On Schramsberg: Posted today on Uncorked!

It is easy to miss the sign marking Schramsberg Road while zooming north on Highway 29, just outside the town of St. Helena. Though Schramsberg is one of the oldest wineries in the Napa Valley (established by German immigrant Jacob Schram in 1862), it is not by any stretch of the imagination the most opulent or advertised. You can see the neighboring V. Sattui castle from across the valley, and you have to be blind to miss the historic Beringer property on the edge of town, but on any given day a good percentage of the calls to the Schramsberg front desk are from would-be visitors parked on the side of the road in Calistoga, wondering where they went wrong. I know because I used to answer that phone...Read full article!

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Text Version:

It is easy to miss the sign marking Schramsberg Road while zooming north on Highway 29, just outside the town of St. Helena. Though Schramsberg is one of the oldest wineries in the Napa Valley (established by German immigrant Jacob Schram in 1862), it is not by any stretch of the imagination the most opulent or advertised. You can see the neighboring V. Sattui castle from across the valley, and you have to be blind to miss the historic Beringer property on the edge of town, but on any given day a good percentage of the calls to the Schramsberg front desk are from would-be visitors parked on the side of the road in Calistoga, wondering where they went wrong. I know because I used to answer that phone
Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs was the first American sparkling wine to be served at U.S. diplomatic events (for Richard Nixon's "Toast to Peace" in Beijing in 1972) and remains the White House's house sparkler. www.schramsberg.com

The reason Schramsberg doesn't need a big sign or a castle is simple: méthode Champenoise, and the tradition of style and class that Shramsberg's founders, the late Jack and Jamie Davies, built into the brand over the years. The Davies' purchased the old Schram property as a fixer-upper in 1965, and by 1972 had given it new life as the first winery in America to produce sparkling wine by the same method as in Champagne, using the traditional Champagne grape varietals Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Visitors to Schramsberg's historic wine caves (the original caves were hand-dug in the late 1800s!) get to witness first-hand the labor-intensive steps of sparkling wine production, including the process of riddling the bottles to concentrate the dead yeast cells for removal during disgorging. At Schramsberg, riddling is still done by hand.

While the idea of a cave-dwelling riddler spinning still wine into sparkling has a certain fairy tale quality to it, you can't produce first class bubbles without starting with a first class wine, and Keith Hock is the man we have to thank for that. Keith oversees everything that happens in the winery, from crush through primary fermentation and the all-important step of assembling the cuveés (assemblage) which are the final blends that get bottled and undergo the rest of production in the bottle. Since each vineyard source delivers unique fruit each vintage, and Schramsberg produces vintage sparkling wines each year (with the exception of the nonvintage Mirabelle line and the ultra premium J. Schram Brut Rosé, which is only made in exceptional years) Keith must craft final blends made from individually fermented blocks that are reflective of the vintage but stay true to the style of the wine for which they are destined, from the flagship Blanc de Blancs to the premium J Schram.

We are thrilled to welcome Keith to our San Francisco tasting bar this Thursday, February 10 at 5 p.m. and to our Redwood City tasting bar this Friday, February 11th at 5 p.m. for special Pre-Valentine's Day Bubbly Tasting. In anticipation of the occasion, we thought you might want to get to know the man behind the bubbly a little. Here, Keith dishes on bubbly, biking, and where to get a good bite off-the-beaten-path in Napa:

Behind the Wine: Winemaker Interview with Keith Hock

K&L: How did you get into the wine business?

KH: I was living in France racing bicycles for a French cycling team. The team Soignier educated me on the wines from the different growing areas in France, however, it wasn’t until I moved back to the US, and to Napa, CA that I discovered that I could earn a degree in winemaking.

K&L: How long have you been making wine at Schramsberg?

KH: I have been with Schramsberg since 2002.

Did you always want to make sparkling wine?

No, I have worked for several other wineries. However, I enjoy Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, so Schramsberg is a perfect match.

What are some winemaking challenges unique to sparkling wine production?

The challenge with making sparkling wine is that it’s a labor intensive product, where each bottle of wine has to be touched numerous times prior to the wine being released for sale.

What makes Schramsberg unique?

Schramsberg is unique for several reasons: there is the history of the property, being the second oldest winery in Napa Valley, in addition to our caves and hillside vineyards. We have stayed true to the mission that Jack and Jamie Davies set out to do in 1965 when they re-established Schramsberg as a sparkling wine house--making the absolute best vintage sparkling wines year in and year out. There is a tremendous amount of pride, respect and heritage that goes into each and every bottle of Schramsberg wine!

