Sparkling wine paired with jamón and other charcuterie takes me back to tapas bar-hopping in Barcelona. Grab a taste of this and bite of that and wash it all down with a glass of Cava! In the fall, I had the chance to participate in a virtual tasting that allowed me to relive those delicious memories without the plane fare. In this case, the bubbles and the jamón both have Spanish roots but were produced here in California. The tasting featured sparkling wines from Artesa winery, which is owned by one of Spain’s oldest Cava-producing families, paired with charcuterie from Encina Farms, which is raising one of Spain’s most celebrated breeds of pigs in California. 

Note: The wines and charcuterie in this post were provided as media samples for participation in the webinar. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

Artesa Vineyards and Winery

Image borrowed from Artesa Vineyards and Winery.

Raventós Codorníu is the oldest winemaking family in Spain, with roots dating back to 1551. They’re best known for their Cava, but they have projects all around Spain and several around the world.  In 1991, they brought their 17 generations of winemaking expertise to California and opened Codorníu Napa to produce sparkling wine. The project evolved to include still wines and became Artesa in 1998, taking its name from the Catalan word for “handcrafted.”

The Artesa Estate Vineyard encompasses 150-acres over steep vineyards straddling Los Carneros and Mount Veeder AVAs, with a variety of soils and slopes. Thanks to the proximity to San Pablo Bay, the vineyards generally experience cool, maritime climate conditions. This climate is perfect for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which take the lion’s share of the plantings (about 80 acres), although there are a few other grapes planted as well. The vineyards are farmed sustainably and certified under Napa Green and Fish Friendly Farming.

The winemaking team is led by Ana Diogo-Draper, Director of Winemaking. They harvest and ferment the different lots separately, then blend them together when composing the final blend. Ana favors low intervention methods in the cellar, including wild fermentations. She and her team are constantly experimenting with the blends and methods in order to be constantly evolving to make better wine with each vintage. 

We’ll get to the wines tasted in just a minute. 

Encina Farms

If you’ve been to Spain or are a fan of their cured meats, then you probably know about their famous Iberico pics. Encina Farms is raising them here in California. The key to the best Iberico ham is their diet of acorns, or “bellotas,” which gives the meat its rich flavor and texture. California has plenty of oak trees that produce the acorns, and they saw an opportunity. Moreover, the trees inspired the name of the company –– Encina means Oak Tree in Spanish.

They now have 650+ acres in the Coyote Valley near Middletown, including over 100 acres of certified organic pastures and over 550 acres of oak forests, on which they raise Iberico pigs exclusively – they’re the first producer to do so. They farm sustainably, using regenerative practices with no hormones or antibiotics while mixing in traditional Spanish methods. As is traditional, the pigs are finished on a diet of acorns, which they forage themselves from the oak trees, to ensure the flavor.

You can find large cuts via their website, smaller quantities via Good Eggs, and you’ll also find them at farmer’s markets in the Bay Area, as well as at Artesa. 

The Tasting

The tasting featured a lineup of three sparkling wines paired with a selection of three cured meats.

Grand Reserve Brut Barrica NV with Castro y Gonzalez Jamón

Blend: 75% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay | ABV: 11.5% |  Price: $65 

Winemaking: 100% of this lot was fermented in 10-year-old Chardonnay barrels, all French oak. The wine rested en tirage for 3 years. Additional details here.

BTS Notes: According to Ana, the goal here was to make a wine that’s rich but with lots of acidity. 

Tasting Notes: Fresh lemon and flowers, a little smoke on the nose, which increases as the wine warms. Yellow cherries, brioche (more as it warms), a touch of stone, salt, and cream. There were some oxidative elements as well that added a bit of nuttiness. 

Pairing Notes: The jamón had buttery and nutty touches. The wine brought out even more silky texture from the jamón. It cleanses the palate and played off the saltiness of the jamón beautifully. The jamón in turn brought out extra nutty notes from the wine. 

Grand Reserve Brut 2015 with Chorizo

Blend: 51% Chardonnay, 49% Pinot Noir | ABV: 11.5% |  Price: $50

Winemaking: 80% of the blend was fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks, while 20% of the wine was fermented in and racked to neutral French oak barrels for aging. The portion in barrels underwent malolactic fermentation, while the portion in stainless steel did not. The wine rested en tirage for four years before disgorging.

Additional details here.

BTS Notes: The grapes for this wine were grown during a drought year, which yielded really concentrated grape. The wine definitely reflects the vintage and site.

