Join me for a conversation with Kristin Olszewski, creator of Nomadic Wines, a line of conscientiously made canned wines. Then stay for a casual rooftop brunch of smoked salmon sandwiches with herbed goat cheese spread paired with Nomadica’s Sparkling Rosé Monterey 2018 in support of the Bâtonnage Forum mentorship program. 

Nomadica’s Sparkling Rosé Monterey 2018 paired with smoked salmon sandwiches. Note that this wine was received as a media sample. No other compensation was received, and as always, all opinions are my own.

If you’re not on the canned wine bandwagon, it’s really time to rethink things and get over those pre-conceived notions. Canned wines are perfect for packing for hikes, picnics, or hanging by the water, and there are some really wonderful options out there, made by innovative, quality-conscious producers. It gets even better when buying the cans supports a good cause. 

I helped to organize the first two years of Bâtonnage Forum, a day-long event “stirring up the conversation on women in wine.” In 2020 it went virtual as Bâtonnage://Connect. Shortly after the conference, they also introduced a mentorship program pairing up women at different levels in their careers. While I didn’t attend, the 2021 forum was a hybrid affair with virtual panels and an in-person tasting event. 

It’s still possible to support the cause,  and as a bonus, you can drink well at the same time. This year Bâtonnage partnered up with Nomadica Wines to offer a canned sparkling rosé of Pinot Noir to benefit the mentorship program – 100% of proceeds go directly to the program. Like the rest of Nomadica’s wines, the grapes for this one are sustainably farmed, and the wine is made via low intervention methods, with minimal sulfur, is completely dry, and vegan. And of course, the wine is delicious with tangy notes of bright strawberries, raspberries, with a bit of white peach and delicate fizz.  

Nomadica’s founder and CEO ​​Kristin Olszewski has quite an impressive profile. She was on her way to a pre-med degree when she switched paths and decided to pursue wine instead. She worked as a sommelier at an impressive list of restaurants including Osteria Mozza, Husk, F10 Creative, and Straight Wharf, and is currently the Beverage Director at Gigi’s in Los Angeles. She was also named as one of Wine Enthusiast’s 40 Under 40 this year. 

I had a chance to talk to Kristin over email to get to know both her and Nomadica Wines a little better. 

Here’s our conversation.

*****

You earned degrees in Sustainable Agriculture and Gender Studies, so with hindsight, in some ways, it seems like the journey to creating a line like Nomadica was preordained. However, you nearly went down a very different road. You were on your way to a pre-med degree and applying to med-school when wine drew you in. What was it about wine that enamored you and called you down this path?

I’ve always worked in restaurants with inspiring Beverage Directors - smart, talented, interesting people who taught me how to love wine. I didn’t grow up in a family that drank wine, but once I began to learn that great wine didn’t need to be expensive (and wasn’t just for the ultra-wealthy), I was hooked. Wine is the perfect marriage of farming, storytelling, romance (and a little party). 

I love that mix of factors too!

You’ve worked at a pretty impressive list of restaurants. What have you loved and what have you found challenging about working as a sommelier and then wine director? How has your time on the floor influenced the wines in your brand?

My favorite thing about working the floor is the exhilaration of service, the thrill of getting a table who was originally intimidated to talk to a sommelier into their new favorite bottle of wine, and also having regulars become friends. It can be challenging from a lifestyle and health perspective. The long nights… I used to try and ensure I had commitments (a hike with a friend, coffee date, etc.) that incentivized me to get home early and take care of myself! 

That’s really smart and it’s so important to prioritize wellness. On the other hand, that exhilaration from service must be quite the rush since you’re continuing to work in restaurants even now. Has it been a challenge to start your own brand while maintaining the demanding hours of restaurant work? (I’d imagine the last year provided a bit of a break on that front.) How have you juggled the two?

It has been so difficult. I’m very lucky to work with great people at Gigi’s who are incredibly accommodating of my travel schedule and hectic existence. I know I’m a little crazy but as a buyer, you have the opportunity to taste so much wine! It’s truly the thing I’m most passionate about and tasting a beautiful wine really enhances my day. 

I’ve never worked in fine dining, but feel the exact same way – a beautiful wine can be completely enchanting.

I admit that I love the convenience of canned wines, but it took me a while to come around to them. I read that you too were skeptical about canned wines in the beginning. What brought you around and won you over?

