A Weekend Trip To Solvang: Fess Parker Winery

I'm no stranger to the Central Coast.  In fact, in my past life working finance in school construction at least a couple time a month I would hop on a Cessna to Santa Maria to meet with clients. I got to try the wonders of Santa Maria Tri-Tip and the fantastic Mexican food that rivals the best places in Los Angeles County.  Stops into San Luis Obispo were my great, as were the blips of time in Santa Barbara wineries.  My favorite was always the little Dutch town of Solvang.

Lucky for me my husband's family feels the same love for this out-of-the-way, blast-from-the-past city and they bought a gorgeous vacation home right on the historic block down by Hans Christian Andersen Park.  We took out first trip to the new digs this past weekend and came back happier and more relaxed than we've been in months.

Pictures of the jaunt can be found here.  What I really want to talk about is the wine.

We drove out to Los Olivos to pick up some sandwiches and head over to Fess Parker Winery for a picnic. 

The roads in this town are amazing.  You drive along and all of a sudden you're hit with a view of the entire valley of green surrounded with the bluest of clear skies.

Then you get to where you're going and find that along with the rockin' scenery the wine is top notch.

In the course of my Fess Parker experience I learned that savvy businessman Fess had it written in the contract that he got a portion of the sales from coonskin caps, rifles and other paraphernalia related to the Davy Crockett  franchise.  Walt Disney and Co. assuming the show wouldn't run for too long agreed.  Now the Parker empire includes a Doubletree formerly known as the Red Lion and this amazing winery (pictured with what I think is a grape mill) .

Over at Fess Parker's I had the pleasure of tasting the following:


2007 Chardonnay "Ashley" - 93 Point - Wine Enthusiast.  I found this to have a peachy peary creamy buttery nose but tasting of mildly tart green apple citrus hybrids. It's not too oakey and has a nice clean finish.  Probably great with seafood but fantastic with sharp cheeses. Retails for $30.

2008 Viognier "Santa Barbara County."  This was a really honeyed and vanilla nose with a sweet acidic front, full bodied mouth feel with a touch of stone fruit. This was favorite for one of us in the group who also loves brut champagne.  Retails for $24.

2007 Pinot Noir Pommard Clone - 92 Point - Wine Enthusiast.   Reds are my favorite but I find Pinot Noirs so finicky of a grape that it's hard to find a good one. This was a chocolately, cherry nose with a tart front but clean and balanced tannins.  Minerals and mildly herbaceous flavors in the backdrop.  Too young right now but will probably benefit from aging. Retails for $58.

2006 Pinot Noir "Bien Nacido Vineyard." Again, you'll have to excuse my lack of enthusiasm.  This had a mocha and woody nose with a berry front and a long finish. Retails for $55. 

2006 Syrah "American Tradition Reserve" - 90 Point - Robert Parker.  Did you know that Syrahs are my favorite?  It's such an easy grape to work with that it's rare to fine one that is just out and out bad.  Plus, it's an easy grape to grow resulting in some of the best red wine values on the market.  This bottle was my favorite with a cherry, vanilla berry nose followed with a deep fruit and tannin balance finishing long and dry.  Yum.  Retails for $35.

2006 Syrah "Rodney's Vineyard" - 93 Point - The Wine Advocate.  I was a little over-tasted by this time.  It's my fault, I don't spit.  I know you're supposed to but geez, why?!  This had a mildly musty nose with a savory almost meaty plum and apricot front.  Very full bodied and complex with a pleasant mid length finish.  Retails for $45.

Next stop on this Central Coast booze trip, one of my favorites, Stolpman Wineries.

Saturday Morning Rain Is Falling

Last Saturday DH and I were supposed to walk to the Farmer's Market until nature intervened and we went to Jack's for breakfast instead.

Biscuits, gravy, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns and eggs.

No, I am not a farmer. Yes, I did give DH the bacon like a dutiful wife. No, I still couldn't finish even half of all this food.

3 Foods You Should Try Despite What You've Heard

I was reading this insane article by Dave Lieberman on OC Weekly that literally made me tear up a little over the sad state of foodie affairs in Southern California.  Did you know there are still people who refuse to try Toro?  But what did I expect from Orange County, where one of the famed Housewives actually spit out Foie Gras.  Say what?!  Don't waste that gold!

So without further ado, I suggest that everyone in Southern California try the following foods regardless of negative stigma, texture or "icky factor."

1. Sea Urchin Roe (a.k.a. Uni). (Image Courtesy of http://bradyoshiro.com)  The easiest way to try this delicacy is to head to an upscale sushi restaurant.  Yes, this will give you Mad sushi credibility with the chefs so don't disappoint them by spitting it out.

