Cima Collina

Archive for the ‘Food & Wine’ Category

Cima Collina will be at the Pinot Days event in Chicago on November 14th-15th. If you want to attend this wonderful event, please go to their website and enter the code “Collina” to get a 10% discount on tickets! Please be advised that the number of discounts available is limited.

Winemaker’s Dinner

I will be present and pouring Cima Collina at Christopher’s on Lincoln, in Carmel-by-the-Sea this Friday at 7:00. Christopher’s is one of my favorite local restaurants (chef owned and operated), and Christopher himself is a James Beard award-winning chef. Great food, great atmosphere, great service. Tickets are available at: montereywines.org.

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Hello All — I’ve taken a little break here, at least somewhat. We hosted our annual harvest party at Hilltop Ranch this past Saturday. The weather was wonderful, the band — “The Furry Chaps” — a fun, local bluegrass band kept us all entertained; all in all, quite good fun. We brought in the last load of grapes on October 10 — a mix of Bordeaux varietals (Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, Malbec, Merlot) from Lockwood Oaks. I kept the Malbec separate for a possible small bottling next year, but all the others are a “field blend” in one of our bigger tanks and all of it is just now coming into the homestretch — in other words finishing primary fermentation. We have drained and pressed a few tanks of Pinot so far — as soon as I’m done with this entry, I will drain a tank — but will dedicate ourselves more to that task next week……

Winemaker’s Dinner: Friday, November 7 at 7pm.

Yes, We’ve made a Port (all of 25 cases). I’ve had so many people ask for one, and I have played around with different varietals (traditional port varietals are difficult to come by here in Monterey — as they should be) and came up with this. I got the brandy for the fortification part of it from Germain-Robin up in Redwood Valley. Personally I do not like or drink sweet wines, and admit I had a difficult time separating my personal and professional judgements on this one, so this is neither as sweet nor as alcoholic as a traditional port. I have poured it at a few events recently and people seem to really like it — even those like myself who don’t like sweet wines. So, I’m getting a label created for it and it will go on sale in our tasting room sometime mid-November.

• Posted in Cima Collina, Food & Wine, Harvest, News & Happenings, Winemaking, Wines
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I am one of the founding board members of the Monterey Bay Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier (LDEI). This is a marvelous organization of women involved in the culinary and wine worlds. The group is committed to advocacy, philanthropy and education in local communities related to food, hospitality and beverage industries. LDEI is now offering an online auction with many incredible items available: fabulous trips, cooking classes, culinary collectibles, gift baskets. If you enjoy food and wine or know someone who does, you are sure to find something. Bidding ends October 26!

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Word is that the big tasting at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco this past weekend — sponsored by the Family Winemakers of California was a big success. It was well-organized and the food was great. I was traveling this past weekend and couldn’t make it, but my husband (and our Sales Manager) Doug attended both days and poured Cima Collina. While in the city, he was able to visit a number of the restaurants that currently pour our wine, and he mentioned Frascati and NOPA in particular. We are invigorated and excited about having Cima Collina in a variety of Bay Area restaurants (go to https://cimacollina.com/newsreviews.html for the list) because, well, we are selling a good amount of wine (thanks to all who are enjoying it!!), but also because it warms my heart to be a part of the thoroughly erudite-yet-freshly-creative foodie movement happening there now. Doug’s description of what he saw and tasted and also of the people he met or saw again reminds me of the reason why I wanted to be involved with wine production in the first place — the beautiful liason that takes place with wine and food — and the inspiration one can take from this, as well as a connection that is created between all who are touched by it. The enthusiasm and vibrancy of restaurants in San Francisco just blows me away, and I am so happy to be a small part of it…..I am looking forward to visiting it myself (not vicariously) next time Cima Collina calls on “The City”.

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Yes.  In addition to many retail establishments in the Bay Area (Arlequin Wine Merchant, The Jug Shop, The Wine House, K&L Wine Merchants, Half Moon Bay Wine and Cheese Shop, The Wine Stop, Robert’s Market of Woodside), our current Pinot Noirs (2005 Chula Vina and 2005 Tondre Grapefield) are now available in a number of fine San Francisco restaurants, including:

 Ame Restaurant, Mission Street

Jack Falstaff, 2nd Street at Brannan

Umami, Union & Webster

Frascati, Hyde

Que Syrah, West Portal Ave (Sunset District)

 More to come……..

