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Chicken Soup, Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chicken, red and white Quinoa, and 2008 Don Ernesto Crescendo!
This past weekend saw us under the weather and so we cooked up a lovely and helpful pot of chicken soup, along with our standby dinner of lemon rosemary roasted chicken, some really nice white and red quinoa, along with some fresh green salad. The chicken soup was really great and truly hit the spot. The weather out here in Northern California has been acting really strange and is starting to feel a lot like last year, cold and wet. There are is some solar heat and some sunny days, but a lot more cold days and wet days ahead, is what it feels like.
The chicken soup was what we all needed and because we threw it together last-minute we improvised slightly to make the pot. We added red wine to the soup and we threw in some chicken soup powder. Yeah, it was a shortcut, but in the end chicken is what counts and when it comes to the fowl department, we handled that just fine by throwing in a bunch of winged and neck material, along with most of the recipe’s vegetables.
For a wine we chose a lovely bottle of red wine, yes red wine! I know red wine is sometimes considered a faux pax in many people’s eyes when pairing with chicken soup and roasted chicken, but I liked it just fine. The rich and lemony flavors of the roasted chicken went fine with the medium to full-bodied wine and I really did not drink that much with the chicken soup, as all I wanted then was warm liquid. Once we finished the two rounds of soup we moved on to the dish of lemon rosemary roasted chicken, white and red quinoa, and fresh green salad.
The wine started off so closed it almost tasted flat and hollow. However, with more air the wine opened and showed its true colors. To be honest it takes a real pro to be able to realize the difference between a poor wine, a closed wine, and a dud. Folks who go to wine tastings, wineries, etc. where they pop open a bottle and pour a glass and expect to perceive all that a wine has to give, are fooling themselves. That is why I love wine tastings to pick out the wines I want to try again in a more controlled setting where I can open the bottle and watch it change in the glass. Also, this wine is a blended wine of two or three varietals, of which I do not actually know. It tasted a fair bit like Cabernet Sauvignon but then added in a fair bit of tar, vanilla, and spice, making me wonder if there is some Syrah in there as well. The wine is mevushal and is another very solid hit from the ever consistent winery in Napa Valley.
The wine note follows below:
2008 Hagafen Crescendo Don Ernesto – Score: B++ to A-
The nose on this dark garnet to black colored wine is closed as tight as a tin can to start, but with time the wine shows its special characteristics that bob and weave in the same rhythm as the varietals open and show their stuff. The wine is a blend of two or more red varietals, one that I think is Cabernet and one that felt like Syrah or Petite Verdot, but I could not be for sure. The nose starts with a very Cabernet style, including blackberry, blackcurrant, chocolate, rich oak, black cherry, raspberry, plum, licorice, pencil shavings, and spice. Over time the nose starts to show off more tar and vanilla. The mouth on this wine starts off very closed end the finish is very short and surprising. Once again, this one shows what my dear friend and wine maker – Craig Winchell told me many times, the only fact that a wine cannot lie about is its weight. Everything else can either be sleeping or closed or hiding away until the wine awakes or comes out of hiding. This wine is no different, it starts off very closed with a nice medium to full weight, but with about everything else fully hidden. Over time it opens with a rich and velvety almost plush mouth with tannins that start off closed and open slowly more and more, along with rich oak, blackcurrant, blackberry, black cherry, plum, raspberry, and lovely tannin. With even more time the wine shifts to show tar and more plum. The mid palate is balanced with nice acid, chocolate, tannin, and rich oak. The finish starts off short, but over time it becomes long and rich with rich oak, nice tannin, acid, blackberry, chocolate, tobacco, plum, and a dollop of spice and vanilla. This is quite a lovely wine that needs time to open and one that demands your attention as it evolves and changes in the glass and the day.
Thanksgiving menu and Hagafen Rousanne
This past weekend we enjoyed a classic Thanksgiving menu lineup of: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, Orange Rosemary Turkey, Orange Cranberry Relish, Mushroom and Onion Dressing, Roasted Yam Chips, and a bottle of 2007 Hagafen Rousanne. The dishes worked out great! The soup was lovely, the turkey was mouth-watering perfect, along with the great sides. To wrap up the lineup my wife made a killer pumpkin pie that was baked just enough to form a lovely crust that was crunchy and had a bit of caramelized pumpkin on its edge.
To start the soup recipe is not new – we have done it before and we did it again this year to start out shabbos dinner in style. The Roasted Butternut Squash Soup came out nice, but as usual needed some tweaking from my wife. She threw in some extra savory herb, garlic, and I threw in some rice milk to thin it down when I reheated it because it was too thick.
