Blog

Trails of SLO Wine Country

Monday, June 20th

We may be a little biased, but we believe that the trails of SLO Wine Country are surrounded by some of the most spectacular views and breathtaking nature. These trails are a fun way to get active while admiring our scenery! The Central Coast’s moderate climate also allows us to enjoy this beauty almost 365 days of the year. The Claiborne & Churchill staff is excited for a summer filled with great hikes, and we wanted to share some of our favorites with you!

Easy

Bluff Trail

4.7 mile loop

291 feet elevation change

This trail is a nice easy loop that takes you through the beautiful coastline of Montana de Oro State Park. Open year round, it offers great views of the ocean and wild flowers. It is a great trail for kids, but dogs are not allowed.

Bob Jones Bike Trail

2.6 mile out & back

101 feet elevation change

This trail is friendly to walkers, runners, bikers, kids & dogs! Stroll along the foothills with beautiful views and end up in Avila Beach. It can get crowded during weekends and holidays, but the scenery is worth it!

Oso Flaco Lake Trail

1.5 mile out & back

6 feet elevation change

This is the easiest trail that starts by a lake near Nipomo and ends up by the Pacific Ocean. The board walk of the trail leads you above water and sand with gorgeous views of the wild life.

Reservoir Canyon Trail

5.0 mile out & back

1286 feet elevation change

This trail is accompanied with beautiful scenery but the big benefits are the breathtaking views from the top. It is a great opportunity to bring kids and dogs to see the wildlife, wild flowers & waterfall along the way!

Moderate

Bishops Peak Trail

6.6 mile out & back

2332 feet elevation change

Hike the highest of the Nine Sisters, a chain of volcanic peaks stretching to Morro Bay! This trail leads to gorgeous views of San Luis Obispo and the coastline along the Pacific Ocean. This trail is even more spectacular when you watch the sunrise of the sunset from the top!

Cerro San Luis Trail

4.0 mile loop

843 feet elevation change

Hike around Madonna Mountain where the trail is surrounded by beautiful green landscape and wildflowers. See the town of San Luis Obispo from above and enjoy views of the coast. It is a great hike and dog friendly!

Islay Hill Trail

1.7 mile out & back

488 feet elevation change

This trail takes you to the top of the eastern most of the Nine Sisters. It is one of the quickest of these moderate trails taking less than an hour total. The views from the top are 360 degree sights over San Luis Obispo and Edna Valley.

Valencia Peak Trail

3.3 mile out & back

1108 feet elevation change

This trail takes you up Valencia Peak in Montana de Oro. At the top, you will be rewarded with gorgeous views of Morro Bay, Cayucos, and even further on clear days. Leave your dogs at home for this one!

We hope you put some of our recommendations to the test! Tag us in your hiking pictures and share with us which trails are your favorite. We believe a nice cool white or rose is the perfect way to celebrate the accomplishments of a long hike. Cheers to a fun summer spent in the surroundings of our Central Coast!

All information and pictures from alltrails.com.

Roll Out the Barrels

Tuesday, June 7th

Join us for this fun weekend celebrating the great wines of SLO Wine Country. The 26th Annual Roll Out the Barrels celebration brings winemakers, locals, and visitors together that have one thing in common: the love for wine. Don’t miss out on this weekend full of great wine, great food, and great company!

SLO Wine Country Roll Out the Barrels Events:

Barrels in the Plaza

Mission Plaza, Downtown San Luis Obispo

Thursday, June 23rd – 4:30-7:30pm

4:30 VIP Early Entry, $100 – 5:30 General Admission, $80 – At the door, $90

The weekend starts out in the heart of downtown San Luis. Fifty wineries and restaurants are coming together to share with the attendees. This night filled with food and wine pairings will be accompanied by live music from the Damon Castillo Band. There is no better way to kick start the Roll Out the Barrels Weekend than this!