The most hardcore way is to head to somewhere like Quality Seafood in Redondo Beach and have it right out of the carcass. The fish monger will gut the sea urchin and leave the roe in the spine moving body for you eat out of the nature provided bowl.  It is awesomely weird and people will gawk. Don't worry, it's already dead and it can't feel anything no matter how it moves.

Good Sea Urchin tastes fresh, like sea water, but buttery sweet like foie gras.  It is an experience in out-there textures and subtle flavors.

And please, for the love of all that is good in this world, don't dip it in soy sauce or wasabi in a restaurant.  Yes, I'm talking to you Guy-Who-Mixes-His-Wasabi-In-His-Soy-Sauce.  You are ruining it!

2. Foie Gras.  (Image Courtesy of http://forkyou.files.wordpress.com)Were you a little lost when I mentioned foie gras of the sea when talking about Sea Urchin? Imagine something that has the mineral taste of liver muted with the most fantastically rich fatty flavor that rivals truffles.  Oh, does that disgust you?

Well then you're one of those people that won't miss it when California outlaws the production and sale of foie gras in the state.  Unlike me who will be a little cry baby and make all her future Las Vegas trips about fatty goose liver missions.

Foie gras is made by force feeding a duck or goose until it's liver becomes engorged and delicious.  Typically it's most commonly available as a pate.

I don't think that pate de foie is a good example of what amazing flavor high quality foie gras is about.  For the best experience, head to a french restaurant that does a seared foie accompanied with the right accouterments like rhubarbs whose tartness perfect juxtaposes against the fattiness of the liver.

3. Tomalley of female crustacean.  (Image Courtesy of http://lizziee.files.wordpress.com) Ok, so I have to make a disclaimer to not actually eat the yellow green liver stuff inside the heads of crustaceans because in some areas the level of toxins are too high to be consumed.  But I have a pretty good fish monger who knows where the crab comes from and whether or not that particular animal is safe.

What I am getting and do absolutely love is the roe found in the head of most crustaceans.  It's milky, salty goodness with a slight crunch factor only found in the little eggs of tasty sea creatures.

The easiest way?  Head over to your local Asian market with fish steaming and frying services, like 99 Ranch, have them pick out a female and steam it for you.  Take home and enjoy.

The tastiest way?  Find an Asian seafood market and restaurant.  My local favorite is Tan Cang on Bolsa in Garden Grove, CA.  Order it salt, pepper and jalapeno wok fried style with extra roe.  Yes, they will actually add in more roe sacks so that the ratio of roe to meat is even more delectable!

Oh man, these are so delicious everyone in the world should have some not just Southern California!  What are some of your favorite not-so-popular foods?

Paris Baguette

For my mom's birthday we purchased this strawberry cream cake from a bakery down the street from us.

kohlrabi

A large bin of kohlrabi from the exotic vegetable vendor at our local farmer's market.

Love Letter Salad

My husband's favorite pizza place is the Korean restaurant Love Letter. He usually orders to go but when you eat in they bring out a mixed cabbage salad topped with thousand island and siracha and a dabble of corn which has unlimited refills. Like so many things that look disgusting, it is so delicious.

Food Resolutions vs. Food Trends

Around this time of year as people are flocking to the gym to make good on their New Year's Resolutions, making promises to go vegetarian, vegan, localvore, etc. I've been thinking about Food-Life balance.

I mean, as an all cuisines loving foodie of course I need to watch my weight. That foie gras is not doing any favors to my figure. But how can I suppress my adventurous hunger without feeling like my diet is some kind of opressing dictator to be embraced rather than overthrown? We can't all be lovable 6 foot something travel show host Anthony Bourdain with what seems like a heaven sent metabolism.

Like Mr. Bourdain, however, I do have conflicting feelings about these food resolutions/trends that have become so ubiquitous in today's society in the name of health and beauty, especially in my Southern California Orange County/Los Angeles habitat. For instance, I have been vegetarian and vegan for periods of time in my life. My verdict? Great feeling, hot looking, less joyful.

You see, there is something deeply satisfying about the luxuries afforded by a no holds barred, try anything attitude towards food. My current diet? The EVERYTHINGvore. My husband now jokes that he can't take me to the zoo in fear that I'll wonder how I can get my hands on a delicious zebra steak. (I have no idea what zebra tastes like, I just know I haven't had it.)

But each of the aforementioned dietary choices have their own draw, things to learn and implement, adjustments for a better foodie lifestyle:

Vegetarianism: Veggies are good for you! Those purple artichokes aren't scary, they're Mother Nature's gift to your tastebuds! (I am talking to you Andrew Zimmern.) In the vegetarian based cultures in Asia you can find that lacking meat does not mean lacking flavors.