My partner brought me a high-end Pinot Noir she’d convinced a winemaker to sell her for the can and it tasted AMAZING. I really went in wanting to hate it and my brain broke when I smelled that glass (I always pour my cans into the glass). Additionally, when I discovered the increased recyclability and insanely reduced shipping emissions, I was sold. 

That’s a great tip and I completely agree – whenever possible, I also pour canned wines into a glass.

Let’s move on to the Nomadica wines! The website notes that you choose grape varieties specifically for the can. What are you looking for in a grape to present in this format?

I source bright, fresh wines as those tend to be the best out of can. We also look for universally appealing flavor profiles. I always think to myself, “If I had this at a wedding, would everyone love it?”

That makes sense, now let’s talk about where those grapes come from. Nomadica pairs with carefully selected small producers to create the wines you release. What are you looking for in the producers you work with?

I look for sustainable farming practices, no pesticide usage in vineyards, no chemical additions of any kind done in the cellar. I’m also very grateful to really enjoy all the people I work with. Working with great humans truly does make life better. 

100%! All of Nomadica’s wines are made via low-intervention methods. Are there particular considerations for making low-intervention wines in cans?

None different than low-intervention wine in bottle! ;) We source from growers who practice sustainable farming, no chemical intervention in the cellar. I’m not a sulfur purist by any means, but you really don’t need it in the can so we don’t use it. 

That’s interesting regarding sulfur and cans – it does make sense.

The artwork on the various cans is really beautiful. How do you see the art integrating with the wine in each can, and with the brand as a whole? How do you search out the artists you work with? 

Something I noticed when working the floor is that so many wine-drinkers lack the language with which to describe their own tastes in wine - but they know what they like. As a sommelier, I used to work off of unconventional poetic imagery to break through that barrier (and make it less intimidating) rather than discussing the levels of tannin, etc. At Nomadica, because we don’t have that ability to talk directly to our customers all the time, we thought it would be fun to describe the flavor of the wine visually. Cue in the art! Each can acts as a tasting note for the wine inside. 

I love that!  Tell me about the artwork on this specific can by Alisha Sommer.

I wish I could take credit for selecting it but the incredible women of Batonnage were responsible for selecting it! Our entire team *loved* the photograph. Alisha’s also an incredible writer. I think Alisha has this distilatory (is that a word) quality to her work, it’s as though someone is handing you the purest form of an emotion. 

It’s really arresting. I also love the tasting notes for this wine you share on the website, particularly when you describe it as “eating raspberries inside of a waterfall.”  What’s the story of this rosé?

Growing up in Western Massachusetts, summertime always involved picking wild raspberries and swimming in rivers! When I tasted our Sparkling Rose for the first time, it immediately brought me back to that memory. I love how pure the fruit is in a California rosé while still having all that freshness and acidity one wants on a hot day! This pinot noir from Monterey, CA is the perfect expression of that. 

Any favorite pairings for this wine?

It's just *so* crushable. It pairs well with ceviche, fish tacos, burgers, fried chicken, raw salads, Mediterranean foo. I honestly think it's one of our most versatile wines! 

*****

In keeping with the go-anywhere spirit of canned wines, I decided to enjoy the can I received during a rooftop brunch. I wanted to keep the food similarly low-stress and portable, so I made smoked salmon sandwiches on Trader Joe's Everything Ciabatta Rolls layered with thick slices of heirloom tomatoes and a super simple herbed goat cheese spread. 

Obviously, this sandwich took inspiration from a NY bagel platter, but the ciabatta rolls have a softer, fluffier texture. Of course, you can substitute in whatever type of bread or bagel you prefer. I also thought the herbed goat cheese spread brought a little something special to the party and elevated the sandwich. It also worked beautifully with the wine and helped tie the sandwich and the wine together in a harmonious way. Paired with a sunny day, it all made for a wonderful weekend morning. 

cheese, spread

brunch, appetizer, sandwich spread

Servings: varied

By: Nicole Ruiz Hudson

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Herbed Goat Cheese Spread

Prep Time: 5 MinCooking Time: 5 MinTotal Time: 10 Min

This cheese spread is super simple and can easily be adapted to suit your tastes. It’s also a non-recipe, which means that you don’t need to be beholden to exact quantities.

