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Christmas in Santa Fe

by Laura Ness - HerVineNessDecember 28, 2011

Around 25 years ago, my husband and I were flying somewhere for some trade show and I happened upon a copy of New Mexico magazine. On the cover was a dazzling photograph of an old mission church covered with snow, and it took my breath away. The article regaled the beauty of the high desert in winter and extolled the pleasures of Christmas in Santa Fe. We knew we had to see it for ourselves.
A couple of years later, we flew to The City Different, as the Santa Feans refer to their adobe city, on Christmas Day. Little did we know the rules that govern dispensing of alcohol on Christmas in a Catholic city. Very few places were open, and we had not made dinner reservations (really dumb) – every place was booked. Many were taking waiting list reservations, with a non-refundable credit card fee of $60. No bars were open. Forget it. We needed a drink, but more than that, we needed dinner. We felt a bit like Mary and Joseph on La Posada, looking not for shelter, but for food.
Finally, we found (this in the days before iPhones and smartphones of any kind) that the Hotel Santa Fe, [...]

Ho! Ho! Ho! Pinots Worth Stuffing Into Stockings

by Laura Ness - HerVineNessDecember 26, 2011

Is there anything finer to slip into a stocking (as long as it is not hung by a roaring fire) than pinot noir? Ah, that pleasure-giving, elusive charmer that is always welcome at any table, especially if it hails from one of the most lauded appellations in America. How about some Highlands for the Holidays? It’s perfect for the present occasion, as there’s a Santa built right in! Here are some holiday-worthy SLH pinots worth stocking up on.
Testarossa’s 2010 Santa Lucia Highlands pinot offering is one of those charming newbies that reminds you of Michael Jackson in the Jackson 5: it’s precocious, yet incredibly potent, with plenty of up-front fruit, ripe raspberry, Kahlua and tomato-basil sauce cooked with caraway sausage. Its young and brooding enough to also remind you of James Dean, with many hints of even more interesting nuances to come. It probably won’t last long in your cellar, though, as it’s amazingly easy to consume for a young ‘un. It’ll be ever so lovely with little French lambie chops and mint-apple-balsamic reduction, or pork chops stuffed with cornbread-cranberry-mint and rosemary. This is a very nubile wine for its inherent youth
A slightly more mature offering is the just [...]

Sleepy Hollow Pinots A Great Mate for Mushrooms

by Laura Ness - HerVineNessDecember 4, 2011

It’s hard to go wrong pairing Pinots with mushrooms, especially the complex kind of Pinot that is filled with earthy aromas and often a touch of mushroom, fern and damp redwood forest. Such are the Pinots from a hallowed piece of ground in the Santa Lucia Highlands, The Sleepy Hollow Vineyard.
Owned by the Talbott family since 1981, this rather large expanse of vines is responsible for some of the most famous Pinot and Chardonnay in all of winedom. It was planted in 1972, making it one of the original anchors in this now world-famous Pinot growing region, and consequently offers some of the most mature and intense Martini clone fruit, giving these wines an innate structure and depth of flavor, rich with velvet robes of raspberry, currant and forest floor.
When La Rochelle winemaker Tom Stutz told proprietor Steven Mirassou about this vineyard from which he had been making wine since 1982, he warned, “You know those beautifully manicured vineyards you’re used to buying fruit from? Well, it’s not that kind of vineyard.” Steven was indeed shocked by the rather out of control looking vines, freely waving their arms in the winds that race down at them from the ocean to [...]

Flying High: Wine Tasting in a Hangar

by Laura Ness - HerVineNessNovember 19, 2011

“Best of the Blue “Showcases Monterey’s Increasingly Diverse & Deep Wine Region
About 1,400 happy, wine-glass-toting, non-protesting citizens occupied the Del Monte Aviation Center last Saturday with the intent to eat and drink everything possible, from Church Brothers spring mix salads to cactus pear puree with lemonade from D’Arrigo Brothers.
And they had their work cut out for them. At “Best of the Blue,” the assortment of wines was divine and the food choices as abundant as the land in which we are blessed to live. Each entry ticket offered the chance to sample from an assortment of purveyors including Babaloo Cuban, Gypsy Pizza, Lugano’s Swiss Bistro, Me and the Hound Memphis BBQ (loved the spicy pulled pork coleslaw!! Great with the 2008 Talbott Sleepy Hollow Pinot) and Treatbot Karaoke Ice Cream. Other food vendors included Butterfly Brittle, Dr. Kracker, Monterey Chocolate Co., Paris Bakery (loved the mini baguettes!), San Tasti, Joseph Gallo Farms (mooore cheese than you can shake a milk can at), Vertigo Coffee, Marich Confectionery, Williams-Sonoma, Emi’s Biscotteria, Cabot Creamery, ECO-DELI and Maha’s Authentic Lebanese Cuisine.
Food trucks beckoned with delectables for purchase, and the Salinas Valley’s [...]

Merlot Finally Falls Off the Podium

by Laura Ness - HerVineNessNovember 13, 2011

It was Bound to Happen…
After years of sitting on the seesaw with cabernet, going up and down with the glee of an industry tycoon, merlot has finally relinquished its long-held #3 slot on the worldwide wine sales charts. Can you guess what varietal finally did it in? Not another red, that I can assure you. If you guessed pinot grigio, Ding! Ding! you are correct, and for that, you get a lifetime supply of whatever pg labeled swill happens to be available at your local grocery store. Well-made pinot grigio, the stuff with varietal character –like new mown hay, springtime flowers, hints of almonds, dry and crisp – is hard to find in California. Most of the mass-produced stuff tastes like some unidentifiable cocktail of leftovers to me. But, hey, I hope you’ve found a producer and a style you like, because with its increased popularity, it’s just going to be more in demand, and the prices will head northward.
For my money, Guglielmo Winery (Morgan Hill, Santa Clara AVA) has one of the best pinot grigio’s around: it’s true to form, dry and refreshing. Of course, they’re sold out and their 2011 crop was way down. A perfect storm is [...]

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