What’s a Good Gumbo Wine?

For five years, Iris Rideau glanced at the crumbling adobe structure adjoining her property near Solvang. Then she bought it, and that was the start of Rideau Vineyard, one of Santa Barbara County’s newest wineries.

If it hadn’t been for local zoning restrictions, the county would have had a new restaurant, a coffee house or a bed and breakfast instead. When Rideau learned that the code allowed installing a winery and tasting room--as long as the wines were bottled and labeled on the premises--she didn’t hesitate a second.

Now the first Rideau wines are being poured in the carefully restored adobe.

The 1884 building is one of the few two-story adobes in California and in 1978 was designated a Santa Barbara County historical monument. Known as the Alamo Pintado Adobe (it’s on Alamo Pintado Road), the property has been a stagecoach stop, an inn, a ranch and an olive orchard. Then it was abandoned for a decade.

“It was [a] shambles,” Rideau recalls. “There wasn’t a blade of grass.”

Inside, old wooden floors had been covered with fake hardwood. Rideau restored those, polished old brass doorknobs, added family heirlooms and scoured antique shops all over Southern California for furniture, china and accessories. “It looked terrible, but I have a great imagination,” she says.

The kitchen is a dream. Rideau’s goddaughter, Caren Rideau of the Kitchen Design Group in Pacific Palisades, lent a hand, and the result is a warm room with distressed pine cabinets and pine flooring, a marble-topped baking center and granite and tile counter tops. An antique black iron chandelier hangs above the center island, and off to one side is a cozy fireplace.

The kitchen opens onto a screened porch that is large enough for parties. A passageway at the other end leads to a spacious, grassy yard, where picnic tables and white Adirondack chairs are scattered under massive old oaks.

Now comes the crucial question. How could a woman who knows nothing about winemaking operate a winery? No problem. Rideau is an astute businesswoman with a long career in insurance, investment banking and retirement planning. She simply did what smart business people do--she hired the right people. The winemaker is Rick Longoria, who makes wines under his own name and most recently was winemaker at the Gainey Vineyard. The vineyard manager is Craig Macmillan, who also makes his own wines.

“This business has everything,” Rideau says, “the wines, the food, the romance, the hard work. It gives me the challenge I need in business. And you get to live in a beautiful place like this.”

Rideau Vineyard’s first wines were a Semillon, a Chardonnay and a red blend called Vin Rouge that were purchased in bulk, then bottled and labeled on the premises. The first wine crushed, bottled and labeled at the winery was a Riesling released in February. Also released this year were a Viognier and a white wine blend called Vin Blanc.

Although she is not a wine technician, Rideau contributes her own areas of expertise. Born in New Orleans, she is an accomplished Creole cook. On weekends, she’ll make jambalaya or some other specialty for visitors to try with wine. It’s only a few steps from the tasting room to the kitchen, which is stocked with Creole seasonings that visitors can buy.

For a label, she chose a Creole painting that shows a jazzy procession returning from a cemetery. The vintage way the adobe is furnished reflects her Creole origins too.

“Most of the architecture in New Orleans is European-French,” she says. “When I walked in here I felt I was at home again.” The thick walls of the adobe were one factor in this impression. An adobe block saved from an upstairs wall now serves as an office doorstop.

When Rideau entertains, the ambience and food are pure New Orleans. The tables are set with elaborate floral centerpieces in heirloom containers, antique china and lacy overlays atop plain colored tablecloths. “I like entertaining, setting beautiful tables with beautiful china and crystal,” she says.

For a recent lunch, Rideau pulled together a sumptuous setting, then cooked the dishes herself and matched them with wines.

Lunch started with crab cakes--a recipe of her mother, Olivia Daliet.

“We almost had to kill her to get it,” Rideau jokes. Daliet, a lively 81-year-old, lives in Rideau’s house up the road from the winery. Rideau also maintains an apartment in Los Angeles because her two companies, Rideau and Associates Insurance Agency and Rideau Retirement Planning Consultants, are headquartered in Culver City. She commutes to the winery and eventually will retire there.

Rideau poured the 1996 Chardonnay with the crab cakes. “I think it’s fabulous,” she says proudly. “It’s very light and has a lot of fruit.”

