BookCliff Vineyards in Strasbourg

I had the fortune to spend a couple of days in Strasbourg visiting the Christmas market that is going on during the month of December. Streets are decorated with colorful light chains with each street showing off its own design. And the houses are decorated with Christmas ornaments. Many squares are filled with booths that offer Christmas themed products. The focus of this market is crafts rather than food. The food you can enjoy at the Weinstube offering local fare and of course Alsatian wine. Dry Riesling is still their specialty and you cannot go wrong no matter which quality you order. Enjoy it for lunch or dinner in small long-stemmed glasses.

Going Local....

As a local business we automatically support going local. But why exactly? How does supporting local businesses benefit our community? We know that our livelihood and business depend on people that support us, so in return we try to source as locally as possible, but it's much bigger than that.  Local Food Shift is an organization built on getting the answers to those questions out. Those answers focus on health, the environment and the economy. As far as our health, locally sourced foods need less preservatives and chemicals, creating a better diet for our communities. Although, the drawback is accepting seasonally available items. According to their brochure, Thinking Like a Foodshed, environmentally " the way we currently grow, process, ship, market, and cook our food may be contributing more than 30 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions." By exporting close to 95% of the food we grow here in Colorado we are using more fossil fuels than would ever be needed to distribute within the state, "less than two percent of our total food production in the county [Boulder] is going to feed the people who actually live there". By keeping some of our food production in county and state we're feeding the communities that grew it, and saving money.  Finally, and probably the most compelling reason is shifting to locally sourced food helps our state economy. The result of shifting local by 25%: 31,022 new jobs, $1.3 Billion per year in additional wages, $2.2 Billion per year in Local GDP, and $198 Million per year in State and Local Tax Revenues. Local Food Shift is asking all of us in colorado to pledge on their website, LocalFoodShift.com, that you will make 10% of your family food budget local. We're going to give it a go, why don't you? Write us on facebook or comment here. Let us know what you think, and if you've pledged, how it's going. Let's keep our community conversation going!

Local Food Shift. Thinking Like a Foodshed. Boulder: Local Food Shift, 2012. Print.

Sangria Recipe

For years now, we have described Touch of Red as similar to sangria and recommended it in sangria recipes. We thought it was about time to share a recipe with you. One of our great customers shared with us her recipe that reminds her of sangria that she had in Spain and will be a wonderfully easy summer refreshment.

2 green apples
8-10 clementine oranges
1c cherries (or cherry juice)
1 bottle (750 ml) Touch of Red

Chop the fruit into pieces no larger than 1/2 inch. Mix into the wine and place mixture into the refridgerator for a minimum of 2 days. To serve, just pour over ice and enjoy. Decorate glass with a thin slice of orange or apple.

Thank you to the provider of the recipe!

Wine and Food Pairing March 22nd, 2012

On March 22nd, at 6:00 pm, we will present the third dinner in our series of "Wine and Food Pairing with Local Chefs". This time we team up with Pizzeria Basta and the owner and chef Kelly Whitaker. Last year he prepared an amazing meal that exceptionally highlighted the whole idea of food and wine pairing. This year he will prepare a meal to pair with a Syrah "vertical", as well as a couple other wines. We wanted to serve something special so we dug deep into the library and found a few 2005 Syrah bottles. We will also be premiering the brand new vintage of "Basta White". We have been working closely with Basta to create this unique blend that will only be available at the restaurant. There are only a few seats left so make sure to sign up online soon!

Menu

1. Maine Diver Scallop served with Kambocha Squash and Micro Greens

–paired with the new "Basta White" blend

2. Baby Beet Salad

–paired with 2005 Syrah

3. Mirepoix Risotto

–paired with 2010 Reserve Syrah

4. Wood-fired Roasted Wisdom Farm Chicken served with Creamy Polenta and Prosciutto Braised Cabbage

–paired with 2009 Reserve Syrah

5. Brown Butter Cake with Wood-fired Vanilla Ice Cream

–paired with Barrel Aged Black Muscat

Date: March 22nd, 2012
Time: 6:00pm
Cost: $65.00/dinner
Location: BookCliff Vineyards winery and tasting room, 1501 Lee Hill Road #17, Boulder, CO 80304
Reservations: Click Here for Reservations



BookCliff and Avery Team Up

Mark your calendars, because on Sat, February 11, 4pm – 11pm, Avery Brewing Company will be releasing of #10 and #11 of their Barrel-Aged Series. Bottles of  Muscat d'Amour & Recolte Sauvage will go on sale at 4pm for $8 each, and purchases will be limited to 6 bottles of each.
"What does this have to do with BookCliff" you ask? Well, these are beers made with grapes! Avery purchased Muscat Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from BookCliff and added the skins and juice to some of their beer. They aged this beer/wine for about a year in barrels and this release is the final product. You've gotta try this stuff. There won't be much available so get there early to get in line. Don't forget, we open at 1:00 pm, so stop by for a taste of our Cab Sauv and Muscat Blanc wine before you try the beers.