The turkey is an almost pure pull from the folks at Real Simple magazine, who for the most part must either be folks with way too much time on their hands or be laughing at us, as most of the recipes are NOT real simple at all! Anyway, the turkey recipe was not complicated and the extra herb infused margarine that we tuck under the skin helps to keep the turkey breasts moist throughout the cooking process. What we changed was that we used two turkey breasts instead of a full bird, as we had no guests and that was all we needed for a few meals. Also, we used a thermometer that was plugged into the turkey breast the entire time. Once the temperature in the breast came to 165 degrees, we immediately removed the breasts and tented them to keep them warm.
For the sides we went with a few dishes:
- The first is our favorite cranberry relish recipe. We keep the zest out of the boiling process until the very end so not to scorch the orange zest.
- Simple cubed yams that were covered with oil and herbs and roasted at 350 degrees until they get soft inside and crunchy outside.
- A simple dressing with sautéed mushrooms and onions, bread, herbs, garlic, salt, and broth. The stuff gets mixed and thrown into the oven at 350 degrees for an hour.
To pair all of these wonderful dishes we went with a lovely bottle of 2007 Hagafen Rousanne which turned out to be quite nice indeed. The wine’s bright acidity and toasty oak both work very well with the slight game flavors that the turkey shows and the earthy notes that the mushroom laden dressing has coming out of its pours. The Rousanne is ready now and can probably live another year. However, given its yummy state why not enjoy it and buy the 2008 vintage when you can?
The wine note follows below:
2007 Hagafen Roussanne Ripken Vineyard Napa Valley – Score: B++
The nose on this light gold colored wine starts off with a hit of fresh and almost plump peach, guava, apple, lemon, caramel, rich smoky/toasty oak, hay, vanilla, Crème brûlée, and butterscotch. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine starts off super spicy with bright fruit and toasty oak. The mouth is concentrated showing peach, pear, guava, pineapple, caramel, rich fruit and a ripe mouth with a lovely fullness to it. The mid palate is nicely balanced with core acidity, toasty oak, caramel, butterscotch, hay or green tea, and lemon. The finish is super long, spicy, and bright with toasty oak, summer fruit, lemon drop, butterscotch, and a hint of green tea on the finish. It lingers nicely with lemon drop, butterscotch, and toasty oak. Drink up!
Tunisian Couscous Au Poulet and an assortment of wines
On the evening of November 5th, we finally got around to making my favorite dish, Tunisian Couscous Au Poulet, whose recipe can be found in this post. When I think about couscous it reminds me of family and friends, as my mother used to make it every Friday Night at our house while I was growing up. Her recipe was a bit more authentic, but I believe I am close enough on the Couscous soup and makoud. Where I have totally taken the liberty to change things up was with the meatballs (boulette).
The thing I love about couscous is the assortment of food and options that the guests have to enjoy. The couscous starts with a chicken/meat/fish/vegetable soup, which has a large assortment of cubed vegetables. The chicken or meat of the soup is used in the makoud (potato kugel), and the couscous itself is fluffy and full of the soup flavor, as it is steamed with the soup. Along with all of that, there are cold pepper and carrot salads, and meatballs. All of these options allow the guests to eat at their own pace and enjoy the plethora of flavors that meld so well together. The contrasts that the display themselves on the palate are a product of the wonderful flavors that each dish on the menu shows. The couscous is soft and fluffy and in perfect contrast with the just firm vegetables. The meatballs are hot and a touch spicy which plays well with the couscous and cold salads. The vegetables are warm and infused with the meat or fowl’s flavor, which carries into the couscous and the rest of the plate.
The official meatball recipe is an artery clogging heart popping display of fried food at its greatest. The meatballs are each topped with a fat slice of potato and then fried in oil until golden brown and finished in the oven. Yes the original recipe sounds and tastes great but I am past the oily flavor, so we have been using a more Italian styled recipe with meatballs braised in tomato sauce. I have been playing for many years with the sauce and the texture of the meatballs. I have tried baking and braising the meatballs, and I keep coming back to braising. In the past few years we have pretty much nailed the tomato sauce that the meatballs braise in, but this week we killed on the meatballs as well. We used a combination of beef, turkey, and mounds of shredded raw vegetables. I was concerned that we put in too many vegetables and that the meatballs would be runny and messed up. Instead they were structurally firm but moist in the mouth and to the fork, while not crumbling to easily as well.
Of course if couscous is on the menu close friends cannot be far behind. Our table was filled with some friends who have been absent for too long and some old standbys. Benyamin Cantz was present and brought some lovely old Four Gates Chardonnay, along with other friends who brought a few Cabernet, but we only got around to one of them, that being a 2006 Yarden Cabernet. The wines were served from lightest to boldest, and there were no duds to be found!
