My wine history:

My first wine tasting was in 1965 at age 22 on a Rhine river cruise - German Hock /Riesling while attending the ICN [International Convention of Nurses in Frankfort]. After Nursing School, I moved to Boise via Mexico and then to San Francisco from Delaware in 1966. Settled down in San Francisco with my first husband, Bruce Buchanan, Marnie's father, who deserted me in 1968 while pregnant. We moved to Berkeley in 1971 with Joel Peterson, a co-worker I met at Mt. Zion. We attended a weekly wine tasting dinner group at the Basque Hotel every Thursday, with visiting wine writers, negociants and importers: Hugh Johnson, Harry and Prudence Waugh from England, Frank Schoonmaker among the guests. I once surprised everyone with an Idaho Riesling from St. Chapelle in a brown bag - blind tasting.

 Joel and I were certified as Journeymen at a 1974 Napa Valley Wine Library wine appreciation course led by James Beard with Joe Heitz, Richard Peterson and Robert Mondavi among the instructors. 

Joel and I helped Joe and June Swan from harvest to bottling and often shared casual wine dinners with Kermit Lynch, neighbor Tom Dehlinger, Andre and Dorothy Tchelistcheff. Andre, Kermit and I were the only smokers - so we enjoyed each other's company as  outsiders after dinner. 

Joel and I made our first wine from blackberries, a second from Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon in 1975 and started Ravenswood with our first commercial vintage of Zinfandel in 1976.  We often went to wine dinners at Chez Panisse in Berkeley and got to know Alice Waters and Mark Miller, who started Coyote Cafe much later in Sante Fe. Joel and I split up in 1979 and I took a year off in 1981 - early retirement - to visit France. Marnie, age 14, and I picked wine grapes in Meursault, stayed overnight at Jean-Michel Cazes of Lynch-Bages home in Paulliac, Bordeaux. As the mayor of Paulliac, he arranged for us to visit and taste at Mouton Rothschild as well as Lynch-Bages. 

I had taken a bottle of 1895 Simi Zinfandel with other CA wines in a case shipped to France - which I shared with friends Mary and Ivan Moseley in London. I love sharing surprises with people I know will appreciate wine. 

Returning to the US, I stayed with my sister Rhea in Rising Sun, MD. A neighbor let me make simple wine from his French Hybrid grapes: Marechal Foch and Seyville Blanc.  

My grandmother in Boise asked me to come help her with my grandfather who had been recently diagnosed with Alzheimers. Meanwhile, I had re-connected with Bob - my High School Sweetheart and we married in Boise on July 14, 1983 - 30 years coming up! 

We had both enjoyed making wine and beer and dancing! We became members of Les Amis du Vin with Statesman wine columnist, Brooks Tish;  joined TVWS in 2004 when the first Idaho competition and tasting was held at Eagle Knoll. We helped with pouring wines for the judging in 2005. I was asked to judge in 2006 at the Riverside.  

 In 2007, I chaired the judging panel at 8'th Street wine Cafe inviting Gary Vaynerchuk as a guest judge - public festival tasting at the Crystal Ballroom; 2008 we moved the competition only - no public tasting, to Meadow Lake Village with Doug Frost MS, MW as the guest judge and in 2009 we held our last TVWS Idaho Wine Competition at Meadow Lake. Savor Idaho promoted a public tasting and subsequent competition judging was taken over by NW Wine writers. Pairing wines with creative menus is my focus now as liaison for TVWS. 

Bob and I enjoy creative food preparation and have collected 2000 + bottles of wines in our cellar - it is time for us to drink more and buy less! Cheers!    

“Dandelion Wine”

Pick dandelions from an open field or yard far from any insecticide spraying, and if you can, pick early in the season when the leaves of the plant are still tender. Newly opened flowers are also ideal. You should have a large soup pot with a lid and 2 clean gallon glass jugs, a wire mesh strainer and 2 fermentation locks. 12 clean wine bottles with stoppers - corks, o-ring glass or screw tops.

8 cups whole dandelion blossoms, stems removed
16 cups water
Juice of 1 orange
Juice of 1 lemon
Peel of 1 large orange coarsely chopped
Peel of 1 lemon coarsely chopped
2 ¼ teaspoons brewers or Champagne yeast
¼ cup warm water
6 cups sugar
8 whole cloves
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and diced

1. Wash the dandelion blossoms well in a colander. Put them in a pot with the water, orange and lemon juice, and the orange and lemon peels. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 2-3 minutes.Turn off the heat and add the whole cloves and ginger. 

Let cool and sit, covered for 24-48 hours.

2. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let sit for 10 minutes.

