California Winemakers Visit St. Louis

This is a good time to talk to winemakers, and several have visited St. Louis in the last couple of weeks.  There's an opportunity now and for the next few weeks, before harvest begins, and winemakers and chefs use the time to go on the road, visiting and talking – and selling, too.  The first few months of the year also are good times, while the wine is busily fermenting and before time to worry about the blending chores. Joe Shirley, winemaker for the Trinchero label at Trinchero Family Estates, came to B. Tomas for lunch, and a couple of days later, Steve Peck, winemaker for Fetzer's Five Rivers Ranch property, visited the Southern Belle.  Both lunches were superior.  Winemakers and chefs also have stopped at Eau and the St. Louis Fishmarket for some excellent dinners.  Most recently, Peck was accompanied by John Ash, one of the California wine country super-chefs, who came to eat Helen Dancy's imaginative, beautifully balanced food rather than prepare his own that day.  Her pinot noir sorbet was a true dazzler to top off a fine meal. Ash was intrigued by the fact that Dancy and Michael Mullen broke from most norms with the wine service.  For example, tradition is to start with the lightest whites and work to the heaviest reds.  Not here.  A first course of a tomato-heart of palm-asparagus salad was paired with Fetzer's Five Rivers Ranch cabernet sauvignon, which also was used in the vinaigrette salad dressing for a complementary touch.  It worked surprisingly well; the cab was rather light and did not get in the way of the salad. Its use in the dressing was a delight.  The Five Rivers Ranch wines, by the way, come from the Paso Robles region and are priced in the $7 range.  A ‘99 merlot joined a delicious quail with leeks and mushrooms, and the merlot also was used in the demi-glace.  Here the combination was perfect. Paso Robles chardonnay, from 2000, was served with baked salmon under fresh herbs and garlic, and came as a surprise.  I would have preferred a pinot noir, or a gamay, with the fish, but the chardonnay worked quite well and brought a pleasing lightness to the palate.  The pinot noir, from 2000, accompanied dessert, which was the aforementioned pinot sorbet.  Fresh peaches came alongside, and if they had been a couple of days riper, the dessert would have been perfection.  As it was, it came very close. Ash and Peck were pleasantly surprised with the combinations and the order.  As Ash mentioned, the success of food-and-wine pairings is mostly determined by the individual palate of the diner-drinker.  It certainly sounded correct to me, because I've always claimed that if you put a plate of great food and a glass of great wine in front of me, I'll make the combination work.  Fetzer's main property is near Hopland in Mendocino County, where a magnificent flower and vegetable garden are highlights of a visit.  Ash, executive chef of the winery, pointed out that the entire property will be fully organic by 2010.  He'll be back to serve as chef for a Fetzer dinner at Eau next February.  When it came to the Trinchero wines, my favorite was the ‘99 merlot from the Chicken Ranch Vineyard, though a small-production wine, a ‘98 Zinfindele-Port from Montevina at 18.5 percent alcohol, was outstanding. Warm days encourage salads for lunch, and finding the proper accompanying wine can be tricky.  When it comes to wine made from the chardonnay grape, I much prefer the French Chablis or Pouilly Fuisse to the American chardonnays, which tend to be too rich and oaky.  Those made in steel, with no wood, are fruitier, lighter and more delicate, and there is less conflict between wine and salad dressing. Missouri winemakers are helping to fill the gap with chardonel, a Cornell University cross between chardonnay and seyval blanc that was around for 40 years before becoming popular as a wine grape. Stone Hill, Mount Pleasant, Blumenhof, St. James, Les Bourgeois and other Missouri growers and vintners make pleasant wines from it, a grape that is hardy enough to stand up to the temperature extremes of a Missouri winter. Other fruity, pleasant, non-chardonnay whites of recent tasting include: * Mirassou 2000 pinot blanc, Monterey County, once a highly popular California grape has lost its luster, but this version, while of only modest fruitiness, is pleasantly citric and a crisp lunch accompaniment. * Rancho Zabaco 2000 pinot gris, Sonoma County, brisk and acidic, a nice break from chardonnay and ideal with a vegetable-laden pasta sauce. Sterling 2001 sauvignon blanc, North Coast, hints of pineapple and considerable acid in a young, fresh wine. * Glen Ellen 2000 sauvignon blanc, Sonoma County, grapefruit overtones in a lovely bargain wine. * Fetzer 2001 Echo Ridge sauvignon blanc, Sonoma County, from the Hopland property of the winemaker, with good citrus tones and a charming, light wine for quaffing. * Barton & Guestier, the French negociant and distributor, has several modestly priced ‘00 imports, a sauvignon blanc from Languedoc that is passable, and a pouilly-fuisse that is superb, a delicious, bright example of white Burgundy. * In terms of California chardonnays, Grgich Hills makes an expensive, but delicious Napa variety from the 2000 vintage, a wine that is perfectly balanced, with a bit of the buttery backtaste, but a large amount of splendid flavor and a long, balanced finish.  Vetera winemaker Rodney Strong has a 2000 reserve chardonnay from the Chalk Hill region of Sonoma Valley that is very tasty, with a large amount of fruit, and Pedroncelli has a 2000 version from the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma County.  A hint of spice sets it apart, and it demonstrates superior acid-alcohol balance and a good finish. * Speaking of Pedroncelli, the long-time winemaker also produces a Sonoma Zinfandel rose, from 2001, that is splendid.  The light color is produced by removing the skins from the crusher early in the process, and this one looks like the great roses from Provencal.  There's a hint of the berry flavor traditional to zinfandel, and a touch of sweetness that makes it perfect with, say, a curried shrimp or chicken salad.  Even sweeter is the price, a tasty $8.