Taste the Coast Collaborative Winemaker Dinner

Claiborne & Churchill Winery

Friday, June 24th – 5:30 Wine Reception & 6:30 Dinner

Tickets $160 per person

This year Claiborne & Churchill is hosting the Roll Out the Barrels Special Event! We are excited to have the Taste of the Coast Collaborative Winemaker Dinner at our winery also featuring Peloton Cellars, Stephen Ross, Tolosa, and Verdad. These wines will be paired with a five course prepared by Brian Collins, chef & owner of local favorite Ember Restaurant. 

Claiborne & Churchill Roll Out the Barrels Events:

Aromatic White Wine Challenge

Saturday, June 25th – 11am-3pm

$15 per person – $10 for Club Members – Waived with $50 purchase

A Claiborne & Churchill staff favorite! Join a C&C team member in our tasting/barrel room to test your palate with a fun and challenging blind tasting of aromatic white wine! Each guest is given a flight of five wines to compare and contrast the aromatics, color, mouthfeel, taste and finally determine which varietal is in each glass. Guest who get all five varietals correct win a free Claiborne & Churchill logo hat!

Aromatic White Wine Tasting & Oyster Reception

Saturday, June 25th – 10:30am – 12:30pm

$50 per person – $40 for Club Members

Join C&C Winemaker, Coby Parker-Garcia, on our crush pad overlooking our Estate Vineyard for an educational blind tasting of our signature aromatic white wines. From wine to glass, Coby will walk you through the key attributes of the five highlighted varietals. Following the seminar, guests will enjoy a reception with fresh oysters in our garden with bistro seating and a picturesque view of the surrounding Edna Valley.

Pinot & Paella: The Past, Present and Future of the Twin Creeks Pinot Noir

Saturday, June 25th – 5-7pm

$65 per person – $55 for Club Members

Calling all Pinot lovers! Join us for a five year vertical tasting experience featuring library and current vintages plus a barrel sample of the 2015 vintage of our Twin Creeks Pinot Noir. Winemaker Coby Parker-Garcia will discuss the growing conditions, different clones and the winemaking practices of these limited bottlings. Enjoy a Paella and Pinot reception in our garden with bistro seating and live music by Chris Beland. Don’t miss the opportunity to taste and purchase these wines including futures of the 205 vintage that’s still in barrel!

The 2016 Roll Out the Barrels Weekend is sure to be a hit! SLO locals can use the promo code “GOLOCAL” to save $20! Not only is it a great time for locals but also visitors to the Central Coast! They are offering 20% off your Roll Out the Barrels ticket when you book your stay in SLO! Check out more information about it here and we’ll see you at Roll Out the Barrels 2016. Cheers!

Recipe: Rosé Sangria

Monday, April 4th

With the upcoming release of our 2015 Cuvée Elizabeth Rosé of Pinot Noir and 2014 Malbec, we decided to do some taste testing to find our favorite Rosé Sangria. Brook Thompson, our Wine Club Manager, made three different recipes for us to try. Below is the recipe for the undisputed winner. This delicious Rosé Sangria will be perfect for the upcoming spring and summer months! The dark color from the Malbec and pomegranate juice will set it apart from all the others. Let us know what you think of our recipe and feel free to share your favorite recipe with us!

Rosé Sangria Recipe

Ingredients:

750ml – 1 Bottle Cuvée Elizabeth Dry Rosé

6 oz Malbec

3 oz brandy

2 oz triple sec

1 oz limoncello

1 cup orange juice

1 cup pomagranate juice

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup raspberries

1/2 cup blackberries

1/2 orange sliced

1/2 lemon sliced

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients together in a large pitcher. Continue stirring until sugar dissolves. Cover pitcher and refrigerate for 24-48 hours before serving. Add ice to pitcher upon serving.

For added sweetness, add frozen orange/pineapple juice cubes in lieu of ice.

Riesling Rediscovered Book

Thursday, March 31st

Riesling Rediscovered Overview

A new book has been released telling the story of something dear to our hearts: Riesling. In November of 2015, John Winthrop Haeger released his account of this white wine grape variety titled Riesling Rediscovered.

