Valentine Gifts from the Wine Country

Picking out the perfect Valentine’s gift can be a difficult task. Don’t stress! We have affordable gift ideas for you and your loved one to share.

WINE

1.) SWEETHEART TASTING PACK from RANCHO SISQUOC

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, our Sweetheart Tasting Pack is the perfect treat for your loved one. It includes the following favorites:

1 bottle Riesling
1 bottle Syrah
1 bottle Chardonnay
This tasting pack is priced at $45.60 – a 20% savings. Visit their online Winestore to order or call the tasting room at 805-934-4332.

2.) Wine-inspired jewelry and fashion at COSTA DE ORO:
Choose from a variety of grape and wine inspired jewelry and women’s fashion at Costa de Oro. If that doesn’t do the trick, there are always many other gift choices in their tasting room ranging from chocolate sauce to brittle to wine stoppers. Costa de Oro is also having a sale (while supplies last) on the following wines:
2007 Sauvignon Blanc $8/btl, $80/cs
2006 Vintage Red $10/btl, $100/cs (Blend of Tempranillo, Syrah, Cab, Petite Sirah)

3.) Sparkling Chardonnay from RIVERBENCH
Riverbench is releasing their brand new sparkling wine on February 13th–just in time for Valentine’s Day!

HOTELS

1.) ROMANCE PACKAGE from the RADISSON HOTEL
The Radisson Hotel in Santa Maria is offering a “Romance Package” at $249, which includes room, dinner for two, turndown service with chocolates, breakfast for two and evening entertainment throughout the weekend with a live jazz band “The Storm” and “Carole McNeil” on Valentine’s Night! Call 866-292-4676 to book this incredible deal.

2.) A SUITE DEAL from BEST WESTERN BIG AMERICA
• A two room mini suite with a king size bed
• Deluxe continental breakfast served in our beautiful lobby
from 6am – 10am
• Heated outdoor pool & spa
• Early check in at 10am and late check out at 3pm
• A certificate for $30 from A.J. Spurs Saloon & Dining Hall
Enjoy this incredible hotel package for only $99 (plus tax) any day throughout the month of February. Call 1-800-426-3213 to reserve this deal today.

3.) VALENTINE’S DAY WEEKEND at THE HISTORIC SANTA MARIA INN:

The rate of $229 is valid Friday, February 12, Saturday, February 13 or Sunday, February 14. The package includes an overnight stay in a deluxe Original Inn room, a chilled bottle of champagne and box of chocolates upon check-in, $75 dinner voucher toward our featured menu in the Garden Room Restaurant, Full American Breakfast Buffet for two in the morning, late checkout at 2 p.m., and complimentary entrance to the Tap Room featuring live music by Steppin’ Out. Rate includes all taxes and gratuities. Guests may upgrade to our Champagne Sunday Brunch for an additional $30. The Historic Santa Maria Inn is located at 801 S. Broadway in Santa Maria. (805) 928-7777. www.santamariainn.com

Rewards Program at Costa de Oro

We love this reward program at Costa de Oro for wine club members. This is reason enough to join their excellent wine club. Check out the message below from Costa de Oro regarding their great new reward cards:

We are excited to announce our new Rewards Program for our Wine Club Members at Costa de Oro. Now everytime you visit CDO (or order online at http://www.cdowinery.com), your Club Oro card will be loaded with a 5% credit of your purchases. This means if you spend $100, we will credit your card with $5 that you can redeem on a future visit to the Tasting Room or website! So, in addition to your Wine Club discount, you will receive an additional 5% toward a future purchase!

Just for fun, we loaded each card with a dollar amount; $2, $4, $10 and 1 card with $50! Come in and see what your card has on it!

The Club Oro card can also be used as a pre-paid card with additional benefits. By loading your card with $100, $200, or $400, you can receive the following:

$100 pre-paid – receive 10% rewards
$200 pre-paid – receive 10% rewards + $10 gift card
$400 pre-paid – receive 10% rewards + $25 gift card

The Club Oro card is also available as a Gift Card that can be loaded with any amount. What a great gift for the wine lover or “person who has everything”!