The T-shirts are Here

Now you can not only drink Friday's Folly, but you can wear it. This is the perfect gift for Friday's Folly lovers. Or, you can treat yourself, which is permitted. The T-shirts are for sale at the tasting room. Come check them out and get your own to let everybody know that you enjoy Colorado wine. The first to show off their T-shirts are Justin and John both wearing X-large; who would have guessed.
The tasting room is open Thursday through Sunday from 1:00pm - 6:00pm and you can find us at 1501 Lee Hill Road, Boulder, CO 80304.

Jefferson Cup Win, revised

Earlier this year we told you that the results of The Jefferson Cup Invitational Wine Competition were announced and BookCliff received some top honors. We were excited when we finally received the prize that it is a trophy, our first actual trophy. The Jefferson Cup Invitational is an eleven-year-old competition founded by Doug Frost (one of only three individuals in the world to have achieved the titles of Master Sommelier and Master of Wine) that focuses on wine from all of America's wine regions. This year 21 states were represented and over 600 wines were judged, including some very well respected wineries. BookCliff Vineyards Petite Sirah 2009 was one of eight red wines to receive the highest honor, the Jefferson Cup. Our Ensemble 2008 was a Jefferson Cup nominee. This is our first Petite Sirah and we are very proud to have taken home this award. This wine is only available at the tasting room and at Salt Bistro in Boulder, so stop in to give it a try.

Organic Wine

-By Ulla Merz

At the Boulder Farmers Market we frequently get asked whether our wines are organic. Most of the time I respond with a quick No, as the answer is quite complex and would take some time to explain.

To receive the USDA organic certification, wine has to be made from organically grown grapes and the addition of sulfites is not allowed.

For John and me it was always important to get a grape crop every year and to be a good steward of the land at the same time. Right from the beginning we did not use herbicide and instead bought a grape hoe for in row weeding. We also do not use pesticide. We do use sulfur, which is considered organic, to spray for powdery mildew and if temperatures reach above 90 degree Fahrenheit we use a chemical as sulfur burns the leaves and leaves are needed to ripen the grapes. 2011 is the third year we have made our own compost from apple pulp, wood chips and chicken manure, which now replaces the chemical fertilizer we used before. At this point we have no plans to become USDA organically certified.

When it comes to wine making we will continue to use sulfites as a preservative to keep our wines from oxidizing and grow bacteria that negatively affect the flavor. Personally, I think it is fun to enjoy a 15 or 20 year old bottle of wine. Winemakers, us included, also use fining agents, which either precipitate out or are removed by filtering the wine. Some of the options for fining are egg whites, casein (milk protein), gelatin, isinglass (derived from fish) and bentonite clay. Whether to use any fining agents is a preference in the style of wine, just as different people are looking for different flavors in the wine.

If the grape growing and wine making practices used to make the wine are important to you, I suggest to ask the source, which is easy and another benefit when buying local.

For further reading here is a link to an article recently published in the LA times, that talks about the complexity of organic labelling and wine.

Drinking Colorado wine with others is better than drinking alone

Written by Jacob Harkins from ColoradoWino.com

"The tasting room is open. Well, the virtual one is about to be anyway. Following in the footsteps of wine social media guru Rick Bakas, we’ll be hosting the First Ever World Wide Colorado Wine Virtual Tasting.

The premise is simple: Drinking wine with others is better than drinking alone. Join us by popping a bottle of Colorado wine from about 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10. Best part is you can do this in the comfort of your home.

The key to making this work is to use your computer or mobile device to talk about the wine you are drinking and Colorado’s industry in general. If you are a Twitter type, use the hashtag #colwine. Try Hootsuite, Tweet Deck or any other number of programs that allow you to add the feed for #colwine to make following the evening a breeze. If you prefer Facebook, we’ll be using the event page to post comments."

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Photo Contest Winners

Congratulations to the winners of the BookCliff Vineyards Photo contest. First prize went to Lindsey and Brandon Drake for the photo on the right. Judy Grosswiler and Cynthia Allison both took the runner-up prizes. Thanks to everyone who submitted photos and to those that voted for their favorites at the winery.

