A California Winery Blog

Another day, another wine dinner in Santa Barbara… Spiritland Bistro’s Wednesday Wine and Dine featured Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir as their designated varietal this week. If you have missed my previous postings about this event, each month a four course meal is paired with a designated varietal of which each guest brings their own bottle. Between each course an expert on the varietal speaks about its characteristics and food pairings.

Lafond was the most popular label of the night, I think there were about 7 bottles of Lafond brought in the mix of 35 wines. I brought two bottles: 2006 Lafond Martin Ray Clone Pinot Noir and 2007 Santa Barbara Winery Pinot Noir. These dinners provide an amazing opportunity to learn about specific areas of wine, particularly pairings of food and wine. It is great to be able to taste wines from the same appellation against each other and see why the wine works with the menu and cheeses.

Food was delicious - delicate mushroom tart to start followed by baked salmon and potatoes au gratin. Dessert was a delicious berry crumble. The stand up cheese course featured three cheeses that matched perfectly with the wine - Cabra al Romero, St. George, and Brie de Nangis. There is always an effort here to collect an assortment of diverse cheeses from around the world while still keeping their flavor profiles in line to complement the pairings.

Cabra al Romero is a pasteurized Spanish gourmet goat cheese from La Mancha. This is an area in central Spain where you can also find the famed Manchego cheese. It is coated with rosemary, which seeps through the outer walls to produce a fragrantly subtle herbal nose. This quality makes it a really nice match with pinot. Its texture is dense and firm with a slightly fruity finish.

St. George is a richly textured, semi-hard, full flavored cow’s milk cheese from Northern California. It is based on a Portuguese recipe, but retains a distinctly American spin. It has a depth of flavor that effortlessly works with pinot and is fantastic when melted in polenta.

Brie de Nangis (bree duh nahn-ZHEE) yields from France and is firmer in texture than its relative Brie de Meaux. It is milder than other Brie cheeses with a hint of earthiness. It is soft ripened (bloomy rind), which gives it a creamy and smooth texture.

Joanie Hudson, Assistant Tasting Room Manager, Santa Barbara Winery