American Winery Blog

Prepare Yourself for…Thanksgiving Leftovers!

Lindi Kauer — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:08:14 +0000

Remember what the fridge looks like the day after thanksgiving? Packed with the remnants of previous night’s dinner, the leftover tidbits can be a snacker’s dream or a cook’s nightmare. But if you let the gastro-alchemist loose, you can come up with some fun ways to make new meals all week long. If you are anything like your mother – you’ll make Turkey Noodle soup! Turkey Noodle soup is great, but if you are like me and would prefer to spend your time with your friends and family instead of slaving over homemade noodles and chopping vegetables: you’ll look for something a little easier. I found this recipe in Better Homes and Gardens in 2007, and adapted it to make it a little heartier, without being any more difficult!

Turkey Tortilla Soup

1 jar salsa
6 cups chicken/turkey stock (since it is likely that you have a turkey carcass you can use, I would make a stock yourself – see below for details)
2 cups turkey shredded or cubed
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 zucchini chopped
3 corn tortillas cut into thin strips and fried
sour cream & limes for garnish (optionally necessary)

For the Stock:

Put carcass in a pot and fill with enough water to submerge it entirely. Add chopped onion, some garlic, carrots, and celery. In terms of herbs, I like to add a sprig of thyme and rosemary. You can also throw in some some black peppercorns, a little bit (1 tsb.) of fennel seeds, and/or a dash of cumin or coriander seeds. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to simmer for 3-4 hours.

For the Soup:

Add the stock and the jar of salsa to to a pot. Bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer. Add the turkey, black beans, corn, and zucchini and cook until heated through about 10-15 minutes. Spoon into bowls and garnish with tortillas and sour cream! Serves 4-6.

This would go great with any leftover Thanksgiving Riesling or Gewurztraminer you might have lying around! My new favorite is the Ludwig Winery Riesling.

What are your favorite Thanksgiving leftover concoctions?

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Email Marketing: Holiday Tips

Erica Sharp — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:18:30 +0000

The holidays are nearly upon us, and you know what that means…

Smoking hot holiday deals!
Boxed sets!
Mixed case specials!
Stocking Stuffers!
Tasting events!

Email is a wonderful way to spread the word about what you have going on at your winery this holiday season. Just a few tips to maximize your holiday email campaigns:

1. Use a compelling subject line. The average inbox is loaded with spammy email offers and the last thing you want is for your beautifully designed holiday email to get overlooked or worse yet, end up in the trashcan! Lead with a special offer – “Save 25% on holiday wines from Joe’s Winery!”. Or tell them how you solve their holiday shopping needs – “Buy wine for the people on your “Nice” List”.

2. Make ‘em feel special. I receive many emails from wineries, and the ones I like the very most (and respond to with my hard-earned money) are the emails that make me feel valued and important to the winery goings-on. Give your email list an exclusive offer (1¢ shipping when you mention this email) or a sneak peak at your holiday barrel tasting line up. Trying to drive holiday traffic to your tasting room? Have your email double as a two-for-one tasting coupon!

3. K.I.S.S. Keep it short & simple. I enjoy (and employ) the “Rule of 3”… any email should keep to 3 or fewer topics. So for instance, your holiday email could cover holiday events, an exclusive offer, and your tasting room hours for the holidays (with a call to action to visit and bring a friend!). If you were hoping to include a detailed harvest report, its time for you to start a winery blog… which we’ll cover in a future episode.

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Winery Spotlight: Airfield Estates

Stacy Buchanan — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:06:24 +0000

When you hear stories of wineries’ and their estate vineyards’ origins, there always seems to be a common thread – a history that led to the winery’s creation. Sometimes it centers around families that immigrated from elsewhere, or perhaps it’s a family tradition in farming that lead to grape growing. Much like their name denotes, Airfield Estates has a unique and distinct story which is grounded in the history of aviation in Prosser, WA.

Founder H. Lloyd Miller leased the land, located primarily in south-eastern Washington, to the Olympic Air Transport Company just prior to World War II. The area was made into an airbase to train military pilots in 1941 (However, in retrospect, there are suspicions about the true purpose of this airbase that are quite interesting. Read HERE for more details). The operations continued until the mid 1940s – around the end of WW II. After the pilots moved off base, the buildings were sold back to Miller who used them as headquarters for his family’s farming operations. From growing produce to providing grapes to some of Washington’s best know wine producers since the ’70s, it didn’t take long for Airfield Estates to set up their own winery. With some of the original WWII airbase buildings still intact and a strong aesthetic focus on planes throughout their winery, Airfield Estates has a distinct personality that attracts both lovers of planes and wine. Amy Sonnichsen, assistant general manager, answered some questions about the winery while in the midst of harvest this year.

Stacy Buchanan: Obviously you have a strong theme based on airplanes, particularly vintage and fighter planes, have you had any plane lovers become fans of the winery based on your aircraft branding?

Amy Sonnichsen: Plane lovers are probably our best customers! The minute they drive up to our tasting room they are filled with glee! A large percentage of our wine club consists of individuals whom are connected to aviation in some form or another, either professionally or personally.

SB: Which wines would you say best represent what Airfield Estates is about and why?

AS: Airfield produces 22 wines, so there is a large range which represent who we are. However, two wines strongly represent Airfield would be the Unoaked Chardonnay and the Bombshell Red. These wines truly showcase the quality of our fruit in the vineyard while still maintaining a fantastic economic price point.

SB: Your winery seems to have a lot of fun between the love for planes, grape stomping, 5k Fun run, your upcoming ‘Murder Mystery Theatre’ and more. Can you talk about the importance of engaging your customers.

