Braised Beef Short Ribs. Pair with Sanglier 2007 Kick Ranch Syrah.

INGREDIENTS:

6 beef short ribs, 14 to 16 ounces each (ask for 3 bone center-cut)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, and 4 whole sprigs thyme
1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
3 dozen small pearl onions
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1/3 cup diced carrot
1/3 cup diced celery
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 cups port
2 1/2 cups hearty red wine
6 cups beef or veal stock
4 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
Horseradish cream (recipe follows)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Season the short ribs with 1 tablespoon thyme and the cracked black pepper. Use your hands to coat the met well. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Take the short ribs out of the refrigerator an hour before cooking, to come to room temperature. After 30 minutes, season them generously on all sides with salt.

When you take the ribs out of the refrigerator, preheat the oven to 425º F.

Toss the pearl onions with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon thyme, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet and roast them about 15 minutes, until tender. When they have cooled, slip off the skins with your fingers and set aside. Turn the oven down to 325ºF.

When it’s time to cook the short ribs, heat a large saute pan over hight heat for 3 minutes. Pour in 3 tablespoons olive oil, and wait a minute or two, until the pan is very hot and almost smoking. Place the short ribs in the pan, and sear until they are nicely browned on all three meaty sides. Depending on the size of your pan, you might have to sear the meat in batches. Do not crowd the meat or get lazy or rushed at this step; it will take at least 15 minutes. When the ribs are nicely browned, transfer them to a braising pan. They should lie flat, bones standing up, in one layer.

Turn the heat down to medium, and add the onion, carrot, celery, thyme, sprigs, and bay leaves. Stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up all the crusty bits in the pan. Cook 6 to 8 minutes, until the vegetables just begin to carmelize. Add the balsamic vinegar, port, and red wine. Turn the heat up to high, and reduce the liquid by half.

Add the stock and bring to a boil. Pour the liquid over the short ribs, scraping any vegatables that have fallen on the ribs back into the liquid. The stock mixture should almost cover the ribs. Tuck the parsley sprigs in and around the meat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap (yes, it can go in the oven) and then aluminum foil. Braise in the oven for about 3 hours.
To check the meat for doneness, remove the plastic and foil, being careful of the escaping steam, and pierce a short rib with a paring knife. When the meat is done, it will yield easily to a knife. Tast a piece if you are not sure.

Let the ribs rest 10 minutes in their juices, and then transfer them to a baking sheet.
Turn the oven up to 400ºF.

Place the short ribs in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, to brown.

Strain the broth into a saucepan, pressing down on the vegetables with a ladle to extract all the juices. Skim the fat from the sauce and, if the broth seems thin, reduce it over medium-high heat to thicken slightly. Taste for seasoning.

Horseradish Cream

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 Crème fraîche
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
Kosher salt and freshly ground black peppper

Combine the Crème fraîche and horseradish in a small bowl. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Taste for balance and seasoning.

Tags: Food and Wine Pairing, Holidays, Recipes

We want to thank everyone who attended our winemaker dinners in Fort Worth and Tyler. A big thank you to Cef, Bernard and Mundo for turning out amazing dishes that were spot on pairings with the wines. They were all spectacular in their own right and we are looking forward to next year! Here is what the Tyler Morning Telegraph had to say… Again thank you for your continued loyalty to Sanglier Cellars!

The Alexander’s

Tags: food and wine, Restaurants, texas, Wine dinner

We are delighted to host not one, but two winemaker dinners in Tyler, Texas!

BERNARD’S RESTAURANT

5 Course Food and Wine Pairing

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009, 6:30 p.m.

$95 per person (includes tax and gratuity)

RSVP: 903.534.0265
www.bernardsintyler.com

VILLA MONTEZ RESTAURANT

5 Course Food and Wine Pairing

Thursday, November 12th, 2009 6:30 p.m.

$95 per person (includes tax and gratuity)

RSVP: Mundo@villamontez.com
www.villamontez.com

We look forward to sharing our new wines with you! Wines being poured will include: 2008 Kick Ranch Viognier, 2008 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, 2007 Kemp Vineyard Syrah and 2007 Kick Ranch Syrah.

Tags: Events, Fall Wines, texas

Glenn was interviewed by L.A. radio station KBPK-FM this past week and talks about the current state of the wine business and the challenges and rewards of being a vineyard manager in Sonoma County. Download at http://www.california-commerce.com

Both entertaining and informative, it is a great listen!

Tags: Bacchus Vineyard Management, Glenn, Interview, Sanglier

My last blog was on September 29. Sorry for the lapse in posting, but I am going to blame it on writer’s block and too much everyday work, not laziness.

