A Taste of Fall: Butternut Squash Pappardelle and Marsanne

By Suphada Rom

I am not unique in saying that fall is my favorite season. In Vermont, I spent the days outside, listening to the crackle of fallen leaves under my boots while inhaling the crisp and cool air. Even though fall is a transition towards the eventual hibernation of plants and animals, there is something outstandingly vibrant and alive about the burnt orange colors that drape over the fading leaves and the steady winds that rustle about the loose bits of earth. Although I don't have the New England fall foliage anymore, I do have gorgeous autumn influenced vineyards along with local barns and stands, offering everything fall from freshly picked apples to mountains on mountains of pumpkins. 

Avila Valley Barn in San Luis Obispo, California

Fall in the kitchen means roasting, braising, and doing anything to take the chill off. It felt completely natural (and let's be honest, it felt right!) to tie butternut squash into my latest pairing endeavor. I found a fantastic recipe via Food 52 for Crispy Kale, Roasted Butternut Squash, & Tomato Pappardelle. I was talking to a friend the other day about her criteria when she is searching for a new recipe and she mentioned she doesn't like to tackle anything that requires her to buy anything too out of the ordinary, like an obscure spice or something she'll never use again. This recipe reels in a nice combination of things you already have as staples around your home, like onions, garlic, pasta, and, in my house, a splash of wine. Technically, this recipe is a breeze. Boiling the pasta, sauteing garlic and onion, roasting the vegetables in the oven -- none of these require any special culinary skills or much prep time. Also, I'm always on the market for a good vegetarian recipe because every once in a while, my mother's voice pops up in the back of my head saying, "Suphada, don't forget to eat your vegetables!". Okay Mom- this one's for you!

Tomatoes and butternut squash liberally coated in olive oil and ready for roasting

Crispy kale adds the crunch factor -- don't skip it with this dish!

Pasta, Bread, Cheese, also known as my life's staples!

The final product with our 2014 Marsanne

To enjoy the meal, I escaped the confinements of the kitchen and dining room table, opting for the inviting couch and warm fire. Curled up and fork in hand, I dove in, twirling a strand of pasta around while jabbing at bits of kale, cubes of butternut squash, and piercing through the deflated, yet juicy tomatoes. The crispy kale doesn't lose its crunch or texture and adds earthiness, while the roasted butternut squash is sweet and creamy. Roasted tomatoes are a personal favorite of mine, whether they are slow roasted and concentrated in flavors, or simply blistered in the oven, like the ones I used here. They add a subtler touch of acidity and the flavor is a bit more on the reserved side. And parmesan cheese on top of pasta is a requirement by law- fact. 

I sat down with a list of our white wines and our 2014 Marsanne practically jumped off the page. A varietal bottling which we only produce occasionally, Marsanne is noteworthy for its quiet elegance, its low alcohol, and its gentle flavors of nuts and melon. I couldn't think of a better wine on our list to pair with this dish. In the glass our 2014 Marsanne is a soft golden color with edges on the brink of a lighter straw hue. The nose is mellow, especially compared to the likes of other Rhone varieties, like Viognier or Roussanne. Notes of spice and baked golden apples shine through, however, there is this delicate wheat aroma that reminds me both of sake and a lighter lager. On the palate it proves to be incredibly refreshing, as flavors of honeydew melon and lemongrass shine through. Low in acidity, it is the appearance of citrus nuances such as preserved lemon that keep your mouth watering, not the actual acidity of the wine. Coming in at a moderate 12.7% alcohol, this is an easy wine to get lost in. 

Perfectly rich and outstandingly balanced, I loved this pairing. This dish is rich in textures, but not in fats such as butter and meat. The sweet and nutty notes of the roasted squash brought out the delicate spice and wheat qualities of the wine. Roasted tomatoes provides just a hint of acidity to balance the dish, but not so much to overexpose Marsanne's lovely low acidity.

I would certainly recreate this recipe and who knows, maybe a little bacon will manage to sneak its way in next time! If you try this dish (or create a TCV wine and food pairing of your own!), be sure to let us know on any of our social media handles - Facebook or Twitter or Instagram - or just leave us a comment here! When you do, tag @tablascreek and use #EatDrinkTablas

A few resources:

• Recipe for Crispy Kale, Roasted Butternut Squash & Tomato Pappardelle can be found here, via Food 52.
• The 2014 Marsanne is available for purchase by clicking here or by visiting us in the tasting room.
• Interested in learning more about Marsanne? Check out this post, "Grapes of The Rhone Valley: Marsanne" to learn more about it!

