Wine competitions and Barrel Tasting 101

John On Wine – Wine competitions and Barrel Tasting 101 Originally published on Thursday, January 15, 2015 in the Ukiah Daily Journal newspaper by John Cesano Nine wines made from Mendocino County grapes took gold medal or higher honors at last November’s Grand Harvest Awards. They were: • 2011 Handley Cellars Pinot Noir Anderson Valley ($32) Gold/Best of Class • NV McFadden Vineyard Cuvee Rose Mendocino ($32) Gold • 2013 Navarro Vineyards Grenache Mendocino ($27) Gold/Best of Class • 2013 Navarro Vineyards Chardonnay Table Wine Mendocino ($15) Gold/Best of Class • 2013 Navarro Vineyards Barbera Mendocino ($27) Gold • 2012 Navarro Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Mendocino ($29) Gold • 2012 Navarro Vineyards Mourvedre Mendocino ($29) Gold • 2013 Navarro Vineyards Chardonnay Anderson Valley Premiere Reserve ($25) Gold • 2012 Stephen & Walker Trust Winery Limited Chardonnay Botrytis Mendocino Ridge ($65) Double Gold/Best of Class/Best Late Harvest or Dessert What does that mean? By itself, very little. About 99 out of 100 times when a wine takes a gold medal in a wine competition, no matter how many subsequent wine competitions it is entered into, it never manages to take another. Many in the industry, if they were honest, would let you know that gold medals awarded in a wine competition are just random, chance based, nonsense … but that doesn’t stop the wineries from blasting news of their awards to a waiting audience of consumers who seem to think such luck based honors have genuine meaning. What I look for are wines that do take more than one gold medal, or the rarer unanimously voted double gold medal, or better still more than one double gold medal. I pour several wines that have earned more than one gold medal. Two have three double gold or higher (double gold and best of class, or double gold and best of show) awards. Not everyone will love these wines, because there are always wines that don’t appeal to someone but these are the wines to taste, these are the wines that are amazing, these are the wines to look for. Seriously, if consumers rush to buy a gold medal winning wine at the store figuring that the wine must be good, probably significantly better than the other bottles on the shelf, then take a moment to appreciate how incredibly rare it is for a wine to be unanimously voted gold by a competition’s judges earning a double gold medal, and then have that happen again, and still again. That is a wine to seek out. The Grand Harvest Awards are pretty much the last big wine competition of the year. Up next is not just the first big wine competition of the year, but the largest judging of American wines in the world, the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Last year, more than 5,800 wines were entered into the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. This year’s judging took place earlier this month, with over 6,417 entries and the big winners will be poured at a celebratory grand tasting for the public on the second Saturday of February at Fort Mason in San Francisco. Next week, I’ll post the big Mendocino County grown wine winners from the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. _____ If you haven’t picked up you Barrel Tasting 101 ticket yet,  go online and get it for $20 instead of waiting until the event and spending more; $30 for the same $20 ticket. Of course, if money doesn’t mean anything to you, just pop on down to one of our local car dealerships and buy a new car for my son, I’m sure he would appreciate it. Barrel Tasting 101 will feature wineries from Hopland to Calpella and Ukiah to Redwood Valley pouring barrel samples of future wines on the final weekend of Mendocino County’s Crab, Wine & Beer Fest on Saturday, Jan. 24 and Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. I attended my first barrel tasting weekend back in 1993, when it was a free event over one weekend in Sonoma County. I used to visit the wineries of the Alexander Valley on Friday evening, and then spend Saturday in the Dry Creek Valley and Sunday in the Russian River Valley. Quiet, uncrowded, low key, and incredibly enjoyable, I used to taste an incredible number of wines, spitting all, and had a terrific glimpse into the future. I also took advantage of some sale prices offered on futures, these wines tasted from barrel before being bottled. Last year, I attended the Anderson Valley barrel tasting weekend, which included the wineries of Yorkville Highlands, and might be better named as Barrel Tasting 128. It was as enjoyable as the old barrel tasting weekends in Sonoma County used to be, before they became the overcrowded drunk-fests that winery owners and staff report today. Barrel Tasting 101 will feature barrel samples from Barra of Mendocino, Brutocao Cellars, Campovida, Cesar Toxqui Cellars, Graziano Family of wines, Jaxon Keys Winery, Jeriko Estate, McNab ridge, Milano Family Winery, Nelson Family Winery, Rivino, Saracina, Seebass Vineyards, Simaine Cellars, Terra Savia, and Testa Ranch. Each participating winery tasting room will also serve up Dungeness crab food pairing treats. To get your tickets for $20 instead of $30, visit http://bit.ly/1zS36ay and then, armed with your receipt, you’ll be given your logo tasting glass and map to begin your terrific wine adventure.

