Robert Sinskey Vineyards

The Rediscovered...
authentic classic!

Who’da thought that a 70 year old rock musician would become the face for a brand of board shorts? But there he is, shirtless, in all his wrinkled glory, during every commercial break of the Pipe Masters pro surf event, mugging it up like a bad grandpa with young beach-y models while somehow looking cool in board shorts. Iggy has been in and out of fashion many times over the past fifty years... and now he is a classic.

I saw Iggy play in Hollywood sometime in the ’70s. He was the most visceral performer I had (and have) ever seen. He was an animal - all lean muscle and sinew, climbing on amps, launching himself into the rafters and swinging like a monkey over the crowd. He and his band were the opposite of the polished arena rock of the time. He risked it all, made mistakes and came back for more. It was total commitment. Any moment you were expecting disaster as he sang “Gimme Danger” with a bit of blood smeared on his chest earned from a go in the mosh pit.

How did this old guy, who is now well past his prime, become an icon of youth? One word: authenticity. He is the real deal. He is analog in a digital age. A guy who lives life on his terms even though it probably cost him big time. Oh, he made a few compromises (like that “Candy” duet) but overall, he stayed true-to-self, playing an aggressive style of garage rock that many credit as the gateway to punk. Staying true, no matter what others thought, is why this old guy is now a classic and has earned the respect of kids who weren’t yet born when he made his first records.

Now the parallel- I am hosting a seminar at the Taos Winter Wine fest with my good friend Steve Matthiasson titled “How Punk Influenced our Wine Style” and it has caused me to reflect on how this vintner went from being the youngest in Napa Valley to a gray haired old fart playing the same tune. Oh, our craft has improved, but we have always stayed true-to-self even when it meant missing the big time when we refused to compromise our ideals by pandering to the wine critics.

We started growing and making Pinot Noir at a time when many people in this country could not pronounce it. That in itself was a punk thing to do. Then, as styles changed and critics responded to bombastic, riper, sweeter, oak-ier and higher alcohol style of wine (the arena rock of vinous beverages), we stayed true to our mission to make elegant, balanced wines and ignored the critics. We preferred to stay underground while we learned our chops and honed our craft and discovered that newer and shinier wasn’t always better. Like a musician who prefers his old beat up guitar, we found music in the old selections of Pinot Noir that pre-dated the new French clones so popular in the ‘90s and beyond. We resurrected several old heirloom selections because they were just right for the area we were growing them and the style of wine we wanted to make. They weren’t fashionable but they allowed us to make pure, unadulterated, Pinot Noir.

Now, I don’t think I’ll be posing shirtless for an ad anytime soon (though winemaker Jeff Virnig might get away with it) I will be happy if young (and old) people consider our Pinot Noir an authentic classic.

Fat is Flavor!

Long ago, before refrigeration, meat was made into a confit, which meant it was rubbed with salt, herbs and spices then cooked and stored in fat, to preserve it for the winter ahead when there would be little fresh meat available. These vats of fatted meat would be stored in the cool cellar for months with no adverse effect – the salt cured the meat and inhibited bacterial growth and the fat sealed out air. Pork and duck rillettes, duck leg confit and whole goose livers in fat gave the farmers and village people the extra energy necessary to keep warm and go about their winter labor. Any meat, game or poultry made into a confit is flavorful and succulent.

I like to make confit when the weather turns cold. Not that I don’t sometimes make it in the summer, I just think it makes more sense to have the oven on for a few hours when it can do double duty and also heat the house. Bulky cold weather sweaters also help to hide the end result of gorging on duck confit and one of my favorite by products of confit – Rillettes!!

Rillettes make a great partner to fragrant, fruity and high acid white or red wines. I particularly enjoy rillettes slathered on homemade sesame crackers washed down with RSV’s Los Carneros Pinot Noir. Sesame pulls the rillettes and crackers together to make a taste sensation and the crunch of the crackers offset the rich fattiness of the rillettes.

There are plenty of commercially available rillettes if you don’t have time for homemade. I do recommend making your own crackers if you go this route. The crackers are simple to make and won’t take up a lot of your time.

Until the Next Wine....
Maria

EAT: Duck Rillettes

EAT: Toasted Sesame Crackers

The vintage of 2013-2014 was one of the driest on record, but fortunately there was sufficient rain in late February and early March to fill the ponds and saturate the soil profile. The set and berry development was influenced by another drought year with medium to smallish grapes with intense fruit characteristics and firm tannins from the thicker skins. The otherwise beautiful growing season was punctuated by the August earthquake that shook us up, broke some things and left a crevice through a couple of the vineyards but otherwise left the fruit alone.

RSV’s five organically farmed Carneros vineyards were harvested at night over a period of a few weeks as each reached peak physiological ripeness and delivered to the cellar in peak form where they were fermented using native yeast and allowed to rest in French oak in the caves for one year.