What’s happening, team?! It snowed and not just a little bit — quite a bit! You know what that means? We get to drink some big red wines! Yes, it’s cold, and yes, it snowed. You never know when it will happen again.
You also never know if and when you will need to have this handy little article to see you through the next time it gets cold. Or if you are planning a ski trip, you’re going to need to know what to drink. When the city shuts down and you can’t go anywhere, here are a few things I think you should try. I’m not saying that you should consume all of these at one — unless you have really cool neighbors and want to share these while having a snow ball fight (that literally just happened to me).
First up on my list is a Sparkling Valdiguié from Cruse Wine Co. Now this is a beautiful rosé made from old vine Valdiguié grapes from Rancho Chimiles, which is in the Southeastern part of Napa Valley. Valdiguié is red grape grown primarily in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of Southern France but has also been known as Napa Gamay. I call it delicious, and you are starting to see some of these styles of grapes being used more and more — I am a huge fan of this movement. Michael Cruse is one of the best young winemakers out there, not only with sparkling wines but his still wines as well and is really someone that everyone should know. You read it here first.
Next up on our snow day off is from Robert Sinskey Vineyards. Yes, I do write about them a lot because they make kick ass wines, and we should all drink more of them. Today, it’s all about the SLD which is Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine comes from their estate that was in the Stags Leap District on the east side of the Valley.
In December of 2022, Robert Sinskey sold its winery real estate to The Wonderful Company but retained the brand, the vineyards and the inventory. They are now located at Wilding Farm in Carneros which is not a vineyard, but a farm. It is an absolutely beautiful property with goats, some cattle, horses, and an orchard. We were lucky enough to have dinner out there last summer.
Back to the wine, the SLD has amazing complexity with all the flavor components that you would expect from black fruits, black cherry, leather and forest floor (I always love that one.) The sad part of this is that in 2017 they harvested the last vintage before fire took the vineyard. It has been replaced so it will still be some time before we see this amazing wine again. You can still purchase the 2017 on their website so take advantage.
On to the next! Paradigm is a vineyard that is owned by Napa Valley royalty Ren and Marilyn Harris. Marilyn’s family has been farming Napa Valley since the 1890s, and Ren’s family came over from Ireland during the late 1800s — his paternal grandfather was a descendant of the rancheros who founded the Presidio of San Diego in 1796! That is some family history right there. They remodeled and sold their house which enabled them to buy a prune orchard in Oakville in the late 1960s.
Like all the fruit farmers in Napa they pulled most of the stone fruit and planted grapes. We are all very thankful to those that did this, although I have had the opportunity to eat some very old heirloom stone fruit, and let’s just say it’s magical. One of the many things that I love about Paradigm is that the current vintages for sale are the 2015, 2016 and 2017 for the Cabernet Sauvignon which means they’ve been cellar aged by them — before you drink it, it’s already primed up and ready to go!
Next up: let’s head over to Sonoma to get down with arguably one of the California legends of Syrah, Pax Mahle. I would say that for this article we will talk about Syrah but, I would be an ass if I didn’t mention the Chenin Blanc, Pinot Blanc, and the Gamay Noir, too. All of these wines are fantastic and should be enjoyed.
The 2021 Sonoma-Hillsides Syrah is made with 100 percent Syrah that’s grown on organically farmed hillsides in Sonoma County and is blended from different sites with different terroir from steep rocky sites to old vines grown in sandy soils. Why, you ask? To develop a more balanced wine with power while keeping its harmony and balance. This process helps to develop delicious flavors of dark fruits and pink and white pepper! Crack a bottle and thank me later.
If wine isn’t your cup of tea, enjoy the so-called bourbon glut and pour yourself a glass of Henry McKenna. This bourbon used to be readily available almost everywhere until someone wrote it up as one of the best out there. At that time, it was about $30 a bottle; if you can find it, the price has probably doubled, but I believe that it was always underpriced anyway. To find this 10 year, 100 proof Bottled in Bond bourbon was almost a joke for the past give years but you can find it more and more now. I literally found this bottle case stacked at a liquor store last week.
Let’s talk about Bottled in Bond for a minute. It’s a label for an American-produced distilled beverage that has been aged and bottled according to a set of regulations originally specified in the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897. Before, you were never really sure what you were drinking or how it was made. It also helped with taxes to ensure proper accounting and tax collection.
To be labeled as bonded, the liquor must be produced during one distillation season by one distiller at one distillery. It must have been aged in a federally-bonded warehouse under U.S. government supervision for at least four years and bottled at 100 proof. Some distilleries still use this method while many don’t. It’s okay either way these days, but it definitely helped people stay away from some seriously bad beverages back in the day.
I hope you enjoy this cold weather and are staying safe. Now it’s time for some Syrah. Until then, what’s next?
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What did you drink during Houston's snow day? Let Chris know via email at chris@chrisshepherd.is.
Chris Shepherd won a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2014. The Southern Smoke Foundation, a nonprofit he co-founded with his wife Lindsey Brown, has distributed more than $11 million to hospitality workers in crisis through its Emergency Relief Fund. Catch his TV show, Eat Like a Local, every Saturday at 10 am on KPRC Channel 2.
