Sunday started off with Page Springs Cellars Burgers & Barrels event. Eric Glomski, the winemaker at PSC & Arizona Stronghold Vineyard, started off by explaining the history of the event. They want to be sure to remove any pretention off of enjoying wine. They decided to have an event that would be about as simple as possible and originally paired the wine with fast food burgers. They tried Carl's Jr $6 burger, the Whopper, the Big Mac and the Jumbo Jack. What they found is that the Big Mac paired the best with wine - and they realized that it was because there was no ketchup on the Big Mac. Ketchup is a vinegar product and it doesn't play well with wine, which of course turns into vinegar if left to age for too long.
Well, they didn't make us eat Big Macs! They put together some HUGE 3/4 pound angus burger patties (and a veggie patty for the sole vegetarian in the room) and started by grilling them on a gas grill. Then they moved them to a coal barbecue that was burning cuttings from the vineyard and then they finished the burgers off with some wine! I really appreciated the effort that went into these burgers! We also enjoyed the fact that Maynard James Keenan grilled these hunks of beef!
Eric and crew always put together these fabulous events that coincide with their wine club shipments. It allows the members to meet each other, to try some great wines from the barrel (or bottle) and pick up their shipments, all at the same time! The last event we attended was the Gruel & Grog. The next event will be the "Blend-A-Barrel" event and I'm told that this one is the best of all! This event will fall at the end of May and beginning of June (see Arizona Vines and Wines Events for more details).
The featured grape at this event was Petite Sirah! Yummmmmyyyyyy! Eric first explained about the Petite Sirah grape and vine, the history, etc. Per Eric, Petite Sirah is the child of Syrah, kind of Joe (Syrah) and Joe Jr. (Petite Sirah) with Joe Jr. being a 300 pound kid (very dark, rich and tannic). All the wines we tasted were aged in neutral oak so that the only differences would be the vineyard that the grapes came from. All the wines were labeled Page Springs Cellars, but the grapes were sourced from different locations.
Our first taste was from Lakeview Vineyards in California, located in the warm valley of Lockwood, south of Monterey. Our second taste was from the Page Springs Cellars Estate Vineyard. Two completely different climates with different terroirs. The third came from Ranchita Canyon Vineyards outside San Miguel, near Paso Robles and the fourth was from Shell Creek Vineyards near Shandon, about 20 miles southeast of Paso. It was amazing to taste the difference that the location made. The grapes went from smooth to extremely tannic (a lot of people couldn't even drink the Shell Creek Vineyard, just too strong). We learned that the Ranchita Canyon grapes are also sourced to Tobin James and Justin Winery, both well known for their quality wines. Being the final of five groups of eaters and drinkers paid off - the late group on Sunday (us) were able to get a sneek peak into their Arizona Stronghold Vineyard Petite Sirah (again, labeled Page Springs Cellars, but the grapes came from the Arizona Stronghold Vineyard).
The last wine we tasted had quite a story attached. The Rio San Lucas Vineyards, located in the Salinas River Valley, southeast of Monterey, was planted during Eric's year of birth, a vineyard that he always placed very close to his heart. He loved this vineyard because it was a great study of topography and terroir, being built in a canyon with different grapes being planted at the different elevations. Well, Eric went to get some grapes this year only to find out that the vineyard was gone, literally gone! It was destroyed and replaced with lettuce (Earthbound Farms). They made an offer the owner couldn't refuse and the vineyard ceased to exist! Eric offered us a unique package of five of the Rio San Lucas wines - a five bottle commemorative set boxed up like a coffin with a big RIP for Rio San Lucas! We have to admit that we were touched and brought one home with us! Hopefully we'll have an opportunity to enjoy the wines with some friends and toast to the loss of a bit of California vineyard history!
Oops - forgot to discuss the burgers and their toppings. To keep the vinegar out - no mustard or ketchup was provided, however, the staff prepared some wonderful mayonnaise-based toppings for us, as well as lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado and cheese. The toppings included a remoulade, tarragon mayo, garlic blue cheese mayo, pesto mayo and a chipotle mayo. Josh and I decided to cut our burger into quarters and enjoy some different toppings - Eric called it "slider style". Josh and I agreed that the Garlic Blue Cheese Mayo was fabulous (a mixture of mayo, minced garlic and crumbled blue cheese, simple but yummy).
Well, I truly recommend attending an event at Page Springs Cellars if you have an opportunity. You learn so much from Eric, meet others who enjoy Arizona wines, especially Eric's wines and, of course, sample favulous vino and eat simple, hearty, tasty fare!
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