Jorian Hill Vineyard

The Superstitious Vintner

Jeanne — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:26:42 +0000

Our fifth harvest is in full swing here at Jorian Hill, and while it seems like an appropriate time to give our friends a short harvest update, my superstitious side is wary of saying anything too soon. Apparently, a somewhat heightened sense of superstition is all-too common among vintners and winemakers—as any amount of time in this business will teach you that Mother Nature calls all the important shots.

This time of year, everyone who works with winegrapes becomes a chronic cloud watcher, looking for signs of rain in the distance, and sniffing the air for hints of moisture. There’s an increased sense of awareness, as every natural event takes on greater significance. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a little bit stressful, but it is also exciting. Along with the stress of harvest, comes an anticipation and exhilaration that is unlike anything else.

If you live in California, you already know we recently had some serious rain, but our Rhône vines are hearty and strong, and our yet-to-be picked grapes continue to look vibrant and healthy. As for our grapes that have already come in, my newly found superstitious side won’t allow me to say much more than that so far we’re thrilled with the quality.

Since our entire Viognier crop has come in, that’s something I do feel a little more comfortable going on record about. As is our tradition, Reed and I got up at the crack of dawn for the first day of our Viognier harvest (September 28). We also tasted the very first juice to be pressed—which was as rich, delicious and fruity as any I have tasted during our years here. These, and other, early indicators make me think this could be a very special vintage for Viognier (similar to 2005).

Once the harvest dust settles nearer to Thanksgiving, we’ll have a better sense for the promise of 2009. Until then, watch the skies!

Late Summer at Jorian Hill

Jeanne — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:32:52 +0000

It’s hard to believe that we are coming up on our fifth harvest here at Jorian Hill! Our relationship with this property and the vineyard has become such a natural, welcome part of our lives, that in some ways it feels like we have been doing this forever. At the same time, every day here is new and unique.

Right now, in the long days of late summer it’s particularly glorious. Nature is literally bursting at the seams with life and energy—all of which begins making itself known at the crack of dawn, with noisy roosters determined to wake us up. For their part, the chickens are laying ridiculous amounts of eggs. And no matter how many fresh summer salads, grilled vegetable dishes or pies we make, we can’t seem to keep up with the amount of beautiful produce coming from our garden, or the apples and pears from our orchard. Friends who stop by for a visit, and to taste our wines, invariably leave loaded down with eggs and vegetables. Wine, tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchinis have become a standard parting gift.

In the vineyard, the grapes are plump and ripening, and our first crop of Mourvèdre is finishing veraison. Even with four previous vintages under my belt, I feel a sense of excitement as I talk to Jeff, our vineyard manager, or Mark and Joey, our winemakers, about the coming harvest. All signs are pointing to a late September/early October start, which is pretty traditional for the Santa Ynez Valley.

We are also really excited about the upcoming release of our 2007 Santa Barbara County Syrah and our inaugural 2007 BEEspoke Blend. Not only are these wines from an amazing vintage, they are the first two red wines we’ve made since we started working with Mark and Joey. Like us, Mark and Joey have fallen in love with the vineyard now that they’ve explored its potential. Gary and I see their passion reflected in these wines—they are something special.

THE YUMMY FACTOR: WEEKEND MEALS FROM A VINEYARD KITCHEN

Jeanne — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:29:30 +0000

By weekdays, I am a Los Angeles based entertainment lawyer, with a busy practice and an active family life. Cooking, entertaining and even relaxing are the last things on my mind. But come the weekends, I shift gears. I travel two hours north with my family to our vineyard–Jorian Hill–seven and a half acres of Rhone varietals located in the Santa Ynez Valley. And although the vineyard presents plenty of things to think about, from the challenges of organic farming to raising a flock of chickens,it seems as if cooking, entertaining and relaxing (usually all three at the same time) are the first things on my mind.
The best part of making meals at Jorian Hill is my culinary partner–my fourteen year old son Reed. Although he yields a mean lacrosse stick and has reached the level at three leaf clover at Grand Theft Auto, Reed is a natural chef. What follows are some of our favorite times spent together in the kitchen and what we cooked up together:

Friday night after a long day:
After a long day at work and school, we wanted to make something quick and satisfying. Sometimes the most comforting thing about comfort food is spending the time to prepare it with someone you care about. When I was first married, I used to make a dish called Chicken Dijon from a Cleveland Orchestra cookbook. Here is our modern day rendition:

DEVILED CHICKEN

6 chicken drumsticks
3 half chicken breasts, each cut in half
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
Dried herbs of your choice
1/2 loaf of firm bread
3/4 cup grated Parmigianino cheese
1T paprika
3 T melted butter
Preheat oven to 450 degrees with rack in the upper third.
Tear the bread in pieces and feed though the tube of a food processor with the blade whirling to make bread crumbs. Mix the crumbs with the grated cheese, paprika, 1/2 t each of salt and pepper and put in a medium size bowl. In another medium size bowl, mix the mustard with around 3 teaspoons of dried herbs of your choice. Since my daughter has recently (in a fit of boredom) alphabetized my spices, I used sage, summer savory and thyme.
Dredge each piece of chicken in the mustard and then in breadcrumbs and place in a buttered pan. Drizzle the chicken with butter. Roast until the chicken is browned and cooked through, around 30 minutes.

