Laetitia Wines are Not Only Good, but Well-Promoted

Laetitia Vineyard and Winery shares their love for their Santa Barbara terroir and provides some excellent pairing notes and recipes.  I am aware oft his because every once in a while, I receive a press release that is so good that it's worthwhile passing on in toto to my blog readers.  This is the case with the information provided by Parker Sanpei and Associates about their client Laetitia wines.

"Second-generation winery owner, Nadia Zilkha, has walked a diverse path through everything from the world of finance to film production and medical innovation. Through it all, she remains focused on achieving balance between her love for family, her aptitude for business, and her passion for philanthropic causes.

At Laetitia Vineyard & Winery, on California’s Central Coast, Nadia and her father, Selim Zilkha, have partnered for decades to promote and oversee the production of top-tier sparkling and Pinot Noir wines from both the Laetitia Vineyard and the Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard in Santa Barbara County.

 

Laetitia Vineyard & Winery has had a very successful past year including being named a Top Pinot in California by Karen MacNeil, write of The Wine Bible. They also have a sister brand named NADIA which has also been producing some noteworthy wines," wrote Elissa Wiese.

 

Summer is the perfect season to enjoy two recent releases from NADIA Wines and their estate property, Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard.

2013 NADIA Sauvignon Blanc

The 2013 growing season at Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard was ideal, with marked similarities to that of 2012. The vines enjoyed a little more warmth, which translated into a slightly heavier than ideal crop. To retain balance and even ripening, the NADIA team balanced the crop load by thinning a percentage of the fruit. Additionally, they added more cross arms to the vineyard’s trellis system, promoting dimpled lighting for a cooler fruit zone with even ripening, ideal color and no sunburn. As a result, the wines are beautifully expressive, balanced and extracted.

The 2013 Sauvignon Blanc was whole-cluster pressed, chilled, and then allowed to settle before fermentation began. A combination of stainless steel and small neutral French oak barrels were used for six months’ aging in stainless steel for six weeks. To maintain crispness, the wine did not undergo malolactic fermentation.

In the glass, the 2013 NADIA Sauvignon Blanc wafts aromas of mango peel,

tropical kiwi and night-blooming jasmine. On the palate, cooked stone fruit and zingy key lime notes are softened by hints of dried field grass. The wine’s refreshing, mineral-driven backbone is balanced by weight and texture imparted by partial aging in neutral French oak, in addition to stainless steel.

 

Pairing: Chicken Satay, Coconut Rice and Cucumber Salad

INGREDIENTS:

· 1 (15-ounce) can light coconut milk, divided

· 1/4 cup lime juice, divided

· 4 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

· 1 tablespoon low-sodium tamari or soy sauce

· 3 teaspoons light brown sugar, divided

· 1/2 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce

· 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut lengthwise into strips

· 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

· 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced

· 1 large carrot, thinly sliced

· 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

· 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

· 1 cup brown jasmine rice

 

INSTRUCTIONS

In a medium bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup coconut milk, 2 tablespoons lime juice, ginger, tamari,2 teaspoons sugar and hot sauce. Transfer 1/4 cup of the mixture to a small bowl and set aside. Add chicken to bowl with remaining marinade and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Add peanut butter to 1/4 cup mixture in small bowl and whisk until smooth. Place cucumber, carrot, remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice, remaining 1 teaspoon sugar, cilantro and salt in a medium bowl and toss until combined. Refrigerate peanut sauce, cucumber salad and

remaining coconut milk until ready to serve.

When ready to cook, place rice, remaining 1 cup coconut milk and 1 1/4 cups water in a medium saucepan and heat to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook 45 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Fluff with a fork.

While rice cooks, thread chicken onto skewers and discard marinade. Preheat grill to medium heat. Cook chicken until cooked through, about 4 minutes on each side. Serve with peanut sauce, cucumber salad and rice.

 

2012 NADIA Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2012 growing season was an ideal one for Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard, which experienced noticeably warmer weather than that of 2011, and with 250 additional growing degree days. The result was riper fruit characters in the grapes and better control of dry farming. With calculated control over its watering practices, the NADIA team was able to encourage an adequate amount of struggle in the vines during their growth pattern to translate into a crop of expressive complexity with abundant fruit and earthen flavors.

A Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, this wine’s varieties were each crushed and fermented separately, and blended at 10 months. The wine is aged for 16 months in 30% new French oak, 20% new American oak and the remaining 50% in neutral French oak.

The 2012 NADIA Cabernet Sauvignon shows aromas of wild blackberry and forest floor with notes of sweet cigar smoke and perfumed violet woven throughout. On the palate, layers of chocolate-covered cherries, anise and salty sea air are underscored by rich cedar, with firm yet supple tannins unwinding over time in the glass.

 

Pairing: Grilled Bison Burgers with Sautéed Mushrooms

INGREDIENTS

· 1 tablespoon olive oil

· 2 teaspoons kosher salt

· 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

· 8 ounces mixed wild mushrooms, trimmed and quartered if large

· 1 large egg

· 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

· 1 medium garlic clove, minced

· 1 pound ground bison meat

· 3 white rolls, cut in half horizontally and toasted

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Prepare a grill for medium-high heat. On the stove, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. When shimmering, add oil, and heat over high until smoking. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring rarely, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper, remove from heat, and set aside.

Mix together egg, Worcestershire, garlic, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl until egg is broken up. Add bison meat and mix until thoroughly combined.

Shape meat mixture into 4 patties and place on the grill. Barbecue until browned and springy to the touch, about 8 minutes total for medium.

To serve, top buns with burgers, divide mushrooms evenly between burgers, and close with top bun halves.

