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February 2011
Italians celebrate the first olive oil of the season with a toast (above) to "New oil, old wine". At Montemaggiore, we're carrying on the tradition with our estate-grown Olio Nuovo, and we look forward to sharing it with you! (If you need wine to go with it, we can help you there too.) Below you'll find all the latest news on our olive oil, and more.
Olio Nuovo is now available
In December we started pressing our fourth "vintage" of extra virgin olive oil—and it's now bottled up and ready for you to enjoy! So soon after pressing, it's called olio nuovo and it has a deep, intense flavor with a cloudy appearance—to the uninitiated, its richness and spiciness on the palate can be a delightful surprise. As the oil "ages" over the next year, it will become more mellow and harmonious.
Cool temperatures during the summer of 2010 really affected our olive crop (as they did the grapes)! With the olives, however, the taste wasn't as affected as much as our yields. We had an abundance of olives on the trees and picked over 7000 pounds (over double from last year), but each olive had about half the amount of oil. Instead of extracting 1 Gallon of oil from 70 pounds of olives, this year it required 140 pounds of olives. The lack of heat during the growing season just didn't allow a significant amount of oil to develop in the olive. Our experience with a larger volume yet lower yields was mirrored around Sonoma County.
Montemaggiore Olio Nuovo tastes great drizzled on grilled fish, grilled vegetables, and bruschetta—but our favorite is just dipping with fresh bread! At $25 for 375ml bottle, Montemaggiore's Extra Virgin Olive Oil is available now by ordering online for delivery or picking up at the winery. Historically, we've run out of olive oil by mid-summer so don't delay if you'd like some. To learn more about the 2010 Olio Nuovo, check out the olive oil area on our website.
Olio Nuovo recipe ideas
The best extra virgin olive oil recipes actually aren't recipes at all, because having many other ingredients tends to cover up the flavor of the oil. For the same reason, we find that it is best to use olio nuovo for finishing a dish, as opposed to for cooking. So instead of recipes, here are some ideas:
- Serve with fresh bread. Check out Lise's super-easy, no-knead olive and rosemary bread—and leave out the olives and rosemary to truly appreciate the olive oil.
- Serve with fresh vegetables and other condiments for what Italians call pinzamonio. Fennel, radishes, celery, sweet peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, and green beans taste great. Olio nuovo, Sea salt, balsamic vinegar, grated parmesan can be put in separate dishes.
- Toss with ravioli, a pinch of salt, and a bit of fresh basil (Hubbard P., a Wine Club member from Northrook, IL recommends Bertagni's Porcini Mushroom & Truffle Stuffed Triangles found at Whole Foods)
- Toss with pasta and any combination of garlic, parmesan, and red chili flakes.
- Drizzle on a hearty winter soup, for example, tuscan bean soup or lentil soup.
- Drizzle on grilled fish or grilled vegetables. For example eggplant, portobellos, and sweet peppers.
Help us name our newest wine
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If you checked our Facebook page or website homepage recently, you may have seen a contest to name our newest wine, a Syrah and Viognier blend. Here's the background on the contest. First, we asked for your naming ideas, then from the 26 great suggestions, we selected our top three choices. Now we're asking for your vote—just choose your favorite on the right then click "Vote".
A bit of explanation on the choices: "amanti" means "lovers" in Italian, thus "2amanti" refers to the two varietals in the blend. "Collina" means "hill" in Italian, referencing the Côte Rôtie in France, which is the ancestral home of Syrah and Viognier blends ("Côte" means "hillside" in French). Voting closes on Valentine's Day.
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Wine Lovers of the Month
Gary and Francisco have been Montemaggiore wine lovers since the "beginning" (that is, our beginning in 2002). But both came to wine late in life: Gary, when he moved to the Bay Area from Indiana almost thirty years ago, and Francisco, when he started hanging out with Gary ten years ago. They are most passionate about wine for themselves and food for others, devoting much of their free time to Food for Thought which provides food for people affected by HIV/AIDS in Sonoma County. Every community could use more people with hearts as big as Gary and Francisco's!
Viticulture 101: Cane pruning grapevines during the winter
During the winter while the grapevines are dormant, we perform the single most important vineyard task of the year: pruning. By removing the previous years' canes (branches, if you will) and just leaving one or two to produce the coming year's grapes, pruning dictates both the quantity of grapes for the next year and the canopy (leaves) that powers the quality of those grapes. Highly skilled pruning means that you'll be working with Mother Nature to grow superior quality grapes. Unskilled pruning means you'll be fighting Mother Nature the entire growing season—disease, too little sunlight hitting the grapes, too heavy of a crop, extra work in the vineyard during the growing season—headaches that persist into future vintages, too. Thus top-quality grapes and wines necessitate top-quality pruners.
Pruning is where Pedro, our sole employee, is worth his weight in gold! Having pruned vineyards in Napa and Sonoma for almost twenty years, Pedro has pruned every single one of Montemaggiore's 15,000+ vines for the past six years. He knows to prune just the right amount—pruning too little would mean weak growth and pruning too much would mean too vigorous growth. He understands the capabilities and potential of nearly every vine based on prior years' performance. Pedro knows which soils are nutrient-deprived and which areas receive extra sun or shading. He can position a cane in order for it to receive optimal sunlight thus optimal fruitfulness and ripening. Pedro and his experience are irreplaceable.
Our method of pruning is called cane pruning, which requires that Pedro carefully examine a vine before making a single cut. A more common and quicker method is spur pruning, which doesn't require a lot of expertise (in fact, machines can do it). Cane pruning takes more time to perform but it leads to more balanced vines and ultimately higher wine quality. And after all, wine quality is our top priority. For more information on pruning, check out the VinesToWine blog (the author, Remi, is a friend of Lise's).
Spring Events in Northern California
For those of you living in or traveling to Northern California over the next few months, you may enjoy the following events.
Final Note: As always, we welcome your visit to our mountainside estate vineyards and winery. Simply contact us for an appointment by phone (707.433.9499) or email. If you have wine-loving friends who might be interested in learning about Montemaggiore, please have them call us or send them to our website.
May your new year be filled with health, wealth and good cheer!
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