New Plantings at BookCliff Vineyards

It seems like every two years we embark on planting something new in the vineyards. Which usually means taking some vines out. This year we decided to take out our Black Muscat and some of our Viognier. The Black Muscat made a beautiful dessert wine but there are not enough people who drink dessert wine. So in an effort to simplify our lives we eliminated one variety and replaced it with three others, Tempranillo, Petit Sirah and Graciano. We worked with Tempranillo and Petit Sirah grapes bought from an adjacent vineyard this past year and have liked the results. So we decided to plant our own. The Graciano grape we came across on our travels around Spain. It is used as a blending grape for Tempranillo. It is not easy to buy Graciano vines. So John had to make a trek to Washington state to pick up potted plants, which could not be shipped. To add some variety John invited his 87 year old dad Jack to come along on the one-week road trip from Seattle to Prosser with stops tasting wine in Walla Walla and around Boise, Idaho back to Palisade. It turned out the week of the trip brought frost at night and John and Jack had to make sure to stay overnight in a place where the temperature was above freezing, which was not as simple as it sounds. Just to make sure John bought a camping stove to heat the truck. Luckily the precious cargo arrived safe and sound in Palisade and will produce us some beautiful grapes two years from now.

Cabernet Franc, What's That?

That's a good question. Cab Franc, as it is otherwise known, is a totally different grape from Cabernet Sauvignon. It's actually one of the parents of Cab Sauv! A long time ago somebody crossed Cab Franc with Sauvignon Blanc and the result was Cab Sauv. Cab Franc is a fairly thin skinned grape with larger berries so the resulting wine tends to be lighter on tannins which means a very smooth mouth-feel. Don't let that fool you though it is packed with flavors and aromas. Notes of raspberries, black currants, violets and coffee are typical with aromas of herbs and green vegetables sometimes coming through. Cab Franc grows very well in places all over the world, but it's most famous location is in Bordeaux, France where it is often used as a blending wine. The Grand Valley AVA (Palisade) is one of those places where it does well. Many CO wineries are producing a Cab Franc and I think most of them do it pretty well. Our Reserve Cabernet Franc is aged in mostly new French oak barrels for 18 months, which imparts intense smoke and vanilla flavors. It is also a consistent gold medal winner from various competitions around the country. Give Cab Franc a try, I know you'll love it.

Exploring Colorado Wine Country in Paonia

Here is a pretty cool video (from http://www.savoreachglass.com/) of winemaking at super high altitude around Paonia, CO. It is true that we are still trying to find to perfect grapes for our region. In our neck of the woods over in Palisade; Cabernet Franc, Viognier, Riesling, Syrah and Merlot seem to do pretty well. Only time will tell...

Meet the Makers - Colorado Wine in the North Fork Valley from High Country News from Tynan Szvetecz on Vimeo.

Photo Contest Winners

Thank you to all of you who submitted pictures and to those of you who voted for your favorites in our "BookCliff - Perfect Anywhere" photo contest. All of the pictures are great and we really appreciate all of your effort to make this contest a success. Congratulations to Tirzah Mills, her picture entitled "Sundrenched Desires" received the most votes and is the winner of the first place prize (8 bottles of BookCliff wine). The picture titled "Wine at the Royal Arch" took home second place and third place went to "On the Deck" (both winning 4 bottles). Thanks again to everyone who participated.

Ensemble

Note: This is a post from the blog "Life in the Vines". Thanks for the kind words!

Two weekends ago Kenny and I went to the recently opened Palisade Grill, aptly named because it is a grill in Palisade, CO. I highly recommend it. Now we have two restaurants that are worth their salt in Palisade, thank goodness.
One of the wines they are serving is the Book Cliff Vineyard 2006 "Ensemble". Marvelously named because it is a symphonic collection of Cabernet Sav, Cab Franc, and Merlot. It is a well put together wine and is quite drinkable.
This is what their website http://www.bookcliffvineyards.com/ had to say about the wine:
"The Merlot makes this wine approachable, the Cabernet Sauvignon adds body and structure, and the Cabernet Franc gives it a light fruity finish. This wine is easy and friendly, good with a fancy dinner and enjoyable on its own. Light tannins and a smooth finish."
I completely agree with their review of how it travels down your palate. In addition, I'd like to add that the color is pleasingly rich with hints of Cab Sav's deep, luxurious purple, and it lays well in the glass. You want to swirl it in your Cab Sav shaped vessel forever. If I was do a blind tasting and someone asked me what type of wine this was, I'd say it was a Cab Sav. Thus, it can hold its own with a hearty meal.
Ensemble's varietal blend is: Merlot - 46%; Cabernet Sauvignon - 31%; Cabernet Franc - 23%The great part about this wine is that the vineyard where these grapes were harvested is just east of the peach orchard right across our street. Hopefully, our grapes can produce some quality wine as well next year.
It's still tough to compete with those California reds, but I believe this is one of the best Colorado wines around this season.Find you a bottle and pick it up.
Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

Gold at INDY!!