 Spring Has Sprung

Our cellar dogs got to escape the cellar and go on a little hike the other day in the hills above Carmel Valley, and here is what they saw.  The wildflowers are beautiful this time of year and it was a great day to get out!

Other News

This past Wednesday, Laurie Daniel wrote a nice article about Monterey Chardonnay and she reviewed our 2005 Chardonnay among many other tasty offerings from this area.  Click here to read further.

Our tasting room is moving right along and is scheduled to open in the first part of June.  I will keep you updated on the progress.

Our spring wine club shipment just went out and included 2006 Sauvignon Blanc and 2005 Chula Vina Pinot Noir.  It is not too late to sign up if you would like to receive these wines as a wine club member with a discount.  Call the winery at 831-384-7806 and talk with Laura about the details.

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Ew, fungus!  The word might conjure itchy gym-worn feet or that black mold growing in the shower.  Or what about mildew, slimemolds, water molds, and all of those other nasty little things?  But you might also be surprised that the lowly term “fungus” includes tasty treats as well.

What is fungus, anyway?

Fungi are neither plant nor animal, reproduce by sporulation, and include the likes of molds & mildews, yeasts and mushrooms.  Fungi feed themselves by breaking down organic matter and in turn help other organisms to flourish by doing so.  For instance, many mushrooms are “wood rotters”, ie, they are often found growing on either dying or dead trees or branches and essentially break down the wood to make its components biologically available to other organisms.  Yeasts, too, serve a similar purpose:  they digest carbon-rich sugars and turn them ultimately into ethanol, carbon dioxide and heat through a number of very complicated biochemical processes.  With wine or beer, fortunately enough, we have learned how to harness the potential of yeasts and then to preserve the resulting product to create enjoyable and tasty beverages (in nature, if left on it’s own, ethanol would quickly break down, with the help of bacteria, into, among other things, acetic acid, aka “vinegar”.) 

Coincidentally, wild mushrooms and pinot noir for me are one of the highlights of winter.  Together they are classic pair made in the sitting room of the organoleptic matchmaker:  the earthiness of the mushroom and the richness it lends to a dish (cream of mushroom soup, beef stroganoff, mushroom & cheese crepes…..) is perfect for an earthy, fruity pinot with the acidity to balance all the flavors on the palate. 

For more information about various mushrooms and their properties visit:  MykoWeb

Click Here for more information about our January 31st winemaker’s — and wild mushroom — dinner at Grasing’s in Carmel

 

 

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 Happy New Year to One and All!

Recap of recent events:

We had a fun-filled, riotous evening at the Cima Collina Winemaker’s New Year Dinner at La Playa Hotel in Carmel on Sunday night (damning and embarrassing pictures forthcoming, I promise).  There was music and dancing throughout the evening, and we premiered our own estate 2005 Pinot Gris (of which we made only 35 cases) that night .  Ashton and Frank are the wine directors there and were graceful hosts and share an off-the-wall sense of humor which I realy appreciate.  Thanks La Playa for organizing this event and thanks for your unflagging support as well!

 Cima Collina was poured at the Pac Rep’s New Year’s party and I hear that all had a great time.  At last count, 230 folks attended, but more were expected, and the evening was filled with musical performances, food, and, of course Cima Collina.  We hope the folks at Pac Rep have enjoyed working with us as much as we them.

 Now, over at chezPim, Menu for Hope raised over $60,000 for the United Nations World Food Programme.  This figure was well and above their goal of $35,000……Congratulations to Pim and all the folks who organized and participated.  Events such as this prove the strength and commitment of the blogging community.

Coming Up!

Tarpy’s, a fine and fun local restaurant will feature Cima Collina wines in it’s “Wine Down Wednesday” event on Wednesday, January 24th.  Call them at 831-647-1444 for more information.

At Grasing’s on January 31 will be the First Annual Cima Collina Winemaker/Wild Mushroom Dinner.  Seating is very limited for this event, so please call them at 831-624-6562 for reservations.