Anticipating a Wet Weekend

This morning, our local weather expert John Lindsey posted an impressive rainfall projection (click to see it larger) on his Twitter feed. This storm is headed our way thanks to a combination of an upper level low pressure system and abundant moisture from the remnants of Hurricane Seymour:

Those orange and red bands that he shows stretching across the Paso Robles area (look for "PRB" on the maps) suggest that areas near us should expect between 1.5" and 4" (!) of rain between this afternoon and Saturday.  How unusual is this?  Fairly.  In an average October, we receive just over an inch of rain:

This year, we've already surpassed an average October, with 1.1" from a small storm two weekends ago.  If we were to get another few inches, that would put us well ahead of our average pace.  It is of course worth pointing out that while the above rainfall graph represents the average since 1942 (as listed on the Paso Robles City Web site, extrapolated for the difference between town and Tablas Creek) it never comes so regularly.  California's winter weather consists of long dry stretches broken by storms that can dump multiple inches of rain in a day or two. The episodic nature of our precipitation means that it's not unusual even in a dry winter to have a few significantly wetter than normal months, or mostly dry months in what is otherwise a wet winter.

And, as happy as we are to receive rain at this time of year, doing so is no guarantee of a wet winter.  We only have to look back as far as the winter of 2012-2013, when our current drought began, to see a year where the first half of the winter looked very wet indeed, but the second half didn't follow through:

 

At the end of December 2013, we'd already received 12.4" of rain, 152% of average winter-to-date.  The rest of the winter brought less than 3" of additional rain, and the drought was on.  That drought is still very much ongoing; despite some relief (particularly for Northern California) from the El Nino-fueled winter of 2015-2016 and some early rain this year, over 60% of the state is still in severe, extreme, or exceptional drought:

Long-term forecasts for this winter have generally been pessimistic on drought relief for California. Still, banking what we can now will only improve our chances of making it through this winter in good shape.  We've gotten the cover crop seeded out in the vineyard, straw down on the hillside tractor paths, and are even seeing the first sprouts of green push up among the vines.  Should it rain buckets, we'll be ready.  Fingers crossed, please, while we batten down the hatches.

 

Grapes Two Ways: Oven Roasted Chicken with Grapes and Shallots, Paired with Grenache Blancs

By Suphada Rom

Walking through the cellar a couple of weeks ago, I was engulfed by the raw sensations of the place. The sweet yet pungent aroma of fermenting grapes. The music blasting out from the high positioned speakers, reverberating off the large tanks and walls. The complex dance of forklifts moving grapes in, must out, and bins to be cleaned. The intense focus of the cellar team, going about their individual tasks.  It's one moment in time, but critical to everything we do the rest of the year.

In celebration of harvest, I decided to incorporate grapes into my next food and wine pairing. After a few relatively easy recipes, I decided to step up my game a little bit and focus on a more complex dish, including sides and sauces. I chose an Oven Roasted Chicken with Grapes recipe from Bon Appetit. The chicken is lightly dusted with Chinese Five Spice, a mix of Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, and fennel whose subtle warmth and pepper quality I love. Another thing I love about this dish is that everything is prepared in one pan (I chose a cast iron skillet). Deglazing this pan and liberating all the drippings from the chicken and caramelized shallots is amazing. For the sides and sauces, I got a little creative: an avocado mousse and lemon sabayon. Here are some photos of the process:

A one pan wonder

Oven Roasted Chicken, Avocado Mousse, and Lemon Sabayon- paired with our 2015 Patelin de Tablas Blanc

An additional wine! Our 2015 Grenache Blanc

This dish had quite a few elements, with contrasting textures, degrees of crunch and acidity. And the pairings really worked. For my first bite, I was adamant about tasting everything together (you can imagine that this was a bit of a challenge, since grapes are not entirely conducive to cutting!) and I was rewarded with the gentle spice of the crispy skinned chicken mellowed out by the creamy avocado mousse. The lemon sabayon was light and airy, reeling in all the qualities of fresh squeezed lemon, without the astringency lemon can sometimes provide. In the form of sabayon, the lemon is set somewhere between a sauce and custard, with creaminess as well as brightness. All together, it harmonized marvelously, like a well practiced barbershop quartet: acidity, textures, richness, and flavors. 

One component of the dish that I was particularly fond of was the lemon sabayon. The peculiar thing about the lemon sabayon is the presentation of acidity. It's almost as if the acid and citrus notes are the backdrop to the concoction's amazing texture. It's sort of like a leaner and lighter Hollandaise sauce. The avocado mousse was just as simple as it sounds, which was important because when you've got a couple of high-volume elements (i.e; spice on the chicken and lemon sabayon), you've got to have something that can compliment the dish without creating cacophony. That extra bit of color on the plate is nice, too!

