Okay, as promised (or semi-promised, at least) here's a recipe to be copied, used, and cherished forever, at least by those of you who love and understand great soups. I warn you up front, however: this is not your grandma's gentle little creamy kinda-cheesy concoction that you remember from your sniffly-nosed childhood wintry stay-home-sick days that made you feel all warm and cozy. Nope, this is a rich, weighty, almost-a-full-meal-in-a-bowl version of an old-style Canadian rancher's soup that we fussed over for a number of days before we felt we had it right, and I still marvel at the level of perceptiveness that Dan Gilbert brought to this process: he was able to clearly understand how he needed to approach and solve the problem just by listening to me explain as best I could how I wanted it to taste and how it needed to work with the wines being featured on that specific night. It was perfect in the end, and was probably the most talked-about and discussed item on the menu, which was impressive. So, here you go, compliments of Chef Dan Gilbert...
Black Diamond Aged White Cheddar Soup
(serves 8)
1 leek, duced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 1/2 cups sauvignon blanc (a medium-weight wine with some grassiness is desirable)
1/2 gal rich chicken stock
2 cups heavy cream
pinch of cayenne (optional, but preferred)
pinch of kosher salt and white pepper
16 oz grated Black Diamond Canadian White Cheddar
Roux (4 oz butter, 4 oz flour)
Method
Saute leeks and celery in canola oil for 3 - 4 minutes, add sauvignon blanc and cayenne pepper and reduce by half, add chicken stock and heavy cream, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes; add a pinch of kosher salt and white pepper and ehisk in half the roux (soup will become creammy and smooth); you may add more roux if needed. Whisk in shredded lack Diamond cheddar, making sure all the cheese melts and binds together (consistency should be a light to medium thickness and silky); strain with fine mesh strainer.
Return to low heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently; if soup seems to be too thick, it may be thinned with chicken stock or sauvignon blanc; soup is ready to serve. Garnish with a whole wheat crostini. Serve with a medium-to-full sauvignon blanc albarino, or chardonnay
Those of you who are working on new fall and winter menus will want to look closely at this one...
Unhappily, Mr Fire is back among us and is currently kicking butt across wide swaths of wine country.including Napa (again), Lake (again), and Amador counties. The Valley fire (Napa) erupted late Saturday evening and has burned approximately 95 square miles as of this morning's CalFire report; it has already destroyed the little town of Middletown just north of Calistoga, and has burned more than 400 structures. CalFire is calling it a monster and Governor Jerry has declared Napa and Lake counties disaster areas again. Seems that Calistoga and Kelseyville have been designated as regional shelter centers for the hundreds of families that have been evacuated, and normal activities are in turmoil. No one can say what the impact of these fires will be on this years' winegrape harvest, but word is that a number of growers and wineries are struggling to deal with the labor crisis caused by the absence of workers who are looking after their families and property that may be in harm's way or serving as volunteer firefighters. How long this new disaster is going to be with us is far from certain; as of this morning CalFire says it's at 5% containment, but the winds are up and it keeps jumping their lines. As for the Butte fire (Amador), it appears to be almost as nasty as the Valley; one saving grace, I suppose, is that it's burning in an area that's less heavily populated (and tourist-travelled), but it doesn't appear to be any closer to containment and could do any number of things before it's all over. We wish the best for our many friends in the Napa area, and hope everyone stays safe and well...
A happy note to close this letter: we just picked up a copy of Bota Box's latest offering of their "Old Vine" Zinfandel ($18.95 for the 3l box), which is the 2013 vintage; not only is this a good, well-made red wine, which is frequently all you can hope for from a bulk package with a varietal label, but this one actually tastes like a pretty decent zin! Rich fruit, good color and balance, and a berryish finish that is old-time California through and through. It's worth your while if you like having a tasty red on hand that can be gulped down with burgers and pizza without feeling the guilt associated with uncorking a $25 or $30 bottle for your unruly friends to disrespect.
I think that's it for now, but more very soon...
Cliff
Monday, September 14, 2015
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Wine country and the drought, the (rapidly) changing face of residential landscaping in the West, and the coming of the El Nino monster...
Drought + hottest summer on record + fire ...what do you get? EARLY HARVEST!!!
So, pretty much everybody who grows wine grapes in California is now up to his or her butt in harvest, weeks and weeks early, due to the effects on vinifera of little water and a whole lot of prolonged heat. It's going to be very interesting, and a little nerve-rattling, to see what the overall quality of this vintage will be, because if, as many scientists presently believe, this growing season is a precursor of what climate change (yes, deniers, it's real, regardless of what Bush and Cheney told you) is likely to make commonplace, then we need to take note and begin learning how to deal with it as it will be. This 2015 harvest's final judgment is, of course, still a mystery to us all, even though most grapes destined to become sparkling wines are safely in,picking in Napa having begun as early as July22 (Mumm, I think) as are many of the aromatic varieties such as sauvignon blanc, gewurztraminer, albarino, viognier, etc., harvesting having begun during the first week of August. We will be spending some time in both Napa and Sonoma later this month, as well as the Shenandoah area, so will get a good look and feel for what to expect overall from some folks who are knee-deep in it, and will bring that back to you.