This just in from the INDY International Wine Competition....

We have won a few medals at the 2nd largest Wine Competition in the US, second only to San Franciscos' Wine Fest. This is a pretty big accomplishment for us and we are very proud. Stop by for some Colorado wine tasting in Boulder and you can be the judge. Here are the results:

Gold - Cabernet Franc 2007

Silver - Late Harvest Muscat Blanc 2008

Bronze - Lucky Twenty

We're Tweeting?!?

BookCliff Vineyards is now on Twitter. Thats right we are up on all of the technology out there. ;) In case you haven't heard of Twitter click your way over to www.twitter.com/BookCliff to find out what were doing, literally. It's just another great way to find out about new wine releases, special dinners and parties that we're throwing and of course just to find out what we're doing at the moment. Like right now we are tasting different blends that will be the next version of the Friday's Folly.

Medal Winners

We recently submitted two of our wines to the "Finger Lakes International Wine Competition" and both of them won medals! We are very excited to share the news that our 2008 Riesling took home a bronze and our 2006 Cabernet Franc Reserve brought home a gold medal. This competition had more than 2500 wines submitted from all over the world. 100% of proceeds from this competition went to Camp Good Days and Special Times, which is a non-profit camp for children and adults battling cancer and HIV. A great event for a great cause.

Of course if you haven't tried our award winning Colorado wines, come visit us at our Boulder tasting room. We are open Fri., Sat. and Sun. 1-6pm and located at 1501 Lee Hill Rd. #17, Boulder, CO 80304.

2009 Barrel Tasting

Please join us for the annual BookCliff Vineyards Barrel Tasting Dinner. This will be a sit-down dinner at the winery and each course will be paired with wine that is still in the barrel. Eric Skokan, head chef at The Black Cat restaurant in Boulder, will prepare a delicious meal while you sample wines from the great 2008 vintage.

Tuna sashimi, house cured salmon, bruschetta with caprini & arugula
-Paired with 2008 Lucky 20

Roasted diver scallop with Asian greens, sesame, citrus -Paired with 2008 Viognier

Saute of Arctic char with toasted hazelnuts, raisins poached in Cabernet Franc

-Paired with 2008 Cabernet Franc

Slow-cooked lamb shoulder with creamy polenta, figs, bay laurel

-Paired with 2007 Cabernet Franc

Roasted beef strip loin with a sauce of exotic spices & cocoa

-Paired with 2008 Merlot

Roaring 40's blue cheese with apricots poached in red wine

-Paired with 2008 Tempranillo

Spiced pear cake with caramel sauce and ginger

-Paired with 2008 Late Harvest Muscat Blanc

When: Friday, May 1 & Saturday, May 2 at 6:00 pm
Where: BookCliff Vineyards winery/tasting room at 1501 Lee Hill Road #17, Boulder, 80305
Cost: $55

Please call (303) 499-7301 to make reservations for this event.

2008 Chardonnay Deconstructed Dinner

At this dinner you will get to compare unoaked vs. oaked 2008 Chardonnay. Try samples from three different and distinct barrels as well as the final version which is a blend of all the types. This will be a sit-down dinner at The Black Cat restaurant in Boulder, with food prepared by head chef Eric Skokan. In addition to the Chardonnay you will get a chance to taste a couple of the outstanding wines from the 2008 vintage and the never before tasted Black Cat House red blend, only available at The Black Cat. Please RSVP with the Black Cat (303) 444-5500.

Crostini with Colorado cheeses and dried fruits
-Paired with 2008 Viognier

Crisp potato latke with cured brook trout, poached quail egg and peppercress

-Paired with 2008 Chardonnay from three different barrels & unoaked Chardonnay

Roasted diver scallop with smoked bacon risotto, thyme butter
-Paired with 2008 Chardonnay Final Blend

Roasted beef tenderloin with Cabernet Franc sauce, dried figs, celery root gratin

-Paired with 2007 Black Cat Cuvee & 2008 Cabernet Franc

Rustic apple tart with gold raisins poached in spices and Muscat anglaise

-Paired with 2008 Late Harvest Muscat Blanc dessert wine

When: Tuesday April 14th, 6:00 pm
Where: The Black Cat restaurant at 1964 13th St., Boulder

Cost: $55