At Claiborne & Churchill, we make our Rieslings dry compared to the common sweet Rieslings of North America. As the book’s description says, “Now usually made dry in most of Europe and Australia, and assumed dry by most German consumers, Riesling is made mostly sweet or lightly sweet in North America and is believed sweet in the American marketplace irrespective of origin. Riesling is thus consequently—but mistakenly—shunned by the mainstream of American wine drinkers, whose tastes and habits have been overwhelmingly dry for two generations.” We see that most of our guests that say they dislike Riesling are pleasantly surprised by the dryness of our varieties.

This book takes an in depth look into how variety, place, and style impact the final taste of the Riesling. The variety looks into how the cultivar of Riesling, a variety created by selective breeding, will change the taste. Place investigates how the location, topography, climate and other factors alter the wine. Style looks at how growing practices, processing, and storing methods modify how the winery’s Riesling will taste. Haegar also talks about the history of Riesling, how it is made, and a map of winery locations. Another section of the book features a number of vineyards and wineries known for Riesling, including Claiborne & Churchill.

Claiborne & Churchill Highlight

We are very honored to be highlighted in this renowned book. Our section starts with a look into the Claiborne Vineyard. He discusses where the vineyard is located, climate, and other factors of our vineyard. In the next section, Haegar follows the story of Clay and Fredericka, the start of the winery, Coby’s time as our winemaker, and a look into the Riesling we produce.

Make sure to grab a copy of Riesling Rediscovered here! It gives a great insight into the variety we love so much!

We appreciate the width and depth of information that Haeger shares in Riesling Rediscovered. It is evident that he made sure to represent Riesling as a whole. As Oliver Humbrecht said, “John Winthrop Haeger has captured the essence of Riesling. The author goes against the modern trend that favors sweeter and softer styles, demonstrating that Riesling can be at its best as a dry wine. Riesling wine producers from around the world will applaud this research.”

Claiborne & Churchill Wine Library Weekend

Wednesday, March 2nd

Spring is on its way, and that means one of our favorite events of the year is around the bend! If you have never attended our annual Claiborne & Churchill Wine Library Weekend, you’re in for a treat. We’re pulling out our favorite vintages from the last decade – wines that have been waiting for their perfect moment to shine! Our Wine Library Winemaker Dinner on Friday, March 11 with Executive Chef Russell Thomas of Two Cooks Catering on Friday, March 11 is sold out, but we still have tickets left for our other events that weekend. We will be showcasing dozens of library wines over the course of the weekend. Below are a few of the wines we are most excited about!

2006 Pinot Gris
Contrary to the belief of many, certain white wines, when made and stored well, have remarkable aging potential. This is one reason why we are so excited to show off a 2006 Pinot Gris — one of the older wines we’ll be showcasing during the Library Grand Tasting! When this wine was released a decade ago, it was youthful and fresh with stone-fruit aromas and flavors. But as a good Pinot Gris matures, it takes on increasingly smokey and nutty nuances. This is a wine you’ll want to experience for yourself.

2007 Dry Gewürztraminer
If you’ve any spent time around Claiborne & Churchill, you know our deep love of Gewürtztraminer, a wine we usually serve in its youth. When young, Gewürz is aromatic, fresh, floral, and bright. In its later years, the complexity of the varietal is showcased, giving off a golden-hued color with spicy aromas, rich flavors of passion fruit, and a legendary long finish. Aged Gewürztraminer is one of the more unique tasting experiences we offer.

2008 Classic Pinot Noir
If you’ve wondered about the aging potential of our Pinot Noir, the 2008 Classic Pinot is the proof you are looking for. This wine won plenty of awards in its early days, showcasing ample fruit and a deep garnet color while maintaining a restrained elegance. With 8 years of bottle age on it, the 2008 Classic is burgundy-brown with herbaceous aromas and flavors of cranberry skins, pomegranate, and brown sugar. The long finish is smooth and velvety. This is a Pinot in its prime!

