Highliner Is a Headliner at Hitching Post

Imagine they had a Pinot Fest and Hitching Post didn't come. (I'm assuming you've all seen that little film Sideways.) World of Pinot Noir knows better than that, so of course Frank Ostini and Gray Hartley (pictured above at an event at Alisal Ranch last year) will be there pouring their numerous Pinots at the Saturday Pinot Noir by the Sea Tasting. Their table is a fine spot to see what happens when winemakers blend the best of the Santa Maria Valley with Sta. Rita Hills, tying up Santa Barbara County in a beautiful Burgundy bow. As for which of their blends or single vineyard wines they'll be offering, Gray says, "We haven’t decided yet. Let’s let it be a surprise; anticipation is always a good thing." But Highliner (their top Pinot blend) is a better thing, Gray. Please pour that!

Still one of my greatest wine memories is attending a "tasting" at the Hitching Post II itself a good 10-15 years ago where for something ridiculously cheap (maybe $20) you got to take part in a vertical tasting of H-O Pinots going back to ones they made at home in the early '80s. That was something, an evolution of an era and region in one delightful drink around a room.

Hitching Post Wines capture not only some of Santa Barbara's best grapes, but the warmth of its makers--it's impossible not to be charmed by Gray and Frank. As Gray puts it, they provide, "Value — quality — honest soulful Pinots that can be enjoyed now and for many years to come." In fact, he looks forward to "being able to enjoy sharing 2016 Hitching Post Wine with friends and family in 2050." (May we all make it that long and remain worth sharing.)

As for the growing season at hand, Gray hopes, "That we have another vintage to experience with this mistress of allure. There is always a state of… I prefer to be in the state of here and now. Relying on the more than three decades of experience making Pinot Noir with Frank Ostini and enjoying the everyday decisions that make up what will become 2016 is I what I’m excited about."

Working the World of Pinot Noir

Welcome to the wonderful world of Pinot Noir.

Or, as the case may be, The World of Pinot Noir, the amazing event that I hope many of you will soon be swimming in at the Bacara in Santa Barbara, CA, March 4 & 5. This is the first post I get to do as the official blogger of #WOPN16, so look forward to numerous posts highlighting producers who will be pouring, events that will be happening, regions that are more than happening.

To get things kicked off, it takes some work. Or it takes Peter and Rebecca Work, owners of Ampelos Cellars in the Sta. Rita Hills (aka Santa Barbara ground zero for pinot). Ampelos considers its wines from the ground up, and is one of the few vineyards to be certified organic, sustainable, and biodynamic. (Peter Work had a meeting canceled on September 11 at the World Trade Center, and that wake-up call led him back to the land.)

That's their land up in the photo. Any other questions? As they like to put it, they use, "A natural winemaking style with minimum intervention," which means the grapes get the final word. And grapes from an amazing growing region have a beautiful vocabulary.

Peter says he looks forward to WOPN to "meet old friends and passionate Pinot Noir lovers and share the latest wines with them. It's always great to reconnect with winemakers, sommeliers, and customers and have a great time."

Those who stop by the Ampelos table at the Saturday Pinot Noir by the Sea Tasting should get to sample the Ampelos 2012 estate “Lambda” Pinot Noir, the 2011 “Rho” Estate, Barrel Select Pinot Noir,  as well as 2014 Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir. Peter hints, "There may be something under the table as well…," and any previous attendee knows what riches live under the table at some tasting spots. As if the "regular" stuff isn't enough.

When one has no real life, one lives by mirages. It's still better than nothing.

So George Gaynes has passed, and while everyone else remembers Punky Brewster and Police Academy films, I'm thinking of Chekhov. In particular, the aching elegy that is Louis Malle's Vanya on 42nd Street. For Gaynes' Serybryakov is perfectly powerful and wasted at once, the kind of time in its moment of turning that Chekhov polished for all its perfect pain. (Because, while watching, we recognize these characters cross the fulcrum into the last sadness of their lives, a moment we know we are rarely privileged to find in our own. Well, until it's too late.)

