JUSTIN Food & Wine Blog

The best wines are well balanced. So are the best wine events!

For this Saturday’s, ISOSCELES 2009 Pre-Release Party, we are focused on creating an event that symbolized the balance and vigor of the wine we are all celebrating! Every year, the JUSTIN Team is challenged to recreate and expand on an already seasoned event. For the 2009 ISOSCELES Pre-Release Party, we are going to be doing this through a number of ways, all of which balance our traditional experiences with new features.

Personally, in my group of friends being first to do something means one important thing; that you get to shamelessly brag about it to the rest of the group! JUSTIN Winery is extremely fortunate to have such devoted fans and this Saturday we are offering you the opportunity to be among the first people in the world to try the 2009 ISOSCELES! To really provide you with irrefutable evidence that you were here, we will be taking  pictures as you savor and enjoy the 2009 ISOSCELES that will then be featured on our Facebook page with a resounding proclamation of “I Liked It First”! I will be keeping mine in my wallet and bring it up to strangers in casual conversations!

Wine is always going to be at the core for all of our events. However, there is no reason we can’t find balance in the food we present as well. As always, our own Executive Chef Will Torres from The Restaurant at JUSTIN will be providing an exquisite array of appetizers to allow our partygoers to experience foods that flawlessly compliment the JUSTIN wine lineup.

I hope you can all join us on January 28^th!

Cheers!

Brian Connor, CSW

Wine Society Lounge Coordinator

JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery

Pour a glass and join our Facebook community!

 

Far Out Wineries Zinfandel Summit 2011

Each year, the Far Out Wineries (Paso Robles’ Westside wineries) host a Zinfandel Summit in the JUSTIN Barrel Caves. Guests are invited to wander our caves and taste Zinfandel from each of the participating Far Out Wineries – this year, we had seventeen different Zins!

In addition to wine, the event was catered by local restaurant Thomas Hill Organics. Guests enjoyed Open-Faced Smoked Duck Sandwiches, Mini Vietnamese BBQ Pork Belly Sandwiches, and Braised Short Rib Tacos, which were all a hit! The Thomas Hill crew couldn’t keep the food coming fast enough…yum!

There were also four seminars offered at the event: "Oak in Zinfandel: Yay or Nay?", "Diversity of Wines Made From the Zinfandel Grape", "Alcohol: Friend or Foe in Zinfandel Wines?" and "Dryfarming Zinfandel Vines." 

For more information about the Far Out Wineries and their annual events, visit their website: http://www.faroutwineries.com/. You can also follow them on Twitter and Facebook!

Photos in this post by Jamie Foster Photography.

 

 

Rex Pickett Visits JUSTIN

About five years ago, following the release of Sideways, author Rex Pickett visited JUSTIN as our honored guest. He had the complete JUSTIN experience – dinner in Deborah’s Room, a night at the JUST Inn, and a book signing in the barrel chai. His first experience with us inspired him to incorporate our property into his new novel Vertical, the sequel to Sideways. This past weekend, Rex and his assistant, Todd, visited us for another book signing, this time for Vertical, and also attended our annual ISOSCELES Pre-Release Dinner as our Guest of Honor.

In Vertical, characters Miles and Jack spend a wild night at the JUST Inn. I won’t spoil any details, but I will tell you that each and every JUSTIN employee’s mouth dropped when we heard what Miles and Jack got into. Knowing that Miles is based on Rex himself, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Rex, but he turned out to be charming - a perfect gentleman.

Rex and Todd arrived on Friday afternoon after driving up from Malibu and doing an interview for our local radio station, Krush 92.5 (click to listen). That evening, after getting settled in to the JUST Inn, they joined 45 of our Wine Society members for a book signing and dinner in the barrel chai. Rex was our guest of honor, and diners enjoyed a “Vertical” (ha) of ISOSCELES with their main course, a 24-hour braised short rib.

The next morning, Rex set up in the barrel chai once again, this time to sign books for members who attended our ISOSCELES Pre-Release Party that day. Rex was incredibly gracious and genuinely interested in chatting it up with each of his fans – he spent many minutes with each of them, answering their questions and writing funny inscriptions in their copies of Vertical.  The fans enjoyed passed hors d’oeuvres and sips of our new 2008 ISOSCELES while they chatted with Rex. 

The JUSTIN staff was thrilled with Rex and we’re secretly hoping that we will soon be arranging for a movie crew to come shoot some Vertical shenanigans in the Sussex Suite (just so I don’t start any rumors – no movie sequel is confirmed, yet!). We are all looking forward to Rex’s next project, as well as the next visit from the author and his assistant.

To read Rex’s blog post about his time at JUSTIN, click here.

To read Todd’s account of the weekend, click here.

Visit our tasting room to purchase a signed copy of Vertical, or buy online here.

Photos: Joseph Dominguez Photography

Deborah's Room Fall 2010 Menu

The menu at Deborah’s Room, the fine dining restaurant at JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery, changes with the season. Our meats, veggies, fish, and fromage are made, raised, or purchased locally whenever possible, making for an always-new delight. When I’m lucky, I get to taste items off of Chef Will’s menu – after all, it’s important to be able to tell potential dinner party guests about each dish (it’s a tough job…)! Here are some of my favorites from the Fall 2010 menu.