Though the dishes do not call for heavy reds, the meatballs and the flavorful broth and makoud easily stood up to the mixture of reds that we served until the last one, which was an all out beast. The meal started with a pair of 1996 Four Gates Chardonnay and was followed by the only partial dud of the evening – the 2007 Hagafen Cabernet Franc Estate Bottled. We last tasted this wine, almost a year ago, at the winery and it was wonderful, full of floral notes, oak, chocolate, and red fruits. We bought two bottles from the winery and though the wine tasted fine, it lacked the fullness, polish, and finish that we remembered from a year ago. I can only guess that the wine is in some dumb period and will once again display its true potential, when it exists it dark cloud period. The third wine of the evening was the much talked about 2008 B.R. Cohn Cabernet Sauvignon, Trestle Glen Estate Vineyard. Mr. Bruce Cohn is the manager for the famous Doobie Brothers, and has been making wine for some 25 or so years. Much has been made of the wine, including a wonderful score of 92 from Daniel Rogov and a lovely write up on the wine and winery as well. For full disclosure, I did not pay for this wine. It was given to me to be tasted and the notes follow below. It was the third rated wine of the evening behind the next two. Those being the 2005 Ella Valley Cabernet Franc and the 2006 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon. The final wine of the evening was the 2005 S’forno Monastrell Dulce, while nice, was clearly showing its age in color and palate.
The 2005 Ella Valley Cabernet Franc was not sold here in the US. I imported it during one of my visits to the Israel. I bought them at the winery, and alas, this was my last bottle. This wine is still expressive and explosive and one that is not on its last legs at all. The 2006 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon is a pure beast, one displaying bright and powerful fruit, oak, and layers that come at you in waves. The B.R. Cohn is a polar opposite, in many ways, of the Yarden and Ella Valley wines. Where the Ella Valley and Yarden wines are explosive and highly expressive, the B.R. Cohn is more of an elegant wine with its own flair of complexity and expression. In no way is that a back handed compliment to the wine, but just a definition of its character and makeup.
The B.R. Cohn Cabernet Sauvignon was made in the Herzog Winery, some 420 miles south of the vineyard. The grapes were trucked down and the wine was pressed, fermented, and aged in the Herzog winery, under the B.R. Cohn label and the supervision of the OU. The thing I find truly fascinating, beyond the fact that Mr. Cohn wanted to make kosher wine, was how he and the winery kept it such a secret until it was released. With more and more connoisseurs looking at wines in the kosher market, it is truly hard to keep a secret. Everyone is looking for the next big or special wine to show off to their friends and family. Notwithstanding, the Herzog and B.R. Cohn wineries did a wonderful job at keeping a lid on this success, and we can only hope for more wines to be coming out of this winery in the future.
On an aside, I also served a bit of the 2009 Terrenal Cabernet Sauvignon from Spain. As discussed in my other posting, this is a wine that is available at Trader Joes and one that is really catching on in the kosher market. Look for more coming soon on Terrenal and the rest of the wines under the Trader Joes white label.
The wine notes follow below in the order they were enjoyed. My thanks again to B.R. Cohn Winery for the opportunity to taste the wine and the Allison at Coats Public Relations who was instrumental in procuring us the bottle of wine we so greatly enjoyed:
2007 Hagafen Cabernet Franc Estate Bottled Napa Valley – Score: B+ to A-
This is Hagafen’s second release of a single varietal Cabernet Franc, the other one being the 1996 vintage. This is the second time we are tasting the wine and it did not show nearly as well. The last time we tasted this wine at the winery, almost a year ago, it was showing quite nicely. This time the wine showed weaker with a more shallow finish and less body overall. We got these bottles from the winery, so I am not sure what could be wrong. We really loved the 1996 vintage, but this one was even better, though it has been around 10 years since we last tasted it.
The nose on this dark garnet to black colored wine showed a bit of floral notes, some crushed herbs, chocolate, along with a bunch of rich and ripe raspberry, black cherry, plum, and sweet oak. The mouth on this medium to full bodied starts off with mouth coating tannins, raspberry, plum, and black cherry. The mid palate is packed with balancing acidity, spicy oak, chocolate, and nice tannins. The finish is medium long and oak with chocolate, vanilla, rich ripe plum, spice, and black fruit.
2009 Terrenal Cabernet Sauvignon Yecla (Spain, Murcia, Yecla) – Score: B+
The nose on this dark garnet to black colored wine is rich with dirt, raspberry, blackberry, crushed herbs, a hint of chocolate, and black cherry. After some time blueberry also makes an appearance, however at that time the wine is starting to degrade. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is heavy with tannin that lends to a nice but crazy mouth feel, along with blackberry, raspberry, and black cherry. The mid palate is bone dry and acidic along with some chocolate and a fair amount of crushed herbs. The finish is long with chocolate, blackberry, black cherry, crushed herbs, and some mineral. After a few hours the tannins soften a bit and turn more mouth coating along with some nice vanilla. However, after a bit more time the wine turns totally tannic and out of balance, so be careful to drink this wine with 3 to 4 hours after opening.
