New York: So Much Food & Wine, So Little Time
September 24th, 2009 by Michelle Keller
New York is nonstop. Nonstop food, nonstop wine, nonstop work, nonstop play. As my taxi picked me up at 4 a.m. on a Sunday, there were packs of people spilling out of the nearby bars and clubs. This is a city that knows how to live life to the fullest.
My reason for traveling to New York was two-fold. I attended the Domaine Select Grand Portfolio Tasting, where producers (such as myself) gathered from around the world to show New York sommeliers, wine buyers, restauranters, shop owners, etc. The tasting was phenomenal. I appreciate the top quality of the producers chosen by Domaine Select, which was celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Domaine Select also organized a wonderful dinner at the historic Four Seasons restaurant which featured a four-course meal with 16 wine pairings. Like I said, New York is intense.
I also worked the market, both in Manhattan and in Hudson Valley. I had been warned by many people that the New York market was fierce, but I was pleasantly surprised by the warmth and congeniality shown by the buyers. Everyone was incredible friendly and polite. Discard your notions of New Yorkers. Stereotypes simply do not apply.
My favorite part, however, was the restuarant hopping. I tried Keste, in the Village, and had some of the most incredible pizza of my life. The wood-fired oven at Keste produces crispy, chewy, melt-in-your mouth dough. And the toppings, oh, don’t get me started. The cheese was fresh, creamy and topped with truffle oil and basil. Sigh.
I also stopped by the trendy noodle house Ippudo, which is the first American outpost of the Japanese noodle chain. My dining companion and I tried the ramen, which was earthy, spicy, entrancing and fragrant. The noodles (freshly made each day) were chewy and perfectly cooked.
Another meal took me to DBGB, the gastropub concept by Daniel Boulud. We snacked on his pate de campagne, a chorizo sausage, asparagus with a fried egg and fried pork rinds.
At the Domaine Select dinner, I had the opportunity to meet Keith Beavers, the owner of In Vino, a fabulous little restaurant and wine bar down in Alphabet City. I headed down there with a friend and we tried their famous porcini ravioli and rabbit ragout, along with some excellent wines by the glass.
I’m still recovering from my trip to NYC. I think it would be tough for me to live there full-time: so many places to eat & drink! But I miss it already. Until next time, I suppose…
Celebrating one year of inspiration with The Flavor Bible.
September 16th, 2009 by Ana Keller
A little over a year I pre-ordered the book The Flavor Bible and I have loved using this book that inspires you to cook without there being any recipes in the book! In addition as I write each newsletter for our Keller Estate Key Club, I always refer to the book for inspiration. If you, as I have vowed not to buy any more cookbooks, you will find solace in this book as it liberates your creative cooking. What happens with the book? Well you start looking up the basic portion in your meal (say for example scallops) and then a list of favorite ingredients to pair with, or to use as you cook, for example, avocado, basil and cayenne! You just go into your pantry and fridge and find what you have! Trust me you will cook like a true professional!“THE FLAVOR BIBLE teaches readers to cook without recipes, inspired by tried-and-true compatible flavors. Authors Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, a husband-and-wife team who have written a string of books chefs love, think of the book as ‘a thesaurus of flavors that work well together’… It’s a smart, useful book that won a 2009 James Beard Award and has garnered praise from publications ranging from O to the Chicago Tribune to the popular food blog 101 Cookbooks.”Enjoy!
Pinot Noir harvest begins at Keller Estate!!
September 3rd, 2009 by Michelle Keller
With beautiful, bright and sunny days ahead of us, we have begun harvesting at Keller Estate. Our vineyard manager, Nehim, and our winemaker Jacqueline Yaokum, have been carefully monitoring the sugar levels, acid levels and flavors of the grapes around our estate. Clusters are carefully checked to make sure that each and every berry has ripened and that the seeds are fully ripened. While part of this process is scientific, Jacqueline also tastes the grape berries to ensure that the flavors are complex and will make for a wonderful wine.
We started by harvesting the Pinot Noir from El Coro and from our lower vineyards. We harvest early in the morning (and sometimes in the middle of the night!) to ensure that the grapes stay cool and do not start fermenting in the bins. Our vineyard crew selects clusters that are fully ripened (without any green berries) and leaves any fruit that may have been damaged by birds. The fruit is then brought to a sorting table within the winery, where our winery crew (including our two interns from New Zealand, Biddy and Dan), help to hand-sort the fruit and pick off anything that might have escaped the eyes of our vineyard workers. I worked alongside our vineyard crew last week to sort the fruit, and as the berries go through the automated table, you have to be quick to pick out the unevenly ripe berries!