 

 

A New Zin Tradition

John On Wine – A New Zin Tradition

Originally published in the Ukiah Daily Journal on Thursday, August 28, 2014

John Cesano of John On Wine

On a sunny Saturday in August, I spent some time in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley at the ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) Simply Summer Celebration, an inaugural event billed as “a new Zin tradition.”

A large white tent was set up in the center of Ridge Vineyards’ Lytton West Vineyard and over 125 Zinfandels were poured by the 50 wineries set up underneath the canopy, with Petaluma’s Pizza Politana set up just outside the tent and serving wood-fired artisan pizzas and a mixed green salad for the over 400 assembled wine lovers that day.

I love Zinfandel, but it can be a pretty big varietal, often tending toward high alcohol and massive dense fruit jam bomb flavors. On a hot day, outside, with plenty of sun, surrounded by other tasters, I was pleased to be writing for the Ukiah Daily Journal, as I could focus on the few wines made from Mendocino grapes and sensibly limit my tastes.

First up, I tasted the wine that won the John Parducci Best of Show Red Wine award at the recent 2014 Mendocino County Fair Wine Competition, the 2012 Artezin Wines Zinfandel, Mendocino, $17. Pouring it was winemaker Randle Johnson.

Artezin is a Napa winery, part of The Hess Collection, and the grapes for this top medal winning Zinfandel come from all over inland Mendo, including from Laviletta Vineyard on Mill Creek Road in Talmage, Seebass Family Vineyard and Paul Dolan’s Dark Horse Ranch on Old River Road near Talmage, Brown Vineyard in Redwood Valley, and Eddie Graziano’s Rovera Ranch near Calpella, among several others.

The wine was lush, showing clear berry, cherry, spice and herb notes up front, leading to red and purple fruit, including pluots. There is a lot happening in this wine, well integrated, marked by balance and finesse. 14.5% alcohol but doesn’t drink hot, feels like 13.9%.

Randle asked about the Mendocino Wine Competition, and if his award meant that the judges chose it above the best Cabernet Sauvignon, best Syrah, best Petite Sirah, best Carignane, over the best of all of Mendocino County’s red wine varieties, and not just above all of Mendocino County’s Zinfandels – which would be an impressive feat by itself. I told Randle that, yes, his Zinfandel was chosen best of all red wines entered into competition. Randle responded, “this award means more to me than a 95 in Wine Spectator.”

Josh Wagner, an employee at one of Kendall Jackson’s other wine concerns, poured three wines for Edmeades of Philo, between Boonville and Navarro, in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley. I tasted a 2012 Edmeades Zinfandel, Mendocino, $21, a blend of Zin, Petite Sirah, and Syrah, a decent weight wine at 14.7% alc but a little soft in the mouth, without discernable oomph. Next, Josh poured the 2012 Edmeades Zinfandel, Perli Vineyard, $31, a Zin, Merlot & Syrah blend, that tasted like a walk through the black pepper forest, with oak, anise, and plummy meaty raspberry. Finally, I tasted the 100% Zinfandel offering from Edmeades, a 2011 Shamrock Vineyard, with fruit taken at 2,800 feet in elevation. Lighter mouth feel than the Perli, but not dismissible at all. Plenty of flavors, and a wine that begs to be paired with food, where herbs and fruit would pop.

Carol Shelton poured her eponymous wines, and I tasted her 2012 Carol Shelton Wines Wild Thing Old Vines Zinfandel, Mendocino, $19. Carol’s Zinfandel showed brambly bright raspberry and darker blackberry, with herb and black pepper. I worked with Carol from 1993 to 2001, and have an affinity for her wines. Not too big at 14.5%, but certainly not too light. This would be a Goldilocks’ choice wine. 83% Zinfandel , 15% Carignane , and 2% Petite Sirah; the 92% of grapes coming from Mendocino County are from the Cox Vineyard, just north of Ukiah.

Not Mendocino County, but close, I tasted a wine from Chacewater Wine from over in neighboring Lake County’s Kelseyville. The 2012 Chacewater Zin, Sierra Foothills, $20, ran 14.5% alc and had dusty rhubarb, cherry, and oak notes throughout.

Bonus non-Mendo Zinfandel tastes: I tasted the 2012 Barefoot Cellars Zinfandel, Lodi, $7, because winemaker Jennifer Wall had done such a good job with social media marketing, inviting those who ZAP indicated would be attending to come and taste her wines. The Barefoot Zinfandel had smoky, woody, darker color and flavors without being heavy, with a dominant dark strawberry jam note.