Fact is, between September 30th and October 12th, we made thirty-eight picks totalling 175 tons of grapes (4,200 cases). If you do the math, that works out to an average harvest of 4.6 tons per pick. Those thirty-eight picks went to twenty-two different wineries. Now I am not trying to bore you with a lot of numbers, just trying to show you the artisanal approach to our work.

Yes, we have been in tough economic times, but did you know wine sales will grow slightly this year? That is the good news. The bad news is, sales have grown a lot for the giant corporations doing millions of cases while sales for the artisan, craftsman, small family owned wineries have been going south (for most). These family owned wineries are our staple business.

We do grow and harvest some grapes for the big guys such as Rosenblum (Diageo) and Ravenswood (Constellation) but they represent less than 5% of our business. The people we work with at these two giants of the industry are professional, enjoyable folks to work with, but they don’t represent “our normal client”.

Our client is personally involved in making the wine, hands on with the marketing and sales, working diligently in all phases of the business to insure their winery’s success. They are, for the most part, the modern day Jeffersonian farmer. Just for reference, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God”. That is a strong statement and I wouldn’t go that far, but my clients are really, really good people.

Maybe it is a dream, unsustainble in today’s world of globalized economies, markets, and cultures, but you have to love and respect the effort these small vineyard owners and winemakers put forth. So, for my part, I will continue to focuss our efforts toward insuring the success of the small entrepreneurial producer over the large corporation.

Highlights of the Last Two Weeks:

We picked the Sanglier Cellars Syrah from Kemp Vineyard. This vineyard is visually stunning. When you drive up to the gate nothing stands out. As you drive through the gate you crest the ridgeline and see this sweeping panoramic view of a terraced vineyard falling gracefully down the hillside. The morning we picked, the vines were shrouded in fog. The vineyard seemed to be floating in the clouds.

With that said, the fruit turned out to be as ethereal as the scenery. Perfect clusters, slightly dimpled and bursting with blueberry and raspberry flavors. We picked at the peak of flavor, target sugars, and acidity. If this wine is anything less than stellar….we screwed it up in the winery.

Lowlight of the Last Two Weeks:

Pounding rain. Nearly 3″ on the 13th. We still have 100 tons of grapes on the vine. We will know in the next few days if some or all of these grapes will make to the winery. The risk of farming is at hand and it is pushing all the air out of the room.

On a Happier Note:

The weather has given us a break and we will have the time to celebrate a birthday……mine. Normally, harvest prevents a night out, but not this year.

Melissa is Cooking: Braised Pork Shoulder with Mustard and Capers (From a Pig in Provence, Georgeanne Brennan); Potato Gratin; Heirloom Tomato (last of the season), roasted pepper and mozzarella salad; and chocolate cake.

A few friends will come for dinner and we will share our newly released 2008 Sanglier Cellars Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. Then we will be off to see Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt.

The sun is coming out…….thank you God.

Jackie stomps the grapes (to the tune of Hank Williams) which allows us to juice the grapes resulting in more concentration and texture in the wine…

When I was a kid, I remember my Dad and Uncle biting into fresh, vine-ripe tomatoes at lunch time and discussing what they liked about one varietal over another. They were “truck farmers” and tomatoes were their money crop. At the time, I didn’t get it……

Now I spend my pre-harvest days walking vineyard blocks, tasting grapes and discussing what flavor profiles different clones can bring to a wine. For our Kick Ranch Syrah I have firmly settled on three clones, 470, Hermitage, and 877.

Clone 470….Screaming Blueberry: Every year when I walk our blocks of fruit, I love the bright blueberry flavor I taste in these grapes. The flavor seems to pop out when the brix level hits 25 degrees and the pH climbs above 3.50. But we normally wait a few days for the flavor to become more intense. This intensity of flavor is normally accompanied by some dimpling of the individual berries and a soft velvety feel of the cluster. This relationship has been so consistent over time that I now know some winemakers who use this observed condition to be a primary determining factor in their decision of when to pick.

Over the last few years, I have realized this added “hangtime” for the grapes in pursuit of more intense flavors also resulted in a loss of that bright blueberry component and the introduction of a dark, slightly jammy blackberry flavor. Oh…..and a higher alcohol for the wine.

Trust me, I love dark rich blackberry and I don’t care if the alcohol in the wine is elevated if the balance is on target but I really want to see that blueberry component I taste in the vineyard make it all the way through to the bottle. So, this year I picked earlier. Slightly lower sugar levels, slightly higher acid levels, and that bright blueberry flavor profile.

