JUST Blog!

JUST Wine Fest

 

26th Annual Paso Robles Wine Festival
Come out for Wine Festival weekend and learn from the Master! Join JUSTIN’s own Master Sommelier, Joe Spellman for special tastings and seminars offered Saturday and Sunday. You won't want to miss the opportunity to see what inspires and challenges JUSTIN ISOSCELES--some of the Grands Vins of Bordeaux! Joe will present several classified wines from the key communes of Pauillac, Margaux, St. Julien and St Estephe, in the context of how ISOSCELES is grown and produced. Joe's many Bordeaux experiences will inform and amuse you. Please join us for some sensational, iconic wines! See below for details & reservations.

Stop by our Tasting Room or enjoy our Wine Society Lounge (club members and their guests only) open 10am-6pm. Taste current releases, barrel samples and enjoy handmade wood-fired gourmet pizza.

Guest Chef Dinner Friday: Enjoy the culinary genius of Guest Chef, Tom Gray from Bistro AIX restaurant, Jacksonville, Florida. Discover why Chef Gray is consistently named Best Chef of Jacksonville as he delivers his city-hip bistro Provincial inspired cuisine. This rising star chef will transport you to the lively spirit of a bustling bistro in the south of France! You’ll see for yourself why Bistro AIX was only one of 50 restaurants to receive the Distinguished Restaurant of North America Award of Excellence in 2004. $150 /pp ($120/pp w/s). SOLD OUT

Comparative ISOSCELES/ Bordeaux Seminar Saturday & Sunday: 10 a.m., $100/pp.
Learn how ISOSCELES compares to top rated Bordeaux wines. Come investigate as Joe reveals our “top blending secrets” unique to making ISOSCELES.

ISOSCELES Vertical Seminars Saturday & Sunday: 12pm, $50/pp
Enjoy the last five vintages of our award winning ISOSCELES with our Master Sommelier Joe Spellman. Joe will guide you through the 2001 though 2005 vintages. Discover why this wine consistently receives our highest reviews.

Winery/Cave Tours Daily: 10:30 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. $15/pp (includes tasting) Complimentary for wine club members and up to two guests.
Take a walk 120 feet underground through our wine caves. Learn about the Paso Robles region, history of JUSTIN, our philosophy, the soils, our oak program and more!

For all reservations call 805-238-6932 ext. 300.

JUST a Great American Bake Sale

Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale is a national campaign that mobilizes Americans to end childhood hunger by holding bake sales in their communities. To date, more than 5.3 million meals have been served to low-income children because of the continued efforts of individuals, companies, restaurants, organizations and schools that hold bake sales.

Funds raised through Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale are used to ensure America's most vulnerable children - those living in poverty and at risk of hunger across the country get the regular, healthy meals they need to learn, grow, and thrive.

At JUSTIN Vineyards and Winery, we held a bake sale the weekend of April 26 and raised $400 to donate to Share Our Strength.  Justin and Deborah Baldwin are generously matching our proceeds and so we are proud to donate a grand total of $800 to a very worthy charity!

JUSTIN The Art of blending Seminar

Please join JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery’s Master Sommelier Joseph Spellman at the Lodge at Torrey Pines in La Jolla Ca for A JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery Signature Series Road Show.  THE ART OF BLENDING.  Have you ever wondered what each varietal brings to the blend? Here’s your chance to learn more about the 3 main Bordeaux varietals through a hands on blending trial and seminar!

Topics will include:

History of JUSTIN Winery, Paso Robles Region, Components of Blending, Top Blending Secrets

May 3, 2008 4:00 pm—6:00 pm Reservations 805.238.6932 ext. 150 Wine Society $44 per person Regular $55 per person

Just Screw Caps

Here at Justin Winery we use screw caps on some of our selected wines such as Orphan (Our Red Table Wine), Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.  We use this enclose on wines that are meant to be drunken young, or in the first couple of years.  This ensures that these wines will never be “corked”.  Corkage is caused by TCA or Trichloranisole which is basically an airborne fungus that infects the cork.  When this happens you get a musty and unpleasant smell and taste.  For our wines that we suggest you continue to age for any amount of time such as ISOSCELES we still use traditional corks to ensure that they age gracefully. 