2006 Nektar (Late Harvest Riesling)
Are you on the fence about dessert wine? There is no better time than at our tasting to experience the remarkable, time-honored tradition of a fine, aged Late Harvest Riesling. Made in a style of an ice wine, our 2006 Nektar was pretty special at the time, and is even more exceptional after ten years of maturity in the bottle. Golden in color with a creamy and balanced mouthfeel, the 2006 Nektar has aromas of apple pie and flavors of cider and ripened peach. These wines are just a handful of the diverse offerings featured at our upcoming Wine Library Weekend. If you are interested in trying these wines and more, join us March 12-13 at one of our featured events! Ticket information below.

Upcoming Event: Claiborne & Churchill Wine Library Weekend
March 11-13, 2016

Wine Library Grand Tasting
March 12, 2016, 1-4 pm

Experience a tasting showcasing the best vintages of our library wines. You’ll have the opportunity to taste from among two dozen white and red wines which have been carefully cellared for several years. Love what you tried? You’ll also have the opportunity to purchase these wines and bring them home with you!

Price $15 Club | $25 General Admission → For Tickets, please click here.

Wine and Cheese Pairing (Featuring Library Wines)
March 13, 2016, 1-4 pm

“Wine down” on Sunday in our garden patio with a flight of library wines and a gourmet cheese plate featuring artisanal, European cheeses curated by Fromagerie Sophie. Each cheese has been specially selected to pair with these stellar library wines, poured at the peak of their aging potential. Don’t miss this special event!

$15 Club | $20 General Admission → For Tickets, please click here.

The Guest Cottage at Claiborne & Churchill is available for our Wine Library Weekend!

The Guest Cottage at Claiborne & Churchill Winery is conveniently located in the heart of wine country, just minutes from historic San Luis Obispo, the charming village of Arroyo Grande and the oceanfront town of Pismo Beach.  This charming two bedroom one bath guest house offers picturesque vineyard and mountain views and is the perfect place to relax and “wine-down”. Please visit VRBO/Homeaway Listing #820452, or email elizabeth@claibornechurchill.com for rates and more information. Claiborne & Churchill Cellar Club members will be offered a special, discounted price on their stays.

Cheese Plate from Fromagerie Sophie (part III)

Saturday, January 30th

Read below for a description of each Fromagerie Sophie and Claiborne & Churchill pairing, and if you like the sound of these, come in to our tasting room today to try them! See our Wine and Cheese Pairing Part I and II here.

4. 2013 Runestone Pinot Noir with Selles Sur Cher

When we had our staff tasting with Fromagerie Sophie, we learned that wine and cheese pairings should be complementary, delicious, and memorable, but that the best pairings are surprising. You can’t go wrong with goat cheese and Pinot, but this pairing of Claiborne & Churchill Runestone Pinot Noir and elegant Selles Sur Cher, a soft, french goat’s milk cheese dusted in black vegetable ash, really shocked us, and in a good way. Like the Runestone Pinot, this cheese has a long, fascinating finish that develops in the mouth over time.

The Mold and the Beautiful

The use of ash in cheesemaking is a technique that’s hundreds of years old. Originally meant to preserve the surface of young cheeses, it is now known that the use of ash helps in the development of beautiful, distinct surface molds, like those that you will find in this Selles Sur Cher goat cheese.

5. 2013 Syrah with Beenleigh Blue

Nothing pairs better with a bold, spicy red wine than blue cheese, and this pairing is no exception! Beenleigh Blue is a pasteurized sheep cheese made with vegetable rennet. It comes from Sharpham Barton, in South Devon (Southwestern England). The remarkably mild, elegant blue-veined cheese has unique, sweet aromas of nectar and honeysuckle, and its semi-soft, fudgy, flaky texture reminds us a bit of coconut. Only a few bottles left of this delicious Syrah!

All About Ewe

According to one of Beenleigh’s distributors – Neal’s Dairy Yard, in the UK – the milk for this English cheese comes from a flock of 250 ewes who graze on grass and clovers in the summer. Based on the time of year the cheese is made, it may take on distinct flavor characteristics: winter cheeses are more light and citrusy, while summer cheeses are more robust and earthy.

