The Corkdork - Wine and Food Musing

Tasting in Santa Ynez Valley Part 2: Falcone Family Wines

 While I was at Rusack, John Falcone opened up some of the wines that he and Helen have been making from their Paso Robles vineyard. Keep your eyes out for this label in the coming years.

Tasting Notes:

2005 Falcone Family Syrah Paso Robles
Helen and John have vineyard property they are developing in Paso and this offering shows very good ripeness without being stewed. This is another very big, meaty Syrah, and that's what it should be. If you're in the mood for something light and elegant, grab a Pinot. If it's muscle you want, reach for the Syrah. The Falcone Family Syrah is by far the best Syrah I have had from Paso. Recommended.

2005 Falcone Family Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles
John Falcone describes his vision of this wine as coming from Paso Robles but in the spirit of a wine from the Napa Valley floor, in the Rutherford/Oakville area. There is no way I would guess this is from Paso, and would indeed put it in Napa if tasted blind. Heady with fine cab scents of menthol and dark red fruit. Very well made wine. As with John's Syrah, I would put this at the top of the heap of Paso Cabs. And a steal at $28.

 

Tasting in Santa Ynez Valley: Part One: Rusack

I had another revelation about what keeps me spending my spare time talking to winemakers and tasting: winemakers are part of the rarified few that love what they do for work. --They're a happy and proud lot and John Falcone is no exception. Though still a young man, he's been working in wineries for 31 years. Through tutelage by Italian relatives and the likes of winemaker-chemistry guru Dick Peterson (you may know him as the father of Heidi Barrett), John Falcone rose through the ranks of the Monterey Vineyards and Atlas Peak to land his job at Rusack.

Owners Geoff and Alison Rusack got a package deal: John's wife, Helen, once assistant winemaker at Chimney Rock, is his winemaking partner here. Geoff and Alison began this boutique winery doing everything themselves but once the Rusack brand was established, it was necessary to go pro . So, in 2001 the reins were handed to John and Helen with a pretty simple mantra: do what it takes to make great wine.  The Rusack's hands off approach has paid off and their trust in their winemakers has yielded perfectly balanced wines with a clear expression of the soil from which the grapes were sown. The generous replanting effort with painstaking trellising that took place when Falconer took the helm has gained universal praise for its results.

I tasted through the Pinots, both the 2005s and the newly bottled 2006s, as well as two Santa Barbara County Chardonnays and Syrahs.

All of the Rusack wines are exceptionally well-balanced, very carefully made wines. If you're in the mood for a Pinot with explosive scents of fresh fruit and you're lucky enough to come across their wines (total output is currently only 7000 total cases), any choice would be trustworthy, especially in the coming months with the release of the 2006s. According to the website, the 2005 Pinots are all sold out but I'm sure they're still in stores and on better restaurant wine lists.

Tasting Notes:

2005  Rusack Chardonnay Santa Barbara County
Elegant and simple with ample body. There are enough fresh lemony acids to cut the richness from 50% malo fermentation and 40% new oak.

2005 Rusack  Chardonnay Santa Barbara County Reserve
More new oak and more full-fermented fruit, this reserve bottling is a bit rounder, but still has a cirtrus-y freshness to it, completely balanced. I would like to see this is a few years to see if the subtle aromatics change on this one.

2005 Rusack  Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley
Huge complex of red fruit scents explode in the glass, even a bit of what I thought was tangerine. Mostly from the Soloman Hills vineyard. Recommended.

2006 Rusack  Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley
Bright fruits abound with lingering dried spice and citrus peel. Has a pleasant mint scent as well. This has both Soloman Hills and Garys Ranch fruit. Highly recommended.

2005 Rusack  Pinot Noir Santa Rita HIlls Rancho Santa Rosa
A little smoke on the nose with a bit more dark herbal characteristic than the Santa Maria Valley offering. This has a very long finish and a lot of round young cherries on the tongue. I took the rest of this bottle home! Highly recommended - only 50 cases produced.

2006 Rusack  Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills Reserve
Mostly from the Fiddlestix vineyard, this is quite different from the fruit grown at Foley's Rancho Santa Rita property. At only 10 days in the bottle, this was very supple and round. A lovely wine. Highly recommended and ready to drink upon release with a beautiful meal.

2005 Rusack  Syrah Santa Barbara
This is a big and juicy beast! The fruit was given enough hang time to give it an extra 1% brix over the Pinots. All Ballard Canyon fruit, from estate grapes and local sources. Great color and extraction.

2005 Rusack Syrah Santa Barbara  County
Shows the potential of Ballard Canyon fruit. A touch of estate Petite Syrah was also added for a little grip and a bit more color. This is a meaty blockbuster with a touch of herbs on the nose.

