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AN EXCITING YEAR!
Sauteed Radishes RecipeActive time: 20 min Start to finish: 20 min Ingredients: Directions: Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté radish wedges with salt, stirring, until crisp-tender, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a platter and keep warm, loosely covered. Sauté garlic in remaining tablespoon butter in skillet over moderately high heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add greens and sauté, stirring, until wilted, about 1 minute. Return radish wedges to skillet and stir in chives. Makes 4 servings. Serve with a glass of David Noyes Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir. Radish And Goat Cheese CanapésCategory: Goat Cheese Serves/Makes: 10 | | Ready In: < 30 minutes Ingredients: Directions: Pulse the chopped tops with the goat cheese in a small food processor until nearly smooth. Thinly slice the radishes. Slice the baguette thin and lightly toast. Spread 2 to 3 teaspoons of the goat cheese mixture on each slice. Top each slice with 3 or 4 radish slices and (sprinkle with coarse salt.)*** Serve on a platter lined with remaining radish tops. I do not use the salt as it causes liquid on radish slices. Ann Serve with a glass of chilled David Noyes Tocai Friulano Interesting times...In the vineyard Grapes from Freestone promise to make for an interesting wine, uneven ripeness at harvest is almost guaranteed, given the variation in development between the unfrosted and replacement shoots. Most winemakers prefer uniform ripeness at harvest; when all the fruit reaches maturity at more or less the same time the wine can achieve an intensity of fruit character much sought after. (Imagine a single violin compared to the whole section playing the same note.) That said, we can make excellent pinot with fruit at as low as 22.5 percent sugar or 26 percent sugar, and a blend of these wines can be very interesting as well. The lighter crop could also make for great concentration, so...all is not lost and it's early yet! After the frosts, some record heat, a mixed blessing, which helped the vines grow through some of the frost effects, but when the temperatures hit the high 90's probably caused some flowers to abort and fall off, or as the growers say 'shatter'. Weather! And then it rained! Due to the dry ground and breezes after the rain, the wet probably did more good than harm, but the cool weather post rain almost certainly reduced fruitfulness in those vineyards still in flower. Weather below 70º slows flower development, and if the flower doesn't develop sufficiently for the pollen to fertilize the pistil after a certain amount of time, the vine redirects its energy to its shoots and leaves, leaving either no berry or tiny 'shot' berries. The upside for all the reduced fruitfulness is, of course, smaller crops but more flavor concentration. Small fruit means a higher ratio of skin to juice, and since all the color and much of the tannin in grapes are in the skin, more skin to juice makes for more concentrated wine, which most winemakers prefer. On the road Our wine also found some happy pairings at the Red Grape in Sonoma during our recent 'Pinot and Pizza on the Patio' event. Chardonnay with a primavera vegetable pizza, Puccini Zinfandel with wild mushrooms, the Dutton Ranch Pinot with duck breast and the Crane Pinot with a delightful strawberry garnished salad, all were big hits... More pairings... Recipes...stay tuned...we hope to have a couple recipes from our very successful Red Grape event as well as an original sautéed radish dish out shortly... All the best and do try our new releases! Spring, frost, flowers and umamiFirst-A big thank you to all who just joined our David Noyes Wines Fan Club! Remember you automatically get a 20% discount for any additional orders placed through our website, (or by phone, mail, carrier pigeon, etc!) For those of you who haven't joined yet our introductory offer of 30% on your first shipment, of 2005 Dutton Ranch and 2006 Crane Vineyard pinot noir still holds. Spring is here and the vines are pushing. Every where I drive I see green buds and in the warmer areas young shoots reaching for light and air. Now is a good time for winemakers to learn more about a new vineyard-vines in warmer, dryer soils push more quickly, a sign that they may run low on water in a dry year, or mature more quickly than vines in cooler wetter sites. Some apparently uniform vineyard blocks show their variability at this time-always useful to the winemaker, and not so apparent later in the year. Low lying areas are at