The pall of wood smoke that has been hanging over our end of the valley for the past month or so has been pushed to the east (temporarily, at least) by winds off the Pacific during the last week, bringing cooler temperatures (80s and 90s instead of 100 - 113) but no moisture, at least none that made it over the Coast Range. Many of us are now coming to the realization that lawns and gardens are the least of our worries: they're done. Now we're coming to understand that our trees are entering crisis territory, as well, and we're losing sleep over how to deal with that set of problems. We have several cherished trees on our property, most significantly a 60-foot beauty of a western sugarcone pine that shades the front of our house, and a hundred-year-old valley oak that anchors a big piece of our hillside between the house and the road. We have determined that we will do all possible to ensure that these two trees, in particular, survive this drought: we, like many of our neighbors, have for the past several months been re-purposing and re-using every possible drop of water that runs through our piping: dishwater, laundry water (when possible), even "stale" dog and cat water. We have taken landscape that had been irrigated for decades out of the loops, even to the point of allowing a space I had hand-graded and seeded to fine fescue with the intent of creating a backyard practice putting green go back to dirt and rock, all for the purpose of conserving additional water for our treasured trees. So each and every day we gingerly carry plastic tubs and buckets of murky dishwater or water gathered from other purposes, like washing windows, out to our trees and carefully pour it along their driplines in the hope that these extra few hundred gallons each month will help them weather this nasty experience. We'll see, I suppose, if we live long enough.
It's truly a fascinating new world here in the West: almost anywhere you go, whether it's the grocery, a gas station, the pharmacy, a bookstore, or standing on the practice tee at your local (dusty) muny, the conversations overheard will almost invariably turn to the drought and its challenges within a short time. You can bet money on it. People are attacking their particular concerns in different ways, and it's interesting to note that the folks who seem to be most actively engaged are the very ones you might expect to resist change: bless my soul, Jimmy, it's older Californians who are stepping up to the plate in droves...ripping out water-sucking lawns in favor of New Mexico/Arizona-style seriscapes or at the very least replacing thirsty turfgrass cultivars and ornamentals with more drought-tolerant varieties, and replacing outdated irrigation technologies with state-of-the-art systems pioneered by the golf industry. This is heartening stuff, as is much (though not all) of the data coming from Governor Jerry's office each month regarding how we performed during the preceding month in relation to the target reduction rates we've been given, which is generally pretty good. However, there are still pockets of resistors, mostly located in some of our more affluent areas (surprise!!!) who haven't yet gotten on the team, but they will very soon now that the heat is about to be turned up on their sorry asses...more soon on that.
The weather geniuses scattered around the world's brain tanks are still saying that the indicators are all still in place for the successful development of a powerful El Nino in the coming months, and that we here in California are likely in for a very wet winter (though it will not reach drought-buster proportions). This news is quite popular here in our little corner of the West, as you might expect. However, we've heard this song before, so no one is passing out the pointy party hats yet; we'll see.
In closing, a note to my good friend and former chef (twice, in fact), Dan Gilbert, who is presently living and working in beautiful Santa Cruz: Dan, I was thinking of that cream of Canadian cheddar (I think we used Black Diamond) soup that you created for one of our vintner's dinner menus at Del Paso a number of years back. That is one of the most strikingly-flavored culinary creations I can ever recall, and is one of the few dishes that some people still comment on from time to time. If you'll pass along the recipe we'll publish it here for the benefit of the F&B types (and anyone else who cares to try it) who check in from time to time. Let me know...
That's all for now...
So, pretty much everybody who grows wine grapes in California is now up to his or her butt in harvest, weeks and weeks early, due to the effects on vinifera of little water and a whole lot of prolonged heat. It's going to be very interesting, and a little nerve-rattling, to see what the overall quality of this vintage will be, because if, as many scientists presently believe, this growing season is a precursor of what climate change (yes, deniers, it's real, regardless of what Bush and Cheney told you) is likely to make commonplace, then we need to take note and begin learning how to deal with it as it will be. This 2015 harvest's final judgment is, of course, still a mystery to us all, even though most grapes destined to become sparkling wines are safely in,picking in Napa having begun as early as July22 (Mumm, I think) as are many of the aromatic varieties such as sauvignon blanc, gewurztraminer, albarino, viognier, etc., harvesting having begun during the first week of August. We will be spending some time in both Napa and Sonoma later this month, as well as the Shenandoah area, so will get a good look and feel for what to expect overall from some folks who are knee-deep in it, and will bring that back to you.
The pall of wood smoke that has been hanging over our end of the valley for the past month or so has been pushed to the east (temporarily, at least) by winds off the Pacific during the last week, bringing cooler temperatures (80s and 90s instead of 100 - 113) but no moisture, at least none that made it over the Coast Range. Many of us are now coming to the realization that lawns and gardens are the least of our worries: they're done. Now we're coming to understand that our trees are entering crisis territory, as well, and we're losing sleep over how to deal with that set of problems. We have several cherished trees on our property, most significantly a 60-foot beauty of a western sugarcone pine that shades the front of our house, and a hundred-year-old valley oak that anchors a big piece of our hillside between the house and the road. We have determined that we will do all possible to ensure that these two trees, in particular, survive this drought: we, like many of our neighbors, have for the past several months been re-purposing and re-using every possible drop of water that runs through our piping: dishwater, laundry water (when possible), even "stale" dog and cat water. We have taken landscape that had been irrigated for decades out of the loops, even to the point of allowing a space I had hand-graded and seeded to fine fescue with the intent of creating a backyard practice putting green go back to dirt and rock, all for the purpose of conserving additional water for our treasured trees. So each and every day we gingerly carry plastic tubs and buckets of murky dishwater or water gathered from other purposes, like washing windows, out to our trees and carefully pour it along their driplines in the hope that these extra few hundred gallons each month will help them weather this nasty experience. We'll see, I suppose, if we live long enough.