AS: We love engaging our customers. One of our mottos is to “provide a sense of ownership”. We want our club members and our patrons to feel a part of who we are. We try and provide tours of our facility to each and every person that comes through our doors.

SB: What is some advice you’d give other wineries who are looking to broaden their fanbase or simply improve their communication to their current fans?

AS: It’s all about making those people who support you feel a part of what you are doing. It’s also being passionate and enthusiastic about what you are doing. The wineries passion and enthusiasm is contagious and will pass on to those people who are around it.

SB: Any new/fun stuff coming up for Airfield Estates?

AS: We will be bottling our first Malbec this spring and a new white blend which will line up with our Bombshell Red. We continue to grow and reach into new markets, and with that spread we are also growing our production.

***Watch Airfield Estates’ “Straight from the Source” Video Short***

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Lindi’s favorite Pot Roast Recipe

Lindi Kauer — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:49:45 +0000

It’s fall. The weather is getting cooler and and you are starting to layer your clothing again. In my mind, now is the perfect time for some comfort food. Although this recipe takes a bit of time, I am sure you could probably chuck all the ingredients into a slow cooker on low and leave for work in the morning, to come home to a delicious meal that night. This is one of my favorite recipes because it puts a tiny spin on a timeless classic.

Ingredients

4 TBS Olive Oil
4-5 lb bottom round roast
1⁄2 large sweet onion, diced
2 small shallot, diced
6 cloves of garlic – some mashed, some minced
3 TBS tomato paste
1 cup chicken stock
1⁄4 cup Hoisin Sauce
3/4 cup red wine
2 large sweet potatoes – cut into eighths
4 or 5 white or yukon gold potatoes – cut into eighths
4 carrots – sliced
Red Pepper flakes
Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 300°

Start by heating oil in a dutch oven or large cast iron pot (with a fitted lid) over medium-hi heat. Season the roast well with salt and pepper, and place in the olive oil. Brown the meat – make sure to get all sides. Remove and tent with aluminum foil. Lower the heat just a bit and add the diced onion and shallot stirring and cooking for approximately 5 minutes. Add the mashed & minced garlic, and cook for another 5 minutes until fragrant, but not browned. Add the tomato paste and mix well, then slowly add the wine. Cook for 5-10 minutes or until wine is reduced by 1⁄2. Add the chicken stock and hoisin sauce and mix well. Toss in a pinch of red pepper flakes. Add the roast back into the sauce/gravy and place in the oven for 2 hours. Baste occasionally with the gravy and flip roast after 1 hour. When the two hours is up add all of the potatoes, and the carrots, flip the roast again, baste, and cook for one more hour.

**If your gravy is too thin, extract a cup’s worth, whisk in some corn starch or flour, and mix it back into the gravy.

I loved this served with broccoli or asparagus!

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Take your fun with champagne seriously

Stacy Buchanan — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:01:39 +0000

Champagne has always been a horse of a different color in the wine world. Besides the fact that champagne is only made in the aptly named Champagne region of France (if produced elsewhere it’s simply sparkling wine, with a few exceptions), I’ve always found the cork fascinating as well. As naive as it might sound, I just recently learned that the mushroom-shaped cork for champagne bottles actually starts out as a normal cork; it isn’t until the bottling process that the normal corked is mushroomified. Crazy!

Like the many different varietals of wine in existence, champagne also has a unique glass optimized for its consumption, commonly referred to as a flute. It’s thinner and taller bowl and stem help preserve the carbonation of the champagne by decreasing the exposed surface area. Of course, by gripping the flute by it’s stem you’re also not effecting the temperature of the wine. However I recently came across a great solution to help preserve the temperature of the champagne without the dainty and garish hand gesture that comes with holding a champagne flute: meet the champagne glass! It’s double walled to keep the champagne nice and cool (just like the parties you throw) while also holding the same volume of champagne as a normal flute.

It goes without saying that opening a bottle of champagne is a lot more exciting than just a normal bottle of wine. The “Pop!” sound as the cork shoots off (unless you’re in a posh setting where the quieter the cork, the better), the cheering company and laughs all signal a time of celebration. I happened to notice an upcoming device that takes the excitement of opening a bottle of champagne to new heights: it’s called the Rock-et Roll.

It’s a soft little toy rocket that attaches to your champagne cork. The rocket has streamers attached to it, so once that cork goes flying you can expect a burst of color flying to follow. Set to be released soon, you can even have a personalized message among the streamers. The Rock-et Roll is also an eco-friendly gadget, designed using bio-resin and recycled foam rubber to be 100% recycled and recyclable. Just plug a streamer, fix it on your champagne top and be ready for the countdown. Streamers are taught, enabling them to be textured with logos and messages and propel your thoughts through the air. This device was devised by FiftyTwoWays, who have made great little gifts and fun items that have been sold in Urban Outfitters, so expect to see the Rock-et Roll soon!

However, like a delicious dinner, this blog would be a little remiss without providing you with a parting glance at some indulgent dessert – in this case, themed around champagne. Enter the 24 karat gold lollipop. This little bad boy is champagne flavored with real flakes of gold in the center. Thanks to the comedic stylings of David Cross I’ve actually heard of REAL gold being used in desserts before. What I didn’t know before, though, was that apparently gold has some anti-bacterial properties. At just 3.75 British Pounds for each lollipop (just a little over $6 American dollars) I actually wouldn’t mind trying it given the opportunity.

So, a toast to the drink that often gets overlooked since it’s often in the glass being raised: champagne!

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