Beltane Ranch winemaker Kevin Holt poured their inaugural 2012 Beltane Ranch Estate Zin, $44. I visited Beltane Ranch in the Sonoma Valley’s Glen Ellen with my friend Serena Alexi earlier this year. A blend of Zin, Alicante Bouschet, Carignane and Petite Sirah, the wine drank young, with intense flavors of black raspberry jam, herb, and oak supporting the fruit in this 15.5% Alc wine.

I tasted the 2012 Ridge Lytton Springs, as a good guest should always taste the host’s wine. At just 70% Zinfandel with 21% Petite Sirah, 6% Carignane, and 3% Mourvedre, this wine is technically not a Zinfandel, although it is sufficiently Zinny to me and, if grown and made one county north, could be called a Coro. 14.4% in alc and loaded with flavor, plenty of brambly ripe berry and a little firm. This is a wine that can lie down and improve with cellaring.

I recognized plenty of other wine writers, and saw that some of my favorite other Zinfandel producers were pouring, but as the attendance grew to over 400, counting winemakers, I decided to call it a day, and headed home to relax in an air conditioned room. That night, I baked spicy chicken wings and paired them with the 2012 Artezin Zinfandel, the Mendo Best of Show red, and that pairing may have best defined a simply summer celebration and new Zin tradition, as it was perfect.

Here’s a link to the Zin friendly baked chicken wing recipe.

 

4th annual Testa Blending Party and Winesong – two great wine events on one day

John On Wine – 4th annual Testa Blending Party and Winesong
Two great wine events on one day

John Cesano of John On Wine

 

I’m giving you a touch over two weeks notice, so I hope to see many of you, because on Saturday, Sept. 6 there are two of my favorite Mendocino County wine events.

One may be the county’s largest wine event for the year, the other is smaller but more dear to me. First, let’s start with my favorite: Testa Vineyards is having their 4th annual Blending Party from 6 to 10 p.m., and it is at Testa Ranch in Calpella, right here near Ukiah. Before making a Coro red blend, Maria Testa Martinson and husband Rusty Martinson had their Black wine, a blend of wines made from the different red grape varieties grown on Testa Vineyards.

The wine changes each year as different wines and percentages find their way into the mix and become the finished wine. I attended the first Testa barn blend party and sat with local industry luminary Kelly Lentz, and although we each had different ideas about what blend would yield the best wine, we came to find that it was nearly impossible to blend a bad wine from Testa’s juice. Last year, Maria announced that Testa’s fifth Black blend would rely heavily on the blend put together by the wine blend judged best at the 3rd annual Testa Blending Party.

I was honored to be one of three judges and, together with my fellow judges, we reconfirmed that there are many paths to a delicious Testa blend as we tasted through 25 different wines created by folks sitting at 25 different tables. This year, from 6 to 7 p.m., guests will enjoy appetizers and try to unleash their inner winemaker, blending Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, Charbono, and Petite Sirah into a possible winning blend.

From 7 to 8 p.m., it is scrumptious dinner time, with catering champs Bella Ciba returning. During dinner, the judges will pick this year’s Blending Party wine winner.

I know I like wines that are well integrated, where nose leads to mouth and on to finish seamlessly, with a food-friendly touch of acid to balance an abundance of cleanly discernible fruit notes. Of course, this year’s other judges may prefer high-alcohol fruit-jam-bombs that obliterate food flavors, so finding a way to make a blend to please all palates might be a better road to victory than trying to please mine alone.

After dinner, from 8 to 10 p.m., there will be dancing as McKenna Faith and her band perform. McKenna is a Nashville recording artist, a genuine star, from right here in Ukiah, and incredibly talented. I’m an old Deadhead, not really a Country Western kind of guy, but enjoyed every moment McKenna played last year; quality transcends genre. Of course, this being Mendocino County, and a wine event, times may be flexible a bit, so show up on time, and roll with the flow.

The food is great, the blending is fun, the wine is terrific, the music is fantastic, and the Testa Family – Maria and Rusty, their kids, their aunts and uncles – they are all just the nicest people. Tickets are $70, Testa wine club members get a 25 percent discount, and with limited seating you’ll want to get your tickets early; this event sells out and no tickets are available at the door.

Visit TestaRanch.com/order, or call Maria at (707) 391-7273 to get your tickets now.

The second Sept. 6 wine event is Winesong, a charity auction and wine tasting, enjoying its 30th year, and is held at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens located in Fort Bragg. More than 100 wineries will pour tastes, over 50 food purveyors will offer bites, and nine different musical groups will perform and entertain from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the Winesong wine and food tasting.

