It’s 5 am the morning of Labor Day.  Why am I up at this insane hour?  To pick grapes!  A friend has a backyard vineyard, and their Chardonnay is ready to go.

Along with about 15 other people, we are the picking crew.  The vineyard is in the Santa Cruz Mountains, it’s steep, but the views from it are worth getting up early for!  We don gloves and take a pair of clippers, then grab a picking box and go.  You have to really balance not to topple over while picking.  The grapes are juicy and sweet, with a nice amount of acid.  The picking crew fills up about 9 bins in about an hour.  We all gather for a great breakfast al fresco.  Then it’s back home for a nap!

Quivira grows produce for several local restaurants.  There’s also a chicken coop, beehives, and pigs.  Plus there is a creek, Wine Creek, that runs through the property.  Quivira has been committed to restoring the habitat for steelhead trout for years. 

 The wines are delicious and quite interesting.  Have you ever heard of using acacia wood barrels?  Or how about co-fermenting Grenache and Zin or Grenache and Petite Sirah?  This is what you’ll find at Quivira.  This is the first release of these 2 wines and they are floral and elegant and earthy too.  A richness of textures and flavors.  They also produce a crisp Sauvignon Blanc and a beautiful Mourvedre Viognier rose.  The winemaker, Steven Canter likes to experiement and I have to say, I like the results.  His newest case study is cofermenting Syrah and Grenache.  I look forward to tasting that!

The wines were paired with fabulous dishes from Christopher Greenwald, who runs Bay Laurel Culinary.

Quivira Vineyards

The lineup had six base wines in it:  stainless-steel fermented Chardonnays; a Chard with no malolactic fermentation and a Chard with ML; a stainless steel fermented Pinot Noir and a barrel fermented Pinot. All bases wines are single vineyard designate.

You don’t want to drink these wines!  They are very acidic — really sour.  You think the enamel on your teeth is being eaten away.  What you can taste is the fruit, green apple and citrus.  The ML Chard and Pinot are definitely richer and creamier.  Each of the wine contributes a desired characteristic to the final blend. 

Winemaker Keith Hock says they start with over 200 base wines, and after tasting through them all narrow it down to around 40-50 base wines to be considered for the blend.  

I have to say this really showed how winemaking is an art.  To be able to taste these young wines and find “the bones” that will make a great bubbly is impressive.

We also tasted finished sparklers.  We tried the J. Schram 2001 before bottling and after bottling.  The before bottling was tart but fuller on the palate while the bottled versiion was lively and full of citrus.  Interesting how the wine changes over time, and with the addition of the dosage.  Then we tried the 1997 and 1992 bottles.  The ’97 still has lots of berries and brioche and vanilla.  The ’92 has some tropical notes along with caramel.  What’s not to like?

The ’09 J. Schram won’t be out until 2016, because it will also spend 6-7 years of bottle aging on the yeast.  I’ll mark my calendar to buy a bottle and see if I can remember how the base wines tasted.

Last night I opened a bottle of Bonny Doon Vineyard 1985 Muscat Canelli (California).  Got this bottle from my friend Maurice.  He had a case of the wine stored under his stairs, and just rediscovered it while cleaning the space out.   He generously gave us a few bottles.  You could already tell without opening the bottle that the wine had deepened in color.  The cork broke coming out of the bottle, but it didn’t disintegrate, so that was a good sign.  I strained the wine as I poured…for cork and sediment.  The bottle had been standing upright for a good amount of time.  The liquid is amber or caramel.  It has a rich nose, a little bit oxidized.  Tasting it, I find nuttiness and caramel and vanilla.  Hardly any fruit left.  Very strong, almost brandy or cognac like.  Has a very nice mouthfeel, but it is too rich to drink much of (couldn’t finish the glass in the pix).  What a treat, thank you Maurice!

Even the labels are top notch — great design, raised fonts.

I have a bottle of Primitivo at home – also $14.99 at Trader Joe’s, that’s from the Puglia region in Italy.  Laker Cake also makes an Argentine Malbec and Napa Valley Cab.  This is a more democratic group of wines – affordable and approachable.

Now don’t get me wrong, there’s lots to like about RN74. First and foremost, it’s a great space. Industrial yet an air of an old-world French wine country restaurant. Love the train/airline schedule boards, and the prices even flip every so often for effect.

The wine list is awfully nice, but the per glass prices are steep. Good bets are the Parr Selections, from wine director Rajat Parr, like the Purisma Mtn, Santa Ynez Valley Syrah that I had ($14). The earthiness paired well with my tagliatelle with chanterelle mushrooms, cavalo nero and pancetta ($18). I was totally happy, but my dining companions had less luck, especially considering the prices. A starter of winter squash soup with juniper oil ($11) was velvety and satsifying. But a slow roasted pork sandwich ($14) was a big cold mound of meat and not that appetizing. A little better, the open face sandwich of beef brisket with caramelized onions ($19). The pommes frites were billed as horseradish fries but I couldn’t find that flavor at all. Points for presentation of all dishes. But especially for the money, I think I’ll just go for the wine from now on.