Of course, a wine from SIP Certified Tolosa

The evening was great, filled with holiday fare including Beef Wellington, Creme of Chestnut Soup, and Bouche de Noel for dessert. We brought a tasty bottle of Tolosa Syrah for the meal and watched the cooking in action from first row seats at the counter. I’m even going to use my schooling and bring the Smoked Salmon Brushetta to Christmas dinner!

The meal

Oh, and the best part…leftovers.

One of the big highlights this year was the chance to taste “The Wine” – the wine that recently snagged 100 Parker points, Saxum Vineyard’s 2007 James Berry Vineyard Proprietary Red. Produced by Justin and Heather Smith, this label is near and dear to Central Coast Vineyard Team since Justin’s dad, Pebble Smith, was a CCVT founding member.

Justin not only graciously hosted a private tasting for a lucky few at the winery on Saturday morning, but also poured at the Earth Day main event that afternoon. Since allotments of the ’07 James Berry all but vanished from the general market soon after the Parker blessing, I can only say, “THANK YOU FOR SHARING, JUSTIN!!”

Justin Smith offers some barrel samples of one of the '09 James Berry components.

Robert Parker called the ’07 James Berry “Utter perfection,” and who are we to argue. A blend of 41% Grenache, 31% Mourvedre, and 28% Syrah, all three varietals brought their strengths to the table. This wine had the most perfect pitch I’ve ever tasted in a wine, with bright notes and fabulous depth, sturdy but not overwhelming tannins, and stunning balance.

At the private tasting, Justin also offered another treat – barrel tastings of the three main wines slated to go into the 2009 James Berry Red. Tasting each of these wines individually really gave a sense of how Justin was orchestrating the ’09 fruit and how each really does bring a specific theme to the finished wine. First was a bright Grenache with a joyful sense of pure fruit, being aged in concrete tanks; second was a 50/30/20 MSG with big earthy Mourvèdre on the nose but not a lot of tannins, co-fermented in new oak; and third was a Syrah with some great tannins and rich but subtle mid-palate notes. Given how all these wines are showing now, the ’09 James Berry should be one to watch for!

The lucky folks who joined Justin Smith for a private tasting at Saxum Vineyards before the Earth Day Food & Wine Festival main event.

There’s usually good food to be had at wine tasting events, but have you checked out who’s going to be at this year’s Earth Day Food & Wine Festival? Just the list of restaurants alone reads like a Who’s Who of the Central Coast’s stellar spots for pleasing your palate!

Here’s a look at just some of the highlights in the lineup …

Artisan has been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Sun-Times and Bon Appétit and Chef Chris Kobayashi was one of 20 semi-finalists in the 2009 “Best Chef: Pacific” category of the prestigious James Beard Awards.

Owner Charles Myers of Big Sky Cafe has been a longtime champion of local foods and the restaurant has gotten good press from the New York Time and Sunset Magazine.

Brown Butter Cookie Company just got a big “Yum-O” from Rachel Ray.

Chow is the latest culinary creation from Robin Covey of Novo Restaurant and Lounge and Shanny Covey of Robin’s Restaurant – both of whom have been shopping at farmers’ markets for their restaurant produce for over 25 years.

Chef Tom Fundaro recently opened Farmstand 46, offering artisanal charcuterie and lots of other tasty things, but he’s also still the chef at Villa Creek, one of Paso’s destination restaurants.

Il Cortile Ristorante has added another great place for Italian food in Paso Robles, and celebrates all things mozzarella!

The McPhee’s Grill locations in both Templeton and Avila Beach feature the wine-friendly cuisine of Chef Ian McPhee, a champion of local wines for almost three decades.

Native Restaurant and Lounge offers a savvy spot for fine dining and sipping in SLO.

Pier 46 Seafood offers fresh, fresh, fresh sushi-quality, sustainable seafood to take home to prepare, or they’ll set you up with a variety of menu items inside or on the patio.

SeaVenture Resort not only has a great seaside view, but also an extensive menu with something for everyone.

Splash Cafe is famous for their clam chowder, and the SLO location also features an artisan bakery.

Thomas Hill Organics sources produce right from the Thomas Hill Farm and the outdoor patio also features a wood-fired pizza oven.

Upper Crust has been serving pizzas, pastas and addictive raspberry salad dressing for over 20 years.

the estate vineyard for Ancient Peaks Winery

Ancient Peaks Winery’s estate Margarita Vineyard is one of the latest to earn SIP (Sustainability in Practice) Certification in recognition of the vineyard’s numerous sustainable viticultural practices.

“We are proud to have met the rigorous standards of the SIP certification process,” said co-owner and vineyard manager Doug Filipponi. “This certification recognizes what we are doing to ensure natural quality in our wines, and it reflects our passion for being good stewards of the land.”

Margarita Vineyard stands alone as the southernmost vineyard in the Paso Robles appellation, nestled into the rugged Santa Lucia Mountain range just 14 miles from the Pacific Ocean . Margarita Vineyard resides on the historic Santa Margarita Ranch (where the CCVT annual Earth Day Food & Wine Festival is held), which was first planted to vines by Franciscan missionaries in 1774. The vineyard spans 996 acres planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and other varietals.

Sustainable practices at Margarita Vineyard include deficit irrigation, natural cover crops, wildlife corridors, rotational groundwater usage and the use of compost tea in place of synthetic fertilizers. Stream and wetland health is preserved by the avoidance of tillage practices that might cause soil erosion. Vineyard pests are managed naturally by promoting habits for native predators, a program that includes 34 bat boxes, 471 bluebird boxes, 29 owl boxes and 13 predatory bird perches. No oak trees were removed in the planting of Margarita Vineyard, and wetland setback requirements were exceeded.