It's truly a fascinating new world here in the West: almost anywhere you go, whether it's the grocery, a gas station, the pharmacy, a bookstore, or standing on the practice tee at your local (dusty) muny, the conversations overheard will almost invariably turn to the drought and its challenges within a short time. You can bet money on it. People are attacking their particular concerns in different ways, and it's interesting to note that the folks who seem to be most actively engaged are the very ones you might expect to resist change: bless my soul, Jimmy, it's older Californians who are stepping up to the plate in droves...ripping out water-sucking lawns in favor of New Mexico/Arizona-style seriscapes or at the very least replacing thirsty turfgrass cultivars and ornamentals with more drought-tolerant varieties, and replacing outdated irrigation technologies with state-of-the-art systems pioneered by the golf industry. This is heartening stuff, as is much (though not all) of the data coming from Governor Jerry's office each month regarding how we performed during the preceding month in relation to the target reduction rates we've been given, which is generally pretty good. However, there are still pockets of resistors, mostly located in some of our more affluent areas (surprise!!!) who haven't yet gotten on the team, but they will very soon now that the heat is about to be turned up on their sorry asses...more soon on that.
The weather geniuses scattered around the world's brain tanks are still saying that the indicators are all still in place for the successful development of a powerful El Nino in the coming months, and that we here in California are likely in for a very wet winter (though it will not reach drought-buster proportions). This news is quite popular here in our little corner of the West, as you might expect. However, we've heard this song before, so no one is passing out the pointy party hats yet; we'll see.
In closing, a note to my good friend and former chef (twice, in fact), Dan Gilbert, who is presently living and working in beautiful Santa Cruz: Dan, I was thinking of that cream of Canadian cheddar (I think we used Black Diamond) soup that you created for one of our vintner's dinner menus at Del Paso a number of years back. That is one of the most strikingly-flavored culinary creations I can ever recall, and is one of the few dishes that some people still comment on from time to time. If you'll pass along the recipe we'll publish it here for the benefit of the F&B types (and anyone else who cares to try it) who check in from time to time. Let me know...
That's all for now...
Monday, August 17, 2015
California burning, but getting better (we think), foreign readers, Boeger 2012 Barbera is perfect, and Mt. Shasta as home base to Lemurian survivors (?)...
Yep. fires are pretty much everywhere you turn; so many, in fact, that the no-good environment-destroying asshole illegal marijuana cultivators can hardly breathe up there in the national forests while they're defiling our countryside, but what the hell,they've got to make a living, too. Right?
But, putting them aside, we are still on fire pretty much all over our state, but most particularly here in the far north end of the valley. Poor Trinity County is catching the most hell at present, with more than 40 individual wildfires (most caused by dry lightning in the mountains) burning, most of which are now classed as elements of fire complexes. The Fork Complex. located due west of us +- 45 miles near the mountain community of Hayfork, is burning slightly more than 34.000 acres now and is still only 55% contained after a month; the Route and South complexes, near the little town of Hyampom, together total 49,000 acres and are both at roughly 35% containment; the River Complex, in far western Trinity wilderness, is now burning 41,000 acres, having grown another 2,280 acres overnight, and is still only 18% contained, according to CalFire. These are most critical to us here in Shasta County because they're nearest, but they're only the tip of the proverbial iceberg: all-in we've got more than 145,000 acres burning here in the North State at present, while our friends and neighbors to the south, southwest, and east of us are battling their own blazes, and north of us in Oregon they've got a few of their own to deal with. Happy summer! Merry drought! At any rate, the several thousand firefighters in our part of the state are doing a hell of a job keeping the monsters away from homes and people, with fewer than 200 structures having burned so far, at least here in the north, and no more than a dozen or so injuries thus far. Unfortunately, 2 firefighters have died to date. They need a break or two, but there's nothing on the scope at present.
While we're on the subject of fires and firefighters, I do want to take a minute to vent my total disgust with the new breed of morons we're suddenly seeing flying their pieces-of-crap drones into fire areas and subsequently causing the grounding of helicopters and air tankers working in support of the ground crews due to the very real hazard these shit-for-brains clowns pose to the safety of the flight crews. Already this season, and I only know about California, there have been more than 20 drones spotted by air crews flying fire support, some within fewer than 100 feet in proximity, causing at least 8 groundings of badly-needed tankers and helicopters while they wait for the bozos to fly out of the area. This is criminal activity, plain and simple, and has got to be stopped and people sent to jail; the problem is locating these ignorant asses and apprehending them, since they are likely miles away from the scene of their crimes, and difficult to identify. The public is beginning to respond to the appeals of help from law enforcement agencies, and several have been turned in and arrested. Hopefully this trend will continue and expand before someone is killed when a $150 piece of junk flies into a tail rotor or goes through a windshield. Just sayin'...
Okay, moving on...as a matter of curiosity, we would be interested to know what it is in these posts that has attracted the attention of our several foreign readers. We know that we have more or less regular viewers in the UK, France, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Portugal, Israel, and Italy, as well as an occasional visitor from the Philippines, and we're very pleased about it. But we also are very interested in knowing more about you, so if you would reply and tell us something about yourselves we would be grateful.
I know that I've spent a considerable amount of time during the last several months commenting on wines from both Boeger and New Clairvaux wineries, but you should know that that's probably not going to stop soon. The reason is simple: almost across the board both produce wines that are consistently excellent and very fairly priced. What more do you want? Especially those of you working to put together interesting by-the-glass programs for members and guests who are again beginning to pay closer attention to the right-hand side of the list. And, to that subject, just another word to the wise: The Boeger 2012 Barbera, which we've had our fair share of this year, was just tasted again (not tasted, actually, but enthusiastically drunk down with a fat, greasy Turri grass-fed beef hamburger) and is at present absolutely perfectly ready, at least to my palate. I don't know if Greg Boeger agrees with me, and it doesn't really matter since it's such a subjective thing to debate, but he was right when he nudged me toward the 2012 as the 2011 began to disappear. This has got to be one of the half-dozen best red wine buys on the shelves today, and I recommend that you get some for both yourself and your wine lists before it disappears like the '11. Greg, how's '13? Strangely, that's always been a lucky number for me...