risk of frost-this is a great time not to be a vineyardist-unless you like alarms at 3 AM that mean a visit to the field to monitor a falling temperature with the possibility of firing up the pumps and sprinklers! Electric motors, water and freezing temperatures in the wee hours-not my idea of fun! But the young shoots are tender and although the vine will survive their loss, those buds are the fruitful ones and the crop could be lost. Why water? Freezing water releases heat, the sprinkled water freezes around the shoot and, as long the water keeps falling and freezing, it keeps the shoot alive, just above zero degrees. Leave the sprinklers on long enough into the day for all the ice to melt and vines are protected. Spring also means our Crane Pinot Release Party and iris viewing, (iris viewing?), well the Cranes have a field of iris near their Melon Barn, and any excuse for a party will do! Join us April 26th, 2-6 PM at the barn for fun, food, wine and more. For more info visit our events page: http://www.davidnoyeswines.com/events.html Melon Barn? Yes the Cranes grow the eponymous Crane Melon, developed by Oliver Crane during the 1920's to suit the soils and climate of the family property, which soils and climate also suit high quality pinot noir production! The vineyard site, in line with the 'Bloomfield Gap' that carries cool air in from Bodega, and the dense clay soils produce vines of low to moderate vigor that bear small clusters of tiny, concentrated berries. The 2006 vintage yielded only 1.6 tons, 0.8 tons/acre from the original 2002 planting. We bottled two barrels, (only 40 cases), for this inaugural release. Concentrated and deeply colored, the 2006 Crane Vineyard Pinot Noir exhibits characteristic aromas and flavors of black raspberry with a touch of pepper spice supported by an abundance of sweet vanilla oak. Not subtle, but rich and deep, this wine should continue to develop for at least a decade. In the markets I'm enjoying the fresh asparagus and new strawberries-now, strawberries go well with pinot, (and chocolate!) but asparagus? I recently read an article about Tim Hanni, who in addition to some practical, but unorthodox ways of grouping wines, also recommends lemon juice and salt as a way of making this notorious vegetable wine friendly. In fact Tim markets a sauce that he avows will make any food wine friendly-think umami...for more info: A note on spring would not be complete without a paean to the wildflowers gracing our hills and fields, beautiful, delicate and evanescent... Spring evening stillness From the vineyard to the table, thoughts at the end of winter...I love this time of year. We're reaching the end of the dormant season and there's a delicious feeling of suspended time, open possibilities. It's a little like the moments in bed just before the alarm is to ring. Once the shoots emerge, there's no denying the onward rush of the season. In the vineyard, work continues as growers finish pruning, repair trellising, replace stakes and, in the dryer soils begin to cultivate the soil and chop the prunings. In the cellar our wine in barrel proceeds on its slow path of development. We taste often; this is a time to really get to know the wines, their subtle differences, which barrels we prefer, the relative speed of development, and the secrets they continue to reveal. I am getting close to confirming some final blends and sometimes encountering delightful surprises, as I prepare trials for tasting. There's an old Spanish proverb something to effect of how sweet it is to do nothing, then rest from one's labors...not that we've been doing nothing, but we do find time to enjoy life, and one of the best ways is in the kitchen and at the table. Our local farmers continue to supply us with outstanding winter root vegetables, beets are a favorite of mine, boiled then marinated in balsamic vinegar with mixed white, red and black pepper. Winter, too, is a great time for roasting and braising. I like to braise pork tenderloin with carrots and onions in a little chicken stock, white wine, (Tocai perhaps?), or Madera with a dash of fish sauce added at the end. Match with beet and avocado salad, on a bed of arugala, and pair with Pinot! I eagerly await green garlic's arrival from my garden. Here's a great pairing for chardonnay. (I'm drinking our next wine club release, the 2006 Russian River Valley, Morelli Lane Chardonnay-rich and bright with aromas of citrus and apple against a backdrop of butterscotch and vanilla)...Squid quickly sautéed in garlic oil with lemon peel, green garlic, white pepper, dinosaur kale; to finish add 1/4 cup of caroenum, (red