A Pinch of Salt Can Make One Great Dish

No wine tasting or even a subscription to Wine Spectator can teach wine enthusiasts more than a few hours visit to the vineyard. The ultimate experience is to tour a vineyard and then spend time with the winemaker.

Through four years of writing about wine it's an opportunity I've been afforded on a number of occasions.

Kokomo Vineyard's Erik Miller was a gracious host earlier this year and put a few things in perspective with his own winemaking thoughts.

After touring a barrel-making plant in Windsor, Calif, Erik talked about his vineyards and the winemaking process. The conversation started where the morning began and that was with oak barrel aging.

"My philsophy on oak is that we use oak like you'd use salt at a meal," the Kokomo, IN native said. "You want some salt on your meal so it has that seasoning. It would be bland with out it to some degree but you don't want to taste the salt."

But wine is more than just the oak its aged in. Great wine comes from the vineyard. "It's the terrior - the earth, soild, sun exposure, the bench (land)," Miller said. "That has to be first and foremost in the wine and then that oak is more than a storage vessel. The oak adds some tannin, some flavor and some mouth feel.

"We have to know how to use that and not overpower the delicacy or sense of place. Here I am making 12 different varieties of Zin alone and we use five different vineyards. If I put the same oak on all five vineyards I'd have the same Zin. That common thread would give me a house flavor. I never want a house flavor because those vineyards are very different."

For vineyard manager Randy Peters the success of Miller's Kokomo Winery gives him input on what he does with the land and vines.

"Now that we have many more small wineries I can see the end product," Peters said. "My father and grandfather sold to bigger wineries. There were not a lot of small wineries in their time. All the grapes went into a blend with all the other growers. All the Zin went in a 10,000 gallon tank somewhere.

"Now with smaller wineries like Kokomo, it shows us the things we do in the vineyard throughout the year translates into the wine as a finished product. It makes us feel better spending money and doing work to make a better quality product. We can see it in the finished product by having vineyard designate wines."

Peters isn't a grower who sells the grapes and disappears to next year. He is a partner with Miller and regularly tastes the wines of all the wineries who buy his fruit. "That's an important part of the process, especially if they're going to put a vineyard designate on it. Then it has to meet my quality standards as well," Peters said.

Peters and Miller agree that when a wine is a vineyard designate bottling its more than Kokomo Winery."It's Paulene's Vineyard on that bottle, or Peter's Vineyard," Miller said. "If there was something lacking that Randy doesn't think met his standards that's going to hurt his brand of the vineyard. When you give up the fruit all control is not lost here because we're in partnership with the vineyards because that name is going on the bottle as well."

The Dry Creek Valley Kokomo Winery is modest but the wines go far beyond the limited releases seen in the midwest. Miller and Peters team for several wines which often don't make it beyond the winery or California.

Howard's Picks:

The Kokomo Cab is really pretty easy to find in wine shops and better liquor stores and a great wine for the price point. But for a real treat try some of the winery's higher end wines. The Kokomo 2009 Timber Creek Zinfandel (vineyard designate) is tremendous wine. The wine had beautiful black pepper and nice acidity and a well balanced feel on the palate for wine of more than 15 percent alcohol. Wine Spectator gave this wine 90 points.

Howard W. Hewitt, Crawfordsville, IN., writes every other week about wine for 20 midwestern newspapers in Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan.

Hoosier Native Suceeding in Sonoma

Growing up in Kokomo, In., and earning a management degree at Purdue University seems an unlikely path to a successful boutique winery in California's Sonoma Valley.

But Erik Miller has achieved the unlikely career path with the success of Kokomo Wineries, named after his Central Indiana hometown. It's a story of two Purdue roommates and a fourth generation Sonoma grape grower combining their passion.

Miller talking wine early this year

"I had a buddy who moved out to Sonoma County when we were at Purdue," Miller said. "I came out and visited him and just fell in love with the place. It was really weird for a guy from Indiana to come to San Francisco and all you have is public transportation. Then I saw Santa Rosa and thought it would be big enough to support a career and still small enough for me to fit in and be comfortable."

But Miller's start in the wine business wasn't instant for the transplanted Hoosier. He took his Purdue degree in Organizational Leadership, and Supervision and went to work in the financial services business. But he wasn't happy.

He accepted an offer to do harvest work for a California winery. "That's how I became passionate about wine," he said. "I worked with grapes in the outside and watched the winemaker working. I put all my effort then toward that career - being in the wine industry."

Miller's love for Kokomo made naming the winery easy. Working with his college roommate Josh Bartels and grape grower Randy Peters gave him a team to direct the winery's success. He also thinks being a Hoosier has its advantages.

"I think there is one thing we have in the Midwest and it’s this stereotype that we're hard workers," Miller said in the modest winery offices. "That has been a connection with me and Randy and some of the other farmers out here that we're down to earth, salt of the earth kind of people."

Peters, on the other hand, is a fourth generation farmer. His family produced fruit and wine grapes for decades. "We didn't have much money growing up," Peters said. "We were growing fruit and wine grapes but working on a low margin. My dad had a second job."

