The Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta is pleased to announce that Paul Draper, CEO/Winemaker at Ridge Vineyards, will attend the 2012 event to receive SFWC Fiesta’s Honorary Winery of the Year Award. An internationally celebrated winemaker, Draper has been making wines for Ridge Vineyards since 1969.

Best know in North America for their long-lived zinfandels, particularly single- vineyard Sonoma old vine zinfandels such as Ridge Lytton Springs and Ridge Geyserville, Draper is best know internationally for making Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet, one of the world’s top Bordeaux blends.

Ridge Monte Bello 1971 finished fifth in the famous 1976 Judgment of Paris, a blind tasting of 4 of Bordeaux’s top wines against 6 California Cabernets. To everyone’s surprise, the best taster’s in France rated a California wine over the top Bordeaux wines. The response of the French judges was that California wines would not age and that if the same wines were tasted in 30 years the French wines would win.

So, thirty years later, in 2006, Steven Spurrier, the Englishman who set up the original tasting, set up the tasting again, this time with simultaneous tastings in London and in Napa. Paralleling the 1976 event, nine expert tasters at each location judged the original red wines. The winning wine in both the US and UK was the Ridge Monte Bello 1971. In the combined results, it finished eighteen points ahead of the second-place wine. This was quite an honor for Ridge, especially given the prestige of the tasters, including Michael Broadbent, Hugh Johnson, Jancis Robinson, and Michel Bettane.

To see more on this tasting, see the New York Times post at  http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/06/02/judgment-schmudgment

 Results 2006

137 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 1971 

119 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 

112 Mayacamas Vineyards 1971

112 Heitz ‘Martha’s Vineyard’ 1970

106 Clos Du Val Winery 1972 

105 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 1970 

92 Chateau Montrose 1970 

82 Chateau Haut-Brion 1970 

66 Chateau Leoville Las Cases 1971 

59 Freemark Abbey Winery 1967 

Largely due to its cool-climate location and its limestone soil, Ridge Monte Bello is unique from the other top Cabernet wines from California. In view of and located only 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean, the Monte Bello vineyard is high atop the Santa Cruz Mountains, ranging in elevation from 1300′ to 2700′ above and is composed of unique green stone and clay soils layered over decomposing limestone. Limestone does not exists in the well-known Cabernet producing areas of Napa and Sonoma Valleys, making the soil composition at Monte Bello a unique contributor to the wine’s distinctive character. The cool climate and limestone soil combine to make a moderate-alcohol wine destined for long-term aging, with firm acidity and a consistent streak of minerality. 

Often called America’s First Growth, Monte Bello is one of the finest examples of a classic Bordeaux blend in which cabernet sauvignon predominates. The blend in each Monte Bello vintage is different, the cabernet sauvignon showing cassis and adding tannin, small amounts of merlot giving plum character and a bit of softness, a touch of petit verdot contributing dark color and earthiness, and cabernet franc adding fragrance and a hint of spice.

Year after year Monte Bello proves to be a consistently compelling wine with great structure, complexity, and balance and it has been known to lay down for several decades with elegance and ease. 

Taken from their website at http://www.ridgewine.com  the history of Ridge Monte Bello is a fascinating California wine story:

“In 1959, four Stanford Research Institute engineers bought acreage on top of Monte Bello Ridge, a site that had first been planted to grape vines in the late 19th century. In the early years, Dave Bennion took the reigns as winemaker, and in 1962, after three years of producing small amounts of some of the finest wine in California of that era, the four owners re-bonded the winery and released the first commercial Ridge Monte Bello. Production was now located in the old stone winery built by Dr. Osea Perrone in 1892 and acquired from the Trentadue family. Paul Draper joined Ridge in 1969, took over production of red wines the next year, and in 1971 became winemaker, a position he continues to hold today.”

Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta could not be more pleased to have Paul Draper returning to Santa Fe to receive the event’s Honorary Winery of the Year Award. It is anticipated that Draper will host a six-vintage vertical tasting of Ridge Monte Bello on Friday September 28^th. Following the tasting, Draper will be honored at the Live Auction Luncheon where four of his Ridge Vineyard wines will be paired with courses from four Guest Chefs.

This year’s gift was celebrated on February 22, 2012 with a “Big Check Ceremony” at Amy Biehl Community School is Rancho Viejo. Joining 1st and 2nd graders from Amy Galanter’s cooking class were Principal Pam De La O, classroom teacher Sharon Scarlott, CWK’s Anna Farrier and SFW&CF Board Members, President Marla Thompson and Executive Director Greg O’Byrne. 

