Breakaway Blog

NO SIN IN ZIN FOR BBQ!!

It's safe to say that virtually 100% of Americans (and especially Californians) are familiar with the barbecue and most can't wait to fire it up as the warm weather arrives. Whether it’s a traditional oak pit or smoker, briquettes on a hibachi, mesquite coals in a Weber kettle, or one of those fancy natural gas or propane rigs, nothing says “Summer is a Coming!” like a great meal centered around grilled or roasted proteins outside.

Now, I personally think that there is nothing better than a cold beer while you are in the process of barbecuing, but when it comes time to sit down and enjoy the fruits of your meaty labors, I prefer to pop the cork on a bottle of rich, spicy Zinfandel. And the best part is that the Central Coast AVA is no slouch when it comes to remarkable versions of this versatile wine.

Zinfandel is the quintessential California wine and its natural affinity to barbecued foods, wide range of flavors and diverse styles, makes it the perfect partner for any grill-fest.

Here are some quick facts so everyone can discover this perfect-match-for-the-barbecue wine, just in time for summer:

• Zinfandel is known as California's heritage grape and was introduced during the Gold Rush somewhere between 1852 and 1857. California is the largest grower of Zinfandel. Today, Zinfandel is the third most planted red wine grape variety in California, with more than 54,000 acres planted, according to the 2004 California Grape Acreage Report.

• Wildly popular in the U.S., Zinfandel has inspired a cult-like following with fan clubs, annual events and a non-profit association, ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates and Producers) to promote what many consider the original "California red." ZAP's online home, www.zinfandel.org, is a one-stop resource for all things Zinfandel.

• Zinfandel can range from a light, fruity blush wine to a strong red with ultra-intense pepper and jam. "Zin" is frequently blended with other grapes.

Red Zinfandel BBQ pairing suggestions:

There is just one Zinfandel grape, and depending on the winemaking techniques used, it can be made in a number of styles. When making "red" Zinfandel, the winemaker decides how long to let the juice remain in contact with the stems, seeds, and skins, which causes clear juice to assume the red color.

Zinfandel can be crafted as a fine red table wine that can be aged for several years or enjoyed soon after bottled. It can range from a light, fruity red wine to a strong red with ultra-intense pepper and jam and is renowned as a great partner for grilled and herbed meats. Red Zinfandel should be served at room temperature.

Popular descriptors for this wine include blackberry, raspberry, boysenberry, cherry, as well as black pepper, cloves, anise and herbs. These characteristics make red Zinfandel a great partner for grilled and herbed meats.

White Zinfandel BBQ pairing suggestions:

White Zinfandel is made from the same grape – its color is pink because the juice only stays in contact with the skins for a short period of time. White Zinfandel is known for its sweet, fruity flavor and pretty pink color. It's extremely versatile and can accompany a variety of foods while also great as an aperitif.

To craft White Zinfandel, grapes are picked early when sugar levels are low and color is not too intense. Skins are separated from the juice immediately after crush. Fermentation is stopped before all the sugar is converted into alcohol, leaving residual sugar in wine and a relatively low 10 to 11 percent alcohol content. This slightly sweet blush wine makes it a great partner for meats prepared in sweeter sauces or marinades. It's also a perfect aperitif or dessert wine.

Be sure to have Breakaway Tours add one (or all) of these Central Coast Wineries to your next Paso Robles tour so you can pick up a few bottles of their fantastic Zinfandel offerings for your next BBQ:

Eberle 2006 Zinfandel, Steinbeck/Wine Bush  - Eberle 2006 Zinfandel showcases two of Paso Robles finest Zinfandel vineyards: the reputable Steinbeck Vineyard contributes layers of sweet briar fruit with hints of earth and minerality blended with Wine Bush which offers robust color and rich, jammy flavors of prune, ripe blackberry and a peppery finish. This is an exquisite example of Zinfandel displaying a well-balanced combination of elegance with richness of fruit and depth making it a perfect wine to complement a variety of foods.

Lone Madrone Bailey Ranch Zinfandel

Gold Medal – 2009 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition!

Vibrant red fruit thrice over, and with conviction! Candied red apple, Olalla berry and cherry aromas, with notes of pepper and nutmeg, lead to a full, juicy red fruit palate supported by youthful tannins. Days of flavor slowly fade as a receding tide of crushed red fruit specked with red apple peel and pomegranate.

2007 J. Lohr Estate Zinfandel

The 2007 J. Lohr Estates Old Vines Zinfandel has a very attractive berry red color of moderate depth and youthful hues. The aroma is characterized by Zinfandel’s spicy and jammy red fruits. The raspberry and blackberry are complemented with licorice and black tea spice. The palate has a substantial, plump texture with mid-palate weight and fruitiness making a food friendly wine, but is particularly suited to casual fare such as grilled and herbed meats, zesty red-sauced pasta dishes, or even pizza.

