I caught Marti and Gery enjoying the end of a 2011 Sauvignon blanc and Rose blending session.( We were not blending them together by the way) Our work will continue in the new year with the full winemaking panel, which includes Chris Hanna , myself , and Tom Bertoli.

Warren Burton (on the right), our Alexander Valley Red Ranch vineyard supervisor and I visited Zachary Kay, who oversees compost production at the City of Santa Rosa’s state of the art composting facility on Llano Road. We have been donating our wine pomace to the City for the past three years. This year we will contract to buy back compost for use in our vineyards, beginning a cycle of  sustainable soil building that will reduce the need for inorganic fertilizers.

Zachary Kay and Warren Burton at the composting plant

Why go dry with the 03 still nigh.

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat published a  2001 Cab retrospective tasting today.  Our wine was conspicuously absent. Turns out we had just received a very delicious 90 points rating in the Wine Spectator and our tasting rooms sold out the remaining inventory. We had none to send to the Press Democrat!   I consoled myself with a Mag of the 2003, which is also stunning.  Wine may be art , but vino fugit fast.

I just returned from the Aspen Food & Wine Classic, a five day food and wine extravaganza where we proudly poured Hanna wines to thousands of trade, media and consumers. One of the highlights of the trip was a dinner at Matsuhisa, the Aspen outpost of famed Nobu in New York, one of the best restaurants in the country. Our Hanna Russian River Valley Chardonnay features on their excellent wine list. As an added bonus, we were joined by Top Chef contestant Fabio Vivianni. When you dine with a chef, it’s best to buckle your seat belt and enjoy the ride! 15 courses later, most not even on the menu, we all deemed it one of the top culinary experiences of our lives! Oddly enough, the dish everyone wanted to figure out how to make at home was, wait for it, a SALAD! Yes, Matsuhisa sent us over a spinach salad with crispy miso, truffle oil, yuzu and parmesan. To die for! There was something magical about the alchemy of salty miso, earthy truffle, nutty parmesan, and tangy yuzu vinaigrette. And it worked beautifully with our Chardonnay. So, here is Fabio and my deconstruction of the recipe. If you can’t find yuzu vinegar, you can substitute lemon juice cut with a little rice wine vinegar.

Miso paste

Yuzu Vinegar

Truffle Oil

Salt and pepper

4 cups fresh baby spinach

Parmesan

Smear a thin layer of miso paste onto tin foil and place on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 225 degree oven until miso paste is dried out. Let cool. Crumble.

Whisk yuzu, truffle oil, salt and pepper together in a small bowl.

Toss spinach with vinaigrette. Shave parmesan over salad, then add miso crumbles. Enjoy!

Serves 4-6

Finally some sunshine! After some very unusual early June rain, the sun decided to join us in earnest. With the warmer weather, cool salads seem like just the thing to make, though they’re generally tough to pair with wines. This Moroccan salad is a more wine friendly riff on the classic Middle Eastern Tabouli, and it actually works with Chardonnay. I’ve subtituted milder oranges for the usual lemon, switched out raw onion for gentle chives, and made a dressing with ras el hanout, a Moroccan spice blend that builds a bridge to the oak in the Chardonnay. Creamy feta and toasted almonds add broad mouthfeel and match the Chardonnay’s creamy mouthfeel and toasty oak.

I demoed and served this salad for over 100 people on Monday, and it’s a great dish for a party. The recipe below serves 12-15 but can easily be halved for a smaller group. If you can’t find pomegranate molasses, you can reduce some pomegranate juice by half and add a squirt of lemon juice. Enjoy!

Summer Moroccan Salad

For the salad:

2 cups Bulgur (cracked wheat)

1 cucumber, peeled and cut into small dice

4 ounces feta, crumbled

I cup chopped oil cured olives

½ cup toasted sliced almonds

½ cup chopped parsley

2 tablespoons chopped mint

2 tablespoons chopped chives

1 orange, peel zested and flesh segmented and chopped

For the ras al hanout:

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper, or ¼ tsp cayenne and ¼ tsp paprika

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

For the vinaigrette:

½ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon ras al hanout

Salt and pepper to taste

Soak bulgur in 6 cups of cold water for two hours or until al dente. Squeeze out any excess moisture.

Whisk together spices for ras al hanout. Reserve 1 teaspoon for vinaigrette. Store the remainder in an airtight container. It will keep for at least one month.

Whisk together ingredients for vinaigrette. Set aside.

Combine bulgur, cucumber, feta, olives, almonds, herbs and orange zest and flesh. Add vinaigrette and toss to combine. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if needed.

Serves 12-15.