The Latest

Is it Spring yet (part deux)?

Weather…who needs this rain? We’re ready for spring but Mother Nature has supplied an additional month of rain, showers and lots of clouds and cool weather. This has slowed vineyard growth to the point that the buds are practically bursting and ready to bloom. With a few days of sunshine that will happen—the weather report says that we’ll see warm weather soon. Slow growth in the vineyard means harvest will be a bit delayed but we don’t yet know what we’ll have in July and August—more cool weather or hot days. Time will tell and we’ll be here next month to report on the status.

The rain hasn’t stopped our travel though and I have just completed four trips in five weeks.  Each stop at markets in Boston, Rhode Island, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and northern Virginia have all been great, introducing new friends to our wines. Richard is taking care of his markets and you’ll see him in Texas after spending some time in Ohio and Missouri last month.  I’m headed for the Mile High city at the end of June, and Ed is headed to Japan! All in a day’s work—someone has to tell our story and who better than us?

For more photos of Spring in Dry Creek Valley, click here.

Released

We make two styles of Chardonnay from two vineyard sources at the south end of Dry Creek Valley. They have been bottled and released just in time for summer sipping.

  2009 Vintage Selection Chardonnay
Fresh, clean and straightforward—just crisp with the right amount of fruit to say “Nice Chardonnay!”

   2009 F Johnson Chardonnay

For those who prefer a more complex style of Chardonnay, this one from a small block in the Frank Johnson Vineyard doesn’t disappoint. 100% barrel fermented, 10% malo-lactic fermentation, 110% satisfaction.

2005 Four Grapes Port

Calling all Port fans—even in the summertime you can enjoy our delicious four grape blend from our own vineyard. As we like to say at Pedroncelli, “every year is a vintage year for our Port and this is no exception.” Enjoy with some blue cheese, fresh figs and toasted almonds or pour a bit over a bowl of vanilla Haagen Daaz. Saboroso! which in Portuguese means yummy.

See our recipes for ideas of what to fix with these award winning wines.

Revealed!  

More great results from Wine Enthusiast: 90 Points and Editor’s Choice for our 2008 Pinot Noir; 92 Points and Editor’s Choice for our 2007 Block 007 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon.  We couldn’t agree more.

87 Points and Best Buy from Wine & Spirits Magazine for our 2009 Sauvignon Blanc.

Gold Medal Winners! Our 2008 Mother Clone Zinfandel and 2006 Petite Sirah.

 Check out all our awards here:

Events with Pedroncelli

The Family/The Archives

Sometimes a blast from the past comes in the form of a license plate cover. 25 or so years ago we made Zinfandel in three ways: Red White and Rosè. Winery Associates helped us market our wines back then and we made up a back card that said ‘Pedroncelli has Zinfandel Covered’and people could take a slip of paper and mail in the form for a license plate frame with Zin in the three colors. They had case stacks of the three wines from the west coast to the east coast and stops in between. This made me wonder if anyone still has the frame around their license plate? If you do, snap it with your i-phone and send it to me, and I'll think of something to send you in return! While we don’t make White Zinfandel now, you know our Mother Clone Zinfandel and Dry Rosè of Zinfandel are still mainstays of our line. Some things change and some things don’t—I'd say two out of three ain’t bad.

We have you covered in a different way these days. I saw these Euro-style stickers a year or so ago and knew they’d work for some of our wines. We picked Mother Clone Zinfandel (MCZ) Three Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (3VCS) and friends.red (friends.red).  We’ll send one free to you, all you have to do is email me. Send me a photo of your car with the sticker and we’ll post it on our Facebook. Let’s see if we can have a photo from a car in 50 states!

The Menu

Grilling is still on our minds, especially as it really kicks into the summer.  Here is an easy and delicious recipe using one of my favorite cuts of meat, pork tenderloin.  I also included a recipe for summer succotash (sufferin’ succotash!)

Pork Tenderloin with Spicy Soy Glaze

Serves 4

2 pork tenderloins
½ lb shallots (peeled and pureed in food processor)
1 tsp canola oil
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup water
2 T sugar
2 T apricot chutney or jam
1 T finely chopped ginger
1 T finely chopped garlic
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon chili flakes
1 lime (juice and zest)

In a saucepan cook shallots in canola oil over medium heat until softened – about 4 minutes. Stir in all ingredients except lime. Reduce by half. Stir in lime juice and zest.

Using half of the marinade, marinate pork from 2- 4 hours.Grill tenderloin over medium-high gas grill or briquets to an internal temperature of 150F. Rest pork for 5 minutes.  Slice and serve with remaining sauce over jasmine rice. We recommend our Chardonnay or friends.red with this dish.

Summer Succotash Salad

Serves 4

Best made one day ahead of serving. If you do, add basil just before serving.

3 T extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ T lemon juice
1 t honey
½ small red onion minced
¾ lb green beans, ends trimmed and cut in half cross wise
2 ears white or yellow corn, shucked, kernels removed
½ lb frozen lima beans
2 T chopped fresh basil

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, juice, honey and red onion.  Add kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

In a medium sauce pan bring 2 ½ quarts of water to boil. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and green beans and boil for 1 minute. Add lima beans and corn and cook for 5 more minutes or until tender.  Drain in colander, rinse with cold water and drain well. Transfer to serving bowl and pour dressing over vegetables. Toss and coat evenly, add basil and toss gently, adding more salt and pepper to taste.  Serve.

Want cool wallpaper? Check out our photo galleries.