Wine Wise Guys

by Rick Riozza

One of the nice benefits of knowing and hanging out with a bunch of winemakers is the spontaneity of their gatherings which include eating, drinking, and more eating.
Just the other day, coming back from the OC, I was close by the Galleano Winery—which I’ve written about recently–located in Mira Loma. I thought I’d just stop over, say hi to Don Galleano and pick up my usual case of Cucamonga Zinfandel. The winery was founded in 1933 and the grounds have kept their bucolic grandma’s-house charm. Everytime I pull into the winery—and I pull in really slow, I am whisked back to a time in my childhood where we played on swings tied to the thick branches of old trees.
Winemaker Don Galleano and his wines have been awarded more gold medals over the years than the Olympic swimmers. And, he’s a great cook and has a great network of wine & foodie friends who often bring by aged Italian cheeses & meats, truffles from France, local freshly dressed sausages, wild rabbit from Portugal—fun stuff like that!
When I arrived, Don was busy cooking up vacinara (oxtails stewed for hours in red wine & herbs), for a business meeting around his kitchen (yeah—Italian style) but he took the time to come out and to say hi and provide me a couple of passes to the internationally renowned Long Beach Grand Cru Food & Wine tasting event—an event that he served as one of the wine judges.
He had an apron on, he was busy cooking and I didn’t want to take his time so I ducked into the winery’s tasting room. Rocio was tending and we spoke about her last trip to a wedding in Sardinia. I need to get on her travel list! Anyway—I’m tasting some wines when Don calls over and invites me to the luncheon.
It’s harvest time here at the winery, a regular Tuesday afternoon, and here’s Don cooking all morning for his business guests Alex Cose, winemaker at the Purple Wine Company of Sonoma Ca., and, Chris Braun—a Rancho Mirage resident, who represents and brokers for a large German wine company. Also at the table was the esteemed Dr. Enrique Ferro, Master Enologist, currently serving as the winery’s consultant, and Don’s son Domenic who is now the 4th generation Galleano winemaker. Both the good doctor and Domenic will be the subject of some fun interviews on the wine biz in the upcoming weeks.
Now if you were a fly on the wall at this luncheon you’d hear enough wine wisdom, jokes, and jabs to last over a case of wine. Indeed! We were privy to some tasty Zinfandel and dry Mission grape wine right out of the vats. The vacinara was fantastic—talk about cleaning off the bones, as was Don’s dark bean soup spiced up nicely with authentic fresh Hatch chilies from New Mexico—no doubt brought in by a friend.
Funny thing about this serendipitous meeting with Alex Cose and Dr. Ferro, neither of whom I had met previously: just four days earlier, I was attending a wine tasting at Palm Desert’s 3rd Corner Wine Shop & Bistro, and I had the opportunity to speak about and discuss some of their wines!
The Purple Wine Company has a popular brand called 4 Vines and their line is all Zinfandels—except for an un-oaked Chardonnay called Naked. It is refreshing and minerally but with a great touch of apple and pear along with a tinge of brioche or maybe yeast. Some at the tasting thought that this wine had some oak to explain the flavors. But Naked means naked: no oak! So I explained to the tasting crowd that Chardonnay can acquire that distinctive yeasty aroma and taste when the winemaker takes the time to stir the lees—those residual yeasts remaining after fermentation. Alex, the winemaker, mentioned and confirmed the same thing at our winery luncheon.
Another Purple Company wine we tasted was BEX, a Riesling, which the tasting crowd loved, and which I had the pleasure of sharing previously with Austrian born Chef Johannes at his eponymous restaurant in Palm Springs. Although Chef Johannes does a fantastic and eclectic international cuisine, he still knows well his Riesling and we both enjoyed this great value wine that’s crisp and racy with peach and lime flavors from grapes sourced in Germany.
Besides consulting at Galleano, Dr. Ferro serves as a wine consultant to many of the top-tier wineries in Temecula. So there I am, unbeknownst that the Angry Wife Red 2009 that I’m tasting and sharing info on, is one of the many wines that Dr. Ferro has his hands on—literally! From Ponte Winery, this blend of red wine made from the winery’s best grapes—which kind of makes it an “owner’s reserve”, changes from year to year and is a limited production. Tasting notes: “Full and chewy, dark fruits, dark chocolate, and vanilla.” The doctor is definitely in!
I tell you it’s a kick meeting up with these guys after, and independently, enjoying their wines.
Here’s to fun surprises! Cheers!
Rick continues to host wine tastings & events. Contact winespectrum@aol.com