The dish's combination of richness and brightness makes it a natural pairing for Grenache Blanc, which we often describe in those same terms.  For us, this means our the 2015 Grenache Blanc, and I decided to see how it worked with the 2015 Patelin de Tablas Blanc (56% Grenache Blanc, 23% Viognier, 12%Roussanne, 9% Marsanne) too. All in the name of "research", of course. Both wines are from the incredibly low yielding 2015 vintage. Wines from this vintage are aromatically appealing, with what I like to call "definites". When I delve into wines from this vintage, if I smell or taste something, there is no doubt in my mind that that fruit, spice, or earth flavor exists. For the Patelin de Tablas Blanc, on the nose, there is freshly exposed lemon pith teamed up with a racy expression of lemongrass. The wine is mouthwatering and juicy, with notes of tart green apple and pink grapefruit. A certain sea salt quality keeps the salivary glands going, and keeps me wanting another sip. The varietal Grenache Blanc smells, tastes, and looks somewhat different. There's green apple there too, but it's like a slice of an apple dunked into a bowl of warm caramel. There's also a great deal of citrus, but richer flavors of the pith of limes and oranges rather than lemon. On the palate, it's not as tart as the Patelin de Tablas Blanc and in fact, it's got more of that sneaky acidity quality, more so than the vibrant and obvious kind. There is an added layer of creaminess that I would attribute to the proportion of the wine that saw neutral oak barrel time. 

In terms of the pairing, I thought both wines went extremely well with the dish. Honestly, it was kind of a toss up between the two wines and you can guess why based on the descriptions. The wines worked well with the spice on the chicken: Chinese five spice is just forward enough to showcase the subtle spiciness of the wine, without dominating. The not-overbearing citrus quality of the sabayon teamed up with the racy acidity of the wines for a lovely balance of like flavors. 

This was a technical -- but fun -- recipe to produce and all grapes aside, a delicious one to taste. If you recreate this dish (or create a TCV wine and food pairing of your own!), be sure to let us know on any of our social media handles - Facebook or Twitter or Instagram - or just leave us a comment here! When you do, tag @tablascreek and use #EatDrinkTablas

A few resources:

• Recipe for Oven Roasted Chicken with Grapes can be found here, via Bon Appetit.
• Recipes for Lemon Sabayon found here (original recipe with asparagus and prosciutto) and Avocado Mousse found here.
• You can purchase the 2015 Patelin de Tablas Blanc and 2015 Grenache Blanc by clicking here or by visiting us in the tasting room.
• Not local? Good News! Our Patelins can be found throughout the country! Check out the distributors we work with here.
• Be sure to check out this post, "Grenache Blanc's Moment in the Sun" written by General Manager & Partner Jason Haas on the recent rise of Grenache Blanc.

Harvest 2016 Recap: Solid Yields, High Quality and a Furious End to our Earliest-Ever Vintage

And boom, after a flurry of activity last week, we're done with harvest.  Last to arrive, on Saturday, was a final pick of Grenache, but the final week saw 72.8 tons from a whopping six different grapes: Tannat, Counoise, Mourvedre, Roussanne,  and our small bock of Cabernet, in addition to the Grenache. And not just one pick of each.  We saw six different Mourvedre picks, five Grenache picks, and two picks each for Counoise and Roussanne.  This is not usually how things sequence out; in a normal year, we'd expect the last week to be dedicated to Mourvedre and Roussanne, while the other grapes are done.  No wonder our hard-working cellar crew was ready to celebrate:

The compressed and overlapping picks were characteristic of 2016's harvest.  Because we plan to use each of our fermentation tanks and casks as many as 6 times each harvest, the shorter the total duration of the harvest, the more pressure we have on our available space.  But in the end, we managed to make it all fit, and were very happy with the quality we saw. But you can see from the below chart that it didn't follow a normal bell curve distribution, with a slow beginning and end.  Instead, after a modest start, we stayed busy, with at least 70 tons coming in all of the last five weeks. In fact, our last two weeks were our two busiest weeks in terms of tons harvested off the estate. In the chart, blue is purchased fruit for the Patelin program, and orange estate grown fruit:

Yields were much better than 2015, and even a little above the levels we saw in 2013 and 2014.  The increases were particularly noteworthy in the early grape varieties whose yields were so low last year, with grapes like Viognier, Vermentino, Grenache and Syrah all up 70% or more (of course, all those grapes were down at least 40% last year from our 2014 levels).  But even with the later varieties, on which we weren't expecting much of an increase, we saw some, with Roussanne up 11.9% and Mourvedre up 32%.  The complete picture, with 2014 added for some context:

