Breakaway Blog

February 2008 Recipe & Wine Pairing: Jambalaya & Rose

In an effort to continue the celebrations, here is a New Orleans style dish in honor of Mardi Gras. Enjoy!

Ingredients
3/4 pound smoked sausage, such as andouille, sliced into rounds
1 large red pepper, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 scallions, sliced
1/2 cup coarsely chopped parsley
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
1 1/2 cups long grain rice
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size chunks
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
3 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preparation
Sauté the sausage in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until lightly browned. Remove and set aside. Add the red pepper to the Dutch oven; sauté 2 minutes. Add the celery, scallions, parsley, garlic, and thyme, stirring well. Cook another 3 minutes, then add the rice, still stirring. Add the chicken, combining well. Reduce heat to low and cook 5 minutes. Stir in the sausage, tomatoes, broth, bay leaves, salt, black pepper, and cayenne. Cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes or until the rice is done. Stir in the shrimp and lemon juice and cook until the shrimp are just done, another 3 to 5 minutes. Serve warm. Yields eight servings.

Wine Pairing
Garretson Wine Company’s 2005 "The Celeidh" Dry Rosé, Paso Robles

Yes, You Can Reuse Wine Corks!

All these years we’ve been told that we can’t reuse wine corks. Well, that is not entirely true. Sure, we can’t reuse them for their original purpose, as a wine closure, but with a little creativity and the inspiration of a great glass of wine, all things are possible. I was recently inspired while reading an article in Wine Enthusiast Magazine about how microbreweries were using neutral wine barrels for the aging of beer. For example, Vinne Cilurzo in California’s Russian River Valley is using old Chardonnay barrels to age their blonde ale and Pinot Noir barrels for their ambers. Genius!

Taking matters into my own hands, I’ve been creating art (art being a subjective term) and other items with some of my used wine corks. The result, a guitar mural made out of wine corks, several business card holders and the not so creative corkboard. I also use my favorite empty wine bottles as vases to hold single roses from my garden. I’ve heard that sustainability needs to happen as a grass routes movement. Any other ideas of how we can reuse our wine bottles or corks at home?

Good News!

A recent TIA survey on culinary tourism shows that the future is bright for our foodie friends and wine enthusiasts. The survey showed that 17% of American leisure travelers participated in some sort of culinary or wine-related travel in the past three years. The survey also showed that the number of people interested in culinary based travel has increased to 60%, which is much higher than the current number of culinary travelers. Why is this great news? With growing interest in the area of culinary travel, the quality and diversity of our nationally and internationally recognized wine regions will grow and prosper. This will in turn bring more opportunities to the table for our fellow wine enthusiasts.

Here is some more great news. According to the study, wine and culinary experiences are a big driver in a traveler’s consideration of destination choice. Types of culinary tourism with the greatest focus include winery tours, tasting local wines and touring popular wine trails. Can you see where I’m going with this? It seems as though Breakaway’s private and custom wine tours in the Santa Ynez, Edna Valley and Paso Robles wine regions are in line with what our fellow wine lovers are looking for. Wine is our passion and we look forward to sharing this with more culinary travels in the future.

Bye Bye Firestone, Hello Foley!

Firestone Winery, the first to create estate wines in the Santa Ynez Wine Region has sold not only its estate winery in Santa Ynez and Paso Robles, but its name as well. Foley Wine Group, which owns Foley, Santa Ynez and LinCourt Wineries in Santa Ynez, has taken over rightful ownership and is now the biggest wine conglomerate in that wine region. Both of the Firestone Wineries will keep their name and their excellent staff, so much will seem unchanged. All except the absence of our delightful celebrity Andrew Firestone whose fame was made on the ABC show The Bachelor. Now, your best chance at finding the family that has made its mark on the region since 1972 is at their boutique Curtis Winery and at the Firestone Breweries.

Edward Sellers, What a Treat!

