Patty's Pinot Closet publishes this newsletter on the enjoyment and appreciation of Pinot Noir. We welcome you to enjoy the newsletters and to share them with others. You can find past newsletters at www.pinotnoirs.com Each newsletter covers a different Pinot Noir growing area in the world. Areas covered include California, Oregon, British Columbia, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and France. You can find past newsletters at www.pinotnoirs.com If you cannot see the links or images in this e-mail, Click Here or cut and paste this URL into your browser's address field: http://www.pinotnoirs.com/newsletters.html Santa Cruz Mountains California This, my 22st newsletter, covers Pinot Noirs from the Santa Cruz Mountains in California. I tasted at wineries, wine festivals, and during very lovely dinners and lunches.

Food, Wine & Accommodations

Food
The Santa Cruz Mountains are famous for their strawberries, apples, and lavender. Just north of Watsonville lies Correlitos where you'll find the Correlitos Market - famous for their sausages.

Recipes
This recipe takes advantage of the Correlitos Market sausages.

Sausage Pot Pie with Pinot Noir Sauce and Polenta Crust

Sausage Pot Pie with Pinot Noir Sauce and Polenta Crust
yield: Serves 6
The secret to this pot pie lays in roasting the vegetables and adding a Pinot Noir sauce.

Filling

15 pearl onions

2 large carrots

2 sweet potatoes (about 8 ounces each), peeled

2 rutabagas (about 6 ounces each), peeled

1 leek (white and pale green parts only), chopped

10 ounces mushrooms, coarsely chopped

2 Tbsp olive oil

1-1/2 tsp dried herbs de Provence with lavender (recipe follows)

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

3 medium sausages (chicken, turkey, pork or beef)

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup Pinot Noir

1 Tbsp cornstarch

Correlitos Market

Polenta

2 cup chicken broth

1 cup water

3/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp freshly grated cheese

For filling:
Preheat oven to 425°F. Blanch pearl onions in large pot of boiling water 2 minutes. Drain onions, cool and then peel.

Cut carrots and sweet potatoes into 1/2-inch pieces. Place in heavy large baking pan with onions, leek and mushrooms. Add olive oil and herbs de Provence with Lavender and toss to coat. Roast until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Transfer vegetables to 8-inch square glass baking dish. Stir in peas. Season vegetables to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover tightly and refrigerate.)

Remove casings from sausages. Heat medium skillet and add the vegetable oil. Brown sausages. When brown add to vegetables.

Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Mix 1 cup chicken broth and 3/4 cup Pinot Noir in heavy small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to simmer. Stir remaining 1/4 cup Pinot Noir and 1 tablespoon cornstarch in small bowl until smooth. Add to broth mixture and simmer until sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Pour sauce over roasted vegetables.

For polenta:
Combine chicken broth and 1 cup water in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil. Gradually stir in cornmeal and salt. Cook until polenta thickens and pulls away from sides of pan, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes. Pour warm polenta over vegetable mixture. Using spatula, smooth top, covering vegetables completely. Sprinkle polenta with cheese.

Bake pot pie until polenta is firm to touch and vegetable mixture is heated through, about 15 minutes. Preheat broiler. Broil pot pie until polenta is golden, about 4 minutes.

Herbes de Provence

2-1/2 Tbsps Dried Thyme

2 Tbsps Dried Basil

2 Tbsps Dried Savory

1 Tbsp Dried Lavender buds

2 tsp Fennel Seeds

Mix well, crush lightly, and taste. (Add a sprinkle to a little cottage cheese so you can gauge the blend's effect with food. Then add more of those herbs whose flavors you want to come forward. Place in an airtight glass jar and store on a cool, dry pantry shelf.

Santa Cruz Mountains Restaurants

The SCM Winegrowers website contains a great list of restaurants around the area. www.scmwa.com

Alice's Restaurant at the crossroads of Hwy 84 & Hwy 35 (Skyline) in Woodside, California. Great atmosphere and hamburgers. Try the Pastrami sandwich, it's to die for.
www.alicesrestaurant.com

Correlitos Market in Correlitos. While tasting in the Correlitos area be sure and stop at the Correlitos Market for a sausage sandwich. There's a small picnic area across the street or take your sandwiches up the road to Windy Oaks - they have a lovely picnic area and wonderful Pinot Noirs. (831)722-2633

Manresa Restaurant 320 Village Lane, Los Gatos, (408) 354-4330
This award winning restaurant has Two Michelin Stars. The James Beard Foundation awarded Chef David Kinch "Best Pacific Chef" in 2010
www.manresarestaurant.com

Santa Cruz Mountains Accommodations

The Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers website contains a wonderful list of great places to stay in the area.
http://www.scmwa.com/index.php/santa-cruz-mountain-accommodations

Things To Do In the Santa Cruz Mountains

The SCM Winegrowers offer a long list of self guided tours that can help you plan your wine tasting. They also list many wine touring companies to help you.
http://www.scmwa.com/index.php/publisher/articleview/frmArticleID/56/