2008 B.R. Cohn Cabernet Sauvignon Kosher Trestle Glen Estate Vineyard – Score: A- to A
The nose on this wine starts off closed and not very enjoyable. After quite a few hours the wine becomes very enjoyable and “elegant”. This is not a sledge hammer wine, not an overly complex or layered wine, rather this is a wine that has enjoyable characteristics. The nose on this purple colored wine starts off closed and muted. Over time it opens to display light notes of sweet oak or cedar, raspberry, black plum, eucalyptus, cranberry, tobacco, chocolate, and a hint of vanilla. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is elegant in its attack, again, not one that relies on shock and awe, rather a wine that attacks with ripe raspberry, plum, cranberry, lovely tannins, and a mouth feel that is luscious and attention grabbing. The mid palate is balanced with acid, tobacco, chocolate, cedar, and eucalyptus. This finish is spicy and long with ripe plum and raspberry, tobacco leaves, dark chocolate, licorice, and vanilla.
2005 Ella Valley Cabernet Franc (Israel, Judean Hills, Ella Valley) – Score: Almost A
The nose on this purple colored wine is hopping with blackberry, cranberry, raspberry, plum, sweet oak, tobacco, chocolate, meaty notes, vanilla, and nice mint. The mouth on this medium bodied wine filled out as it got more air. The mouth on this medium bodied is layered with rich oak, cranberry, blackberry, plum, and tannins that calm down as the wine sits in the glass. The mid palate is balanced with a rich mouth, just enough acidity, and not yet integrated tannins. The finish is long and luxurious with a playful amount of spice, tobacco, chocolate, and vanilla that is joined in by rich fruit. This was the winner of our Cabernet Franc lineup once again – unfortunately I do not have any more. This is a wine that still has another year or two under its belt and another winner for this wonderful winery.
2006 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon (Israel, Galilee, Golan Heights) -Score: Almost A
This wine is not going to sneak up on you – it is more like a combination of a sledge hammer and a two-by-four hitting you right between your eyes. The nose on this massive, complex, and sledge hammer styled wine explodes with super ripe blackberry, raspberry, chocolate, herbs, rich oak, licorice, plum, tobacco, and sweet cedar. The mouth on this massive full bodied wine is now showing softly integrating tannins that give the wine a super lovely mouth feel. Please do not let the lovely mouth feel fool your perception of this wine, it is massive, aggressive, and heavily layered wine with rich ripe blackberry, plum, cassis, and dates. The mid palate is inky black fruit, massive sweet oak, dates, and balancing acid. The finish is super long and spicy, with nice spice, cassis, date, oak, chocolate, tobacco, and still gripping tannins.
2005 S’forno Monastrell Dulce (Spain, Murcia, Yecla) – Score: B+
The nose on this garnet to mahogany colored wine is hopping with spicy oak, fig, dried plum, dates, honey, spice, and fair amount of heat (alcohol). The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is rounded and accentuated with sweetness and alcohol, but balanced with nice spiciness, along with honey, fig, date, and spice. The mouth is coating and round from the tannin, alcohol, and sweetness. The mid palate is balanced with acid, more spice, date, and dried fruit. The finish is long, spicy, and sweet, that is punctuated at the end with more dried fruit, fig, and honey. This is a nice wine that is a bit over the hill, but still showing enough qualities to make it enjoyable.
Lemon & Red Pepper Flakes Roasted Chicken, Red Quinoa, Fresh Salad, and Hagafen Ripken Vineyard Lodi Roussanne
This past week we just wanted to take it easy, so we made the wonderful lemon roasted chicken, whipped together a lovely fresh green salad, and my wife also made Red Quinoa. Red Quinoa, yep that is what I said. A few things:
1) The red version is a bit nuttier than its white sister
2) It cooks up as easily as its white sister
3) It has all the proteins and nutrients of its white sister as well
4) Finally, a mix of white and red in a single dish looks gorgeous, far lovelier than plain red or plain white. Also, since they cook at the same rate they taste as good together as they do apart.
I really love quinoa, plain old quinoa. No need to turn it into haute cuisine, simply cook it as the box states and enjoy as a replacement for mashed potatoes, brown rice, etc. It is a healthy, yummy, and lovely to look at, side dish.
The Jus De Poulet (Chicken juice) is fantastic with the quinoa. The nutty flavor of the quinoa melds perfectly with the bright and acidic lemon flavor in the jus, and the slight hint of heat (from the pepper flakes) wrap up the whole flavor profile. The fresh green salad played nicely with the overall flavor and is a great way to get your daily fill of vegetables while also filling you up with healthy stuff.
When wondering what white wine I wanted to pair with this meal, I really just went the classic arbitrator of most complicated decisions – Eeny meeny miny moe. I fell upon a bottle of 2007 Hagafen Ripken Vineyard Lodi Roussanne, a bottle I have not had in sometime, so I was quite happy. The funny thing about this bottle is that it tasted VERY different from the last time we tasted it, roughly a year ago. Last year it tasted a bit green with tea yet also fresh and lively with tropical fruit. This time, I think I liked it better with far more expressive oak, bright fruit, and no green notes to be found! The wine does seem to change a fair bit in the glass. After opening the bottle the nose has toasty oak, but as the wine opens more that oak turns into notes of fig, vanilla, Crème brûlée, and butterscotch. It may be on its way out, but it sure beats the green tea, which I am not a fan of in a heavy white wine.
