Eve's Wine 101

Lusso Della Terra Cellars Wins Top People’s Choice

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Lusso Della Terra Cellars won first place in the People’s Choice Award at the 21st annual Winemakers’ Cookoff in Paso Robles on August 10. It was the winery’s first year participating in the Paso Robles Rotary sponsored event, which was held at the Paso Robles Event Center.

The owner and winemaker, Edward Cholakian, helped serve up Texas Beef Sliders alongside Cali Grill chefs, Marlynna and Adam Farleas. The sliders featured Texas beef, bacon, cheddar, onion straws, house-made barbecue sauce, on a toasted brioche bun, served with Cali Grill’s famous waffle fries, and was paired with Lusso Della Terra Cellars’ 2016 Barrel Select Cabernet Sauvignon.

Cholakian was proud to win the top award at the competition, which pits area winemakers in competition with each other, serving grilled masterpieces alongside their best wine in order to raise funds each year for local high school scholarships. “We were so thrilled to be apart of this amazing community event,” Cholakian said about participating. “We couldn’t have done it without our amazing staff and the staff from Cali Grill. They all worked hard to make this event unforgettable.”

The winemaker said he was also grateful to the event coordinators, who helped make their first year worthwhile. “This is an unforgettable event, we hope to continue participating in the future,” he said.

Lusso Della Terra Cellars is a boutique winery located in the Paso Robles AVA. Their small lot, specialty wines win competitions across the country and please wine connoisseurs from around the world. Their winery is located in San Miguel’s rolling hills, and they provide a luxurious experience for visitors, a space for private events, and vineyard backdrops for small, intimate weddings. Lusso Della Terra also provides full service Custom Crush to a variety of clients, and they work with winemakers from around the world, large and small.

Edward Cholakian is a Paso Robles area winemaker and has been making wine locally for over 10 years. A graduate from Sonoma State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Edward began his wine industry career on the accounting side of winery operations after graduation. He worked for an inspirational Italian winemaking family in the Russian River Valley that showed him the true wine industry lifestyle; he inevitably fell in love and the rest is history. Cholakian went to UC Davis and received a degree in Enology and named his winery Lusso Della Terra, Italian for luxury of the land, to honor their family.

Cali Grill is a family owned and operated restaurant and has been part of the Central Coast Community for over 40 years. Their home style Cooking is fresh and delicious, and the restaurant’s atmosphere is perfect for a business lunch, or a family dinner.

For more information on Lusso Della Terra Cellars, visit https://ldtcellars.com/.

For more information on Cali Grill, visit http://www.caligrillpaso.com/.

Perlis Picked: Wine In The Pines 2015

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The middle of June 2015 was truly a wine-soaked weekend in the Los Angeles area, with Wine in the Pines on Saturday, June 13th at Pine Mountain Club followed on Sunday, June 14th by the Ojai Wine Festival.

First – Wine In The Pines

The annual Wines In The Pines festival was started in 2003 by the Village Pine Mountain Club. We are very proud to have helped the event be a huge hit this year. Lots of good wines, very well organized, great food and entertainment as well. And even though it was warm [mid 80s, I think, which happens sometimes up here] I heard hardly any comments about the weather as people were just having too good of a time.

11147145_1075427829139320_4730589047469111001_nI saw many Santa Claritans at the festival, as usual. After all, the event is just over an hour away from the SCV. Yet, once you leave the 5 freeway at Frazier Park and head into the mountains you are quickly transported into another world – they don’t call it Mount Pinos for nothing.

While walking amongst the towering pines, you are able to sample wine from dozens of wineries, along with beer and food. You can check out the list of participating wineries, breweries and restaurants here:

http://www.wineinthepines.com/winefood.html

Some of the winery highlights for my wife Karen and me [note that if a winery isn’t mentioned it just means we probably didn’t get to it]:

Ampelos Cellars: A fortunate cancelation of a meeting at the World Trade Center led to Peter Work missing the 9/11 tragedy. Rethinking their lives, he and wife Rebecca plunged full-time into their Ampelos vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills, which they had acquired in 1999. My favorites were the “Syrache” [blend of Syrah and Grenache] as well as the standalone Syrah.

Ascension Cellars: Winemaker Erick Allen uses fruit from the Cass Vineyard in Paso Robles and makes his wines there as well. Focusing primarily on Rhone and Bordeaux blends with minimal use of oak, we enjoyed the “Silver Blanc” [Chardonnay and Viognier blend] and the “Trinity” [Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre].

