Archive for the 'Tasting Room' Category

New Summer Cookbooks at Santa Barbara Winery

Published
by
joanie
on June 16, 2008
in Gifts, Joanie Hudson and Tasting Room
. 0 Comments

Our Tasting Room and retail shop carries some of the best cookbooks out on the market today.  Summer is a time when cooking is at its simplest.  It is a time when fresh produce is available at its peak.  Farmers Market stands are bursting with color and promise flavorful ingredients that can be served as they are without a fuss.  Who wants to sit in front of a hot stove when you can be outside enjoying a BBQ and glass of wine on the patio?  We just got in a large shipment of a variety of different seasonal cookbooks perfect to inspire your family’s summer menu. 

The new books are listed in no particular order, but the Donna Hay Simple Essentials books are my absolute favorite.

Good Day for a Picnic

Lorna Sass’ Complete Vegetarian Kitchen

Donna Hay Simple Essentials Chicken

Donna Hay Simple Essentials Salads and Vegetables

Build a Better Burger

Summer Gatherings

Rick Stein’s Complete Seafood (step by step recipes and 550 pictures included)

Anybody can be a good cook during the summer months as long as you make sure to always use fresh ingredients.  Never choose dried herbs over fresh.  Take advantage of your local Farmers Market.  Always use fresh cracked pepper and flavorful sea salt crystals.  And quality olive oil makes more of a difference than you know.  I actually heard of a great tasting room up in Los Olivos where you can taste locally grown and produced food products, olive oils grown in Los Alamos, and fruit-infused vinegars.  The retail store and tasting room is called Global Gardens (www.oliverevolution.com).

Joanie Hudson, Assistant Tasting Room Manager, Santa Barbara Winery

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Storing Wine

Published
by
joanie
on May 5, 2008
in Joanie Hudson, Tasting Room and Wine Club
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Summer is upon us, and as it approaches, my excitement for the beach and barbeques is accompanied by a concern for my wine collection - most of which I keep in a wine rack in my closet.  If you have a similar collection at home, keep in mind that proper cellaring conditions not only help preserve the wine for the greatest drinking potential down the road, but making sure to keep the wine out of the heat prevents it from turning into vinegar.  Whether you have one bottle that you are saving to drink on that special occasion that never seems quite important enough, or you have your own closet cellar, you must make sure that the wine is kept out of direct sunlight and away from fluctuating temperatures and heat.  

Radical temperature changes will cause the cork to expand and contract, which will allow oxygen to sneak into your wine.  Ideal cellaring temperatures are between 55 and 60 degrees.  Be prepared for those really hot days because even one could be disasterous.  If you don’t have a cool, dark place to keep your wine at home, consider looking into a wine storage facility in town that will store your wine for a small monthly fee.  I have a friend who splits his storage facility with his Dad and they each pay only $5 a month for peace of mind.  This is worth it if you are investing time and money into collecting wine.  

One other thing to keep in mind is having wine in the car on a long hot drive.  If you go wine tasting and purchase wine, do not leave the wine sitting in the car where it heats up extremely fast.  This will ruin the wine that you just bought.  If you are planning on buying wine, bring along some ice packs and a cooler.

A note to wine club members - the heat of the summer months is the reason we do not send out a shipment in July.  The wine would be compromised, sitting in the back of a Fedex truck while other packages are delivered like a soldier sent into battle without a gun.

Joanie Hudson, Assistant Tasting Room Manager, Santa Barbara Winery

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Live Flamenco Guitar at The Bistro

Published
by
joanie
on April 29, 2008
in Joanie Hudson, Lafond Winery, Restaurant News, Special Events, Tasting Room and Wine News
. 0 Comments

Santa Barbara Winery Tasting Room Host Chris Fossek has performed Flamenco guitar at a number of Lafond and Santa Barbara Winery Events - including the annual wine club barbeque held during the summer, and most recently at Lafond Vineyards on the day of the Vintner’s Festival.  This Friday, May 2, he will be playing at the Bistro on State St. while guests can enjoy wine flights, appetizers, and dinner.  The candlelit room and big windows is perfectly situated to watch the energy of a Friday evening on State Street.

Chris has a Master’s Degree in Flamenco Guitar Performance from the California Institute of the Arts.  He has performed as a soloist and in ensembles at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, the RedCat Theatre at the Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, the Getty Museum, and the International Guitar Festival locally.  With all of this internationally acclaimed experience one of his favorite places to play is still Santa Barbara.  Chris has also studied at the University of Bologna, Italy and lived for a period of time in Valencia, Spain.  His extensive experiences abroad and wealth of knowledge about music and wine make him one of those people you don’t want to miss having a conversation with in your lifetime.