Enjoy these Pairings With Us

These pairings are a truly remarkable way to experience our fine wines and the incredible cheeses that Sophie and Paul have scoured the world for, bringing the best that Europe has to offer here to our little town on the Central Coast. Come experience these pairings daily at our Claiborne & Churchill tasting room, open daily from 11-5, and when you are done, stop by Fromagerie Sophie on Garden Street and pick up some cheese to pair with wines at your next gathering!

Wine Tasting Flight: $12 (Free for Cellar Club)

Cheese Plate with Pairing Guide: Small $12 ($9 for Cellar Club)

See our Wine and Cheese Pairing Part I and II here. Hope to see you in the tasting room soon!

Cheese Plates from Fromagerie Sophie (part II)

Wednesday, January 27th

2. 2014 Dry Riesling with Gorwydd Caerphilly

Claiborne & Churchill Dry Riesling, one of our most popular wines, is a surprising and satisfying complement to this raw cow Caerphilly from Somerset, England. Caerphilly is a mold-ripened, cow’s milk cheese traditionally eaten for lunch in old times by Welsh coal miners. Originating in Wales, it is now made primarily in Somerset, England. This cheese has rich, earthy, savory, and creamy flavors and a moist and slightly crumbling texture.

Fun Fact: It’s Alive!

With this cheese, make sure you taste the rind. You’ll note that the cheese appears to have a layered, varicolored appearance. In this semi-aged cheese, these distinctions in appearance and flavor come from proteolysis – the process by which proteins, under the rind, are broken down by enzymes. This happens from the outside in, giving the rind its musty, earthy flavor, and the cream just beneath rind an oozy, mushroomy quality.

3. 2014 Pinot Gris with L’Etivaz

The ideal pairing for our full-bodied, creamy-textured Pinot Gris, this unpasteurized cow’s milk cheese from Switzerland is not to be confused with “swiss cheese” (the bland one with the holes). This alpine cheese is famous for its smooth, creamy texture and robust flavor, achievable only in the alps, where it is made when the alpine cows are grazing on flowers in high, summer pastures. Today, L’Etivaz is still made in the old style, stirred in copper cauldrons over wood fires on the mountainside!

New Appellation, Old Style

In the 1930s, when the Swiss government pushed through new regulations on the production of Gruyère, several cheesemaking families broke away to preserve their traditions. Thus, we see the birth of L’Etivaz, a cheese named for the Swiss village where the co-op originated. In 1999, L’Etivaz was given the distinction of being an Appellation d’Origine Protégé, a status previously only granted to wine regions.

Enjoy these Pairings With Us

These pairings are a truly remarkable way to experience our fine wines and the incredible cheeses that Sophie and Paul have scoured the world for, bringing the best that Europe has to offer here to our little town on the Central Coast. Come experience these pairings daily at our Claiborne & Churchill tasting room, open daily from 11-5, and when you are done, stop by Fromagerie Sophie on Garden Street and pick up some cheese to pair with wines at your next gathering!

Wine Tasting Flight:
$12 (Free for Cellar Club)

Cheese Plate with Pairing Guide:
$12 ($9 for Cellar Club)

See our Wine and Cheese Pairing Part I here. Stay tuned for more cheese pairings!

Claiborne & Churchill Presents: Cheese Plates from Fromagerie Sophie

Wednesday, January 27th

If you haven’t met them, Sophie and Paul Boban-Doering are the owners of Fromagerie Sophie, a cheese shop in downtown San Luis Obispo that has quickly proven itself to be one of SLO’s most treasured and unique gems. When Sophie and Paul opened Fromagerie Sophie, the cheese game in SLO was immediately elevated, and no one is more appreciative of that then those in the local wine industry.

