Central Coast Wines Take Center Stage

The KCBX Wine Auction Classic and Tasting here served not only as a fund-raiser but as a showcase for Central Coast wines and a sumptuous dining experience. Dinner fare ranged from Jeremiah Tower’s splashy tuna carpaccio, painted artfully with sauces and topped with American sturgeon caviar, to Howie and Bev Steinbeck’s down-home ranch menu of barbecued beef, chili beans and potato salad.

Tower designed the carpaccio to accompany the first sips of the new Maison Deutz sparkling wine. The premiere took place at Maison Deutz Winery, which the French Champagne house has established three miles south of Arroyo Grande. Guests were chauffeured to the facility in Rolls-Royces, then switched to bales of hay on trailers for an open-air ride through the vineyard.

Tower and his associates worked in an improvised kitchen, next to the tent that sheltered the diners. Fresh flowers, gleaming linens, a serving staff from England and a pianist who played light classics brought the formality of a city restaurant to the graveled surface next to the winery building. The clear plastic tent allowed guests to watch the sunset over the countryside.

Tower followed the carpaccio with fresh local salmon and leeks grilled over mesquite charcoal. Next came peppery-seasoned grilled goat cheese in ti-leaf packets. The sparkling wine that accompanied the tuna gave way to Byron Vineyard and Winery 1984 Chardonnay with the salmon and Sanford 1983 Pinot Noir with the goat cheese. The dessert, fruit-sauced savarins, gave an opportunity to try Deutz’s French-made Demi-Sec Champagne.

The Deutz party on Thursday preceded the official start of the three-day wine weekend. Friday afternoon, auction guests gathered for a barrel tasting around the pool at the San Luis Bay Inn, then divided for dinner at seven wineries including Maison Deutz, where Tower repeated his menu.

The ranch dinner was served in the tasting room at Eberle Winery near Paso Robles. Here the Steinbecks set out a buffet of grilled top sirloin and Polish sausages, garlic bread, spicy beans, salsa, potato salad, a mixed green salad that included alfalfa sprouts and a fruit platter. Eberle’s 1982 Cabernet Sauvignon and 1983 Chardonnay were poured with the dinner, and the 1985 Muscat Canelli accompanied the dessert, a meringue and nut torte topped with raspberry sauce and garnished with a kiwi slice. Steinbeck, owner of Steinbeck Vineyard, is an Eberle partner and regularly caters winery events.

Nearby, at the new Arciero Winery, dinner started with chilled avocado soup and a 1985 Chenin Blanc. Next came fettuccine with smoked trout and golden caviar accompanied by a 1984 Chardonnay. Two wines, the 1984 Zinfandel and 1984 Cabernet Sauvignon, went with roast stuffed leg of lamb, which was accompanied by an eggplant and red pepper terrine, Italian cannellini beans and an onion and raisin compote. The dessert was ricotta cheesecake with nectarines poached in 1985 December Harvest Riesling and accompanied by the wine, which has not yet been released.

Patrice Martin, wife of wine maker Nick Martin, prepared the dinner at Martin Brothers Winery. The meal started in the winery with pate, marinated shrimp and a 1985 Dry Chenin Blanc. Then guests moved to the Martin home for fresh corn soup served with a 1984 Sauvignon Blanc and a main course of cold poached salmon with pesto mayonnaise, mixed baby vegetables and green salad, accompanied by a 1983 Chardonnay. Instead of dessert, there were cheeses to go with 1984 Nebbiolo and Zinfandel. Coffee and bonbons ended the dinner.

Barbecued marinated lamb was the main dish at Saucelito Canyon Vineyard. The first course here was a goat cheese torte with sun-dried tomatoes and basil, matched with Saucelito’s 1985 White Zinfandel. The lamb, seasoned with parsley, rosemary and garlic, was obtained from the recent Santa Barbara County Fair. Accompaniments were rice pilaf with pine nuts, ratatouille, onions monegasque and a minted cucumber salad with creme fraiche. Two wines, a 1984 Zinfandel and 1983 Cabernet Sauvignon, went with these dishes. Dessert was cheesecake with nectarines and pears poached in sweet Riesling.

