The weather is nice, not warm, but that delicate spot between uncomfortable extremes where wine grapes like to live. I’m meeting Charles Hendricks (CH), the winemaker and co-owner of hope & grace wines for the past twelve years at a renowned local restaurant, steps from the Yountville tasting room, a perk of the tasting room location.

I always identified with Maverick from Topgun. There is a natural knowledge of how to do things… I joke that I come stupid to each vintage without pre-conceived ideas of what’s going to happen.

Charles Hendricks arrives promptly, dressed in a clean black t-shirt and tan cargo pants. He elicits a comparison to Dr. Drew from TV, crisp, and casual. His attire is functional while still expressing a clean aesthetic. He informs me he’s primarily working in the cellar today and won’t be in the vineyards.

He approaches the lunch confidently, he’s familiar with the menu, the dishes, and most importantly the wine; his Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir graces the list at this restaurant.

RM: When you eat somewhere where your wine is on the wine list do you order it?

CH: Not usually, I like to try something else, see what other people are doing.

So he selects a Russian river Pinot Noir as a comparison. After the initial pleasantries are completed and orders made I continue.

RM: Not taking into account any wine you personally have made, what is the best wine you’ve ever had?

Charles stops only for a second and responds with surety.

CH: ‘78 Domaine de la Romanee Conti Grands Echezeaux I think it was in 1992.

RM: Where were you?

CH: I was in San Francisco at the restaurant of a friend and I was bemoaning the fact that I couldn’t find any good pinot noir and I was going to write off the whole category, and the chef goes ‘no you’ve got to try this.’ She pulls something off the shelf in their wine cellar and it’s this bacon fruit bomb that overtook my whole system from mouth to belly, everything was echoing those flavors; it was ethereal and I still remember that… and I said ‘ok I’ve got it now’ and it laid out where I want to be.

RM: And nothing has stood up to that since then?

CH: Nope (no hesitation).

RM: You talk passionately and eloquently of wine, is that what you want to be since boyhood?

CH: Growing up all I knew was veterinary medicine… my dad was a veterinarian and when an animal was injured in the middle of the night he’d wake me up and we’d go down to the veterinary hospital and I’d be doing treatments with him or helping with a surgery… I liked it, I liked to make them better and work in the animal hospital. It was very fulfilling.

RM: And how did you go from that to the wine world?

CH: Coming from Anaheim, CA there wasn’t a wine culture at that time. And UC Davis was the only school with a veterinary medicine program so I applied there and got in. In college everyone took ‘Introduction to Winemaking’ because you got to drink the wine… but after I took the class it struck me.

RM: What was your favorite part of the class… besides drinking wine?

Charles chuckles, he has a calm and friendly air about him. The staff have recognized him and we are graced with a salad compliments of the chef: Artichokes two ways, shaved and fried with an anchovy vinaigrette. He is gracious in his acceptance and he digs into the salad as we continue.

CH: The agriculture really appealed to me. I took a year and two thirds under my physiology major and I changed my major to viticulture… and then I was kinda one of the first that wrote my own major that included the viticulture and the winemaking courses. The programs had not yet been integrated because of politics. Back in the ‘70’s the grapegrowers and the winemakers were always fighting each other. The grapegrowers were trying to put the peddle to the metal and make the highest yields possible, to hell with the quality, and the winemakers were reading about Bordeux and low grape yields… so they didn’t understand each other.

RM: You were interested in the viticulture… what do you think drove the division?

CH: Back then the grapegrowers were paid on sugar points and the higher the sugar content the more they got paid, as opposed to now. It showed that there weren’t the common goals of today. Today when you contract with a grapegrower you contract for tonnage and you develop a relationship, some of my wines I’ve been sourcing from the same growers and the same vineyards since almost the beginning. The grower knows what you want and knows he has to provide clean fruit of high grade.

RM: You were at UC Davis which is now world-renowned for their Food and Wine Institute, but you were there before that… how did you learn what you know now?

CH: Yeah I was there in the dark ages… (Charles chuckles). In the California wine world back then it was an active time of experimenting trying to figure out what we had… it took us 5-6 years before we found out the Text Books had lied to us. Everything was technically correct but we discovered that it doesn’t work that way in real life.

RM: Where did you learn your secrets then?

CH: Trial and error… probably 10 years experimenting with different problems in wine. Working at different wineries that each had unique issues, barrel issues, cellar issues, etc. I got really good at working with difficult wines.

RM: You’ve worked in a lot of places with a lot of different people in the industry, how would other winemakers describe you?

CM: That’s a good question… probably a cowboy, (Charles smiles feeling comfortable with this idea)I don’t keep the best notes. I always identified with Maverick from Topgun. There is a natural knowledge of how to do things… I joke that I come stupid to each vintage without pre-conceived ideas of what’s going to happen. I’ve watched larger companies try to computer model when the grapes will be ready. I never made wine from a laboratory model… you just have to be out there in the grapes doing it. I don’t follow a textbook or a computer model and that’s where the cowboy comes in…

… to be continued.

The use of cover crops and legumes planted in the rows between the vines provides fertile, nitrogen rich soil allowing for healthy vine growth. Later in the season, the cover crop is tilled into the soil providing a second burst of nutrients in the mid-season. The promoted biodiversity encourages growth of beneficial flora and fauna and fosters a wildlife habitat for native animals. Ladybugs, beetles and lacewings which can call this habitat home thrive and consume potential natural pests to our vines. Any chemicals that are used sparingly in the vineyard are organic approved & considered reduced-risk pesticides. This results in a higher fruit quality thus allowing Charles to make a more natural wine.

This is a commitment that our growers make not just on earth day but all year. When you open the new 2010 hope & grace Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands, please feel good about the decision you made knowing that you are supporting the work, craft and respect of our winemaker and growers and their dedication to the environment.