For more information on NADIA wines, please visit www.NADIAWines.com.

 

About NADIA WinesFar from the windswept coastal foothills of sister company, Laetitia Vineyard & Winery, lies a land of elevated, quiet grace. Framed by chalky cliffs and planted to vines that are drenched in sun by day and chilled by the cover of night – this is the Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard, the home of NADIA Wines. Comprised of the Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard’s highest echelon Bordeaux and Rhône-variety grapes, NADIA Wines eloquently champion the high-elevation terroir and inexhaustible potential of the Sierra Madre Mountains. For more information about NADIA Wines, please visit www.NADIAWines.com. Tastings are conducted at Laetitia Vineyard & Winery, 453 Laetitia Vineyard Drive, Arroyo Grande, CA 93420.

 

Hyatt (Incline Village, NV) Winemaker Dinners: A Best-of-Class Experience

A brilliant young winemaker and experienced Chef de Cuisine, brought together in harmonious combination by a talented sommelier – nothing could be quite as perfect as this kind of evening orchestrated at the Lone Eagle Grille at the toney Hyatt Regency resort in Incline Village, NV.

We’re talking about the fabulous winemaker dinners here, and the sommelier Kristi Snyder is the knock-your-socks-off hostess with the moistest. This summer we experienced Kristi’s hospitality first hand, as winemaker Nicholas de Luca of Dierberg Estate Vineyards poured wines that paired so perfectly with the dishes of chef Mark May that writing about the experience is like returning to a food-wine-pairing dream.

Throughout the year, the Lone Eagle Grille is a place sought out for its fine food and its fantastic wine list, all enjoyed with fantastic views of Lake Tahoe. We’ll talk more about the wine list built by Kristi Snyder and her philosophy of making wine accessible in a later column, but for now, picture yourself in a cozy corner room of the Grille, surrounded by great food and great wine and 30 other guests.

The wines featured were from the Dierberg Estate Vineyards. The Dierberg vineyard is located near the Pacific Coast in Santa Barbara County, and they produce incredible Chardonnay and Pinot Noir; owners Jim and Mary Dierberg focus the Dierberg label on the delicate and elegant Burgundy varieties. The nearby Star Lane Vineyard, also acquired by the Dierberg’s in 1996, is in the most eastern corner of the Santa Ynez Valley; this notably warmer terroir produces robust and powerful Bordeaux varieties.

Winemaker Nicholas de Luca brings his on-the-job experience to these wines from background at Cline Cellars, Fisher, several crushes in New Zealand, and Byington, in the Santa Cruz Mountains among other stops in a nonstop climb to the ranks of great young winemakers.

As guests mingled with the winemaker and sommelier, the Star Lane Sauvignon Blanc 2007 was poured. This refreshing wine with aroma of citrus and a taste of grapefruit was served at the perfect temperature – frankly, a rarity in my wine tasting experience, as most whites are served far too cold! The correctness of the temperature allowed the wild spring flowers, gooseberries and mandarin orange flavors to manifest too . !3.6% alcohol. $20 bottle/winery, cellar for up to 6 years.

Chef May presented a first course of sautéed soft shell crab, served on a bed of mache lettuce and finished with beets and brown butter at the side. The Dierberg Chardonnay 2006 was a full bodied Chardonnay with bright acidity and, with its wonderful citrus characteristic, a perfect accompaniment to the crab. Grapes sourced from the Santa Maria vineyard result in deep tangelo, grapefruit and lemon grass aromas, with a touch of hazelnut. 14.6% alcohol. $32 bottle/winery, and will hold well for 5 years.

For my palate, the yummiest wine came next – the Dierberg Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir 2006. Aroma of blackberry, a touch of white pepper, tobacco. Mild tannin in the middle, and a great finish. Winemaker de Luca noted that this wine is a bit of a lighter style Pinot than what Dierberg is generally known to produce, but said that “the wine we make needs to reflect the wildness of the vineyard, and we then take care of the fruit from that point forward.” This wine has overtones of sage, with delicate aromas of tea leaf, raspberry and forest floor. The 2006 Dierberg, aged in 75% new French oak for 17 months, then lightly fined with egg whites and bottled unfiltered, has 14.9% alcohol, $42 bottle/winery; it can be cellared for 10 years. It was incredible with the Grilled Niman Ranch pork tenderloin, prepared with blackberries and quinoa.

The third course, roasted prime striploin with seared goose liver, grilled zucchini and green peppercorn sauce, was paired with the Star Lane Cabernet Sauvignon 2005. This is a beautifully balanced cabernet, with light tannin, with tiers of blackberry, currant, and herbs, and is truly reflective of the love of the owners for wines from Bordeaux. The hallmark of this Santa Ynez Valley vineyard, the notes of sage brush and chaparral, are present in this wine. $42 bottle/vineyard.

The meal finished with an exquisite dark chocolate hazelnut torte served with plum compote and cassis. It was served with the Star Lane Syrah 2004, with its aroma of ripe black fruits, and taste of plum, black berry, lavender and violet. A full-bodied Syrah full of character and depth; $31 bottle/average retail.

The Lone Eagle Grille is part of the many lovely features of the Hyatt Regency at Incline Village, located at 111 Country Club Drive, Incline Village, Nevada, USA 89451. Reservations are recommended, and are a must for the winemaker dinners: 775.886.6899 Go to http://loneeaglegrille.com/wine.html for more information.

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© 2009 Barbara Keck

For more information on dining and the wide range of activities around Lake Tahoe, see the online version of The Tahoe Weekly. This article appeared in my column "It's Grape" in September 2009.

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