Ingredients

• 4-oz log of goat cheese (Feel free to use a larger log and adjust the rest of the ingredients as needed. Or, if you don’t like goat cheese, you can also use cream cheese, or use a combination of the two)
• Picked thyme, starting with about 1 Tbsp (use less or more to suit tastes)
• Chopped chives or green onions, starting with about 1 Tbsp (use less or more to suit tastes)
• Heavy cream, start with 2 Tbsp and add in as needed, (you can also substitute sour cream or plain yogurt)
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients to a bowl and use an immersion blender to combine until you reach a creamy, spreadable texture, adding more cream gradually as needed. Adjust seasonings as needed.
2. You can also use a food processor or mix by hand.

https://www.sommstable.com/2021/08/rooftop-brunching-with-nomadica-rose-and-q-and-a-with-Kristin-Olszewski.html

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The zombie apocalypse has changed how we do pretty much everything around here. In the before times, I would regularly get together with tasting groups to explore wine topics and taste through bottles on that theme. While we can’t really get together in quite the same way at the moment, we’ve found other ways to explore wine together and stay in touch.

I participate in one group that's made up of all badass women in the wine industry that has been particularly good at finding creative ways to continue to have interesting discussions on wines from home. We’ll often order wines from the same winemaker to explore and discuss via zoom, usually from women winemakers. Since we’re all tasting the wines in our own homes, everyone ends up with different pairings. Some work and some don’t, but it’s always interesting to hear what others have come up with and compare notes. This gave me the idea to invite two of my friends from the group to collaborate on this post exploring one wine, showing what we each thought about it, how we each decided to pair it, what factored into the combo, and how those pairing turned out. This way you get to hear from more than just me for once!

My collaborators today are Maura Passanisi and Adriana Fabbro. Maura is currently the chef at High Treason in SF, and she was the driving force behind the Della Donna Wine Festival, which I collaborated on with her. (We’re currently considering the options for how best to reimagine Della Donna for the new world – stay tuned!) Adriana can currently be found at Wine on Piedmont, a wonderful, independent wine store here in Oakland, although she’s worked in many areas of the wine biz. She and I first met while volunteering at Bâtonnage last year.

This actually brings us to how we came to discover today’s winery – Theopolis. This year, Bâtonnage went virtual under new direction, headed up by my friend Katie Canfield and Rebecca Johnson. They put together a wonderful slate of virtual panels diving into different topics affecting women in the wine industry. Adriana and I both listened in on most of the panels this year, and agreed that one of our favorites was a session entitled Stirring It Up: Color, Wine, and Feminism. (I moderated a panel on a related topic at the 2019 forum, entitled Pathways to Inclusion: But How, Really?, which you can still listen to on the website.)

Women winemakers, in general, have difficulty getting visibility in the wine world. It’s even more difficult for BIPOC womxn. I was a little surprised that I hadn’t previously come across the women winemakers featured on this panel given their accomplishments, especially since I’m often on the lookout to support women-led wineries. However, I also came to the realization that I can definitely do more to search out and support wines from BIPOC winemakers. Being Hispanic myself (among other things), I feel it is all the more important to do so.

I know my friends felt similarly. Moreover, I think we were all somewhat surprised that we hadn’t previously come across or weren’t better familiar with Theodora Lee and here winery, Theolpolis Vineyards. As such, we decided to remedy the situation and ordered a few bottles to check out.

THE WINE

Theodora Lee’s story was particularly impressive to me as winemaking is her second successful career.  Prior to winemaking, she was a senior partner and trial lawyer for SF law firm. She arrived to the Bay area from Texas in 1987, and over the years she developed a passion for wine through the influence of her vineyard-owning law firm mentors.

Her passion led her to take several viticulture classes at UC Davis, and ultimately purchase sheep land in the Yorkville Highlands of Anderson Valley. In 2003, Lee planted her vineyards and established Theopolis Vineyards. The vineyards yielded excellent fruit, and as a result, Lee decided to bottle her own wines in 2014. 

Theodora Lee. Photo borrowed from winery's website.

For more of Theadora Lee’s story and the background of Theopolis Vineyards, check out this article and interview on Uncorked Monthly or this article on VinePair.