Peters credited Miller's hard work and integrity for their 'handshake contract' and shared success. "The honesty and integrity of Midwestern people is true," he said. "Growing up here I've always had a passion for raising the fruit but now I can see the end result."

Growing up Peters would watch the family harvest be sold off to very large producers and dumped into 10,000 gallon tanks with fruit from all over the region. Now his grapes to go vineyard designate wines that represent his work as well as the winery.

Miller makes wines widely available in the Midwest. His Cabernet Sauvignon is a big fruity but well-balanced wine that can be found in many wine shops.

"Maybe people will try the wine because the name is comforting too them," Miller said. "We don't spend extra money on the showboat things, the tasting room and winery but we will not take shortcuts on the equipment it takes to process grapes. We use the best oak we can buy, and make sure we're sourcing the best possible grapes."

Miller may have Midwestern industrial roots growing up in Kokomo but his wines have been lauded by the biggest competition in the world, The San Francisco Chronicle's annual wine contest. 

Note: In four years I've not done a two-part column. But if you want to learn a lot about wine, talk to a winemaker. Next time Miller will talk about some of his wine-making philosophy.

A Tasting Room Delivered to Your Door

The internet has revolutionized the wine industry just like many other businesses. In the last decade or so, wineries have improved their websites, embraced blogging, Facebook, and even new platforms like Twitter and Pinterest.

Around the time of the 2007-08 economic downturn wine flash sales sites exploded onto the scene often offering premium wines at heavily discounted prices. Many of the sites have come and gone but some have become very successful. Earlier this year, Forbes reported Lot18 hauling in an average of $2 million a month in revenue.

A standard bottle, TR bottle, wine from the TR bottle

One of my personal favorites is Wine Till Sold Out or wtso.com. These flash companies approach wineries and buy inventory that was over produced, or not moving quickly enough to meet the demands of the winery’s cash flow expectations.

The upside to such sites is consumers have the ability to buy much better wine at discounts consistently around 30-40 percent and often up to 50-60 percent.

But there is another internet wine site that has gotten lots of press and causing a buzz bringing sampling to your living room. Tasting Room.com sells six-packs samplers of wine in 50ml or 1.7 oz. bottles. While that sounds like a dribble it is enough wine for two or three tastes to determine if you like the wine.

Then you can buy a full bottle from the site at near regular prices. The novelty here is you can taste before you buy much like a tasting room. The six packs are packaged by the wine type or region or by celebrity endorsement. The six packs range from $19.95 to just over $30. You can sample wines by the grape, region, celebrity picks, a single winery and more.

Tasting Room.com was the brain child of Tim Bucher. He started developing a system to sell the 50ml bottles for trade and press samples. He was never interested in the discounted flash site approach.  He told Wines & Vines he had no interest in selling normal sized bottles for less calling that “a race to the bottom.”

He developed a proprietary system to transfer wine from the traditional 750ml bottle to the smaller samples.

The company got its start in 2009 and has been remarkably successful, so much so they added higher end wines to the lineup earlier this year. The created a Wines by the Glass program that offers 100ml bottles with wines from Silver Oak, Duckhorn, Patz & Hall, Williams Selyem, Hess, Coppola, and others. 

Wines are sold individually in the Wines by the Glass format or in boxes of four single servings. So in other words you can buy wines from this internet site three different ways – in samples, by the glass, or in full size bottles. The business model is different because they are not selling discounted wine but a chance to taste before you buy.

My personal experience was with a six-pack sampler – the Michael Chiarello (celebrity chef) Holiday Pinots selection. The six wines were all from California. The labels were Domaine Carneros, Fess Parker, Papapietro Perry, Patz & Hall, Laetitia, and Lucas & Lewellen. I was able to taste the six different wines for less than any single bottle would have cost. The six wines I sampled ranged from $23.99 to $53.99. They were well preserved and tasted great.

The real beauty of a site like this is a chance to expand your palate. To taste the six wines above you’d have to travel to California or shell out more than $225 to buy the six 750ml bottles.

In photo: A regular-sized bottle of Pinot Noir, the sampler Pinot, a sample emptied into a large Pinot Noir glass, and sampler pack.

What I've Been Drinking Lately

As Grape Sense nears the start of its fifth year, it's time to return to the staple of any good wine column and recommend a few wines.

People always ask, 'What are you drinking lately?' So, here is a column on five easy-to-find wines that are all priced under $16. All five are light-bodied wines perfect for late summer evening dinners. 

Burgan's 2010 Albarino - A great summer wine is a bit of an understatement with this $12.99 bottle from Spain. Albarino is a summer white wine with hints of lemon, nice minerality, floral characteristics and a beautiful freshness missing from way too many white wines. This wine has consistently scored around 90 points from the major wine critics. This wine is widely available at or near the price above. Serve this by itself, with appetizers or white fish and it will be a hit!