Hermitage Clone…..Smoky Bacon Fat

Another childhood memory, dipping my bacon in the blueberry syrup on my pancakes. Come on….you know it sounds great unless you are a vegan or vegetarian.

The Hermitage Clone is the bacon I can dip into my blueberry compote provided by Clone 470. Certainly Hermitage produces some delightfull fruit flavors, but that smoky, bacon fat is what I crave. This year, we picked and fermented the Hermitage Clone with Clone 470. Now, I am not trying to back up from the rich and lush flavors of our previous vintages, just hoping to bring out some of the uniqueness of these clones on this site.

Clone 877: The Backbone:

This clone is the most demanding on a vigneron’s patience. The flavor during our tasting in the vineyard is subdued and the grape follows it up with muted flavors in the winery. But when this clone finishes malolactic fermentation it wakes up and gives you rich dark fruit, integrated tannins, and depth. In other words, Clone 877 provides the structure or framework of the wine that allows the other clones to show off their beauty and (let’s just go ahead and say it) their sexiness and seductiveness.

Will I achieve these flavors in the 2009 Kick Ranch Syrah. Who knows? But I am having fun trying.

Kick Ranch Syrah grapes on the sorting table

I Am Blaming It On The Coyotes:

I haven’t blogged in a while. Sheer exhaustion. The realities of harvest have set in……little sleep, edgy winemakers and vineyard owners, rain, and now Coyotes.

One of the critical activities leading up to the actual day of harvest is irrigation management. It is the main tool we use to try and influence sugar levels, PH, and other grape chemistry. It isn’t a great tool for accomplishing our goals, but it is the best one we have.

Harvest related irrigation decisions are made during a vineyard walk through and usually implemented immediately. Sometimes implementation is critical. Recently I did a morning vineyard walk through and decided we had to irrigate that night. Because we were doing partial blocks it was a manual opertion. At 7:00 I turned on the system and begin a loop around the 20 plus acres to look and listen for leaks.

When you are tired and looking forward to the end of a 16 hour day, seeing numerous geysers in your vineyard is not a welcome sight. Leaks were spewing furiously at multiple locations. The culprit…..those mangy coyotes. Now the flea bitten bums could have walked all the way down the hillside to the reservoir and drank their fill, but that would be too easy. Instead they chew on the plastic irrigation drip lines and get their water that way. More work for the coyote and more work for me. Two hours later and the leaks were fixed.

Barreling Down…

Monday was a big day at Sanglier Cellars:

Viognier: We started at 2 AM picking Viognier from…..you guessed it, the Coyote Vineyard. We have had some really warm Indian summer days and I wanted the fruit harvested before the pH climbed any higher. The decision to pick is a complex one but I was happy with the flavor, the level of “sun toasting” on the clusters, and the acid levels. So we harvested.

The great thing about farming your own grapes that are made into your wine is the control you have over the process. We picked exactly when we wanted to in the ripening process, picked early in the morning to insure the grapes arrived at the winery cold, and got them to the winery early enough to insure we had unfettered access to the equipment we wanted to use.

I have commented on free run grape juice previously and viognier is one of the more delicious varietals. Sweet and pretty. No doubt about it. Our viognier will be 50% barrel fermented in neutral French oak and 50% in stainless steel. We plan to do a partial malolactic fermentation. Our goal: let the fruit shine, a richer feel in the mouth, but with a clean finish. We will let you know how we did in a year of so.

Pinot Noir: Our fermentation of the Russian River Pinot Noir was nearly complete yesterday so we decided to go to barrel. We like to finish the fermentation in the barrel (yes, we like the richer texture we get from this process) so we “barrel down” around 2 or 3 degrees brix. The wine finishes the process in the French Oak and achieves total dryness.

The Best Job in the Winery is monitoring the juice as it flows to the barrels and we always have volunteers to do this job. Numerous glasses are continually placed under the endless flow of newly fermented wine to assess and judge the qualities of this year’s vintage. Our 2009 is combination of clone 777 and Pommard and we do keep them separate until final blending approximately one year from now. But these tasting notes during the barrel down are worthwhile…at least that is my story.

Highlghts: The 777 has a rich chocolate component to its core of dark red fruit. The Pommard has an earthy (if you like mushrooms, think of mushrooms…if you don’t go with forest floor) to its very dark core fruit.

Prognosis: If we don’t screw it up this pinot will be awesome.

Still to Come: We shoud begin harvesting syrah by the weekend and the grenache, mourvedre, counoise, and cinsault to follow.

Chelsea, Glenn, Dave and Amos at Kick Ranch

Farming decisions in a high end vineyard focused on quality wines are difficult to make. There are so many non-controllable variables. Will we have a warm or cold spring, a late spring frost, no spring rain, a lot of spring rain, will the summer be hot, cool……who knows.