Increased wine knowledge is good news for Santa Fe diners, not only those looking for the best Grand Cru Burgundy on the wine list, but equally good for diners looking for the best $25 Malbec to partner with their meal.

Three of the Court’s 110 Master Sommeliers led the two-day intensive course on Monday March 19^th and Tuesday March 20^th, hosted at the Hotel Santa Fe. All three Master Sommeliers – Tim Gaiser, Joe Spellman and Emily Wines – have hosted SFWC Fiesta wine seminars every September over the past dozen years.

For more information on the Court of Master Sommeliers, please visit http://www.mastersommeliers.org/

Proceeds from the annual Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta Auction help fund programs such as Cooking with Kids. The check was presented by SFWC President Tom Kerpon (chef of Rio Chama) and SFWC Fiesta Executive Director, Greg O’Byrne. For information on Cooking with Kids see the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Bordeaux is one of the very few regions that price their wines differently every year, and they do so not only prior to release but based on critic’s ratings. The most influential critic is Robert Parker who annually tastes a vintage in barrel (“en primeur”) the spring following harvest, rating the vintage and the wines two years before they are released. Almost all of the 61 Chateaux rated in the 1855 Classification wait until Parker’s scores before announcing their price of their wine from a new vintage.

The 2009 Montrose, which you can buy on futures (pay now, get two years from now), sells for $225 was rated 96-100 points by Robert Parker on his now-ubiquitous 100-point scale. The same wine from Chateau Montrose from the acclaimed 2005 and 2000 vintages sells for $169 (RP 95) and $225 (RP 95+) respectively. Every few years or so, Bordeaux has a “vintage of the century,” a vintage that the press fawns over before release, pumping up the hype and resulting in collectors lining up to pay a premium – a phenomenon well-documented with these the three vintages of 2000, 2005 and 2009. Even with struggling economies, prices have continued to escalate.

Though I will happily drink wines from the most acclaimed vintages when offered, I prefer buying and keeping wines from the shoulder vintages. On the heals of the much-ballyhooed 2000 Bordeaux vintage, 2001 suffered in it’s shadow. Yet, the 2001 Bordeaux wines are very fine indeed, representing excellent value in comparison. The same is true for the very good 2004 Bordeaux wines in comparison to 2005 and the 2008s in comparison to the 2009s. Are wines from the acclaimed, no-doubt excellent, vintages worth three to six times the price for the same wines from the very good vintages that precede or follow? Not for my pocket book, which I recently opened for six 2004 Montrose (RP 91) at $49 a bottle.

Sometimes a shoulder vintage is the better vintage in quality as well as price. The 1995 vintage in Bordeaux was very hyped, largely due to the fact that it was the first decent vintage in the region since 1990, the vintage of the 90s. On it’s heals, the 1996 wines were at least the equal or better than 1995s, but since it was hard for the press and the Bordeaux producers to hype the 1996s after hyping the 1995s so high, the 96s have represented better value over time. The same happened with the truly excellent 1990s that today show better, and are slightly less expensive than the very sought-after 1989s, the best vintage alongside 1982 from the 80s.

Which phenomenon will hold true with 2010? Early reports say 2010 is a vintage as good or better than 2009. Will the 2010s sell for less and represent better value than 2009? Or can the Bordelais get yet even higher prices for the 2010s after convincing consumers to pony up for the 2009s at unprecedented levels? It didn’t seem possible they could get more for the 2009s than they did for the 2005s, but they did.

Indeed, even after calling 2009 a five-star vintage following his en primeur tasting in the spring of 2010, Robert Parker cautioned it would be impossible for Bordeaux to price their 2009s higher than they did their 2005s, but with his glowing reviews, overprice they did and most markets responded affirmatively by buying into the hype. Could it be possible that the reviews of the 2010s will match those of the 2009s and the prices will equal or exceed the previous year’s all-time high? The next few months will tell.

While prices for current releases from Bordeaux continue to excel, wines from older, equally good vintages start to look like relative “bargains” given that they have been stored properly and are ready to drink. 2009, 2005 and 2000 have their equal in rating and quality in 1990, 1989, 1982, 1961 and 1959. Together these are the eight greatest (five-star) vintages of the past 50 years.

