Pour+Explore Features Pinot Noir, Meiomi Gets a Redo, An Historic Wine Winner, Corn vs. Flour, an Over Flowing Half a Glass and More in This Edition of Woody’s Whine!
by Woody Mosgers
Writing from the edge of the Russian River in Sonoma County
“I like the “Whine” because it’s about good food and drink and has interesting tidbits.”
MarMar
Pour+Explore Pinot Noir @ Bricoleur
The Pour+ Explore series presented by The Sonoma County Vintners featuring Pinot Noirs was held at the Bricoleur winery in quite a gorgeous setting of what apparently was at one time horse country, just west of Windsor California.
“It’s seems so ridiculously beautiful and welcoming with its heavy wood framing and beautiful interior”, remarked Chris Sawyer, collaborating sommelier, “We were there last year and it was so crazy cool that everyone wanted to come back again.”
Of the 30+ wines that were being poured that evening we found four that stood out and I discussed them with Sawyer.
“Sean Minor is best known as a trusted and affordable brand, and then they got real about making wine”, Sawyer commented, “and I’m excited to see that he’s now making some really high quality wines, sourcing the fruit from high quality vineyards where he’s made friends throughout the years and it really shows; they were certainly tasty.”
“Vaughn Duffy was kind of a rising star but he hadn’t gotten too far in the business”, Sawyer explains, “and then at the North Coast wine challenge a few years ago, his Pinot Noir won the best wine of the entire competition…and he’s done very well since then, it’s a really good little brand in Kenwood to get to know for sure.”
“It’s one of the best brands of Sonoma County, it’s a collector’s brand”, Sawyer immediately states when I mentioned Williams Selyem.” They were making wine in their garage and started to gain credentials when they got some really high ratings that has resulted in them becoming one of the most known brands of Sonoma County, he explained further. He shared that they also make some outstanding Zinfandels but are best known for their Pinot Noirs especially the Westside Road label they were pouring that evening is totally out of bounds…and the tasting panel agrees.
The next Pour + Explore event, May 21, is being referred to as “The Valleys”– “We’re looking to do a smaller version of the Taste of Sonoma focusing in on specific regions and sub-regions rather than just a specific grape varietal, Sawyer explained, “We want you to be able to sample the wine from these “Valleys” to demonstrate the overall diversity of Sonoma County.”
Meiomi Pinot Noir Gets a Redo
Meiomi has been a Pinot Noir trailblazer in the U.S. and remains the dollar sales leader in the Pinot Noir segment with annual retail value of approximately $500 million and volume of roughly 1.7 million cases. Now, The Wine Group is relaunching the brand with new AVA wines and a fresh strategy aimed at connecting with younger consumers.
As part of the brand overhaul, The Wine Group is also looking to shore up quality across the Meiomi portfolio. “The next chapter for Meiomi is grounded in expanded access to high-quality vineyards throughout Monterey, Sonoma, and Santa Barbara counties and thoughtful viticultural and winemaking precision,” according to senior director of marketing Stacy Weisgerber, adding that there will be reduced reliance on residual sugar in the brand’s winemaking.(well it’s about time)
Shanken News Daily
Historic Wine Win for Grenache
When Patrick Sullivan of Grey Stack Cellars learned his 2023 Grenache earned the top prize at the North Coast Wine Challenge, he was “over the moon.”
But Sullivan insists he can’t take all the credit for the award-winning wine.
“To me, winemaking is like cooking — you use your senses, pay close attention and the wine tells you what it wants,” said Sullivan, a Santa Rosa native. “I’m not the type of winemaker who does this or that. I do nothing but lean into the grapes. It was a historic win for the Sonoma Mountain Grenache, which edged out 1,039 wines to win the Best of the Best award — The Press Democrat wine competition’s highest honor and a first for the red variety.
At the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa earlier in April, 30 judges and three associate judges cherry-picked the superlative Grenache after blind-tasting more than 1,000 entries from 220 wineries.
