Claiborne & Churchill Winery Blog

Blend like a pro!

This past Saturday we held our 2nd Annual White Wine Blending Party/Seminar. Twenty-five guests were divided into five teams ("Wine Divas", "Goes Well With...", "Alice in Wineland", "Weekend Vintners", "Rag Tops") that competed to create the perfect white wine blend. Each team was equipped with barrel samples of three white varietals from our cellar, a beaker, a graduated cylinder, and a stir stick. After owner Clay Thompson welcomed the participants,  Winemaker Coby  Parker-Garcia began the event with an introduction on which varietals they will be using (only participants know what these are), characteristics they should look for in the final blend, and also explained what he tries to achieve when creating blends.

 

So off they went mixing, examining, tasting, questioning, more tasting and finally each team came to a conclusion on its final blend. The formulas for these blends were submitted and everyone broke for a delicious lunch catered by Popolo. Thank you Leon, lunch was delicious!

During the lunch break, Coby created larger batches of each team's blend to be tasted in the final taste-off for the Winning Blend. Congratulations to team "Rag Tops" which consisted of Cellar Club members Patrick and Maureen Curran and their friends Debbie and Claudio. This is the Currans' second win at one of our Blending Parties.

This event is fun and exciting for the participants since it's a hands-on, interactive wine party. The white wine blend that they create is what we will actually bottle in the coming months and label with our new and totally cool "CLUELESS WHITE" label. Not only is the event interactive but the wine label is too! Cellar Club members have already had a taste of our "CLUELESS RED" and know all about this interactive label.

Our 2010 Red Blending Party/Seminar is scheduled for June 5^th, seating is limited so be sure to reserve your seat now!

A Blast to the Past!

Thank You to everyone who attended our Library Tasting & Warehouse Sale. Thankfully the weather held off and we enjoyed a beautiful San Luis Obispo day while sipping on some historic C&C wines.

A total of fifty library wines plus six current wines were available for tasting. The tasting consisted of five varietals including: Dry Gewürztraminer, Dry Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir (Edna Valley and Twin Creeks), and our very own PortObispo. We have a couple of the wines still available for purchase, to find a complete list please visit our website at claibornechurchill.com. Luckily guests had a total of four hours to mingle, taste, and simply enjoy such a unique opportunity.

Imagine tasting through twelve vintages of Riesling, wow! Everyone was especially amazed at how well some of the older vintages held up. The 1998 Riesling was as luscious and mouth-watering as you would expect from a newer vintage, plus its age added an interesting level of complexity.

Many guests inquired about the three cheeses we offered (Kerrygold Dubliner, Compté, and Gouda). I can let you in on a little secret, they can all be purchased for a very reasonable price at Costco. However, you can find a wonderful more comprehensive selection at our local Monterey St. Wines or the Cheese Shop in both Carmel and Santa Barbara.

Lastly, I would like to thank all of our help for the day. This event would have not been as great without you. A big thank you to Clay, Fredericka, Coby, Brook, Bruce, Don, Rob, Hilary, Miguel, Carol, Bob, Vera, Tim, Lindsey, Rick, Larry, Jeanette, Jerry, and Sharyn.

Angela Gloeckler