Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Barrel Seminar with Jerome Aubin



This past Saturday was our barrel seminar given by Jerome Aubin. Mainly wine club members were in attendance. Jerome talked about how barrels are made, the difference between French and American oak barrels, and what effect they impart onto wines. Attendees enjoyed themselves and said they learned something new. This was a very educational event, but in the end people were able to try some wines to experience for themselves what the difference barrels make on the wine. Jerome brought a Chardonnay and Jack brought out our Trenton Station 2006 Syrah and compared it with our Trenton Station Reserve 2006 Syrah. The reserve was in oak 6 months longer and it has made quite a difference.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Winemaker Dinner at Franklin Square Wine Bar , 4/13/08





Sunday evening was our winemaker dinner with Franklin Square Wine Bar (FSWB) in Oakland. There was a great turnout at this event, full of friends, wine club members and FSWB regulars. The food was delicious and the wine was flowing. Rick Mitchell, the owner of FSWB, introduced Jack and I, as we were the Lost Canyon representatives. Jack then took over and walked the audience through the wine and food pairing of each of the 3 courses. This winemaker dinner was unique in that the second course had a comparitive tasting with 2 Pinot Noirs and again with the third course, comparing 2 Syrahs. The hit for the evening was the Cassoulet paired with the 2 Syrahs. I heard a few patrons bugging Jake (the Chef) for a recipe! Below is a copy of the menu.

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golden chard ravioli stuffed with fromage blanc, hazelnuts and roasted apples on a carrot emulsion.

2007 Viognier, Catie’s Corner Vineyard

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poached duck breast salad with frisée, spinach, duck cracklings and a soft-boiled

partridge egg

2006 Pinot Noir, Widdoes Vineyard

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2006 Pinot Noir, Morelli Lane Vineyard

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cassoulet of cannellini beans, pork shoulder & toulouse lamb sausage

2005 Syrah, Trenton Station Vineyard

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2005 Syrah, Alegria Vineyard

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coffee & truffles

Friday, April 11, 2008

Winemaker Dinner with Pappo, 4/8/08




The winemaker dinner at Pappo was a great time. It was a 5 course meal paired to match 4 of our wines. Randy, one of the owners, talk about the history of Lost Canyon Winery and introduced the first wine, our RRV Viognier. The first course was served, then after the plates were cleared, I talked about the 2 Pinots that were to follow with the next 2 courses. Randy stepped in before the last 2 courses to talk about the Syrah and the revisiting of the Viognier. All of the courses were fantastic!! I think my favorite was the Lamb with the Stage Gulch Syrah. Delicious!!! Great job to Chef John Thiel and his staff for putting together such a wonderful dinner. The menu is posted below.

1st course

Seafood Sausage with Meyer Lemon Butter and Toscanelli Beans

2007 Catie’s Corner Viognier, Russian River Valley

2nd Course

Braised Duck Leg Tart with Green Garlic and Thyme

2006 Saralee Pinot noir, Russian River Valley

3rd Course

English Pea and Morel Mushroom Canneloni with Fresh Ricotta Cheese

2006 Widdoes Pinot noir, Russian River Valley

4th Course

Grilled Lamb Sirloin with Artichoke-Potato Gratin and Black Olives

2005 Stage Gulch Syrah, Sonoma Coast

5th Course

Almond-Orange Cookies, Crecenza Cheese and Preserved Walnuts

Revisit 2007 Catie’s Corner Viognier, Russian River Valley

Thursday, April 10, 2008

EBVA Passport event, April 5, 2008


The passport was a huge success for all participating wineries! I had the pleasure of attending the event on this particular Saturday since I was to woman the tasting room at Lost Canyon on Sunday, the day after the event. My husband, Jay, and a wine club member and occasional journalist for LCW, Ray joined us.
We started by eating a good hearty lunch at Ratto's in old town oakland before we got on the road. Our starting point was Eno wines in Berkeley. Apparently, we missed the madness. About 100 people started there and were anxiously awaiting outside the door at noon. We got to Eno at about 2:30pm where there were only about 15 people. I thoroughly enjoyed their Pinot Noir from Santa Lucia area and love their labels. Next, we headed to Periscope cellars where Urbano and Andrew Lane were pouring as well. This time it was quite busy inside! We tasted a few wines and then we headed to Dashe/JC Cellars where Taylerle and Aubin Cellars were pouring in the same spot. This was much busier than Periscope! We chatted with Angela, Errin and Ron and were off to check out Irish Monkey. This spot had a comfortable amount of people. Two mile was pouring wine at this location as well. I really enjoyed Two mile's Petite Syrah...delicious! The Irish Monkey space used to be Lost Canyon Winery's space, so it was fun for me to check it out. The space is a bit smaller than what we have now, but they are doing great things in there.

Meanwhile back at the Lost Canyon....we had about 500 people come through the winery. Jake from Franklin Square Wine Bar served up soup along with cheese and bread. We poured our 06 Las Brisas Pinot Noir, 06 Saralee Pinot Noir, 05 Trenton Station Syrah and our 05 Alegria Syrah. Jack was running around to deliver more glasses to the other locations and working out all the small problems that came up. It was a crazy day!
Thanks for coming out and if you didn't make it, come next year!