Harvest Lunches!!

September 10, 2012

Mmm Mmm! There’s nothing like home cooking, especially when it means a free lunch. As truck after truck enters the gates, with grape filled bins, the smiles on our faces begin to appear. Not only is it the sight of plump, ripe, SIP certified Sauvignon Blanc grapes coming in from our Dos Viñas Vineyard, but also the thought of lunch just a few hours away on the company tab.

During Crush, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday Niels and Bimmer like to sit down with the entire Castoro Crew for a big, family style meal. This past Wednesday was the first one of the year and Holy Cheese with some Castoro Zin was it good. We all take turns cooking for the 40 plus crew members and this year Cindy stepped up to the plate to get us started. As a little background, Cindy is our accounts payable department and let’s just say, you better pay your bills or you’re going to hear about it over and over again. She may even show up at your doorstep, and if she does, invite her in because wow can she cook.

Cindy cooked for two days straight, staying up till the wee hours of the night to make us all home-made pulled pork sandwiches, complete with her own special BBQ sauce and freshly cut coleslaw. This is of course, always served with a tall glass of grape juice fresh from the cellar. She set a standard that will be hard to beat and I don’t know how I’ll compete with that when it’s my turn to cook in late October.

Today, after receiving the last of the Sauvignon Blanc grapes from Dos Viñas, we were blessed with a BBQ feast from none other than Niels and Bimmer themselves. Not only do they make dam fine wine, but they can also grill up a storm. This storm included moist chicken breasts, BBQ beans, oven baked squash topped with cheese, and a salad with tomatoes and cucumbers freshly picked from their garden. As Cindy would say, “it’s now Nap:30 time,” because I’m so full, I’m falling asleep writing this blog.

The kicker was the 4 layer chocolate cake and the “harmonious” song to celebrate Mikel’s birthday. I won’t mention his age but he’s been at Castoro since the very beginning, and this place wouldn’t be what it is today if it weren’t for everything he has done. Also, although Mikel probably enjoyed it, I don’t think Castoro will be getting a record deal any time soon.

My mind keeps drifting off to what Monday’s lunch has in store for my stomach so that’s all for now. Once again thanks for reading,

Erik

“Thin Air” Chili Cook-off

September 5, 2012

Across America, Labor day is looked at as a weekend to kick back, hit the mountains, rivers, beaches or maybe even the sofa and just enjoy a little extra time with friends and family. For Niels, Bimmer and friends, Labor Day means it’s time for the “Thin Air” Chili Cook-Off in Kirkwood! For the second time in three years the Castoro Crew entered the contest, poured wine and made the most of a beautiful mountain weekend.

This year our theme was “Peace, Love and Chili” to pair with our 2011 Harvest tie-dye t-shirts. The Chili itself was based on traditional recipes, fresh ingredients and a little Whale Rock Zinfandel. Most of the produce used in the chili came straight out of Bimmer’s home garden, making it fresh, organic and delicious. The chili was finished off simmering with Whale Rock Zin and a touch of dark chocolate! It was really, really good stuff!

All in all, the contest had 12 contestants, multiple breweries and a handful of wineries in attendance, not to mention the backdrop of Kirkwood Mountain. Sounds like heaven right? (Well it was pretty darn close!) After tasting through all of the Chilis, beers and wines it was pretty tough to say whose was the best, especially since they were all pretty good. (Might be the beer talking)

In the end, we didn’t win best Chili but we did win Best Booth and that says a lot about our spirit! We had a great crew and people really enjoyed stopping by to try our wine and our Chili. Maybe next time we’ll win the big prize, in the mean time, we’ve already started planning our next recipe!

Cheers,

Luke

Changes

September 3, 2012

From the first time I stepped in the tasting room just over a year ago things have been changing here at Castoro. Most significantly for me has been my position with the company. I have gone from part-time intern at the tasting room, to harvest worker, to cellar hand, to forklift driver and most recently marketing and sales. With that title, among other responsibilities, comes blogging, something I have never done before.

So here I am on my blogging debut, thinking about what to write and what seems most significant at this time is to talk about the changes I have witnessed in the past year and the changes that are undoubtedly coming with harvest upon us. Some of these changes are updates to adapt to the age of smart phones, social media and digital, well everything, while others are necessary additions to keep up with the ever evolving wine industry, the seasons, and a result of company growth. Over at the tasting room there are now Ipads on the counters complete with a Castoro app, and many new faces including Jim, Matt, Angela and Rhiannon. If you haven’t met them, go say Hi! The tasting room is now also following a recent wine tasting trend by providing wine on tap for events, and last but not least we have a new orange mascot, Vincent the cat.

