Roll Out The Barrels

Saturday, January 29, 2011

We headed up the highway towards Santa Maria today to attend McKeon-Phillips barrel tasting. Stopped at Ellen's in Buellton for breakfast. I always order the biscuits and gravy. Its the only time I get them . They are so good tasting and so bad for you. I figure a couple of times a year should be ok.

We were at Huber Vineyards at 11:00 when they opened. Picked up a case of 2007 Huber Pinot Noir for $259. That is $21.58 a bottle for $40+ wine. Norm absorbed the sales tax so it was a better bargain. Naturally we had to taste what was on the counter. They Hubers really make nice wines. If I go back up the end of February I may pick up another case. At that price it makes a very inexpensive house wine.

We informed Norm & Traudl where we were going. They had not heard of McKeon-Phillips so next time I stop in I will drop them off a bottle of Cabernet along with some red wine vinegar that I have been making. Its time to pull off some vinegar as it has been in the jar for close to a year now. If I do say so myself , it's damm good vinegar.

Caught up with Terry & Cora and their 2 daughters at McKeon-Phillips. Had to walk around the corner of the complex and pick up fresh tamales at the Santa Maria Tamale Shop. I get them raw so I can freeze them and then I just steam them whenever I want a really good fresh tamales. Better flavor than freezing cooked tamales then reheating them.

We sat down to lunch along with barrel tasting 8 wines. Remember all these wines were taken straight from the barrel and had not been bottled yet.

Up first was Cavatelli pasta with Prince Edward Island mussels. Mussels were good. I would have gone with a different pasta myself. This was served with a 2010 Sauvignon Blanc. This wine improved dramatically with allowing it to sit for at least 15 minutes. Got rid of the sharp acidity. I have found McKeon-Phillips Sau Blancs to be best the year they are released. They go down hill fast from there.

Then we were served a soup. I was "PINK". Said it was "Yellow" beet and fennel. Now yellow beets are yellow inside and out. How it turned pink I do not know. I have never made soup from yellow beets so maybe it turns color. But when you steam a yellow beet it stays yellow. It wasn't awful tasting but I would never order it in a restaurant nor would I make it. This was served with a 2008 Pinot Noir, which I wasn't wild about but Terry thought it had great potential. Also a 2008 Cabernet Franc was served which I felt was a far superior wine.

Main course was a Lamb & Butternut Squash multigrain pasta. This dish was so sweet from the squash I had a hard time eating it. The lamb was hard to find. I think this dish would have been really good if there was someway to tone down the sweetness. It was served with a 2008 Petit Verdot and a 2008 Leonardo. Both were nice wines but I preferred the Petit.

Arriving next was a Pork Chop on a bed of Braised Radicchio. This was a very large chop. Too big. The radicchio was excellent The chop would have befitted form a brining. It was good but it could have been so much better. The wines served were 2008 Bella's Nebbiolo and 2009 Baileys Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Both good wines.

Dessert was a Blueberry Buttermilk Cake with Spiced Whipped Cream. Plain and simple. OK tasting. Nothing spectacular. The wine was a 2009 Malbec which was very good.

I only ordered the 2009 Baileys PR Cab through Terry. I would have liked to order some Cab Franc & Malbec but I have so much wine sitting around in cases right now and I have to start drinking more and buying less. I also had just bought a case of Huber which Steve took half. But that was still 6 more bottles to add to my collection.

I may go up the end of February for the release party. Will have to see how I am doing at that particular time. Been fighting the "bug" that has been going around so I will not make plane too far in advance.

I will say that the bottles I listed were all good and some were really good. They should be in top form when they are released in 2012. We paid about 1/3 to 1/2 half of what the price will be next year when they are released. Of course your money is tied up for a year in advance, but but 50% return is good.