3. Add the sugar to the dandelion liquid and stir. Add the yeast mixture as well and stir.

4. Fit a large gallon jug with a funnel and fit the funnel with a mesh strainer. Ladle in the liquid one spoonful at a time, pressing down onto the dandelions as they go into the mesh strainer to ensure all of the liquid is extracted. Dump the dandelion and peels into an empty bowl to allow each new batch of liquid to go through easily.

5.  Fit the jugs with the fermentation locks. Let rest for one week in a cool dark place as the fermentation begins.. 

6. Strain the liquid again into bottles using the funnel.  Then cork the bottles, or use bottles with screw on tops, and store them in a dark cool place for 3 to 8 weeks and up to a year. This kind of wine is best consumed while it is young.

Some recipes call for just petals not whole buds. Fermentation can sometimes stop before it is complete, meaning it’s “stuck.” This can happen when there aren’t enough micronutrients for the yeast. You increase the chance of success by using whole buds because it adds more micronutrients, but you will have a slightly more bitter wine. I’m okay with that, I like a little bitter. But if you’re not, try the petals only. This will require more picking and separating.

Cheers!

Certifications

The Century Club an organization founded in London, with a logical, educational aspect on wine tasting - you become a member by documenting 100 wine grape varietals you have tasted. The Century Club certification is free - however, Mr. De Long sells charts, maps and tasting reservations for the annual tasting/meetings in London and NYC. There are also American Chapters of this organization.

I don't know the details of forming a Century Club tasting group - I know they are relatively new. Here is the link to their website: Wine Century Club. The old Chevalier du Taste Vin and Les Amis du Vin were French "clubs" - I think they may now exist only in France. There are also guilds and courts - Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers headquartered in London - certification organizations that are based on very rigid testing and writing a thesis related to Wine [MW] ... or the alcohol service business [MS] and are very expensive and prestigious - there are only 20 MW's since 1990 in the USA, only three people in the world who are certified both MW and MS. Doug Frost is the only one in the USA.

American organizations have started widely varied certification programs - for knowledge of wines of the world, qualified wine judges and the organizers expect to make money. I am skeptical that certification will mean much in the future - except that it may be easier to get a job / promotion in the wine business, as Leslie Young has recently been promoted to manager of the CO-OP Wine Shop. To my knowledge, she is the only one working there with certification credentials.

Rabbits and wine

Getting close to the day the Easter Bunny arrives. How is it that Easter eggs are delivered by a rabbit? Well, here is the tale I've heard told ...Easter often coincides with the 10 days of Passover, a Jewish holiday celebrating the passage of enslaved Jews from Egypt into Palestine, led by Moses who performed a miracle parting the Red Sea, allowing them to walk right across land where there once was water. A special dinner called a Seder is shared amongst family and congregants, with four glasses of kosher wine per adult swallowed quickly at different occasions during the feast, after raising the glass with a toast "La Chaim" = To Life!.
The first course consists of symbolic foodstuffs, Parsley, salt water, bitter fruits and nuts, a lamb shank bone, a honeyed mash of apples and hard-boiled eggs.
Years ago a congregation was making plans for the Seder. All invitees were to share in bringing something. Rabbi Thoshinski volunteered to bring the hard-boiled eggs. He left a note: "Rabbi T bringing the eggs."
As Christians evolved holiday rituals from Jewish as well as Pagan holiday celebrations, the message was interpreted as Rabbit bringing the eggs. To color the holiday as a spring celebration, Easter eggs were dyed lovely floral colors.
Now you know ...
Why there is a Leaping Lapin in front of a Bordeaux vineyard is perhaps just as a creative artistic creation as my colored pencil drawing of Rabbits making Wine.
Cheers

Wine and Food Memberships

Geneology is slowing me down, so I decided to record my wine history as actively involved in world of Wine and Food for nearly 40 years:
San Francisco, California Friends of Wine, 1973 membership # 200 - it became the California Wine Institute.
Napa Valley Wine Library Association, Journeyman Diploma
1974 UC Davis various short workshop courses for winemakers
1975 - 1977 Basque Hotel Every Thursday Night Tasting Group San Francisco
1972-1979 Taster and contributing critic, Mark [Sante Fe Cafe] Miller's Marketbasket wine and food periodical
1975 Ravenswood Winery First Assistant to Joel E. Peterson, the Winemaker
1976 - 1979 Draper-Esquin tasting group
1972 - 1979 Women's Wine Group [organizer]
1979-1981 Wine and Health course for RN's - European Tour - Oxford, Champagne, Bordeaux
1981 J'faire les Vendage en Meursault,
1982 I made wine from friend's vineyard in PA - Marechal Foch and Seyval Blanc.

