With our club members’ help, we chose the top barrels to use in our 2008 Barrel Select Cabernet Sauvignon, 2008 Reflections and 2008 Merlot. These wines are to be bottled in the next few months and available in the spring club shipment.

As always, Pat did some great appetizers and Paul was in rare form. Climbing up on barrels and letting everyone experience his passion for making wine and the direction Still Waters is heading. We feel the best is yet to come!!

Here are a few pictures of the afternoon:

We all know chips and guacamole are a game day favorite, or at least they are here at Still Waters Vineyards, so why not try a slight variation on the tradition.  Instead of the trusty tortilla chips,  use a nice toasted baguette. Instead of the bowl of guacamole, step up the presentation and use homemade guac with lime and cilantro. Serve this as a Guacamole Bruschetta and your guests will be amazed!  Pair this appetizer with our Sauvignon Blanc. The crisp acidity of the Sauvignon Blanc will compliment the richness of the guacamole. (Guacamole Bruschetta  recipe below)

For those of you planning to host a chili cook-off for your super bowl party, wow your guests with this twist on the classic. White Lightning Chicken Chili – a  slightly lighter version then the original tomato based chili.  The base for this chili contains… WINE!   Serve this favorite in warm bread bowl and top with some pepper jack cheese for a zesty finish. Pair this with our Chardonnay or Merlot and enjoy! (White Lightning Chicken Chili recipe below)

Hope these ideas help change up the traditional game day treats and remember our tasting room is open 11-5pm for those of you who would like to skip the game all together and enjoy a taste of wine with us.

Guacamole Bruschetta

(original recipe www.justataste.com)

½ loaf French bread
1 Clove Garlic
2 Tbsp Olive Oil (Still Waters Of Course!)
2 tomatoes, medium chopped
2 avocados, medium chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
¼ cup chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F

Slice the French bread on a diagonal into ½” rounds and place on a baking sheet

Toast the sliced bread in the oven for 3 minutes then flip each piece and toast an additional 3 minutes

Remove the toasted bread from the oven and immediately rub with the clove of garlic

Brush the tops of the garlic rubbed toasts with olive oil and set aside

In a large bowl, combine the chopped tomatoes, avocado, onion, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper. Mix together gently making sure the avocado is well coated with the lime juice

Spoon a portion of the mixture onto each of the garlic toasts and enjoy!

WHITE LIGHTNING CHICKEN CHILI

(original recipe www.cooks.com)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 cans great northern beans, rinsed
1 whole white onion, diced
1 cup frozen white corn
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 ½ cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 bulb fresh garlic, minced
6 habanera peppers
½ cup white wine
1 can chicken broth
2 tsp. cumin powder
1 tsp. coriander powder
1 tbsp. ground white pepper
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 lime, squeezed for juice
½ cup sour cream
½ cup shredded pepper jack cheese

Heat olive oil in large sauté pan to medium-high heat, and add garlic, onions, and chicken. Sauté for 10-15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.

In a large Dutch oven add chicken broth, cumin, coriander, ground white pepper, lime juice, habanera peppers (if mild chili is preferred, use fewer hot peppers, as desired – the quantity given is very hot!), and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover with lid, and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Add the chicken, garlic, and onion mixture, plus the corn, beans, yellow bell pepper, mushrooms, and white wine.

Cover and let simmer for approximately 30-35 minutes.  Garnish with sour cream and shredded jack cheese.  Serve with crusty french bread and a glass of Still Waters Chardonnay or Merlot!

Racking wine into new French Oak barrels

As many of you know, I’m passionate about both my red AND white wines.  Not many small Paso estate wineries have 4 varieties of white grapes.

I have searched around the last 10 years to perfect the style of white wines we make at Still Waters.

All stainless is just too acidic.  Barrel fermented is too much oak and  the wines go through malolactic fermentation. This changes the Malac acid to Lactic acid, but also can make the wines too buttery and flat. They also don’t age as well.

So in 2008, I found my favorite method.  With our own bottling line, we have total flexibility when we bottle our wines, and how long they stay in oak.  I decided to ferment the whites 100% in stainless to control the pure acidity of the wines.  Then we order 100% new French Oak barrels for that years’ white production.  We put all of our white wine in the new barrels in January ( As seen in the picture ).

We taste the wines weekly to get just the perfect amount of oak influence on the wine.  Pat & Kasey think this could also be why I like this method so much. Usually on Sunday afternoons I like to taste through the whites so if you’re around in January through March you may want to join me!  Most of the whites stay in the new French Oak for 70 to 120 days.

When we remove the whites from the new barrels, we then put the most recent years reds  in.  These reds had been stored  in stainless barrels for freshness while waiting for the new French oak barrels.  It’s a little too soon to know for sure but the 2008 & 2009 reds we have bottled so far (Malbec & Zinfandel)  are softer and more complex. They are also all sold out and received Gold Metals at San Francisco Chronicle, so maybe my search for the perfect white wine has spilled over into our red program.

Hope to see you soon in the barrel room!

Paul Hoover – Wine maker / Mad Scientist

Weddings are amazing to be a part of. From the engagement, the planning process, to the actual wedding day, weddings are a BLAST!

Here are a few great moments from 2011.

The Mariachi Band started playing at “I DO’ and lead the guests into the Barrel Room for cocktail hour.

Absolutely stunning photo of a bride and groom. January in the Olive Grove with the vineyard lit in the background.

A very unique twist on the typical ceremony set up. This bride and groom wanted to be surrounded by family and friends as they said I DO.

Two of the cutest kiddos ever!

Beautiful evening with the most perfect full moon!

We had such a great time in 2011 and met some amazing people at all the different weddings. We are looking forward to sharing in many memories with our 2012 Bride and Grooms.

Cheers and thanks for letting Still Waters Vineyards be a part of your Happily Ever After!

The 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is the largest wine competitions of American wines with over 55oo entries. Come out and barrel taste the future vintages. We think you’ll agree that the best is yet to come!

Thanks for all your support!

Clancy and Piper enjoying the party

We are all back to work this week and more excited than ever about what 2012 holds for Still Waters. We hope that your holiday parties are as fun (and safe) as ours. This time of year we are proud to recognize how lucky and blessed we are to have wonderful bosses, co-workers and of course friends like you! Wishing you and yours a merry (and responsible) holiday season!

Still Waters Family

P.S. Chuck the eggnog and drink wine!

Happy Holidays!

When harvesting olives you have to choose between machine harvesting using the shaker method or the traditional style of hand harvesting. Just like in the vineyard we choose to hand harvest our olive trees. Since our trees are over 100 years old and much larger than most commercial productions,  the process of harvesting the olives can be a little tricky. We comb the branches using plastic rakes on the end of long poles. Each branch gets raked to collect the olives onto the ground where we have tarps ready to receive them.

Harvesting the olives using a comb

Beautiful olives!

This year we decided to stay local when processing our olives and used Foxdale Farm Olive Mill. The following pictures will take you through the steps of making our wonderful olive oil.

The olives are in the hopper ready to become oil. They first go into the deleafer to remove leaves, twigs and any other debris.

The olives get washed and go into the hammer mill where they will be crushed.

The crushed olives move to the Malaxor which stirs the crushed olives to help in the separation of liquid.

In the next step, the oil starts taking form. The Decanter separates the solids from the liquid oil.

Cheers and Enjoy!