Tasting Notes: Toasty brioche, smoke, crisp gold apples, lemon, a touch of cinnamon, and nutty almond notes on the nose. It’s toasty on the palate, with marzipan and smoke, and a stony minerality comes in on the finish.

Pairing Notes: The chorizo had a delicious smoky flavor from the pimentón (smoked paprika) and pepper used in the recipe. The flavor of the chorizo actually elongates the flavors of the wine and smooths it out, but then the pimentón flavor pops again on the finish. The richness of the wine and chorizo matched really nicely, and the combo brought out the smoke and toasty notes in the wine. 

La Jefa Brut Late Disgorged 2013 with Salchichón

Blend: 52% Pinot Noir, 48% Chardonnay | ABV: 11.5% |  Price: $100

Winemaking: The primary fermentation was completed in a combination of stainless steel (60%) and neutral barrels (40%), for added layers of complexity to the base wine. In April 2014, the wine was placed in bottles along with a proprietary tirage to induce secondary fermentation. The

wine rested en tirage for 7 years and was disgorged in early 2021. Additional details here.

BTS Notes:  Ana noted that this was from her first vintage at Artesa, so it can’t help but be one of her favorites. This vintage also yielded very tiny, concentrated grapes. In the winemaking, she wanted to maintain a tension in the wine that would hold through the long aging process. 

Tasting Notes: Sweet smoked apples and cherries with a squeeze of lemon on the nose along with a bit of toast. On the palate, there was a mix of savory herbal notes along with sweet white peach, but with a crisp, minerally finish with a hint of salinity and a touch of pepper. 

Pairing Notes: The salchichón had lots of peppery and smoky notes. It somehow managed to bring out the fruitier side of the wine, and the peppery notes in the salchichón really popped. The salinity in both the food and the wine really spoke to each other. 

This tasting was such a treat. It was so interesting to see how the charcuterie brought out such different aspects of the wine – but that is exactly the fun of wine pairing! Greg and I both love charcuterie, so when the tasting was over, I added some cheese, bread, salad, and additional goodies to make it a meal. In this batch, I particularly loved the chorizo and the salchichón – they were both incredibly flavorful and had a wonderful, rich, meaty texture

The timing of the tasting couldn’t have been more perfect as well, since it happened to fall the night before our anniversary (of when we got together), so it was a lovely prelude celebration. The next evening, we enjoyed the rest of the bottle La Jefa to toast the actual day, before enjoying our dinner of duck and Barbaresco – I think the wine would’ve also worked beautifully with the main course. Truly, all three of these bubblies had the richness to stand up to weightier food like this, but that is particularly true of La Jefa.

We enjoyed one more night of bubbles the next night as we finished the Grand Reserve Brut with a creamy white bean pasta with butternut squash, chicken, and parmesan. 

By coincidence, not long before we had enjoyed the Artesa Block 92 Estate Vineyard Chardonnay 2018 with lobster bisque topped with lobster chunks. The wine showed a similar balance of richness and vibrancy as the sparkling wines. That too was a fantastic pairing, and I’m sure the bubblies would have made a great as well, but perhaps in particular Grand Reserve Brut Barrica. 

Hopefully, I’m leaving you with a few ideas for Valentine’s Day, since it’s just around the corner . . . 

Back in May of 2018, I had the chance to visit Gamble Family Wines in Oakville, Napa Valley. My friend Laura accompanied me, and we had the chance to tour the winery and chat with Tom Gamble about his winery, the history of Napa Valley, and the role his family has played in the unfolding of that history. My friend Laura accompanied me on the visit, which then turned into two, because we were so engrossed in the conversation and their story. 


The Gamble family has been involved in agriculture in Napa since 1916, first in cattle ranching and farming other crops. Tom Gamble shifted his focus to commercial grape-growing, purchasing his first vineyards with partners in 1981 at the age of 20. He grew and sold grapes for twenty years after that point. Over this time he also increased his vineyard holdings. Then in 2005, he finally established Gamble Family Vineyards and began building his winery a few years later in 2012. The land which it’s built includes an ancestral farmhouse, barns, and water tower, which Tom and his wife, Colette, are devoted to maintaining. Incidentally, Colette’s family has also been in the valley since the 1870’s.

Tome with his dog Koa

During our visit and conversation, we got a sense of his sincere respect for the land and desire to care for it to the best of his abilities. He farms sustainably and conscientiously, and his winery and vineyards are certified Napa Green and certified by Fish Friendly Farming. I got the sense that he’s always looking for ways to improve his practices at all levels from methods of farming, to ways of reusing and prolonging the life of barrels, and ways of reducing energy usage across all aspects of the operation.