Wine-Searcher.com shows average price of Chateau Montrose from 1990 selling for $647 (RP 100), 1989 for $330 (RP 96), 1982 for $243 (RP 92), 1961 for $618 (RP 95) and 1959 for $982 (RP 95).

While there are eight five-star vintages from the past 50 years in Bordeaux, four-star vintages would be 2004, 2001, 1996, 1995, 1988, 1986, 1985, 1966, 1964, 1962 and perhaps 1970 (that lousy decade needs at least one recommendation). Three-star vintages are 2006, 2003, 2002, 1999, 1997, 1983, 1978, 1975 and 1971. The rest would be two to one-star — best to avoid unless you are being complimentary to your host.

Perhaps my favorite vintage of Bordeaux (and Burgundy) is from my birth year, 1959. Since the time of their release, the 1961 Bordeaux have been loudly trumpeted as the best ever. Yet, recently in side-by-side comparisons, 1959s have shown better longevity and garner greater reviews then the same wines from 1961. I recall my epiphany wine was a 1959 Montrose, a wine that I paid $100 for twenty years ago (a small fortune at the time), cellared for 10 years and then drank with a small group of friends on my 40^th birthday. It was a profound wine, very compelling and on point that night. An eye-opener, it was my first experience of a wine so old tasting so complex, vibrant and youthful.

While one can pay $225 now for 2009 Montrose and receive the wine in another year, I will keep my eye on Costco’s every-revolving bins and be prepared to pounce on the 2008 Montrose (RP 95-97) for $75.

IPNC 2010 Luncheon

My own tasting notes the past few months from the early releases define the 2008 Willamette pinots as a hypothetical blend of the ripeness and power of the 2006 pinots with the clarity and finesses of the 2007 wines. Benefiting from lower alcohols than the 2006s, combined with 2007s brighter acids, the 2008s I have tasted show sappy and upfront red and black fruits framed with juicy acids resulting in wines of impeccable balance and ageability.

David Millman, General Manager at Domaine Drouhin Oregon, said “2008 is a benchmark year for Oregon Pinot Noir, the kind of year that generates a lot of excitement. Best of all, the wines are classic Oregon, with beautiful fruit, earthiness, lower alcohols, good acidity and great ageing potential.” Domaine Drouhin’s less expensive Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2008 is available right now and is a wonderful expression of the dusty red cherries flavors found in their Dundee Hills vineyard. With anticipation, I wait for their barrel selection, the Laurene, to be released from the 2008 vintage.

One of my best-loved producers, Doug and Melissa Tunnel of Brick House, have sold out of all four of their 2008 Pinots. Unlike many others, Brick House releases their wines early. Most 2008s are about to be released now or in the coming months. Always transparent with elegant precision, Brick House wines represent their vintage extremely well. Worth the search, Brick House Boulder Block Pinot Noir 2008 is still available at local retailers and some of Santa Fe’s finer restaurants.

One of my favorite visits each year is with Michael Etzel of Beaux Freres. He said, “Everyone seems to be interested in Oregon’s 2008 vintage. The Spectator is rumored to have given it a 100-point vintage in the next
edition.” While Etzel said 2008 is old news, he did with my urging “clear the cobwebs of [his] mind” and tell me “It all began with the growing season of 2008. The flowering was just right. Not too good and not too loose. Guessing, about a 50 to 60 percent success in the flowering. Which produces nice small clusters that are loose enough to allow berry expansion. Finished cluster weights were 85 grams, unlike 2007 with cluster weights of 135 or so.” Looser clusters allow for even ripening of all grapes.

Etzel went on to give kudos to the growing season, saying it “was moderate, not too much heat, rain or cool days. This permitted the grapes to get fully ripe seeds stems and the skin of the grape. The week of September 1st, we had rain all weekend. Then the warm fall season began. The rain was just enough to give the plants that shot in the arm to carry on the ripening process. We began picking young vines on Wednesday September 29th. Everything was picked by October 18th. Ferments were native and behaved very well. They aged well and now two years later they are showing what a good childhood will do for later development.”

Beaux Freres produces three Pinot Noirs each year – their entry level Willamette Valley, their estate Beaux Freres Vineyard and the Uppper Terrace Pinot noir. I buy four bottles of each from every vintage. Just the other night, while celebrating the second anniversary of Vinaigrette Restaurant with Philip de Give and John Grimm of Bacchus Wine & Spirits, we popped a 1999 Beaux Freres Vineyard Pinot Noir and we found it ageing extremely well, showing complexity from bottle age but still maintaining lovely primary fruit.

