BLOGSCHU

SONOMATINA—Or, a lesson in the Bundschu philosophy of ‘You Never Know Unless You Go’

posted by Jeff Bundschu

A few weeks back, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, another in a long long line of firsts took place here on Rhinefarm—An honest to goodness tomato fight.

The occasion was my longtime friend and all around legend AJ Riebli’s 40th birthday. We came up with a plan to replicate La Tomatina, the famous Spanish event, in Sonoma after plans to attend the real thing were beautifully thwarted by the arrival of Helen Riebli (all 7lbs +/- of her) earlier this year.  Not discouraged, AJ pushed forward, and with a team of good friends and his wonderful wife Anne, pulled off the event of the summer.

A very abridged timeline is as follows:
Early 09 - Confirmation received that 15,000 pounds of tomatoes could be had (relatively) easily and inexpensively
June 09 - Block 12 on Rhinefarm, currently fallow, secured as location
July 09 - Strangest Evite ever gets sent out to 400+ of AJ’s closest friends around the world telling them the date and time, and that in accordance to tradition, they must be wearing white to participate
Sunday, Aug 9th - An egg truck pulling grape gondolas carrying AJ and egg farmer pick up tomatoes in Las Banos. Tomatoes remain in gondolas in shade until morning of fight.
Aug 10-14th - Block mowed, parking markers laid, hay bales secured, trailer and portapotty readied.
Aug 14th - 40 Gallons Sangria prepared
AUGUST 15TH:
11am - Gondolas moved to field and tomatoes dumped
1pm - Guests begin arriving
2:30pm - Most guests there, all in white, including three in bridal dresses. 1 keg of beer empty, 15 gallons of Sangria gone.
2:35pm - AJ gives welcome speech, and proceeds to tomato pile, whereby all the kids get a 5 min head start in beaning him
2:40-3:30pm - Total pandemonium Tomatoes flying everywhere. Tomato skins give way to juice and then to mud and soon everyone is gooped.
3:30-4:15pm - After party glow abounds. Water truck giving baths.
6:00pm - Kidless afterparty starts

Those of you who know me know that I am always up for most anything that sounds like it all might be fun, and will always risk a big effort (and sometimes even life and limb) to put it together. This perspective is inherited, and for me dates back to my earliest days of skiing with my dad, and later surfing and duck hunting and even party-going on my own or with friends.

This belief states ‘You never know unless you go’, and is applicable to most anything interesting that requires effort to do, while accepting a serious amount of uncertainty about the viability of the intended outcome. It directly counters our human predisposition to staying on our booties to avoid getting all geared up for things that might turn out bunk.

Subsribers to this philosophy know that booty sitting is almost always the wrong path to take in the face of uncertainty. Accordingly, I went into this full steam, securing and prepping the block, getting the hay bales and various other accessories, all the while having no clue how the thing would turn out. Of course I trusted it would be a good and interesting time, but neither I or any one else on the set up crew had ever seen, let alone participated in anything like this.

Philosophy and all, though, I was in no way prepared for the amount of fun the fight actually was. Three hundred people went from grownups to kids in a matter of minutes and didn’t grow up again for nearly an hour. It was so so so much fun. More than I possibly could have imagined, and I mean it. Once again it was proven that you really don’t know, unless you go!!!!!!!

Here is comprehensive link to a huge bunch of photos. If you are short on time, get to the slideshow and scroll forward to photo 160ish. Here a few to wet your whistle.

15,000 lbs of tomatoes

Our fearless leader, AJ Riebli

Action shot: That would be the royal we tossing tomatoes at the camera.

Post-marination, l to r: me, AJ and Chris Benziger

Archives and Anthologies

posted by Susan Sueiro

We've been doing this Music Mondays thing for almost three months now, and if you've missed a few or are looking for a past selection, you can of course visit the category to read past posts.  But if you are interested in playing them all in a single playlist, voila, the Music Monday archive. 

As long as we're revisiting the archives, might be time to pop a classic onto the list. For some reason, The Beatles Anthology has been running on cable all weekend, and I have gotten sucked into watching all the old interviews, performances and movie clips.  And into the age old discussion of my favorite Beatles song. My vote, possibly for the best song ever, is tacked on to the end of the archive. What's yours?

gunbun garden club

This week's tasty morsel comes courtesy of the inimitable Shannon B, Gun Bun tour guide extraordinaire.

What started as a quick ratatouille provencale out of the old standby Joy of Cooking became an improvised colorful cubist still life thanks to the bounty of my friends' gardens. The generous team in the tasting room includes several gardeners -- almost all the ingredients were brought in to share.

Bundschu Garden Club Ratatouille

1 medium eggplant
1 pound zucchini, from Pedro's garden in the vineyard
1 jalapeno - from Jeff W's garden (I didn't have an onion, so I decided to take it up a notch!)
3 small tomatoes - from my own potted plants on the patio
1 bunch rainbow chard - grown by Carol, our gardening guru
3 cloves fresh garlic
rosemary olive oil - a gift from a generous wine club member shared by Diane B

Dice everything. Saute garlic in oil until soft. Add the eggplant, zucchini and jalapeno and cook about 10 min until slightly brown on all sides. Add tomatoes and chard, cover, lower heat and cook 15 minutes more. Salt & pepper to taste.

