Orange County Wine Scene Continues to Pour it On

by Frank Mangio
Let me be clear right away, we don’t mean orange juice.  Wine events are lining up with the major wine players, many of them from Napa Valley and Sonoma , being treated to marquee performances by their hosts. There is no better example of wine mania in OC than the Newport Beach Wine & Food Festival, a three day romp through the wines of the world, with healthy doses of beer and spirits, to match up with some excellent food samples.

We’ll be reviewing one of these restaurants in the 2nd half of this issue. The festival, sponsored by American & Southern Wine & Spirits, celebrated its second year the first week in October and sold out all three days. The names on the honor roll of wineries and celebrity guests read like a who’s who. The tasting provided and chance to savor the likes of  Argyle, Francis Ford Coppola, Ferrari Carano, Franciscan, Jackson Family, Joseph Phelps and a close-to-the-top favorite of mine, Laetitia Winery, makers of big-time Pinot Noir.  Here’s the take on this remarkable winery.  It is located in southern San Luis Obispo County overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Originally known for sparkling wines and still producing seven different styles, it is now known for its handcrafted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.  Their fruit comes from the Arroyo Grande AVA.

French founders started planting at Laetitia in 1982.  They found the land to be very similar to their homeland.  The winemaker for these 600+ acres of vineyard land is Eric Dickey along with his brother Dave.  Buy the Laetitia Whole Cluster Pinot Noir.($42.)  Whole cluster is the process of fermentation when the bunch or cluster of grapes, including the stem, is used in alcoholic fermentation. It is old world, French Burgundy style Pinot Noir, at its best. At the festival, Bravo TV’s Top Chefs were out in full force, led by Rick Bayless, in his 11th year on Public Television. He has written 8 cookbooks.

For information on next year’s Newport Beach event, call Lindsey Henn at 626-893-4228.

Canaletto Restorante of Newport Beach
I first reviewed Canaletto in Las Vegas at the Venetian Hotel.  I was transplanted to Italy by the design, food, wine and premium service.

But, you don’t have to go to Vegas. The Orange County Canaletto in Fashion Island has perfected the same art of Italian cuisine, with General Manager Antonio Bevacqua and Executive Chef Moises Mendoza.  On this night, Canaletto collaborated with Heitz Wines of Napa Valley.

Antonio Bevacqua is the GM, and Moises Mondoza is the 

Executive Chef at Canaletto in Orange County.

 
Their latest release is the 2010 Napa Cabernet single vineyard Trailside Vineyard. It’s a dense and powerful wine with aromas and taste of fresh-picked blackberry and a touch of rich cocoa ($80.)

At Canaletto, the wines come first, with  chef Moises building lusciously paired dishes to compliment. With the Heitz Cabernet, it was a Ravioli di Melanzane (roasted eggplant ravioli with burrata cheese, basil and garlic sauce.  Learn more about Canaletto and RSVP for dinner at 949-640-0900.

Wine Bytes
The next great wine dinner in Orange County is at 21 Oceanfront in Newport Beach. It’s Tues. Dec. 8th at 6:30pm with Grgich Hills Estate. Enjoy wines from Chardonnay to Cabernet with a 4 course fine dinner. Cost is $110. ea.  Call for an RSVP at 949-673-2100.

Beach House Winery in Fallbrook has its annual Christmas Bazaar Sat. Nov. 28th from 11 to 4pm.  No charge for this event featuring local artists and businesses.  Enjoy your holiday shopping with a glass of their wine and live music.  For more call 760-732-3236.

Capri Blu in Rancho Bernardo is presenting a Frescobaldi Wine dinner Wed. Dec. 2nd at 6pm. This is a 4 course super dinner featuring grilled Filet Mignon Medallions, paired with a 2009 Frescobaldi Brunello.  $55. pp. RSVP at 858-673-5100.

Sharing a Table with the King of Chardonnay

by Frank Mangio
In my last column, I shared some recent experiences in the great desert, from Rancho Mirage to La Quinta.  Palatial resorts, princely restaurants and the hauntingly beautiful Santa Rosa Mountains all caught my attention.