In summary, the 2008 Willamette Valley growing season was nearly perfect from bud break to harvest, with an even growing season in between and a protracted, rain-free September and October. Daytime temperatures during the fall were typically warm and nighttime temperatures often dropped into the 40s, which helped the grapes retain their natural acidity without a jump in sugars. This later-than-normal harvest allowed growers to bring in grapes at optimal ripeness.

Other producers available in our market that I have my eye on, waiting for their 2008 Pinot releases are Adelsheim, Cristom, Elk Cove and Ponzi. Having gone through all my 1994s, most my 1999s and half of my 2002 pinot noirs from my favorite producers in Willamette, the release of the marvelous 2008s will allow me to purchase a few assorted cases to guarantee future pinot drinking pleasure.

As a non-profit organization, the mission of the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta is to create a week of food and wine events that promote Santa Fe as a world-class culinary destination. The Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta Live Auction (this year on Friday September 24th, 2010) raises money for the SFW&C Foundation which sponsors Santa Fe students taking service, wine and cooking classes as well as Santa Fe’s Cooking with Kids program.

These funds come from the revenue generated from wine lots auctioned at the Live Auction Luncheon. Every fall and winter the SFW&C Fiesta Restaurant Education School offers a syllabus consisting of three programs for Santa Fe restaurants and their staff. Intensive six-week sessions are taught by industry leaders in Cooking Skills, Wine Education and Great
Guest Service.

By reinvesting resources and education into the Santa Fe restaurant scene, the SFW&C Fiesta Restaurant Education program serves the mission of the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta – keeping Santa Fe on the map as a world-class culinary destination.

Thank you to all the sponsors, local restaurants and wineries who help to make this happen. And a great thank you to all the food and wine enthusiasts who keep returning to Santa Fe supporting our great restaurants!

As the event delivers it’s 20^th rendition in 2010, little has changed — the sky is still as blue, the Santa Fe restaurants are still as great and attending guests will have a wonderfully unique time. What has changed are the numbers. The one-day event has matured into a five-day bacchanalian fiesta featuring 8 wine and food pairing seminars, 6 guest-chef lunches, 45 winemaker dinners, a reserve tasting, a trade tasting, a live auction luncheon, and a Gruet Winery golf tournament. Still, the centerpiece remains — the Grand Tasting — always on the last day of September and now featuring 70 great Santa Fe restaurants serving fabulous tastes alongside 100 world-class wineries to 4000 people having a good time under the bluest skies…well, you get the picture.

The location, the participating wineries, the time of year, all conspire to make a memorable event, but the identity and long-lasting character of the SFWC Fiesta is the Santa Fe restaurant community. As was the intention, the SFWC Fiesta has matured into a five-day snap shot of the diverse and unique culinary arts as represented by our Santa Fe restaurants. As our restaurant community continues to evolve, so does the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta.

All wine events have an identity — Aspen Food and Wine’s identity is the magazine’s sponsors and their Food Network chefs; Napa Valley Wine Auction mirrors all the glitz and generosity of their wineries; Pebble Beach Food & Wine is a showcase for international chefs. Other non-commercial, annual wine events that celebrate a grape, such as the International Pinot Noir Celebration in Oregon’s Willamette Valley and Hospice du Rhone in Paso Robles. But, most wine events are produced by a magazine or a national wine distributor to promote their brands and advertisers.

What is unique about SFWC is that it is an independently produced food and wine event put on by the Santa Fe restaurant community to showcase Santa Fe restaurants. Not a high-volume placement but a high profile placement, national and international wineries want to attend the Fiesta and show their wine side by side with Santa Fe’s unique cuisine. Consumers who attend are the winners in this symbiotic relationship. No other wine event comes close to being able to boast the incredible level of food as presented by the 70 participating restaurants at the SFWC Fiesta.

Having coordinated and directed the schedule for 17 years, what is special for me are the relationships formed. Working each year with 100 wineries, 70 restaurants, a dozen guest chefs, my production crew, my sales staff and a 21-person volunteer board of directors in creating and executing a five-day party for 4000 food and wine enthusiasts, I feel I am the luckiest (if not most connected) man in the world.

Let us now raise a glass to the 20^th annual Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta and to the reason it exists: the most fabulous restaurant community in the universe!