Ridge and D'Tim's New Wine Dog!

After Molly, our chocolate lab died 2 months ago, Maggie was pretty listless. A friend of D’Tim’s had been breeding labs, and said she had a several white labs left. Ridge wanted a black lab...’cause they don’t look dirty in the ranch environment. But on Aug 21st, the little lab was brought to Monterey for D’Tim to “check out”. The 21st, being an auspicious day in our lives, sealed the deal...so the beautiful “Bonita” eight week old little female came home to meet Maggie, the big “Syrah Dog.”...no worries, mate...they hit it off immediately and now we have the normal puppy- training chores ahead of us....and one fine natural retriever addition to the family.

One side-bar: The 1st night Bonita was left outside on the deck to sleep with Maggie, the alpha watchdog. We needed a slumber inducing device for the puppy...D’Tim suggested the radio...Ridge found the perfect program...BBC News...because nobody can stay awake for more than 10 minutes listing to the BBC at bedtime!!!

We Love Our Wine Club!

We love our wine club members and we love our wine club pick up parties! It is always fun and exciting when we have the opportunity to see a lot of our local and not so local friends for their quarterly shipment of wine. We were happy to see our very first wine club member, Mike Masica, as always, joining in the festivities. It was a fabulous evening, with good food, great wine and terrific conversation. We just love our wine club members and so appreciative of all of your support!

Anyone who has visited us at our tasting room in the Carmel Valley Village knows that our staff loves to talk about food. It is nearly impossible to talk about wine without talking about food. So food is our favorite topic of conversation every single day. We are constantly pointing each other in the direction of favorite restaurants and trading recipes amongst ourselves. So with the weekend upon us, we would love to pass on a dessert idea from our awesome tasting room manager, Deb:

Pour the 2007 Joullian Muscat Hamburg directly over Vanilla Bean ice cream. Top with fresh raspberries and dark chocolate shavings. A very simple and elegant dessert. So very delicious! Enjoy it and have a fabulous weekend!

"Decant" Always Get What You Want...

Many times, we receive questions about the proper process for decanting wines. The following information is shared by our winemaker, Ridge Watson:

Old wines are very sensitive to oxygen. They do not need breathing; instead they need protection from air. Your mouth PH adjusts and that’s why wines “open up” generally.

Here are some basic things to remember:
1) Decanters with stoppers are preferred.
2) Wines do not need swirling in decanters.
3) Serve older reds cooler. This hides oxidation and volatile acidity (i.e., vinegar)

Here is how to maximize your decanted volume of wine.

1) Three days to one week ahead of time, lay the bottle on its back, with the label up at a 45 degree angle. The sediment will gather in a nice, neat cone at the base.
2) Stand it up the day before serving. The cone will tighten. You do not want it to wrap around the entire bottom.
3) Hold the bottle rock steady while removing the foil and inserting corkscrew and extracting cork. Be careful not to shake the bottle, even if the cork breaks!

Decanting:

1) Use a strong light-Maglite is best. Shine it in the top shoulder of the bottle.
2) MOST IMPORTANT PART: Rest lip of bottle on the decanter edge so you have “one unit.” This helps you to pour smoothly and steadily.
3) Pour steadily. Minimize “glug-glug-glug” as soon as possible, so the pouring flows smoothly. Never back off as it stirs sediment. Let the light, wispy stuff go out…then stop when the big black swirl gets to the lip. If you did a good job, the remaining wine will be below the punt’s top-about 2-3 oz. (Use it in sauces and gravies!)

Celebrate Good Times!

Very recently we had some excitement at our Tasting Room in the Village. We were proud to host a party in honor of the owners of our winery, Dick and Jeanette Joullian Sias. We are always excited when they come for a visit and this time we had an additional reason to celebrate. With them was the renowned artist, Benjamin Harjo. Mr. Harjo is highly regarded as the “Native American Picasso.” His paintings are so bright and vivid and added so much beauty to our beautiful stone tasting room. Mr. Harjo is also special to Joullian as the designer of our Zinfandel Rose. His artistry in our label incorporates the elements of the Earth, Sun, Rain, Pollination and the Four Directions. It is truly a beautiful label.

The party was a lovely success and we were happy to see faces of friends both new and old. Most noticeably missing was our dear friend, Fire Chief, Sidney Reade, who could not join us because she was hard at work battling the Basin Complex Fire. (For those that attend out parties, you also know her as the person who makes the best stuffed mushrooms EVER!) Out heartfelt thanks go out to Chief Reade and to all the firefighters for their dedication and hard work. You are true heroes!