Eligibility was limited to wines made from grapes grown in the North Coast American Viticulture Area, which spans Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Lake, Solano and Marin counties.
Grey Stack Cellars, whose 2025 Rosé of Pinot Noir and Grenache also won Best Rosé, is no stranger to the competition.
Incredibly, the Ros e took the same award in 2021. Last year? It came in second place.
Sullivan said he has never been fond of large wine competitions or critics’ reviews, preferring to build his brand through word of mouth. .”
“The first year I entered the North Coast Wine Challenge, I was pretty skeptical about the scoring and the judges,” he said. “But I decided to enter my rosé because it was the best I’d ever made — just to prove to myself that critics don’t matter. Winning Best Rosé robbed me of my righteous indignation.”
Sonoma County Native
Half a Glass
Corn or Flour Tortillas?
As someone who grew up in central Mexico, I used to think fresh corn tortillas were the absolute best and store-bought flour tortillas — the only kind you could find in Mexico City then — were good for sincronizadas and otherwise belonged north of the border, in gringo territory, for cold grocery store wraps.
Then I started traveling to northern Mexico. I fell for borderland flour tortillas of many kinds — chubby ones, the immense sobaqueras made for burritos, a good flour tortilla, it turned out, can give a corn tortilla a run for its money.
There were only corn tortillas in Mexico until the Spanish arrived in the early 16th century and brought wheat, which caught on better in the north than the south. Cooks there embraced the tortilla-making tradition but substituted wheat for corn. Today, corn tortillas still rule central and southern Mexico, while flour tortillas are supreme in the north, where the proximity to the US shaped the Mexican food of Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona.
So it’s not a matter of corn versus flour, but which tortilla for which dish. Go for corn for deep-fried dishes — taquitos, flautas, fried quesadillas, tostadas, chilaquiles — because they crisp up nicely. And always use corn for enchiladas, which stand up to being drenched in sauce, while flour tortillas get soggy. Use flour tortillas for burritos and chimichangas, signatures of northern Mexico.
Patti Jinich – Award winning show host and Mexican chef
We Tasted at Some High End Wineries for Free
The Alexander Valley Vintners Association offered complimentary tastings during the month of April to help get folks in the door and we were happy to accept the opportunity.
It was great to visit Robert Young again and taste their current offerings but at $70/pp for the tasting fee and $50-75+ for their wines we were happy to have the free pass card.
Our other stop was Silver Oak, an icon of the industry and we sort of knew were out of place just driving through the parking lot with all of the high-end metal we passed.
The high point of the tasting was a side-by-side sample of the same 2021 vintage Cabernet from Sonoma and Napa counties, it’s the first time we’ve ever had the opportunity.
And while the Sonoma Cab was tasty, the Napa cab really showed off the difference in place and style that Napa is famous for – it was truly a learning experience. The bottles are priced at $100 and $165 respectively. We left empty handed.
I had hoped to finish the day at the quite famous Jordan winery but they were, not surprisingly, booked solid, maybe next year.
Learn to Add Salt with Your Fingers
Chef Daniel Boland has shaped New York City’s dining landscape for more than three decades. This isn’t an exact science Boulud explained in a conversation with Food & Wine magazine, it’s about becoming familiar with how a specific, consistent amount of salt looks and feels like.
Boulud recommends measuring salt with your fingers and using a consistent type of salt for most cooking, so you can learn what the appropriate level of seasoning looks and feels like.
He explains that if you’re trying to learn to season consistently while cooking but often switch the type of salt you use, it can be harder to grasp what is the right measurement.
“That’s why I said two fingers, three fingers, four fingers. It depends on the thickness of what you’re doing, the size of what you salt.”
