Featured Winery, Fall/Winter 2007
KALIN CELLARS Semillon
Livermore Valley
1997 ($26)
KALIN CELLARS Chardonnay
"Cuvée LD" Sonoma County
1994 ($31)
KALIN CELLARS Pinot Noir
"Cuvée DD" Sonoma County
1997 ($45)
The KALIN CELLARS Mixed Case
Four Bottles of each wine above
$367 includes 10% discount
The KALIN CELLARS Mixed Half-Case
two Bottles of each wine above
$194 includes 5% discount
Order Today!
This page is affectionately written to lovers of great food & wine pairings.
I had the great pleasure to enjoy our three featured Kalin Cellars wines at Uncle Yu's, a Bay Area Chinese Restaurant, earlier this year.
Terry Leighton, Co-Owner and Co-Winemaker (with wife Frances) was our host.
Frances was in Burgundy, where the make wine as well.(!)
You, as I, may have heard about, maybe experienced, a great match of fine wine and Chinese food.
This was my first.
A little background on Kalin Cellars. The Leightons' winery is in Marin County, roughly halfway from their home (East Bay Area) and their Sonoma vineyards. Their winemaking is quintessential artisanal and of old European tradition. Tiny yields are harvested from very cool vineyards for the respective grape, making for high risk-high reward wines. They want their grapes to be perfectly ripe, which means no raisining, no jamminess. The acids are high and need time to mellow. All wines go through malolactic fermentation and are aged in French oak-some new. The wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered.
What makes Kalin unique in California winemaking is the age of the wines at release. I offer you today two wines from 1997 and a '94-all current releases. For a few reasons, most importantly the high acids, these wines take 10+ years to mature and plateau. Now, we read, and I will write, requests that you "cellar wine X for 5-10 years for optimum drinking." Kalin does the cellaring for us. There is no timeline for Kalin wines. The Leightons release their wine when it's ready to drink. They've been known to release a younger vintage of the same wine before an older one because it's reached its plateau.
I must get to the wines before I lose you, but one more thing first. Mature, quality wines reach flavor dimensions you just don't get in young wines (my tasting notes list many). This flavor of maturity is Umami, the fifth taste sensation. Umami can be found in dry-aged beef, some mushrooms, wonderfully stinky cheeses and great, mature wines. (There are certainly more, but these foods come to mind. Here's a list of others.) When wine-Umami is matched with food-Umami, your gustatory senses can at times do happy backflips. A well-aged Bordeaux and a great aged steak is a known Umami match. Our Chinese meal with Mr. Leighton was his sharing of excellent wine/food/Umami matches. It was great. I'll share with you what we had, then suggest a simple dish you can make at home to have the Umami experience. Enjoy. I hope you're intrigued, enthused and ready to order Kalin Cellars wine from Back Room Wines and try it for yourself.
KALIN CELLARS Semillon
Livermore Valley
1997 ($26)
"Semillon is, without a doubt, the best wine to match with spicy foods" Terry Leighton professed. Our match was Dungeness crab (in shell) cooked in spicy black bean sauce. The dish was strong. The Semillon had the power to match and complement it.
Livermore Valley, in the eastern reaches of the Bay Area, makes nice wines for the most part. Semillon, interestingly, flourishes here, making Graves-like wines of body, brightness and intensity. Kalin's Semillon, a la White Bordeaux, is 25% Sauvignon Blanc. Exceedingly vibrant, the wine tastes of lemon marmalade, roast almond, marzipan, kumquat. Flavors are unique yet true to wine. You won't be surprised. I struggle with flavor comparisons for they don't do the wine justice. One must feel the wine and watch it blossom with air and interplay with wine to understand it's wonderfulness. It's pretty cool.
You can easily make the crab dish (and the season is just around the corner). Alternatively, marinate chicken thighs overnight in good soy sauce, Chinese pepper sauce, garlic and coriander. Grill over hot coals. Serve with steamed Jasmine rise and a nice, simple green vegetable.
KALIN CELLARS Chardonnay
"Cuvée LD" Sonoma County
1994 ($31)
The best Chardonnay match in the world presented itself to me again at Uncle Yu's. Steamed lobster nestled in clarified butter. Honestly, I forget the accompaniments. Lobster, good butter and fine Chardonnay is enough for memory's sake. (I recall Marcassin and butter-poached lobster years back.)
"LD" comes from northern Dry Creek Valley. Chardonnay is common here but not cherished. This is a special place, exceptionally cool and planted to Wente clone (the best for Chardonnay).
The wine is perfectly mature. You get lightly browned butter, apricot, chocolate, grapefruit, brioche toast. In the mouth, the wine expands and enrichens as you swallow.
Nice, big shrimp are a fine alternative to lobster. Clarify butter and poach the shrimp in it at a very low temperature. Take your time. Sprinkle in some toasted almond slices for kicks. Once again, an aromatic steamed rice is nice to accompany. (Or alone if it's an opening course.)
KALIN CELLARS Pinot Noir
"Cuvée DD" Sonoma County
1997 ($45)
I didn't ask, but I'll guess that Pinot Noir is the Leighton's greatest pride and joy. It usually is with artisan winemakers. Our food match was slow roasted dusk served with plum sauce and crepes. (Mu Shu). I could eat this every day. The smoke, tobacco, red rose, savory Asian spices and musk plays counterpoint to the black cherry, blueberry and deep raspberry flavors. The wine is vibrant and plenty youthful. It has another ten years of evolving. Its power is like a thoroughbred, shiny, sleek and demanding notice.
Try the duck. It's worth it. Alternatively, invest in a nice beef tenderloin and serve with a truffled red wine/butter sauce. Sauteed fresh shiitakes with garlic and a touch of soy on the side.