Grape	2014 Yields (tons)	2015 Yields (tons)	2016 Yields (tons)	% Change vs. 2015
Viognier	11.4	6.3	14.2	+125.4%
Marsanne	9.9	5.9	4.5	-23.7%
Grenache Blanc	31.9	22.0	30.6	+39.1%
Picpoul Blanc	7.5	5.0	7.7	+54.0%
Vermentino	17.3	8.7	19.0	+118.4%
Roussanne	42.8	42.0	47.0	+11.9%
Total Whites	120.8	89.9	123.0	+36.8%
Grenache	50.7	30.7	58.8	+91.5%
Syrah	38.1	21.4	36.8	+72.0%
Mourvedre	52.3	47.5	62.7	+32.0%
Tannat	15.4	9.8	12.3	+25.5%
Counoise	17.0	13.7	18.0	+31.4%
Total Reds	173.5	123.1	188.6	+53.2%
Total	294.3	213.0	311.6	+46.3%

Overall yields ended up at 2.97 tons per acre, right at our ten-year average.  Other years in which we've seen yields between 2.5 and 3 tons per acre have included 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2013, and 2014, which includes many of our favorite vintages. Those crop levels seem to bring a balance of intensity and elegance that make the blending a pleasure in the spring.

Looking at average sugars and pH at harvest gives a quick way of measuring a year's ripeness.  Since 2007:

Year	Avg. Sugars	Avg. pH
2007	24.42	3.67
2008	23.87	3.64
2009	23.42	3.69
2010	22.68	3.51
2011	22.39	3.50
2012	22.83	3.65
2013	22.90	3.63
2014	23.18	3.59
2015	22.60	3.59
2016	22.04	3.71

2016's average sugars were our lowest-ever at harvest. Nearly every grape saw declines in average sugar levels, though most were small; only Tannat and Grenache Blanc saw (slightly) higher average sugar levels than in 2015.  At the same time, we saw higher average pH levels than we have in the last decade, particularly in grapes like Roussanne and Mourvedre. I think that in this measurement is where you see the largest impact of our ongoing drought, as well as the impact of the warm weather starting mid-September.  This idea is borne out by the fact that the vineyard looks exhausted now, in mid-October, at a time when in many years it's still leafy and green.  Overall, it was a warm year, just a hair cooler than our warmest-ever year, 2014.  Every month except May was warmer than average, even with a cool stretch that lasted nearly a month between mid-August and early September.  The chart below summarizes (October's information is for the first 8 days, as we finished harvesting on October 8th):

We picked even more lots this year (114) than last, when we ran out of space on our harvest chalkboard.  This too was necessitated by the drought; we wanted to get the fruit off the healthiest vines while they had good acids, while letting the clusters that were ripening more slowly continue to accumulate sugar, even at the price of lower acids.  

All this happened in near-record time.  At just 51 days between its August 18th beginning and its October 8th conclusion, this harvest clocks in at nearly a week shorter than average (our 10-year average is 57 days). The beginning was our earliest-ever, about two weeks earlier than normal, and the end our third-earliest, trailing just 2013 (by one day) and the warm, frost-reduced 2001 vintage (by 5 days).  We're done nearly three weeks earlier than normal, and will face our third Harvest Wine Weekend (coming up this weekend) in the last four years with no fruit left to harvest. 

In character, it's early to tell what things will be like, but two things give us good hopes for its prospects.  First is the overall similarity in sequencing, weather, and yields to 2014, which we consider our best recent vintage overall.  Second is the deep colors and intense aromas of what we've been harvesting.  Skins on our red grapes appear to have been very thick. Flavors should be intense.  One of the late-ripening Mourvedre clusters illustrates:

The last project for us for harvest 2016 is to make our first Roussanne Vin de Paille since 2012.  This traditional dessert wine-making technique involves drying newly-harvested clusters on straw, and only pressing and beginning fermentation when they have reached our desired level of concentration -- typically around 35°-40° Brix -- after about 3 weeks.  [For more details on how and why it's done, see our blog Vin de Paille: A Dessert Wine Making Technique for the Obsessed from a few years back]. We laid our last Roussanne pick, from Friday, down on straw in one of our greenhouses, and will spend the next few weeks tracking its progress.

A closeup shows the natural honey color of the Roussanne, which will only get more golden as it dries:

Now that the fruit is in, it's welcome to start raining any time.  There is a hopeful forecast that suggests our first rain of the season may come as early as this weekend.  Meanwhile, we're enjoying the autumnal views of the vineyard without having to worry that the cooler nights and the coming chance of precipitation may interfere with what, in a normal year, would still be harvest season.