Tag: Food

First came fire, then rain. As if recent devastating wildfires hadn’t caused enough suffering for the beleaguered Malibu Coast wine region, an unexpected severe storm dumped an estimated 2 inches of rain on Southern California yesterday. Mud and debris flowed down from the fire-scorched Malibu hills onto the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) during the morning commute, forcing officials to close the road until late afternoon.

(The storm also dumped several inches of snow on a stretch of Interstate 5, California’s main north-south thoroughfare, that passes through the Santa Monica Mountains, forcing its closure too).

An already massive and complicated cleanup of the hills between Highway 101 and the Malibu coast that was devastated by the Woolsey fire is now even more complicated. Not only are vintners and growers in the appellation dealing with the loss of homes, vineyards and habitat due to fire, but now they’ve got to think about rain, flooding and mudslides as California’s rainy season begins. (Fires increase the risk of mudslides by stripping the hills of vegetation that holds the soil in place.)

The Malibu Coast American Viticultural Area (AVA), established in 2014, encompasses some 50 vineyards totaling approximately 200 acres spread out over 44,598 acres. None of the producers have winemaking facilities on site, due to local restrictions. Wines from Malibu grapes are generally produced in facilities in the Central Coast area. They are all small-production wines, sold mostly to high-end local restaurants in L.A. and consumers in the local tasting rooms or wine clubs.

The recent Woolsey fire devastated the area and hit many of the vineyards and wineries hard. Although the extent of damages and losses may not be fully known for many months, some vintners have lost everything: homes, vineyards and tasting rooms.

Dakota Semler, owner of Semler Malibu Estates and Saddlerock Vineyards, lost his house and vineyards and narrowly managed to save the exotic animals that were a part of Malibu Wine Safaris, his company that runs open-air vehicle “safaris” through his hillside vineyards.

Others’ homes were spared, but still face damaged vineyards. Howard Leight, owner of Malibu Rocky Oaks Estate Vineyards, said, “Our vineyards and estate were originally planted for erosion and fire control, so I took everything and threw it into the house, which was like a fortress—covered French limestone. The vines actually took the brunt of the hit.”

In the days following the fires, locals and celebrities, many of whom had lost their own homes, banded together to form the Malibu Foundation to aid those who needed help the most. Gathering at the home of actor Gerard Butler and partner Morgan Brown, the celebs managed to raise $2 million to aid victims of the fire. Jamie Foxx, Sean Penn, Cindy Crawford, Rande Gerber, Pierce Brosnan, Minnie Driver and Robin Thicke, along with Butler and Brown, were among those on hand. Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth (who lost their home in the fire) donated $500,000 to the cause. The Malibu Foundation’s website continues to accept donations for victims.

What’s next for Malibu’s vintners and growers? There will be a need for vine cuttings to replace damaged or destroyed vines. And more immediately, growers will need to prepare for the effects of rain. “There will be a very high potential for debris flow for the next three or four years,” said Chris Stone, assistant deputy director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. “But we can identify where they will likely go. That helps us to plan, evacuate and be prepared.”

With the rains falling hard today, rebuilding will have to wait for now.

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The Bay Area is joining the NBA’s wine league with a splash. The Golden State Warriors are partnering with Silver Oak, and the Napa and Sonoma Cabernet house announced it will be providing the team’s official in-seat pours at Oracle Arena and releasing an etched set of five Warriors-themed Cabernet bottles.

Platinum–ranked Silver Oak first came to Golden State in 2015 through All-Star Draymond Green. The power forward and Michigan State alum made a wager against LeBron James over a college football game: Green’s alma mater versus James’ home team Ohio State. Because James is the dean of NBA enophiles who drains Cabernet like he does three-pointers (enthusiastically but in moderation), he set the terms at two cases of wine. The Spartans won, and Green found 2 cases of Silver Oak Napa Cabernet in the mail.

“The [bet] really kicked this off. We saw this incredible energy and very authentic interest, and a lot of new customers discovering us through that initial introduction,” explained Silver Oak director of marketing Ian Leggat to Unfiltered. Soon after, Silver Oak partnered with the San Francisco Giants and discovered sports and wine fandom made for a natural pairing, with “people being kind of ritualistic in their sports routines, where they have certain traditions in terms of what they want to eat and drink.” (After the introduction at Oracle, the plan is for Silver Oak to follow the Warriors to the new Chase Center, where the Warriors will relocate next season.)