A charity auction runs from 2 to 5 p.m., with a special gourmet lunch additionally available. “The centerpiece of Winesong weekend is our Charity Auction, featuring both a silent and live auction. Excitement builds in the Auction Tents with lively bidding for over 200 lots, featuring spectacular wines from the world’s most prestigious wine producers, rare vintages, large format bottles plus special vertical and horizontal collections.

Other auction highlights include original art from acclaimed California artists, vacations packages and highly coveted international wine getaway packages to Tuscany, South Africa, France, Spain, South America the Caribbean, and other enchanting parts of the world. Rounding off the travel offerings are one and two night getaway trips to the West’s most romantic inns, resorts, and spas. Coupled with the Wine & Food Tasting, the day can’t be beat ” is how the event website describes the most exciting part of the day’s events.

Winesong is presented by the Mendocino Coast Hospital Foundation with proceeds benefitting the Mendocino Coast District Hospital.

Tickets are $150 for the entire day, wine and food tasting, silent auction, and live auction, or $250 for reserve seating and a three course meal prepared by a celebrity chef to enjoy during the auction. To purchase tickets, or for more information, visit Winesong.org.

That’s it, two great events, just over two weeks away. Pick one, or the other, or – like me – both and I’ll see you on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014.

NOTE: This poster did not run in the Ukiah Daily Journal newspaper version of my wine column today, but I added it here for my online archived copy:

 

 

Mendocino wines win huge at 2014 CA State Fair

John On Wine – Mendocino wines win huge at 2014 CA State Fair

Party at McFadden coming up

Originally published in the Ukiah Daily Journal newspaper on July 3, 2014 by John Cesano

The California State Fair starts next week, but the Commercial Wine Competition took place June 4-6, 2014, with 74 judges on 18 panels tasting 2,829 wine entries. On Tuesday, June 24, the Best of Show wine winners were invited to Sacramento where Golden Bear Trophies were handed out in recognition of California’s best wines.

First up, Ted Bennett, owner, and Jim Klein, winemaker, received the first wine award of the day for the 2013 Navarro Vineyards Late Harvest Riesling, the 2014 California State Fair Best of Show Dessert winner.

Next, Guinness McFadden received a Golden Bear Trophy for his NV McFadden Vineyard Sparkling Cuvee Brut, the 2014 California State Fair Best of Show Sparkling winner. Guinness also received a Joint Resolution from Assemblyman Chesbro and Senator Evans for his contributions as an organic and eco-friendly grower in Mendocino County for more than 40 years.

Ed St. Johns, owner, picked up his 2014 California State Fair Best of Show Pink award for the 2013 Pedroncelli Signature Selection Dry Creek Valley Dry Rosé of Zinfandel.

Carol Shelton was thrilled that the Best of Show White went to her 2012 Carol Shelton Wines Coquille Blanc, a Rhone style white blend. I worked with Carol for eight years, in the last Millennium, and I adore her. Kudos!

2010 Sterling Vineyards Platinum Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was the competition’s Best of Show Red winner, and Harry Hansen picked up the award.

Fetzer earned a Golden Bear for Best Value wine, the 2011 Fetzer Valley Oaks Moscato.

Finally, Jim and Ted from Navarro were invited back up onto the stage; Navarro earned the California Golden State Winery of the Year award, another Golden Bear trophy, for being the top awarded winery of the competition. With three wines receiving Double Gold and 98 Points or better, Navarro was far and away the top winery for 2014.

Mendocino County wineries earned four of the seven Golden Bear Trophies awarded from the California State Fair for wine: Navarro – Golden State Winery of the Year, Navarro – Best of Show Dessert, McFadden – Best of Show Sparkling, and Fetzer – Best Value; 98 points and Double Gold, each and every one of them.

Two of the other winners, Sterling and Carol Shelton buy Mendocino grapes to make some of their wines. Sterling buys Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling grapes from McFadden Farm in Potter Valley. Carol Shelton buys Zinfandel and Carignane grapes from Cox Vineyards in Ukiah, and is talking about possibly buying Sauvignon Blanc grapes from McFadden Farm, as well. Interestingly, Navarro has bought Gewurztraminer grapes from McFadden Farm in the past too. Fetzer also has bought McFadden Farm grapes. Somebody clearly has a great farm. The quality of grapes in Mendocino County, the wines they can produce, is evidenced by the concentration of Golden Bear Trophies won by Mendocino County wineries at this year’s CA State Fair.
_____

The annual party at McFadden Farm in Potter Valley is one of only two wine club parties I will go to every year, the other is the Blending Party at Testa Vineyard in Calpella. If I changed jobs, or retired, I would pay to come to these two parties without fail. I’ll write about Testa’s party in another column. This year’s annual party at McFadden Farm will be held next Saturday, July 12, from to 11 p.m.

