Harvest and Tasting at Failla in Napa

After a lovely family dinner celebration of my grandmothers 75th birthday I had the opportunity to leave the peninsula and head north for Napa. In the short amount of time I spent there (18 waking hours or so) I got to help usher in the grapes for a wine that was considered by Wine and Spirits magazine #1 in the world in a prior vintage, taste said wine, as well as several other spectacular releases, and enjoy what might be the most magical bottle of wine I've every come across, in the company of a good friend. Hence, this article (and the following one) will be devoted to my one day/night stand with the Napa Valley and the subsequent realization of why everyone likes that place so much.

Through a fortunate series of events (thanks Maureen!) I was put in contact with the Failla winery and promptly given the opportunity to help with the delivery/sorting of what I would later find out was the 2009 Phoenix Ranch Syrah. Failla is the personal label of Turley and Neyers winemaker Ehren Jordan. As if that wasn't privelge enough, I was even more excited to find out that Jordan trained under famed Northern Rhone winemaker Jean Luc Colombo and focused on traditional style Burgundy and Northern Rhone style wines. After all, a good deal of my senior thesis was devoted to breaking down these regions (a copy of which you can find here). Anyway, myself and the rest of the harvest crew unloaded, sorted, and transferred the 8 tons of syrah into open top fermenters on the glorified driveway where the operations go down.

The wines themselves are pretty special. If your looking for varietal representation and terroir Failla is worth checking out. I tasted their entire line of current releases: a chardonnay, viognier, 5 pinot's and the aforementioned syrah. The 2007 Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir, 2006 Peay Pinot Noir and 2006 Estate Syrah.

My thoughts on the current releases:

07 Keefer Ranch: This was the most decidedly new world of the reds. If you haven't yet heard 2007 is being considered the best Pinot Noir vintage California has ever seen. This pinot did not upset. Big fruit, plenty of earth and lots of complexity however a little time will do this one good.

06 Peay: My favorite of the pinot line. The peay just screams Nuit-Saint-Georges - delicate and nuanced with pretty red fruit and floral character and a faint carrot/beet earthiness that makes this wine the epitome of elegance. If you like to get nerdy about Pinot as I do, this is definitely a wine to seek out.

06 Syrah: After helping with the 09 vintage I was excited to give the touted 06 a try. Without a doubt this has become my favorite California syrah, period. Northern Rhone all the way, Dark fruit, Leather, Tobacco, Black Olives, Pepper with huge body and solid aging potential. Super delicious.

Failla is a cool place. Low key, not pretentious, serious winemaking for serious wine drinkers. I highly recommend checking it out.

www.faillawines.com

...Must-Go Italian and Red Burgundy

After an exuberant feast of homemade wood-fired oven pizza last saturday night, the abundance of leftover toppings found their way into my fridge.  Healthy portions of fresh ricotta, sicilian sundried tomatoes, and brown beech mushrooms inspired me to whip up some rustic Italian fare.  So, I tracked down some fresh fettuccine from a local italian deli and got to work.  

Its probably a good idea that I make note of that fact that while I never open a cookbook, much of my inspiration comes from the Food Network and similar programming (Iron Chef America mostly).  Thats not to say I copy recipes, I don't, but I pay close attention to the choice of ingredients and cooking methods of the best chefs in the world and try to incorporate those into my dishes in order to achieve excellent balance and flavor.  

So here is my "recipe" for:

Fettuccine con Funghi (if thats how you say it in italian?  ...I speak spanish):

Ingredients:

Fresh Fettuccine

Bacon or Pancetta

Brown Beech Mushrooms

Garlic 

Sundried Tomatoes (moderate salt/spiciness preferred)

Fresh Ricotta Cheese

Fresh Basil

Lemon (zest)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Pepper

Salt (to taste although I did not use any)

Instructions:

Cook bacon in large sautée pan to render as much fat as desired

Remove bacon and discard or enjoy by itself

Add olive oil to pan and bring to medium high heat

Add mushrooms, finely chopped garlic, and roughly chopped sundried tomatoes to pan and season with fresh ground pepper

Sautée mushroom, garlic, tomato mixture in pan at med-high heat for 5-6min

Have fettuccine cooked al dente (fresh should only take 45

sec - 1 min) strained and ready to join other ingredients in pan

Add fettuccine to pan and mix evenly with sautéed ingredients, continue over heat for 1 min

Serve into desired dishes and top with a few

 pinches of fresh ricotta, roughly chopped basil and a very light dusting of lemon zest, e voila!

If the right amount of ingredients are used this dish should taste rich and earthy but equally fresh and light due to the ricotta, basil and lemo

n zest.  The amount of each ingredient should be based upon taste desired.  More savory ingredients can be used for a more wintery feel or omit the bacon and add salt or parmesano reggiano to an olive oil base for a more summery dish.  Enjoy.

Wine Selection:

For this dish I chose an aggressively priced côte-de-nuits red - the 2006 Régis Bouvier Marsannay Les Longierres Rouge.  For those not in the know, Marsannay is the northern most town of the côte-de-nuits, the northern most viticultural area of Burgundy aside from Chablis.  This wine, made exclusively from Pinot Noir, as all red Burgundies are (except forBeaujolais), exhibited character bestowed by the colder northern climate.  The nice acidity and freshness of this wine paired well with the fresh, earthy pasta dish.

Review:  Fresh and fruity, the nose shows some dried cranberry, pomegranate coupled with hints of white pepper, chives and earth and rounded by a kiss of smokey oak and duck fat.  Light and thin on the palate the '06 tastes of red fruit, sour strawberry, cherry and cranberry.  A hollow mid-palate that gives way to a less than impressive finish makes this an unmemorable although rather drinkable wine and a questionable purchase even at the reduced price of $13.95.  82pts. 

Pairing:  While this wine selection was quite acceptable with the pasta dish as it is made in a food friendly style, there are likely many wines $15 and under made in a similar style that would give you better value.  Look for lighter reds with nice fruit and plenty of acidity - this dish isn't char-broiled steak so powerful bordeaux varietals aren't going to work.

Recommended:  Chianti (or old world style Sangiovese), Barbera di Asti, Pinot Noir, Carignan and similar blends (... from Languedoc-Rousillon for good values)

- I encourage you to experiment with your own variation of this simple to make dish and pair a wine to your taste. -

Bon Appetit.