And so, to close another one out, just a short note re Mt. Shasta and its connection to Lemuria. (Hard to believe that I'm even writing this, actually.) As I wrote a few weeks back, I'velost my mind and have begun searching around various sources for published material regarding the various legends and tales linking the mountain with the strange and the unusual, especially its supposed role as refuge of one of the last known colonies of survivors of Lemuria. I found several books listed with various ebay o/p and rare booksellers and, after doing a very modest amount of research, bought a couple. One of those, "Lemuria - The Lost Continent of the Pacific", published by the Rosicrucian Press in the 1930s (I know, puzzled the hell out of me, too) and subtitled "The Mystery People of Mt. Shasta" is quite an adventure. The author, one Wishar S. Cerve, which turns out to be a pseudonym for the anthropologist H. Spencer Lewis, tells a good tale, and makes a great number of wild (and unsupported) claims in presenting his case, such as it is. And, apparently, there is a fairly large number of believers scattered around the world, some of whom continue to present their position online on a persistent basis. It's an interesting phenomenon. I'll re-read Wishar's book when I get the time.
Okay, that's it for now...
But, putting them aside, we are still on fire pretty much all over our state, but most particularly here in the far north end of the valley. Poor Trinity County is catching the most hell at present, with more than 40 individual wildfires (most caused by dry lightning in the mountains) burning, most of which are now classed as elements of fire complexes. The Fork Complex. located due west of us +- 45 miles near the mountain community of Hayfork, is burning slightly more than 34.000 acres now and is still only 55% contained after a month; the Route and South complexes, near the little town of Hyampom, together total 49,000 acres and are both at roughly 35% containment; the River Complex, in far western Trinity wilderness, is now burning 41,000 acres, having grown another 2,280 acres overnight, and is still only 18% contained, according to CalFire. These are most critical to us here in Shasta County because they're nearest, but they're only the tip of the proverbial iceberg: all-in we've got more than 145,000 acres burning here in the North State at present, while our friends and neighbors to the south, southwest, and east of us are battling their own blazes, and north of us in Oregon they've got a few of their own to deal with. Happy summer! Merry drought! At any rate, the several thousand firefighters in our part of the state are doing a hell of a job keeping the monsters away from homes and people, with fewer than 200 structures having burned so far, at least here in the north, and no more than a dozen or so injuries thus far. Unfortunately, 2 firefighters have died to date. They need a break or two, but there's nothing on the scope at present.
While we're on the subject of fires and firefighters, I do want to take a minute to vent my total disgust with the new breed of morons we're suddenly seeing flying their pieces-of-crap drones into fire areas and subsequently causing the grounding of helicopters and air tankers working in support of the ground crews due to the very real hazard these shit-for-brains clowns pose to the safety of the flight crews. Already this season, and I only know about California, there have been more than 20 drones spotted by air crews flying fire support, some within fewer than 100 feet in proximity, causing at least 8 groundings of badly-needed tankers and helicopters while they wait for the bozos to fly out of the area. This is criminal activity, plain and simple, and has got to be stopped and people sent to jail; the problem is locating these ignorant asses and apprehending them, since they are likely miles away from the scene of their crimes, and difficult to identify. The public is beginning to respond to the appeals of help from law enforcement agencies, and several have been turned in and arrested. Hopefully this trend will continue and expand before someone is killed when a $150 piece of junk flies into a tail rotor or goes through a windshield. Just sayin'...
Okay, moving on...as a matter of curiosity, we would be interested to know what it is in these posts that has attracted the attention of our several foreign readers. We know that we have more or less regular viewers in the UK, France, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Portugal, Israel, and Italy, as well as an occasional visitor from the Philippines, and we're very pleased about it. But we also are very interested in knowing more about you, so if you would reply and tell us something about yourselves we would be grateful.
I know that I've spent a considerable amount of time during the last several months commenting on wines from both Boeger and New Clairvaux wineries, but you should know that that's probably not going to stop soon. The reason is simple: almost across the board both produce wines that are consistently excellent and very fairly priced. What more do you want? Especially those of you working to put together interesting by-the-glass programs for members and guests who are again beginning to pay closer attention to the right-hand side of the list. And, to that subject, just another word to the wise: The Boeger 2012 Barbera, which we've had our fair share of this year, was just tasted again (not tasted, actually, but enthusiastically drunk down with a fat, greasy Turri grass-fed beef hamburger) and is at present absolutely perfectly ready, at least to my palate. I don't know if Greg Boeger agrees with me, and it doesn't really matter since it's such a subjective thing to debate, but he was right when he nudged me toward the 2012 as the 2011 began to disappear. This has got to be one of the half-dozen best red wine buys on the shelves today, and I recommend that you get some for both yourself and your wine lists before it disappears like the '11. Greg, how's '13? Strangely, that's always been a lucky number for me...
And so, to close another one out, just a short note re Mt. Shasta and its connection to Lemuria. (Hard to believe that I'm even writing this, actually.) As I wrote a few weeks back, I'velost my mind and have begun searching around various sources for published material regarding the various legends and tales linking the mountain with the strange and the unusual, especially its supposed role as refuge of one of the last known colonies of survivors of Lemuria. I found several books listed with various ebay o/p and rare booksellers and, after doing a very modest amount of research, bought a couple. One of those, "Lemuria - The Lost Continent of the Pacific", published by the Rosicrucian Press in the 1930s (I know, puzzled the hell out of me, too) and subtitled "The Mystery People of Mt. Shasta" is quite an adventure. The author, one Wishar S. Cerve, which turns out to be a pseudonym for the anthropologist H. Spencer Lewis, tells a good tale, and makes a great number of wild (and unsupported) claims in presenting his case, such as it is. And, apparently, there is a fairly large number of believers scattered around the world, some of whom continue to present their position online on a persistent basis. It's an interesting phenomenon. I'll re-read Wishar's book when I get the time.