We do approach the growing season with a plan, believe it or not, a written farm plan. We make projections of grape tonnage, state the planned vine architecture, and define all the expected farm activities such as mowing, excess shoot removal, vine training, canopy management (we actually position the grape clusters relative to the sunlight through the adjustment of canes, selective leaf removal, and selective lateral removal), nutrition additions, irrigations, and disease control.

In a perfect world, we approach veraison with the crop load in balance relative to the volume of leaves, the fruit is growing in exactly the right position, the fruit is uniformly ripening, and the weather consists of warm days and cool nights. I don’t know about you guys, but my relationship with God is not so good to insure all those things align.

Hard Spot 1:

Fruit Thinning is a must in a high quality vineyard. I am not one of those people who equate low yields to high quality. However, I do equate quality with balance. Each grape cluster must have its own space…..no touching! That decision is easy. But when we make this fruit drop, that is when a lot of vineyard owners become somewhat surly. They see big money on the ground. And to add insult to injury, they paid me good money to put it on the ground.

This year, we did not have to do much thinning because of “balance”. Mother nature took care of that during May when a somewhat abnormal late season rain washed the bloom off the grapes resulting in shatter (fruit cluster that failed to develop normal grapes).

But we did have to make a pass through the vineyard and drop the fruit that was ripening late compared to the majority of clusters. Even ripeness is a non negotiable issue for the top winemakers. It wasn’t fun explaining to the vineyard owner why we must take his already small crop and make it smaller. I really don’t remember a management skill related to this type of counter intuitive customer discussion being taught in graduate business school.

Hard Spot 2:

“The sugars are high but the pH is low” is the first almost universal winemaker comment I hear when the time to pick is nigh. Although sugar levels are only one part of the quality assessment of grapes (taste, tannins, acidity, have to be right also or the grapes will not make great wine) grape contracts are normally defined by sugar levels. The vineyard owner has completed his part of the bargain and met the contract requirements……but the winemaker will not pick.

Our job now becomes one of mediator, magician, and I guess, “whipping post”. The vineyard owner, who pays us, wants the maximum tonnage he can get and still obtain the desired quality. The winemaker, who holds our reputation in his hands, wants the optimum quality. We are in the middle.

In fairness, nearly all of the wineries we are dealing with are paying prices per ton of grapes that are significantly above county averages. They pay the premium so they can request more time to let the grapes hang on the vine after they have achieved “contract ripeness”.

The hard part for us is the management of irrigation that can help preserve fruit volume and weight (growers likes this) and the management of irrigation that promotes flavor. (winemakers like this one). You guessed it, these two irrigation approaches are not remotely similar. If I am a successful magician, this works out great. If I am successful as mediator everyone is satisfied but not ecstatic. If I am not a good magician or mediator, I am……the whipping post.

(Now if you have been following the blog and taking note of how well I eat you will now realize there is more to the story. When you find yourself in the whipping post situation there is a distinct advantage to being the largest person in the discussion)

Hard Spot 3:

It is harvest season and it is raining. Our biggest fear has manifested into reality. We still have hundred of tons of wine grapes worth millions of dollars and they are drenched. Some varietals can handle some rain and come through OK, others are now at risk of rotting in the vineyard.

Every winemaker and grower wants me to tell them exactly what the options are and exactly what the outcome will be. Do we risk the crop for a chance at great wine? Do we pick early to preserve the crop and risk a mediocre wine? This is a situation when I want to give that lawyer like answer, and leave the decision in the hands of the client.

So, I try the lawyerly approach and lay out the options, explain the risks associated with all the options, and wait for my vineyard owner and winemaker to respond. Then I get the question I already knew was coming, “If it was your vineyard or your wine, what would you do?”

I love this job, just not today.

SANGLIER CELLARS OCTOBER RELEASE

Releasing new wines is an exciting time, but also slightly troubling, if like me, you have tendencies toward paranoia and obsessive compulsion disorder. Not that these traits flare up often, but when you compress the pressures of harvesting for some of the best winemakers in the world, making your own wine, and releasing your current wines to the market place all at the same time, it is safe to say the brain is full of what ifs, and scary scenarios. Throw in a little rain like we had Saturday morning and the threat of rain for tonight (excessive rain has the potential to ruin a grape crop) and I believe you can understand how the mind races.

