Christmas Eve Dinner

Our family gathers together for a late dinner on Christmas Eve. We follow the tradition of noche buena. The food is always a mixed bag, depending on what everyone feels like bringing or cooking.

Last night for starters my cousin brought some devilled eggs sprinkled with crisped bacon, my brother whipped up his tuna poke, my wife seeded some pomegranates, and I had aged Camembert. The combination proved awesome, especially with the very ripe and juicy 2011 Domaine Eden Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir. This is Mount Eden Vineyards' second Pinot Noir made from younger vines. It sells for almost half the price of its big brother but its flavors are anything but little. Immediately, its rich, sweet flavors are all over your mouth, but it never gets tiring to sip as the fruit is bright and vibrant. This Pinot Noir is a crowd-pleaser in the best sense of that term.

While we were enjoying the starters my brother and I were also busy cooking dinner. I demonstrated the magic of cooking with modern pressure cookers by cooking an oxtail adobo in my small Kuhn-Rikon. I left it on high pressure for about 30 minutes, but I think it could have used another 5, but no problem as everyone enjoyed it. The piece de resistance was my bro's roasted crabs in butter. I must've eaten close to a whole crab altogether. The local Dungeness crab this season is the best I can remember. They're hefty and packed with sweet, dense meat.

I opened a special bottle of Jura wine that I brought back with me from a visit there a few years ago. Appropriately enough on this Christmas Eve the wine is named "Jour de Fête." I got it from its producer, Jean-Marc Brignot when I visited him and his Japanese wife at their old farmhouse in the remote village of Molamboz. Soon after my visit they sold the farmhouse and their vineyard and left for Japan where they now live with their young son.

During my visit Jean-Marc opened a few bottles for a small deguastation. All his wines are non-appellation and labeled Vin de France. He doesn't care at all about appellations. As I was about to leave I asked him if I can purchase a bottle as a souvenir. I think at that time he had already unloaded his last inventories in preparation for leaving. But he was gracious enough to search his stash and find me a bottle that I could purchase. It was this Jour de Fête. This is Savagnin from the 2005 vintage aged in old cask for about 4 years without topping up or as they say in Jura sous voile. As in all of Jean-Marc's wines it is vinified in natural yeasts and no sulfites were added at any time. It is drinking fantastic today. Totally fresh and intense, the flavors are thick and alive. On the first whiff my cousin smelled the sweetness of celery and cut cucumber. My brother detected raw almonds. Then as the wine opened up more in the glass I relished notes of pear skin and honey wax. The flavors were piquant but soon smoothed out, tasting more of ripe pears. Thank you and santé Jean-Marc! I hope I catch up with you soon.

What a memorable Christmas Eve dinner. We finished the night FaceTiming with our Mom who's in Manila with my youngest brother and his family. We connected the iPad via AppleTV to a 52-inch TV, sat around the living room and FaceTimed away, joining in a chorus of carols with my Mom and my brother's family in Manila late into the night.


Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir, Domaine Eden (Mount Eden Vineyards) 2011

Pinot Noir In Them Thar Corralitos Hills

The tiny winegrowing area of Corralitos in the southern end of the Santa Cruz Mountains overlooking Monterey Bay is a viticultural treasure. The climate here is quite mild, resulting into one of the longest growing seasons in California. In the steep Windy Oaks vineyard, situated at about 1,000 feet elevation, budbreak starts as early as March and harvest happens in late October, often into November!

Since 1999 Jim Schultze and his family have been farming their vineyards and quietly making distinctive and some of the best quality Pinot Noirs in California. He was inspired by a trip to Burgundy, bringing back Pinot Noir cuttings from a famous 800 year-old vineyard. After returning to to the States, he cleared the land in Corralitos in 1995 and turned his vision into a reality.

At Windy Oaks the slow development in the vines result in a more balanced fruit, with good acidity intact and maturity of flavors. This quality is clearly exemplified in the 2009 Windy Oaks Pinot Noir "100% Whole Cluster". Schultze partially ferments his wines whole-cluster, which is to say stems are included with the berries in the fermentation. In almost all wines today, stems are not included in the winemaking as they could mar the flavors. But in the old days, especially in Burgundy, many winemakers included stems to get the benefit from the texture and structure they provide, as well as phenolics that add flavor and help naturally preserve the wine.

Adding stems is not a casual decision a winemaker makes. Stems can introduce off-putting flavors when the quality of the fruit is not advisable for whole-cluster. But in the case of Windy Oaks' vineyards the full flavor development during the long growing season typically results in ripe stems that could add more texture, structure, and flavor to the wine. The 2009 Windy Oaks Pinot Noir "100% Whole Cluster" demonstrate this quality very well. This is a beautifully balanced Pinot Noir, with complex layers of fruits, spices, mineral, floral, and smokey notes. Alcohol is 13.9%, and so while the wine is full and concentrated, it is not heavy but graceful on the palate. This limited release "100% Whole Cluster" Pinot Noir is one of their great successes. Only 191 cases were made.

In the original 3-acre vineyard Jim planted in 1996, one block is planted to Wadenswil clone 2A, a particular type of Pinot Noir that is slow to ripen and ripens late. It is the perfect match for the long growing season in the Windy Oaks estate, producing structured wines with good acidity and tannins and rich, dark fruit flavors.

Wadenswil 2A clone in mid-July

Jim blends the fruit from the Wadenswil block for most of his Pinot Noirs but he also produces a very limited quantity from this single block that he calls "Henry's Block." The 2010 "Henry's Block" is superb. Bright, well-delineated flavors, with more black fruits than red. A mere 152 cases were produced.

Most of the great wines of the world, including Burgundy, are fermented using native yeasts or wild yeasts. Not only is this a natural approach in winemaking but it also results in a natural wine that offers attractive complexity and surprising flavors.

This is certainly the case with the limited release "Wild Yeast" Pinot Noir. I'm not surprised that this is Jim's personal favorite in his range of outstanding Pinot Noirs. He says that "wild/resident/native yeast fermentations, being multi-organism events, produce wines of unusual complexity." This Pinot Noir expresses unique aromas and flavors in the Windy Oaks vineyards in Corralitos. Just 123 cases of this 2010 Windy Oaks "Wild Yeast" Pinot Noir were produced.


Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir Estate "Wild Yeast--Limited Release", Windy Oaks 2010 $55.00 (Click to buy!) 


Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir Estate "Henry's Block--Limited Release", Windy Oaks 2009 $49.00 (Click to buy!)


Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir Estate "100% Whole Cluster", Windy Oaks 2009 $55.00 (Click to buy!)