What did you drink last night? (Or the last time you had a glass of wine that wasn’t your own?)

Last night I had a glass of Argentinean Malbec, Tierra Secreta.

What’s your position on wine-pairing and what do you like to pair your wines with?

Wine and food are a natural. Pairing brings out flavors in both the food and wine that aren’t there without the other. Sparkling wine and Kettle style salted potato chips are a savory pairing! (Thanks for the tip!)

What are some of your favorite restaurants?

We are fortunate to have so many fine restaurant in the Napa Valley, a few new ones that I like are Bistro Sabor, it casual and fun, [and] ZUZU for tapas. There are too many to name, "spoiled" comes to mind when I think of all the restaurants.

What advice do you have to offer people just getting into wine?
Don’t be afraid, be open-minded and try any and everything. Wine is an exciting and interactive experience.
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TASTE!
What: Pre-Valentines Day Bubbly Tasting with Schramsberg Winemaker Keith Hock
When/Where: Thursday, February 10th, 5-6:30 p.m. at K&L San Francisco and Friday, February 11th, 5pm-6:30pm at K&L Redwood City.

A Happy Piscoincidence

This Saturday, February 5th, is a lot of things.  It's the 7 Year Anniversary of my husband's Burning Man Camp Pink Mammoth, which is being celebrated in full pink effect at Mighty.  It is also National Pisco Sour Day in Peru, and by extendion, San Francisco.

There are lots of Pisco-related events going on in the City this weekend, including, of course, Pink Mammoth's party, which will be featuring not only an open Pisco bar, but will be visited by the FLAMEingo, the awesome full-size crane you may or may not remember from Burning Man that is lit to look like a flamingo holding a dj booth in its beak (where do these guys come up with this stuff??) The body of the crane (so I am told) houses a full-on pisco lounge  while illuminating the Playa. 

The connection?  Well, the FLAMEingo crane happens to belong to the founder of the new and *outstanding* Pisco brand Vinas de Oro, Timothy Childs.  This Saturday, it is going to be providing silent disco fun to pisco-slinging pink-clad celebrants at the Pink Mammoth's party.  (Try saying that five times fast.) Before the action goes down on Saturday night, I will be spending some quality time with Mr. Childs, tasting some pisco and picking his pisco brain for a later post.  How's that for alliteration?



Yours Truly, reaching to finish the last drop of her Pisco Sour on wedding night. My husband Derek and I love this historic Peruvian cocktail so much, it was the signature drink served at our wedding.



Derek lived in Peru for a year in his early twenties, where he needed to perfect his Pisco Sour making technique to satisfy patrons of the chic Lima bar where he worked as a bartender. The Peruvians were not quick to accept that a gringo from New York could make proper Pisco Sour, but he eventually won them over (and even scored a spot on the local news for his talents!). So naturally, he takes this Pisco Sour business seriously. The wedding was back in 2007, when Pre-Prohibition cocktails had yet to hit mainstream cool, and it took the bar manager and staff of our five star catering operation several tries, carefully and rather gleefully presided over by Derek, to get it just right.

Pisco About Town
Pisco and Pisco Sour appreciation has come a long way in San Francisco since I first wrote about this great cocktail on UnCorked back in September of 2008 and shared Derek's recipe (below). Almost concurrent with my September 08 posting, the doors to the U.S. Flagship of Peruvian Celebrity Gaston Acurio's La Mar Cebicheria Peruana, opened its doors on San Francisco's Embarcadero. In addition to a making killer Pisco Sour, La Mar offers an extensive selection of Pisco and Pisco-based cocktails. They also host Pisco tasting seminars for enthusiasts and professionals. I attended one sponsored by BarSol pisco and it was quite enlightening.
Pisco was widely available in San Francisco from it's first appearance 1839 up until Prohibition. It attained world fame in 1887 when Duncan Nicol aka “Pisco John” created the Pisco Punch cocktail at the Bank Exchange Saloon. Credit for inventing the Pisco Sour is given to the English expat Elliot Stubb, who first served the cocktail at his bar in Peru in the 1870s.
Award-winning Pisco Sours are churned out at Pisco Latin Lounge, the Pisco Bar next to Hayes Valley's cozy Peruvian resto Destino, with Union Square's Cantina as a solid runner-up for a good Pisco fix. And these days, mixologists at the Union Square speakeasy Bourbon and Branch and SOMA's Heaven's Dog and Bar Agricole not only know what you're talking about when you order the Peruvian cocktail, but they deliver the goods proper.
Even Pisco itself- the brandy that forms the base of the cocktail - has gotten a lot better too. No more kitchy bottles of below-rate Pisco in the shape of Incan statues...new producers like Campo de Encanto and Viñas de Oro are crafting artisanal, award-winning Piscos worthy of any spirit collection.