The winery also created a collector set for superfans of the Silver and Golden, a 5-bottle pack of 2014 Alexander Valley Cabernets, each etched with the Warriors’ five historical logos over the past half-century, to open “for five winning Warrior moments”—individual player records, going to the playoffs, winning the championship, winning the championship again ….

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‘Three Days of Glory’ Film Follows Five Months of Misery in Burgundy’s Brutal 2016 Vintage

When frost smashed Burgundy vineyards on April 27, 2016, ultimately causing some winemakers to lose more than 80 percent of their crop, director and producer Scott Wright and his crew were in the middle of shooting a documentary—about the struggles of grapegrowing. “The idea was to show the stories of these small family winegrowers and the difficulties they were facing after all these difficult vintages [since 2009],” Wright told Unfiltered. “Then suddenly on top of this comes this crushing 2016 vintage. It just amplified the story we had already intended to tell, and it created a lot more drama then we had anticipated.”

The resulting film, codirected by Wright (himself an Oregon winemaker) and American Wine Story director David Baker is Three Days of Glory, which debuted last month for American audiences on streaming platforms like iTunes and Amazon.

The severity of the 2016 vintage and the tiny crop it yielded might have caught the filmmakers by surprise, but the goal of telling the story of the small family wineries, remained intact and became perhaps even more urgent. “People probably think these winemakers are rich, and they have this very sexy, glamorous life, and that’s not necessarily the case,” Wright said. “They live wonderful lives, but at the end of the day, these are farmers out working in the dirt with their own hands.” Still, even in the face of 2016’s grind, vintners, merchants, chefs, critics and connoisseurs of Burgundy gathered to bid the harvest adieu with an epic annual fête—the titular Les Trois Glorieuses.

After the headaches of 2016 subsided and filming wrapped, good news was on the horizon, with auspicious seasons for many in 2017 and 2018, Wright added. The vignerons “now have the ability to start digging themselves out of the hole that they were in.”

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Take Note: ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Star Ezra Miller’s Champagne Pen

Ezra Miller is certainly not the first celebrity to accessorize with wine, but his intellectual-chic ensemble at a recent Dior fashion show in Tokyo made a splash nonetheless.

Stepping in front of the paparazzi, Miller—known for his roles in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them series and as the Flash in DC Comics’ superhero movie universe, among others—took on a studious persona on the red carpet, wielding a clipboard and taking notes with Unfiltered’s new favorite writing tool: a handsome silver pen that doubles as a stem for the flute of sparkling wine that rested atop it. No word on what the bubbly was, or who made the fantastic contraption that contained it, but there is one thing that those who follow the happenings in wine-style might speculate about this fashion choice: Rihanna would approve.

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In South Korea’s Konjiam Resort, La Grotta delivers a wine-centric experience inspired by vineyard dining. Named for the Italian term for “the cave,” La Grotta is located in an actual wine cave, carved into the side of a mountain to create natural temperature control. The space protects an inventory of 30,000 bottles supplying the 800-selection, Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence–winning wine list. Overseen by wine director Hyo Keun Lee, the program is strongest in Bordeaux, with numerous vintages from the region’s top producers such as Château Mouton-Rothschild, Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Latour.

There are also exceptional labels from Italy, California and Burgundy. Selections are presented on an iPad for regularly updated inventory and vintage information, and to make the list easier to read in the dimly lit atmosphere. Elements like the soft lighting, arched ceilings and warm color palette are meant to evoke the feeling of dining in a Napa Valley winery. Yet the cuisine is distinct, blending Italian tradition with seasonal ingredients and Korean flair. Chef Jong Hun Ahn’s menu consists of signature entrées and pastas like spaghetti in an olive oil sauce with mackerel and basil. Except during a few months in winter, the herbs and vegetables are sourced from the on-site organic garden.

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After the stress of 2017, Sonoma winemakers hoped for a more relaxed harvest this year, and Mother Nature gave it to them. Last year brought scorching temperatures that triggered picking on Labor Day weekend. And that was before the wine-country wildfires began. But 2018 brought moderate temperatures and a long growing season, leading to relaxed picking and promising wines.