In Palm Desert on El Paseo at Portola, a relaxed European style restaurant, Mitch’s, is where Miljenko (Mike) Grgich comes to lunch from his nearby winter home in La Quinta. It reminds him of his early days as a youthful student of wine in Zagreb , Croatia in the 50’s, before he took his first wine job in Napa Valley in 1958. I got to Mitch’s early for my interview with this

World renowned iconic wine master, 91 year old Grgich is known the world over as the King of Chardonnay since his 1973 vintage Chardonnay won over all the competition  at the Paris Blind Tasting in 1976. His professional life has been and still is, the stuff that makes this nation so great:  a poor immigrant full of ideas about his chosen work, and making them work beyond his imagination.
When he arrived to join me at Mitch’s, he was careful to select just the right table, at the end of a row, with light shade. After a couple of tries, he found a soup to his liking.  I imagined that search for just the right essence came from his need for excellence in making wine.
“Great wine is made in the vineyard, “he said.  “We are caretakers bringing the earth and vines in harmony naturally, to produce pure, healthy grapes.

Then comes the passion, talent and experience of our people to bring them to their full potential. We have five beautiful vineyards with 367 total acres planted.  Our wines are 100% estate grown, produced and bottled.”

Grgich Hllls Estate vineyards in Napa Valley touch almost every district known for excellent wines: Yountville for Cabernet, Merlot and Petit Verdot; Carneros for Chardonnay and Merlot; American Canyon for Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Merlot; Grgich Headquarters in Rutherford , an 18 acre winery and vineyard, for Cabernet  and Petit Verdot; and finally the family home and vineyard in Calistoga with 34 acres of hillside vineyards for century-old Zinfandel that make Miljenko’s Old Vines Zinfandel. “Zinfandel is a special grape for me,” Grgich revealed.

After spending a lot of time doing research and presenting proofs, he traced a variety of the Napa Valley Zinfandel to his homeland of Croatia . The next vintage Old Vine Zinfandel will be out for purchase in March of this year with very limited production.

This year, Grgich Hills Estate will be celebrating the 35th Anniversary of the Great Chicago Showdown, another Mike Grgich triumph when the first Chardonnay that was made at Grgich Hills, the 1977 vintage, took first place over 221 other Chardonnays. He is in the Vintners Hall of Fame and has been featured in an award winning documentary, “Like the Old Vine” that describes his life.  The Smithsonian Institute National Museum of American History displays his 1973 Chardonnay that won the Paris Tasting.  He is now busy on a book that documents his life, and a movie is being talked about that sets the record straight on the Paris Tasting, more in line with the book “The Judgement of Paris,”authored by Time Magazine correspondent George Taber. In 2013, Grgich established a million dollar endowment fund at the University of Zagreb in Croatia , to help educate future winemakers so its can become a world-class wine industry.

Some five million visitors a year come to Napa Valley which is neither the oldest or the largest wine country in California, but it is the most known and most chosen of the wineries in our great state.  The most compelling reason….one name…Miljenko (Mike) Grgich.  Read more at grgich.com.

Wine Bytes
In Temecula, Thornton Winery’s Chef’s Counter in a private kitchen is presented Fri. Jan. 30 at 7pm. A one of a kind dining experience, you will dine one on one as the chef prepares your five course meal in front  of each guest.  $125. pp.  RSVP at 951-699-0099 x 3129.

Skip Coomber of Coomber Ranch Wines will appear at la Costa Wine Company, Fri. Jan. 30 from 6 to 9pm.  Two Chardonnays, two Pinots and two Cabernets will be poured for $20.  Phone: 760-431-8455.

Capri Blu in Rancho Bernardo will present Rodney Strong Wines of Sonoma in a dinner on Wed. Feb. 4th at 6pm.  Lovely 4 course menu to accompany this award winning winery.  Details including price at 858-673-5100.

PAON Wine Shop in Carlsbad welcomes Tablas Creek Vineyards, Thurs. Feb. 12th starting at 5:30pm.  Wines include:  Vermintino, Espirit de Tablas, Mourvedre, Patelin de Tablas and Espirit de Tablas Rouge.  Price of $35. includes French onion soup, tuna tartar, and Prosciutto with burrata cheese topped with mixed greens.  Find out more at 760-729-7377.

A Passion for Winemaking Returns for Napa Valley's Michael Mondavi

by Frank Mangio
The Mondavi name in Napa Valley wine lore is indeed alive and well.  It still commands a reverence  for its illustrious history and an intense interest in its re-boot for the future.

