SLO Vintners Harvest Celebration Grand Tasting
(L) Avila Beach Golf Resort (R) Ortman Winery breaking French law because they can
A few minutes after we sat back in our beach chairs to enjoy the release of a local Beaujolais-type wine beneath the palm trees and sunny skies of Avila Beach Golf Resort, the fog came creeping in on its little haunches.
Donning fleecy jackets over shorts and sundresses, most of the folks gathered for this annual food and wine-tasting event seemed prepared for and undisturbed by the change in weather.
Maybe the lines got a little longer for the piquant chowder being served by Cracked Crab and the caramel cappuccinos offered by Cafe Andreini.
But for the most part, the hundreds of tasters happily enjoyed their wine and choice morsels, such as falling-off-the-bone maple-smoked ribs from Apple Farm, The Park’s “local market” Spanish stew, and an intriguing lamb paella from Epic Catering.
Overall, however, there were a few too many “nacho” type samples, making for a sameness and lack of creativity in the foods offered, but the wine made up for it.
Our Chutzpah Award goes to . . .
Our Chutzpah Award goes to the Ortman Family Winery, which brazenly broke French law by serving their bright and spritzy Beaujolais Nouveau before November 15th. And they had the t-shirts to prove it. “Breaking French Law, Because We Can,” the bold red-orange tees proudly proclaimed. Laissez les bons temps rouler!
Ortman’s 06 Cuvee Eddy, a Syrah blend, was another fun wine, its spicy vanilla tones pairing well with the House of Bread’s cinnamon walnut slices. So it didn’t surprise me a bit that everybody from the Dallas Cowboys to Rachael Ray and the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience has been praising Ortman wines.
Food offerings included no desserts that we could find, but Kelsey See Canyon Vineyards was serving a yummy Port made from Paso Robles Zinfandel grapes. This jewel goes through three fortifications, slowing down the fermentation so it doesn’t lose its fruit profile – a hard-to-control, risky process. But they pulled it off by luck, magic, skill – or a combination of all three.
Kelsey also served some fun novelty wines – a Sparkling Syrah with spicy molasses and vanilla flavors. Gingerbread lovers, take note.
And being located in See Canyon, which is known for its great apples, the Kelseys do a funky Apple Merlot, made with their own fruits -- probably, like the Ortman fmaily, because they can. Finally, there is their SLO Gin Fizz, a sparkling white Zinfandel.
And Lest I Neglect the Whites
Baileyana grapes loving that fog
Claiborne and Churchill were offering their hallmark Alsace-modeled Dry Riesling, which provides full fruit-ness without sweetness. Sometimes the stone dry Rieslings can be too acidic, but this one was just nice and crisp. They also make a Dry Gewurztraminer.
Wolffe Vineyards, Baileyana Winery and Tantara Winery were each serving some terrific Chardonnays. The Wolffe bouquet was delightful. Tantara’s chard derives its balanced not-too-oaky quality from an 80:20 oak/stainless steel combination. And Baileyana’s rich, lemony chard is an amazing value. You can sometimes find it on sale around town at prices barely in the double digits! I’ve had wines that cost twice that much but were only half as good.
Apologies for the scant coverage of whites here, but the marine layer that seeped in from the ocean had a chilling effect on my taste buds. Fortunately, the South County grapes love it (Click on the “Q&A” button on the left side of this page to read about my weather-induced palate idiosyncrasies.) .