The wine note follows below:
2007 Hagafen Ripken Vineyard Lodi Roussanne – Score: B+ to B++
The nose on this light gold colored wine starts off with a hit of fresh and almost plump peach, apricot, melon, zesty lemon, smoky/toasty oak, and crushed herbs. However, after time the nose becomes redolent with much of the same along with fig, vanilla, Crème brûlée, and butterscotch. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine starts off super spicy with bright fruit and toasty oak. The mouth is concentrated showing melon, apricot, and peach. The mid palate is nicely balanced with core acidity, toasty oak, and herbs. The finish is super long, spicy, and bright with toasty oak, summer fruit, and zesty lemon. As the wine opens the mouth’s toasty oak turns into butterscotch and Crème brûlée. The mid palate stays the same, while the finish adds on Crème brûlée, butterscotch, fig, vanilla, and a bit of saltiness at the very end. Funny, last time we tasted this wine, a year ago, the wine had green tea astringency at the end, this time it had a bit of saltiness at the end, but only after it had more air under its wings.
Lemon/Honey/Pepper Roasted Chicken, Rice Pilaf, and 2004 Four Gates Chardonnay
This past week was harried and crazy coming back from New York, where we visited the Gotham Wine Event and a bit of the New York scene. Anyway, my wife was very kind to essentially make shabbos. To start she whipped up a batch of scrumptious roasted chicken, where she places the chicken in a pan and then covers the chicken with a melange of honey, red pepper flakes, lemon, and a few other spices. Along with that she made some delicious spinach kugel, brown basmati rice, and a fresh green salad. To match the food I went looking for a nice chardonnay in the cellar, and came up with a 2004 Four Gates Chardonnay. The wine has been one we have drunk before, but this wine has turned, and should start being drunk up soon. I always kid Benyo that it would be fine to add in a bit of oak to his Chardonnay. Well, maybe not, this bottle was almost a cousin to the 2007 Castel Chardonnay C, that is bright and also burnt on the nose from so much toasted oak. The Four Gates Chardonnay is not as burnt as it is oaky, and is losing its fruit. It seems to me that the oak is now overpowering what fruit is left, and so, if you like an oaky Chardonnay drink up, if not, drink up!!
Also, since I trounced it on Rogov’s forum, it is only fair to give it its due. This shabbos a friend made a lovely kiddush spread for all of the shul to enjoy. Part of that spread was a bottle of Red Label 2005 Hagafen Pinot Noir. On the forum both myself and Daniel did not find it very good at all. My only guess is that it was in a crazy dumb period. Because this morning that same bottle was lovely, with clear notes of oak, strawberry, cherry, plum, and coffee/chocolate. Very nice and very worthwhile. Probably at its peak or maybe a bit on the other side, but not brown or orange in any way. Anyway, as always full disclosure. Also, I had a drop of some 2004 Hagafen Merlot. Very nice, soft, accessible, rich with supple tannins, oak, plum, a hint of cassis, and raspberry. Nice wine, but drink up time.
The wine note follows below:
2004 Four Gates Chardonnay – Score: A-
The nose on this electric light gold to gold colored wine is filled with heavy and luscious toasted oak, starts a bit burnt to start, lemon, melon, peach, toasted almond, and butterscotch. The mouth on this full bodied wine is now overpowered by layers of concentrated spicy and toasted oak, along with butterscotch, melon, and a hint of almonds. The mid palate is packed with more oak, lemon, and bright acidity. The finish is long and spicy, with tasty oak, butterscotch, and lemon. As it sat the wine lost a bit of the burnt toast flavors, and it was awesome, but the next day, it was over. I recommend to all that it is time to drink this wine up, and enjoy it with heavy roasted fowl, light stews, and hard cheese.
Hagafen Winery Visit
The day started out as a lovely and sunny Sunday, the last one of 2009. We took a long and enjoyable last look at massive Clear Lake, which our hotel wrapped around, and headed south on CA-20. As we closed into Lower Lake, we were supposed to continue south on CA-29, but plans are just that – plans! Instead, we took the road less traveled, the Knoxville-Berryessa Road (lovely pictures of the road linked here from a motorcycle rider). It is so called because, it is a road that runs through government-owned land, counted some 5 or so structures from Lower Lake until Berryessa Lake. For some 30 or more miles, at a rate of maybe 35 mph, we saw no one – period. Truly a road less traveled. Finally, and blessedly, right before Lake Berryessa, we came upon a truck, and two folks fishing (actually, I think that was not public knowledge :-), and they told us where we were. I guess this teaches us, that if we do not want a GPS or expensive phone contract (with GPS on it), and instead want to go retro, we should act retro, and carry around a map or two!