Inspired by the end of a “winter”(I use this term loosely as not to offend anyone) season and the beginning of a new growing season, I dished out a can of Urbani Truffle products to each of the hope & grace team members. The assignment? Concoct the perfect, decadent and soul-warming pasta recipe… Let’s say goodbye to “winter” and welcome spring! Use either season as an inspiration…

Here are two of my colleagues unbelievable truffle/pasta recipes…. Special Thanks to VICKIE AND CINDY!!!!!

Vickie’s White Truffle, Porcini and Lamb Risotto

Braised Lamb
1 ½ lb  lamb shanks, not trimmed
½ cup dry red wine (or more)
2 heaping T Dijon mustard
2 t sea salt
1 t freshly ground black pepper
½ head of garlic
½ yellow onion
olive oil to brown onions, garlic and lamb
Chop garlic and onions, add to olive oil in frying pan, brown.
Remove lamb shanks from pan and deglaze pan with red wine, adding mustard as well.
Place lamb, and sauce from frying pan in slow cooker.  Cook approx. 3 hours high, 3 hours on low.  May take less time.

Risotto
6 tablespoons butter, divided
16 oz Arborio Rice
4 cup hot vegetable broth
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
6.1 oz can Urbani White Truffles and Porcini sauce

Melt 3 T butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add rice, stir 1 minute. 
Add 1 cup hot broth.  Simmer until broth is almost absorbed, stirring often.  Repeat, using remaining broth, 1 cup at a time.  Stir and simmer until mixture is creamy, about 20 minutes longer.  Stir in remaining 3 T butter, parmesan cheese, and Urbani White Truffles and Porcini sauce.
Add braised lamb to risotto, garnish with parsley and serve with 2008 hope & grace Russian River Pinot Noir.
PS.  I would add asparagus next time!

Cindy’s Truffled Pasta

1 can Urbani Tomatoes Truffle Thrills
4 Tbsp. Tomato paste
3 Tbsp. finely sliced shallots
3/4 cup sliced shitake mushrooms
1/4 cup sliced baby portobello mushrooms
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 tsp fresh chopped oregano
1/2 tsp fresh chopped rosemary
3 Tbsp Olive oil Plus  additional to finish
1/2 cup water or stock

Heat olive oil until shimmering, add shallots and sauté until barely tender, add shitake and portobello mushrooms, sauté until they release their liquid. Sauté until pan is almost dry, kick up the heat and deglaze the pan with the wine. Sauté 4 minutes, add the oregano and rosemary, let cook 3 or 4 minutes. Add Urbani tomato Thrill, and tomato paste. Stir together, add 1/4 water or stock if very thick, bring to a simmer. Simmer 12 minutes, watching thickness and adding water or stock for desired thickness.
Serve over warm parmesan polenta or cooked pasta of your choice! Enjoy with hope & grace 2009 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir.

More often than not a huge garden will be planted and all summer long friends are generously dropping off baskets of tomatoes by the variety, jalapeños, padrone peppers (not as spicy as Kung Pao chicken), habaneros, red and green bell peppers, corn, zucchini and squash, swiss chard and kale, carrots and more, which are offered over a neighbors’ balcony with a smile. The abundant crop yields also make us creative as we strive to make use of every piece of produce provided…

As a child, summer vacation meant at least 1-2 weeks commitment in the production line of my mother’s kitchen helping with canning and freezing. When the tomatoes were in, they would get blanched, peeled and then frozen in quart containers to use all year long (My favorite part was the BLT lunch around mid-day)…The blackberries and raspberries meant jam and jellies(although we tried to eat as many berries as possible)… and then there was the Red Pepper Jelly…

The plethora of jalapeños, red bells and green bells would be sliced, seeded and finely chopped… For us kids that was the extent… The picking, seeding, and then thorough hand washing in an attempt to make sure my brother didn’t burn his face…. Again… from there Mom would take over…

The Red Pepper Jelly was sweet, a little spicy and delicious on cream cheese and crackers, roast meat sandwiches and more… The best was the last jar of the season we saved for Easter. So simple, delicious as it basted our Easter Ham and perfect with pinot noir….

Red Pepper Jelly

My mother followed the science of canning and still uses the SURE.JELL® Hot Pepper Jelly recipe…it’s a keeper.

Ingredients

2 medium red peppers, seeded, finely chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)

2 medium green peppers, seeded, finely chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)

10 large jalapeño peppers, seeded, finely chopped (about 1 cup)

1 cup cider vinegar

1 box SURE-JELL Fruit Pectin

½ tsp. butter or margarine (optional)

5 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl (See tip below.)

Directions

1. BRING boiling-water canner, half-full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.

2. PLACE peppers in 6- or 8-qt. saucepot. Add vinegar. Stir in pectin. Add butter to reduce foaming, if desired. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.

3. LADLE immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with 2-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. (Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 10 min. Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. (If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)

Roasted Red Pepper Jelly Easter Ham

Cook time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 (5 pound) ready-to-eat ham

1 jar of Red Pepper Jelly (recipe above)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. Score ham in not pre-sliced and place ham in foil lined pan.

3. After 40 minutes, pull the ham out and spread/brush the ¾ of the Red Pepper Jelly generously all over the ham and bake for an additional 35 minutes.

4. Baste ham every 10 to 15 minutes with a little more jelly.  If it doesn’t have a nice glaze and a little crisp, turn on broiler to caramelize the jelly for the last 4 minutes. The ham should read an internal temperature of 140 at this point. Remove from oven, and let sit a few minutes before serving.

So simple for a large crowd or fabulous for the family and leftovers the rest of the week. We love it paired with the 2008 hope & grace Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir…

The ham and cheese sandwiches the next day will be a treat for the family… no complaints!