Wine to try at the end of your New Years Eve Dinner Party: 2008 Santa Barbara Winery Late Harvest Riesling (28.00 / 375 ml)
Dessert wines are delicious and give us just one more reason to sit around the table with family and friends for a little bit longer… Bruce McGuire is known to produce some of the best dessert wines in Santa Barbara County.
Lafond Vineyard’s Riesling vines were originally planted in 1972. Our long, cool growing season enables firm acids to develop which highlight the flavor intensity that makes this a wonderful full-bodied example of a noble grape we feel is underappreciated in the world.
Extended hang time on the vines helped to produce a wonderfully rich, yet elegant and clean dessert wine with an extraordinary balance of acids and sugars.
Riesling is a popular late harvest dessert wine when grown in the right conditions that will allow sugars to develop, while also maintaining the necessary acidity, very low pH, to keep the resulting wine fresh.
Alcohol is kept low to showcase the purity of fruit courtesy of the Sta. Rita Hills long growing season. In its youth, the 08 Late Harvest Riesling showcases aromas of orange blossom, honeyed pear, and burnt sugar.
On the palate, stone fruits intermingle and rich viscosity is balanced by crisp acidity. The finish is long and mouth coating, leaving behind a clean feeling that is far from cloying. Serve slightly chilled in small glasses with a Rustic Peach or Pear Tart..
Published on
November 10, 2009 in
Joanie Hudson, Nebbiolo, Riesling, Santa Barbara Winery and Wine and Food Pairing.
Tags: Grenache, Harvest, Nebbiolo, Negrette, pinot, Riesling, tasting, thanksgiving, Vineyard, winery, wines.
Thanksgiving has always been one of my absolute favorite holidays. The entire month of November is spent in anticipation of this amazing meal that brings friends and family together from all across the world, just to sit around the dinner table together for this special night. This drawing factor of Thanksgiving is one of the things I love most about wine as well. I am so greatful for any event or beverage that has the ability to bring people together to relax at the end of their day, and reflect on what matters most in this world, the company that we surround ourselves with and close friends and family. Thanksgiving is a North American Harvest Festival, and it pretty much signals the end of a vintage for our winemakers, just in time to get everything in barrel to be home with family for the holiday.
That being said, Thanksgiving dinner is always a very interesting topic in the realm of food pairings. The reason that there will never be a single answer for what wine goes well with Thanksgiving dinner (a question I get asked repeatedly) is that my Thanksgiving dinner is likely very different from my neighbors, whose dinner is very different than their neighbors. We all have our traditions and special Thanksgiving recipes and ingredients, and there are so many different wines that work well with each aspect of the plate. So when you’re thinking about what wines to serve at Thanksgiving, put some thought into the different flavors, textures, and weights that will be put together in the kitchen. Think about your guests, think about what you like to drink, and then make your decision from there. There are some general rules that can serve as a guideline, but that’s all it is, a basic guideline, you as a consumer are responsible for finding out what you like and don’t like, and that just comes from tasting lots of different wines! I personally love Rieslings and Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir with Turkey, Grenache and Nebbiolo are also generally hits at the table as well. The jamminess of our Negrette is another nice pairing with Cranberry sauce and stuffing.
Our tasting room is a nice venue to taste through a few different options and see what might work best with your meal. We are open daily from 10am-5pm, and are closed only on Thanksgiving Day.
Joanie Hudson, Director of National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards
Botrytis cinirea is occurring, in a very small block of older Riesling vines, in our Lafond Vineyards. It will very likely produce less than 1500 375ml bottles. Botrytis cinirea can occur, under wet conditions, in other fruits, such as strawberries, where it is simply called rot and the fruit discarded. In grapes, usually after an initial rain, and if followed by dry weather, we call it Noble Rot. Which sounds infinitely better. Wikipedia describes it very well…
In the Botrytis infection known as “noble rot” (pourriture noble in French, or Edelfäule in German), the fungus removes water from the grapes, leaving behind a higher percent of solids, such as sugars, fruit acids and minerals. This results in a more intense, concentrated final product. The wine is often said to have an aroma of honeysuckle and a bitter finish on the palate.
This is a recent photo at our vineyard showing the grapes at various stages. When complete the grapes are brownish in color and collapse on themselves as the water is removed by the fungus. The flavors become very concentrated and complex and, although sweet, maintain high acidity. The finished wine is usually under 10% in alcohol with residual sugar exceeding 20%.
Lafond Vineyard’s Riesling vines were originally planted in 1972. Our long, cool growing season enables firm acids to develop which highlight the flavor intensity that makes this a wonderful full-bodied example of a noble grape we feel is underappreciated in the world.
Extended hang time on the vines helped to produce a wonderfully rich, yet elegant and clean dessert wine with an extraordinary balance of acids and sugars.
Riesling is a popular late harvest dessert wine when grown in the right conditions that will allow sugars to develop, while also maintaining the necessary acidity, very low pH, to keep the resulting wine fresh. Alcohol is kept low to showcase the purity of fruit courtesy of the Sta. Rita Hills’ long growing season.
In its youth, the 08 Late Harvest Riesling showcases aromas of orange blossom, honeyed pear, and burnt sugar. On the palate, stone fruits intermingle and rich viscosity is balanced by crisp acidity. The finish is long and mouth coating, leaving behind a clean feeling that is far from cloying. Serve slightly chilled in small glasses with a Rustic Peach or Pear Tart.
