Of pork, wine, a summer evening and good friends

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Bacon & Barrels Los Olivos, Create Promotions, Holly Holliday, Saarloos & Sons

 

I’m late to the table with my tale of the Friday Field Dinner from Bacon & Barrels at Saaloos & Sons July 18.

Local chefs Jeff Olsson of Buellton’s Industrial Eats and Jake O. Francis, pig farmer at Valley Piggery, combined their culinary talents to craft a meal I’ll not soon forgot. I can still taste the fried trotters (feet, if you — like me — are new to pig parts) and the crispy pig head.

Yes, it was finger licking good, that pig and all the fixings.

The wines with the meal came from the hosting family, Saarloos & Sons. The event began with rosé, followed by sauvignon blanc, and then several red wines.

Here’s most of the menu (I left before dessert):

Charcuterie course: Prosciutto, country Ham, coppa, country pâté and cracklins with apricot mostarda, olives, cornichons, Momofuku pickles, fresh radishes, savory walnuts and baguette, lavash and breadsticks

Second course: Crispy pig head and fried trotters with aïoli and arugula salad, and pork-stuffed pork shanks with Finley Farms’ seasonal roasted vegetables

Third course: Roasted pork loin, sweet-tea brined, peach-rosemary glaze, Andouille sausage links with pretzel bread, mustard and beer-braised candy onions

Yes, one can see why Rundown on LA named Bacon & Barrels “The Coachella of Bacon,” and The Huffington Post “One of the Top 5 Festivals in California.”

This Saarloos & Sons’ weekend event was the second for Los Olivos; Holly Holliday, queen bee behind organizer/owner Create Promotions of San Luis Obispo, worked her magic and debuted another B&B in San Diego last May.

Thanks to my day job, I missed both Saturday and Sunday’s version of more bacon and more wine, beer and spirits, but nearly everyone else I know attended some part of both weekend days, and came away smiling.

Saturday included more than 75 food and libation booths staffed by chefs who packed their most imaginative and freshest bacon recipes to pair with artisan and craft barrel beverages such as bourbon, wine, beer and scotch, according to Create.

Eureka Santa Barbara, Ascendant Spirits Distillery and Sidecar of San Luis Obispo featured live mixology demonstrations.

Said Holliday: “I’m thrilled to once again host on the field and put out so many culinary and libation artists who all brought amazing offerings to the table, literally. It only further proves my claim that we have some of the best artists in the country right here in wine country.”

Sunday, VIP guests enjoyed the Bacon, Bellini, Bloodies Brunch, also at Saarloos & Sons Field. Chef Louise of Louise’s Kitchen Table prepared Sunday’s brunch.

About Create: Founded in 2011, the company features a team of event specialists dedicated to events that are community supported and community focused. Besides Bacon and Barrels San Diego and Los Olivos, events include Buellton Brew Fest, Winter Wonder SLO, and BubblyFest. Visit http://www.createpromotions.com, or call (805) 709-2221.

Copyright Central Coast Wine Press

 

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CCWP on Winemaking: Meet Kyle Knapp of Press Gang Cellars in Lompoc

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Beckmen Vineyards, Kyle Knapp, Press Gang Cellars, Santa Barbara County Wines

Kyle Knapp at Beckmen Vineyards, where he works as assistant winemaker to Mikael Siguoin when he’s not producing his Press Gang Cellars’ wines

This is another in my ongoing series about our region’s smallest winemakers. They may not yet have tasting rooms, and their case production is easily less than 1,000 cases. But hunt them down, either via phone, email or web: You can thank me later.

Lompoc native and avid surfer Kyle Knapp was working as a butcher in the meat department of Los Olivos Grocery when the winemaking bug first bit.

“I worked with high-end meats and cheeses, and (the chance to produce) quality wine seemed like a natural progression,” he recalled.

Knapp’s first harvest was in 2005, at nearby Beckmen Vineyards. Like others who thrive on the arduous but rewarding experience, Knapp was hooked. Immediately following that harvest, he traveled to Australia for his second round, and enjoyed some surfing there when he was finished.

His first vintage under his label, Press Gang Cellars, was in 2007, but then he took a break. “I skipped 2008 and 2009 to travel,” Knapp, now 33, recalled. “At the time, I was keeping my priorities straight, I thought.”

Despite having wines from 2007, Knapp calls 2010 his “coming out” — the year when he put travel aside and began to focus on making wine. In January 2011, he began working alongside winemaker Mikael Sigouin as assistant winemaker at Beckmen.

Knapp says he chose the name “Press Gang,” from a song by the Murder City Devils, because “music inspires me in most things I do.”

