Wine industry seeks to attract Latino customers

While the Europeans who originally brought knowledge of the vine, vinifera as we know it, were instrumental in developing the wine industry in California, can it be said that any one ethnic group has had as much of an impact as Latinos?  The Contra Costa Times reports that wine consumption among Latinos has increased dramatically, and as such the industry is making greater efforts to focus its marketing efforts on this rapidly growing demographic segment.

It is fairly widely known that Mexican migrant and resident workers make up the bulk of the field workers in California, but Latinos are also becoming more and more prominent in the winemaking process itself.  Gustavo Brambila, featured in the movie "Bottle Shock" as a part of Chateau Montelena, and who then followed Mike Grgich to spend 23 years at Grgich Hills, is a primary example of the rise of Mexicans in the California wine industry.  Brambila is one of the first Mexican-Americans to earn a degree in fermentation science from UC-Davis.  (Little known fact: Gustavo was not actually at Chateau Montelena around the time of the Judgment of Paris.  Following his 23 years at Grgich Hills, Gustavo joined up with Thrace Bomberger to make wine for their eponymous GustavoThrace.  Gustavo was also the winemaker for Peju Province and now Taylor Family Wines.)  

Similarly, Elias Fernandez, who has been with Shafer Vineyards for more than 20 years, has been instrumental in the success of Shafer.  Elias Fernandez grew up in St. Helena, and initially wanted to study music but switched to winemaking at UC Davis.  Fernandez has been with Shafer since its early days as a 5-year winery.  In recognition of this dedication, Shafer Vineyards has dedicated its wine called "Relentless" to Elias, to honor his relentless pursuit of quality.

One of the biggest misconceptions perhaps is that wine, particularly red wine, does not pair well with Mexican food.  However, many Latinos are discovering that their traditional cuisine does pair well, as the Contra Costa Times article points out.  Suggested pairings include enchiladas suizas with Viognier, or tostados with Chardonnay.  Because traditional Mexican food isn't overly spicy, several meat dishes pair very well with red wines such as zinfandel, or a red wine that is fruity or spicy, such as a Syrah, an Argentinian Malbec, or a Spanish-style tempranillo.

Given all the contributions Latinos have made to the California wine industry, how about cracking open a bottle of wine, rather than a beer or margarita with your next Mexican meal.  You might be pleasantly surprised!

Bottled Poetry Meets Ascentia

Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, once remarked "Wine is bottled poetry." (As we write this blog, the song "No Poetry" by Gary Jules is playing in the background.) Okay - now back to wine. Today we're discussing wines from two of California's great wineries. Robert Louis Stevenson's quote may be the inspiration for Cliff Lede Vineyard's wine called Poetry, which is a Cabernet Sauvignon from the Stags Leap District in California's Napa Valley. Ascentia is a reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Geyser Peak's Block Collection in the Sonoma Valley. The name comes from the Ascentia Estate Vineyard, which is a rising set of meandering hills and terraces in the Alexander Valley which creates a variety of different microclimates and soils.

Cliff Lede Vineyards is located on the Silverado Trail in the Stags Leap district, and is owned by Canadian Cliff Lede. We feel a special affinity for this winery because our friend Jack Bittner (a Massachusetts native), is VP & General Manager at Cliff Lede. We've known Jack since our early days at the Nantucket Wine Festival when he worked for Silverado Vineyards and insisted to us that Silverado really did make good white wine in addition to red (and gave us a bottle of Silverado's Sauvignon Blanc to prove it. Of course this is when you could actually walk out of the Nantucket tasting with a bottle tucked in your bag).

Geyser Peak has been a favorite for many years, and their Sauvignon Blanc is our original "back up the truck" wine. We were excited to have met the winemaker, Aussie Mick Schroeter and his friend Daryl Groom, at the Nantucket Wine Festival many years ago, and were impressed by their approach to winemaking in the Sonoma Valley. We visited the winery in Geyserville back in 2005 and had the opportunity to try some of the library wines. It was in this tasting that we first tried the Ascentia, and later joined Geyser Peak's wine club.

Okay - now how does a wine from Alexander Valley meet one from Stags Leap? Several years ago, Dorothy and John from the Wall Street Journal started an event called "Open That Bottle Night" (OTBN). On that night, which is now each year in February, people all over the world gather their friends and family together to share a special bottle and enjoy a great meal. Many of the stories that surround the wine and people are heartwarming. It's just people like you and us getting together to open that special bottle that may otherwise sit on the rack because it was too expensive or special. We have come to accept the phrase that "It's never too early to open a bottle, only too late". You can decant, aerate, or open a bottle an hour in advance to help advance the clock and open up a tight wine - if it's too late and past its prime, then there is nothing you can do to turn back the clock and revive the wine.

This year, we decided to do a comparison of 2004 vintages of the Ascentia Cabernet and the Poetry with a dinner of burgundy pepper lamb, garlic mashed white beans and a mixture of asparagus and kale. When we first opened the wines, the Poetry was a bit more aromatic than the Ascentia but both were very powerful Cabs. We could immediately tell that the Ascentia was built to last and could have been held another 5 - 10 years. The Poetry, being from Stags Leap, had softer tannins, incredible bouquet and aromas and was very approachable. We needed to aerate the Ascentia a bit to get it to open up. Both wines exhibited deep dark fruit characteristics and and Ascentia had a bit of cedar hints to it. The Poetry had a little more of a lush chocolate flavor to it. We had both wines through the course of dinner and later on; it took about 3 hours to finish both bottles. In the beginning, we both felt that Poetry was showing better, but as the time went by the Ascentia showed its staying power and held up well as it opened and showed us new dimensions with the passing of time.

Both of these wines rate as buy again and very, very good. However, they come with some pretty hefty price tags, Poetry is in the $125 - $150 range. Ascentia, on the other hand comes in at around $45. These are both truly special occasion wines and it's rare that we get them. In fact, we got Poetry as part of the Stags Leap Appellation Collection (obligatory disclosure-not sure we would have spent the money for this wine had it not come as part of the Collection). The Appellation Collection is 19 of the best wines from Stags Leap. We also belong to the Geyser Peak club which ships us great wines like this a few times a year.

A little note about Stags Leap and why it is famous. In 1976, Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, arranged for the famous Tasting of Paris often termed "The Judgment of Paris". This event was a blind tasting in which the highest quality red (and white) wines from France and California were tasted by French judges. Two California wines took the top prizes: the winner among the red wines was Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon, and among the whites was Chateau Montelena's Chardonnay. (Check out the movie "Bottleshock"-even better wine film than "Sideways.") Several other American wineries made strong showings in the competition, including Ridge, Clos du Val, Heitz, Mayacamas, Chalone, and Spring Mountain. Several interim contests have been held and a 30 Year Anniversary of the same wines was held in 2006. California still wins against French powerhouses such as Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, Chateau Haut-Brion and Chateau Montrose.

The Alexander Valley region became famous in 1975 when Chateau St. Jean created the first "vineyard designated wine" in California wine history. Today it is the largest and most fully planted region in Sonoma, and we think some of the best of Sonoma wines come from the Alexander Valley.

Like what you drink, drink what you Like!

Rachel & Bryan Gavini