Next came a rich, dark gumbo, with a spoonful of rice in the center of each bowl. Its texture was velvety and the taste a little spicy, and this gave an illusion of sweetness to the accompanying wine, a 1997 Viognier. “This is my favorite wine here,” Rideau says. “It pairs very well with seafood.”

The gumbo itself sounds as complicated to make as the wine. “It takes hours and hours. You have to prepare each ingredient separately,” Rideau says. That means chicken, ham, shrimp and crab. The okra came from Daliet, who buys a crate at a time, then sautes and freezes it. Okra gumbo is made in the summer, when fresh okra is available, Rideau explains. File gumbo, which is thickened with file powder (ground dried sassafras leaves), is a heavier, spicier gumbo that is made in winter.

Next Rideau brought out jambalaya. “I think my Aunt Irene is the one who came up with this recipe,” she says. The dish combines chicken, shrimp, ham and andouille sausage with rice. “It’s kind of like a paella,” Rideau comments. With this, she served her 1997 Vin Blanc, a blend of Roussanne, Chenin Blanc, Viognier and Pinot Gris. “It has a wonderful, aromatic aroma,” she points out.

This was followed by creamy red beans and rice and the 1995 Vin Rouge, which blends Merlot and Cabernet Franc. “Can you get the peppery taste at the back of your throat?” Rideau asks. She could have been talking about either the wine or the beans, because guests doused the red beans at the table with liquid from a bottle of Cajun Chef tabasco peppers.

The last course was a devilishly rich peach cobbler, made according to a recipe from Lauren MacLeod, who is apprenticing to Longoria as assistant winemaker. The cobbler was paired with the Riesling, which, at 3.2% residual sugar, is not sweet enough for extremely sugary desserts but goes well with fruit or cheese.

The porch where lunch was served looks out on empty land that will be planted to Rho^ne varietals, including Syrah, Roussanne and Viognier. The vineyard boundaries encompass almost 23 acres, 17 of which will be planted to grape vines. “I can hardly wait to go out and plant the first rootstock,” Rideau says. That will happen next year.

Wine production is small--1,600 cases for the 1997 vintage, rising to 2,700 this year. Rideau plans to reach 10,000 cases in three years but will not expand further. “I want to remain a nice little boutique winery that specializes in Rho^ne varietals,” she says, “paired with excellent southern Creole foods.” Judging by her food and her wine, she’s on the right track.

IRIS RIDEAU’S FRENCH QUARTER JAMBALAYA

3/4 pound andouille or smoked sausage, cut in half lengthwise, then sliced crosswise

Olive oil

6 chicken drumettes

3/4 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1/4 cup canned tomato sauce

3 small bay leaves

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Salt, pepper

Dash cayenne pepper

3 cups water

1 1/2 cups rice

* Saute sausage in large skillet with 1 teaspoon olive oil and remove.

* Without washing pan, saute chicken drumettes in additional 1 teaspoon olive oil and remove.

* Repeat with shrimp and remove.

* Without washing pan, add 1 teaspoon oil and saute bell pepper, onion, parsley and garlic until lightly browned. Add tomato sauce, bay leaves, thyme and salt, pepper and cayenne to taste, then bring to simmer. Add 1 1/2 cups water, rice and sauteed sausage, chicken and shrimp and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

* Add 1 1/2 more cups water and continue to simmer, covered, until water is absorbed and rice is cooked, 45 to 60 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaves.

6 servings. Each serving: 430 calories; 816 mg sodium; 94 mg cholesterol; 19 grams fat; 41 grams carbohydrates; 23 grams protein; 0.38 gram fiber.

IRIS RIDEAU’S OKRA GUMBO

Iris Rideau uses ham on the bone for this recipe. In case your market doesn’t carry ham halves, we provide a substitute method, using boneless ham and ham hocks.

1/2 ham with bone in or 1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless ham plus 2 ham hocks

5 1/2 quarts water

1 1/2 pounds unshelled shrimp

1/2 pound andouille sausage, sliced

Olive oil

12 chicken drumettes

3 pounds okra, fresh or frozen, finely chopped

Salt, pepper

1 1/2 onions, finely chopped

3 tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped

5 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

6 to 8 bay leaves

Cajun seasoning, optional

3 crab legs, cut at joints

Cooked rice

* Slice ham from bone, if using ham on the bone. Cut ham into small cubes. Place ham bone or ham hocks in large stock pot and add 4 quarts water. Bring to boil over high heat, reduce heat, cover and simmer 3 to 4 hours. Remove ham bone and discard. Reserve stock.