The song is about the press gangs of the British Navy in the 18^th and early 19^th centuries — sailors would round up young men, sometimes from bars, and force them to work on navy ships, he said. Impressment, or the press gang, refers to the act of taking men by force and without notice.

“I like the play on words: We press grapes to get wine,” Knapp said.

Since the inception of Press Gang Cellars, Knapp has focused his efforts on syrah, grenache and roussane, but in 2013 also produced some tempranillo and sangiovese, he said.

Knapp sources fruit primarily from the Santa Ynez Valley and Ballard Canyon, and tends to pick “when flavor is optimal.” His methodology includes a cold soak and letting native yeast kick start the fermentation process.

“I like doing some whole cluster, like 25 percent,” he added. His wines undergo extended barrel age, “around 25 to 28 months.”

His current rosé, named for his wife, Savanna Rhea, combines partial oak and stainless steel, and enjoyed a two-day cold soak before being pressed into a bottle of Press Gang Cellars.

Press Gang Cellars has grown to about 300 cases; Knapp says his goal is a maximum of 2,000 per year.

I met Knapp through mutual friends several years back, but only tried his wines during the 2013 Garagiste: Southern Exposure tasting in Solvang. With Savanna at his side, Knapp poured his syrah, Grenache and rosé to acclaim.

Knapp told me he enjoys participating in the Garagiste events, which highlight uber tiny producers, but realizes he needs a tasting room for increased follow through with consumers. Such a site — as well as a wine club — is in the works within the next year, definitely in Lompoc, he said.

Knapp resides in Lompoc with Savanna and their son Milo, who is 9 months old.

Information: (805) 291-3141 or pressgangcellars@gmail.com

Copyright centralcoastwinepress.com

Thursday’s Bottle returns with Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post “Pinks”

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Frank Ostini, Gray Hartley, Hitching Post Wines, rosé, Wine Bloggers Conference

 

It’s been months since I posted a wine for the weekly “Thursday’s Bottle.” I have no excuse — especially since I still drink a lot of wine, even on Thursdays.

Tonight, to honor the hundreds of writers descending on Buellton for the annual Wine Bloggers Conference, and because it’s a lovely warm summer evening, I offer up a rosé.

Pretty in pink is Pinks rosé, by the gentlemen behind Hartley Ostini Wines, Gray Hartley and Frank Ostini

Those of you who follow my writing know that I just switched my “Wine Country” column from the local newspapers to Noozhawk.com. My first column, July 2, focused on 11 locally produced rosés.

I inadvertently overlooked this one, and I’m here tonight to tell you that it ranks right up with my favorites noted in the Noozhawk column.

The rosé is the 2013 Hartley Ostini Hitching Post “Pinks,” a luscious blend of grenache, pinot noir and valdiguie. It smacks of fresh, juicy pink grapefruit with an undertone of ripe strawberries.

I’m told it retails for $15 — what a steal!

Case production: Update! The always gracious and bubbly Gray Hartley said tonight that the 2013 Pinks includes 2,400 cases. The wine is available in retail outlets, at the restaurants or online: http://www.hpwines.com/HPWines.html

 

 

Get your bacon on at Saarloos & Sons’s Field in Los Olivos July 17-20

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Bacon & Barrels Los Olivos, Create Promotions, Gusto, Saarloos & Sons, Vic Casanova

Bacon & Barrels, named by the Huffington Post as “One of the Top Five Festivals in California,” returns with a Saturday festival and meals to Saarloos & Sons Field in Los Olivos.

Organizers predict that tickets for the event will once again sell out, so get on it!

Bottle Branding Photo
Succulent Braised Bacon

Bring a big appetite for the yumminess of All Things Bacon, for you will not be disappointed. The second annual festival will once again showcase local chefs’ bacon recipes, and highlight the best artisan barrel-based beverages: bourbon, beer, scotch and wine.

The food industry’s best, including Gusto owner/chef and Iron Chef America alum Vic Casanova, will offer live preparation of bacon-infused small plates and bacon-and-barrel drinks.

Ticket prices include all food and drink tastings, and range in price from General Admission; $60 advance, $70 at door; Designated Driver: $30 advance, $40 at door; Early Bird (noon) General Admission: $80 advance, $90 at door; and the V.I.P. Weekend Pass (limited!) for $325, which includes Friday evening dinner, early entrance at noon Saturday with access to lounge’s special tastings and Sunday’s brunch.

The Friday dinner, Saturday festival and Sunday brunch will all take place at Saarloos & Sons Field, 2971 Grand Ave., Los Olivos.

