El Bloggo Torcido - Twisted Oak Winery

Twisted Dinner of the Week (Month? Year?)

2008-07-16T23:35:42-07:00

Once in a while we get a letter... Cathy from Michigan wrote in asking for serving and pairing suggestions for our 2006 Torcido. I thought what she was planning sounded pretty good and asked for a recipe and a couple pictures to share with you - and here's what she sent! Take it away Cathy:

Twisted Dinner featuring 2006 Torcido and 2006 %@#$! 7/11//2008

Menu:
Antipasti: Basil, Tomato, & fresh mozzarella (regular and smoked) with balsamic vinegar.

Entree: Grilled chorizo sausage sandwiches, with sauteed green peppers and onions and a side of Grilled garlic-crumb stuffed zucchini
Wine: 2006 Calaveras County Torcido

Dessert: Grilled Apricot & Plum pouches, prepared with a splash of the wine.
Wine: 2006 Sierra Foothills %@#$!

Impressions on the wines:

Torcido: Served at approx. 60 degrees. Decanted for about half an hour, probably needed about 15 more minutes to fully open up. Color: Garnet. Cherry and spices on the nose, particularly after having a bite of the smoked mozzarella. The cheese really caused the cherry scent to come through. When sniffing after a bite of the chorizo, there was a smoky quality to the nose. Across the palate, hints of cocoa, cherry, smoke, and spices. Plain mozzarella enhanced the flavor of cocoa. Tomato and zucchini brought out more fruit flavoring - berries of all the summery sorts. Very light tannins, and just a touch of a bite of alcohol. The finish gave a little burn, but more like the burn you get from a particularly tasty salsa. Overall, fairly well-balanced, well structured wine. 89 points.

%@#$!: Served at approx. 55 degrees. Color: golden straw. The nose was filled with summery fruits of apricots, peaches and berries. Across the a hint of the peach lingered, along with some earthiness that was very refreshing. There was a minerally quality to it that I found complimented the sweetness of the dessert quite well. Oak undertones rounded out the wine to give it a nice, surprising full body. Not a wine to be taken lightly. Have it with some nice ripe fruit, and it will tickle your tastebuds. The more I had, the more I liked it. It has a taste to it like there should be bubbles - it looks and feels like a nice, dry champagne, but without the sparkle. 89 points.

Recipes:

Antipasti
4 oz fresh, smoked mozzarella
4 oz fresh, plain mozzarella
2 medium red ripe tomatoes
8-10 basil leaves
6-8 medium lettuce leaves
2 Tbsp sweet balsamic vinegar

Slice the mozzarella and tomatoes into 1/4-inch thick slices.

Arrange lettuce on a plate as a base, so that the plate is covered. Arrange the mozzarella and tomato slices in an alternating pattern, then place basil leaves on top. Drizzle balsamic vinegar over the whole plate. Serves 4-6

Chorizo Sausage Sandwiches
4 links chorizo
4 sausage rolls, freshly baked if possible
2 green peppers
1/2 red onion
2 Tbsp olive oil

Slice peppers and onion into thin strips. Pour olive oil into skillet over medium-high heat and add the peppers and onions. Stir and cook until the onion becomes translucent. Set aside, but keep warm.

Fire up your grill so that the internal temperature comes to about 400 degrees. Grill chorizo until sausage begins to fatten and juices begin to escape. During the last few minutes of cooking, split the rolls and place them on an upper rack in the grill to toast.

When cooked, remove from grill. Place sausages in rolls, and top with pepper and onion mixture. Serves 4

Grilled Garlic-crumb Stuffed Zucchini
3 zucchini
2 yellow squash
3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup panko
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
salt and pepper

Cut off the stems of the squash, set one aside. Cut lengthwise about 1/3 of the way down on the squash to create a lid. Scoop out the flesh using a spoon. Chop flesh and place in bowl. Set aside.

Peel the remaining squash and finely dice the flesh. Add to bowl.

Pour 2 Tbsp olive oil and garlic into a skillet over medium heat, and stir for about 30 seconds until the garlic becomes fragrant and slightly browns. Add the squash flesh, and stir for about 3 minutes until the flesh becomes tender. Add panko and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. Stir to combine.

Brush remaining olive oil on squash, being sure to cover the cut flesh as well as the outer skin. Spoon crumb mixture into the cavities of the squash, and place on grilling pan with the lids. Place on grill at about 400 degrees and cook for 8-10 minutes until squash becomes tender.