Since moving to Idaho, I have vinified dandelions, rose petals, huckleberries, cherries, elderberries, Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot and a 'backyard bubbly' from unknown grape varietals in yard since buying this 1905 home in 1986.
Idaho Grapegrowers and Wine Producers Org. - attended meetings at St. Chapelle in 1984.
Idaho Chapter of Les Amis du Vin 1983 - 1990 Brooks Tisch, organizer.
Johnny Carino's Wine Club, 1998 - 99.
Treasure Valley Wine Society 2004 - present.
The Wine Century Club, 2007
Buzz Wine Club - monthly and quarterly wine tasting dinners since 2009.
Boise Wine Club monthly tasting meets newly formed 2010 - 2011

Various Winery Wine Clubs:
Joseph Swan, Ravenswood, Ridge, Indian Creek, Davis Creek, Cold Springs, Fraser, Bedrock, Brown-Haight, Hell's Canyon, Syringa and Vale.

Other related education and experience:
Cheeses of the World - certified in San Francisco 1977. Worked part time in a Cheese Store in Marin County, CA.
1978 Certification from Comite National Des Vins de France.

Wine Regions visited:
California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Virginia, Maryland, NY Fingerlakes, Missourri, Ohio, Mosel, Rhine, Necker, Nahe, Austria, Alsace, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Jura, Loire, Rhone, Provence, Frontenac, NE.Spain, N.Italy - Piedmont, Friuli, Tuscany, Sienna Wine Museum.

Wine and Food Festivals attended:
Heirloom Tomato Fest, Sun Valley Idaho Wine and Food Festival, Gilroy Garlic Festival.


 Interests: - ongoing Home Winemaker, Foodie, History of Wine and Food, Organic Chemistry, Home Brewer, Ida-Quaffers, Anthropology of Wine and Food, maintain with my husband a Foodie and a Wine Blog, Amateur Restaurant Critic list of reviewed restaurants on our WebPage - www.rockinrs.com ... Ongoing research of regional wine and authentic food pairing for optimal balance and pleasure. Wine steward for judging- 2005, Judge for Idaho Wine Festival & Competition-2006, Past Chair of Judges for Idaho Wine Competition 2007, 2008, 2009. I had to write it all down before my memory leaves me and there are days I just wave!

Idaho/Oregon Rootstock

Recently, I was asked to describe the origin of my interest in Idaho wines.


My mother's family were Oregonians from the 1800's. She and her mother were born in The Dalles. One of those earlier Remington ancestors was from the Dr. Benjamin Rush lineage, who consulted at President Thomas Jefferson's request, by training Merriweather Lewis in medical knowledge and asked him to bring back samples of indigenous medicinal herbs. The voyage of discovery brought many pioneering families into Oregon and Idaho. My Robinson relatives became wheat farmers and livestock ranchers in the John Day and Redmond, Oregon areas. Not wanting to stay on the farm, my mother's father became a salesman and eventually a J.C. Penny Manager in Wenatchee, WA, Bend, OR and Twin Falls, ID.


My mother graduated from Twin Falls HS in 1938. She was the first "Miss Twin Falls" competing in the Miss America pre-lims at Sun Valley. She met my father in elementary school in Twin Falls. He was a 6'th grade student who instructed her 4'th grade class during a 1929 seasonal flu epidemic that knocked out a lot of teachers as well as students.


Photo of Grandmother Stella Haight, my mother Jeanne Robinson Haight and me on GG Perrine's lap.

My father's family roots included Donald McKay who came 'round the horn' from Boston to San Francisco. [see picture of clipper ship] during the Gold Rush in the 1850's. He followed the rush to Idaho in the 1860's and became a "founding father" of Hailey, Idaho.

He must have made a good income from mining: he ordered Kangaroo skin shoes from Australia and wore 3 piece wool suits. He married Amanda Bartholemew, they purchased the McPhail Hotel in Shoshone,and raised two daughters, Stella and Hortense Genevieve. [my great grandmother]. He was a knowledgeable blacksmith as well and was remembered by my grandmother as always carrying mints in his vest pockets.