An activist spirit runs through the family. Tom’s mom, Mary Ann McGuire, had a big role to play in the way the valley developed. Mary Ann was a key participant in establishing the Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve, an ordinance that protects vineyards from commercial development and ensures that the land is used strictly for agricultural purposes. We’ll dive further into this in an upcoming post soon, but Laura and I had the chance to speak with her at length and were really inspired by her story. 




After our visit, Tom sent us home with a few bottles of his wine.  Later in the fall, I hosted a Friendsgiving dinner for a few friends during which we opened the wines and enjoyed them with a potluck dinner. I made a Lamb Roast with Roasted Sweet Peppers and my friends all brought various sides.

Crostini with kale and goat cheese as an app.

Caprese Salad

Squash with cheese, hazelnuts, and pomegranate syrup

Turnips braised in apple cider vinegar.

Mushrooms suatéed with onions and sesame.

Roasted potatoes

Lemon tart for dessert

The lamb dish was inspired by a recipe in Perfect Pairings by another son-mother duo, Evan Goldstein and Joyce Goldstein. Evan Goldstein is a Master Sommelier and his mother, Joyce, is a noted chef and cookbook author. Perfect Pairings is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to better understand food and wine pairings. The book walks you through different grape varieties, their different expressions, and recommendations for how to pair them along with suggested pairings. This book focuses on relatively familiar grape varieties, while the follow-up, Daring Pairings, moves beyond these to explore lesser-known grape varieties. I highly recommend both books. 


Perfect Pairings recommends a recipe for Spanish Lamb Ragout with Roasted Sweet Peppers as a match for rich, fruit-forward, New World-style Cabernet Sauvignons. I decided to give it a try alongside several of Gamble’s wines. Rather than cutting up the meat in advance and cooking it in batches, as is called for in the recipe, I decided to adapt the recipe for a roast preparation. I thought this worked out really well and the dish did pair well with all of the Cabernets.

Good times with friends.

My friend, Laura, and partner in crimefor these tastings.

Some time has passed since this dinner. Things got busy, as they tend to do, and then 2019 in general just flew by and got away from me. I’m now writing this as the COVID-19 is sweeping through our country, and I’m thankful for memories like this of times spent with friends. At present we’re in the midst of social distancing and under a shelter in place order in the Bay Area, but I will look forward to hosting gatherings like these once again on the other side of this pandemic. In the meantime, let’s be grateful for the wonderful people in our lives and find new ways to connect as we wait out this difficult period. For example, friends and I have been having online happy hours. We can still enjoy a glass of wine together, even while apart. For those at home with loved ones, let’s make the most of this time by coming together at the table with those that are near us. Some of these wines are also on the pricier side, but I say now is the time to open those baller bottles. If not now, when?!

Stay well friends!

THE WINES

Winemaking details are taken from the tech sheets. 

Sauvignon Blanc Gamble Vineyard Yountville 2017

There were notes of fresh lime, kiwi, green apple and green melon, along with a light grassy, herbal note. A nice streak of minerality ran throughout, with a touch of cream on the mid-palate. Overall, it was an elegant Sauv Blanc with an attractive, aromatic nose and a crisp finish.

Winemaking: 13% new French and Hungarian oak. The wine was cellared 76% in barrel on the lees for six months, with the remaining 24% in stainless steel on the lees for six months.
Alcohol: 13.1%
Avg Price: $25

Pairings: Not surprisingly, this wine went very well with our Caprese salad. It also paired with our squash dish topped with hazelnuts and pomegranate seeds, which was not expected. It was excellent with turnips that had been braised in apple cider vinegar. The winery also recommends this “with crispy fish tacos or a fresh, green summer salad.”

Paramount Napa Valley 2014

A Bordeaux blend with notes of smoke and chocolate-dipped cherries on the nose, along with plum and raspberries, and hints of herbs and violets. Notes of black pepper, green peppercorn, cedar, cigar, and vanilla joining the mix. It was elegant on the palate, but still rich and velvety, with dusty tannins on the finish.

Winemaking: 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Cabernet Franc, 28% Merlot, and 8% Petit Verdot. After gently destemming and cold soaking, each variety is fermented, pressed and transferred to French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation. A 20-month aging process follows, and ultimately, the separate lots become one, as Paramount is blended and bottled. 46% new French oak.
Alcohol: 14.2%
Avg price: $87

Family Home Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville 2014  

Velvety, red fruits showed on the nose, along with notes of cedar, tobacco, dried herbs, lavender, and a light hit on menthol. A mix of fruits notes joined on the palate, including notes of currants, red berries, cherries, and plums, along with savory notes of cigar box, olives, and a hint of iron.  It was well-structured with dusty tannins and a full body.