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SHAKE
Why not give the Pisco Sour a try today? Derek's recipe is very pretty simple and straighforward:
Derek's Pisco Sour Recipe
(from the September 08 posting of "Cocktail Craze: The Pisco Sour")
2 parts Pisco
1 part lime juice
.75 part simple syrup
one egg white
Shake with very little ice or blend. Top with cinnamon. Note: Other recipes call for a garnish of bitters instead of cinnamon, but Derek says that cinnamon is what they use in Lima.



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SHOP
Buy Campo de Encanto and Vinas de Oro Pisco at K&L Wine Merchants !
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TASTE
Prefer to have the professionals make one for you? No Problem: there is a lot of Pisco being poured this weekend in San Francisco...
Sat 2/5 9pm-2am @ Cantina Special Pisco menu and $5 Pisco Sours all night long, plus DJs spinning South American jams and hip hop. 

Sat 2/5 @ La Mar Cebicheria Peruana $5 Pisco Sours all day 

Sat 2/5 5 pm-1 am, and Sunday, 2/6, 3-9 pm @ Pisco Latin Lounge $5 Pisco Sours all day on Saturday and Sunday, plus $3 beers for those not yet convinced of Pisco's magic.
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PARTY!
Encanto Pisco Mustache Brigade Bar Crawl - Starts at La Mar at 5:30, then to 15 Romolo around 7pm, with after-party at Cantina from 9pm till closing. The party at Cantina will feature $5 Pisco Sours and shots of top shelf Pisco de Encanto offered by no other than the man himself, Encanto Co-founder Duggan McDonnell. 

Pink Mammoth 7 Year Anniversary - Dance off all those yucca fries tonight @ Mighty for the seventh anniversary of the Pink Mammoth dance music-themed Burning Man camp. There will be an open bar of Vinas de Oro Pisco drinks, plus free food from Skool and Kitchenette. Wacky attire encouraged. $7 before 10:30 if with RSVP!

Grape Talk: Carignan(e)

My Carignane article was published today on K&L UnCorked!

http://blog.klwines.com/httpblogklwinescomuncork/grape-talk-carignane.html



Poor Carignane. It doesn't have many champions. The grape's rough edges and "needs food" profile have not won it many fans among the top critics of the world. At its worst, wines made from Carignane show pippy, grapey aromas and flavors and have a tendency toward astringency. But at its best it can be quite intriguing. The question is, does anyone have the patience to tame this grapey beast?


Wherever it has traveled--from its origin in the Aragon provence of Spain to Algeria, France, Italy, the US and beyond--Carignane has most commonly met the fate of being used as a minor blending varietal under a different name (such as in Rioja production, where a small percentage is traditionally blended into the red wines disguised as the regionally named Mazuelo grape) or as inexpensive juice for bulk wine production.

The Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.The Carignane we are most likely to encounter in the market today is French, which despite maneuvering its way onto the list of the 22 approved Rhône varietals, is typically (and in most cases, negatively) associated with bulk production in the the Languedoc-Roussillon (right) in the latter half of the twentieth century. Carignan came from Spain to France via Algeria, where it was grown to produce bulk wines for export. After Algerian independence in 1962, the French needed to come up with their own source of bulk wine, so Carignane vines were transported from Algeria and planted widely throughout this part of southern France.

We have the Italians to thank for our California Carignane tradition. Carignane came from Spain to Italy via Sardegna, where it is still made into varietal wine, Carignano. Italian immigrants to the US starting in the late 1890s brought the vine to California, and through the early and mid-20th century, Carignane was one of the most widely planted grape varietal in California. It formed the base of many a "jug" of hearty red California wine!

