SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT - WINE GIN!

            Alex Villicana is on to something, or at least 94.9% of something. He and his wife Monica started planting their vineyard in 1996 and after an attempt with Chardonnay, they discovered a truism for much of the Paso Robles area - it was too warm at their site, so they grafted over those vines to Rhone varietals.

As every grower or hopeful winery operator knows, they needed a market for the product. Part of the winemaking process often used in the Rhone is the bleeding off of some juice prior to starting fermentation to aid concentration of flavor. As with many agricultural byproducts, finding a use for that excess juice might be a business opportunity. In Villicana's case, this was a significant part of the yield from his available tonnage. Thus was born Re:Find Distillery.

As we all know, the government loves to regulate things. Alcohol is one of its favorites, putting a "sin" tax and lots of rules along every step of the way from production to consumption. Alex discovered a favorable unintended consequence. Wineries are allowed to make brandy from their grapes, with a controlled level of alcohol. As long as the distilled spirit does not reach 95% alcohol, and it is derived from grapes, it is legally a brandy. an allowed use. So, they pull the neutral result of brandy distillation just short of that mark. This can then be treated and aged for flavoring, as has been done for many years with other fruit infused versions of grape based spirits.

Getting the heart of the ethanol fraction of the total alcohols available means a loss of about 50% of the initial volume of juice. The juice is fermented to about 17% before a first run through the condenser, raising the total alcohol to the 40% vicinity but retains the "heads & tails". Those are the unwanted components such as methanol and acetone that bracket the desired neutral spirit. The final distillation completes that separation.

In this case, the resulting spirit is either bottled as a neutral brandy or is flavored with botanicals, much like gin in terms of the end flavor profile, and is sold as a botanical brandy. Voila! It took several years of development and paperwork that led to a 60 gallon copper still, heated by steam, brought over from Germany. After some trial runs, Villicana found that the larger Rhone grapes, when well ripened gave the taste he liked and produced a soft and pleasing beverage. The unflavored version is much like a triple distilled vodka and carries a trace of the fruit onto the palate.

Alex hopes to see a six hundred case level of production soon and sells the result at the winery or on line at refinddistillery.com or check out their wines at villicanawinery.com. The future may hold a rye based offering, growing his own flavoring botanicals at the winery and experimenting with other flavors in the infusions.

TWO MORE SITES OF INTEREST WITH UPCOMING PARTIES!

            Central Coast Garagistes (garagistefestival.com) - This is not quite the same model as the groups dedicated to marketing tasting rooms, direct to consumer and wine club sales. The Festival is really the only "organized" part of the concept. This is the second year of the event, which takes its name from the Bordeaux term (somewhat like garage bands) in the U.S.) for those making small lots of wine in their sheds or cellars. The event, in its second year is held in Paso Robles and proceeds support the Cal Poly SLO wine program.

The founders estimate there are upwards of 200 garagiste style makers on the central coast. This is defined as less than 1,200 case production but many are much smaller. They point out that about sixty percent of the labels in the area have no tasting room and what sales there are come from mailing lists and word of mouth.

Many of the winemakers are actively working at larger wineries and others are growers who want a little wine of their own. They often have access to space and equipment at local wineries rather than slaving away in a cold shack ala France and produce flavorful, well made small lots of artisanal wine that reflects a personal style, lesser known varietals or special terroir.

The Festival is the only public opportunity to try many of these wines, as well as a chance to meet some talented and interesting folks dedicated to their craft. It will be held Saturday and Sunday, November 10th & 11th with a Grand Tasting ($60 with VIP option) at Windfall Farms. Forty eight garagiste labels will be involved. Go to the web site above for details.     

 Monterey Vintners & Growers Association (montereywines.org) – Includes 40 members of the approximately 85 wineries in the county. This is a great source of information on the unique aspects of the AVA (and the various subsets) as well as for travel tips for this very popular area. One feature is "Three Perfect Days" a long weekend type of getaway that is pre-planned to maximize all the area has to offer, including great food, a world class aquarium and lots of delicious wines, spas and a wide selection of lodging options.