Pinot Noir Festivals

Click Here for a complete list of Pinot Noir Wine Festivals. If you have a Pinot Noir festival you would like to add send a note to pat@pinotnoirs.com

Santa Cruz Mountains, California Pinot Noir

Wineries

Thomas Fogarty Winery & Vineyards, 19501 Skyline Blvd, Woodside, CA 94062. 650-851-6777. This beautiful mountain top winery overlooks the Silicon Valley. They open their tasting room Wednesday through Sunday - 11 am to 5 pm. You can also book this winery for corporate or private events as well as weddings. Established in 1981, Fogarty grows Burgundian varietals Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and specializes in single vineyard Pinot Noirs. For 30 years Michael Martella, Winemaker has been making the Thomas Fogarty wine.www.fogartywinery.com

Michael Martella, Winemaker; Tommy Fogarty, Nathan Kandler, Associate Winemaker.

View from Thomas Fogarty Winery

Beauregard Vineyards , located in the Redwoods at 10 Pine Flat Road, Bonny Doon, CA 95060. Open Daily 11-5PM. 831.425.7777 www.beauregardvineyards.com Ryan Beauregard, winemaker, and his family run Beauregard Vineyards. In this beautiful location amongst the redwoods they produce some very good Pinot Noirs. Beauregard Tasting RoomThe Beauregard Tasting Room started out as a general store just after the turn of the century. The general store became the notorious "Lost Weekend" bar, run by pet rock creator Gary Dahl. In 1983 Randall Graham (Bonny Doon Vineyards) purchased the property and it became the Bonny Doon Tasting Room. It's now the Beauregard Vineyards Tasting Room and well worth the beautiful drive up to Bonny Doon through the redwoods for a taste of their Pinot Noirs.

Ryan Beauregard with Satisfied Tasters

Windy Oaks Estate located in Correlitos at 550 Hazel Dell Rd, Corralitos, CA 95076 Open Saturday beginning April 2nd through the growing season, noon to 5pm.www.windyoaksestate.com Judy and Jim Schultze own Windy Oaks and planted their first Pinot Noir grapes in 1996. They only produce estate grown wines in this scenic location. Windy Oaks Estate produces wonderful full-bodied Pinot Noirs in the Burgundian style. A perfect Saturday could be spent with a stop at the Correlitos Market for Sausage Sandwiches on the way to Windy Oaks for a tour, tasting and picnic on their beautiful grounds.

Judy and Jim Schultze, Windy Oaks

Santa Cruz Mountain Wines

The Santa Cruz Mountains first produced wine as far back as the 1840s. They became a legally defined American Viticulture Area (AVA) in 1981. The individual microclimates, marine influence, mountain terrain, distinctive soils, and low crop levels all contribute to the production of intensely concentrated fruit.

Over 76 wineries call the Santa Cruz Mountains their home. Most of these are small boutique family-owned wineries.

After the repeal of prohibition Martin Ray made and marketed the first 100% varietal wines made from premier grapes in the SCMs. For years, he crusaded for quality and honesty in winemaking. Martin Ray's original property in the upper Santa Cruz Mountains is now Mount Eden Vineyards. "Vineyards in the Sky" The life of Legendary Vintner Martin Ray by Eleanor Ray contains a fascinating history of this time in California's wine industry. It's available from the SCM Winegrower's website. www.scmwa.com

Steven Spurrier”s historic "Judgement of Paris" on May 26, 1976 included two wines from the Santa Cruz Mountains. They were the 1971 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon and the 1973 David Bruce Winery Chardonnay.

About my scores: I believe that no one gains by embarrassing someone or something, be it my husband, my children, someone’s wine, a co-worker, a subordinate, an enemy or a friend. I therefore, try to never criticize a person or a thing. I believe in keeping my life and surroundings positive. So, I rate all the wines I taste and then draw a cut-off line at 85 points. Who knows, maybe that wine that got an 84 was just having a bad day — why make it worse!

About Scoring: As I go around to Wine Events I hear a lot about Wine Scoring. At the “Women in Wine Seminar” many of the speakers (not all) seemed to feel that numerical scoring for wine was wrong — not the womanly way! They seemed to feel that some kind of “Wishy-Washy” system like good, bad, or ugly would be better. Having been formally educated as a mathematician I first like to see a numerical score. Second, I like to see a description where I can look for key words important to me such as Black Cherry, Dense, Earthy, etc. Third, I recommend to wine enthusiasts that they look for wine critics who like what they like and stick with them — it’s a three step formula for finding wines you’ll enjoy.

With that, here are my scores and descriptions for Pinot Noirs from Central Otago and a few from other areas of New Zealand.

Wines

Patty's Pinot Closet lists all the wines reviewed in current and past newsletters. We've included a price taken from the winery website or other retail sources if possible. They are included for relative comparison only, your price may be different. All prices in this newsletter are in US dollars unless stated otherwise. Note: A$ = Australian dollars.

Glossary:
Aroma – of wine that originate from the grape.
Bouquet – Odors of wine originating from vilification, processing, or aging.

You can find more definitions in my wine glossary at www.pinotnoirs.com

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