Serve with lids placed on squash at an angle. Serves 4

Grilled Apricot and Plum Pouches
8 graham crackers
5 plums, pitted and quartered
5 apricots, pitted and quartered
1 cup vanilla ice cream
1 cup %@#$!, divided 4 ways

Cut four sheets of foil approx. 18 inches by 18 inches.

For each sheet, break apart 2 graham crackers into 8 pieces each, and arrange in the center of the sheet. Distribute fruit evenly across the sheets, placing fruit on top of graham crackers. Pull the corners of each sheet up towards the center and crimp to make a pouch with a small opening on top. Pour 1/4 cup of wine into each pouch.

Place pouches into 400 degree grill and allow to cook for 20 - 30 minutes. Remove from grill and place on individual plates. Open pouches to form a bowl, and top with 1/4 cup ice cream (about one scoop). Serves 4

Epilogue: I'm having more of the lovely %@#$! tonight from Twisted Oak, and I am getting just bombed with apple on it tonight (after 3 days in the fridge). A definitive flavor of both granny smith AND braeburn apples. There's a little bit of sour cherry, too. It is SUPER smooth tonight - absolutely no heat from the alcohol at all. The finish brings out cantaloupe, a little (tiny) bit of oak, and there's still a touch of a minerally quality to it. I get a little ZING to on the back of my tongue for a moment. Wow. There's just whole new depths to this tonight. Score: 90 pts for the added complexity to this.

(If you make a special meal with Twisted Oak wines, send us pictures! And recipes!)

547 Twisted Oak Domaines

2008-07-15T08:36:37-07:00

If you missed the live broadcast of Wine Biz Radio yesterday, you can go back and listen to the MP3 podcast over on the Wine Biz Radio website. Below is a quick snapshot of Randy and Kaz taken during the broadcast. Suffice to say it was a LOT of fun to do (even if it was a bit retarded) and I'm already looking to the next time they want to put up with me!

Still on the road - when I get back there will be an announcement of a new way to Show Us Your Twisted - stay tuned!

Video Did NOT Kill The Radio Star

2008-07-13T10:31:23-07:00

Just a quick note to mention that I will be the guest of Randy (pictured) and Kaz on Wine Biz Radio tomorrow, June 14th, from 1PM-2PM PDT!

Wine Biz Radio is broadcast on the real, 'lectric radio on KSVY-FM 91.3 in Sonoma, CA. If you aren't anywhere near Sonoma (and who is, really?) you can listen via the web using itunes. Note that you have to have itunes installed on your 'puter, and then visit the KSVY-FM 91.3 website and click on one of the streaming links in the upper right corner.

They will take calls for questions and general heckling during the show, either via the good ol' telephone at +1-707-933-9133, or via Twitter (you can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eljefetwisted, just by the way!)

Wine Blogging Wednesday: "The Letter 'S'"

2008-07-09T22:05:22-07:00

As it says over on the Grape Juice blog, today's Wine Blogging Wednesday is brought to you by The Letter "S" - meaning to pick a wine that has something to do with the letter "S": Syrah, Sangiovese, or Souzao would be obvious choices.

I had a long hot day today sssshlepping wine down to the Ahwahnee hotel (not complaining, they love our Viognier down there!) All I wanted to do was munch sssome take-out carnitassss, get sssome work done, and ssssip sssomething nice and cool. Ssso, I grabbed a bottle of our 2006 Verdelho. On a hot, ssspooky, and ssssmokey day, the Verdelho is perfect for sssating a parched throat. Aromasss of bananasss and other tropical fruitsss, with flavorsss of grapefruit and honeydew, make it a perfect quencher.

But, I thought, the Verdelho hasss nothing to do with the letter "S". Then I remembered! It comesss from SSSSILVASSSPOONSSS VINEYARDSSS!!! I'm sssaved!

Hope you enjoyed your WBW wine too!

APB

2008-07-09T20:11:10-07:00

Since I do not have access to milk carton printing, and because any other beverages I could print something upon are not shipped for months**, I must resort to posting this bulletin on the blog...

Have you seen this sign? I realize it is hard to see the sign in the photo - what it says is:

Sign was absconded from the Twisted Oak Winery rear driveway sometime last week. We might consider a reward, if you can prove you are not the ~~douchebag~~ perpetrator.