At Creston Manor Vineyards and Winery, appetizers included crudites , mussels, oysters and shrimp, served with a 1984 San Luis Obispo County Sauvignon Blanc. Next came chilled cucumber soup in tomato shells, paired with a 1984 Edna Valley Chardonnay.

The winery’s 1983 Edna Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was served with the main dishes and accompaniments. These were smoked Morro Bay albacore with cool chili sauce; mesquite-grilled loin of pork with smoky mustard, pasta primavera with goat cheese, a cold vegetable platter and bibb lettuce salad with buttermilk dressing.

A light red wine, the 1985 Central Coast Petit d’Noir, accompanied cinnamon orange custards for dessert.

The tasting room at Corbett Canyon Vineyards was turned into a dining room for an Italian meal that started with antipasto and choice of a sparkling wine, the 1982 Shadow Creek Brut, or Winemakers Reserve Chardonnay 1984. The Chardonnay, a 1983 Amador Zinfandel and 1985 White Zinfandel were set out with the main dish, which was salmon with a julienne of carrots, onions and squash and radicchio salad. Dessert, the Italian torta tira misu, was accompanied by Muscat Canelli 1984.

The Wine Auction

The next day was devoted to the wine auction. That evening, wineries poured their sparkling wines on a terrace overlooking San Luis Obispo Bay. Here tasters tried such new products as Estrella River Winery’s Estate Bottled Blanc de Blancs, Methode Champenoise Star Cuvee 1982, which is now being released, and Castoro Cellars’ first sparkling wine, its blush colored, methode champenoise 1985 Blanc de Noir Brut, made from 100% Zinfandel grapes and scheduled for release in September.

Dinner followed on the auction site, where tables were hosted by about 40 wineries. The elaborate menu prepared by chefs from Los Angeles played second fiddle to the cold weather, which drew guests like moths to a handful of warmers. Joachim Splichal’s cold crab gazpacho struck a congenial note with the frigid temperature. Then came cold marinated raw salmon, albacore and sea bass prepared by Alain Grizard.

The potato salad that accompanied Laurent Quenioux’s country sausage somehow remained warm. And the seasoning at least was hot in Pierre Sauvaget’s mole sauce, which accompanied a vegetable tamale and slice of pepper-stuffed veal loin. Michel Richard, who coordinated the dinner menu and the chefs, collaborated with Andre Coffyn on the dessert: tarts filled with mixed fruit.

Seventy-two wineries presented their wares at the final day’s tasting, which drew 1,300 people. But there were smaller, private events, too. In the Edna Valley near Arroyo Grande, Catharine and Jack Niven, owners of Paragon Vineyard and partners with Chalone in the Edna Valley Vineyard, hosted lunch at their home. Guests included Gary Mosby, Edna Valley wine maker, and Cary Gott, who recently left his post as wine maker of Corbett Canyon Vineyards to become executive vice president and wine master of the Monterey Vineyard.

The aperitif wine, served as guests gathered on a terrace-like lawn overlooking the valley, was 1982 Shadow Creek Brut. For appetizers, there were smoked mussels, prosciutto-wrapped melon and tiny canapes topped with shrimp in curry sauce and raisins that had been soaked in Marsala wine. Lunch, also served outdoors, included cold chicken breasts with a sauce of creme fraiche and Grand Marnier; cold smoked salmon with onion rings and capers, and puff pastry tarts filled with onions that had been cooked with Sherry and White Zinfandel. The Edna Valley Vineyard 1983 Pinot Noir and 1984 Chardonnay accompanied these dishes, and lunch ended with coffee and an assortment of cakes.

In his farewell remarks to the group, Gott praised the wine-making capabilities of the region.

“The quality of the grapes down here is stunning,” he said. This remark echoed the comments of Southern California wine maker Jim Ahern as he poured his 1985 Zinfandel and Chardonnay at the Friday night barrel sampling. Although based in San Fernando, Ahern regards himself as a Central Coast wine maker.

“I’m a big fan of the Central Coast vineyards,” he said. “Eventually, I am planning to move the winery up here.”