Okay, that's it for now...
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Images (maybe) of China fire near Happy Valley...
I'll try to get some images from the Rocky fire up later today; it has turned into a monster that is now creating its own weather system and doing pretty much what it wants to do. For anyone really interested in excellent fire photo coverage, I recommend you go to the LA Times' site and check out the portfolio their staff photographer Genaro Molina has put together in the past week of the Rocky fire and the folks fighting it, as well as some of those who have been driven out of their homes. Pretty great work.
Monday, August 3, 2015
Trinity fires double in area overnight, more dry lightning in forecast, and drought closes one of America;s great golf courses...
Okay, forget everything I told you yesterday concerning fire acreage in the Trinity Alps area; all those fires doubled in size overnight due to the tinderbox conditions and the fact that many of the individual fires are so remote that fire crews can't reach them at all,meaning that helicopters and air tankers are the sole means of fighting their spread. Several of the fires burning in the Hayfork/Hyampom areas have merged, creating new complexes that require complete re-evaluations of the firefighters' tactics and strategies. And, to top it all off, the Rocky fire, in Lake County, has turned into a true monster well over 40,000 acres all on its own, and is still nowhere near contained. It will likely be much larger by this time tomorrow. Not sure how many structures have burned to date, but here in the far North State the number of homes that have gone up is somewhere near 50 at present. I saw my first out-of-state commercial firefighting vehicles this afternoon, heading west on Hwy 299 toward the Trinity fires, probably Hayfork, a company called "Firestormers" with Oregon plates on their trucks. Not a good sign.
I just learned that Stevinson Ranch Golf Club closed its gates a couple of weeks ago due to a lack of irrigation water. The Stevinson family, almond farmers in the Turlock area for several generations, who built the course in the '90s with the assistance of the late architect John Harbottle, felt it was no longer a viable business model given the expense of acquiring water, and that they were far better off refocusing on their core farming. Don't know if there's any chance it will be brought back to life at some pint in the future, should the drought ever break, but I, along with thousands of others, truly hope that could happen. The course was a perennial presence on every "Best of..." American golf facilities listing almost from the day it opened, and the resort was first class, as well. We'll miss it.
Good night, and more soon...
Cliff
I just learned that Stevinson Ranch Golf Club closed its gates a couple of weeks ago due to a lack of irrigation water. The Stevinson family, almond farmers in the Turlock area for several generations, who built the course in the '90s with the assistance of the late architect John Harbottle, felt it was no longer a viable business model given the expense of acquiring water, and that they were far better off refocusing on their core farming. Don't know if there's any chance it will be brought back to life at some pint in the future, should the drought ever break, but I, along with thousands of others, truly hope that could happen. The course was a perennial presence on every "Best of..." American golf facilities listing almost from the day it opened, and the resort was first class, as well. We'll miss it.
Good night, and more soon...
Cliff
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Golf in the West deals with the drought, Norcal on fire, and Cooper Vineyards' superb 2012 Primitivo
As with most crises, the drought is bringing out the best and the worst in folks, including those of us who are the stewards of golf in the West. I'm pleased to say that, so far as I have seen thus far, golf is conducting itself pretty well, with very few embarrassments having come to the surface as of yet.
According to the National Golf Foundation, whose numbers and data I've always found reliable, there are approximately 15,500 golf courses in the US; of those, approximately 900 of them reside in California. That sounds like a bunch of golf holes, and it is; when you start talking about water usage, however, the data can be staggering to the uninitiated.
In at least one previous post I began looking at the potential ramifications for golf that Governor Jerry's conservation mandate might bring, and noted that even though the golf industry has been at the leading edge of the issue for a number of years, particularly the USGA's Green Section, golf courses by their very nature are going to require a lot of water, no matter how hard they try or what they do. I also pointed out that a number of courses, both private and public, had taken steps to reduce their impact on demand for potable water, taking tens of thousands of acres of land off the irrigation grids, carefully fine-tuning and better-managing their irrigation systems, converting to the use of recycled (gray) water for irrigation purposes, and replacing thirsty turf cultivars with drought-tolerant varieties that can thrive under more extreme conditions. Most superintendents are conservationists by nature, and work hard to be good stewards of the land in their care while still providing high quality playing conditions, which is the final and most critical factor by which their job performance will be judged by the folks who decide whether or not they get to keep those jobs.
All that being said, the fact is that every one of those golf courses, all 900 of them, require a lot of water nearly each and every day. It is not unusual, particularly during spring and summer, for the average 18 hole course with, say, 80- 100 acres under irrigation, to pump 800,000 - 1,000,000 gallons a day, Some a little less, but some significantly more, depending on location, cultivars being managed, and a host of other factors. So, needless to say, they get a lot of scrutiny from neighbors and assorted activists and other interested parties, and they know and understand why.
Judging by the information we're seeing in print from reputable sources thus far it seems that the industry as a whole is trying very hard to comply with the Governor's directives. Some more than others, of course. My personal experience, playing a number of different courses here in the North State, is that of seeing a great deal of dry, dusty, browned-out areas (especially practice areas and large tracts of rough) that were green and vigorous just a year ago; tees and greens, of course, have to be maintained at all costs, but almost everything else seems to be under the microscope at this point. We'll see how things develop as the drought deepens. The upside is that we're beginning to hear rumblings from weather services that we may be seeing a stronger-than-originally-believed El Nino system building, and that a very wet winter could be in our future. Let's hope.