**Yet another reason I should have gotten into catsup instead.

In Defense of Alcohol

2008-07-02T23:00:51-07:00

One of our favorite retailers is Lush Wine and Spirits in Chicago, IL. And here is one of the best essays I have ever read in defense of alcohol, written by Lush staff member Jane. Enjoy!

(photo of folks enjoying wine and good times at Twisted Oak Winery by Lydia.)

W.T.F.

2008-06-30T11:19:20-07:00

That's all I'm sayin! No posts for some time now, I feel like a virgin again!
Getting back into the game, I will give this this special gift below. Enjoy.

A Whole Lot of Jackass?

2008-06-17T00:09:46-07:00

Nothing to blog about for days and days, and then suddenly WHAM! I invite you to visit the Los Angeles Times web site for this little opinion piece on "The language of wine snobbery". Let me know when you are finished...

OK, good. This little column has already generated quite a bit of comment around the internets (here's one on Tom Wark's Fermentation, and another on Steve Heimoff's new blog.) I'm finding the strong negative reaction a little surprising, because I rather liked it.

The piece begins with a great hook about "a whole lot of jackass"; indeed, when a writer comes up with a line like that, the first thing they want to do is run out and use it. Kinda like getting a BB gun or a sex change; the excitement must be overwhelming.

The problem is that we have an inflammatory starting line, and as a result everyone is apparently missing an excellent point.

The problem is that so much wine reviewing has devolved into "it smelled like this, and then it tasted like that". Not very expressive use of the language is it? I think this paragraph sums it up nicely:

"And it's not just wine -- or chocolate, tea, coffee and olive oil -- where the language is now exactly the same. Movie critics, book reviewers and television writers have all become 6-year-olds telling me everything that happened on an episode of "SpongeBob" -- wasting paragraph after paragraph impersonally recounting plot, as if my sole goal as a reader is to glean just enough to get into arguments at wine-tasting parties."

The point being: "I want to know that a Zinfandel, our greatest native grape, tastes like America: big, bold, unsubtle and ready to fight." Do you really care whether it smells like tobacco or instead smells like cedar? What about how it makes you feel?

One of the best reviews I've seen of our wines, in the San Francisco Chronicle, said that our 2006 Verdelho was "...a ballerina in steel-toed boots." I'll take a review like that any day.

(Illustration above from Chateau Petrogasm, a little ironic poke at Mr. Wark, which I sincerely hope he appreciates.)

Take Your Rubber Chicken on Vacation, Part ???

2008-06-16T11:53:38-07:00

Speaking of favorite people, our favoritest Historian and snow globe collector Judith Marvin (if you ever need to know anything about California or Calaveras history, she's your gal!) just got back from a trip to Turkey. And because she brought her genuine Twisted Oak Rubber Chicken with her, she made it into Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle "Just Back From" section - an extract:

I went because: To sail the Lycian (Turquoise) Coast, visit historical and archaeological sites in Istanbul, Ephesus, Antalya and Cappadocia.

Don't miss: Swimming, snorkeling and kayaking in the bays and lagoons on the Lycian Coast, and hiking around Goreme.

Don't bother: Dressy clothing.

Coolest souvenir: A Whirling Dervish snowglobe; taken away from me in the airport, as it was deemed that the liquid was planned for something dastardly.

Worth a splurge: Antique Turkish carpets.

I wish I'd packed: More rubber chickens.

When you are packing for your summer vacation, be sure to pack plenty of rubber chickens! And send us a picture! Like this one!

Is This Thing On?

2008-06-16T11:29:29-07:00

Testing... 1... 2... 3... I remember the first rock concert I ever went to. Before it started there was apparently some sort of trouble with the sound. We found ourselves being regaled by this burned-out roadie with a British accent shouting "one... TWO! ...TWO! ...TWO! ....one ...TWO! ...TWO!" This went on for about 20 minutes.

Been feeling a bit like a burned-out roadie myself with regards to blogging. Amazing how easy it is to fall off this horse! So, I'm getting back on with a couple of quick posts. First up: our favoritest-ever vineyard manager, Mark "Marco" Skenfield, celebrated the proverbial Big Four Oh at Twisted Oak last night. Here are a few of the pictures I took... You'll perhaps notice that there was an 80's theme... If you want to see more, you can find them on my Facebook page.

Above: Is Marco trying to be the "A-ha" guy or George Michael? Below: You may recognize Matt Hatcher of Hatcher Winery below. Or not.

Below: We'll just call that "Dueling Madonnas"...