Well after a fair amount of driving, we came to the Hagafen Winery, a bit late, at a not so warm time of day. It was some 40 degrees outside, and we went inside to meet Josh Stein, Hagafen Winery’s Brand Manager. I stated the temperature, because Josh started the winery tour outside where every vintage starts – in the vineyard of course! I asked about the way the vines are managed, and Josh quickly replied that the vines have been managed using CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers) rules for many years now, but they are now in the second year of their CCOF certification, and hope to be certified within a year. Of course, as we have spoken about this topic many times, the wine will NOT be organic, but the vineyard will be. There are three full time employees, Ernie Weir, the owner and founder of Hagafen Winery, who is also the manager of the winery. The other two full time employees, manage the winery’s most important other asset, the vineyards. The winery started some 32 years ago, after Weir had made wine, at a custom crush site in Napa, CA, for a couple of years. He decided to start making kosher wine. He started his production with 25 cases and a single SKU. Today, Hagafen makes some 8000 cases of wine, under three labels, and 30 or more SKU. Hagafen started with no vineyards, and then in 1986 they bought the land that the winery sits on presently. The vineyard in those days was planted with Pinot Noir and Chenin Blanc, but it was replanted in 1997 with what stands there today, 12 acres of clone 7 and clone 337 Cabernet Sauvignon, named the Weir Family Vineyard II. The Weir Family Vineyard III came online later with 9 acres, 3 acres of Cabernet Franc, 3 acres of Syrah, and 3 acres of White Riesling. Many of Hagafen’s wines are labeled as Estate Bottled, though they are not actually on their estate at all, as seen here on Hagafen’s vineyard map. They source grapes from vineyards as far south as Fagan Creek, and as far north as Soleil and Moskowite vineyards. So, how are they allowed to use the term “Estate Bottled” on their labels? Well, the rules are a bit more simplistic, though not well known. As described here on the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), the Estate Bottled tag line has three requirements to be added to your label.
- The vineyard must either be owned by the winery or under the winery’s 100% control
- The vineyard to be in the same viticultural area
- The grapes are crushed, fermented, aged, and bottled in the winery or on the winery grounds
Hagafen has continued to expand its own vineyards, while perfecting their relationship and processes with its many vineyard partners. They have long term contracts with the vineyards, and have recently taken control of many of the coveted blocks within the upper echelon of Napa Valley vineyards. Read the rest of this entry
Bean and Rice soup, Roast, Meat Sauce, Roasted Vegetables, Rice Pilaf, and a bunch of wine…
On the weekend of January 8th, we had a Friday night party, with my nephews from Chicago and from around the Bay Area, and Benyamin Cantz. The meal started with a wicked cool soup that we made for the first time and then followed it with a roast, some meat sauce, brown rice, roasted vegetables, and fresh salad. The soup recipe is below, and is from a recipe book – fittingly called – Soup! We laughed about the soup book, because my Sister is the owner of Source Books, and we bantered around about how much time she would have spent on just the picture on the front of the book, which of course is a bowl of soup! After the soup, we made some roasted vegetables (sweet potatoes, beets, rutabagas, parsnip). The vegetables were so good because we roasted them until they released their water and started to crystallize the sugars – which makes them extra yummy! They went along nicely with the roasted shoulder meat, which was braised with peas and carrots, and a bunch of wine – recipe can be found here. The meat sauce was a lot like this one, without trying to make meatballs out of it. They were all paired with a lovely brown rice pilaf and a fresh green salad.
Rice & White Bean Soup Recipe
9 oz of white beans
Olive Oil
Onions
Garlic
Diced Carrots
Diced Zucchini
Diced Red peppers
Cubed Soy Sausage
Thyme
Bay Leaf
Chicken or vegetable stock
Half a cup of brown rice
Place the beans in water over night and then drain and rinse a few times the next day. Sauté the onions and sausage until browned. Add in the garlic, and once browned nicely, throw in the diced zucchini, carrots, and peppers. Wait for the vegetables to give off their liquid and then add in the herbs and vegetable stock. Wait for the soup to boil and throw in the washed and rinsed beans. Lower the heat to simmer and stir the soup every so often until the beans are softening (about an hour). Then throw in the rice, and whatever other seasoning (salt, pepper, etc.) to taste, and wait another 30 or so minutes.
The wine we chose to pair with this food was partly from Four Gates Winery and partly from our cellar. One wine from my cellar was a massive and huge dud, while the other one was OK. Both of the wines from Four Gates (one of which is still unreleased), were quite nice indeed.
The wine notes follow below:
2006 Cantina Gabriele Sangiovese – Score: B+
The nose on this dark ruby colored wine is rich with loamy notes, black cherry is ever evident, some violet, and a bit of plum. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is mouth coating with integrated tannins, plum, and concentrated cherry flavors. The mid palate is balanced with integrated tannins and acid. The finish is long with loamy soil, a hint of floral notes, and a ton of cloying tart cherries at the very end. The tart cherries throw off the finish and ruin the wine, which is a shame, because of the rest of the package.