Winemaking:  As the name suggests, Family Home rests on the land where Tom Gamble spent his childhood.  It’s a rocky volcanic plot perched on a knoll top in Oakville, with free-draining soils. The vineyard is divided between north-west and south-east facing slopes. This wine spends 20 months in barrel, but I could not find the additional oak percentage details.  
Avg price: $119
 

Both the Paramount and the Family Home paired well with the lamb, but Paramount was more ready to drink now, while Family Home could use more time in the cellar.

We definitely celebrated Merlot month around here.

A couple of weeks ago I shared Exploring California in 5 Merlots. These Merlots were from different areas of California and all were pretty reasonably priced. However, I received quite a few more media samples for participation in #MerlotMe month than I was able to cover in one post, so the party continues, and I’m sharing these today, JUST under the wire for International Merlot Day. (That’s right, Merlot also has a day.)

In this post, we’ll be looking at 5 more Merlots, but this time I’ll be looking at a batch for when you want to kick things up a notch. We all have moments when we feel like something a little more spendy, whether it’s for a special occasion or just because. Sometimes you’ve just gotta “treat yo self!”

Merlot is a great option in times like these because you’ll typically get extra bang for the buck at any price point. Today’s wines are all from Napa, a region that generally pricey. It’s known for Cab, which can be even pricier. The Merlot-based wines can deliver just as much pleasure for comparably less money, regardless of the price bracket you're working in.

Napa doesn’t need much of an intro. It’s definitely California’s most famous winemaking region. That said, the AVA’s in the area are very diverse. Napa Valley was created by geological events that have occurred over the last 150-million years, and as a result there’s a crazy array of soils. So where appropriate, we’ll take the opportunity to get to know some of these individual areas a little bit.

Map borrowed from Wine Folly.

Winemaking and vineyard details are taken from the tech sheets and/or websites.

Long Meadow Ranch Napa Valley Merlot 2015 with Mushroom and Butternut Squash Risotto 

SRP: $37 (Sample). Not a crazy splurge, so it’s perfect for when you’re just feeling a touch extra.
Blend: 95% Merlot, 2.4% Cabernet Sauvignon. 1.8% Petite Sirah, 0.8% Petite Verdot.
Alcohol: 13.5%

Winery: The winery has a long history dating back to the late 1800’s. Today it’s owned by Ted, Laddie, and Christopher Hall – it was purchased by the family in 1989. Long Meadow Ranch is engaged in full circle farming – they employ integrated farming systems that rely on different parts of the ranch to contribute to the health of the whole. In addition to vineyards, they have olive orchards, cattle and horse breeding, vegetable gardens, and poultry for egg-laying. Each piece feeds the whole and everything is certified organic. In addition, they make their own compost and use solar power.

This isn’t the first time I’ve featured once of their wines. Check out their rosé here and here.

Vineyard & Winemaking Deets:  Organically farmed, as noted above. They’re also certified under Napa Green. The wine was aged in 30% new French Oak.

Area:  Grapes grown at their Mayacamas and Rutherford Estates. Their Rutherford Estate sits on a mineral-rich benchland that was once a riverbed.Tectonic plate movements and volcanic activity, and erosion and intermingling over time have created complex alluvial fans that radiate from the hillsides and through the valley floor. The most famous of these alluvial fans is the Rutherford Bench. The Mayacamas Estate is nestled in the mountains high above the Rutherford Bench.

Tasting Notes: Red plum, black cherry, vanilla, hints of tea and dried leaves on the nose. On the palate, notes of licorice, dutch chocolate, and white pepper joined the red plum and cherry notes. There was also a little touch of bitterness, along with tobacco, tomato stem, and medicinal herbs on the finish.  It was medium bodied, with medium acid, and medium/medium+ tannin.

Pairing: We paired this with butternut squash and mushroom risotto topped with shredded chicken and crispy sage. You could just as easily leave the chicken off  and keep it vegetarian. The wine was a good weight to match the food. More earthiness came out with the food, as well, and the white pepper and herb notes were heightened.

The winery also recommends beef, smoked baby back ribs, and barbeque pulled pork sandwiches with this wine. 