Tickets are available online at www.McFaddenFarm.com or through the tasting room, (707) 744-8463.

The fun kicks off with a wine and appetizer reception at 5 p.m. on the banks of the upper Russian River on McFadden Farm at the north end of Potter Valley.

The adventurous may enjoy taking a farm walking tour with Guinness McFadden.

Dinner will be served a little after 6 p.m., and the menu, prepared by Chef Fontaine McFadden and several of her chef buddies, will be an assortment of locally raised grilled pork and lamb, vegetable dishes, salads and desserts. Our neighbor Mac Magruder, will be providing locally raised pork and lamb for grilling again.

Do I need to mention that McFadden wines and sparkling Brut will flow?

Guests will enjoy special first and last tastes of McFadden wines. In what has become a tradition, there will be a first tasting of a new release at the party: the 2012 McFadden Brut Rose – McFadden’s first Brut Rose ever – will pour. There will also be last tastes of a few wines that are otherwise sold out, saved in the library until the party.

Great news: the Kelly McFarling Band will return this year to provide live music.

After dinner, there will be raffle giveaways and a special sale offer exclusive to attendees.

As night falls, the party heats up as guests dance the night away, under the stars, on the river bank.

If you enjoy camping for free, we’ve got lots of room on our 500 acre farm to pitch a tent for a night of camping. Of the 225 who will attend, we expect many will also stay overnight for camping.

Tickets are $60 each, but McFadden Wine Club members can purchase two tickets at just $50 each. Children 12 and under are just $20 each. Tickets can be purchased online at www.McFaddenFarm.com, or by calling the McFadden Farm Stand & Tasting Room in Hopland between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily at (707) 744-8463. I hope to see you there.

 

 

Crab, wine & more

John On Wine ­ – Crab, wine & more

Originally published in the Ukiah Daily Journal newspaper on January 23, 2014 by John Cesano

 

This week, I look back at last weekend, reflect a bit, and look ahead to more events this week.

On Saturday night, I went to Patrona in Ukiah for a winemaker dinner boasting a very crab-centric menu, because the Mendocino County Crab, Wine & Beer Fest is going on. The meal also featured the sparkling and still wines of Roederer Estate winemaker Arnaud Weyrich from nearby Anderson Valley. I was thrilled to use the event as a reconnecting date, the first in over 20 years, with a dear friend, June Batz, who will likely be accompanying me to more wine events in the future.

Arnaud visited each table, welcomed guests to the event, and shared some information about the winery, and the night’s wines. Showing far more humility than I would have, he refrained from noting that one of the night’s wines, the Roederer L’Ermitage was named the #1 wine of 2013 by Wine Enthusiast magazine.

Some of the folks attending included Lorie Pacini and Allen Cherry, who are two of the biggest supporters of Mendocino County wines I know, Gracia Brown from Barra and Girasole along with her husband Joseph Love, and Christina Jones, owner/chef of Aquarelle restaurant in Boonville – who is doing her own winemaker dinner tonight, Jan. 23 at 6:30 p.m. with wines from Handley Cellars.

The three bubblies, Roederer Estate Brut, the L’Ermitage, and a Brut Rose, were everything you would hope and expect, simply perfect when paired with crab egg rolls, crab stuffed chicken, and an orange marmalade crepe with whipped cream respectively.

The two surprises of the evening were a pair of still wines, the 2012 Carpe Diem Chardonnay, barrel and tank fermented, with a majority of used oak, yielding a gorgeously balanced wine that paired beautifully with butter poached crab and avocado, and the 2011 Carpe Diem Pinot Noir, a delightfully characterful wine that went well with pork belly.

_____

Overheard at Barrel Tasting 101 last weekend: “Why is this Chardonnay cloudy? I think it is corked.”

Whoa there; a wine that is still in barrel, a wine not ready for bottling yet, a wine that has never seen a cork, can’t be “corked.”

Often time, Chardonnay in barrel is held “sur lies” or with the spent yeast of fermentation to provide the wine with a little weightiness or richer mouth feel. Barrel samples of these wines will be cloudy. Similarly, red wine barrel samples are colored, but often not clear. I will write more in advance of the next barrel tasting event I point to.

The most important thing to know about barrel tasting is that wines tasted from barrel are not finished wines, some do not taste particularly good, but will eventually yield delicious bottled wines. Barrel tasting provides clues, hints, at what you might expect from future wines. Some wineries offer cases sales on wines tasted from barrels, wines that are not released yet, but will be released in the future, and these offerings and sales are known as “futures.”

Tasting room folks that I talked to reported an interesting mix of folks attending the event; some who knew what a barrel tasting was about, other folks who were open to learn, and still other folks who were interested in consuming as much wine and crab as they could for $10.