The most notable change, however, is the introduction of the new logo and with it the much anticipated and awesome new Castoro label. I am extremely excited about it and so far it has been released on the Fume Blanc, which has been changed to a Sauvignon Blanc, the Cabernet Sauvignon, the Zinfandel and very soon the Chardonnay will get a makeover as well. Luke and Bimmer are also working on modernizing castorocellars.com, while Luke, with a little help from me, is keeping the world well informed through Facebook, Twitter and any other new social media source that pops up.

As Castoro adopts a new image, the grapes for our 2012 harvest are ripening up and the first of the Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc grapes are rolling in. From what we have seen so far this is going to be one incredibly juicy and tasty year for wine. The hoses are clean, pumps are working great and new tanks were just installed to house the incoming juice. Everyone is pumped up and ready for things to get a little crazier around here, so stay tuned as the work picks up and more changes unfold here at Castoro.
Thanks for Reading,
Erik

Castoro in the “Gourmet Ghetto”

August 23, 2012

Located in the heart, of what is affectionately know as the “Gourmet Ghetto” in Berkeley CA, is a restaurant known for introducing authentic, “Spanish Tapas” to the San Francisco Bay Area. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the neighborhood, it lies on the North side of Berkeley and boasts a wide variety of restaurants, cafes, bakeries and boutique shops. The neighborhood got its’ start in the late 60s with the opening of the first ever Peet’s Coffee and the now infamous Cheese Board Collective (both still in business). Shortly thereafter, Alice Waters started an American food revolution when she opened the restaurant Chez Panisse. Waters was one of the first Chefs to adopt a philosophy of fresh, local and organic food, inspired by the Provence region of Southern France. Over the years, Chez Panisse has come to be known as one of the top restaurants in the United States with reservations booked months in advance.

Directly next door to Chez Panisse is César, an open air bar known for a wide array martinis, cocktails, wines and tapas. Before meeting with Richard Mazzera (owner and founder of César) I really didn’t know anything about the history of the place but I had a feeling it would be a good fit for Castoro wines. As I began opening bottles for Richard to sample, he jumped right into the story of César and his connection with Chez Panisse. As it turned out, Richard had been the manager, or as they called it in the 60s “director of reality,” for Chez Panisse for over 30 years before opening César. The building that is now César used to be a storage building for Alice Waters and Chez Panisse, before Richard and his partners were able to convince her that the one thing the “Gourmet Ghetto” lacked, was a good old fashioned (upscale) watering hole. Since Chez Panisse only served beer and wine in a more formal setting it made perfect sense and has been a neighborhood staple ever since.

As I listened to Richard tell the story of the neighborhood and his days working for Alice, I really connected with his philosophy of good drinks and ever changing Tapas. He told me he wants César to be a place you can feel comfortable just ordering a beer or glass of wine while you read a book, or for Tapas with friends and family. If you ask me he has done just that!

César is now pouring the Castoro Cellars Reserve Viognier and Zinfandel Zinfusion (great choices). Recently my girlfriend and I had a chance to sit down for some Tapas and a glass of Viognier, and let me tell you now, it did not disappoint! The place was packed as usual and Richard was casually walking from table to table, making sure everyone was enjoying their time at César. If you find yourself in the “Gourmet Ghetto” with a thirst that needs a quenching and a hunger that needs to be tamed, this is truly the spot to be.

Till next time,

Cheers,

Luke

The Kirkwood Inn est. 1864

August 20, 2012

If there is one thing to know about Niels (owner/co-founder of Castoro Cellars), it’s that he loves to share his wine, especially in places that are fun to visit and that he loves to be. One of these places is a place that is very dear to my heart as I can remember going there since I was a wee lad. The Kirkwood Inn, located on Hwy 88 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains is a true piece of American history. The Inn was established in 1864 and was part of the rout taken by “snowshoe Thompson” the man who delivered mail on skis in the winter from 1856-1876 and is credited as the “Father of California Skiing.”

Since I was old enough to walk my parents have taken my brother and I up to Kirkwood to be outdoors and to learn to ski, snowboard, fish, hike and backpack. Most recently we all headed up to Kirkwood to “deliver wine” to the Kirkwood Inn and head into the backcountry for a few days of backpacking at Showers Lake. For any of you who have been backpacking, you understand the importance of a good hearty meal upon returning to civilization. In Kirkwood there is one place to go for just that, the Inn.