Please note: The Rewards program is intended for purchases beyond Wine Club shipments. Quarterly shipments are not part of the Rewards Program and Rewards points cannot be used to pay for quarterly shipments.

Wine Christmas Passport 2009 Raffle Winners

Our first year hosting a raffle during the Wine Christmas Passport was a big success. We were excited to give something back to you for purchasing wine during your visit.

For every 2 bottles of wine purchased by attendees during the passport weekend, they were entered in a raffle to win any of the following prizes. Congratulations to the winners (listed below)!

FOOD:
-Sunday Brunch for two at the Raddison hotel’s VINTNER’S GRILL
WINNER: Liz Lewis

-Lunch for 4 at Garey Store & Deli
WINNER: Dawn Robbins, dawnrobbins@sbcglobal.net

WINE:
- Complimentary wine tasting at Kynsi for up to four people
- One bottle Kynsi 2007 PINOT BLANC Bien Nacido Vineyard, SMV
- One bottle Kynsi 2006 PINOT NOIR Bien Nacido Vineyard, SMV
WINNER: Jacki Hampton

-Tasting for two at Summerland Winery
-2 bottles of Summerland 2007 Vintners Select Santa Maria Valley
WINNER: Sheila Smith

SERVICES:
-1 month free temperature-controlled storage* at ROEMER WAY SELF-STORAGE
WINNER: Marcel London

-30% off a new rental order* from CLASSIC PARTY RENTALS
WINNER: Genevieve Gardener

Cookie & Wine Pairing Recipe #7: Cambria

These Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies from Martha Stewart Living pair perfectly with Cambria‘s Syrah.

Suggested alterations to recipe: Omit the freshly grated ginger. Semi-sweet chocolate chips can be substituted instead of cuttting up the chocolate into chunks.

Prefer Pinot? Try this Oatmeal Toffee Cookie recipe instead.

Cookie & Wine Pairing #5: Foxen

Olive Oil Cookies

Yield: About 4 dozen cookies
Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup olive oil, plus a little for cookie sheet
• 3/4 cup , or a little more, dry red wine

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients. Beat the eggs with the olive oil and wine. Use a rubber spatula to stir the liquid mix into the dry one, just until well combined; if the mixture is stiff, add a little more wine.
2. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a lightly oiled cookie sheet and back 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool a couple of minutes, then remove the cookies to a rack to cool further.

Pair with 2007 Foxen Pinot Noir.

Suggestion: support your local economy and buy local olive oil such as Global Garden’s Olive Oil (seen in photo above) or olive oils made by your local winery.

Cookie & Wine Pairing #4: Costa de Oro

Potato Chip Cookies

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup crushed potato chips
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream shortening, butter, sugar and egg yolk. Add rest of the ingredients. Make into balls, flatten with a fork. Bake 12-14 minutes. Sprinkle sugar on top while hot.

This cookie goes very well with the Costa de Oro ’07 Santa Barbara County Chardonnay.

Submitted by Audra Vasquez (it was her grandmother’s recipe).

Luxury Wine Gifts for the Holidays

While I was getting together photos and links for the last post about wine gift baskets I came across the most fascinating gift of all: luxury gifts. I was on Cambria’s website and came across these two luxury gift items:

1.) A Barrel of Wine
You’re invited out to the winery to make your own blend of Pinot Noir from our award winning Julia’s Vineyard. Winemaker Denise Shurtleff will lead you and up to ten friends through your own private blending. It will be your taste buds that determine the final blend. At the end of barrel aging, you will receive your barrel of wine. During the aging process we will send you notes from the winery with details about your wine at each stage of development. The blending seminar includes a luncheon at the winery for 10.