As of today fires are burning all across Northern California: here close to home, in Shasta, Trinity, Lake, Humboldt, and Napa counties in particular, there are more than 70,000 acres in flames at this moment, distributed among some 90 separate fires and fire complexes, give or take. The Rocky fire, in Lake County, accounts for approximately 22,000 of those acres, and as of right now is only 15% contained; the China complex, comprised of the Happy and China fires, in the Shasta County Happy Valley community and its surrounds, has been brought under control, but wreaked significant havoc on the area just to the south and west of us; in Trinity County the mountain communities of Hayfork, Hyampom. Denny, and several smaller towns were being evacuated this afternoon as the Rail and Barker fires burned around them (totaling 1700 acres give or take), and the River, Fork, and Mad River complexes burned above and below those infernos, with no sign of containment. The Wragg fire, near Lake Berryessa in Napa County, is still burning, as well, and was at 8,000 acres +- the last time we checked, but was at 90% containment at the time. More thunderstorms carrying dry lightning are expected tonight and tomorrow in the mountains, so who knows what happens next? What we do know is that resources are stretched about as thin as they can go: CalFire, BLM/Forestry Service, county and local fire departments, and local volunteer fire departments are all fully mobilized, and have been for almost two full weeks, 24/7. Governor Jerry has called out the National Guard to provide additional manpower, but their usefulness, while appreciated, will be limited due to the lack of training specific to the problem. Forest Service has lost one firefighter so far. We just need a break: some moisture (rain, in particular) is critical, as is the need for folks to use their heads when outdoors in fire-prone surroundings. Bottom line, though, is thanks to the firefighters, one and all, for what you're doing, and may the Lord watch over all of you.
To close on a happier note, I wanted to give you all a heads-up regarding Cooper Vineyards' 2012 Primitivo Tesoro, Estate Bottled, Amador County. I was touted on this wine by the proprietor of The Wine Spot, a friendly little wine bar in the old downtown area of Eureka we discovered on our last trip, and where we spent several hours tasting and just listening to locals gossip on a slow afternoon. The woman behind the bar turned out to be the daughter of the owners, and a character of the first magnitude. We spent a significant amount of time fascinated by her reminiscences of her days as a timber driver for a logging company (I swear), as well as tasting a few of her recommendations, this Primitivo among them, and I will always be grateful for that. The wine is a classic example of the varietal (which is rarely seen, even here in wine country): deeply crimson-colored. with a rich and focused bouquet of ripe blue-and blackberries, tar, and citrus peel, it literally explodes out of the glass; very rich and rounded fruit flavors almost attack the palate, with strawberries, dried blueberries, sage, ginger, and vanilla coming and going as it settles in your mouth. The finish is very long, and very pleasant, and you're not happy when the bottle is done, unless you happen to have another, which I don't. I'm not even sure this wine is available except at the winery and to select accounts; I can't find it listed on their website, but I plan to call and inquire (beg) if it is to be had. I paid $40 for the bottle I bought at Wine Spot which seems entirely reasonable now that I no longer have it, and would gladly pay that for a few more. I recommend that those of you interested in esoteric and/or exotic varietals check the Cooper website for your selves; my guess is that given their success with htis wine, there are a number of others well worth trying. I certainly intend to do so.
More soon...
Cliff
According to the National Golf Foundation, whose numbers and data I've always found reliable, there are approximately 15,500 golf courses in the US; of those, approximately 900 of them reside in California. That sounds like a bunch of golf holes, and it is; when you start talking about water usage, however, the data can be staggering to the uninitiated.
In at least one previous post I began looking at the potential ramifications for golf that Governor Jerry's conservation mandate might bring, and noted that even though the golf industry has been at the leading edge of the issue for a number of years, particularly the USGA's Green Section, golf courses by their very nature are going to require a lot of water, no matter how hard they try or what they do. I also pointed out that a number of courses, both private and public, had taken steps to reduce their impact on demand for potable water, taking tens of thousands of acres of land off the irrigation grids, carefully fine-tuning and better-managing their irrigation systems, converting to the use of recycled (gray) water for irrigation purposes, and replacing thirsty turf cultivars with drought-tolerant varieties that can thrive under more extreme conditions. Most superintendents are conservationists by nature, and work hard to be good stewards of the land in their care while still providing high quality playing conditions, which is the final and most critical factor by which their job performance will be judged by the folks who decide whether or not they get to keep those jobs.
All that being said, the fact is that every one of those golf courses, all 900 of them, require a lot of water nearly each and every day. It is not unusual, particularly during spring and summer, for the average 18 hole course with, say, 80- 100 acres under irrigation, to pump 800,000 - 1,000,000 gallons a day, Some a little less, but some significantly more, depending on location, cultivars being managed, and a host of other factors. So, needless to say, they get a lot of scrutiny from neighbors and assorted activists and other interested parties, and they know and understand why.
Judging by the information we're seeing in print from reputable sources thus far it seems that the industry as a whole is trying very hard to comply with the Governor's directives. Some more than others, of course. My personal experience, playing a number of different courses here in the North State, is that of seeing a great deal of dry, dusty, browned-out areas (especially practice areas and large tracts of rough) that were green and vigorous just a year ago; tees and greens, of course, have to be maintained at all costs, but almost everything else seems to be under the microscope at this point. We'll see how things develop as the drought deepens. The upside is that we're beginning to hear rumblings from weather services that we may be seeing a stronger-than-originally-believed El Nino system building, and that a very wet winter could be in our future. Let's hope.