Ancient Peaks is a family-owned winery specializing in wines from the estate Margarita Vineyard, and is named for the tall peaks surrounding the estate vineyard which were forged by the collision of the coastal plates, geologic forces which give the vineyard five distinct soil zones—ancient sea bed, shale, sediment, granite and volcanic.

One line said it all: “This is SUCH a good idea!”
Of course, this happy person had to be referring to the CCVT’s 3rd Annual Earth Day Food and Wine Festival held at the historic Santa Margarita Ranch on April 18. This year’s sold out event featured over 100 booths offering award-winning wines, tasty food, and information about sustainable businesses. The weather was perfect, Big Daddy’s Blues Band was cookin’ with a solar powered sound system, and a good – no, make that – great time was had by all.
Of special significance was the “festival debut” of SIP certified wines from Ampelos Cellars, Baileyana Winery, Castoro Cellars, D’Anbino Cellars, Hahn Estates, Halter Ranch, Laetitia Winery, Paraiso Vineyards, Pomar Junction Cellars, Saucelito Canyon Vineyard, Tangent Winery, and Wolff Vineyards & Winery. It was great to finally see some wines from the SIP program getting into the marketplace, and more will be emerging with each new vintage.

The Earth Day Food and Wine also generated zero landfill trash thanks to the use of compostable and biodegradable flatware and plates, and thanks to everyone who made an effort to read the signs and put their stuff in the appropriate containers. In addition, about 30 percent of the attendees took advantage of the free shuttles to and from the event.
If you’d like to get on the advance list and be among the first to receive info about the 2010 Earth Day Food and Wine Festival, sign up at the CCVT website. That’s right, the 2010 event – after all, it’s such a good idea we might as well do it again!

The Central Coast has once again reeled in some attention about sustainability, this time in regards to fishing.

Molly and Giovanni Comin, owners of Central Coast Seafood

As part of a new program aimed at bolstering sustainable fishing practices, two local businesses – Central Coast Seafood and Morro Bay Fish Company – are netting $275,000 in loans and credit from a new $5 million fund administered by the California Fisheries Fund and developed with support from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). The Morro Bay companies were reportedly chosen because of the local industry’s existing efforts to switch to more sustainable fishing practices.

Central Coast Seafood (CCS), one of the participants of the upcoming Earth Day Food and Wine Festival, has firmly demonstrated a commitment to buy from responsible fisheries, an approach that convinced Google – yes, THAT Google – to choose them as the seafood supplier for their company cafeteria. One of CCS’s suppliers is Morro Bay Fish Company; according to an EDF press release, “As the primary fish buyer on the dock in Morro Bay, Morro Bay Fish Company will help to deliver and market sustainable fish from local fishermen.”

As consumers, we also have a important role to play in protecting and maintaining global fish populations, and that role begins with education. Check out the best and worse choices for sustainable seafood and sushi at either the Environmental Defense Fund or the Monterey Bay Aquarium sites, and make your fish purchases and restaurant orders accordingly. You can also download portable guides, email to have some sent to you, or sign up to get updates on your mobile phone.

The business model of Pizza Fusion (a nationwide franchised chain) is green to the core – green right down to the recycled blue jeans used for wall insulation, green right down to the organic red tomato sauce used in the pizzas, green right down to the hybrid delivery vehicles, green right down to the bamboo pizza peels (those paddle shaped things used to slip the pies in and out of the oven).

So, what about the wine list at such a place, in particular, the newly opened location in San Luis Obispo? Owner Brandon Borene admits that “to get the doors open,” he took the path of least resistance, offering organic labels that he could easily source, but “I knew I was going to get questions about carrying local wines.”

Borene also definitely wanted to carry Central Coast wines, and Pizza Fusion encourages its franchisees to source locally whenever possible. As a result, Borene recently reworked the wine list, working with his distributor – J&L Wines in Paso Robles – to find sustainably grown Central Coast wines that also hit the price point needed for a casual pizzeria. Not surprisingly, two SIP™ certified labels handily made the grade: Castoro Cellars and Laetitita Vineyard and Winery.

You’ll have your chance to taste the wines from those labels at the upcoming Earth Day Food and Wine Festival on April 18, where they’ll be among the 100-plus booths of other SIP™ and sustainably grown wines, as well as many other Central Coast restaurants and food producers – including Pizza Fusion. Tickets to this typically sold out event are going fast, so don’t snooze and lose!

Sweet Earth was launched by Tom Neuhaus, a Cal Poly professor who not only talks the talk, but walks the walk. The chocolate used is all certified organic, which has obvious benefits for the environment, but it’s also fair trade – meaning that the cacao beans have been purchased directly from growers or their cooperatives for a higher price than the prevailing market. Eliminating the middleman puts more money in the pockets of the growers, allowing them to invest more in their own communities, and often, the certification means that certain environmental standards have been followed as well.

Fair trade also seeks to address the dark side of the chocolate industry. Not dark as in a higher percentage of cocoa, but an element that involves child labor, slavery, and unsafe working conditions. You can read some of the buzz kill stats on the Sweet Earth website, and rest assured that the chocolates you get from Sweet Earth in no way contribute to these harmful practices.

In fact, Neuhaus not only visits cocoa farms firsthand, but also founded Project Hope and Fairness, a charitable organization that is currently focusing its efforts to help Ivory Coast cocoa farmers, many of whom are dirt poor and struggling to eke out an existence while they farm one of the world’s most prized luxury goods.

Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates will be one of the featured vendors at the upcoming Earth Day Food and Wine Festival in April, but if you’d like to pick some up for Valentine’s Day, check out the list of locations in your area. They’re also available at Splash Café on Monterey Street in San Luis Obispo (co-owned by Tom’s sister Joanne Currie and the “production site” for all the chocolates) or at The Crushed Grape in the Madonna Shopping Center.