I'd brought home the half bottle of 2006 Pinot Noir left at the end of our day in the tasting room, and toasted to the great combination of flavors and people that made my dinner so memorable.

The Universal Language

posted by Susan Sueiro

When I was in high school, I memorized the lyrics to 99 Luftballoons despite being unable to speak a single word of German.  Decades later, I remember making a German friend laugh til she cried as I sang my nonsensical version for her.

It is interesting to me that it is quite rare for foreign language songs to top US charts, though kids around the world learn english from popular music.

This past Saturday after closing in the tasting room, as our crew of nine got things cleaned and restocked for the next day, Jeff W cranked up a great mix of famous world music from the '60s. (Is it possible the charts were more integrated back when the world was not?)

The most famous samba of all time soon had eight women dancing through our tasks. And while I am pretty sure nobody present could speak Xhosa, when Mamma Africa, Miriam Makeba, started singing Pata Pata, a few of us gave it our best shot.

Tell us, what songs do you know by heart in a language you don't speak?

tomato fLight

posted by Susan Sueiro

August is tomato time in these parts, and it goes by so quicky, I am willing to attempt an all-tomato diet for the next few weeks.

There is nothing better than a homegrown tomato, but alas, I'm no gardener. I'm the city girl rifling through the expensive and often disappointing stack of heirloom tomatoes at the grocery all summer long.  Then it happens: you get your first perfect tomato, and suddently they are ALL unbelievable, and on sale! That is when all I want to eat is a massive plate of tomatoes, horizontally sliced, drizzled with olive oil and a crusty loaf of bread.

There are literally hundreds of heirloom varieties, only a dozen or so consistently available at our area groceries. Inexplicably to me, the displays are always a jumble of several varieties, with no information on which is which.  I know a few of my favorites, but generally I apply a wine grape logic to selecting tomatoes.

As the dark, thick skinned grapes varieties produce wines with intense flavors, the "black" varieties of tomatoes tend to be the richest and sweetest, with a meaty texture.  See below for a few of my favorites.

While I'm a huge pinot fan, I've never gone for the thinner skinned pink tomato varieties (Brandywine, Mortgage Lifter, Early Girl), they strike me as a little bland, and often have a mushy texture.  Though I've had a few perfectly ripe ones that I've loved, so perhaps they, like pinot, are more delicate and hard to get right when they are ready.

Yellow and orange varieties are juicy and fresh, not as sweet or complex (Jubilee, Hillbilly and the small Ida Gold). Nice on occasion, great for adding color, but never the object of obsession. Like most chardonnay for me.

I LOVE green tomatoes, not the southern fried unripe kind, but true green varieties that are fresh and almost crisp in their sweetness.  I love them all, but the green zebra (below) is far and away my favorite.

Here is my ideal 'flight' of three tomatoes:

The Cherokee Purple.
Easy to find and reliably fantastic. Dark red, often still dark green on top even when totally ripe. This is the tomato that launched my summer obsession a few weeks ago. Palm-sized, firm to slice, with more flesh than liquid. Dark, sweet, meaty with little 'goo' factor.

Black from Tula.
This was the first heirloom I ever obsessed over.  I remember it by name thanks to my favorite song by The Buena Vista Social Club, it is memorable for its dark color, unique shape, and rich, sweet flavor.  A little goopy, but in a good way, the gel around the seeds is usually quite viscous and tinged green. For relative comparison, I'd say the Tula is to the Cherokee as syrah is to cabernet sauvignon.

Green Zebra.
These are small (about the size of a tomatillo), green on green striped and firm even when ripe. Adds a spot of color on the plate, and a bright, clean, crunchy sweetness. The palate cleanser, or crisp white of the tomato flight.

A drive around Sonoma offers many options for farmstand varieties right off the vine, always my favorite regardless of type. And in Sonoma, there is really only one good use for those bland, tasteless, commercial tomatoes: the tomatina.  I'll leave that one for Jeff to explain.

Words are Overrated

posted by Susan Sueiro

The Budos Band. Enough said.

Gearing up for the 09 Harvest!

Jim Bundschu is off enjoying the calm before the storm of the 2009 harvest. Filling in for him this month, we have an update from our winemaking team.

The 2009 harvest is just 2-3 weeks away and we are getting everything ready! "We" has a new meaning this year with our new winemaking team of Keith, Anne and Jessica, affectionately referred to as the 3-headed monster. We've been preparing all year and are excited to kick off this 2009 vintage!

In the winery, we just finished bottling the last of our 2007 wines, and are now busy blending our delicious 2008 wines, making room in the cellar and getting ready for harvest. Last year we welcomed our new grape receival system, and after seeing 2008 produce some fantastic wines, we can't wait to work with this equipment again in 09.