The chef doesn’t recommend using a spoon to sprinkle salt — a method that can easily lead to misjudging how much seasoning you’re using — but does suggest that a salt mill can be a good alternative if you don’t want to use your fingers. A tool with manual grinding, will still allow you to carefully ascertain how much seasoning you’re applying with each twist.
Food&Wine
Mark West Steps Up to The Plate
Mark West and Major League Baseball (MLB) have announced a multi-year agreement establishing Mark West as the Official Wine of Major League Baseball. This partnership unites two iconic brands that epitomize American tradition and excellence.
As the category leader, Mark West (SRP $12.99) is outpacing competitors in share growth (1) and is America’s #1 Pinot Noir under $15 (2) and the #2 Pinot Noir across all price points (3). Beginning this season, the brand will be integrated across MLB broadcast, digital and social platforms, offering fans a dependable wine choice that mirrors the reliability and enjoyment of Major League Baseball.
Whether at home or in the stands, Mark West invites fans of legal drinking age to raise a glass to the enduring tradition of baseball and the epic plays the game is known to deliver.
(It’s a decent bottle of wine at a great price)
Kenwood Vineyards Returns to Korbel Ownership
The future of the 56-year-old Kenwood Vineyards brand and its Sonoma Valley winery are uncertain amid mixed messages as to whether it was closing or changing hands.
The 33-acre winery property on Sonoma Highway in the town of Kenwood has been purchased by a company led by Gary Heck, owner of F. Korbel & Bros., best known for its Korbel bubbly brand based in Russian River Valley. What’s happening to the brand itself isn’t immediately clear, but Heck has a long history with it..
Korbel first invested in Kenwood 30 years ago via half-ownership, followed by full ownership in 1999. Heck expanded production from under 300,000 cases to over a half-million by the time of its sale to Pernod Ricard.
Kenwood Vineyards was started in 1970 by John Sheela and his brothers-in-law, Mike and Marty Lee. They transformed the former Pagani Brothers winery built in 1906 into a modern winery.
The Kenwood Brand was famous for its Cabernets and its Jack London (famous author who lived in Kenwood and has a state park named for him) series with different artists commissioned to create labels for each years. We were big fans!
Fun Selling Cheese
The Pizza Today magazine offers advertisers a peel off page cover space placed on the front of the magazine, sometimes oddly and Mr. Caputo and I have had several discussions over how the ads turn out.
I was a tad shocked about this most recent edition and how the woman’s eyes draw your attention to the cheese…until you see the actual cover.
Nate Caputo said that everyone just laughed out loud. My thought is that it probably was the topic of discussion around many water coolers.
Your thoughts?
Words at the End
When you’re cooking be intentional and be efficient with your time.
Any time I’m in the kitchen I’m trying to impart whatever knowledge I have. I find that if you very quietly stand next to someone and point out what they did wrong and explain it to them, it’s much more effective than yelling.
(Sounds like a good idea in a lot of situations)
Chef Tom Colicchio – Gramercy Tavern, Craft Restaurant and 20 years as executive producer of “Top Chef”.
“Wine is unique from many agricultural products due to its inherent tie to its place of origin and the unique qualities and characteristics of that particular winegrowing region. Unlike commodities, wines from one part of the world are not interchangeable with wines from another.”
Wine Institute (U.S.)
“We’ve ridden the premiumization train (drink less but better) as far as it’s going to go —it’s time to get on the bargain train.”
John Gillespie, founder of Wine Opinions
“Ultimately, how we win is with food. Nobody has ever invited a person over for the evening and fried a hamburger for them. (BK grills its burgers)
Patrick Doyle, executive chairman of Burger King, commenting on how Burger King will beat McDonald’s
That’s My Whine and I could me wrong…
My recipes for Crispy Pork Chop Bites and Hamburger Sausage and Pepperoni Pie are in fact right here. Enjoy!
Woody Mosgers, cooks, custom caters, writes, drinks, matches wine and food and offers wine country tour information and planning in Santa Rosa Sonoma, CA.