Reed and I steamed some baby bok choy from our vegetable garden. We roasted some white asparagus tips in the oven with the chicken and tossed them with a little salt, pepper and truffle oil. We were both comforted.

Saturday dinner:
Saturday brought the annual Santa Barbara Vintners’ Festival Harvest Festival at Rancho Sisquoc Winery. It was a beautiful fall day and we poured lots of Jorian Hill Syrah and Viogner to a sell out crowd. After pouring wine for four hours, we deserved a treat. I also needed to find an companion for a left over half bottle of Syrah. Before we left for the event, we marinated two beautiful New York steaks in the following marinade that we adapted from a Gourmet magazine recipe:

MARINATED STEAKS

3T soy sauce
3T balsamic vinegar
3T maple syrup
4 garlic cloves, chopped

EGGPLANT SALAD (also adapted from a Gourmet magazine recipe)

When we finally made it back to the house, we grilled the steaks on the barbeque along with a big purple eggplant. When the eggplant was blackened on the outside and soft on the inside, we peeled it and coarsely chopped it with the following:
1 chopped red onion
2t red-wine vinegar
1t sugar
1t cumin
1T olive oil
4T chopped cilantro
We mixed it all together with a little salt and pepper and scooped it up with warm pita triangles.

APPLESAUCE

While Reed was busy manning the barbeque, I went down to the orchard and picked as many apples as I could carry back to the house. I picked a mixture of Fuji and whatever else hadn’t been devoured by the birds. I peeled the apples and cut them in quarters. I put them in a pot with water to cover, along with:

The peel of one lemon-use a vegetable peeler
The juice from the lemon
A cinnamon stick

We simmered the apples until they were soft enough to mash against the side of a pan with a wooden spoon. We ate our applesauce hot over cold vanilla ice cream and then from the fridge the next day for breakfast, with a little granola from the Santa Ynez Inn sprinkled over it.

Ready to Launch

Jeanne — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 23:51:14 +0000

Here we go! The 2004 Syrah and the 2005 Viognier is in bottles and ready to find its way in the world. We have had a soft launch by pouring for friends (no one dared anything less than raves and swoons) and pouring for strangers at the Santa Barbara Vintners’ Association Celebration of the Harvest. Some of the strangers declined to faint upon first sip, but most responded with a lot of enthusiasm and interest. After boring most of our entertainment business friends with the intricate details of vineyard management, it was great finally being able to talk about our wine ad nauseum without anyone getting nauseous.

The best news is that we have made our first retail sale to Wally’s. Toscana is putting the Syrah on their list and selling the Viognier by the glass. We have arrived!

Tomorrow begins the official launch. We are sending out email welcomes to the website in the morning and having 250 of our closest friends over for Jorian Hill wine and Santa Maria barbeque. More to follow.

THERE IS NO RECIPE

Jeanne — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 16:51:24 +0000

Although its true that I never thought I would be a vintner, its also true that I never thought that I would live in California, be a partner at a leading entertainment law firm or be the mother of three kids—all of whom are still talking to me. Veering off plan has always brought the best results. So when, a little over a year ago, we chanced upon an organic vineyard in our search for property in the Santa Ynez valley, I wasn’t scared off. As with all of my other endeavors, not knowing what awaited me made for bold beginnings.A lot of what awaited me over the past year has been just want you would expect in the cycle of wine—veraison, the gorgeous ripening of grapes, harvest, crush and then a long, long wait. Discarding an acre or so of San Giovese grapes and grafting the much more Syrah compatible Grenache on their rootstock, designing a label, designing a website were all much more fun and way more time consuming that I ever expected. But the making of the wine is a mystery still unfolding to someone who started the process by asking for the recipe for Syrah and Viogner. And, despite the absence of an index card with an ingredients list and numbered instructions, the both wines came out beautifully. The terroir of Jorian Hill and the skills of winemaker Bruno D’Alfonso overcame my ignorance, thank God.

Now we are ready for our debut release and it is all about the wine. Now, all of the details have been obscured by that seminal moment when the glass is lifted. I am trying to get better about not holding my breath until tasters try the first sip and not exhaling with a huge sigh of relief when they smile and take a sip.