In the past, we used to drop the grape clusters into a hopper that used a large screw to slowly move the fruit into a destemmer. The destemmer had spinning rubber paddles that knocked the berries off the clusters. Last year, we got rid of that system, and replaced it with a sorting table and a Roto-Vibe. The sorting table moves a single layer of clusters forward on a belt (like a little moving walkway), allowing our production crew to take one last look at each and every cluster to ensure no unripe or uneven clusters get past us. Then the Roto-Vibe shakes the whole berries off the stems, a much gentler process than the old destemmer which would break up the fruit more, and even sometimes the stems. The result of all these new toys is that we can better ensure that clean, ripe, whole fruit is delivered to the fermentation tank, which results in higher quality wines for you.

In addition, this year we will be adding a grape chute that lets us deliver the grapes directly to tank for some wines, and louvers which are screens in the tank that prevent the pumping of berries during red wine fermentations. Both are designed to continue the gentle handling of our fruit to ensure highest quality in our wines.

In the vineyard, our attention is focused on working closely with the vineyard team to give our vines the most attention to detail possible. The season is shaping up to be a good one with steady temperatures and ideal crop levels.

Veraison is upon us with the grapes turning color (from green to red, or to golden for the white varieties) and the skins starting to soften. The vineyard crews are busy doing veraison thinning, which is when they ‘green harvest,’ cutting off the clusters that haven’t yet turned color or are ripening unevenly. The goal is for each vine to ripen all its clusters simultaneously so that when we harvest, there are no over- or under-ripe flavors in the bunch.

This is also the time when we start sampling fruit daily, checking not only the sugar levels but also the overall fruit flavors, the health of the vines, how they are responding to the weather and specifically planning their irrigation. If a vine can’t get enough water from its roots, particularly during a heat spell like we’re currently having, it can yellow and lose leaves, steal water from the grapes and otherwise cause uneven ripening. With too much water, a vine may focus on green growth and not develop flavors and concentration in the grapes. A careful combination of measuring leaf water potential, as well as visually inspecting the vine and tasting the fruit helps us to plan carefully and judiciously when and how much to irrigate each block of the vineyard.

We’re all gearing up for the busy months ahead, some of the crew have even shaved their heads in preparation for those early mornings and long days. It won't be long now! We’re looking forward to having many of you here at the height of the season for the Wine Club Harvest Weekend in September, we’ll certainly be ready for a celebration by then!

Salud, Amigos!
Keith Emerson, Winemaker
Anne Dempsey, Lead Associate Winemaker
Jessica Koga, Associate Winemaker

Osso Bucco? In August?

posted by Susan Sueiro

Not what I was thinking about in 97 degree Sonoma weather, until I saw the following comment posted to the Gundlach Bundschu facebook page by longtime WOMer and frequent poster Mike Cordelli:

Veal osso bucco simmered in the Gundlach 06 zin later reduced to a thick sauce and served with a Gundlach 2000 Zin. Dinner really doesn't get much better than this. The 2000 is drinking really really great.

Must have been more temperate back east! Mike has been in the wine club for ages, and I'm guessing he has a pretty awesome wine cellar given the impressive pairings and old treasures he pulls out!

He inspired me to ask for the recipe, and check the inventory on that 2000 zin so I could order up a couple of bottles for myself (we've still got a very little left, so if you're looking for it, write me).

I haven't tasted that wine in a few years, and as soon as this weather cools down a little, I'm planning to pull a cork and attempt to recreate Mike's dinner, though admittedly I'll likely try it with lamb shank, and will have a hard time resisting the temptation to use a lesser zin for the sauce!

Mike Cordelli's Osso Bucco

2 veal shanks, about 1 lb each, fat trimmed off
2 onions chopped
4 carrots chopped
1 8 oz package baby portabella mushrooms, sliced
2 stalks celery chopped
1 handful fresh herbs, chopped (we used oregano, sage, rosemary)
2 cups Zinfandel (2006 Gundlach Bundschu)

Heat olive oil to cover the bottom of a 4 qt pot and  saute the onion, celery, and carrots over medium heat until they start to caramelize. Add the mushrooms, and cook another ten minutes.  Add the veal shanks, and the wine to cover (add more wine if 2 cups is not enough). Bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 90 minutes.

Strain the vegetables and veal reserving the wine stock.  Put the meat and veggies in a warm oven to keep warm, covered.

Bring the liquid to a boil in a pan with a large surface area (large skillet) and reduce to a thick sauce, about 15 to 20 minutes.  You want it so when you push a spoon through the liquid it leaves a trail.  Serve the sauce over the veal and vegetables.

Thanks Mike!

P.S. Anyone else with great pairings to share, experiences with old vintages to tell us about, please let us know, either here on Blogschu or join the fan community discussions on facebook.com.gunbun.

The Sea and Cake

posted by Susan Sueiro

Having just returned from a week on the beach celebrating three family birthdays, I thought it fitting to select a track by The Sea and Cake for this fine Music Monday.  Pretty much sums it up.

I actually played their new record a lot over the last week - the mood was as fitting as the name. It is mellow enough to be background dinner music and 'indie' enough to keep the teenagers from running out of the room.

And when I take the time to actually focus on the music, I'm always impressed by how good these guys are, and that they keep cranking out great records (this is their 8th) though they don't seem to get much recognition. Enjoy!