wine concentrated to 1/2 its volume, young zin works well), and a touch of honey to sweeten. For greater contrast use a bitter rue, and more honey! Enjoy! Interview with Barbara Brady of the Sonoma Yoga CommunityBelow is a recent interview with Barbara Brady of the Sonoma Yoga Community-I manage to compare winemaking to yoga…see what you think! For more information about the Yoga Community, please visit: http://www.yogacommunity.net The Yoga Community-Gita  David Noyes Q & A with Dave Noyes Local winemaker and Yoga Community student Dave Noyes recently took a few minutes out of his busy schedule (and cell phone!) and pulled up a chair next to our own pourer--that would be our copper fountain--to discuss yoga, wine-making, and the intersection of both passions. BB: When was your first yoga experience? DN: Five or six years ago, at Yoga Company (now Yoga Community). I got out of that first class, and I had not felt that good in years. I was blown away. The stretching, the opening up, walking more freely, feeling better in my body. That got me hooked. BB: You have your own wine-making business. How is wine making like yoga? DN: You're dealing with the natural world-your body or nature. You have to do as much listening as pushing, or directing. You have to listen to what works. In wine making, every year is different, because of the weather, the grapes grow a little differently. I have an idea of the kind of wine I want to make, but I can only make what's inherent for that year. Also, I'm making wine not for myself, but for my customers, so I have to intuit what people want. There's a dynamic communication. Communication with nature. BB: I'll quote you, from your web site (on starting a business)"Hard work, self-discipline and acceptance of uncertainty seem to be the lessons I signed up for." That's yoga, David! Do you think that informs your life as well? DN: Yeah, you know, we spend the first half of our lives creating the life that works the way we want it, we're in charge of everything. And then, for me, the second half of life seems to be opening up to not knowing what's going to happen, to being responsive to the immediate moment. For me now, when I know exactly what's going to happen any given day, it gets really boring. It's being open to the unexpected. When you're really open to the moment, then there's everything in it. BB: That's yoga! What is your favorite pose? DN: Trikonasana, triangle. BB: Least favorite? DN: Lotus, pigeon-things I can't even do. But some of the ones I like least are the ones I get the most from. BB: Favorite wine? DN: Pinot noir. That's what I make, but what I love about wine is the diversity. Wines that have a unique character. BB: You've got a great web site. The way you write about the wine creating process, one can tell it is a labor of love for you. Isn't that Yoga as well, that passion? More than being able to go into Lotus pose? DN: Wine has so many aspects. You can look at it as an agricultural commodity, but you can also look at it as pure style. People choose to like certain wines, or not, it's very subjective. You can dance with that in almost any way you want. You have to have a sense of the style, and the craft, to create what you want to create, how you present it is really important, talking about it is fun! BB: Your enthusiasm on the web site, in your presence is so huge. That is one of the biggest goals of yoga! I think you're enlightened, you're there, Dave. DN: I'm not there all the time! It's an on-going process of discovery. When I'm working for myself, there's no where to hide. Yoga's the same thing. You put into it what you want to get out of it. If you're not enjoying it, it's not about the teacher or the class, it's about how you're responding to it. It's a lesson about taking responsibility. BB: What do your family and friends think about your coming to yoga classes? DN: My experience is, when you're enthusiastic about something, other people become enthusiastic about whatever they doing. I don't need to go into that thing, My practice is better than your practice. So, I'd don't really talk about it. BB: What's the best thing you've learned from yoga? DN: I really love the postures, opening up the body. But I also like the constant invitation to just be in the moment. The going about your day finding alignment in the body, being aware of your breath. I do sitting meditation from time to time. Anything that reinforces being aware of the interior as well the exterior is really good. The body is a good invitation to be aware of the interior, because it has sensations (chuckling). Often we don't pay