These 23 cases of wine will feature your own personalized label (legally approved) and will be shipped directly to your house.

Offer available to CA residents only.
$6,000 | 2 barrels available

Call 805-938-7335 for more information or to reserve your barrel.

2.) A Helicopter Ride Over Cambria
Enjoy a bird’s eye view of the beautiful Santa Maria Bench with a helicopter ride for up to four people. Experience Cambria’s gorgeous landscape from the coast to the mountains. We will serve as your guide as you soar hundreds of feet above the vines. You will learn about the uniqueness of the mountain ranges and weather patterns that make the Santa Maria Valley one of the best places on the planet to grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

After the aerial tour you will touch down on the helicopter pad at the Cambria Estate to enjoy a winemaker’s lunch featuring Cambria wines.

$2,000 per package | 4 packages available
Rules and restrictions apply

Call 805-938-7335 for more information or to order.

***

How much would you love either of those gifts? Now I’m curious–what other luxury wine gifts are out there? I would love to hear about what you’ve found. Post your comments about the most divine (or absurd) luxury wine gifts you’ve seen in your search for the perfect gift this season.

Kady Fleckenstein, Executive Director of the Santa Maria Valley Wine Country (smvwines.com) and owner of marketing/events company, kadydid.

Cookie & Wine Pairing #1: CORE Wine Company

COOKIE & WINE PAIRING RECIPE #1: CORE Wine Company

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies with Cranberries and Chocolate Chunks Adapted from MARTHA STEWART LIVING Cookbook

Pair with 2005 Candy Core, late harvest grenache
Alta Mesa Vineyard
500 ml. italian bottle
$35.00

7 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chunks
3/4 c. dried chopped cranberries
1 1/2 c. + 1 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
8 Tbsp. unsalted butter (1 stick)
1/2 c. dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. unsulfured molasses
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 c. granulated sugar (for coating cookies)

Line 2 baking sheets with parchments. Chop chocolate into 1/4″ chunks, set aside. In a medium bowl, sift flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg & cocoa.

In the bowl of electric mixer with paddle, beat butter until whitened-4 min. Add brown sugar; beat until combined-Add molasses & combine.

In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 tsp. of boiling water.
Beat 1/2 of flour mixture into butter mixture.
Beat in baking soda mixture, then remaining 1/2 flour mixture. Mix in chocolate & cranberries; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap.
Pat dough out to 1″ thick, seal with wrap, refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more.

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll doug into 1 1/2″ balls, place 2″ apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes.
Roll in sugar. Bake until surface cracks–10 to 12 min. Let cool for 5 min. Place on rack to cool.

In The Vineyard: November 2009

These winter months are when grape growers get to sit down and reflect on how to better improve their operations. I am engulfed with paperwork, planning, and budgeting for the 2010 season. Yes, cool, wet weather doesn’t mean farming stops, it means I have no excuse for a paper-stacked desk and I can get all of the office work done which I have been putting off since harvest began.

Reviewing the good and the bad from 2009 and meeting with my vineyard foreman to get their feelings and ideas on where we can improve on efficiency is where the 2010 vintage begins. I look at fertility options, where we can improve growth and where we may need to decrease growth to maximize both quantity and quality of grapes. I look at irrigation amounts, timing of applications and length of applications so that every precious drop of water applied has the maximum benefit to the vines. I take a look at the latest in machinery, materials, and viticulture philosophies and adjust where I can to make my operation as successful as possible.

Sitting down and learning about the wines which are being produced from my vines another fun operation this time of year. Discussing where the best fruit came from the vineyard and what may have been associated with that success is very important with my partnering winemakers. I will get muddy in the vineyard, the winemakers will be molding their wines, and we need everyone to keep raising their wine glasses to great Santa Maria Valley wines.

Jim Stollberg manages vineyards for Hampton and Maverick Farming Companies in the Santa Maria Valley. He can be reached at (805)310-9322 or jim@maverickfarming.com.