Homage to Chateau Petrogasm: Pine Ridge Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

This is my response to Andrew's quest for visual stimuli instead of circumlocution, and an homage to Chateau Petrogasm, a visual wine blog.

Corkdork

P.S., how is there so much outlandishly expensive wine being described on Petrogasm?

Image from Cigtone.

A Brooklyn Breakfast Memory

I've been inspired by Lia over at This Little Piglet blog, to think about my previous eating life in Brooklyn, and this morning I woke up hungry thinking about Carroll Gardens breakfasts. I lived in Cobble Hill, which is between the Italian (at the time) neighborhood of Carroll Gardens and the old Brooklyn money neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights. I lived a block from the Brooklyn Queens Expressway when I arrived  --barely 18 from a tiny New Hampshire town, on my own for the first time. 

I quickly discovered the old Italian flavor of Carroll Gardens soon after I arrived in Cobble Hill,  at the same time I quickly began my work in gourmet stores in Brooklyn and Manhattan to put myself through music school. There were stores right out of the old country and that is were all the folks from the neighborhood would shop.

A rare morning where I didn't have to wake at 5 to drive all over Manhattan picking up onion rolls at Ratners, Biales near Orchard Street, Bagels at Essa Bagels, and chewy-crusty breads at D&G in Little Italy, I would still rise early and go for an amazing shopping spree, that probably didn't cost me more than 5 or 6 dollars.

The first stop was D'Amico coffee for a pound of Italian roast. At times, the whole area around Court Street would smell of a burnt batch from D'Amico, but most of the time, they were roasting perfect oily beans, and most of the time the beans were still a little warm when I got them. Next stop, Episito's Pork Store where I would get a half a pound of pork links so fresh that they were still warm to the touch and still slick and shiny.  At home I had fresh eggs and the most amazing whipped Schaller & Weber unsalted butter waiting. The only thing missing was warm bread (catch a theme here?) from a little corner bakery called Cammerari's, which later became famous as Nick Cage's employer in Moonstruck.

Back at home, an hour later, the coffee would brew, the sausages were sizzling and eggs were getting beaten --all with my sweetie, still seven years from being my wife, would lay in bed listening to the sound of hot pork skin on cast iron, and smell of freshly roasted coffee.

OK to be nostalgic about this? After all, it was more than 25 years ago, and I can still taste it. A few google's later and I'm pleased to see that almost everything is still the same over there. I hope it stays that way.

WBW#36 Let's Get Naked: Blockheadia Ringnosii Chardonnay 2005

It's hard to believe that Wine Blogging Wednesday has been going on for three years. Congratulations, Lenn, for starting something that we all really love each month and thanks for hosting this month at Lenndevours. I discovered WBW with #7 , posted all but a couple of times and hosted "Red Kiwis" for #17. And the group has grown enough to merit its own site, winebloggingwednesday.org.

Blockheadia Ringnosii All Tank Chardonnay 2005 Napa Valley

Winemaker, Michael  Ouellette  writes on the back of his labels: "Wine intended for restaurants, crafted to keep the palate lively. " I found this lively and surprisingly complete for a wine that fits our quest for Unoaked Chardonnay. Oak in white wines adds scent and body and rounds/balances out the acids and fruit. But for the right fruit, keeping the wine in steel can still yield a wine with significant body and weight, with balanced flavors. (For an good read on Oak, check out the entry in the 3rd edition of the Oxford Companion to Wine by Jancis Robinson. )

The nose on this wine is not cone-shaped as the label may suggest, but has citrus notes of  grapefruit and lemon as well as green apple and chalky minerals. Medium in body, this is does have a lemony tartness to it that would lend itself to eating cream-based  restaurant food. While I don't find this wine lacking, I can't help but wonder what a lightly oaked version would be like. Repeat buy? Maybe. I served this with some lemony sand dabs and I really think with something creamier the wine would shine a bit more. This is on of the better unoaked chardonnays I have had --SO much better than the ubiquitous Kim Crawford on every shelf these days. It is from fine Napa grapes, after all...

I hope it's not just the influence the label has on me, but I've had lots of Blockheadia wines over the years and I find them usually  angular and edgy, which appears to be by design. $25.00.

Heading to Point Reyes? Love Oysters? You must stop at the new Marshall Store

Yesterday, the family went off to the beach in Point Reyes National Seashore. We checked the webcam out there and it was almost as bad as right now. (See the fog zone to the right).  A little fog shouldn't stop you from visiting such an amazing place, and that webcam is out on the end of the point, so it's not necessarily the same as what you see on the beaches.  That was the case yesterday when we had perfect weather but looming fog on the point.