Grilled Citrus Brined Pork Chops with Smoked Cherry Sauce

Grilled Citrus Brined Pork Chops with Smoked Cherry Sauce

Pork Chop Brine

4-8 oz. center cut pork chops

9 cups of hot water

½ cup sugar

½ cup salt

1 lemon

1 orange

2 limes

2 shallots, rough chopped

2 bayleafs

Smoked Cherry Sauce

1 cup dried cherries

1 cup smoking chips

1 cup red wine

1 shallot, rough chopped

2 garlic cloves, rough chopped

4 cups veal or beef stock

Place the smoking chip in water for 1 minute. In old pan with a wire screen place the cherries in an aluminum cup. Light the smoking chip, cover and smoke for five minutes.

Heat 2 tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat. Sauté the shallot and garlic until caramelized add the smoked cherries. Deglaze with the red wine and cook until the alcohol is gone. Add the veal or beef stock and cook until reduce by half. Remove from the heat and puree in a blender. Place the sauce through a strain to remove any large item left unblended. Serve over the grilled pork chops.

Preparation for the brine:

Place the pork chops into a container big enough to hold all the liquid of the brine. Mix together the salt, sugar and the hot water. Squeeze and place the juice and the rinds of the lemon, orange and the limes into the brine. Add the shallots and the bayleafs. Pour over the pork chops and refrigerate for 24 hours. Remove the chops from the brine.

Note: the brine can not be used more than once.

Preparations for brined pork chops:

Grill the pork chops about 5 minutes on each side. If further cooking is required, place in a 375 degree oven to finish. The brine will help keep the pork chops moist. Enjoy with a glass of JUSTIN Syrah

JUST a Blog aBout Bud Break

This time of year the grapes are beginning to come back to life.  We here at JUSTIN Winery recently had bud break on our Orange Muscat and Merlot.  Soon all the grapes will come to life.  Come on out and see the magic of the spring season.  Our experimental vineyard is also about to have bud break.  Each trellis type will come out at a different time so it is a great time to come out to the winery and really get a great idea of the yearly cycle of a vine.  We look forward to you visit. 

Veal Bundles stuffed with Olives

Veal Bundles stuffed with Olives

4 veal scallops (5 ounces each)

1 cup of green olives

1 sprig fresh lemon thyme

1 egg

5 ounces ground pork

5 ounces ground veal

3 tbsp butter

1-cup veal stock

1 cup red wine

bouquet garni (rosemary, thyme and bay leaf)

Using a meat mallet pound flat the four pieces of veal to about 1/8 of an inch. Chop the green olives and the lemon thyme. In a bowl mix together the ground pork, veal, egg, half of the chopped green olives, salt and pepper. Form into balls and place in the center of each of the flatten veal and roll the meat, so as to firmly enclose the filling. Tie together with string. Melt the butter over medium-high heat, brown the remaining olives and the veal bundles on all sides. Season with salt and pepper. Deglaze the pan with the red wine and reduce by half. Add the veal stock and the bouquet garni, cover and simmer for 40 minutes over low heat. Reduce the braising liquid by half and use as the sauce. Serve immediately with steamed red potatoes.

Sauteed Shrimp and Mushrooms

Sauteed Shrimp and Mushrooms

3 shallots, minced

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. Extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup white wine (preferably Chardonnay)

1 tsp. fresh thyme

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 lb. 30/35 shrimp (large); peeled and deveined

1-2 lb. button mushrooms

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Juice of one lemon

Saute’ minced shallots in butter and olive oil, taking care to keep the shallots from turning color. Add the wine and keep simmering, reducing the volume of the wine to just a few tablespoons. Add the thyme, sauté a minute more, then add the shrimp and garlic. Saute’ no more than two minutes, or just until the shrimp have turned bright pink—be careful not to overcook at this point because the shrimp will continue to cook when you remove them from the heat.

Remove the shrimp from the sauté pan with a slotted spoon; place in a bowl. Add the mushroom caps to the sautéing liquid and saute’ over high heat for 5 minutes or so, or until the mushrooms give up their liquid. Remove the mushrooms from the pan with a slotted spoon. If there is any more liquid, reduce it to a syrupy consistency and add it to the shrimp and mushrooms. Add salt and pepper to taste. Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the mixture and mix lightly. Chill and serve later at room temperature, or serve right away.