Symphony

Theopolis is best known for it’s Petite Sirahs, however, as a group we’ve chosen to explore the Yorkville Highlands Symphony (average price $22). I was intrigued by this bottling as I had never come across the Symphony grape, which is a crossing of Muscat of Alexandria and Grenache Gris.

The grape was developed by Harold Olmo, a viticulturist and professor at UC Davis. Over a career that spanned almost 50 years, Olmo developed more than 30 new grape varieties that have come to be known as “Olmo Grapes.” He started work on Symphony in 1948, but it took over 30 years to complete and produce a viable cultivar. The grape wasn’t introduced commercially until 1981 and it was patented in 1983.

Both of Symphony’s parent grapes are somewhat aromatic, Muscat very much so, and Grenache Gris is resistant to drought and grows well in warm climates. The original intent behind combining these characteristics was to create an aromatic grape that would do well in California’s hot Central Valley. It’s had limited success there but is also grown elsewhere in the state including in Lodi, the Sierra Foothills, as well as the Yorkville Highlands in Mendocino. Varietal Symphony bottlings are fairly rare, but it is more commonly used in blends.

THE PAIRINGS

Ok, let’s finally move on to what the wine tasted like and what we paired it with! Here are each of our takes on the vino. Personally, I think it’s interesting to see that relatively similar components worked well in some cases, but not in others depending on small variations in flavor combinations.  Maura had a bottle of the 2016 vintage, while Adriana and I had the 2017, so we’ll start with the ‘16 first.

For their part, the winery makes the following recommendation for the 2017 vintage of this wine:
“It is well suited to pair with seafood, spicy food, Southeast Asian food, cheese dishes or simply to take on a picnic.”

Maura

Food and wine pairing is not an exact science. There is no right or wrong answer, and no matter what anyone says, no hard and fast rules. It's a malleable art, one with theories and guesses, suppositions, and assumptions. There is much grey between black and white. You might think a pairing will be amazing and feel flustered when it falls flat. On the other hand, you might not think at all about pairing and be happily shocked at the outcome.

For this pairing, I was trying to specifically match wine to food, specifically Theopolis Vineyards' 2016 Symphony from the Yorkville Highlands. I tasted the wine: smelled very floral and fruity, tasted very fruity with nice acid balance to keep it fresh and crisp, with a little weight and body. Right off the bat, I had ideas: "this should go with this, it'll be great with that." Unfortunately, as with many things in art, those initial ideas did not pan out.

My first try was sushi: sunomono salad, negihama roll, plus some nigiri (including fresh crab). I thought fish and rice, plus cucumber in bright vinegar would be a perfect pairing with a fruit-forward, crisp white. Maybe even some savory soy sauce as a counter to the fruit. It turns out I was wrong. The savory components completely dulled the fruit of the wine, rendering it rather bland.

Soba noodles for the win!

Adriana

I wasn’t planning on going this direction but Dungeness crab was on sale at Whole Foods and it felt like a sign from the universe . . .

When I think of Theopolis’ Symphony white — medium-bodied, extremely aromatic with good acidity and tropical fruit notes —  I think of summer evenings at the beach, on someone’s porch, cracking open fresh, briny, steamed crabs over newspapers with the smell of sunscreen and rugosa roses lingering in the air. And as an east coaster, I still haven’t gotten over my excitement for local Dungeness crabs, which reward the savage messiness of crab butchery with more (and sweeter) meat. 

This is a relatively low alcohol, fresh and fruity wine so it could definitely hold up to spicier flavors as well.

Unfortunately, it didn’t pair as well with the more photogenic Vietnamese shrimp and grapefruit salad. (Pictured right.)

The recipe for Becky Sellengut’s Chilled Coconut-Cucumber Soup can be found in her book Good Fish: 100 Sustainable Seafood Recipes from the Pacific Coast.

 Adriana also noted that the wine paired very well with chicken momos (i.e. dumplings) on another occasion.

Nicole

I had the benefit of reading my friends’ pairings and notes before I opened my bottle, which allowed me to cheat a bit and perhaps gave me an upper hand in zeroing in on pairing ideas quickly. I admit that I originally considered being lazy and ordering in Thai, but then got a craving for fried fish and thought I’d play with that idea instead.

