from Trader Joes. The Babich was room temperature rather than cellar temperature like the Vino V, which was especially important to the Vino V since it is 14.5% while the Babich is 13.5%.

At first there were many characteristics that we really liked about the Babich, and we liked it even more after we chilled it down a bit: it has a nice, earthy character, a generous nose, and surprising depth and complexity with notes of eucalyptus and truffle. We liked it with our simply prepared salmon, brown rice, fresh squash, and stuffed portabello dinner. But as the meal and the evening progressed, it seemed to grow harsh, and flat while the Vino V flourished. It was significantly more flavorful and complex–flat out more enjoyable, begging us to refill our glasses. It had plenty of flavor and character for our meal yet didn’t overwhelm the salmon either. The wine comes across balanced and has a lovely finish.

cooked copper river salmon

The next stage was to fullfill the legacy of the prompt: to taste the wine with various musical offerings and see how that changes the experience of the wine, enhancing or degrading it.

Honestly, it’s hard for me to imagine a wine such as this as ever being distasteful. But we did find that our experience of the wine changed depending on the music. Our musical choices ranged from Bruce Springsteen to Frank Sinatra to a spoken word piece of mine with music I arranged:

The bottom line on this prompt is that we really enjoyed selecting music from our hard drive, clicking play and then tasting the wine and talking about it and the music. This is one experiment we will do again!

Here are some really rough notes of the Vino V pinto noir with various musical pairings as well as the original prompt: Continue reading →

WBW #57: share the story of an inspiring California wine

Lenn Thompson announces Wine Blogging Wednesday #57: California Inspiration here.

Wbw-new Due May 13, host Jeff at Good Grape prompts us to write about a California wine which inspired us:

Thematically, this month is intended to be broad while acting as homage to Robert Mondavi, the 1-year anniversary of his passing on Saturday, May 16.

Because Mondavi was such an inspiration physically, spiritually and philosophically to so many – both in the industry and to consumers, while acting as the forefather of the modern California wine movement, I would like for WBW participants to revisit a California wine that they have enjoyed, or have a particular fond memory of, and tell a story.

Simply, Mondavi promoted an air of inclusiveness, not exclusiveness, conducting many of his business practices around a philosophy of aiding other wineries in knowledge and practices to create a profile for California wine that would rival the world’s finest wines.

The easy route for this theme would be to taste a Mondavi wine, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Mondavi would have preferred an air of openness.  No good is accomplished by a singularity of purpose that acts as an exclusionary barrier for others.

Please go buy or pull from your stash, a bottle of whatever that California wine was that created a memorable chapter in your life, revisit the bottle, and share your story.

Lynn says, “Join us on May 13 as we celebrate the life of Robert Mondavi and the wines and wine industry he helped create.”

This prompt is a no brainer for me: today I am off to find an amazing bottle of Ridge, the winery where I worked in my early 20s and which shaped my palate as surely as working for Mr Peet!

Unfortunately, there’s nothing left from that time in the cellar; I really should have bought more when I left to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, especially since I have a cellar to keep it in. I enjoyed the last bottle in 2003–a 1980 Monte Bello Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon on New Years at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite.

And since this weekend is Mother’s Day, I have the perfect excuse to splurge!! What a great prompt! Watch for a report by next Wednesday!

Murphy-Goode offers “best job” competition for wine bloggers

Murphy-Goode Winery in Sonoma County presents their version of the “Best Job in the World”–drinking their wines with great meals for $10,000 a month for six months and blog about it.

Interested? Make a one minute video why you want the job and get it to them by June 1! (Sound familiar?) Go here for more details: murphygoodewinery.com. or http://tinyurl.com/clropq.

KEY DATES

April 28, 2009 — Application Opens

June 19, 2009 — Application Closes

June 26, 2009 — Top 50 Candidates Announced

July 7, 2009 — Top 10 Candidates Announced

July 14 — July 18, 2009 — Final Interviews

July 21, 2009 — Candidate Selection Announcement

August 15, 2009 — Work Begins

! Go here for more details: murphygoodewinery.com. Below is a really slick video ap for the job: