Dirty South Wine

The NPA Winery / Salinia Wine Co. Tasting Room on TAP!!!!

Yeeha!  The first pour from tap at The NPA / Salinia Wine Company. 

6 organic / biodynamic wines on tap.  The first tasting room on tap in the US?

This is going to be like drinking from the fire hose!

Salinia Wine / The NPA
3350 Coffey Ln Suite D
Santa Rosa CA 95403

(707) 527-7063‎

http://thenpa.tv

(disclosure:  I work for The NPA / Salinia)

20 Sec. Video: Evening in Dry Creek Valley.

Just a few quick shots while I walked around the property on Sat. PM.  Though my eyes are peeled for mountain lions, coyotes, wild boar-  the smiling sheep freak me out...  ;)

The NPA: Introduction to Wine made Dirty!

The NPA - An Introduction from Kevin Kelley on Vimeo.

Just an introduction to The NPA and our upcoming webisodes. 

(All of this will be over on theNPA.tv, but until we get that rolling, I hope you don't mind the post on Dirty South Wine)

Dirty Shots from the Week- Vines, Barrels, and Vineyards

Lady Dirty at W.E. Bottoms vineyard in Occidental-  We grab Pinot Noir from their for Salinia (our bottled / non-Kanteen wine).  Zepaltas and Lattanzio also pull from Bottoms.  Tracy said she was making a dingy-- Don't ever question someone making a dingy...

At The NPA / Salinia, winemaker Kevin Kelley also makes wine for LIOCO, Spot On Cellars, and Heintz.  There is some freaky shizz all up in here... Fruit from Hirsch, Demuth, Hanzell, Michaud, Bottoms, Klindt, Durell, and a few other outrageous vineyards.  This is deep funk central.  Totally dirty.

Another AM shot from Michel-Schlumberger.  No bobcat last night, just the frogs, and the soon to be devoured rooster.  Now if I can just get my camera setup to take some shots of the stars...  They are insane.

Also- Tonight, Kevin Kelley and I will be on WineBiz Radio tonight at 6PM PST-  Tune in to the webcast live, or check us out on Friday when the show is broadcast on KSVY 91.3 from 4-5PM PST

A Dirty South Dinner Party in Healdsburg

cellarrat's Alan Baker displaying pure moustache power!

I'm a little slow throwing my first dinner party here in Healdsburg.  Last night a crazy group of folks descended on Chez Dirty for a night of wine, grilled lamb, and more wine.

Cast: The Beer Wench, Shana Ray, Serena, Alan, Pedro, and the newest Sonoma county resident, Eric Hwang.

Some fun bottles without a stinker in the mix.

The Bottles:

Whites:

2005 Domaine Henri Gouges Pinot Blanc "Bourgogne"

A wildly bright and rocky refresher.  Open opening, I thought this bottle was "off"- it has some true funk.  But after being open for 10min, it was singing.  Thanks to the folks from Terroir for picking this out for me.

2008 La Cana Albarino

Green apple and lime in a glass, with decent rockiness and a little salt.  Straight ahead juice.  Dug it.

2007 LIOCO Chardonnay Demuth Vineyard

Another metamorphis wine-  Tropical flavors up front, lush, and huge.  This settled down to rock, smoke, toast, and citrus.  Deep juice.  I like it.

2006 Copain Roussanne James Berry Vineyard

Yo.  Deep. Almost heavy.  Diggidy.  Let this baby open up and warm up.  I was afraid it was going to be shutdown being an 06, but it was crazy delicious.

2008 Esterlina Riesling Cole Ranch

One of the few West Coast Riesling I have had that hits you with mineral and rock first, fruit second.  This is their "off-dry" which I prefer to their bone-dry Riesling.  I think by off-dry, they are really just saying that they have one even drier-  This is a pretty dry Riesling.  Wild acidity, crisp, tart, citrus, stone, and steel.

Reds:  None taken.  Dug the 13.5% on the Teira Zin, 05 Radio-Coteau "La Neblina" super rich and textured, 07 Spot-On Syrah ripe fruit and black pepper, 05 Unti Reserve Syrah- YO!

Slideshow:

Bacon, Wine, and Sunshine: Heirloom BLT's in Yountville, CA

In 105F+ heat, Atlanta's Brady Lowe and Carolina Uribe's "Taste Network" brought bacon to the masses-  200lbs of it.  In celebration of the Summer staple-- the BLT, they created a one of a kind BLT experience-  6 Types of Bacon, 6 types of bread, 40 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, etc, etc... 

Put on in conjunction with Hill Family Estate Winery and the Bardessono Hotel, people roasted the day away with the swine divine and some ice cold sauvignon blanc.

Enjoying the Blur: A Burning Goose of Funky Juice

The Interim:  This week back in Atlanta has been 2 parts scrambling to tie up loose ends, and 1 part the bacchanalian equivalent of the human cannonball.