On Saturday, November 10 from 1-4 PM, the champions of Monterey Wine Country will host a “Party in the Hangar” at the Del Monte Aviation Center’s private hangar (at the Monterey Airport) to pour local wines for gourmands and wine lovers who want to experience the essence of this burgeoning California wine region alongside fun, delectable dishes made from locally-sourced ingredients.

A VIP ticket will include early entry, a Riedel tasting glass, and access to an exclusive Bubble Lounge, where Monterey sparkling wines and caviar will be offered. A Sparkling Winemaker Discussion Panel will be hosted by Steve Heimoff, West Coast Editor of Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

Party in the Hangar is touted as an opportunity to witness the exceptional quality and flavors from Monterey Wine Country. The MCVGA, whose members represent nine distinct American Viticulture Areas (AVAs) and forty-two winegrape varietals grown throughout the county. For tickets and details see montereywines.org

CORRECTIONS/ADDITIONS TO THE PRIOR POSTING

In the haste to put out some information on the upcoming events, there were a couple of errors and omissions I want to correct.

In the brief comments about the history of some of the 46 East group, it was mentioned that Meridian had recently changed name; the full label is now Cellar 360.

The correct web address for 46 West Wineries  should have been shown as paso46westwineries.com. The following information was accidently omitted in the description of the wineries involved: Seventeen producers make up the marketing group and, while a fairly small percentage of the wineries on the west side, offer a passport tour. Visit seven or fourteen of those in the group, get your passport map stamped and receive one or two tickets to the 46 West neighborhood block party events, held on a regular basis. Most of these vintners are also in the PRWCA, as are the majority of west side wineries and some are also in the Far Out group profiled in an earlier posting.

SOME ADDITIONS TO THE PART ONE LIST

46 East Wineries (pasorobleswinerieseast.com)  - Not a large group of wineries (13) but some large and well known producers are mixed in with some smaller gems that begin just east of Hwy 101 and are easily found right along Hwy 46E or just off it on parallel roads. This was where many of the original vintners and growers began the Paso wine boom. Either planting ranch land to acres of grapes destined for the big brands or starting new wine labels such as Estrella, Eberle and Martin Brothers. Eberle continues successfully, Estrella became Meridian and recently changed to 360, Martin Brothers picked up a partner, failed and its tasting room is now operated by LA based San Antonio, the winery itself is now a Chinese owned operation, focused on exports for distribution in China.

46 West Wineries (46west.com) - Starting about a five minute drive west of Hwy 101 and extending just a few miles to Vineyard Dr., there is a concentration of wineries that easily rival parts of Napa Valley for density. On the main road, Hwy 46, and on side roads to both the north and south, more than four dozen wineries are cheek by jowl.

Back Roads Wineries (backroadswineries.com) - This group includes 25wineries on the east side of Paso Robles, most of which are off the well beaten path of highway 46 and smaller producers than the 46E group. There are some excellent member wineries and on fun and scenic roads to travel. The main group is located north and south of Hwy 46 on side roads, see map on the web site.

Event Notes for these organizations - Friday October 19 is set for the first Taste of the Back Roads event. Fifteen wineries will be pouring, olive oils from the area are also available for tasting and a panel of winemakers will hold a seminar & tasting from 5 to 6PM. Music and food is included and ticket details are available on the above web site.

The 46 East group is sponsoring a motorcycle Poker Run on Oct 27/28 to benefit Zoo To You, an animal education foundation. They will have animal ambassadors in each of the 13 wineries. A game board can be purchased at any winery for a $20 donation. Best Costume awards with additional discounts are part of the fun, so dress in your scary best. More info is on their web site.

PRWCA (details at pasowine.com) will hold its final local event of the year, Harvest Wine Weekend, on Oct 19/20th. There are over 120 events planned with most wineries doing their own food-wine=music parties and wine sales and special tastings are common. An online brochure is available at the web address above.