Ira Burton Perrine left Indiana at age 18 to find his fortune in the Idaho mines. He was too small of stature to do much heavy lifting, but he learned how to use dynamite and knew enough about dairy farming to bring the first herd of milk cows to Hailey in the 1880's. When the snows of his first winter became too deep in Hailey for the cows to graze, he was told by hotelier Henry Walgamott about the Blue Lakes in the Snake River Canyon, where the snows rarely stuck and grasses grew year round - probably due to some of the warm springs. He drove his cows down an entrance through a box canyon, where his only neighbors were a white trapper and a native woman. The present day N. canyon wall double hairpin curved road to Blue Lakes Country Club east of Alpheus creek and the fish hatcheries to the west was a one-lane project that took him 7 years to complete. He was also hired by Mr Walgamott to drive the stage coach back and forth from Walgamott's canvas hotel to the train station in Shoshone, where he met and later married H.G. McKay known to me as GG or GiGi. IB Perrine built a fine house down in the canyon and became an early fruit farmer and orchardist. He took saddlebags of fresh strawberries to the pioneers on the Oregon Trail stopping at Rock Creek station. His prune plums and Roma apples won awards at the 1900 Paris World expedition, as well as the first Idaho State Fair in 1897 and fairs throughout the west. The only ranch building remaining is the bee-keepers cabin on Alpheus Creek.

Ward Hooper graphic of the IBPerrine bridge.



The Perrine family ancestry in the US began with the Huguenot, Daniel Perrin immigrating in 1665. He was granted 80 acres on Staten Island. Winegrape growing was a natural cultural necessity, along with the usual crops for feeding his family.
IB Perrine planted Delaware grapes [from Delaware, Ohio - some believe Napolean's son planted the Ohio vineyard - Lord De La Ware was honored with the common name for a grape which is neither native labrusca, nor a vinefera cultivar, but thought to be a french hybrid] IB made cider from his apples, but no one remembers him making wine. The Delaware grapes were my father's favorite grape. He lived down in the canyon while attending school in Twin Falls. I surmise he accepted employment as a Chemical Engineer with DuPont, thinking he could get those grapes in the state of Delaware.
Although the surname Perrin / Perrine is as common in France as Smith or Jones is here, we like to claim a family relationship with the reliable Southern Rhone family of winemakers - Perrin et Fils or the Champagne Perrins in the Aube/Ardennes between Reims and Dijon.

To be continued ....

2011

Happy New Year !
Resolve to try something new. Perhaps a wine varietal you have not yet experienced.
People often ask me how do you 'taste wine' ? How do you know the different varietals?
In my random tasting experiences, I have garnered a method based on the 'enotype of the varietal', the Davis 20 point system and my own preferences. However, if one is just beginning to explore wine, I would suggest the very logical method suggested by Terry Thies in his new book "Reading between the Vines" : take one white varietal and one red varietal - over the course of three months. You will train your palate to recognize the grape varietal from its basic characteristics. During those three months purchase wine from every region that those two varietals are produced. You will be training your palate to recognize terroir. Other variables you can study - age of vintage, whether the wine was aged in oak [what kind] or not, % alcohol, grape vs wood tannins, dryness or residual sugars and food matching. Take notes on what you find, read, taste and conclude.

Building on the basics - strengthens your knowledge, palate confidence and will lead to your individual preferences.

Following up on communion wines and Paris

From my first posting about my first experience tasting wine, I have received information, feedback and comments about the wines served and the personality or lack thereof for the Reverand Mr. Ludlow.

The wines were often Sherries or Tawny Ports, according to my source, who was one of the altar boys. They were never allowed to see the labels as the adults of the Altar Guild filled the glass decanters that were ceremoniously used by the Altar Boys during communion to fill the Chalice. No deep red wines were allowed to be served as representing the 'blood' of Christ to avoid staining the sacred vessels and linens. The main consideration was the price. Often wines were donated by Parishoners. My sister remembers Kosher Concord wines - Manischevitz [Because she saw a bottle in the trash] and that could have been true, as she is 7 years younger than I and they could have taken advantage of some great bargain sales.

A long time friend who also attended St. Thomas, remembers The Reverend Mr. Ludlow as "Staid". In my opinion he had no 'joy' about him; he rarely laughed; he occasionally smiled. Most of the time he looked and acted like a sad bloodhound, down in the eyes and mouth.

From Le Café de Paris, we were delighted to receive a Pâté Maison Terrine and a Baguette from Mathieu - a Christmas gift. Mathieu has since shared his recipe and we may have to work on
perfecting our terrine making. A little more complex and elegant than meatloaf, but very practical daily fare in most of France. Bob has posted the recipe on the Boise Foodie Blog.

Jan thoroughly enjoyed the music - Frim Fram duet keyboard and fiddle/violin. She's thinking about taking lessons after New Years. Her son plays fiddle in a great modern 'pop' group, although trained in classical violin - fiddling seems to be a lot of fun for him.

Barbara gifted us with her latest book, "White Silk, Dark Chocolate, and a Little Bit of Magic." It was her birthday and she enjoys a generosity of spirit, good wine and great food.