Caretakers of Carignane

Carignane may never become as popular as Cab or Syrah, but in France it seems to be undergoing a bit of a renaissance. Over the last 10 years, thanks to the labor-of-love, grassroots efforts of a a few good growers in the Languedoc, it is slowly--perhaps for the first time--earning the attention of critics and wine geeks the world over. Producers such as Clos du Gravillas and Domaine Rimbert are not only making some honestly good Carignane from their treasured old vines, but are also devoted to promoting quality production of Carignane and advocating for it's recognition as a varietal capable of fine wine.

Ridge's Buchignani Range Carignane is available at the winery only.Similar efforts are being made in California to promote and protect the few remaining heritage Carignane vineyards. For the last decade, Ridge Vineyards has produced a varietal Carignane from fruit grown at the historic Buchignani Ranch, where the 60- to 80-year-old vines were planted in the gravelly hillside by immigrant Dominico Ceritti, grandfather of current grower and proprietor, Stan Buchignani. Ridge treats this special old-vine Carignane with the same care as its single-vineyard Zinfandels, but the 40-45 barrel production has limited distribution--wine club and direct sales only. The 2008 Buchignani Ranch Carignane (right) is soft in the mouth and with moderate alcohol (13.9%). It is a lively, medium-bodied wine with ripe strawberry and cranberry aromas, grape seed accented red and black fruit flavors, and a touch of oak spice (the wine spends one year in mostly used American oak). Varietal typicity is not lost in this otherwise stylish and accessible wine.

Carignane: A True California Heritage Varietal

VIDEO! Click to watch a video of Alvin Tolllini talking about his historic Carignane vines used to produce LIOCO's Indica!

More recently, maverick wine producers Matt Licklider and Kevin O'Connor have started to pay attention to Carignane in an ever bigger way. Together, O'Connor (wine director at two-Michelin star restaurant Spago in Beverly Hills) and Licklider (veteran European wine importer) created LIOCO in 2005, a natural wine company whose mission it is to produce authentic, terroir-driven California wines and to promote heritage varietals in an effort to bring diversity back to the California wine market. (Read our recent interview with Licklider here.) They believe there is more to California than full-throttle Cabernet and overly oaked Chardonnay, and seek to prove that with their portfolio of distinctive, natural wines. Old vine Carignane-- not Cabernet--forms the basis of their everyday red wine offering, Indica (right).

The Tollini Vineyard, located in Mendocino, is another historic vineyard site in California, with treasured vines planted on original 70 yr-old old-vine Carignane root stalk. Thrilled to discover this special site when seeking out sites for their project, LIOCO began sourcing from it almost immediately.

Unlike Ridge's manicured 100% Carignane, Indica is a blend of old-vine Carignane (66%), Mourvèdre (25%), and Petite Sirah (9%), made with the intent to showcase the freshness and flavor of old-vine Carignane while letting the other grape varietals (as opposed to oak) provide weight and richness. In this way LIOCO's Carignane more closely resembles the Carignane and Carignane-based blends of the new Languedoc (perhaps that is why they go with the French, sans 'e' spelling?) than the more oak-influenced Ridge bottling. It is a medium-bodied, fresh and darker-fruited fruity wine; Carignane's higher tones are rounded out and deepened by the addition of Mourvèdre and Petite Sirah. It is sealed with a screwcap to remind us that it is best when drunk young and fresh.

Back on the Map

While Ridge's Buchignani Ranch Carignane may be the suaver and more seductive representation of 100% old vine California Carignane, LIOCO is certainly doing its part to champion the California Carignane cause. While you have to physically go to Ridge to get a taste of their Carignane, Indica is distributed nationally, has received great press, and is available by-the-glass at many of the nation's top foodie destinations.

Given this trend--who knows? Are Californians ready for more Carignane?
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TASTE

LIOCO Indica is available by the glass at these Bay Area locations:

The Girl & the Fig (Sonoma)

Pizzeria Delfina (S.F. Fillmore location) on tap!!

Heirloom Cafe (S.F.)

Local Mission Eatery (S.F.)

Delarosa (S.F.)


Ridge's Buchignani Ranch Carignane is available to taste at both Ridge's Lytton Springs and Monte Bello wineries.

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SHOP

Buy Indica and other LIOCO wines online at KLWines.com

Buy Ridge's Buchignani Ranch Carignane online at Ridgewine.com

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LEARN

Carignan Renaissance

California Historic Vineyard Society

The Oxford Companion to Wine, 3rd Ed.


Chiara Shannon