Fenestra Winery Blog

Pair Thanksgiving Favorites with Fenestra Wine

Thanksgiving is a great opportunity to pair classic dishes with your favorite Fenestra wines. Experts agree that there are many exceptions to the old rule of white meat with white wine and red meat with red wine. So, even with turkey as the main course, the options for pairings are limitless. One of Fenestra’s Hospitality Staff, Andy Bartling, suggests pairing fried turkey with Fenestra’s 2008 Estate Mourvedre. Consider his favorite holiday menu:

• Brined turkey, patted dry and vigorously rubbed inside and out with salt and black pepper, fried to a deep, golden brown crispy skin.
• Country style lumpy mashed potatoes (skins left on) with peppered turkey gravy. Brussels sprouts halved and seasoned with olive oil, salt, and pepper then oven roasted to a crunchy, chewy, caramelized goodness.
• Curry and cayenne pepper cranberries. Pair with Fenestra’s 2008 Estate Mourvedre with its pepper and spice, and you will have an exceptional meal!

Happy holidays!

Fanatic Winter Open House

Pick up your Winter Fan-Paks!
2009 Zinfandel
2007 Conjugation
 
This event is open to Fanatics only.  There is no cost to attend the Open House.
 
During the Winter Open House, Fenestra will also be celebrating International Tempranillo Day!
 
Fanatics will have an opportunity to taste a vertical flight of Fenestra Tempranillo wines paired with spirited Pan-Latin tapas prepared by Cascal Restaurant (www.cascalrestaurant.com)
 
’05 Tempranillo, Lodi (Library) - PAIRED WITH: Spanish Flatbread
 
’06 Tempranillo, Lodi (Library) - PAIRED WITH: Eggplant Tian
 
’07 Tempranillo, Lodi (Library) - PAIRED WITH: Mushroom Empanada
 
’08 Tempranillo, Lodi (Library) - PAIRED WITH: Banderillas
 
’08 Tempranillo, Livermore - PAIRED WITH: Beef Kabob
 
’09 Tempranillo, Lodi - PAIRED WITH:  Lamb Albondiga

Enjoy the sounds of Spanish Guitar by Jesse Hendricks!  (www.jessechendricks.com)
 
Tempranillo Event fee is $30 per Fanatic. 
RSVPs are recommended as space is limited.
925-447-5246 or info@fenestrawinery.com
 
Library Tempranillos will be available for purchase at this event,
as well as special pricing on the current Tempranillos.

About International Tempranillo Day:

In 2011, Tempranillo Advocates Producers and Amigos Society (TAPAS) organized the first annual International Tempranillo Day, and the world celebrated this noble grape. Not everyone knows that Tempranillo, indigenous to Spain and used in the great Rioja and Ribera del Duero wines, is the world’s fourth most planted wine grape (over 500,000 acres), and that alone would be enough to celebrate.  But now, domestically grown and produced American Tempranillos are increasingly gaining international acclaim, and it is TAPAS members like Fenestra Winery who have led this charge with passion, dedication and leadership.
 
Consequently, knowledge of this noble grape is rapidly spreading, creating excitement and a spirit of cooperation among adventurous vintners bringing this Old World variety to New World soils. Tempranillo today is grown in many more countries including the United States, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, France, Portugal, Turkey, Canada, China, Thailand, and more. And that’s why International Tempranillo Day was established.   This year it is on Thursday, November 8, 2012. 

This is a good time for a Tempranillo education day . . . remember, not ten years ago Americans couldn’t pronounce the name of the grape.  THEY CAN NOW, and that’s progress, but there is still much more to be taught and learned about this noble grape.  Remember Tempranillo is the last of the world’s major grapes to be produced in America at the level of excellence! 

October, 2012 FENESTRA WINERY E-News

Harvest & Crush Have Begun

The 2012 harvest is in full swing, and so far it shows great promise.  The grapes have been in great condition with small berries.  After two fairly cool years with lower and later harvests, it is great to return to a “normal” year.  Last year we got a total of 12 tons from our estate grapes, which was 2/3 or our normal yield of about 18 tons (from 6 acres).  So far to-date we have crushed the new vintages of Verdelho, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Lodi Malbec, Lodi Grenache, Lodi Tempranillo, Semillon, Touriga Nacional, and Merlot.  We expect to pick our Estate Syrah on Friday (Oct. 5th).

“New” Gold Rush Event at Fenestra – Noon-5pm,  Oct. 13^th

What a Day we have planned!  Think Gold-Rush era/Western theme.