Bacon & Barrels debuted in Los Olivos in June 2013, and this year added a second location in May – San Diego. That event also garnered Holly Holliday’s Create Promotions more well-deserved fame — and another sell-out.

Friday: The weekend kicks off with an all-bacon dinner in the field to be prepared by Chef Jake O. Francis, pig farmer and farm-to-table master. The four-course dinner is viewable here http://www.baconandbarrels.com/schedule/

Saturday: General public admission begins at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 19.

Sunday: The VIP experience continues with the “Bacon, Bellini and Bloodies Brunch, also in the field.

Bacon & Barrels Los Olivos will donate a percentage of ticket sales to support The Los Olivos School Foundation and the Los Olivos Business Organization. Bacon & Barrels will also incorporate its proprietary Environmental Event process, with a goal of 95 percent of all event trash to be diverted from the landfill.

July’s Wine Calendar: The Garagiste Festival: “Urban Exposure” in L.A.

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Artisan winemakers, Doug Minnick, Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure, Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure, Lisa Dinsmore, Melanie Webber, Paso Robles, Santa Barbara County California, Stewart McLennan

 

Saturday, July 12, is your chance to meet and taste wines from more than 40 artisan winemakers who live in greater Los Angeles and will participate in The Garagiste Festival’s first foray into this city. (See list of participants, below)

What’s a Garagiste? (gar-uh-zhe-stuh) is a term originally used in the Bordeaux region of France to slight renegade small-lot wine makers, sometimes working in their “garages” (anything considered not a chateau), who refused to follow the “rules,” and is now a full-fledged movement responsible for making some of the best wine in the world.

Founded in Paso Robles in 2011, the Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure debuts at Union Station and will benefit Mending Kids International and the Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture Program.

My first Garagiste Festival was the organizers’ premiere event, held in November 2011 outside Paso Robles inside a show barn at Windfall Ranch. Calling the venue a “barn” doesn’t do it justice, for Windfall Farms is a 724-acre equestrian facility, and the barn was brick with glass and copper steeples. Winemakers set up tables inside the stalls, most of which were bigger than my living room.

In 2013, two years after their Paso Robles launch, co-founders Stewart McLennan and Doug Minnick, along with event director Lisa Dinsmore and publicist Melanie Webber, expanded Garagiste to Solvang with “Southern Exposure.”

You can read one of my previous stories about the crew here:
https://ccwinepress.wordpress.com/2014/03/19/second-annual-solvang-garagiste-festival-southern-exposure-march-28-30/

Same idea, in different locales: The Paso Robles, Solvang and now Los Angeles Garagiste Festivals focus on tiny (and often, undiscovered) artisan winemakers who produce as few as a couple hundred cases each year.

Many of the Los Angeles-based winemakers participating in “Urban Exposure” still work day jobs, but like their colleagues in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, follow their passion for wine.

According to Webb, among the Garagistes are the team who work together in film production and have received raves for their winemaking; a couple whose wine is rooted in their Indian heritage and inspired by the 64 arts of KamaSutra; an Orange County mortgage broker; a winemaker inspired by his grandfather, who made wine in his Ontario basement; and a brewer and lab manager at Golden Road Brewing.

And my favorite: The Culver City sound engineer who secretly planted his first vines at Culver City’s MaryCrest Manor (a nursing home managed by Carmelite nuns), and had to answer to the police for his efforts.

After all, one doesn’t have to own a vineyard, winery, cellar or tasting room to make good wine.

Details, participants and ticket information is available at http://www.garagistefestival.com/

The event takes place from 2 to 5 p.m. at Union Station. Wood & Vine will provide cheese and charcuterie.

Among the winemakers already scheduled to pour are: Alma Fria Winery, Alma Sol Winery, Alta Colina Vineyards, Archium Cellars, Ascension Cellars, Autonom, Blue Cape Cellars, Bon Niche Cellars, Bratcher Winery, Carucci Wines, Center of Effort, Cholame Vineyards, Cloak & Dagger Wines, Cutruzzola Vineyards, De Su Propia Cosecha, Dilecta Wines, Dubost Ranch, DV8 Cellars, Graef Wines, Kessler-Haak Vineyards, La Fenetre Wines, Levo Wines, Luminesce, LXV Wines, Marin’s Vineyard, MCV Wines, Montemar Wines, Native9, ONX Wines, Pulchella Winery, Rendarrio Wines, Seven Angels Cellars, Shai Cellars, Singer Cellars, Soaring Hawk Vineyards, The Farm Winery, Turiya Wines, Two Shepherds Winery, Vinemark Cellars, Vines on the Marycrest, Vino V Wines, Weatherborne and Workman/Ayer.