Try a California Central Coast Zin with this classic (and easy)  Santa Maria Style BBQ recipe:

The roots of Santa Maria Style Barbeque extend back to the mid 1800s, when vast ranches unfolded across the foothills of the valley. Ranchers would host Spanish-style barbeques each spring using indigenous ingredients. In the early 1900s, the “style” of the local barbeque was further refined by local social clubs, as well as the many European ranchers who settled the area.

Traditional Santa Maria Style Barbeque begins with top-block sirloin or tri- tip—a cut discovered in the Santa Maria Valley. The beef is seasoned with a special garlic, salt and pepper mixture, then grilled over coals of red oak—native to the region. The meat is accompanied by pinquito beans— small pink beans that are indigenous to the valley—as well as bread, salsa and dessert often featuring fresh strawberries.

Ingredients

2-3 lbs tri-tip steak or bottom sirloin, liberally covered with dry rub (below)

Dry Rub Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

1 teaspoon Mexican oregano

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

Your favorite salsa

Technique:

Fire up the grill

Oil the Grate.

Cook the tri-tip about ten minutes on each side for medium rare.

Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes.

Slice thin against the grain and serve with salsa, borracho beans, warm tortillas, and salad.

Cheers!

Eric Hensel

Court of Master Sommeliers Certified Sommelier

Breakaway Tours and Event Planning Wine Tour Guide

 

You can’t judge a wine by its Tasting Room

At Breakaway Tours and Event Planning, we are constantly on the lookout for the next best thing in the Central Coast Wine Country to share with our clients. Throughout more than 14 years of guided wine tours in the Central Coast AVA, we have taken clients to a variety of tasting rooms and vineyards.

They have been as opulent and expansive as the facilities at Robert Hall (Paso Robles), Firestone (Santa Ynez), and Edna Valley Vineyards (Edna Valley). Others are more conservative, but speak to an adherence to the winery's historical connection, such as the hand hewn construction at Lone Madrone (Paso Robles), the rice straw bale construction at the barrel and tasting room at Claiborne & Churchill (Edna Valley), or the nearly 100 year old school house turned tasting room at Baileyana/Tangent (also Edna Valley).

Something new on our radar screen at Breakaway Tours proves that you don’t need a palatial tasting room, or a more agrarian or historical setting to craft and market excellent wines. One of our newest stops on the Paso Robles trek takes us to an industrial park just off of Hwy 46 in Paso Robles. That’s right!  An industrial  park!  This unassuming location off the beaten “wine trail” is home to Barrel 27.

Barrel 27 is the passion of winemakers McPrice “Mac” Myers and Russell From. Reviewing their mission statement you will find that these guys understand that we all work hard, and that life happens: “Our goal is to make wine that works hard at helping hard working America relax for a minute, take a load off, and remove the nose from the grindstone for a while. We hope you enjoy them.”  They seek out the best Rhone varietal fruit (Syrah, Grenache, Viognier, Rousanne, Marsanne) as well as Pinot Noir, Tempranillo, and Petite Verdot from some of the finest vineyards along the Central Coast. Then they are classically fermented, lovingly aged, blended, bottled and marketed all from their cozy industrial park location.

What more could you ask for? Amazing Rhone varietal wines and blends, crafted from grapes sourced from all over the Central Coast, produced and marketed in a manner designed to keep value at the forefront, and a head turning up and coming reputation recognized by no less than Wine Spectator (10 Emerging California Rhone Producers, March 2009).

Ask Breakaway Tours and Event Planning to include Barrel 27 on your next trip through the Paso Robles wine country. In the mean time, try this delicious pairing with one of Barrel 27’s amazing Rhone bedrock varietals, Grenache:

2006 Barrel 27 "Rock and a Hard Place", Central Coast Grenache:

Winemaking team Mac Myers and Russell From have long searched for that perfect vineyard (or two), that would yield a Grenache worthy of Barrel 27. That search has ended. The result is a stunningly beautiful wine with a medium ruby-black color and a captivating nose of sweet raspberry, milk chocolate, hibiscus, Logan berry, cranberry and caramelized sugar beet. On the palate, the wine shows the same pure red fruit characters filled out with notes of black tea and orange rind with a hint of vanilla. Soft and rich, with beautiful, broad mid palate, the wine's fruit and spice notes continue to build through the long, long finish. Certainly one of the best Grenaches made in California.