This is an opportunity for us to showcase our 2012 Gold Award-winning wines and have fun with the theme.  Event “nuggets” include:

• Live music by Wolf Hamlin – from American Idol’s Season 11 – will be playing from 12:30-4:30
• Best in Show Hot Dogs – will have 1^st Place food for purchase
• Chocolates, of various kinds, by Snake & Butterfly
• Leather goods & jewelry by Molly Henderson
• Pottery by Gary Anderson
• Arts & Crafts by other local artists

This is a ONE DAY event, from 12-5pm.  Entry fee is $12 per person; no charge for Wine Club members.  RSVPs are not required.

Running Low on Wines

We are out of the 2010 Estate Rosé, 2008 Petite Sirah, and 2008 Petit Verdot.  We are low on 2008 Pinot Noir, 2010 Pinot Gris, 2006 Conjugation, and True Red Lot 26; Lot 27 is bottled and ready to go.

Off-site Events

This month, Fenestra will be at the following:

• Oct 1^st we were at the International Culinary Center in Campbell serving wines during a seminar and dinner led by Master Sommelier Roland Micu.
• Oct 18^th we will be at the Holiday Trade Show at Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley from 11a – 5p  (www.bayareabev.com)
• Oct 18^th we will be at the Wine & Dine at ClubSport in San Ramon from 5:30-8:30pm.

Fanatic News

We offer our Wine Club members a chance to taste their current club selections at our complementary Fanatic Open Houses. The next one will feature our Winter “FanPaks”, and will be held on Saturday, November 10^th, from 6-9pm. We're particularly excited about this one, as it will feature something extra special! Because November 8th is International Tempranillo Day, Fenestra will be offering a special vertical tasting of our Tempranillos from the 2005 through 2009 vintages during the Open House. For a nominal fee, you can taste these wines--each with a special food pairing--and follow the progression of this exceptional grape. Every wine has it's day, and Tempranillo's is finally here!

Save the date and watch for your invitation in mail. RSVPs are appreciated.

To become a Fenestra Fanatic, visit our website and download the application.

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Fenestra Winery is located in an 1889 winery building at 83 Vallecitos Rd in Livermore.  The winery is open for sales and tasting every Friday, Saturday, & Sunday from 12-5pm.  For more information, visit www.fenestrawinery.com,or email info@fenestrawinery.com, or call 925-447-5246, or follow us on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/FenestraWinery.

 

Gold Rush at Fenestra!

Eureka! Stake your claim -- there’s GOLD at Fenestra Winery! RUSH to Fenestra to enjoy a day of tasting Gold Medal-winning wines.  This special event will showcase all of our Gold Medal winners from the 2012 competitions.  For all you gold-seekers, additional “nuggets” at this event include:
 
American Idol’s Season 11 “Golden Ticket” winner – Wolf Hamlin – will be playing 12:30 – 4:30pm (www.facebook.com/WHTFPD)
 
“Best in Show Hot Dogs” (www.bestinshowhotdogs.com) will have 1st Place food for purchase
 
Chocolates by Snake & Butterfly (http://www.snakeandbutterfly.com/)
 
Art and crafts by local vendors
 
Saturday, October 13th from 12:00 – 5:00pm.  Entry fee is $12.00 per person and guests of Fanatics; no charge for Wine Club Members.

Featured Wine, Autumn 2012

As anadded feature to our newsletter, we are including a favorite wine pick from a person on the Fenestra staff. For this issue Bob Shimmon, from our Hospitality Staff, shared his choice:
Fenestra’s 2008 Mourvèdre

Mourvèdre is native to Spain, where it is known as Monastrell and is second only to Grenache (Garnacha) in importance. This wine came to California as Mataro (a name taken from a town near Barcelona where the varietal was grown). This wine goes through dramatic changes in character with aging. It can offer periods of being closed then reopen; the meaty flavors present in youth resolve into aromas of forest floor, leather and truffles. Mourvèdre-based wines pair well with grilled and roasted meats, root vegetables, and mushrooms, flavors that harmonize with the earthiness of the wine.

This time of year we have lots of fresh vegetables and herbs. Here is one of my favorite treatments for a hearty and delicious lamb cutlet (like the small ones you get at Costco) or small leg of lamb dinner paired with our 2008 Mourvèdre.

 

The recipe for the lamb cutlets is here.

SIPS OF NEWS FROM THE WINEMAKER

Wine Crafting

Crafting a non-varietal blend is challenging, and rewarding. It gives the Winemaker the opportunity to experiment, be creative, and to produce a unique wine.