I've been extremely fortunate to get together with some great friends in Atlanta, open many ridiculous bottles, and wake up with cold sweats every other night.

 

Woodfire Grill

Chef Kevin Gillespie is on another planet-- Rockin; the pure Dirty South flavor.  7 of us camped out and were blown away by his cuisine.  (Catch ATL's Kevin, Eli, and Hector on Top Chef 6 starting on 8/19.)  Kevin, Bernard and Nick run a hell of a restaurant and this place is really like home.

With a ridiculous amount of bottles, I'm often amazed at how the seemingly simple bottles shine...  In a line up of all-stars, the 2006 Foillard Morgon "Cote de Py" (Cru Beaujolais aka Cru-Boo) delivered an anvil of justice (who doesn't need more anvils of justice???) when paired with Woodfire's pork rib.  The Foillard totally drives me wild. Floral, tart, acidic, and just sexy.

Chez Dirty: Pizza Pahty!

Delivery pizza and poppin' funky bottles.  Chadd dealing with an overdose of brett (this wine smelled like chicken poop).  A little can add a touch o' funk-- But a lot is like eating a plate of nachos on hot day at the petting zoo. 

Tasty "The Mother-Funky'" China!!!!!!

In what has become a staple of the Atlanta wine scene, Tasty China is the playground for juice greatness.  No corkage fee (but bring your stems and cork screws) and crazy Sichauan food... This is where weird bottles come to shine.  Late harvest Condrieu, 1975 Napa Riesling (???), and a bevy of light reds-- pairing insanely well with Sichuan Beef Tongue, pork belly, tofu, and whatever seemed to be dropped in front of us.

The world is spinning quickly-- Grab some bottles, a couple of friends, sit down for a meal, and be happy. 

(Photos courtesy of Rowdy Food)

"What Do You Really Know About the Dirty South?" Sippin', Snackin' with Good Friends

Broderick aka @savoryexposure and I held up the kitchen at Rowdy Food and wanted some of his famous TN redneck cuisine.

Perhaps the total standout--- Homemade duck breasola....  Mindbendingly good, and he swears, simple to make...  Still full of duck flavor (not just spices and salt).

I'm still learning my new camera, and I shot most of this on the "standard play" (low quality) setting.  Not bad, but I think I'm heading back to MXP (high quality) on my next shots.

(Huge props to Benito from the epic "Benito's Wine Reviews" for the tip on the track!)

Day 10 of 31 Days Of Natural Wine: Gettin' Dirty with Pink and Orange Wine!

(Click to Go to the Dirty South Wine Video and Post at Saignée)

I'm thrilled and honored to be a guest author for Cory Cartwright's 31 Days of Natural Wine Series.  Some of the best wine writers in the world (both web and print) are participating-- Folks like Alice Feiring, Peter Liem, Jon Bonné, and more....  Please check out my video and post at Saignée

Also-  HUGE thanks to ATL's "Bias" for letting me use his track "Red Ink" for the video!

http://www.myspace.com/imsobias

Flashlight Fried Chicken, Biodynamic Gamay, and Freaky Grilled Quail

(Grilled Quail, and 2007 Clos Roche Blanche Gamay)


(Szechuan "Nashville Hot Chicken" and 2001 Dirler Riesling)
-------------------------------------

The Birds were fried outside by flashlight so as not to fill the kitchen with that dirty south, fry-stank. 

--------------------------------------

Grilled quails served up first (in daylight) and were paired with the Gamay.

2007 Clos Roche Blanche Gamay
(France, Loire Valley, Touraine)  $15-$20.  Louis Dressner Import
Clean, mean, and delivers, cranberry, raspberry, pepper, and earth.  This wine needs to open up (60+min), but when it does, textbook delicious.  Someone please distribute this in GA!

Though a light bodied wine, this was actually too big for the quail, and we swapped it out for some white Burgundy.  This stuff is the pure goodness...

2006 Henri Perrusset Macon Villages
(France, Burgundy, Maconnais, Macon-Villages) Chardonnay, $15-$20, Kermit Lynch Import
Straight up citrus and tree fruit-  full bodied, like a dose of unsweet lemon candy, and a slightly bitter finish. 

The finish was a bit off kilter at first, but once opened (45min) this rounded out really nice.  It killed it with the Quail- Just enough acid, and fruit, not overpowered by the grilled parts, and good quaffin' while eatin' on a hot porch.

With the spicy, fried birds we needed some residual sugar and acid to work with the heat--

2001 Dirler-Cade Riesling Kessler
(France, Alsace, Guebwiller, Alsace Grand Cru AOC)  Riesling.  Approx $40, Robert Chadderdon Selections.)
Nose of mango, rock, and diesel.  Full bodied, rockin' acids, and a long finish.  I like this stuff a lot.   A lot. A lot.

This rocks with the chicken, straight up.

-----------------

A great night with killer food and wine, in the dirty south!

(Huge thanks to Chez Rowdy for doing the cooking, and taking the sick pics!)