The Napa Valley Mondavi family tree of wine was rooted by Cesare Mondavi who began growing wine grapes in 1921 in Lodi .  The second generation included Robert Mondavi, who, in the 40’s with brother Peter Mondavi, built the Charles Krug winery into a major name in Napa Valley .  Robert eventually seperated to build his own empire with Robert Mondavi Winery in the 60’s, and later Opus One in the 80’s. In the fast-track growth and stormy experiences that followed, 3rd generation Michael Mondavi, son of Robert, was making wine under his father’s guidance.  My interview with Michael at the Meritage Wine Market in Encinitas was one I had waited for, and it didn’t disappoint.

Michael Mondavi, son of the legendary Robert Mondavi of Napa Valley,now makes his own premium wines  under the name Michael Mondavi Family Estate.

“Back in the 60’s, our focus was on small, quality production, 30 to 50,000 cases a year,” he said. “When we sold Robert  Mondavi Winery in 2004  to  Constellation, a world wide holding company, we were up to 11 million cases  and I was running the company. I was too busy to do anything with the production of wine. Now, what’s fun for me is that, when I was making wine, it had to be what my father Robert said I had to make.  Now I have my son Rob and Daughter Dina making our wines and I advise, but I encourage them to make their own kind of wine and create a change in the tradition of Mondavi style wines. You see it especially in EMBLEM ($35.), mostly Cabernet but with a creative blend of Syrah, Petite Sirah, Zinfandel and Petite Verdot. It comes from Howell Mountain , about 1,300 feet in elevation and it’s our signature wine.” ( It was TASTE OF WINE’S Wine of  theMonth for October)

Howell Mountain, located in the northeast part of Napa Valley, is the place of choice for “mountain style” Cabernet and I asked Mondavi if he thought the wine world had already seen and tasted the best Cabs.  “Oh no,” was his quick answer.  “In the 70’s and 80’s when I was making the wine for Robert  Mondavi Winery, it was all valley floor wine.  But if you go back in time to before prohibition, the wines were made in the hill country of NapaValley.  Mountain Cabernet, we found out, has much greater structure, more style and character.  So the future of Cabernet lies in the past for real flavor changes over the traditional valley Cabs.”

With Michael Mondavi Family Estate and the wines being made, plus their growing distribution company, Folio Fine Wine Partners and its world-wide collection of wineries, Mondavi sensed a return to bigness.

He and his family decided to sell off their Carneros valley property and its 13 acres and follow the original vision to produce high quality, small production wines under the family labels. They retained the Animo and Oso vineyards for their mountain style grapes.   They are actively looking to secure a boutique wine making facility and tasting room in Napa Valley .  For wine sales and wine club information, go to michaelmondavifamilyestate.com.


2014 Harvest Proves Better than Most
You could almost hear the statewide collective sigh of relief, that this year’s 2014 harvest of wine grapes came through the growing season without the fear expressed when the realization of another year of drought, the 3rd year in a row, would be coming.

As it turned out, the dry weather, combined with warm days and cool nights, have produced grapes of higher taste and quality than 2007, a banner year.  Most of America ’s high end wines come from Napa and Sonoma and they point to their vineyards as drought-tolerant when vines seek the water tables underground. Harvest was weeks before normal and came on the heels of a 6.0 earthquake on August 24th that caused an estimated 80 million dollars in damage.

Fresh, hand-picked Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are placed in bins during the Napa Valley harvest.

Most vintners and growers are reporting greater than normal quantities of grapes produced, but not quite as much as the record-breaking 2012 harvest.  Even though the winemakers dodged the bullet of another dry year, they are all saying they don’t want the drought to go on as underground water supply is showing signs of drying up.

Wine Bytes
Temecula Wine Country has its two day Harvest Barrel Tasting Weekend, Sat. and Sun. Nov. 1 and 2 from 10am to 4pm. Food and wine samplings at each participating winery.  Tickets are as little as $79.  Call 800-801-9463 for details.

Solterra Winery & Kitchen in Encinitas has a Sip for Make a Wish  event Sun. Nov. 2 from 6 to 9pm.  It’s a “Night at the Opera” theme with 5 course dinner and new wine releases.  $200. pp. Call 619-302-6162 or debbie@solterrawinery.com.