ZINFANDEL Festival 2008

Just stop by JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery Zinfandel Festival Weekend and enjoy our Hospitality. Tasting Room hours will be 10:00am to 5:00pm Friday thru Sunday and The Wine Society Lounge, our exclusive room JUST for our Wine Society members, will be open 10:00am to 5:00pm on Saturday and Sunday. In the Lounge we will be pairing cheeses with some of our fantastic wines including the last of the 2005 Reserve Tempranillo and the newly released 2005 ISOSCELES. Be the first to taste the 2006 Orphan which will be released this weekend. On Friday night we are having a Guest Chef Dinner with Chef Jason Wilson from Crush restaurant in Seattle Washington. Declared one of the top ten new chefs in North America by Food and Wine Magazine in 2006 he will pair up with our incredible executive chef Ryan Swarthout to create a marvelous coursed dinner. On Saturday JUSTIN winery will be participating in the Far Out Winery Zinfandel Seminar at Calcareous winery at 10:00 am. Tickets are $55.00 per person please RSVP Judy 1-805-237-0138. Both Saturday and Sunday we will be offering winery and wine cave tours at 10:30 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. The tours are $15 per person or complimentary for JUSTIN Wine Society Members. We will be also offering Barrel Seminars at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. for $10 per person. These seminars will explain the differences between American and French oak and customers will be able to sample our Cabernet Sauvignon out of both types of barrels as well as our yet to be bottled 2006 Syrah. Deborah’s room will be serving both lunch and dinner Saturday and Sunday. Lunch will be served both days from 12 to 4pm. Reservations are strongly recommended for lunch and required for dinner. For tour, lunch, dinner or Guest Chef Reservations or parties of 8 or more call 1-805-238-6932 ext 300 or toll free at 1-800-726-0049 ext 300.

 

 

Zinfest Hours: Tasting Room and Lounge (Lounge open only Saturday and Sunday) 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 pm

 

Friday: Guest Chef Dinner featuring Chef Jason Wilson of Crush, Seattle Washington. Reception 6:30 p.m. Dinner 7 p.m. RSVP to 800-725-0049 X 300

 

Saturday: Far Out winery Zinfandel Seminar at Calcareous winery $55.00 per person 10:00 a.m. RSVP Judy 805-237-0138

 

Saturday and Sunday:

Barrel Seminars (American vs French oak): 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m. $10 per person.

Winery Tours 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m. $15 per person

RSVP all tours to 805-238-6932

Lunch 12:00 – 4:00 p.m. reservations recommended

Olive oil Confit Duck Breast

Olive oil Confit Duck Breast

Spinach Fondue, Wild Mushroom Ragout and Star Anise Vinaigrette

Star Anise Vinaigrette

¾ c balsamic vinegar

1 pod star anise

½ c olive oil

1 tbsp. shallot, minced

1 tbsp. chives, thinly sliced

¼ tsp. thyme, chopped

Salt and pepper

Spinach

2 c cream

2 ½ c spinach leaves, blanched

½ c parsley leaves, blanched

2 tbsp. butter

Salt and pepper

Wild Mushroom Ragout

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp. shallots, minced

1 c mushrooms, sliced

1 tbsp. lemon juice

¼ c water

¼ tsp. dill, chopped

¼ tsp. thyme, chopped

1 tbsp. crème fraiche

Salt and pepper

Duck

1 ½ qt. olive oil

4- duck breast, skinned

½ tsp. rosemary, chopped

For Star Anise Vinaigrette: Reduce balsamic vinegar by 60%. Toast star anise and grind to a fine powder; stir into balsamic vinegar; stir in oil, chives, shallot and season to taste.

For Spinach: Reduce cream by 75%; remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes. Place cream, spinach, parsley and butter in a blender; puree; season.

For Mushroom Ragout: Heat butter in a sauté pan over high heat; add shallots; cook until softened; add mushrooms; cook for 2 minutes; add lemon juice and water; reduce heat and simmer 1 minute; stir in dill, thyme and crème fraiche; remove from heat and season.

For Duck: Heat oil to 140 degrees. Season duck with salt, pepper and rosemary; immerse duck in oil; cook to medium-rare; place on wire rack to drain.

For Assembly: Warm spinach and mushrooms. Place the fondue in the center of the plate; place the ragout on top of that; slice duck on the bias; fan over ragout; drizzle vinaigrette around edge of plate