But I digress. Releasing new wines requires writing new tasting notes. Writing new tasting notes requires some trusted friends to lend their opinion. Their opinion must be given in the environment we hope the wines will be drunk…at the dinner table (or if you insist, I can assure you we are OK with lunch time drinking). And yes there is the side benefit of drinking your wine, truly enjoying what you have made, and achieving a evening of bliss during a time of intense work activities.

These wines will officially release on October 1.

JimCowan (aka Florida Jim on many websites and blogs) and his wife Diane
Perry Rankin, owner of Thirty Four North Wine Merchant in Healdsburg
Brian Check, Tasting Room Manager at Gary Farrell
Chelsea Alexander, General Manager at Sanglier
Glenn & Melissa Alexander

2008 Kick Ranch Viognier

Tuna Tartare with Mango, Avocado, Mango Vinaigrette and Micro Greens

2008 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

Puffed Pastry filled with Duck Confit, Mushrooms & Balsamic Creme Sauce

2007 Kick Ranch and Kemp Vineyard Syrahs

CK Lamb Chops Grilled over a Fire of Grapevines and Francois Ferrer Barrel Staves
Eggplant Custard, Oven Roasted Potatoes with Garlic & Rosemary

Dessert

Almond Tart with Homegrown Strawberries

2008 Kick Ranch Viognier On the nose: Gardenia’s, peach skin, cassava melon, kumquat and a hint of vanilla
On the palate: Lime citrus and orange blossom, roasted almonds, spice, and a wonderful mouth-feel…

2008 Russian River Pinot Noir: This is a velvety Pinot that fills up the mouth with richness. Hints of bacon fat, brown sugar, forest floor, chocolate covered dark cherries, rhubarb and pipe tobacco
On the palate: Smoky black cherry slightly laced with dark chocolate. It is a powerful pinot with concentrated, pretty red fruit.

2007 Kemp Vineyard Syrah: This Syrah has gripping texture, but with a cleanness…Cocoa, white chocolate and big black fruit fill the nose.
On the palate: toasted spices, cocoa powder and chocolaty laced blackberry and plum screamed to pair up with lamb!

2007 Kick Ranch Syrah: As Jim put it, “Tastes like one continuous integrated Syrah…”.
Dusty red fruit on the nose. The palate brings cinnamon, coffee with a finish that is long and clean. A crowd favorite of the night…

RAIN AND THE CHANCE OF RAIN

A little rain just washed the dust off…..that is a comforting comment that covers the fear all winegrowers have during harvest. A serious rain is a real threat to the crop, especially for Chandonnay, Zinfandel, Grenache, Petite Sirah and other thin skinnned varietals. So we all sleep lightly during nights of forecasted moisture and hope we can harvest the fruit prior to botrytis setting in. We do have some preventative tools to combat this risk, but they only work if you did a good job with your farming back in May when the botrytis spores develop and settle in, just waiting for some late season moisture to encourage their growth. We are ready and prepared, but the fact is, sleep will be hard to come by until this front passes.

Wednesday was busy, but not stupid busy. Of course Dave, Armando, Paco and a few others might disagree since they pulled most of the load that day. But for me, things almost seemed normal.

So what happens when you get a normal work day in the middle of silly season? You eat and drink of course.

I am not going to bore you with breakfast or lunch comments. Instead, I will go straight to the dinner menu and hope you enjoy the expanded coverage.

Dinner:
The reason for the dinner was a pre-harvest run down and review with one of our vineyard and winery clients…Captûre. It was a wonderful reason for slowing down and enjoying a nice meal.

Melissa’s Kitchen

Melissa’s title at Sanglier Cellars is Culinary Director. How many small family wineries have a Culinary Director? Don’t know of anyone else, but then again they don’t have a Melissa.

I hope you enjoy the pictures and reading the menu. Then slowly let it sink in…….we get to eat like this three or four nights a week!

Starters:

A Platter of Crane Melon & Fig

Oven Roasted Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes, Salt Cured Olives,
Laurel Chenel Goat Cheese & Toasted Baguette
Served with Sanglier Cellars 2008 Rosé

First Course

Halibut Tagine with Pasilla Peppers, Tomatoes, Yukon Potatoes, Olives and Cilantro Sauce
Served with Carica 2005 Kick Ranch Sauvignon Blanc & Sanglier Cellars 2008 Kick Ranch Viognier

Main Course

Seven Hour Leg of Lamb
Marrowfat Beans with Garlic, Onions, and Creme Fraiche
A Gratin of Eggplant, Zucchini, Tomato & Onion
Served with Domaine Charbonniere 2004 Chateauneuf du Pape, Domaine Clape 2004 Renaissance and Cutt 2007 Fearless Red

Gravenstein Apple Tart
Homemade Cinnamon Ice Cream