Welcome to Wine Spectator’s 2018 Wine Harvest Report, our coverage of Northern Hemisphere wine regions. (Our Southern Hemisphere 2018 harvest reports were published earlier this year.) While we won’t know how good a vintage is until we taste the finished wines, these reports offer firsthand accounts from top winemakers in leading regions.

A cool start

Despite a warm February, the 2018 growing season started off cooler than the past few vintages. Stonestreet winemaker Lisa Valtenbergs reported a two-week cold snap in Alexander Valley, with frost fans blowing for two weeks straight. “We even witnessed some snow in our higher elevation vineyards,” she said.

A cool spring meant bloom lasted longer than usual, but fruit set was consistent. “There were a couple small weather events during set, but most Russian River and Sonoma Coast sites were not affected, and fruit set was very good in almost every vineyard site,” said winemaker Jeff Stewart of Hartford wines.

Summer temperatures were moderate with fewer heat spikes than in recent years. Veraison started later as well. “A cooling [period] in late July put the brakes on and meant that we avoided the late summer heat spikes that drove an early and compressed harvest in the two previous vintages,” said La Crema winemaker Craig McAllister.

Pick when ready

As a result, harvest started two to three weeks later than in recent years, but some winemakers said it was historically more typical. “Harvest stared ‘later’ but really back to ‘normal’ compared to the previous four years,” said Valtenbergs. “It was the first Labor Day holiday our team enjoyed in the past six years or so.”

“The 2018 vintage required patience from growers and vintners alike, given that the development and flavor maturation took extra time,” said Nicole Hitchcock of J Vineyards & Winery. “Wet weather in early October was followed by dry spells and moderate heat, rewarding those patient enough to sit tight.”

For Paul Hobbs, 2018 was “the most benign growing season in over 40 years,” he said. It started with near-perfect fruit set in the spring, which led to large grape clusters that translated into a large potential crop, leading him to reduce the fruit ripening on the vine to enhance quality.

“I was forced to convert several per-ton to per-acre contracts mid-growing season to coerce growers to perform the intensive thinning work needed—up to four full thinning passes,” said Hobbs, adding that two passes is typical. “This long growing season, largely a function of fine weather—a full two weeks longer than average—is always a highly desirable thing. We are already seeing the benefits in the cellar with fully mature, sweet tannins, outstanding color and brightness, depth of fruit, naturally beautifully balanced wines.” He called 2018 an exceptional vintage.

Potential for greatness

Vintner David Ramey, based in Healdsburg, concurred with Hobbs’ characterization of the harvest as one of the smoothest on record. “Honestly, [it was] the easiest harvest ever,” he said. “Never had to force a picking decision to stay ahead of rain or a hot spell—just beautiful, from start to finish.”

“[2018] has a lot of potential for greatness,” said Jason Kesner, the winemaker at Kistler Vineyards in Sebastopol. “I was very pleased with all of the fruit and the resultant juices. In general, the weather being as mild as it was allowed for a relatively relaxed pace of things and excellent development of flavors and retention of great natural acidity across the wines. In most instances, we were waiting almost solely on pH [a marker of acidity] to shift to make our picking call. That applies to both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.”

Yields varied, depending on site, variety and clone, but overall appeared to be average or slightly higher. “Across the board, Pinot Noir yields tended to be up, with crops reminiscent in size of 2012 and 2013,” said McAllister. He reported that Chardonnay yields were also higher, but varied more based on site and clones.

Winemakers report that the long growing season means that wines are showing structure and concentration without being overripe. “The Chardonnays really stand out to me,” said Valtenbergs. “Harvesting with cool mornings compared to the heat waves of 2017 was a pleasure and far less stressful. The quality of the clusters, the juice and the natural acidity are going to produce some stunning wines.”

“At this point the 2018s seem to have good backbone, acidity and balance,” said Stewart. “Chardonnay in the Russian River has good fruit intensity, with Chardonnay on the Sonoma Coast having more acid drive and finesse. Pinot and Zinfandel are both fruit-driven, but with very good sense of place and complexity showing from all our vineyard sites.”

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