After showering up and reacquainting ourselves with society (technology) we headed over the Kirkwood Inn to deliver wine and have ourselves a delicious meal. Having been regulars at the Inn for years the welcome is always warm and the staff never seems disappointed to see their “Dam Fine Wine” hand delivered by Beaver himself! (Especially when he brings t-shirts, hats and corkscrews)

As usual the food was great and the atmosphere was one of a kind. The old log cabin style building makes you feel as though you stepped back in time upon entering and the dimly lit space seems as though it could still be lit by kerosene lanterns. In the winter months, depending where you sit, you can feel the ice-cold breeze through the cracks in the walls, a constant reminder of the authenticity and history of the Kirkwood Inn.

Cheers,

Luke

A New Look for a New Label!!

August 9, 2012

As we all know, time has a tendency to fly by, especially when you’re having fun. In the wine business we work very hard but we also know how to have fun and that fun makes time fly by (in a good way)! For us at Castoro the time has come to make some changes and for those of you who follow us on facebook or twitter you probably know by now that I am referring to our labels and logo. (Don’t worry we’re not dropping the beaver!!) For a long time we have been discussing updating our labels and logo but the sheer amount of work involved in the process had been stifling our motivation. It’s a lot of work!

After multiple rounds of design ideas, concepts and endless e-mail threads we have settled on a new label and logo that we feel sticks to our roots while keeping things fresh, new and interesting. The label is printed on sustainably produced paper that has a very nice texture with foil and embossing on the name and logo. We decided to stick to our roots with the copper capsule and incorporate that feel into the label, which I think came out very nice. The labels also carry the “Estate Grown” designation on all wines, something we are very proud of since we didn’t own a single vineyard when Castoro was founded in 1983.

We are still putting the finishing touches on the Reserve labels but I can assure you they are looking pretty snazzy! All in all we are very excited about the new look and hope you are as well. Sometimes all you need is a little change to keep things fun and exciting so keep your eyes peeled for the new label, grab a bottle and please let us know what you think! We appreciate and truly value your input.

Cheers,

Luke

Noeteca, Best Wine Bar in San Francisco!

August 6, 2012

Tucked away in the heart of San Francisco’s Noe Valley, is a place the SF Guardian dubbed “The Best Wine Bar” in San Francisco. Noeteca, located at 1551 Dolores street, is truly a neighborhood hot spot and hidden gem. The bar/restaurant itself is fairly small and is surrounded by homes (not other businesses), making it feel very personal and connected to the neighborhood.

I visited Noeteca for the first time a couple weeks back while working on a sales trip in San Francisco. The wine rep I was working with took me there for lunch because they had been serving our 2009 Reserve Syrah with great success and might be looking to add some more wines to their list. After having a delicious lunch, we poured a wide array of Castoro wines for the manager/wine buyer Alex and chatted about wine, food and food and wine. He was very nice and very engaged in the story of Castoro as were we in the story of Noeteca. After tasting through the wines, Alex decided to add the Muscat Canelli to the dessert wine list (a very good choice if you ask me). As we finished up our lunch and said our thank you’s, something told me I would be coming back sooner than later.

Lo and behold, a couple weeks later, one of my girlfriend’s best friends was coming to San Francisco for a week (she lives in China) and wanted to meet up. After sending e-mails back and forth we decided to meet her and her boyfriend for dinner in the city the night after they arrived. Since they were relatively unfamiliar with the area, it was our duty to find a good spot for dinner. After brainstorming for about 30 seconds I knew exactly where we were going . . . Noeteca!

When we arrived, the small restaurant was quite packed with couples and groups of friends winding down the day with delicious entrees and full glasses of wine. While waiting for a table to open up we all ordered a glass of wine and started catching up. Before too long we had been seated and orders had been placed. The food was fabulous and the wine, 2009 Castoro Cellars Reserve Syrah, couldn’t have been a better match! After dinner we topped off the evening with dessert, accompanied by a glass each of Castoro Muscat Canelli.

All in all the experience was great and I highly recommend this San Francisco gem to anyone who finds themselves wandering the Noe Valley. If you’re lucky they may still be pouring Castoro but even without it this place is well worth the visit!

Cheers,

Luke

Heading North? Better head to Mazzi’s

August 1, 2012

This past weekend I had the pleasure of heading up to Eugene Oregon to enjoy a few days in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. This time of year (for the most part) the weather is gorgeous and the landscape is incredibly green and lush. When you come from a relatively dry state like California, it almost doesn’t seem real to be in a place so green with forests full of ferns and hills with more trees than some counties back home.

On this last trip I was up visiting with my girlfriend’s family for her brother’s Birthday and a cousin’s wedding, both of which worked out quite well. Ryan is indeed a year older and the bride and groom both said, “I do.” Having lived there in the past, while working for Castoro, I had gotten our wines into a handful of restaurants and shops, which is really a challenge in a state that makes great wine of its’ own. As I moved away most of the accounts moved on, mainly due to distribution challenges that are far too boring to detail in this blog! One spot, however, has continued to carry Castoro and we couldn’t be more thankful.