Traveling up Rt. 1 through Point Reyes Station, you need to turn to towards the Seashore, but if you continue on Rt. 1 instead, 8 miles past the town, you ramble into the little town of Marshall, population 50. Another mile or so on your left, is the tempting sign "yummy chowder". Park anywhere and head into the Marshall Store. Above photo©g.meyer.

There are perfect sandwiches on terrific local bread, and beautiful cheseses, but real insiders know that this is the place for the freshest Oysters in California. And the clam chowder, full of clams, thyme and smooth potatoes couldn't be truer to the yummy sign out front. We like our oysters raw with a little cocktail sauce or minionette, but you can also get them BBQ'd or Rockefeller'd.

Todd has been in the oyster business for years and is a top oyster supplier to many great restaurants and oyster distributors, and now he has an excellent outlet for his super fresh bivalves and gourmet food, with his family by his side. For now, you need to drink his small selection of Kermit Lynch wines and local beers at the tables by the road, but soon you should be able to have them on the simple, comfortable patio behind the building. This is a must stop for any foodie traveling to the area. Tell Todd, Kim, or Heidi that the Corkdork sent you.

As a full disclosure, I met the new owner of the Marshall Store, Todd, in 2005 at my house, when he came to the Taste of Ol' California with a gross of oysters and a pint of his excellent minionette in tow.

Tasting in Calaveras County: (Last of 4 posts) Twisted Oak

Well, I'm back home now, but need to tell you all about the wine-highlight of my vacation in the Sierra Foothills. Thanks to Jeff at the Good Grape, word got around that I was in the area, (every blogger's dream) and I got an email invitation to taste at Twisted Oak, near Murphys. Owner, Jeff Stai, aka El Jefe, is also an avid blogger, and obviously very clued in to the Calaveras/Tuolumne scene.

I have to admit, I had seen Twisted Oak wines all around the various markets in the area, and because of the irreverent naming of his wines, and the relative obscurity of the grapes he likes to play with, I had my doubts. Also, his wines carried the highest prices, so I didn't just drop a few in my shopping basket. Oops. I should have recognized that someone who is clearly deviating from the pack has something profound to say. There's a good reason for the pricing (besides the fact it's pretty new and extremely well equipped), and it's because the wines deserve it. I hope it pays off to be a stand-out in such a small market.

Oh, and he has a rubber chicken fetish. As anyone who visits the land of the frog-jumping-freaks --Angel's Camp  knows,  the place is frog-wild. Everywhere you look there are goofy frog pictures and sculptures. So what does Jeff do? He commissions a big frog sculpture, with chicken skin, feet, and waddle --dubbed, of course, the Frickin'. With wines with names like: Murgatryod, !@#$ (White - Blend of Marsanne and Rousanne), '%#&@! (Red Blend) --both are to be paired with duck, The Spaniard, and varietals like Tempranillo and Verdelho, you know the guy is trying to break the mold. He's shown above with his thief-lapping dog 'nacha (short for Grenacha).

I spent about an hour and a half with Jeff and we tasted through his regular tasting room bottles, then retreated to the 300+ foot-long cave underneath the fermenters to do some barrel tasting. Here are my favorites:

2006 Silvaspoons Vineyard Verdelho from Lodi - round and grapefruity with great body and nice bit of tartness.

2005 Rosado- Mostly Grenache rosé, again more full-bodied than your average grenache rosé and extremely clean tasting.

2005 *%#&@! (aka Pottymouth red, or the more boring "signature red") --Big meaty Rhone-ish blend that I couldn't leave without. Grapes are mostly from Calaveras, including Mourvedre from the Dalton and Fodhli vineyards, Estate-grown Grenache, and Syrah from the Tanner Vineyard in Vallecito.

2005 Grenache Calaveras County - smokey and fruity

2004 Tanner Vineyard Syrah - gripping tannins but huge black fruit, clean nose, and lots of age potential. Wines from this vineyard really have a distinct sense of soil, unique to the area.

In the barrel:

2006  *%#&@! - nicely balanced already, though it won't be bottled until spring. This should be pretty killer.

2006 The Spaniard - This ripe Tempranillo-based blend is delicious and even keeled. This in another one to look for next spring.

2006 Tanner Vineyard Petite Syrah - inky, tannic, and wild, with the same terroir as the Syrah. They bottle some of their own wine (made at Twisted Oak) and I bought a bottle at Alchemy on the way out of town.

So, a big thanks to el Jefe for showing me around and taking the time to show me around. This is certainly one winery to look out for in the coming years.