Bellissimo Cellars: owner/winemaker and Santa Clarita Valley resident Lora Marie Taylor obtains grapes from organically farmed vineyards in the Sta. Rita Hills and the Central Coast. Her Chardonnay was clean, bright and refreshing on a warm pre-summer day.

Cantara Cellars: From their winery in Camarillo, Mike and Chris Brown continue to craft delicious wines from Lodi grapes. Enjoyed the “Mischievous” blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.

Coruce: Based in the high desert, Coruce went commercial in just 2013. Some of their wines are still made with Central Coast grapes [like their excellent Viognier from the Bien Nacido Vineyard] but they are focusing more and more on local grapes, like their tasty Antelope Valley Zinfandel and Syrah bottlings.

Gen 7: Are you old enough to remember the Brookside Winery tasting rooms that dotted the landscape in the late 60s and early 70s? Probably not, but I am. Gen 7 represents the latest efforts of that winemaking family. Best ones here for me were the “Road to Morocco” blend of Cabernet, Zinfandel and Petite Sirah as well as their “1832” Zinfandel.

Golden Star Vineyards: Lee and Helen Williams continue to impress me with their tasty wines from the High Desert. Loved their Chardonnay, Zinfandel, three different Syrahs as well as their signature Purple Haze blend. Their daughter Heather introduced me to their “desert wines” a few years ago and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Mystic Hills: Based in San Miguel [just outside of Paso Robles] but with Santa Clarita Valley roots, Judy and Joel Cox’ winery is producing some wines that are really getting noticed and bringing in the awards. My favorite is their “Unforgiven” red blend.

Plan B Wine Cellars: Based in Ventura, Plan B does a great job with the grapes it purchases, focusing primarily on Zins and Rhones, which are right up my alley.

Really enjoyed their Syrah.

Rotta: Winemaker Jeff Branco brings his impressive to pedigree to Rotta Winery in Paso Robles. Loved his Cabernet but it was his Syrah that really knocked me out.

Zotovich: Their tasting room is in Lompoc and their vineyard is in the Sta. Rita Hills. They sell a lot of their grapes to other wineries in the area, but keep some for themselves, making some delicious wines like the great Syrah that I tasted.

To sum up: a great day in the mountains, a great day in the woods, a great day for wine, beer, food and fun. Be sure to join us next year.

Michael Perlis has been pursuing his passion for wine for more than 25 years. He has had the good fortune of having numerous mentors to show him the way, as well as a wonderful wife who encourages him and shares his interest. After a couple of decades of learning about wine, attending events, visiting wineries and vineyards, and tasting as much wine as he possibly could, he had the amazing luck to meet Eve Bushman. Now, as Contributing Editor for Eve’s Wine 101, he does his best to bring as much information as possible about wine to Eve’s Wine 101 faithful readers. Michael is also Vice President of Eve Bushman Consulting (fka Eve’s Wine 101 Consulting) http://evebushmanconsulting.com/ and President of MCP Financial. Michael can be contacted at michaelthezinfan@aol.com or michael@evebushmanconsulting.com

New Mystic Hills Vineyard Creates Buzz in the Wine and Film World

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Academy Award Winning Editor Presents “Unforgiven” Cabernet Sauvignon Blend in October 2014 Debut of Wine Releases

There were over 75 Founding Members that tasted Mystic Hills Vineyard wines for the first time during an October 11 members only dinner – all of whom had signed up to become members without first tasting the wines because they had heard the buzz.

Unforgiven in barrel roomOne guest wrote a thank you note to the winery that partially read, “Mystic Hills Vineyard wines – the bottled fruits of Joel and Judy Cox’ winemaking labors – were debuted, savored, and celebrated tonight at a founding members’ party hosted at the Cox’ beautiful San Miguel home. Making extraordinary wine had been Joel’s long-held dream, and it was actively in the making for the past seven years…

Joel, an Academy Award winning film editor, has been Clint Eastwood’s film editor for more than 40 years…”

Other guests there for the debut also expressed their excitement over the three red wines shared: 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon with its lingering flavors of black cherry, cranberry and cassis; 2011 “Sequel” for the texture and balance of fruit and tannins; and 2011 “Unforgiven” as a crowd favorite for the plum, vanilla, mocha and dark spices. One happy member commented, “The thirty dollar bottle of wine tasted like a 0.00 bottle of wine.”

Already popular with the movie crowd due to Cox’s reputation in the industry, and the playful reference to films in the labeling, another guest in the film business quickly ordered twelve cases after sampling the wines.

Contact the winery to schedule a tasting or to discuss membership: 805-610-1099 or email at info@mystichillsvineyard.com.