2006 Hevron Heights Mount Hevron Red – Score: C-
This bottle was either really wrong or it is flawed at birth. The bottle had way too much volatile acidity, which messed up an already not so great wine. The nose on this vibrant garnet – purple colored wine is over the top with Volatile Acidity, cherry, plum, and coffee. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is flush with cranberry, plum, and eucalyptus. The rest of the flavor profile is cherry and coffee and not much more than that because of the VA.
2006 Four Gates Merlot M.S.C. – Score: A
When we last tasted this wine it was a bit redder. Now the wine has turned black (as has its younger brother the 2006 Merlot La Rochelle), and it is a crazy joy to drink and share with your friends and family. The interesting thing is that, while there are some red characteristics to this wine, the black ones clearly stand out. Who knows, it may well go back to its red past, which was still one wonderful wine as well.
The nose on this purple to black colored wine is screaming with rich oak, cassis, blackberry, plum, raspberry, tobacco, chocolate, and licorice. The mouth of this full bodied wine is full of raspberry, cassis, plum, and blackberry. The mouth’s tannins are slowly integrating and creating a lovely mouth coating experience that fills out the already full wine’s body, and the layers of fruit accentuate the palate with nice oak notes. The mid palate is balanced with acid, chocolate, nice tannins, and spicy oak. The finish is long and rich with red fruit, more spicy oak, licorice, and chocolate. The wine is a massive black Merlot that is layered, complex, and screaming with black fruit and extracted flavors.
2006 Four Gates (Yet Undisclosed Name) – Score: A-
The nose on this royal purple to black colored wine is filled with raspberry, plum, floral notes, kirsch cherry, oak, and spice. The mouth on this full bodied wine is hopping with raspberry, plum, and cherry. The mouth comes at you layer after layer on a plush mouth with mouth coating tannins. The mid palate is balanced with acid, integrating tannins, and coffee. The finish is long with red fruit, vanilla, lovely tannins, coffee, and a hint of leather.
Pepper encrusted Roasted Chicken and 2006 Hagafen Pinot Noir Prix Reserve, Fagan Creek, Block 38
On Friday Night, January 1st, 2010 amidst the noise of fire crackers bouncing off our roof top (seriously), bottle rockets firing off left and right, and a few star bursts to boot, we somehow found a way to sneak in some shabbos serenity. My wife made pepper encrusted roasted chicken, a rice pilaf, along with a fresh green salad. It was a nice off week, but absolutely not a quiet one! Our neighbors were firing off so many fire crackers, it sounded like a gun range. Mix into that all the other plethora of fireworks and it is a miracle that we ever got to sleep. However, the craziest part was the sound of fire cracker hitting our roof! Yep, it sounded like a hand grenade hitting a bunker roof in a movie, just crazy and absolutely surreal. I suppose, the dude or dudette who tossed the hand grenade in our direction never imagined it would go that far. Thank goodness there was no fire.
That was not the only madness that revolved around me that week. The wine I tasted that week was bright and powerful and over the top. However, another bottle of the very same wine a few days later was not nearly as good. I had a third chance to taste this wine, a few more days later, and it was still not as good. Man, I have heard of bottle variation, but this was crazy. Still, I will say that in the end, my friends who drank the bottle a few hours after I did thought it was a bit more smooth and drinkable, while others thought it was thin as water. I guess I will chalk it up to an experience. The wines note below is of my Friday Night / fireworks experience.
The wine note follows below:
2006 Hagafen Pinot Noir Prix Reserve, Fagan Creek, Block 38 – Score: A-
The nose on this dark ruby colored wine is smoky, with nice mineral notes, black cherry, rich sweet oak, coffee, and cinnamon. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is spicy, with a rich mouth of dark cherry, raspberry with soft to integrating tannins. The mid palate is acidic, with tannin, sweet oak, and smoke. The finish is smoky and long, with coffee, cherry, integrated tannins, cinnamon, and a dollop of vanilla. The red fruit lingers on your palate long after the wine is gone. The mix of spicy smoky red fruit, nice extraction, and coffee, makes it all fun, but still not a classic Pinot Noir in any way.