Love veggies for the flavors they actually impart, let them be the star instead of just the side dish every once and a while. A good place to start: Falafel anyone?

My vegetarian resolution is to make sure regardless of what I eat a 5 vegetable daily minimum will give me the benefits of the lifestyle without having to give up that sesos taco I've been thinking about all day.

Veganism: Vegans for one reason or another avoid eggs, dairy and other animal based byproducts. I believe the idea is that they might be questionable to your health or that the method of processing is inhumane to the animals the products come from.

Actually, I have a hard time with Veganism. I believe in survival of the fittest species. I don't feed bad for the blade of grass in the fields getting trampled on before eaten by a cow and I don't care that veal can't move and is being force fed milk.

The benefit of going Vegan is that you focus on the real ingredients that you're injesting. You would be surprised the amount of animal products found in what seem to be vegetable dishes in the food industry. Veganism forces you to eat as naturally as possible, as pure of ingredients as available and the most humane products.

My vegan resolution is to veer towards more natural ingredients and more humane producers of my animal products whenever possible. It doesn't hurt that grass fed meat is supposed to be much higher in Omega-3s and taste than it's corn-fed counterparts.

Raw Food: This is a fascinating trend where people trade in their stoves for a dehydrator. Needless to say, this is an extreme of veganism that has picked up steam because it's nearly impossible to be fat on this diet. Plus there's an element of spirituality that springs up when you have such control over your base food cravings that you can survive off vegetables, fruits and nuts alone.

I can't deny that many fruits and vegetables are most nutritious in their unadulterated forms. I'd take a raw untouched cherry over any cherry byproducts any day. Don't ask me to eat raw potatoes though, everyone knows they're better slathered in miscellaneous dairy products.

I have "Gone Raw" for a day or two here and there, even tried juicing in lieu of eating for about a week (which in fact is the fastest way EVER to drop lbs before a major event), and the real benefit is a retraining of one's tastebuds to pick up on the nuances of nature's pure flavors. The natural sweetness of fresh carrots, the unreal texture of a mushroom accompanied with an almost animal protien like flavor, the peppery goodness of freshly picked arugula. All these things once you taste them on the enlightened raw foodie tongue give you a deeper understanding of everday untouched ingredients. That's a great thing.

My Raw resolution is to try fruits and vegetables raw before tossing them into a heat source whenever possible as long as it doesn't kill me.

2005 Chateau de la Meuliere Premieres Cotes de Bourdeaux

Lately I've been obsessed with buying 2005 Bordeaux. I went to Bevmo! after a particularly successful afternoon of recruiting corporate partners for American Cancer Society and perused their reds finding 4 kinds of 2005 Bordeaux that were under $20 a bottle!

Josh and I had spent most of the day focused on a house we were going to put an offer in on. By the time the evening rolled around we found out that someone had bit over our offer and the ask price and were going to put 60% down. That beats our 20% and we were bummed.

Despite the somber occasion, we decided we would bring out the cheapest of the newly purchased Bourdeaux.

2005 Chateau de la Meuliere Premieres Cotes de Bourdeaux.

Here are the tasting notes:

Color: Deep purple, nice legs, consistent coloring.

Nose: Chocolatey, cherries, cinnamon spice, metered alcohol, pepper.

Taste: Charcoal, dirt, subtle finish, dry, very drinkable, low alcohol flavor, coffee.

Paired:

I usually have a plethora of cheese in my fridge so I thought I'd try each kind out paired with the bottle.

Irish blarney: Creamy, oily, almost waxy. Not a good combination.

Goat cheese: Creamy, tangy, starchy. Citrusy. Very delicious combination.

Port Salut: Creamy, heightens the acidity of the wine; that's new. Very good balance of creaminess and acidity. Mellows an already mellow finish.

Irish Shannon: Fruity, oily, salty, delicious with the bourdeux. Makes the Bordeaux more floral and the cheese creamier.

Sage Cheese: Sage almost onioney and garlicky, sharp finish. Aromatic, but the wine kills the flavor of the cheese. Heightens the acidity of the wine. Not a good combination.

Buttermilk Blue: Makes the wine smell sweeter. Tangy, sharp, creamy, pungent. Mellow and creamier than other blues. Makes wine smell like caramel.

Overall, the bottle began easy to drink, over time it became less pleasant. The Bordeaux lacked complexity and character. We will be keeping the second bottle we bought for another 5-14 years in hopes that it will age well. It seems that the maturity range for this particular vintage is 2012-2035