Winemaker dinner March 30 at Robert’s in Paso Robles

Join winemaker Steve Felten for a fabulous feast at Paso Robles newest restaurant, Robert’s. Executive Chef Patrick Ryan Swarthout will be preparing a delectable three-course meal to pair with our wines:

FIRST COURSE: Dungeness Crab Cakes
Young Papaya Asian Slaw and Sweet Thai Chili Sauce.
- Paired with 2008 Chardonnay Reserve

SECOND COURSE: Herb Crusted New Zealand Lamb Rack
Potato Pave, Green Beans and Dijon Red Wine Sauce
-Paired with 2007 Monster Zinfandel

THIRD COURSE: Chocolate Almond Tart
- Paired with 2008 Late Harvest Zinfandel

Tickets only $55pp ($45 Wine Club members)
For reservations call Paula or Judy at (805) 237-0138

I’m looking forward to seeing you there!

Cambria Art & Wine Festival / Wine Dinner

Make sure you drop by our table at the Veteran’s Hall this Saturday or Sunday if you’re coming up for the Cambria Art & Wine Festival this weekend (January 29 & 30.) We will be serving two NEW RELEASES which are fantastic! The 2009 Nonsense White is a single vineyard, field blend of Viognier, Roussanne, Gewurztraminer and Chardonnay, with an intense, fruity aroma and crisp flavor that just won’t quit!

 The 2008 Late Harvest Zinfandel is from 100+ year-old vines and is, in my opinion, the best Zinfandel I ever crafted in my 35 year career! Incredible jammy and brambly aromas, with a finish like fudge melting in your mouth!

Staying in Cambria for dinner Saturday night? Join me for a Winemaker Dinner at Robin’s at 7PM. It looks to be a stunning gourmet feast for only $65pp which includes tax and gratuity, and of course loads of fun! Take a look at the menu:

Reception: 2008 Pinot Grigio, scallop ceviche, fennel sausage meatballs & grilled wild mushroom flatbread.

First course: 2008 Chardonnay, winters green salad, crispy avacado, shaved sheep’s milk gouda, sesame-citrus dressing.

Second course: 2005 Conquest Cab Sauv, braised pork belly, Conquest jelly, charred sprouting broccoli.

Third course: 2006 No Nonsense Red Meritage, Korean black BBQ flat iron, Szechuan bok choy, crispy onions.

Dessert: 2005 Zinfandel Port, bittersweet chocolate and tarragon torte, freshy whipped cream, cocoa dust, black pepper tuille.

I can hardly wait for the weekend!

SUPERBOWL PARTY!!!

We’re having an early superbowl party for the Far Out Wineries Passport Weekend, but everyone is welcome to attend. This Friday through Sunday, January 14 to 16, come visit our tasting room on 7450 Vineyard Drive (just north of Peachy Canyon Road) and enjoy traditional superbowl party hors d’oeuvres with a gourmet twist!

Pair our fabulous wines, including the Monster Zin, with Sausage with pepper & onions, homemade chile with corn chips and brownies. You can play our superbowl pool for charity by donating $10 per square to the Art Norman Foundation at Cal Poly. Winner will receive two complimentary tickets to the “Walkabout Zin Tasting” in the caves at Justin Winery on Saturday, March 19 during the Paso Robles Zinfandel Festival. Quarterly winners will receive a Norman Vineyards T-shirt of your choice.

We hope to see you at the winery this weekend, but if you cannot come and you would like to donate to the foundation for a square on the superbowl pool, please contact Paula: wineclub@normanvineyards.com or call (805) 237-0138.

End of Crush Musings

I can hear our neighbors’ fans going as I pull into the winery before dawn. They are fighting the frost to squeeze another Brix or two out of their vineyard, but I decided to bring our Estate Cabernet Sauvignon in this week, as it hasn’t moved from 22 Brix for the last month. After all, the grapes tasted ripe and there are enough raisins to ensure a decent alcohol percent once it’s dry. This is the most Bordeaux-like season I can remember in the 16 years that I’ve made wine in Paso Robles, and isn’t that what the wine writers want?