Here at Claiborne & Churchill, we finally have the opportunity to offer our guests a fantastic new tasting experience: a flight of five wine-paired cheeses from Fromagerie Sophie! Each pairing was painstakingly and lovingly selected, and the cheese plates are offered daily in our tasting room. Recently, our tasting staff had the pleasure of receiving an educational cheese tasting with Paul, and we couldn’t be more excited to talk about these cheeses with you and share some of the stories that he passed along to us! Each day this week, we’ll be telling stories about a different cheese from our cheese flight.

Read below for a description of each Fromagerie Sophie and Claiborne & Churchill pairing, and if you like the sound of these, come in to our tasting room today to try them!

1. 2014 Dry Gewürztraminer with L’Muse Signature Gouda

Our well loved Gewürztraminer, with its bright, spicy aromas and notes of lychee, is the perfect pairing for this caramely, aged gouda from Beemster, Holland. L’Muse Signature Gouda is aged for two years, and is deep amber in color with well-distributed protein crystals. Creamy with slightly salty, nutty notes, this cheese has a deep, complex, and long finish that sets off the bright acidity, spice, and tropical fruit of our Gewürztraminer!

What’s that crunch?

You’ll notice this cheese has some tiny, crunchy crystals in it, giving it a remarkable texture. The crystals found in exquisite aged goudas, cheddars, and grana padanos are not “salt crystals” as some suspect. Rather, they come from tyrosine, an amino acid found in cow’s milk protein. When, during the aging process, the amino acid chains break down, tyrosine is released into the cheese, forming those amazing little crunchies!

Enjoy these Pairings With Us

These pairings are a truly remarkable way to experience our fine wines and the incredible cheeses that Sophie and Paul have scoured the world for, bringing the best that Europe has to offer here to our little town on the Central Coast. Come experience these pairings daily at our Claiborne & Churchill tasting room, open daily from 11-5, and when you are done, stop by Fromagerie Sophie on Garden Street and pick up some cheese to pair with wines at your next gathering!

Wine Tasting Flight:
$12 (Free for Cellar Club)

Cheese Plate with Pairing Guide:
$12 ($9 for Cellar Club)

Stay tuned for more cheese pairings!

A New Year, a New Look, and Two New Vintages

Tuesday, January 5th

 A New Year, a New Look, and Two New Vintages

Here at Claiborne & Churchill, we want to wish you all a very happy, healthy start to your 2016! In the spirit of celebrating “the new”, we have several announcements about exciting things happening at our winery in San Luis Obispo.

Renovated Tasting Room

We opened our straw bale winery here on the Central Coast back in 1996, and since then, we’ve grown a lot! For the last few years, we have put some serious elbow grease into expanding our garden area to accommodate more guests, and now we have an updated tasting room to go with it! Our indoor renovation includes a new feature wall and rolling barn door, both made with reclaimed wood from our old dairy barn. We now also have large crystal tasting glasses, new lighting, and a beautiful, custom stone-topped bar. Be sure bring your friends — with an expanded serving area, it’s the more the merrier. Added bonus: Ladies, you’ll be more comfortable than ever. (The new bar has hooks where you can hang your bags and coats!)

Now that our garden and tasting room are all ready for 2016, we’d love to host your next private event. Contact Angela at angela@claibornechurchill.com for details and pricing.

New Website

If you’re reading this blog, you may have noticed that we recently overhauled claibornechurchill.com with the goal of making our website more usable, visually pleasant, and informative for you. Feel free to explore our site, and if you’re new to our blog, check out some of our recent posts to learn about the 2015 harvest, recent events, and more.

Guest House Available for Vacation Rental

One of the more exciting pieces of news we have is that next door, we’ve been hard at work remodeling a two-bedroom duplex cottage on our property. Soon, it will be available for vacation rental! If you are from out of town, staying with us will be a marvelous way to enjoy the heart of wine country here in San Luis Obispo. Centrally located, we’re only a five minute drive to Pismo Beach and a fifteen-minute drive to Cal Poly. Stay tuned for photos of the space and pricing information. Note: Club members will have access to a special, discounted price on accommodations!

New Releases

This holiday season, we released brand new vintages of two of our most anticipated wines: 2013 Runestone Pinot Noir  and 2014 Pinot Blanc. Be sure to come by our tasting room for a pour of each of these exciting vintages.