Our freshly grapes then go into the de-stemmer, where a neat machine carefully spins the clusters around and the berries go through small holes that separate the stems from the berries. Jacqueline stands by the bin where the de-stemmed berries to check if any bad berries have made it through (this is the third check — we are very careful to include only the best in our wine!) and we add a little bit of diluted sulfur to slow down the fermentation process at first.
The destemmed grapes are finally placed in our spotless stainless steel tanks where they will begin to ferment and turn into wine!
Our watering philosophy
September 3rd, 2009 by Michelle Keller
Ask a group of vineyard managers when and how much they waters their plants and you’ll get a variety of answers. There are many theories as to when is the right time to water and how much one should stress the plants.
So let’s talk stress. When late summer rolls around, here at Keller Estate we take careful care to stress our plants. Why would we want to do that? All plants — and all organisms, as a matter of fact — have two ways in which they can expend their energy. They can grow, or they can reproduce. Depending on whether they think they are going to survive a little longer or a lot longer, they choose to devote more energy to one or the other. When times are good, they spend lots of time growing. When times are tougher, they devote their energy to passing their genes along to the next generation.
When it comes to viticulture, when you want good, sweet grapes, you want to stress the plants, to make them think that they are going to perish. One of the ways in which we do that is by limiting their water consumption. But this is a delicate process. Water them too little and the plant dies. Water it too much and the plant thinks times are great and expends a lot of energy on producing leaves. So we have to find that perfect balance.
One of the ways in which we do this is extended watering. We hold off on watering for days at a time and then water continuously for up to 24 hours (we use drip irrigation so that the water is very targeted). This serves two purposes: first, we develop deep roots that can survive long droughts, and second, we stress the plant so that it doesn’t get used to receiving water every day.
Another consideration is when to water. We take careful care not too water too close to harvest time. Watering right before harvest could allow the berries to swell up with water and produce a diluted juice. Instead, we will water at latest one week before harvest so that the flavors of the berries are concentrated and complex.
So next time you have a glass of wine, or a glass of water, remember just how complex water management can be!
Featured Restaurant: The Dining Room at Carmel Valley Ranch
August 19th, 2009 by Michelle Keller
I have to be honest: I judged the book by its cover. When I first entered Carmel Valley Ranch, I fell in love with the decor. Modern and rustic chic blend together beautifully at this lodge, tucked away in the mountains of Carmel. A beautiful vertical wine cellar separates the dining room from the bar, and while the furniture is contemporary for the most part, the warm colors create a nice coziness. The Dining Room at Carmel Valley Ranch offers our Oro de Plata Chardonnay and it has been “rocking,” according to young sommelier/wine buyer Alex Bachman.
I selected this place for our annual family dinner, and from the start, the staff worked to make our experience lovely. Jennifer Bayless, the Dining Room Manager, worked with me to create a menu that would please every palate within our family and reserved the special dining room for our group of 16. We began with the choice of an heirloom tomato salad (very popular with those opting for the “healthier” options of the night), while the sinners could try the fois gras with cinnamon brioche. A third option featured a tuna tartare.
The entrees were equally mouth-watering. A slow-roasted halibut was paired with a gorgeous Chardonnay selected by our sommelier, while the carnivors could indulge in tender lamb loin with a Syrah. Those wishing to avoid meat altogether chose the risotto.
Finally, dessert. Freshly cooked doughnuts with fruit and chocolate dipping sauces were the favorite of the night. A sinful chocolate torte was number two. And finally, those watching their waistlines chose fruit.
All in all, an excellent meal. The staff was extremely accomodating to any special requests and the food was fabulous. We will definitely be coming back here.
Keller Estate at Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance
August 19th, 2009 by Michelle Keller
The Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance — the most beautiful display of classic cars on the planet — wrapped up this weekend and we had the opportunity to participate in several of the events. Keller Estate wine was poured at the Gooding & Co. Auction House cocktail party and Ana Keller and I offered event-goers a special taste of our Precioso Collection. All of the lucky participants of the Pebble Beach Tour D’Elegance rally got a special gift bag featuring our Pinot Gris. We’ll be there again next year — look for the Keller women!