Or am I just rationalizing so I can have Thanksgiving weekend off? Harvest season, or what we call ‘crush’ is like hiking up a mountain. The trail starts off easy and level, but gets steeper and more treacherous as you get more and more exhausted: At first, you have all empty tanks to choose from and not much to monitor, but by the end of crush, you are running out of room, trying to restart stuck fermentations and dealing with surprises such as equipment failures.

But when it’s over, it feels great to relax on top and enjoy the view.

Soon it will be time to hit the road and sell wine, which isn’t easy these days. We have experienced a ‘double-bubble’ where not only has the general economy been challenging, but wine sales (and prices) in particular have fallen off a cliff compared to the glory days of the last decade. Even if there is a recovery, I would expect consumers to continue to be more discerning on their wine purchases.

On our westside vineyards, normal yields are three tons per acre or less, so pricewise there is no way we can compete with ‘Two Buck Chuck’ or Yellowtail, but when it comes to QPR (quality-price-ratio) we are unbeatable!

Finally, I’m happy to see the TTB address wine terminology. I’ve already commenting on ‘Old Vine’ which I feel should be legally defined as 100 years old, and ‘Reserve’ which is a little trickier but perhaps there should be a limit of 500 cases. I didn’t comment on ‘Barrel Select’ because that would be unenforceable, or on ‘Old Clone’ because that is so ludicrous that only somebody in Marketing could come up with it. If you would like to put your two cents in by Jan. 3, 2011, here is the link:

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-27737.pdf

Rock and Roll Fantasy

Today’s blog features winery owner Jim Norman, son of founder Art Norman, who was the embodiment of the California Dream. Jim has taken Art’s love of good times and muscle cars to the next level, and sponsors the Monster Truck Obsession out of Temecula, California which boasts the youngest driver on the circuit!

The winery attracts Classic Car enthusiasts from around the country, and Jim maintains the family’s Hudson and Catalina convertible. Jim has converted the Tasting Room into a retro 50′s diner, complete with juke box, naugahyde furniture and pictures of James Dean and Marylin Monroe on the walls.

Jim Norman (center) with Lit guitarist Jeremy Popoff and bassist Kevin Baldes

Jim believes that Norman Vineyards can fill a void in the wine industry by targeting a younger, edgier demographic that have been all but ignored by the stodgier mainstream wineries.

In Jim’s own words, at the Malibu Wine Festival:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M84iAwXmbh0

Good times are comin’

“Good times are comin’
I hear it everywhere I go”

Neil Young’s cautiously optomistic lyrics from his edgy ‘On the Beach’ album sum up the current state of our industry. There are signs of economic recovery, and it seems that there are more people in the restaurants and wineries than in the last two years.

But there are also forces working against small wineries that bring knowledgable consumers the hand-crafted, terroir-driven wines they seek.

Cash-strapped states like California see all alcoholic beverages through the same puritanical glasses and mistakenly think that raising the ‘sin tax’ on a bottle of wine by 1200% will result in increased revenues. In fact, it will result only in more wineries going bankrupt.

Large distributors that focus on high-volume supermarket brands are directing a campaign to restrict interstate shipping, often under the guise of protecting ‘states rights’ or minors. In fact, they are after market share and if not opposed, wine connossieurs had better develop a taste for plonk.

I have noted the cyclical nature of this industry for over three decades, and this has been the longest dip ever. Many wineries have not survived, and it exacerbates the problem when their product is liquidated and shows up on the shelves for a fraction of its value.

My advice to wine lovers: Support your favorite brands! Sure, you can wait until it shows up heavily discounted, but when you raise your glass to celebrate the bargain you got, also reflect on the fact that it may be the last vintage produced.

Good times are comin’
But they sure comin’ slow

Zinfest Winemaker Dinner

Join us for fabulous Italian cuisine on Friday, March 19 at Village Caffe in Atascadero. Chef/owner Tony Farao has prepared an outstanding menu to pair our award-winning wines:

FIRST COURSE: Broiled sandab cigar filled with king crab on a fresh sea scallop in crab butter reduction, paired with our new release 2008 barrel-fermented Edna Valley Chardonnay Reserve.

INSALADA: Butter lettuce with cambazola cheese, marinated pear, caramelized pecans and dried currants in sherry walnut vinaigrette, paired with 2006 Paso Robles Viognier.