attention to the body until it hurts. But to be aware of the sensation in the body and the ebb and flow of energy, helps keep me balanced. BB: What do you enjoy about Yoga Community? DN: The environment-I like coming here, it's a good community. BB: Thank you, Dave. DN: My pleasure. New vineyardsAlmost immediately after separating from Kunde, I began the enjoyable task of locating and negotiating for more pinot noir grapes, as well as for old vine zinfandel and some small lots of chardonnay and sangiovese. I love exploring new vineyards and meeting growers. Our business is rooted in the earth, in specific sites, and derives from the commitment of growers dedicated to their land—often over many generations. One can love and appreciate wine simply for itself, but I like knowing the land as well as the vines and people who produce the fruit. I sourced two new Green Valley/Russian River Valley pinot vineyards, owned by the Gunsalus and Benedetti families, both farmed, at least in part, by the Duttons. The Gunsalus vineyard, located just off Graton road, benefits from a Western exposure, light soils and two very dedicated growers. The lighter soils and Western exposure contribute to early ripening and perhaps to the delightful blackberry and black pepper aroma that characterizes this year’s wine. The Benedetti vineyard, in contrast, and despite a generally South by West exposure and equally light soils was one of the last vineyards to harvest in 2006, as it overlooks the ‘Bloomfield Gap’ a channel of lower elevations that runs directly from Bodega Bay South of Sebastopol, Santa Rosa and lines up with Bennett Valley. This channel funnels cool air and fog from the coast through to South of Santa Rosa and into Bennett Valley, slowing ripening for several of our vineyards located along its route. The wine from Benedetti demonstrates both red cherry flavors and slightly harder tannins than the Gunsalus’; both are delicious and will probably make up the basis for a new bottling of ours, to release sometime in 2008. Old vine zinfandelThose of you who’ve known me for a while know that I’ve carried on a love affair with old vine zin for almost as long as I’ve been making wine, (over 30 years now!). The most widely planted red variety prior to Prohibition, zinfandel vineyards make up by far the most numerous of our truly old California vineyards. As a wine zinfandel speaks to the history of viticulture in California and represents our unique contribution to world wine-growing. Not least, it makes a delicious, full-flavored wine, enjoyable for both its youthful exuberance, and, in some instances, its capability for great complexity with age. This year I sourced zinfandel grapes from one 100-year old, tiny, Sonoma Valley Vineyard and several vineyards from the renowned Dry Creek Valley. The Dry Creek vineyards range from 10 to 100 years in age and represent sites up and down the valley, from valley floor to benchland. I expect to produce two wines, both of which benefit from a mix of varietals. I love the taste of undiluted zinfandel, but, in my opinion, the most striking zinfandel wines (and I tasted a lot during my years at Ridge Vineyards) include small or significant amounts of other varietals. The Puccini vineyard, located on the Western slopes of Sonoma Valley, adjoining Annandel State Park, looks across the valley to Sugarloaf State Park. Just ¾ of a acre, planted in 1906, this beautiful example of pre-Prohibition viticulture includes, in addition to zinfandel, about 5% of sauvignon vert, carignane, petite sirah and even tokay vines. The petite sirah adds color, carignane a cinnamon spice and the white grapes may help stabilize color, (surprisingly), and contribute floral aromatics to the nose. I'm not sure of the value of the tokays, but suspect they simply make for good eating at harvest time! Dry Creek probably produces more high quality zinfandel wine per acres of grapes farmed than any other region in California. Due to soil and climate, zinfandel grown in this area naturally achieves the best balance of color, body, acidity and tannin that the varietal is capable of. That said, differences within the valley, from valley floor to benchland and the addition of old vine carignane and petite sirah all contribute to the winemaker's palate and to the make-up of a great zinfandel wine. I look forward to presenting my first wine from the Dry Creek region in 2008. To Cork or Not to Cork...a tale of several closures...natural cork, synthetic, screwcap and Diam...I like corks, I enjoy the romance: Cork oaks grow in Portugal; the cork makers strip the living bark from the tree