VINO ROLLS OUT HARVEST 2012 ISSUE AT TASTING

            The wine lifestyle publication VINO , hosted its latest group of Rockstar Winemakers at an issue roll-out and tasting last Friday. The winemakers pouring, and profiled in the harvest edition of the magazine, included; Joey Arnold of Pozo Valley, Lood Kotze from Cass Vineyards, Carmine Rubino and Mike Mooney of D'Anbino and Chateau Margene/Moody Family wineries respectively. Halter Ranch's Kevin Sass and Guillaume Fabre from Clos Solene L'Aventure were also included in the six "rockstars" in the latest issue. The (dare I say) pressing demands of harvest kept them from participating in the tasting but are wineries with which I am familiar. Check out the group on line or in print and plan to add a visit to your next tasting tour of the area.

Without going into a lot of tasting note details, it was a great group of winemakers with vastly different methods of entering the business. Pozo remains a working family cattle ranch and offered a selection of 2006 Zin, Cab and Black Rock blend. It is rare to see that vintage being poured or even for sale in these days of three years and out the door being the standard sales cycle. Yes, Joey told me, "I have the hat and we still have the cattle.

Carmine uses his music production background and that of his nephew/partner John D'Andrea to style his wines with musical references on the labels at D' Anbino. These included Quadrophonic '07, a four wine Bordeaux blend that adds Syrah to the mix and a Syrah, Cab &Petite Syrah combination, Orchestration '07.

Lood (a South African moniker) opened the Cass '09  Flying Nymph, a blend combining Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache. Other recent Rhone bottlings were also sampled and he discussed his formal education in wine and travels throughout the world in perfecting his skills.

Mike Mooney came from a corporate tech sales background and is determined to make a very few thousand cases of really nice Pinot (under the Family label) and Cabernet with the occasional experiment with other varietals just to keep things interesting at Chateau Margene. Meritage and a super Tuscan style are offered as Chateau Margene while Rhone varietals fall under the Moody Family label.

RESOURCES (PART ONE) FOR PLANNING TOURS & TASTINGS

            Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance (pasowine.com) – The PRWCA is the organization  that represents the largest group of wineries in the region. It is a membership group that markets the destination on a national basis and is responsible for several large wine events throughout the year. The web site is very well done and a great tool for those coming to area and locals alike. Tour planning, maps and in depth profiles of wineries are there as well as lodging options and dining recommendations. Details on events and ticketing is also included. There is so much to tell, I'll do a separate posting on the organization soon. When looking at the site, just know that only about 50% of the area wineries are members. There are four other Paso centric subset organizations, shown below.

            Far Out Wineries (faroutwineries.com) - This is a group that promotes nearly 20 wineries on the western fringe of the AVA or along the Adelaida and Peach Canyon roads the connect Paso to Vineyard Rd., the westernmost north-south connector. They offer a brochure specific to the touring of their "out there" neighbors.

            Paso chapter of Rhone Rangers (RhoneRangers.org & email pasorobles@ rhonerangers.org) - Is a state wide organization dedicated to Rhone varietals and Paso Robles is a major grower of the well and lesser known wine grapes they promote. There are over four dozen wineries in the area that focus on these wines and most are members of the local chapter. While many also make wine from non-Rhone types, they are a good resource for those seeking to focus on that style. A tasting pamphlet for the group is available.  

            Pleasant Valley Wine Trail (pleasantvalleywinetrail.com) – Pleasant Valley is in the NE corner of the Paso Robles AVA and is easily reached via San Miguel off Hwy 101. Most are small family operations and some have limited hours of tasting room operations. Check the web site. Currently, there are ten member wineries.

            Union Road Wine Trail (unionroadwinetrail.com) - This small group of wineries is located on a road parallel to E Hwy 46 and offers some quality wines that are often passed by due to the large number of well known wineries on the highway. A dozen wineries are in the group, including a port style producer. Close together, they are a great side trip from the beaten path, mostly small and quiet with sometimes limited hours. The exception is the locally popular and old-west-raucous tasting room at Tobin James, open daily and usually busy with multiple tasting bars.