When I opened the bottle, I smelled a heady mix of honeysuckle, tropical flowers, ginger, tangerine, Meyer lemon, and mixed tropical fruits like papaya and mango. On the nose, the fruit notes came across as very ripe, bordering on overripe, however, they shifted a bit on the palate. While there was still a tropical spirit to flavors, the flavor became tarter and/or green in their characteristic. I picked up green melon, kiwi, green papaya, white peach, as well some of those ripe citrus flavors, along with some lime zest on the finish. There were notes of honeycomb and a lanolin texture, as well as hints of sweet herbs along the lines of lemongrass.  It was round and textured with medium to medium + body, with enough fresh acidity to balance the texture.

Rather than steering me towards any single cuisine, the tropical feel of this wine made me think of equatorial foods in general, and I tried to play with that idea in the flavors I brought to my dish. We’d also recently been gifted a haul of wonderful, mouth puckering passion fruit from some friends. I brought Greg in to consult on the pairing ideas, and we both immediately thought that they might work nicely in a pairing for this wine.

Ultimately, I decided to make a fruity, savory sauce with the passion fruit, lemon, and red onion to serve over fried panko-breaded rockfish, with a side of simply prepared green beans with a hint of heat from red pepper flakes.

We loved the combo! I thought the wine matched the weight of the fried fish nicely, while simultaneously becoming more refreshing in the combination, elevating the tart, crisp side of those tropical fruit notes in the wine. The hints of herbs in the wine’s flavor profile also vibed nicely with light hints of cilantro in the sauce, as well as the green beans.

Panko Breaded Rockfish with Passion Fruit Salsa and Stir-fried Green Beans

If making all of these together, I recommend making the salsa first, then set it aside so the flavors can marry. Make the green beans next, then keep warm while you focus on the fish.

fish, passion fruit, salsa, fried fish, seafood

dinner

Servings: 4 to 6

By: Nicole Ruiz Hudson

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Panko Breaded Rockfish with Passion Fruit Salsa

Prep Time: 15 MCooking Time: 20 MTotal Time: 35 M

Ingredients:

Passion Fruit Salsa (approximately 1 cup)

• Pulp and seeds of 1 to 2 passion fruits
• Juice of 1 lemon, or to taste
• ½ red onion, diced
• ⅛ to ¼ cup olive oil, or to taste (If you like your salsa to be more tart, use less of the oil, and if you prefer it less tart use more.)
• 1 tsp dried cilantro, or fresh chopped cilantro to taste
• Pinch of salt, to taste

Panko Breaded Rockfish

• 3 rockfish filets, cut into 2 portions each (feel free to substitute in another mildly flavored fish)
• 1 cup flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups panko crumbs
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cooking oil of your choice, for frying (I used canola)

Instructions:

For the Passion Fruit Salsa

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl to taste, and let it sit for at least to 10 to 15 minutes to allow the flavors to marry and come together.

For the Panko Breaded Rockfish

1. Fill a large skillet with enough oil to reach a depth of at least 1/4-inch, then heat over medium-high heat.
2. While the oil is heating, place the flour, eggs, and panko in three separate bowls. Season the eggs with salt and pepper.
3. Dredge each fish fillet lightly through the flour, making sure to shake off any excess. Dip the fillets in the egg next, followed by the panko, making sure to coat each fillet as completely as possible.
4. Working in batches if needed, place fish in the pan in a single layer, making sure not overcrowd the pan. Fry until golden brown and cooked through, about 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Season with salt. Serve immediately topped with the salsa and with the green beans on the side (recipe follows).

https://www.sommstable.com/2020/08/three-takes-on-theopolis-symphony.html

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Created using The Recipes Generator

Photo credit on the fish and green bean pictures to Greg Hudson.

Update: After I shared this post, my friend Molly  (@msmollyroses) was inspired to create her own pairing for this wine, adding a 4th take. She paired her bottle with hunter-style pork schnitzel with mushroom ragout, purple cabbage and potatoes and reports that it also made a delicious match.

Check out these posts related to some of our favorite Della Donna:

• Dinner and a Chat with Kristie Tacey of Tessier Winery  
• Passion and Authenticity in Abruzzo: A Conversation with Cristiana Tiberio of Az. Agr. Tiberio 
• Cooking to the Wine: Tiberio Pecorino & Saffron Chickpea Stew with Seafood
  

Additional sources used for this post:

• World's Best Wines
• Wine-searcher.com
• Wine Grapes
  

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