Suggested Retail: 28.00/375ml
To order: Santa Barbara Winery
We had a great time pouring at the 2009 Harvest Festival this past Saturday — the wines and the turnout were spectacular.
I love the setup of this Festival. Though they attempt to make it alphabetical, it never quite turns out that way, and it can be a maze to find what you’re looking for. But that causes guests to stumble upon wineries or restaurants that they may have otherwise passed if only going by their checklist of places they know they like.
I talked to a handful of people who were pleased with their happy accidents. The venue is beautiful — a grassy, soft hilled area at Rancho Sisquoc Winery in Santa Maria. White tents are backdropped by the rolling Santa Ynez hillsides, blue skies, and grazing livestock.
I was prepared for cold, as when we left Downtown Santa Barbara a little before 11, it was socked in grey. But once we passed over the 154 Highway, that sock quickly disappeared and it was all blue skies from there…
Santa Barbara Winery poured seven wines:
2007 Sauvignon Blanc
2007 Chardonnay
2007 Chardonnay Reserve
2007 Riesling 7.3%
2008 ZCS
2006 Lagrein
2006 Petite Sirah
The Petite Sirah was a perfect match with the individual lamb legs served up by Solvang’s new restaurant, Root 246. Delicious.
Joanie Hudson, Director National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards
As I prep for this weekend’s Harvest Festival and a sales trip to the Midwest next week, bins of grapes are being forklifted around everywhere I turn. Today we got in Lafond Vineyard Wente Clone Chardonnay and Thompson Vineyard Chardonnay, and we are all so excited about the consistency and quality among the fruit. 2009 has been good to vintners and growers, we had a relatively cool, dry spring and summer with cool nights needed to maintain grape’s acidity. Heat waves in late August and early September accelerated Harvest into full motion, and now the weather seems to be slowly cooling down.
It’s not too late to buy your tickets to this weekend’s Harvest Festival, held this coming Saturday, October 10, from 1-4pm at Rancho Sisquoc Winery. This is one of two events a year where all of the member of the Santa Barbara County Vintners’ Association come together to pour their wines. Lafond Winery will also be holding our annual Open House at the tasting room with new releases, plenty of bites and nibbles of cheeses, breads, and desserts. This event will run from 10am-5pm this Saturday.
We are still waiting for more Chardonnay and Riesling to come into the downtown Santa Barbara Winery facility and still waiting on Syrah and Grenache up at Lafond…
Joanie Hudson, Director National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards
Yesterday was my first time attending the Ojai Wine Festival at Lake Casitas Recreational Area (about a 35 minute drive from Santa Barbara). The crowd was big at the 23rd Annual, hitting its peak halfway through the festival around 2:30. The weather was perfect, a cool breeze brushed through the booths every couple of minutes, keeping the space at a pleasant temperature for sipping both white and red wines. Free 20 minute boat rides were given on the lake, Kettle Korn was popping, pork was pulled, and oysters were shucked.
Santa Barbara Winery Wines Poured:
2007 Sauvignon Blanc
2007 Chardonnay
2007 Reserve Chardonnay
2007 Riesling 7.3
2007 Pinot Noir
2005 Sangiovese
2006 Primitivo
The Ojai Wine Festival is the major fund raiser for the Rotary Club of Ojai-West benefitting the American Red Cross, Ojai Police, Ojai schools, and the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, among others.
Joanie Hudson, Director National and International Marketing
Santa Barbara Winery/Lafond Winery & Vineyards
The 23rd Annual Ojai Wine Festival is coming up on Sunday, June 14, and we will be pouring a selection of six Santa Barbara Winery wines from noon to 5pm at the Lake Casitas Recreational Area. Tickets are only $30 advance purchase, and $40 at the gate. A ticket buys you entrance to the music filled event, ten tastes of beer of wine (35-40 wineries attending), and a souvenir wine glass. This year they are trying out a Wine by the Glass area for $6 a glass in a lounge atmosphere with free hors d’oeuvres and music.
Wines we will be pouring:
2007 Chardonnay
2007 Reserve Chardonnay Santa Rita Hills
2007 Riesling 7.3
2005 Sangiovese
2007 Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills
2006 Primitivo
Click Here for more information and to purchase tickets.
Joanie Hudson, Assistant Tasting Room Manager, Santa Barbara Winery
This Saturday the Santa Barbara Winery tasting room (202 Anacapa St. in downtown Santa Barbara) will host our first ever Wine Club Pick Up Party. Coming to pick up your shipment wines at the winery is a great opportunity to taste the wines to see how they are developing and tasting in the bottle, and also to talk to winery staff about the varietal, pairing advice, etc. Also, an excuse to come taste these wines for free for up to four guests. We are really excited to get as many members who would like to join us in one comfortable tasting room space as we can, on one day.
All Santa Barbara Winery Wine Club members are invited to stop by the winery on Saturday May 9th for our first ever Club Pick-Up Party (10am-5pm). Guests are encouraged to enjoy a tasting of the current shipment (and our newest release – 2007 Dry Riesling) as well as light appetizers from our Pierre Lafond Wine Bistro.
This is open to club members only (pick-up and ship), and reservations are necessary. Take a bottle from your shipment over to the Pierre Lafond Wine Bistro on State St. and enjoy free corkage with your dinner.
To sign up for the wine club, click here.
To make reservations please call us at the winery at (805) 963-3633 or email us at wine@sbwinery.com.
Joanie Hudson, Assistant Tasting Room Manager, Santa Barbara Winery
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