To all our readers, Happy New Year, and we hope to see you soon!

Riesling: The World’s Greatest White Winegrape?

Tuesday, April 14th

For over 30 years in California’s Edna Valley, we have quietly produced what is considered one of the most dependably delicious Dry Rieslings this side of Alsace, France. Always erudite, educational and entertaining, our founding winemaker Claiborne Thompson shares what he’s discovered about what many consider to be “the world’s greatest white winegrape.”

Is Riesling a German word? Any idea what the root of the word is, or its meaning?
Its name is a bit of a puzzle. It’s possibly related to the German word reissen, “to tear, to carve, to cut,” but attempts to explain this connection are pretty lame.

Where does the Riesling grape originally come from?
It’s origin is no doubt to be found in Germany, specifically the Rheingau. There is a reference to “riesslingen” vines in a document from 1435, written by a cellarmaster with the amusing name of Klaus Kleinfisch (“Littlefish”) to his boss, the Count of Katzenelnbogen (“Cat’s Elbow”). The whole story sounds to me like a Mel Brooks comedy sketch.

Do you know how old it is?
Really old, probably going back to Roman outposts along the Rhine.

How did you get into Riesling?
Well, both my wife Fredericka and I have connections to Germany, and Riesling is the German grape par excellence.  I first visited Germany when I was 17, so my first wine experience was with Riesling. Fredericka’s mother is German (from the Rheinland), so she no doubt has a bit of Riesling running through her veins.

How does Alsatian-style Riesling differ from German Riesling?
When we started Claiborne & Churchill, we took our inspiration more from the (once German, now French) province of Alsace, across the Rhine from Germany. In Alsace, Riesling is king; it is the most planted varietal there, and nowhere else in France do they allow it to be grown. The Rieslings from Alsace tend to be drier, more structured and full-bodied than those in Germany. They are definitely not “sweet sipping wines.” (Having said that, it must be pointed out that these days German Rieslings are getting drier and drier.)

Where does C&C Riesling come from?
At Claiborne & Churchill we source our Riesling grapes from two regions: (1) our own Edna Valley, including our Estate Vineyard, and (2) Monterey County, specifically the Arroyo Seco area, where cold weather produces intensely aromatic grapes.

What are some typical aromas and flavors associated with wine made from Riesling?
One of the great things about Riesling wines is how they reflect a sense of place, of terroir if you will. But what all Rieslings have in common (if grown and made properly) is an abundantly floral and fruity aroma in the nose and a wallop of bracing acidity on the palate. In its youth you might find hints of apple blossoms, of peaches, of honey. As a Riesling ages it takes on more depth of flavor, and often develops a bouquet referred to by the off-putting word “petrol.”

What are the challenges to making it?
Riesling is a bit of a challenge to grow, because it is a late ripener and fairly susceptive to rot (including the precious “noble rot”). The grapes need to be pressed slowly and long, to get the best juice. Fermentation should be cold.

How long between pick, bottling, and release?
Riesling can be bottled relatively soon after it is made, but it needs a bit of aging before release. It is unfortunately true that most Rieslings are released too early (including ours) because people prize the youthful fruitiness more than the more profound flavors that the patina of age gives. Oh well, each to his own!

How do you most enjoy Riesling?
Riesling is famous for being the most versatile of wines and the most food-friendly. We enjoy it by itself as an aperitif wine (especially if it has a tiny touch of residual sugar), but it really stands out on the dinner table. I love it with poultry (Chicken in Riesling is a standard Alsatian dish), and fish, particularly shellfish. I think Dungeness Crab and Dry Riesling is a match made in heaven.

What other regions are making Riesling that you enjoy? (New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, etc)
Outside California, Germany and Alsace, good Rieslings can be found in Oregon and Washington, in the Finger Lakes region of New York , and in Australia. Each Riesling bears the hallmarks of its place of origin.

We will be releasing our 2014 Dry Riesling on May 1^st 2015.