As of today fires are burning all across Northern California: here close to home, in Shasta, Trinity, Lake, Humboldt, and Napa counties in particular, there are more than 70,000 acres in flames at this moment, distributed among some 90 separate fires and fire complexes, give or take. The Rocky fire, in Lake County, accounts for approximately 22,000 of those acres, and as of right now is only 15% contained; the China complex, comprised of the Happy and China fires, in the Shasta County Happy Valley community and its surrounds, has been brought under control, but wreaked significant havoc on the area just to the south and west of us; in Trinity County the mountain communities of Hayfork, Hyampom. Denny, and several smaller towns were being evacuated this afternoon as the Rail and Barker fires burned around them (totaling 1700 acres give or take), and the River, Fork, and Mad River complexes burned above and below those infernos, with no sign of containment. The Wragg fire, near Lake Berryessa in Napa County, is still burning, as well, and was at 8,000 acres +- the last time we checked, but was at 90% containment at the time. More thunderstorms carrying dry lightning are expected tonight and tomorrow in the mountains, so who knows what happens next? What we do know is that resources are stretched about as thin as they can go: CalFire, BLM/Forestry Service, county and local fire departments, and local volunteer fire departments are all fully mobilized, and have been for almost two full weeks, 24/7. Governor Jerry has called out the National Guard to provide additional manpower, but their usefulness, while appreciated, will be limited due to the lack of training specific to the problem. Forest Service has lost one firefighter so far. We just need a break: some moisture (rain, in particular) is critical, as is the need for folks to use their heads when outdoors in fire-prone surroundings. Bottom line, though, is thanks to the firefighters, one and all, for what you're doing, and may the Lord watch over all of you.
To close on a happier note, I wanted to give you all a heads-up regarding Cooper Vineyards' 2012 Primitivo Tesoro, Estate Bottled, Amador County. I was touted on this wine by the proprietor of The Wine Spot, a friendly little wine bar in the old downtown area of Eureka we discovered on our last trip, and where we spent several hours tasting and just listening to locals gossip on a slow afternoon. The woman behind the bar turned out to be the daughter of the owners, and a character of the first magnitude. We spent a significant amount of time fascinated by her reminiscences of her days as a timber driver for a logging company (I swear), as well as tasting a few of her recommendations, this Primitivo among them, and I will always be grateful for that. The wine is a classic example of the varietal (which is rarely seen, even here in wine country): deeply crimson-colored. with a rich and focused bouquet of ripe blue-and blackberries, tar, and citrus peel, it literally explodes out of the glass; very rich and rounded fruit flavors almost attack the palate, with strawberries, dried blueberries, sage, ginger, and vanilla coming and going as it settles in your mouth. The finish is very long, and very pleasant, and you're not happy when the bottle is done, unless you happen to have another, which I don't. I'm not even sure this wine is available except at the winery and to select accounts; I can't find it listed on their website, but I plan to call and inquire (beg) if it is to be had. I paid $40 for the bottle I bought at Wine Spot which seems entirely reasonable now that I no longer have it, and would gladly pay that for a few more. I recommend that those of you interested in esoteric and/or exotic varietals check the Cooper website for your selves; my guess is that given their success with htis wine, there are a number of others well worth trying. I certainly intend to do so.
More soon...
Cliff
Friday, July 24, 2015
And off we go!!!...hillsiders get our first fire of the year, but lots more where that one came from; back to good ol' Ferndale; what the .... are Lumerians?; and a fond adieu to D. Trump...
Lots of excitement here on the Hill and around the surrounding countryside recently. We got our first taste of fire season last week; a relatively small (about 18 acres) but persistent brush fire broke out just off the Sacramento Rail Trail in a section that parallels the Sacramento River a few miles above the Keswick Dam. The area lies roughly 5 miles or so due east of us, and is clearly visible from our deck, so we had a pretty good look at the ongoing effort to beat the blaze down, which occupied CalFire, Shasta County Fire, and Redding Fire for quite a while. CalFire had at least 2 helicopters dedicated to scooping water out of the river for drops into the fire site, and one agency (not sure if it was CalFire or BLM equipment) had 2 air tankers dropping retardant concurrently. Not sure how many ground troops and engines were involved, but at least one inmate firefighter was injured in the effort, and the show went on into the night. I know it sounds like overkill for an 18 acre fire, but that;s not the case:due to the ongoing drought the forest fire fuel loads are the worst since records have been kept, and the point of origin was very near a large subdivision that runs almost to the river. If it hadn't been contained early it could have easily wiped out a number of homes and done harm to residents, as well. Our California fire agencies are some of the best in the world, and it seems likely that we'll get our money's worth from them this year. So, for all you morons who bitch, complain, and put up your moronic signs protesting the annual CalFire fee (tax, if you will), just shut the hell up and pay it. Get one less tattoo this year if that's how you finance it, but close your mouth and do it. Thank you.
We had just returned from our latest trip to the coast when the fire occurred, so it was non-stop excitement for a solid week between the two. As always, life got sweeter from the moment we dropped into Trinity Canyon on the drive over until we topped out on Buckhorn Summit on the return, Eureka seemed to be a little more energetic than usual this trip, and Trinidad a little less so, but everything balanced in the end, and all was as it should be. We also made the trip down 101 to Ferndale once more, and spent more time trying to see the town as it's seen by those who call it home than we've done in the past. Time well spent, as it turned out; the little town has quite a history, some of which we'll get into a bit deeper after I've had time to do some more research. Although it can seem to some to be a little macabre, and maybe places better avoided to others, you can often learn a lot about a town or city by studying its cemeteries and graveyards, and Ferndale is one of those. Anyway, we'll get to that in the next week or so.