Our Rosé is a non-varietal wine. It is a blend of mostly Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvèdre, all from our estate vineyard. The grapes were pressed straight from the vineyard, to avoid too much color (the color of a red wine comes from the skins, therefore to make a Rosé; you need to limit the amount of time the juice is in contact with the skins). The individual components were then blended to achieve a bright, fruity, balanced wine. The wine was aged for a few months in neutral barrels to allow it to develop and integrate. The Syrah adds structure and white pepper aromas, the Grenache adds flavors and aromas of fresh strawberry, and the Mourvèdre adds spice and aromas of rose petal.

In the case of Tourvanillo and Conjugation, the blends are intended to show the potential of the varietals used. These blends are more complex, more elegant, and overall better wines than any of the individual components. If done properly, no one varietal should stand out in the blend, it should be a seamless combination of the individual components. We don’t bottle these wines every year; we only make them in the best of years. These wines also receive more time in barrel than the individual components. The individual wines are made separately. After the first year, the wines are evaluated and blending trials are conducted to determine if they are worthy of Tourvanillo or Conjugation. If so, the blends are assembled and the wine is then put back to barrel for 1-3 more years. During this time, the wines are constantly monitored to determine when they are ready for bottle. At bottling, we conduct additional blending trials to make sure the wine is perfect.

True Red blending is a bit more involved due to the number of wines we use. We will cover that next time.

Brent Amos, Wine Maker

Awards!

The awards keep pouring in! Our 2008 Petite Sirah, from Livermore Valley grapes, received 4-star Gold and was selected as Best Red Wine in the High-priced Category at the Orange County Fair. The 2011 Verdelho and 2008 Petit Verdot also won Gold Medals, and the Petit Verdot got a Chairman’s Award. At the Riverside International Wine Competition, our 2009 Lodi Tempranillo got a Unanimous Gold, Chairman’s Award, and Best of Class. Other wines receiving Gold Medals were: 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007 Touriga, and 2007 Tourvanillo. Fenestra won five Gold Medals for the 2011 Verdelho, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, both Tempranillos (2009 Lodi and 2008 Livermore Valley) and 2007 Conjugation; and 8 Silver Medals at the Best of the Bay Wine Competition.

New Releases

We are releasing two new white wines, 2011 Chardonnay and 2011 Verdelho, and three red wines, 2008 Alvaraelhão, 2009 Grenache, and 2007 Tourvanillo. The Chardonnay was made from two different vineyards, one-third from Bud Greist’s and two-thirds from Frazier-Howard. This may be the last Chardonnay for a while. We had intended to just make it to blend with Semillon for Semonnay, but in 2011 both wines were so good as varietals that we bottled them as such rather than blending them to produce Semonnay. As before, the Verdelho comes from Silvaspoons Vineyards, and we think this is a particularly good vintage.

Sips of News from the Winemaker

To Blend or Not to Blend

Blending is an integral part of winemaking, and is arguably one of the most important skills necessary to being a winemaker. Blending can be done to enhance a wine, to make it more complete, more complex, to create a wine type or style (i.e. Bordeaux blend, rhone blend, Iberian blend) and to ultimately, make a better wine. Blending doesn’t mean that the original wine was flawed, or of lesser quality. It just means that the wine was enhanced by the addition of other wines. Most wines are technically blends, maybe not of different varietals, but of different barrels and vineyard blocks.

One key to blending is balance; you don’t want to change the character of the wine, you want to enhance it. For instance, our 2007 Syrah has 2% Mourvedre. This was added to enhance the mid-palate structure, and add complexity and length to the finish. It doesn’t make the wine taste like Mourvèdre, it brings out the best in the Syrah. Most of our wines are blended, sometimes as little as 1⁄2% is used and other times as much as 15%. Legally, to label a wine as a specific varietal, it only has to be 75% of that varietal.

Only a few of our wines are consistently 100% varietal; Petite Sirah, Chardonnay, Malbec, and Verdelho. These wines have consistently been bottled without blending-in any other varietals. This isn’t necessarily done intentionally; they simply have not needed any blenders. If addition of another wine were to enhance them, I would add the blender.

The other side of blending is creating a non-varietal wine. Most European wines are blends; you usually don’t see varietal wines from Europe. We currently have five non-varietal wines; Semonnay, Rosé, Tourvanillo, Conjugation, and True red. These will be discussed in detail next time. 

- Brent Amos