Tapas Specials:

Ahi Tuna Cucumber Ceviche
Shrimp Avocado Mango Ceviche
Antipasto

Joanie Hudson, Assistant Tasting Room Manager

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A Birthday in the Barrel Room

Published
by
joanie
on January 27, 2008
in Joanie Hudson, Special Events, Tasting Room, Wine News and Wine and Food Pairing
. 1 Comment

Last night I had the pleasure of working a fantastic birthday party that was held in the barrel room of the winery.  The space was rented out after hours for a four course casual pairing buffet.  I have to comment on the quality of the food brought in by their caterer and the superb choice of wines to pair with each course.  Tam Trinh was the private caterer who provided the menu to accompany the list of four wines that were chosen to pour. 

Her Vietnamese style cooking technique uses only the freshest ingredients and herbs.  She credits growing up in Saigon as the influence for this type of Farmer’s Market fresh cooking that is so popular here in Santa Barbara.  The best wines for Asian influenced foods are those with moderate alcohol content, soft tannins, and crispness.  A little bit of residual sugar works because Asian cooking is all about the balance of different flavors - for example, sweet and spicy.  Riesling is usually a popular choice because of this.  Sauvignon Blanc is another winner, as well as fuller bodied Viognier, as long as the dish is not too sweet.

The first course was a Green Papaya salad with peanut dressing served with our 2006 Sauvignon Blanc.  The tropical fruit flavors inherent in the wine matched the tropical fruit quality of the papaya.  Zesty acidity worked with the sweet spiciness of the salad.  Also, the softness added from the partial oak barrel fermentation used for the wine complemented the peanuts in the salad.

Next was a salmon spring roll with mint and Thai basil paired alongside our 2006 Santa Barbara Winery Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir.  All of the flavors were so well balanced in the roll and could only be complemented by a light red whose balance would not throw off any of the flavors in the dish.  Salmon and Pinot Noir are a classic “perfect match.” 

The third course was a sweet tomato soup served with our 2005 ZCS blend - a light, fruity and extremely versatile red.  Tomato based sauces are a perfect match with Sangiovese, which is an element of the blend.  A mid-bodied wine like ZCS does not mask any of the flavors in the tomato soup. 

The final course was Filet Mignon Skewers served with sweet and buttery yellow rice with sauteed shallots and toasted pine nuts.  This was served with our 2005 Primitivo, the Italian version of Zinfandel originally from the Puglia region.  The intense raspberry, brambleberry fruit qualities of this high alcohol yet balanced red worked seamlessly with the tenderness of the Filet.  I love this wine because it is a full bodied, fruit forward red with a lot of character and lingering tannins. 

Tam Trinh will be teaching a Vietnamese Cooking Class through the Santa Barbara City College Adult Education Program.  I will be signing up as soon as I can!

Joanie Hudson, Assistant Tasting Room Manager, Santa Barbara Winery

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Harvest from the Tasting Room

Published
by
Pierre Lafond
on October 11, 2007
in Harvest, Pinot Noir, Tasting Room, Videos and Wine News
. 0 Comments

A short video taken from the Tasting Room at Lafond Winery, a view shared by many visitors to the winery.

Workers first remove leaves and sometimes rocks and even the occasional shears before the grapes pass through the stemmer. From there they pass over a vibrating screen which allows dried and shot berries to fall through. After that, a longer sorting table where small stems, called jacks, are removed. And from there they are collected in a picking box amd loaded to the fermenter. 

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.lafondwinery.com/movies-flash/harvest-from-tasting-room-2007/harvest-from-tasting-room.swf" width="500" height="400"/]

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Harvest in the Tasting Room

Published
by
suzanne
on September 20, 2007
in Tasting Room
. 0 Comments

Summer has come to a close in the tasting room at Santa Barbara Winery and Autumn is upon us. This is my most favorite time of the year in the tasting room. The hustle and bustle of the summertime  has been replaced by the hustle and bustle of Harvest. Truckloads of grapes are coming down from the vineyard ready to be pressed and put into tanks and barrels.

Fermentation has started and the tasting room is filled with an intense aroma of fermenting juice. Every availible fan is turned on, and doors are opened to circulate the CO2  given off by the fermentation. There is a certain excitment in the air and on the staffs’ faces as we share our harvest knowledge with our many curious visitors. 

Suzanne Fitzgerald, Tasting Room Manager Santa Barbara Winery

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