 

Heirloom Butternut Soup, with Rye, Sage, and Whipped Maple. Chef Will uses “secretive Chef chemistry” to whip maple syrup into a foam that doesn’t dissolve – and squash, rye crumbs, and sage are a classic autumn pairing.  The soup goes perfectly with JUSTIN 2009 Chardonnay.

I’m a huge fan of Pier 46, where Chef Will buys his fish. My favorite fish on the Fall menu is the Local Seabass with Potato confit. All of the great flavor and texture of Chilean sea bass, but it’s local and much more sustainable! Chef Will’s Seabass pairs with JUSTIN 2008 Reserve Tempranillo.

 

Chef Will’s Chocolate Pot de Crème is served in an adorable mini Bell jar. The whipped birch cream on top leaves a tingle on the tongue like that of root beer; a surprising sensation. The chocolate perfectly complements our port wine, JUSTIN 2009 OBTUSE.

Click here to see the complete menu. The Fall 2010 Menu will only be around until December 16, so make sure to come see us before then! To make a reservation for lunch or dinner, please visit Open Table, call 805-238-6932 ex. 3224 or e-mail innkeeper@JUSTINwine.com.

 

JUSTIN Vineyards to Table at the James Beard House

 

On October 27, 2010, Chef William Torres prepared a fabulous five-course meal at the James Beard House in New York City. He was accompanied by Deborah Baldwin, JUSTIN Proprietor, who presented a wine with each course to a captivated crowd. “It was a fabulous dinner served to a full house, and Will wowed everyone,” Debby said, “Our Chef and wines work perfectly together!”

Chef Will took JUSTIN Chef Tournant Tim Barakat along for extra support, and was met in the city by Justin Ermini, Executive Chef at the Mayflower Inn & Spa in Washington, Connecticut. Will and Justin first met when Justin traveled to JUSTIN Winery as part of our guest chef series in May 2010. The Chefs were also assisted by the house chefs at the Beard House, who do over 250 dinners per year.

 

Prior to cooking in the famed Beard House, Will and Tim had heard that the kitchen was small. However, compared to the very small Deborah’s Room kitchen, Will said that the Beard House had a “dream kitchen.” Chef Tim added, “We felt right at home – it was just a little bit larger than our kitchen.”

On cooking at the Beard House, Will remarked, “The Beard House chefs and waiters are incredibly professional! The entire dinner took about two and a half to three hours.” He added, “The Beard House is an unassuming Brownstone, and cooking in it feels as though you are cooking in someone else’s home.”

It was both Chef Will and Chef Tim’s first time in New York City. Will said he enjoyed being able to walk everywhere, and Tim enjoyed Central Park – and also mentioned, “The taxi drivers are crazy!” As for food, Will Enjoyed Otto, Mario Batali’s new restaurant, and Tim enjoyed the iconic hot dog restaurant Gray’s Papaya.

Just as Chefs Will and Tim visited NYC, JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery brings chefs from all over the country to our winery for our annual Guest Chef Dinner Series. This year, we will feature:

- Kent Rathbun of Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen in Dallas on March 18, 2011
- Barbara Lynch of No. 9 in Boston on May 20, 2011
- Pascal Hollaender of Lyford Cay Club in Nassau on July 8, 2011
- Matt Dillon of Sitka & Spruce in Seattle on August 5, 2011
- Ris Lacoste of Ris in Washington, D.C. on October 21, 2011

Dinners are limited to 80 and fill up quickly. To reserve your place, please call Event Coordinator Laura Zolnoski at 805-238-6932 x 3223.

Industry Night - Open House

Every so often we like to hold an open house for the local wine industry. We feel it's a great way to get to know our winery neighbors, give them more information about all that we have to offer, and, most importantly, encourage learning. On Wednesday, we opened the doors to our Winery Caves, Barrel Chai, and Wine Society Lounge after hours to over 200 local wine industry professionals to share our new releases, appetizers from Executive Chef Will Torres, and a variety of artisan cheeses.

Industry nights allow us to not only foster good will within the local wine community, but to encourage other wineries to learn about us and our wines. We hope that when a guest walks into another tasting room and asks about JUSTIN or asks for a recommendation for a winery that is well known for Bordeaux-style wines that the Tasting Room Attendant will be able to answer their questions or tell the guest about their most recent experience at JUSTIN. We also encourage our own staff to visit other wineries (both local and in other wine regions) to learn more about different wines, other regions and to be able to better answer guests questions or point them in the direction of other wineries we think they might enjoy, should they ask our opinion.

Learning about wine is an ongoing and never-ending process. A process that should be fun! We take learning seriously and encourage everyone on our team to continue to build upon their wine knowledge by participating in wine tastings, visiting other wineries/wine regions, and attending industry nights!

If you'd like to check out photos from our Open House, please click here