Truly a little bit of magic in Boise is the Le Café de Paris!

BienVenue a Bordeaux

In Boise, we are very fortunate to have some marvelous wine friendly restaurants. One of my favorites is Cafe d'Paris. The restaurant owner, Mathieu Choux, is from a Burgundian Hotelier and Restaurant family. He started the Cafe with a bakery / Baguettes and pasteries. From there he added Petite Dejuniers - breakfast, brunch and lunches. Then he opened a night club downstairs and a dinner /wine room upstairs. He has been creating 'theme dinners' including gastronomic adventures from France. Last night we visited Bordeaux in four courses. Le Menu:
Tarte a la Moutarde - puff pastry tart with gruyere, tomato and mustard. As an appetizer, a fun way to kick-start your salivary glands into action and anticipation.
We were given a sample of 2007 Chateau d'Angludet - a Bordeaux Superior from the Margaux commune on the Left Bank of the Bordeaux Region. A vineyard rescued from the 19'th century family apathy by the English wine collecter Peter Sichel. Margaux are gentle, yet sturdy wines - 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot. Floral nose of violets and lilacs with a light dusty rose. Full bodied, chocolate and brioche, lasting elegance at 13% alcohol, balanced fruit and worthy of at least 10 more years of aging. We ordered a full bottle, knowing our friends, Jan and Barbara would appreciate this wine.
Salade Landaise au Foie Gras - Oh, the decadence of silky foie gras, countered by a sharp sherry vinaigrette doused spring mix with croutons and toasted pine nuts. [note to self - does "Landaise" mean Hollandaise without the egg?]
Main Course selection of two Entrees - So for a fun 'Steven Spurrier' comparison, we ordered a bottle of Idaho's Parma Ridge 2006 Reserve Merlot - which I knew Christian had selected to carry in the cafe wine menu. This may have been infanticide! - When I first tasted this wine from barrel, I told Dick Dickstein that I wanted a case - it was soooo good then and had enormous aging potential. Subsequently, it has garnered gold medals and been selected as a "People's Choice" Best Red Wine after bottle aging a while. Compared to the Bordeaux, it is a big fruit bomb - at 15.2 % alcohol and notable Idaho soil - dust in/on the nose with sage, mint and cedar. Delightful with food and a lingering sweetness with full mouth feel. We agreed each of these wines are great ambassadors of their origin of place and will benefit from longer aging. It would be quite educational to compare these each year for the next 10 years. Or a wine from the Right bank, a St. Emillion or Pomerol with more Merlot.
A Choice of Duck Breast with red wine sauce, gratin dauphinois - crisp baked potato cake, and haricot verte - green beans. Lovely ! or Lotte a la Bordelaise - pan roasted monkfish medallions with a tomato white wine sauce, wild rice and green beans. Bob and I ordered one of each and shared. The fish with red wine was a superb pairing, the duck even more so.
Dessert: Grand Marnier Yule Log with a candied orange slice, holly leaf and berry decor. And a great cup of coffee. We were more than satisfied - in body and soul.

in the Beginning...everyone has a story

Being a certified GrapeNut and Journeyman in Wine, I have lots of little stories aka, Vignettes, about wine - collecting, making, tasting, judging, educating others, describing and personal benchmarks from years ago. It is said that your palate changes with age. Some, who start out drinking soda-pop wines might never evolve to drink and enjoy serious, big, tannic red wines. Their loss, my gain.

I started my rapture in Germany. My first taste of wine was communion wine in the Episcopal Church. Looking back, I can now say these were Oloroso Sherries, Madieras and Tawny Ports used to symbolize the blood of Christ. Easy sipping for a 12 year old - one sip was all that was allowed. I'll have to ask the altar/alter-boys if they ever drank more than the minister. He always emptied the Chalice at the end of each service. He needed it; he was such a dour cold fish. The Reverand Mr. Ludlow.
Back to my rapture in Germany. I was 21 in the summer of 1965. Finishing my senior year of Nurses' training at the Delaware Hospital School of Nursing in Wilmington, Delaware. I was class president and President of the Delaware State Student Nurses' Association. I attended the National Student Nurses' Association meeting in San Francisco as a delegate, the Red Cross Volunteer Nurses Convention in Washington, D.C. and the International Congress of Nursing in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
One of the side trips I took was a boat-ride on the Rhine River from Koln to Koblenz to Bingen. We passed the Lorelei and Rhine wine was presented to everyone. It was a revelation, an epiphany! Wine could be fresh and fruity, complex and intriguing. More to come...as one never knows it all!