Capri Blu in Rancho Bernardo presents Masi Agricola Italian wines with a 4 course dinner, Wed. Nov. 5 at 6pm.  $55. ea. Call 858-673-5100.

The fine wines of Napa Valley ’s Frank Family will be tasted along with a 5 course dinner  at Harry’s Bar &  Grill on La Jolla Village Drive across from UTC, Thurs. Nov. 6 at 6pm. Dan Matin of Frank Family will be guest speaker.  Call 858-373-1252 for price and an RSVP

This Week’s In-Box to the Wine World

By Frank Mangio
When I was going through San Diego State University as a “late-blooming” student chasing a Journalism degree, I used to ponder the role of the “gatekeepers,” those news editors who had the
responsibility of using press releases for articles, or flushing them into the round file, never to return to see the light of day.

TASTE OF WINE is now my “gate” and I am up to an average 200 e-mails daily that feature information on wines. At times I wish it were less.  But every so often I see fascinating, game-changing news nd I want to share it all.  So, every so often I put a column out that is a sort of roundup of nice stuff that I love to uncork for my readers, like this one. Last night, I had the pleasure of tasting through the current vintage of Castello Banfi wines from Montalcino Italy . The winery’s signature Brunello vintage 2009 has been released after 4 years in barrel. ($58.) The building of Brunello to its most elegant position among the famous wines of the world, is an
inspiring story.

 John Mariani, right, co-founder of Tuscany’s premier winery, Castello Banfi,

with family members as they were honored recently at Cornell University in New York.

As co-founder John Mariani says “It was a revolution that sparked a fine wine renaissance.” Recently, the renowned Cornell University in New York bestowed the 2014 Icon of Industry Award on the Mariani Family for their leadership and contributions both in
industry research and education. I affectionately like to call John my electronic “pen pal” for his comments and insights on my Taste of Wine columns.

Congratulations John and to all members of the Mariani family for all you have done to elevate the quality of wine everywhere.

My friend Claude Robbins, who operates one of the highest quality International Wine & Spirits schools, out of Denver Colorado , found some research on how private tastings for wine club members are much bigger sellers of wine than public tastings. The private gatherings averaged $294. per person compared to a $70. per person sale at public tastings, although it needs to be said that public tasting room fees are growing, generating revenue growth. Caymus Winery in Napa Valley scored a big success with their 40th Anniversary 2012 Napa Valley Cabernet keepsake bottle.  Owner Charlie Wagner shipped the special edition in May and sold 60,000
cases that month alone. ($58.).

The word is spreading up and down California about an early wine grape harvest and what it will mean for the quality of the wines.  At Laetitia Vineyard and Winery in Arroyo Grande, south of San Luis Obispo and makers of premium Pinot Noir, they got bud-break in February, way too early and now are looking at picking their 12 different clones of Pinot, managing sunlight, leaves, soil and water.

 Eric Hickey is the Laetitia Winery President and Head Winemaker,
balancing Old World tradition with cutting-edge California style wines.

Although the current vintage for Pinot Noir, 2012, is getting some mixed reviews due to over production, Laetitia’s lineup is crisp and clean, refined by the winery’s dedication to limited production craftsmanship.  Its best example is the Laetitia Whole Cluster Pinot Noir, with notes of cassis, tobacco and peppercorn with a touch of sweet oak and black tea ($40.).  The delicate berries are removed from the stem prior to fermentation.  The wine is taken to a whole new place
and is a top new pick for Taste of Wine.

Another great new pick from the Central Coast is the Niner Wine Estates 2010 Fog Catcher, a blend of 29% Cabernet, 29% Malbec, 24% Cab Franc, 9% Carmenere and 9% Petit Verdot.  It won gold at the Central Coast Wine Competition 2014. ($65.) The Paso Robles appellation  is getting bigger, expected to be split up into 11 districts within the existing 612,000 acre area.

Wine Bytes
Europa Village Winery in Temecula invites you to its La Tomatina Festival, modeled after Spain's famous food fight, Sun. Sept. 7th from 4 to 7pm.  Tickets are $35. ea.  Music, wine and food. RSVP at: 951-216-3380.

Capri Blu in Rancho Bernardo has an Oveja Negra Chilean Wine Dinner Wed. Sept. 3rd at 6pm. Five course dinner with wine for $55. pp.  RSVP at: 858-673-5100.