Graffigna 2010 Malbec Reserve - Even though many gravitate to white and Rose' wines in the summer, meat off the grill deserves good red wine. An outstanding choice - even for those grilled steaks is Argentinian Malbec. The Graffigna really delivers bang for the buck for around $11-$12. The Graffigna is frankly lighter than most Malbecs making it a perfect summer wine with steak or even pork. You'll get the typical beautiful dark berry flavors with a hint of vanilla. This is about as good as a $12 bottle of wine can ever get. 

Gerard Bertrand 2008 Minervois Syrah/Carignan - Here is another light bodied wine with a world-class pedigree. Bertrand is a much heralded Southern France winemaker who turns out several different wines under $15. But you will have to make it to a wine shop to find his wines. The Minervois region seems to always produce well-rounded and smooth-bodied wines. This is delightfully light-drinking wine than can use 10 minutes in the fridge - a very light chill - before serving. If you can't find this one pick up any of the Bertrand wines and give one a try. This Minervois region wine is probably the lightest but the winery consistently delivers very balanced and drinkable red wine.

Clayhouse Adobe Pink - No summer wine column can go without a Rose' wine recommendation. It's a Grape Sense mission to spread the word on the delightful dry Rose' wines. French Provence Rose' and Pinot Noir Rose from California and Oregon fill the wine rack. But the Paso Robles Clayhouse label delivers consistently good red and whites. The Rose' has done well with wine critics scoring around 90 points. This wine has a little bigger flavor than the French wines but it's a nice blend of Rhone varietals Mourvedre, Grenache Noir, and Syrah. You get really drinkable wine with Clayhouse Adobe for $14. Be crazy, live dangerously and try this with bold flavored fish or a salad.

Ravenswood 2010 Napa Valley Zinfandel - Ravenswood is a name many will have seen in wine shops and grocery stores. They've been around a long time because they consistenly deliver good wine. The Napa Zin has big fruit with a balance and finish any red wine drinker will appreciate for the $15.99 price point. Ravenswood has a basic bottling that turns up in many grocery stores that's also quite palatable for even less. Give that wine an hour or two in a decanter and it delivers for the cost.

All five wines are widely distributed in the U.S

Innovator Trying to Change Restaurant Wine

As a life-long creator, innovator, and food scientist, Chaim Gur-Arieh has always sought out new products and better ways of delivering products to customers.

It might be a natural progression that after opening a winery, C.G. Di Arie, in 1998 that he would focus on wine delivery. Small production wineries like Di Arie often rely on restaurant sales. Gur-Arieh found an industry rife with inefficiencies he’s now trying to change.

“To me making wine is easy, quite easy,” he said during a recent Indianapolis visit. “I’ve been in the food business for 35 years, on product development side. I make wine but I’ve got to sell it. Selling it is more of a challenge.

“I sell a restaurant a case of wine, it goes onto the wine list but they may have another 100 wines. So I may sell them a case every three months. But the wines that sell the most are the wines by the glass and my wines are little more expensive than most wines by the glass. My wines retail at $18-$35 a bottle”

So Gur-Arieh wanted to develop cost efficiency for the winery and the retailer. “When you open a bottle of wine by the glass, you have a preservation problem. If you don’t sell the bottle, and a bottle is four to five glasses of wine or you don’t sell it that day, it loses quality.”

So Gur-Arieh penchant for development and innovation took over and launched his wine by the tap delivery system. Essentially the system is not unlike others boxed-wine delivery systems. It has wine vacuum sealed in a plastic bag, inside a cardboard “keg” with a draw tap for a restaurant bar or serving area. He developed the seal between the tap and bag which makes his product different than others.

He has the system in place in three Indiana restaurants, including Pure Eatery in Indianapolis’ Fountain Square neighborhood. He has three in Chicago and four in California. But this man doesn’t think small. He hopes to have the system in place in up to 100 restaurants this year and 500 establishments by the end of 2014.

“I can put a quality wine in a keg,” Gur-Arieh said. “I think the retailer has to change his thought process. Right now they want to charge the cost of a glass, same as cost of a bottle. They open a bottle and don’t know if they’re going to cover their cost. They have to change their mentality; they have to think of more modest margins. This system eliminates the risk.”

The Turkey native guarantees his wine for a year until each keg is opened. He extends the warranty for 60 days once each “keg” has been tapped.

Gur-Arieh’s winery is in the Sierra Foothills region of California. He produces a variety of wines including Sauv Blanc, Verdelho, Roussane, Zinfandel, Syrah, Primitivo, Petite Sirah, Grenache, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot, and a number of blends. His winemaking philosophy is for very drinkable fruit-forward wines with great balance and low acidity and tannins. He also thinks it’s important to keep his wines’ alcohol levels in check. A taste of his Syrah and Zinfandel from the keg’s tap mirrored the description.

It’s important to include a little bit of Gur-Arieh’s background as a food product developer. You may or may not have ever tried his wines but the odds are very high you’ve tasted other products he has brought to market. He’s best known as the man behind Cap’n Crunch Cereal but also helped bring Hidden Valley Ranch and Power Bars to market.

C.G. Arie Wines are distributed in Indiana by World of Wines, Indianapolis.

Howard W. Hewitt, Crawfordsville, IN., writes Grape Sense every other week for 18 Midwestern newspapers.