* Peel and devein shrimp, separately reserving shrimp and shells. Rinse shells lightly and place in saucepan with 6 cups water. Bring to boil over high heat, then simmer 45 minutes. Strain stock and set aside.

* Saute sausage in 1 teaspoon olive oil in Dutch oven until browned. Remove from pan and set aside. Do not wash pan. Add ham cubes and saute. Remove from pan, then add chicken and saute until browned. Remove from pan.

* Without washing pan, add fresh okra, season lightly with salt and pepper, and saute until lightly browned. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil if needed. (If using frozen okra, place on baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees until lightly browned, about 20 minutes, then saute as directed.) Add onions and saute until translucent. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring, about 30 minutes, until okra is no longer slimy.

* Transfer okra mixture to large stock pot. Add 2 cups shrimp broth, 2 cups ham broth and stir. Add parsley, thyme, bay leaves and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer 1 1/2 hours. Add ham, sausage and chicken, cover and simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Add 1 1/2 to 2 cups shrimp broth and 3 cups ham broth and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, 1 to 1 1/2 hours longer. (It may be necessary to add some of broth earlier if meats appear dry.)

* Season shrimp lightly with salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning to taste. Saute in 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil until pink, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from pan. When ready to serve, add shrimp and crab legs to gumbo and simmer, covered, 5 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Serve over rice.

12 servings. Each serving: 351 calories; 1,296 mg sodium; 122 mg cholesterol; 19 grams fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 32 grams protein; 1.29 grams fiber.

LAUREN’S PEACH COBBLER

This amazingly easy cobbler is one of the best you’ll ever taste. Serve it warm with vanilla bean ice cream.

6 firm peaches, sliced

1 1/2 cups sugar

Nonstick cooking spray

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 cup self-rising flour

1 cup milk

* Place peaches and 1/2 cup sugar in saucepan and cook over low heat, uncovered, until peaches soften but do not become mushy, about 15 minutes.

* Spray 13x9-inch baking pan lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Place butter in baking pan and set in 350-degree oven until melted.

* Mix flour, remaining 1 cup sugar and milk with rotary beater until smooth. Pour flour mixture evenly over melted butter. Do not stir. Pour cooked peaches onto top of batter. Do not mix. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown and bubbly on top, 45 to 60 minutes.

8 servings. Each serving: 337 calories; 323 mg sodium; 33 mg cholesterol; 12 grams fat; 56 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 0.42 gram fiber.

MOTHER’S CRAB CAKES

It is important to knead the crab mixture well to make it hold together. Although hard to find, Old Bay Crab Cake Classic mix is essential to this recipe for its bread crumbs and egg solids. Do not confuse it with regular Old Bay Seasoning.

1 pound lump crab meat, fresh or canned

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons finely chopped green bell pepper

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 bay leaf

Salt, optional

3 tablespoons Old Bay Crab Cake Classic seasoning mix

1 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise

* Drain and remove cartilage from crab meat.

* Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil, add onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add bell pepper and saute 3 minutes. Add crab meat, parsley, thyme, bay leaf and salt to taste and saute 5 minutes, stirring to combine. Remove from heat and set aside. Discard bay leaf.

* Mix crab cake seasoning and mayonnaise in small bowl.

* Place crab mixture in large bowl, add mayonnaise mixture and mash and knead with hands until mixture holds together when formed into cakes. Shape into 1 1/4- to 1 1/2-inch cakes, about 2 dozen.

* Saute in 1 tablespoon oil in skillet over medium-high heat until crab cakes are golden brown on each side, about 4 minutes per side. Add more oil if needed for subsequent batches. Place cakes on paper towels to drain excess oil.

About 2 dozen mini crab cakes. Each crab cake: 36 calories; 85 mg sodium; 14 mg cholesterol; 2 grams fat; 0 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 0.01 gram fiber.