June and I visited Maria and Rusty at Testa Vineyards in Calpella on Sunday, and it was great to see the crew working, pouring wines, serving up tasty treats.

Rusty pulled samples from the barrels in the cellar; I enjoyed the barrel samples I tasted, and thought the Petite Sirah would be great held separate instead of used up in blending. Charbono, Carignane – all my old favorites – tasted great from the barrel. Rusty is usually busy manning the grill, barbecuing chicken or oysters for an event, when I see him, so it was a treat to hear him talk about the wines and wine making.

Back upstairs and outdoors, we enjoyed tastes of current release bottled wines with Maria, paired with mighty delicious crab spread atop a slice of toasted French bread. Well, yum.

_____

The folks at Ole Smoky Tennessee Moonshine contacted me and asked me if I would be interested in writing about their Blackberry Shine and Champagne cocktail, the MoonMosa. I’ve written about spirits when I visited with Crispin Cain and the folks from Germain Robin in Redwood Valley, and I work for a place with two Double Gold sparkling brut wines, so, sure, why not?

I received a mason jar of Ole Smoky Blackberry Moonshine. The packaging is fantastic.

Gary Krimont, a friend and wine industry socialite, helped me evaluate this unique beverage.

First, Moonshine might be pushing it. While the folks at Ole Smoky do produce a few products at 100 proof, the Blackberry Moonshine is just 40 proof, or 20 percent alcohol.

Honestly, the lower alcohol is a good thing, as it made this an easily enjoyed, flavorful sipper. The aroma is pure blackberry pancake syrup, but the flavor is more complex and layered. We mixed equal parts Shine and Brut, and both Gary and I felt that the cocktail was less than the sum of its parts. If you see one on a retail shelf, pick up a jar, and enjoy Ole Smoky Blackberry Moonshine by itself, it is light enough to drink uncut, and too delicious to dilute.

_____

Saturday is my birthday, and I will be attending ZAP, the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers Zinfandel Experience event at the Presidio in San Francisco. Sessions include a Sensory Tasting, a Terroir Tasting, and a Reserve & Barrel Tasting. Two Mendocino County wineries participating are McNab Ridge Winery in Hopland and Edmeades Estate Winery in Philo, and I look forward to tasting their Zinfandel, plus the Zinfandel wines made by many friends outside the county as well.

_____

Crab Fest continues this weekend, with the big events moving to the coast.

The Crab Cake Cook-Off & Wine Tasting Competition will take place this Saturday, Jan. 25 from noon to 3 p.m. under the big white tent at the corner of Main and Spruce in Ft. Bragg.

There is an all you can eat crab dinner, with wine, from 6 to 9 p.m., that Saturday night at Barra in Redwood Valley.

A host of winery tasting rooms along Highway 101 inland, and Highway 128 on the way to the coast, will be offering up crab taste pairings with their wines this last weekend of the Crab Fest, so get out and enjoy the bounty of our county.

 

Did everyone decide to have a wine event tomorrow?

So, tomorrow, I get to pour for McFadden from 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM out in Ft. Bragg on the Mendo coast at the botanical gardens for Winesong. I will not be alone; there will be about 100 wineries and 50 food folks, so this is an amazing tasting for attendees.

After, my time at Winesong, I take off my McFadden hat and put on my John On Wine hat and come back to inland Mendo for the 3rd annual Barn Blending BBQ at Testa in Calpella, Ukiah adjacent. Maria Testa Martinson asked me to come back to one of my favorite local wine events, but this year to act as a judge of the blends that folks make, and help to choose a winning blended wine. The party starts around 6:00 PM, folks make up their blends, inspired by finished wine poured at each table, and appetizers, then a terrific dinner of BBQ treats and Italian pasta is served, and the night’s fun continues with dancing to the live music of Nashville recoding artist McKenna Faith.

Frey is going to have an organically good time at their Frey Wine Club Party at the Solar Living Center in Ukiah from 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM, with wine, food, and music.

Parducci Wine Cellars will host The Ford Blues Band at Spencer Brewer’s Acoustic Cafe concert series event from 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM.

If I could be in two places at once, the event I would most like to attend, in addition to the two I am tomorrow, is the Topel Fifth Birthday Party. This is the event for my Sonoma County friends who just do not have the energy to drive up to Mendocino County for Mendo wine fun. Mark and Donnis Topel live, grow grapes, and make wine right here in Hopland; I see them at the post office, or when they visit my tasting room often. In a move that guaranteed they would see more visitors and pour for more tasters, Mark and Donnis put their Topel Tasting Room smack dab in the middle of Healdsburg, just a nudge off the town square on Matheson. The party is going from noon until 7:00 PM, and someone is going to win a year’s membership in the Topel Wine Club, which is an awesome gift.