Materra Right Bank Oak Knoll District 2015 with Roasted Chicken and Roasted Veggies

SRP: $50 (Sample)
Blend: 99% Merlot, 1%
Alcohol: 14.5%

Winery: Brian Cunat grew up in the Midwest on a farm which gave him respect for farming. Later, he and his wife Miki traveled to Napa Valley and they fell in love with the area. They decided to buy a 50-acre property in Oak Knoll in 2007, then hired an expert team of vineyard managers and winemakers. The family is involved in the operations on a daily basis, though, and it’s become a full family affair.

Vineyard & Winemaking Deets: The winery is certified by Napa Green.
The wine is aged 22 months in new French Oak.

Area:  Oak Knoll District. This area is on the valley floor, near the southern end of Napa Valley, so it’s cooler than many areas of Napa, as it’s closer to San Pablo Bay and feels some of its marine effects. It’s known for wines from Bordeaux grapes (Cab, Merlot, Cab Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot) that are actually reminiscent of Bordelais wine –  typically, Napa’s take on these grapes tends to be much bigger and bolder.

Tasting Notes: Appropriately, this wine is paying homage to Bordeaux with the name “Right Bank,”  referring to the area of Bordeaux on the right bank of the Gironde River and specializes in Merlot. Of all the wines we tried, this one was really the most reminiscent of the Bordelais style to my palate. (Or course, still with riper California fruit notes.) When I poured this for Greg, without telling him what it was, he knew it was a step-up in quality. It was very elegant and well-made. It had notes of plum sauce, ripe raspberry, black cherry, and light vanilla and cocoa. On the palate, there was a whole mix of berries, cherries, and red plums. It was velvety with a light cocoa, like chocolate pudding, and a little pencil lead. It was medium bodied, with medium acid, and medium tannins that were fine grained and little dusty. This was a mutual favorite.

Pairing: We had this with roasted chicken with root vegetables. I basically made the same way as I prepared this spatcocked chicken, but instead of za'atar, I used Trader Joe’s Umami Seasoning and this Napa Valley Blend I’m fond of. Use your favorite. Leftovers from this chicken got shredded up and put on top of the risotto above. The wine and the chicken worked really well together thanks to the medium body and elegant nature of the wine. The wine also reflected the spices and herbs on the chicken nicely.

 

Markham Vineyards Yountville Estate Merlot 2015 and Surf & Turf with Friends

SRP: $55. (Sample)
Blend: 75% Merlot, 18% Cabernet, 7% Cabernet Franc
Alcohol: 14.2%

Winery:  Markham Vineyards celebrated 40 years of winemaking in 2018, however, the winery’s history goes back even further. It was commissioned to be built in 1879 and they’re currently the 4th oldest continually running winery in Napa county operating under this original bond number, albeit under different owners and names.

On their website Markham’s winemaker Kimberlee Nicholls notes that “Merlot is the first wine I fell in love with when I arrived in Napa. In my opinion, it is the perfect food wine.”

Vineyard & Winemaking Deets: Markam’s wineries and vineyards are by certified by Napa Green. Fun fact, the budwood for their Merlot vines originally taken from the Three Palms Vineyard. The wines if fermented in 100% stainless steel, then is aged for 15 months in new French oak barrels.

Area:  Yountville. This AVA is right in the heart of Napa Valley, halfway between San Pablo Bay and the southern end of Mount St. Helena. Most of the vineyards here are located on the valley floor. Vineyards for this wine are located at the southern end of the famous Rutherford Bench area. The soils are well-draining, sitting atop ancient alluvial fans.

If you’re ever in the area, downtown Yountville is also a great place to stop. It also happens to be home to Thomas Keller’s French Laundry and Bouchon.

Tasting Notes: This was a hedonistic wine with deep mocha and roasted plums and espresso. There were touches of soy and savory herbs. I didn’t take full structure notes in the moment, but it was a full-bodied and structured. This was a mutual favorite from the batch for both Greg and I.

Pairing: We enjoyed this wine during a surf-and-turf- cookout with friends. It was excellent with the steak, and Greg noted he also really enjoyed it with sweet potatoes.

Pahlmeyer Merlot Napa Valley 2016 with Beef Wellington

 

SRP: $90 (Sample)
Blend: 97% Merlot, 2% Malbec, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon
Alcohol: 14.9%

Winery: Jason Pahlmeyer was an attorney who became captivated with wine. He found a partner who owned an estate in Napa and they set about reimagining the vineyard. They sought assistance from professors at the University of Bordeaux, and searched out the best clones of Bordeaux  varieties from vineyards in France and brought back their “suitcase clones.” They brought them back through Canada and actually got caught along the way. Here’s a fun excerpt of the story from their website:

Jayson's partner smuggled their “suitcase clones” to the U.S. through Canada. All went off without a hitch until their final truckload, when the border authorities uncovered the French vines. Ordered to surrender all their contraband, they kept their French clones hidden and instead turned over to the unwitting patrollers clones purchased from U.C. Davis.