 Lamb Shanks with Wild Mushroom Sauce Recipe
4 Servings

Ingredients

• 4 American lamb shanks, (about 1 pound each)
• 1 cup flour, for dusting
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 pound wild mushrooms (such as shiitake, oyster or chanterelle)
• ½ cup red wine
• 2 cups lamb stock*
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped (or ½ teaspoon dried)
• Salt and pepper to taste

* A high-quality vegetable stock could be substituted
for the lamb stock.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dredge the lamb shanks in the flour, then set aside. In a roasting pan on the stove over high heat, heat the olive oil until smoking hot. Add the lamb shanks and brown them well, 4 or 5 minutes per side. Add the garlic and mushrooms, and sauté until the mushrooms are tender, 3 or 4 minutes. Add the wine and cook for another 3 or 4 minutes, or until the wine has evaporated. Add the stock and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Add the rosemary, salt and pepper to taste.

Cover the roasting pan with a lid or aluminum foil and place it in the oven. Bake until the lamb is tender, 1 to 1½ hours. Serve the lamb shanks with the wild mushroom sauce accompanied by rice.

CHEERS!

Eric G. Hensel

Court of Master Sommeliers Certified Sommelier

Breakaway Tours Wine Guide

Asparagus, Leeks and Wine? Oh my!

Well, Spring has arrived and the buds are breaking all up and down the Central Coast AVA! As you ponder which of the 10 counties and more than 90,000 acres of Vinifera to visit first this year, don’t forget to include some of our local product on your Easter menu. The variety and quality of the Central Coast wine region makes it easy to complement and enhance almost anything that will be featured on the family table next Sunday. Try your hand at this tasty and easy starter. Many wine lovers would have a difficult time suggesting a wine for quiche, let alone a quiche with the "Sommelier’s Nemesis" of asparagus and leeks.

Breakaway from the pack and show your prowess by complementing this dish with one (or more) of the following Central Coast offerings:

2007 Claiborne & Churchill Dry Riesling, Edna Valley:

Like its sister wines from the 2007 harvest (the Dry Gewürztraminer and the Pinot Gris) it shows a rich, ripe, and intense fruit. From its honeysuckle aromas to its peaches-and-cream flavors, it is perhaps the most opulent Dry Riesling they’ve made, bigger and more full-bodied, viscous and mouth-filling, with a finish that seems to go on forever.

2006 Mer Soleil Silver Chardonnay, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey County:

Light gold color with a pale green tint. Clean and unoaked, with lively aromas of honeydew melon and green apple carry over to delicate tropical fruit flavors of pineapple and papaya, balanced with crisp mineral notes. The full texture lasts through a luxuriously long finish.

2004 Laetitia Vineyards Brut Coquard Sparkling Wine, Arroyo Grande:

Using the classic Méthode Champenoise, this predominantly Pinot Noir sparkler imparts depth and structure to the wine a bit of Chardonnay gives the wine a rich mouthfeel, elegant citrus flavors and multilayered acidity.

Asparagus and Leek Quiche

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (or Butter)
1 Leek
• 1 lb Asparagus
• 4 large eggs
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• 1 3/4 cups half & half
• 1 Cup shredded Gruyere cheese (4 ounces)
• 1 pie crust (or store bought for convenience) well chilled

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in lowest position. Cut off woody ends of asparagus then cut in small pieces on the diagonal. Wash leek carefully, and cut the white and light green part of the leek in half, then thinly slice. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add leek and asparagus and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until asparagus is crisp-tender, about 6-8 minutes. Let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, nutmeg, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper. Place piecrust on rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle in cheese, top with asparagus/leek mixture, then pour the egg mixture on top of that. Bake until center of quiche is just set, about 50-60 minutes, and rotate the sheet halfway through. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

To store, let cool, then refrigerate up to one day. Reheat at 350 until warm, about 30 minutes.

Have some fun with these pairings by asking your friends and guests what they would suggest as a wine pairing for a chessy egg dish with asparagus and leeks. If they crash and burn, don't be cruel! Be their "Sommelier for the Day" and share the following information with them: both asparagus and artichokes can be difficult to pair with a wine.  For instance, artichokes contain the compound cynarin, which tricks people’s taste buds into perceiving flavors that aren’t really present. For most people, cynarin creates sweetness where there isn’t any, meaning that a tart, fresh wine like a Sancerre will taste strangely, unpleasantly sweet. (For a few people, the cynarin reaction is reversed and makes other foods taste peculiarly bitter.)

Asparagus contains methyl mercaptan, a sulfur compound, which tends to give wine a vegetal character. Add the leeks to asparagus, and they interact in a peculiar way. Some of the best choices are crisp, high acid fruity wines, rose if you must have red, and be sure to stay away from any oak.

Cheers!

Eric G. Hensel

Court Of Master Sommeliers Certified Sommelier

Breakaway Tours Wine Guide