This Saturday I stumbled upon the Edward Sellers tasting room in downtown Paso Robles. Conveniently located a block from the central park, I highly recommend stopping by and tasting their absolutely delicious wines. I walked out with the 05 Cognito, Sarah and Le Theif.

Not only are their wines delightful, but their people are a real treat. While we tasted, we were joined by the winemaker Amy Butler who offered insight on the wines and the industry in general. The tasting room manager Kendall also shared information on their vineyards in Paso Robles and offered us incredible hospitality. All together, Edwards Sellers offered a wonderful wine tasting experience to our group. If you would like to discover Edwards Sellers for yourself, let us take you there!

Congratulations to the Garretson Wine Company!

Food & Wine Magazine recently released their top white wine blends of 2007 and named Garretson Wine Company’s 2005 G White in their top three examples. Priced at a modest $14 per bottle and located in Paso Robles, we are proud to celebrate the good news. It is always a treat when our neighbors are recognized on a national level. Congratulations! Let's all  celebrate with a glass, shall we?

15 Degrees C Grand Opening

Imagine a place where you can taste local, west coast and international wines before you buy them while sampling world class cheeses, nuts and chocolates. Did I mention you can also taste and purchase specialty beer and sake? The place is called 15 Degrees C, named after the ideal chilling temperature of wine, and it's located near the Paso Robles wine region in Templeton, CA. This weekend was the Grand Opening and it was phenomenal! The store itself is very modern, with a wine bar on one side and bottles for purchase on the other side. The owners Ali and Alison are very knowledgeable about their products and are the type of people you want to share a glass of wine with. I highly recommend stopping by the store to have a glass and browse the wonderful selection of wines, beers and sake. Also, don’t forget to ask them about their tasting and cooking classes.

http://15degreescwines.com/

The Central Coast in Wine Spectators Top 100

Every year Wine Spectator magazine releases its top 100 wines of the year. The wines are rated by judges and then given a correlating score. Of the wines that made the top 100 list for 2007, 20 were from California. Of those 20 California wines, four were chosen from our very own Central Coast wine region. Not too shabby considering the monster regions to the north of us. The four wines are:

#29: (92 Points) Wolff Vineyard, Chardonnay, Edna Valley, Mount Eden 2004
#41: (93 Points) Four Vines, Petite Sirah, Paso Robles, The Heretic 2004
#58: (94 Points) Alban, Syrah, Edna Valley, Alban Estate Reva 2005
#82: (92 Points) Loring, Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills, Clos Pepe Vineyard 2005

It is always fun to see our local wineries make the list, but I usually don’t give too much weight to the scorings and point allocations of wine. The truth is, we all have our own unique palates and I always encourage that we follow our own taste buds. If you would like visit these wineries and taste for yourself, let us know and we’ll be happy to take you. =)

Happy New Years Eve!

For many of us, the popping sound of Champaign and sparking wines will fill our ears around the stroke of twelve. While we sing and kiss our loved ones, Champaign and sparkling wines of all varieties will be enjoyed to toast the New Year. On the Central Coast, we are fortunate to have several local sparkling wines to choose from including Laetitia Winery's Brut collection of seven sparkling wines, Claiborne and Churchill’s Brut Rose and Kelsey See Canyon’s SLO Zin Fizz. 

By the time we open our bubbly tonight, it is predicted that the sales of sparkling wine will have grown by 6 percent this year while wine sales will have grown by 5 percent. The reason for the increase is attributed to the consumption of bubbly year round, not just for holidays and special occasions. The popularity of sparking rose and targeting marketing have also attributed to the sales increase. So, it seems as though we will be seeing a lot more bubbly in the future. I’ll toast to that!

Cheers and Happy New Years!

December in Edna Valley

December in the Edna Valley wine region is beautiful. The leaves are changing and the colors are spectacular. Here are a few pictures I took yesterday at Kelsey See Canyon Vineyards and Winery. Enjoy!

One of Kelsey Canyon's famous peacocks looking for grapes in the vineyard.

A row of their estate chardonnay vines.

Grapes left on the vine.