Pinot Days and El Coro Keller Estate Pinot Noir
July 2nd, 2009 by Ana Keller
Last week we were very active for Pinot Days. We did an in depth tasting called Jewels of the Northern AVA´s and it was a lot of fun. We tasted 4 Pinot Noirs per flight and then the wines were revealed. I have to say that I was very nervous because one of the guests at our table asked me if I would be able to “find” our wine. Since El Coro is a new bottling for us, I was not quite sure of myself. However when the third round came around and our wine had not appeared, and the 4 wines were set in front of us, I saw wine number 3 and the shine and color was very Keller Estate. As I tasted the wine, which had a lvoely bright cherry nose and some sweet earthy undertones which were very interesting, as we tasted the wines and the round fruit and nice tanins which were showing very well despite the heat in the room and hence in the wines!At the end, I did recognize our new Pinot Noir, and I was delighted that it showed as nicely as we hoped the wine would. It will be released in September 2009 and I hope to share it with many friends!
Dinner with Michelle Keller at Sorrento Grille
June 9th, 2009 by Ana Keller
Please note that the dinner has been re-scheduled for June 24th at 8:00PM. The dinner menu will be the same and we are excited to share our wine experience with you!
Wine Dinner at Sorrento Grille in Laguna Beach — May 14, 2009
May 6th, 2009 by Michelle Keller
I’m really excited about this wine dinner at Sorrento Grille on May 14, 2009 at 8 p.m. Although Keller Estate has done many wine dinners in the past, this is the first time I’ve organized a wine dinner. Everything is working out wonderfully thanks to the friendly and organized folks at the restaurant and we are ready to go!
I first visited Sorrento Grille while doing a market trip down in Orange County and fell in love with the place. I ended up having dinner that night and loved the vibrant, lively atmosphere and wonderful food. Ryan Adams, the chef, was very friendly and his knowledge of wine really impressed me.
The menu looks absolutely fabulous:
Dungeness Crab-Gnocchi, Peas, Crisp Basil, Morels, Corn Puree
La Cruz Vineyard Pinot Gris 2007
Grilled Lobster “Puerto Nuevo Style”- Salsa Verde, Beans, Tortilla
Oro De Plata Chardonnay 2006
Seared Halibut Cheek- Creamed Grits, Chives, American Caviar
La Cruz Vineyard Chardonnay 2005
Sonoma Salad- Grilled Peach, Wild Arugula, Goat Cheese, White Balsamic, EVO
Keller Estate Rose 2007
Crispy Duck Breast –Lentils, Bacon, Calvo Nero, Thym, Orange, Demi
La Cruz Vineyard Pinot Noir 2005
Berry Brown Butter Tart – Chocolate, Vanilla , Syrah Pepper Ice Cream
La Cruz Vineyard Syrah 2005
The total price for the dinner is $80, plus tax and tip. This dinner is definitely going to sell out, so make your reservations ASAP!
Here is some information about Sorrento Grille:
Sorrento Grille is proud to be celebrating its’ 20 year anniversary in the downtown village of Laguna Beach. This casual, stylish bistro & wine bar featuring contemporary, wine county cooking has been a longstanding favorite among both locals and out of town visitors. The menu features ‘small plates’ or ‘tapas’ style dining as well as several signature entrées and comfort food favorites. The emphasis is on rustic, flavorful, wood-fired cooking over a blend of fruitwoods, oak and grape vine cuttings. The aromas fill the restaurant as Laguna’s original martini and wine bar serves up a variety of hand-shaken martinis along with an extensive offering of wines by the glass and carafe.
370 Glenneyre, Laguna Beach, CA 92651 • Ph: (949) 494.8686
Pinot Gris Makes a Comeback!
May 4th, 2009 by Michelle Keller
I just returned from a whirlwind trip to Monterey and Santa Cruz where we visited about 20 accounts. I stopped at some gorgeous restaurants, country clubs with stunning views, cozy kitchens, trendy wine bars… it was an excellent trip. I was particularly excited about the reception we got about our Pinot Gris. According to one of our wine buyers, Pinot Gris is becoming one of the more popular wines-by-the-glass!
Pinot Gris (ours is made in the Alsatian style and has a rich, full-bodied texture and wonderful floral and summer stone fruit aromas) pairs beautifully with French bistro food and lighter seafood cuisines, which seem to be in vogue. Forget the creamy sauces of yesteryear — it’s all about seasonal, sustainable cuisine that highlights the flavor of fresh vegetables and free-range, grass-fed meats.
Many people have asked me, what is the difference between Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio? It’s the same grape, just a different winemaking style. Italian Pinot Grigios are lighter and tend to be very dry, with a citrusy taste and lots of minerality. Pinot Gris wines are a little richer, with more floral, peachy aromas. I personally prefer Pinot Gris — it tends to be nicely balanced and is a wonderful wine to drink on its own. Serve cold, but not too chilly, as the aromas can get a little dampened.