The film came out in 1994, my first year in Santa Barbara, and is still one of my defining "well, huh, that's Santa Barbara is it?" moments. I caught a screening at UCSB Arts & Lectures, even then emceed by Roman Baratiak (he's SB's Kevin Bacon everyone is six degrees from, isn't he?). Baratiak introduced Gaynes, long a Santa Barbaran, who told us a bit about the making of the film, no doubt, since it was an odd making--Andre Gregory and his troupe keep working at the play, irregularly, for years, often inviting small groups to watch. One of those visitors, Louis Malle, asked to film it.

But, that's not the real Santa Barbara moment. Instead, it was that our screening turned out to be on Andre Gregory's birthday. So Gaynes takes out his cell phone, dials Gregory, who, of course is out on the New York town, but when the voice mail kicks in, Gaynes leads us all in a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday.

I can't think of anything as richly insider and unimportant and ridiculously pleasing. Except maybe Santa Barbara at its often best.

RIP, George Gaynes.

Sip This: Snow Leopard Vodka

Snow Leopard Vodka: Named after an elusive, endangered creature (and with 15 percent of each sale going to preservation efforts), this spirit is also unique as it’s distilled from spelt, an ancient grain that’s a cousin to wheat. That’s enough to help it stand out from the premium vodka pack, in addition to the gorgeous frosted bottle featuring the titular cat.

Want to read the rest then do so at the Independent's site.

Something to Fatten Your Tuesday

It's simple--New Orleans is the least American American city and that's why I love it so. Today's that thing called Mardi Gras, and if you toss me some cheap beads I'll show you a cocktail recipe. That kind of talk gets me thinking about previous potent potables I have poted (isn't that the verb form?), and leds me to the coolest bar of all-time. If you've been to New Orleans and drinks matter to you and you know Pat O'Brien's hurricanes are for people for whom 4 years of fratdom wasn't enough, then you go elsewhere, and first and foremost, you go for a merry-go-round ride. For in the Monteleone Hotel, you can sit at the Carousel Bar, where you end up spinning even before you've had a drink. It's at the Monteleone, where Faulkner, among others, used to sit deep in his cups, that you can get a Vieux Carré, which takes the basic Sazerac (not that a Sazerac is anything to sneeze at) and jiggers it up a notch. Turns out you can make a nifty variation at home, especially if you delve into Ted Haigh/Dr. Cocktail's indispensable Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails:

Vieux Carré

1 oz. rye whiskey (Old Overcoat is fine, but Costco sells Bulleit big and cheap)
1 oz. Cognac
1 oz. sweet vermouth
1/2 tsp. Benedictine
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 dashed Peychaud's bitters

Shake over ice in cocktail shaker, pour into chilled up glass. Garnish with lemon twist.

Oh, and don't tell me you don't have the bitters, and no, you can't substitute and you can't leave them out. They do matter. You can buy a whole bunch at Still right downtown. Tell Jeremy George Eats sent you.

Food Magazine Founders Become Los Alamos Restaurateurs

(Photo courtesy Plenty on Bell's FB page)

Just 1,900 residents. A two-mile-long main street. No stoplights.

Nonetheless, Los Alamos was plenty for Tracey Ryder and Carole Topalian, who founded the magazine Edible Ojai in 2002 and grew that into Edible Communities, a franchise-like network now 90 magazines strong across North America, including our own Edible Santa Barbara, run by Krista Harris and Steven Brown. The Edible empire of quarterly, perfect-bound, matte-paper magazines have become bibles for those seeking regional, sustainable, organic food, fueling both star chefs as well as farmers, ranchers, mixologists, brewers, winemakers, and even bitters makers.

Want to read the rest then do so at the Independent's site.

Sip This: Mama's Little Yella Pils

Oskar Blues Mama’s Little Yella Pils: A Super Bowl party is to beer as the big game itself is to Roman numerals, so here’s some advice for what to keep in the cooler. While Oskar Blues was originally brewed in Colorado, they’ve got a spot in North Carolina now, too, so this beer will please fans with either rooting interest.

Want to read the rest then do so at the Independent's site.