 

Join me for two wine events on September 7th

John On Wine

Join me for two wine events on September 7th

Originally published in the Ukiah Daily Journal on August 29, 2013 By John Cesano

John Cesano of John On Wine

Saturday, Sept. 7 is going to be a spectacularly full and fun day for me, with wine flowing from early in the day into the night, as I will help celebrate Mendocino County’s wine industry at two events. I hope you can join me at one, or both, of the day’s events.

First up is Winesong, a benefit for the Mendocino Coast Hospital Foundation, in Fort Bragg. This year marks the 29th Winesong Auction & Tasting, and the previous 28 annual Winesong wine events have led directly to lives saved as the next closest hospital is at least an hour away.

“The generosity of past guests, donors and volunteers have allowed the Hospital to purchase new equipment such as an ambulance, echocardiography system, Nuclear Medicine Camera and provided essential funding for our Elwin Cox Memorial Cancer Care Fund,” explains this year’s auction catalog, allowing the hospital to provide “many specialty practices including oncology, cardiology, obstetrics, general surgery, orthopedic surgery and wellness” for “everyone who lives, works, or vacations on the Mendocino Coast.”

Saturday starts with Mendocino County’s best wineries (plus some stars from outside the county) and food purveyors providing a wonderful tasting with tables set up throughout the breathtakingly beautiful Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. A $100 donation allows guests to wander through the gardens from 11 a.m. -2 p.m., tasting the wines of over 100 premium producers and the taste treats from more than 50 top food purveyors, while bidding on a dazzling array of silent auctions.

A $200 donation adds a reserved seat under the tent for the live auction with a three course lunch by James Beard award winning celebrity chef Bradley Ogden, and a Winesong tote bag, all following the three hour wine and food tasting through the gardens. Narsai David, KCBS radio’s food and wine luminary, will be the event’s Master of Ceremonies.

The live auction items are a collection of 75 jealousy inducing wine, restaurant, hotel, event, and vacation packages, while the silent auction lots include stays at vineyard guest houses, art, library wines, and more.

The auction items are truly awesome, and I hope if you attend Winesong that you will bid and wish you luck, hoping you win. That said, I am a simple man, and the opportunity to choose from among so many highly rated and award winning wines paired with bites of the most delicious foods, while surrounded by the verdantly lush Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, and then a Bradley Ogden meal with wine, well, that is what I imagine Heaven must be like.

I will be pouring a variety of Gold Medal, Double Gold Medal, and Best of Class awarded wines for McFadden Vineyard, wearing my figurative McFadden Farm Stand & Tasting Room manager hat, while sporting a literal broad brimmed straw hat. Tasters will have fun as I try to impart a little story with each wine poured, definitely more fun than the folks pouring for whatever winery shares my table as they hear a non-stop three hour live commercial for all things McFadden.

To get your tickets to this Heaven on Earth charity event, visit http://www.winesong.org

_____

 

After Saturday’s early pouring on the coast, I will drive back over the hill to attend the 3rd annual BBQ and Blending Barn Party at Testa Ranch and Vineyards in Calpella, just north of Ukiah on North State street, from 5 ­ 10 p.m. that same day, Saturday, Sept. 7.

I attended the first Testa BBQ and Blending Barn Party and found it virtually impossible to blend the component wines, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, and Petite Sirah, and not have the result taste great.

John Cesano at the first Testa Barn Blend BBQ

Each table will get to create, through trial and tasting, their favorite blend which will help Maria Testa find the perfect blend percentages for her fifth flagship red wine, the Testa Black “Cinque.” To help lubricate the blending work, there will be wine poured to inspire your creativity. This year, for the first time, each table’s blend will be entered in a blind tasting by judges who will select a winner!

The three judges are John Buchenstein, Rosemary Eddy, and John Cesano, which explains why I am happily driving back to Testa instead of staying overnight on the coast.

As I would be impressed by a blend that wasn’t delicious, I’m predisposed to award gold medals to all entrants with one wine chosen Best of Class by John, Rosemary, and me.

Appetizers served at your table, then a barbecue dinner with Italian pasta and salad and bread to follow, before the desert and dancing begins. Additional wine will be sold by the glass or bottle.

Rusty Martinson works the grill like a master, and I have enjoyed oysters to chicken in the past. I’m looking forward to this year’s food off the grill, and of course the pasta and salad.

Local music sensation and Nashville recording artist, McKenna Faith will perform this year.

Individual tickets are $70, or $55 for Testa wine club members. Reserved tables for eight are $560, or just $440 for Testa wine club members.