The vineyards were planted in 1981, and they’ve have a pretty amazing set of winemakers come through there over the years. Bibiana González Rave currently holds that position and she is one amazing lady. (She was San Francisco Chronicle’s Winemaker of the Year in 2015, and I highly recommend the read.)  I’m happy to say to have had the very great pleasure to get to know her a little bit over the last couple of years, and she was on my panel this year for Bâtonnage: "Pathways to Inclusion: But How, Really?" I invite you to listen to that here. She also has her own line of wines called Cattleya  which I highly recommend, as well as Shared Notes which she makes with her husband Jeff Pisoni.

I was admittedly very excited to receive this wine as a sample, to get the chance to taste an example of her wines I’d not had before.

Vineyard & Winemaking Deets: The vineyards are farmed sustainably, taking careful measure to prevent erosion, and use organic compost. 100% free-run juice was used for this wine. Great care was taken to sort the grapes, through multiple stages to ensure only the best fruit was used. The fgrapes underwent five days of cold maceration. After primary fermentation, the grapes were gently basket pressed. The wine was aged in 85% new French oak barrels for 20 months.

Area:  Atlas Peak and Rancho Chimiles. Pahlmeyer’s estate vineyards are on Atlas peak, so I’m going to focus on that today, but Rancho Chimiles has a really interesting history you can read more about here. Atlas Peak is one of the highest points in Napa – the highest vineyards are planted at 1665 feet above sea level. The Foss River is largely responsible for the terroir here, rather than the Napa River, although it does eventually meets the larger river. The soils are mostly volcanic and highly porous, which is good for drainage, and lends itself well to high-quality wines. Sadly, this area was hit hard by the wildfires of 2017.

Tasting Notes: On the nose, there were notes of blackberry, black cherry, blueberry, boysenberry, light chocolate, light spice, hint of bramble, red flower petals. A similarly lush combination of fruits returns on the palate, with light bramble, white pepper, and a hint of anise. It was medium + to full bodied in body, medium tannins, but with sufficiently fresh acid to hold it all together. This wine had a great combination of elegance and richness, like a velvet glove and I relished every sip.

Pairing: I decided to embark on a quest of experimenting with Beef Wellington. We paired this wine with the first iteration. I was fairly faithful to this recipe from Delish, with the exception that I used hanger steak, instead of the traditional tenderloin. It was a fantastic match.

Blackbird Vineyards Illustration Napa Valley 2013 with Filet Mignon and Roasted Beets on Salad

Average Price: $106 for this vintage (Not a sample. I pulled this one from “the cellar.”)
Blend:  60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon
Alcohol: 14.5%

Winery: Blackbird Vineyards is located on a former walnut orchard which was planted to Merlot vines in 1997. It was purchased by Michael Polenske in 2003. Much like a couple of the other wines above, the wines were inspired by the wines of the Right Bank of Bordeaux.

Vineyard & Winemaking Deets: They farm sustainably, rarely using commercial pesticides, herbicides, or artificial fertilizers. Organic materials from farming and harvest are put back into the soils as compost. All wines are fermented via native yeasts. I couldn’t find a tech sheet for the 2013 vintage, but according to their website the 2016 spent 21 months in French oak barrels - 75% new, 25% seasoned. They consider this the most luxurious wine in their portfolio.

Area:  Blackbird sources fruit from around Napa, but they’re based in Oak Knoll, which we covered up above.

Tasting notes: High-toned with notes of violets, orange rind, cherry, red plum, raspberry, and vanilla on the nose. On the palate, there were notes of kirsch, herbs, and that hint of orange rind. It had bright acidity, was medium to medium + body, and had a little grip on the finish. Even though it has a few years on it, I thought it could use a few more since it was still taught or decant.

Pairing: We paired this with filet mignon, which I prepared sous vide. I also prepared a little pan sauce to serve on top. On the side, we had salad and roasted beets. I also had some chimichurri around, so we played around with that as well. The wine was very good with the steak and pan sauce. In large amounts, the chimichurri tended to throw it off a little bit; however, in small amounts or bites where there was a little of everything, it all worked together solidly well.