every 9 years, but wine cork grade bark requires at least 50 years of growth. (The first harvest at 40 years is too rough and irregular to use for wine closures.) The bark then ages a season, the producer then grades and sorts the raw corks once, twice or many more times before they reach their final destination. Acres of forest and thousands of people owe their life and livelihoods to this industry. I enjoy the ritual involved to remove the cork; a slight bit of skill, a specialized tool, (and I love collections of cork pullers...), a reminder that gratification delayed is gratification enhanced, an enforced pause that engenders respect for the time in bottle, a nod to times past, a moment's anticipation for the pleasure to come. Most wine closures perform well; they keep the wine in the bottle, open easily with little effort, prevent the atmosphere from oxidizing the wine, and contribute little or no flavor to the wine. However at least 1-2% of all wine bottled with natural cork develops off-aromas due to TCA-tri-chloroanisole or 'cork taint'-a musty smell that some people liken to the smell of old newspapers stored in a damp garage. Synthetic corks serve admirably for wine drunk less than a year after bottling, but will allow a wine to oxidize and may render a wine undrinkable after 2-3 years. Screwcaps work; dependable, uniformly non-permeable to air, and free of taint, but they lack romance. In 2005 I began to bottle my entire production with a natural-synthetic hybrid cork, trade name: Diam. Diam's producers start with natural cork. They grind the cork, sort it by size and remove the harder, less resilient outer bark. They then process the 'pure' cork with very cold carbon-dioxide at very high pressure. This removes all traces of TCA and, as an added benefit, all other woody and 'punky' aromas than can also taint wine. (Coffee producers use the same process to remove caffeine from de-caffeinated coffee.) Once bound with a food-grade resin and shaped to the proper size these closures will seal as well as the best natural cork, but carry no risk of the TCA taint. I cannot abide the musty taint that comes from TCA. At lower levels it reduces the aromatic richness of the wine, but at high levels it simply destroys the flavor. Natural corks also vary in density and porosity, this variation allows for differences from bottle to bottle in aging and oxidation. Over a short time, 1-2 years, the differences for most wine are negligible, but after 5 to 10 years the range and experience of the same wine from different bottles may run from extraordinary to disappointing. I am delighted to be able to offer a solution that preserves both the romance and the quality of my product. More about TCA, or Tri-choloroanisoleTCA forms when mold encounters chlorine. Some think the mold converts chlorine to TCA to render it harmless; free chlorine is a very reactive and toxic compound. TCA does not pose any health risks, it simply smells bad, but it smells bad at very low levels; most people can detect a difference between a spiked and control sample at 2 parts per trillion, (1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000 = 1ppt.) At 6-7 ppt most people can identify TCA as a musty smell. Chlorine occurs naturally, and is used in many household and industrial processes. In addition many herbicides used to include chlorinated bi-phenyl products; these herbicides were used around some of the cork trees in Portugal. Mold, also, occurs naturally. Mold plus chlorine equals TCA. Ways to reduce the naturally occurring TCA include avoiding cork bark from the bottom 6-7 inches of the tree. The sorting process that Diam uses to remove the outer bark also eliminates much of the naturally occurring TCA. Eliminating chlorine and the chlorinated bi-phenyls from the herbicides has also helped. In addition the industry has tightened quality control procedures, cleaned up its factories and improved the techniques used in boiling the raw cork. It's not new-references to cork taint date back at least 100 years, but why does it present such a challenge now? Two reasons come to mind: Paying more for wine causes consumers to hold producers to a higher standard, but also today's winemaking techniques produce more aromatic, more complex, more fruit-driven wines than those of the past; a little TCA becomes more noticeable and more detrimental to current wines. Higher standards, and more complex, aromatic and fruit driven wines require a clean closure. Screw-caps work admirably, although they can slow the aging process, and they lack romance. Currently the best solution I see is the Diam closure. |