Here’s the deal. I love Testa wines, and this event is a blast! To get your tickets before they sell out, call Maria Testa Martinson at (707) 391-7273.

_____

 

Saturday, Sept. 7, 2013. Save the date on your calendar for at least one or, even better, two local wine events, and if you see me that day say hello.

 

Mendocino County’s Highway 101 Wineries Bring Home the Gold Medals

Inland Mendocino County Wineries, from Hopland to Ukiah and Calpella to Potter Valley, won 20 GOLD Medals, 7 DOUBLE GOLD MEDALS, 4 of the 5 BEST OF CLASS awards, and 1 SWEEPSTAKES Award on August 3, 2012 at Friday night’s 36th Annual Mendocino County Wine Competition Awards Dinner.

_____

BELLS ECHO VINEYARD

3580 Feliz Creek Road, HOPLAND, CA

GOLD – 2009 Syrah, Mendocino County $24

_____

BLISS FAMILY VINEYARDS

13500 S Hwy 101, HOPLAND, CA

GOLD – NV Schoolhouse Red Blend, Mendocino County $12

_____

BONTERRA VINEYARDS

2231 McNab Ridge Road, HOPLAND, CA
DOUBLE GOLD and SWEEPSTAKES RED – 2009 The McNab Red Blend, Mendocino County $36
DOUBLE GOLD and BEST OF CLASS CHARDONNAY – 2010 Chardonnay, Mendocino County $14
GOLD – 2010 Viognier, Mendocino County $14

_____

CHIARITO VINEYARD

2651 Mill Creek Rd, UKIAH, CA

DOUBLE GOLD – 2009 Nero D’Avola, Mendocino County $32

_____

GIRASOLE VINEYARDS

7051 N. State Street,  REDWOOD VALLEY, CA

GOLD – 2011 Pinot Blanc, Mendocino County $13

GOLD – 2010 Pinot Noir, Mendocino County $16

_____

GRAZIANO FAMILY OF WINES

13275 Hwy 101 Suite 3, HOPLAND, CA
DOUBLE GOLD – 2010 Graziano Chenin Blanc, Mendocino County $15
GOLD – 2009 Monte Volpe Sangiovese, Mendocino County $18
GOLD – 2009 Saint Gregory Pinotage, Mendocino County $18
GOLD – 2011 Saint Gregory Pinot Blanc, Mendocino County $15
GOLD – 2009 Saint Gregory Pinot Noir, Mendocino County $19
GOLD – 2010 Saint Gregory Pinot Meunier, Mendocino County $20

_____

JAXON KEYS WINERY

10400 Hwy 101, HOPLAND, CA
GOLD and BEST OF CLASS ZINFANDEL 2010 Mae’s Block Zinfandel, Mendocino County, Ravazzi Vineyard $24
GOLD– 2009 Petite Sirah Mendocino County, Allie Keys Vineyard $24

_____

McFADDEN VINEYARD

13275 Hwy 101 Suite 5, HOPLAND, CA
DOUBLE GOLD– NV Sparkling Brut, Potter Valley, McFadden Farm $25

_____

PARDUCCI WINE CELLARS

501 Parducci Road, UKIAH, CA
and the Solar Living Center, 13771 S Hwy 101, HOPLAND, CA
DOUBLE GOLD – 2009 Petite Sirah, Mendico County $11
GOLD and BEST OF CLASS CABERNET SAUVIGNON – 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, Mendocino County $11

_____

PATIANNA ORGANIC VINEYARDS

Old River Road, HOPLAND, CA
GOLD– 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, Mendocino County $17

_____

PAUL DOLAN VINEYARDS

501 Parducci Road, UKIAH, CA

and the Solar Living Center, 13771 S Hwy 101, HOPLAND, CA
GOLD and BEST OF CLASS SAUVIGNON BLANC – 2011 Sauvignon Blanc, Potter Valley $18
GOLD – 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, Mendocino County, $25

_____

SARACINA

11684 S Hwy 101, HOPLAND, CA
GOLD – 2011 Sauvignon Blanc, Mendocino County $22

_____

TESTA VINEYARDS

6400 North State Steet, CALPELLA, CA

DOUBLE GOLD – 2010 Carignane, Mendocino County $25

GOLD – 2011 Rose of Carignane, Mendocino County $18

GOLD – 2010 Charbono, Mendocino County $40

_____

WEIBEL FAMILY VINEYARDS

13275 S Hwy 101 Suite 1, HOPLAND, CA
GOLD – 2010 Orange Muscat, Mendocino County $15
_____

Mendocino County’s HIGHWAY 101 Wineries – EASY TO VISIT, EASY TO LOVE.