Hanukkah Cheese and Wine party with Zinfandel, Viognier, and Bordeaux
This past Hanukkah saw my friends and family gathering around for an evening of cheese, latkes, and wine. The main issue revolves around finding kosher cheese. There are many issues that revolve around cheese for observant Jews, as listed in the link. For some time we observant Jews were left with things like Muenster cheese and American cheese – AHHH!! I am so glad to say that we now have real cheese my kosher friends! For our party we used cheese from many manufacturers. The first one hails from the state of Oregon – Tillamook Medium Cheddar Cheese. It is a nice cheddar cheese that does not taste like water. The second cheese we had was a lovely and simple Brie from the company called Les Petites Fermieres. The brie was nice and simple and not very complex or stinky, but interesting enough. The interesting part was that we had a chunk of the brie lying around in the refrigerator after the party and man did the brie turn into a nice, soft, stinky, and nutty flavored brie! So if you want the brie to get real interesting – all you need to do is unwrap the package, and leave it lying around in your fridge for a couple of weeks, and man will it turn into what I am used to when I think of brie. The third cheese we had was a simple but fun Les Petites Fermieres Monterey Jack. The Monterey Jack tastes creamy with a mild flavor, and matches well with soft wines. The rest of the cheeses we had on the table were a nice Blue Cheese and a couple of goat cheeses. I was not a huge fan of the Blue Cheese as it wrecked my palate and the goat cheeses were OK, but a bit too mild, to say the least.
For latkes we punted and served potato pancakes from Trader Joe. They were pretty good and that is all one can ask. Finally, we went with many wines – five to be exact. Three disappeared quickly, the Bordeaux was awesome a few hours after the party, and the Italian Zinfandel (Primitivo di Manduria) was quite nice as well, after it finished opening up and smoothing out later that night.
So many thanks for all the folks who came by and the wine notes can be found below:
2007 Château Haut Philippon – Score: B+
The nose on this garnet colored wine is a rich and enveloping nose of loamy soil, cherry, raspberry, cassis, and fig. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is a nice soft wine with an enveloping mouth that is not complex in any way, but after many hours of air, the wine fills out nicely. The tannins are soft but are ever present, along with cassis, and raspberry that mingle nicely. The mid palate is balanced with core acidity and integrating tannins. The finish is long with more cassis and raspberry, rich loamy soil, and soft tannins that linger long on your palate after the wine is gone. The wine fills out with nice mouth coating tannins. This is a nice wine for the price and nice as well because it is Mevushal!
2004 Borgo Reale Primitivo di Manduria – Score: B++
The nose on this light garnet to garnet colored wine is hopping with cherry, cola, raspberry, plum, pepper, mineral, and bramble/earth/dirt. The mouth on this medium bodied wine has integrated tannins, sweet core, ripe fruit, cherry, raspberry, and plum. The mid palate is balanced with core acidity, earth and dirt, along with cola. The finish is a long earthy/dirty finish with red fruit, dirt, and nice intense pepper. A nice Zinfandel wine, that works well. It is not a wine that will fill out, drink up and enjoy.
2005 Hagafen Zinfandel – Score: A-
This wine is now close to its peak and it is opening nicely now, it was the clear winner of the evening. The nose on this purple to black colored wine is black with ripe fruit, blackberry, plum, mounds of chocolate, spice, sweet oak, and vanilla. The mouth on this full bodied wine fills out with mouth coating tannins that are integrating, but still present. The wine shows a rich, black, and full mouth with blackberry, nice tannins, and semi-sweet oak with raisins. The mid palate shows more integrated tannins vanilla, rich and sweet oak, and balanced acidity. The finish is long and supports the wine’s full mouth with more rich oak, vanilla, and bright acid that carries the rich and ripe black fruit, acting like a bow around this lovely package.
2005 Herzog Zinfandel Special Reserve – Score: A-
OK, as an honest human I must admit I hated this wine a year ago! WOW, what a difference a year makes. Man, this wine needs a ton of air, but the wine cleans up really nicely with oxygen. The nose on this light garnet to garnet colored wine has a huge and rich nose that starts with rich oak, ripe Napa fruit, chocolate, plum, raspberry, fig, intense spice, and pepper. The mouth on this full bodied wine is rich and extracted, classic ripe red berry along with rich mouth coating sweet oak tannins that are now well integrated. The mouth softens with air and becomes rich and enveloping, nice. The mid palate is soft with ever present tannins that are going to stay for a couple of years, more sweet oak, and balancing acidity. The finish is super rich and long with sweet oak, ripe fruit layered on top a few shakes of pepper, along with chocolate that is balanced by nice tannins, and more rich ripe fruit. Get a bottle within the next few months and open it and taste it, and then leave it open for a couple of hours and come back and finish it with a table of friends!
2007 Goose Bay Viognier – Score: A-
The nose of this light yet bright straw colored wine was filled with classic Viognier perfume, grapefruit, apricot and citrus aromas. The mouth of this medium bodied wine is strikingly fruity while also being infused with the perfume quality. The mid palate is strongly acidic and laced with grapefruit, lemon, and green flavors. The finish is acidic in an almost puckering way. I must say, that a nice perfumed nose and mouth while still dry, is great with heavy foods like roasted duck or turkey. But because it is so dry, it fails to stand up to spicy foods. Personally, this wine felt a bit lighter than it did before, and maybe it is coming up against the wall. So, if you have a few bottles lying around, drink one now and check out where it is for you.
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