            Cambria Wine Trail - Likely the shortest set of wineries to comprise a trail, the four wineries involved seem to no longer run a web site. But all are within a couple of blocks of each other in downtown for those enjoying the lovely beach village of Cambria. The individual wineries can be found at Black Hand, Moonstone, Red Poets & Skyhawk Lane.

            Paso Robles Wine Grape Growers Association (pasorobleswinegrapes.com) - This organization is a trade group and the local branch of the International Grape Growers, a viticultural group dedicated to improving the quality of wine grapes and farming practices. They are a good source of information in that field and on current methods in use in the Paso Robles AVA. They do have social events as well and non-members are welcome. These are posted on their web page.

ON THE CALENDAR

Well, it's good to be back and blogging after nearly a month of tech headaches. But, new laptop and operating systems are now up and running and I'm trying to catch up.

Here are some of the big fun events coming up in the next week or two.

            VINO is rolling out the latest edition of its wine lifestyle magazine this Friday (21st) in conjunction with a "Rock Star Winemakers" tasting. Join the juice jockeys from 3 to 5PM at the Niblick Rd. Albertsons in Paso Robles. On hand will be winemakers from Pozo Valley, L'Adventure/Clos Solene, Cass, Chateau Margene, D'Anbino and Halter Ranch. Tastings of recent releases are available for those of legal age, and autographed bottles will be offered for sale. VINO is also developing a web site at www.vinopasorobles.com.

            Savor the Central Coast (www.savorcentralcoast.com), a major annual gathering of wine and food fans, takes place beginning Thursday the 27th and runs through Sunday.  The main location is Santa Margarita Ranch but events include many locations in the region.

Celebrating three years with Sunset Magazine as the title sponsor, the festivities include celeb chefs such as Susan Feniger of Mandalay Bay and Food Network stars Aarti Sequeira from Aarti's Party and Ted Allen from Chopped. The event has an array of events (many of which have sold out), beginning with a gourmet kick off dinner at Hearst Castle on Thursday. The 28th features a variety of small group adventure tours, with some still having openings, plus the international wine competition and grand tasting in Pismo Beach. This includes a dinner (also sold out) but still has room for the reception and after party available.

The Sat/Sun main event, with tickets available for $85 per day or $150 the weekend, provides access to the primary public tasting and associated seminars for a $20 charge from the menu of topics covered. Local residents can check the box when buying tickets and receive a 15% discount for the main event. Check the web site for those listings and various cooking demonstrations and contest style shows. Tickets remain for the Santa Maria BBQ seminar on Saturday (2PM) and the Lamb Jam at 2:30 on Sunday.

One of the still open (50 slots remain as of this writing) events could well be the most fun and a huge value. Known as Paso Glow, it is a wine/beer garden plus Santa Maria style BBQ event with a group of well regarded local chefs from restaurants such as Villa Creek, Thomas Organics, Paso Robles Inn and Artisan, features meats from Harris Ranch and the mobile smokehouse of the Dean Brothers. Grammy award winning recording artists Rio Salinas will provide a Tex-Mex groove for your dancing pleasure. Starting at 6 in the evening, the cost is only $75!

Mary Ann, event marketing guru, suggests you plan early for next year if your favorite event has booked to the max this year! I still see many opportunities remain for a great weekend of Central Coast culture at the main event and a few openings remaining for the Friday adventure tours. These run from 10 to 2 and include lunch with wine.

            Fans of things that fly, including one of the original flying wing concepts, are looking forward to the Warbirds Over Paso airshow (www.ewarbirds.org). Held at the Paso Robles airport's Estrella Warbirds Museum (with co-sponsor Planes of Fame Museum) on Saturday the 29th, gates open at 8AM. Children under 12 and active military with ID are free. The $20 regular admission fee provides access to the car museum and static aircraft display as well as fly-overs and the opportunity to see a variety of WWII fighters and bombers. Some aircraft are offering ride-along opportunities. Food and beverage vendors will be on hand, including a Firestone-Walker beer garden, to sustain all the pilots, vets and those who fly or wish they could.