PASTA: Spinach gnocci with pancetta and mushrooms in buttery tomato sauce, paired with 2005 Paso Robles Estate Barbera Reserve.

INTERMEZZO: Lemon and mint sorbet

ENTREE: Mixed grill of prosciutto wrapped quail, lamb loin chop and wild boar suasage in peppery Zinfandel and demi-glaze reduction on caramelized cipollini onions, paired with the 2007 Paso Robles Monster Zinfandel (Best of Region, Double-Gold at the 2009 California State Fair!)

DESSERT: Flourless chocolate 70% cocoa tart in currant cassis with roasted hazel nuts, paired with the 2005 Paso Robles Zinfandel Port.

Dinner at 7PM, $65pp. Call Judy (805) 237-0138 for reservations.

Does the alcohol make the Monster?

A while back, a customer in our tasting room held up a bottle of the 2006 Monster Zinfandel, perused the label, then loudly and increduously exclaimed, “Only 14.1% alcohol! You can’t call this a monster!”

Although I am at heart a Cellar Rat, I’ve had enough experience at trade tastings and behind the counter to know never to contradict a customer, even though, as I was thinking to myself, ‘This moron is wrong on so many levels!’

First of all, I couldn’t get this wine through Darryl Corti’s front door. 14.1% is by no means low alcohol, but it is true that  the ’06 is the lowest alcohol content to date for this program. Secondly, it never occurs to me, when blending the Monster, to worry about the alcohol at all. My marching orders are to craft a jammy, spicy, full-bodied Zinfandel, and although Art Norman was known to catch the occasional buzz, I don’t believe  the alcohol content of the Monster was an overriding concern of his, either.

There are steps you can take in the vineyards to get fully ripened fruit without the sugar spikes, such as moderating the crop level and even exposure. The judicious use of Petite Sirah as a blender also helps, as this varietal tends to ripen a little faster than Zinfandel, and certainly adds body and ripe fruit.

I must be on to something. The American Wine Society (2008) awarded a Double Gold Medal to the 2006 Monster, and the California State Fair enjoyed the moderate-octane (14.7%) 2007 Monster enough to give it Best of Class for the South Central Coast! (This wine is only available at the winery now, but will be released soon.)

There is a legitimate place for over-the-top, jammy to the point of raisiny, 16% Paso Robles Zinfandel, and as I told our heat-seeking customer, “Not to worry, we have the 2004 Mephistopheles Zinfandel (15.9% alc) that is right up your runway!”

Keeping Art Norman’s Legacy Alive

I first met Art Norman back in 1995. Having just moved from the Napa Valley, there were only a handful of wineries in the Paso Robles AVA, and Art was certainly recognized as a pioneer of the fledgling grapegrowing and winemaking industry, along with Tobin James, Gary Eberle, Doug Beckett and others.

Fifteen years later, within a few weeks of both the 4th anniversary of Art’s passing and my 5th anniversary of being the Norman Vineyards winemaker, I am posting my first-ever blog!

My fondest early memory of Art and Lei Norman was at a ZAP tasting in San Francisco. At the time, I think it was January 1996, we were renting a house in Atascadero. While I worked out at Kennedy Fitness Center with Frank Nerelli and the boys from the CDF, my wife Mary-Ellen was attending aqua-aerobic classes with Art. EOS, where I then worked, had a booth across from Norman Vineyards. We walked over to say hello, and Mary-Ellen told Art, “I didn’t recognize you with your clothes on.” You should have seen the look on Lei’s face!

Art and I shared the same love for crafting bold, jammy, over-the-top wines like the Norman Vineyards Monster Zin and the EOS Cupa Grandis Petite Sirah. As our friendship grew, I realized that although Art was a leader in the wine community, he always remained down-to-earth and accessible to his fans and cohorts. Even when his health was failing, I saw him spend hours behind the bar in the tasting room, chatting up a customer.

Although I only had the opportunity to work for Art during the last year of his life, he made a lasting impression on me as a mentor, inspiration and friend. Luckily, there are special people still working here who had learned from Art from the beginning, and continue to strive to maintain what Art created.

In the near future, I will blog in detail about some of these team members, and will keep you up on the latest releases and winery happenings. I’d love to hear from you!

Steve Felten