Mazzi’s Italian restaurant, established in 1970, is one of the oldest and longest standing restaurants in Eugene. I remember going there on one of my first trips to Eugene, with my girlfriend and her family and them telling me stories of how they have been going there as long as they can remember. After moving up there, naturally, I decided I’d try and see if they were interested in Castoro. You may think it’s a shoe-in since Castoro is Italian for “beaver” but Eugene is Duck country and Beavers aren’t always welcome! On my first trip in we talked about the winery and tasted through the wines and they told me they would think about it. After a couple more drop-ins they decided to give the wines a go and ordered Fume Blanc, Cabernet and Zinfusion. Mason, the bartender and manager eventually fell in love with the Cabernet and to this day recommends the wine to patrons every night.

On this past trip, we all went to Mazzi’s on Friday night for Ryan’s Birthday, and of course there was Mason behind the bar pouring two full glasses of Castoro Cabernet as we walked to our table. The two of us caught up for a bit at the bar and the mutual respect couldn’t be more evident. We appreciate their business and support and in turn they appreciate great wine at a great price! If you like a family atmosphere and traditional Italian cuisine you can’t go wrong at Mazzi’s. The food is great and you can tell the people take pride in their work.

If you ever find yourself up that way I highly recommend stopping in, grabbing a glass of Castoro and, if the weather permits, sitting out on the patio for a lovely dinner. If you get a chance, say hi to Mason and tell him how much you love the wine! (You may have to act fast as it comes highly recommended!)

Cheers,

Luke

Let’s Talk Grapes

July 23, 2012

Since I haven’t written a whole lot about grapes yet this year, I figured that might be a good starting point for this blog. As many of you know, the last couple of harvests have been a challenge mainly due to the “out of the norm” weather patterns we have experienced. Last harvest we experienced a late frost in April followed by a mild summer and some early rains. All of which led to our latest harvest ever and some of the smallest yields we have produced. Keep in mind, the quality of the fruit was very high, there just wasn’t a whole lot of it.

This year we seem to be on track for a fairly average harvest, much bigger than last year but not huge. Throughout our different vineyards the clusters are healthy and the quality at this point is looking very good. There is some lingering damage from last year’s frost but overall we are looking to have a good quality harvest in 2012. One factor that has really helped is the warm weather, not the hot weather but warm. So far this summer has been much warmer than the past couple years and the grapes really need the heat to ripen. There was a week of extreme heat that we could have done without but you just gotta roll with the punches!

One vineyard we continue to get more and more excited about is our Whale Rock Vineyard on the West Side just down the road from our tasting room. The fruit is getting better and better each year and the wines produced from this vineyard have been very impressive to date. When I spoke to Niels he seemed to be very pleased about the progress of the Whale Rock Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio, which makes me all the more excited for the harvest of 2012.

When you’ve been in the business as long as we have you learn to adapt to the ups and downs and be thankful for what you have when you have it. Being at the whims of Mother Nature can be challenging but then again what fun is life without a good challenge?

Till Next Time,

Cheers,

Luke

Little things can make for a great day!

July 10, 2012

One the best things about working in the wine business, is being able to provide others with a place to relax and enjoy time with friends and family. Over the years we have been fortunate enough to touch many people’s lives and recently while pouring Castoro in the Monterey area I ran into a group of such people and it made my day!

Here I was on a Saturday afternoon pouring wine at a small wine shop called the Bountiful Basket in Carmel when I hear a voice outside say, “Mom, look they’re pouring Castoro in there!” Moments later in comes a group of three ladies, ecstatic to see Castoro being poured behind the bar. Right away one of the ladies points to the youngest one and says, “my daughter here is getting married there in August and we love your wine! We’re actually up here on a little get away to celebrate.” As it turned out they still hadn’t decided which wines to serve at the wedding so I was able to taste them on the wines I was pouring while getting a feel for what wines they might enjoy the most for the big day. It was also great to hear their story and give them mine as well, since we were all from the Paso Robles area.

All in all it was a pretty small interaction but it made me feel great to know they were so excited to be spending one of the most important days of their life with us at Castoro. After tasting them through the wines I sent them on their way with a better feel for which wines suited them best and a little extra excitement for a day they’ll never forget. Sometimes the little things in life can go a long way and their enthusiasm was enough to make me feel very good about what I am doing.

When you take home a bottle wine from a winery, you’re taking home an experience that you can share with friends, family and anyone you choose and that is a very special thing!

Cheers,

Luke