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Here’s something worth noting this holiday season:  Menu for Hope is a project sponsored by food and wine bloggers, restaurants and others interested in ending hunger in the world.  It seems appropriate that those of us involved in the food and wine industries should sponsor an event such as this.  This is a “virtual” raffle project in that the tickets and sold and eventually chosen electronically.

This year, Menu for Hope III will endeavor to raise funds to support the UN World Food Programme.  Last year, Menu for Hope II raised $17,000 to help UNICEF.  

Food & wine bloggers, restaurants and other food related folks have donated raffle prizes.  We at Cima Collina are also donating a prize which is the following:

Rare Cima Collina Wine Package ($225 value)

1.   Go to the donation page

2.   Make a donation, each $10 will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice.  Please specify which prize or prizes you’d like in the ‘Personal Message’ section in the donation form when confirming your donation (for the Cima Collina package enter “WB25“).  Do tell us how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code -for example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for UW01 and 3 for UW02. 

3.   If your company matches your charity donation, please remember to check the box and fill in the information so we can claim the corporate match. 

4.   Please also check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we could contact you in case you win.  Your email address will not be shared with anyone. 

5.   Check back on Chez Pim on January 15 when we announce the result of the raffle.  (The drawing will be done electronically.  Our friend, the code wizard Derrick at Obsession with Food, is responsible for the wicked application that will do the job.

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One question I often get is “What does a person need to do to recognize and describe all those flavors and aromas in wines?” I usually reply that it takes a lot of dedicated, hard work that involves tasting as many wines as you can get in your glass. I’m inclined these days to also say “Try being a pig”, but that probably needs an explanation:

I was driving along recently and saw a group of wild pigs rooting around quite enthusiastically next to the road. I pulled over to watch because it seemed that they were really enjoying what they were finding there. It was a group of what seemed to be 5-6 females or young males with about the same amount of yearling pigs. They were all different shades of brown — from copper to coffee colors (the piglets had stripes) — and they were oblivious to anything else happening around them. I rolled down the window and every one of them seemed to be grunting quite happily.

Pigs as we all know get a bad rap, most often in our language (Don’t be a pig, chauvinist pig, My, but you look like a pig). Around here, wild pigs have a bad reputation because they aren’t native, they tear up the ground when rooting around, they cause traffic accidents, there are too many of them, etc. (for an even-handed account of the controversy from someone who is experienced with the subject, click on this link: www.coestatepark.com/wild_pig.htm)
But while I sat in my car watching them that day, I was reminded of something that I really appreciate and can relate to: they are connoisseurs in their own right, especially when it comes to food. They eat acorns, berries, wild mushrooms, plant shoots, grubs, and, yes, given the opportunity, wine grapes at their ripest and most tastiest. (At one vineyard I worked for, it almost seemed pointless after awhile to go out and see if the grapes were ready to harvest, because if they were, the pigs usually got there first!)

Now, when I have some time away from the winery, I like to go out on hikes and, if the season is right, look for mushrooms. Being a mushroom seeker, and moreso because I’m a novice, often means inthe dirtiest, muddiest sense, being, truly, a pig –rooting around in the dirt, under rotting leaves, going through underbrush and poison oak to find interesting, and possibly tasty specimens. While I’m doing this, though, I like to think that I’m experiencing what a pig might experience, being the connessieur he is: a pure, unabashed assault of the senses by the natural world. Earthy, barnyard, dung, cedar, oak, moldy, musty, herbal, damp, spicy, minty. (Do those descriptors remind you of anything? Winespeak, maybe?) Then, if I actually find a mushroom or two, it gets even better because the mycological realm presents it’s own incredible array of aromas and flavors. Some mushrooms smell like almond extract (the Prince, Almond agaricus). Oyster mushrooms fresh off a tree smell like anise. There are other mushrooms that smell fragrantly spicy (cauliflower mushrooms), or of apricots (chantrelles). Some poisonous mushrooms smell fishy or farinaceous, or like maraschino cherries or library paste. A whole sensory education in the outdoors! What more could a hedonist or a pig or a wine lover ask for?

So, it’s pretty simple: to get nearly a complete sensory education, all you have to do is be a pig, or, at the very least, take a hike! Happy Rooting

he-don-ism, n: Pursuit of or devotion to pleasure, especially to the pleasures of the senses

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