To change the subject, but maybe only slightly, a quick note regarding my building fascination with Mt. Shasta. Most of my reading so far has been centered on the mountain's place in the human history of Northern California and southern Oregon: the native tribes of the area, white settlement, the logging industry and its havoc, and mountaineering in its various aspects. However, as I've mentioned here in the past, there has always been detritus scattered around in books, newspapers, magazines, and on the net relating to shall we say "out of the ordinary happenings" in the vicinity, specifically UFO sightings, odd lights in the skies over and around the mountain, reports of encounters with strange beings on the mountain, etc. These, of course, have stuck in my mind and fired new interests, even though I never spent any time chasing after them for fairly obvious reasons, at least to me. However, several months ago, while running an Ebay search of the Books section I was surprised when several titles popped up that referenced the Shasta/ Lumerian connection, of which I was totally ignorant, I have to admit, and about which I don't know a whole lot more yet, even though I am now the owner of more than one of those books. I think I had some vague recollection of hearing at some much earlier date (probably the late '60s or early '70s, recalling some of the people with whom I had brief association in those days) references to this mystical/mythical lost continent which existed concurrently with Atlantis, but in the south Pacific. Legend has it that the land was populated by an advanced civilization of beautiful beings, who may have been even more creative and artistic than the Atlanteans. To make a long story short,at some point the continent vanished into the ocean, like its Atlantic counterpart, and the civilization was lost. Turns out, though, that there has been, since at least the late 1800s, a developing theory (at least among Lemuria believers, of which there seems to be a fairly large and clannish number scattered across the world) that survivors of the cataclysm fled to what is now Northern California, and made a new home within the mountain we now know as Mt. Shasta. And, again according to myth and legend, the descendants of those survivors are still there, and thriving inside their mountain home. Occasionally they venture to the surface and interact with people they encounter on the mountain, or nearby, and these encounters are source of the infrequent stories we see published in local newspapers and broadcast on small-market television stations that refer to the Shasta "UFO" sightings and/or encounters with strange folk. So, this opens a new door on the mountain, so to speak, and promises to be a very interesting sidebar to the whole Shasta culture. We'll see.
To close, I just wanted to say my personal adios to good ol' Donald Trump, who has embarrassed himself, his family, and his country yet again, but this time with such an absence of class and conscience as to offend in one way or another most decent Americans. And, as it happens, the Donald discovered that he was incorrect in stating that the golf world supported him tremendously "because we "all knew he was right"; on the contrary, we didn't all know he was right, nor did we support him, and he has now been sent packing by both the USGA and PGA, and we can all move on.
Coming up...trying to understand what has happened to one of California's most venerable wineries (and one of the wine industry's best old families), Sonoma's Foppianos.
We had just returned from our latest trip to the coast when the fire occurred, so it was non-stop excitement for a solid week between the two. As always, life got sweeter from the moment we dropped into Trinity Canyon on the drive over until we topped out on Buckhorn Summit on the return, Eureka seemed to be a little more energetic than usual this trip, and Trinidad a little less so, but everything balanced in the end, and all was as it should be. We also made the trip down 101 to Ferndale once more, and spent more time trying to see the town as it's seen by those who call it home than we've done in the past. Time well spent, as it turned out; the little town has quite a history, some of which we'll get into a bit deeper after I've had time to do some more research. Although it can seem to some to be a little macabre, and maybe places better avoided to others, you can often learn a lot about a town or city by studying its cemeteries and graveyards, and Ferndale is one of those. Anyway, we'll get to that in the next week or so.
To change the subject, but maybe only slightly, a quick note regarding my building fascination with Mt. Shasta. Most of my reading so far has been centered on the mountain's place in the human history of Northern California and southern Oregon: the native tribes of the area, white settlement, the logging industry and its havoc, and mountaineering in its various aspects. However, as I've mentioned here in the past, there has always been detritus scattered around in books, newspapers, magazines, and on the net relating to shall we say "out of the ordinary happenings" in the vicinity, specifically UFO sightings, odd lights in the skies over and around the mountain, reports of encounters with strange beings on the mountain, etc. These, of course, have stuck in my mind and fired new interests, even though I never spent any time chasing after them for fairly obvious reasons, at least to me. However, several months ago, while running an Ebay search of the Books section I was surprised when several titles popped up that referenced the Shasta/ Lumerian connection, of which I was totally ignorant, I have to admit, and about which I don't know a whole lot more yet, even though I am now the owner of more than one of those books. I think I had some vague recollection of hearing at some much earlier date (probably the late '60s or early '70s, recalling some of the people with whom I had brief association in those days) references to this mystical/mythical lost continent which existed concurrently with Atlantis, but in the south Pacific. Legend has it that the land was populated by an advanced civilization of beautiful beings, who may have been even more creative and artistic than the Atlanteans. To make a long story short,at some point the continent vanished into the ocean, like its Atlantic counterpart, and the civilization was lost. Turns out, though, that there has been, since at least the late 1800s, a developing theory (at least among Lemuria believers, of which there seems to be a fairly large and clannish number scattered across the world) that survivors of the cataclysm fled to what is now Northern California, and made a new home within the mountain we now know as Mt. Shasta. And, again according to myth and legend, the descendants of those survivors are still there, and thriving inside their mountain home. Occasionally they venture to the surface and interact with people they encounter on the mountain, or nearby, and these encounters are source of the infrequent stories we see published in local newspapers and broadcast on small-market television stations that refer to the Shasta "UFO" sightings and/or encounters with strange folk. So, this opens a new door on the mountain, so to speak, and promises to be a very interesting sidebar to the whole Shasta culture. We'll see.
To close, I just wanted to say my personal adios to good ol' Donald Trump, who has embarrassed himself, his family, and his country yet again, but this time with such an absence of class and conscience as to offend in one way or another most decent Americans. And, as it happens, the Donald discovered that he was incorrect in stating that the golf world supported him tremendously "because we "all knew he was right"; on the contrary, we didn't all know he was right, nor did we support him, and he has now been sent packing by both the USGA and PGA, and we can all move on.
Coming up...trying to understand what has happened to one of California's most venerable wineries (and one of the wine industry's best old families), Sonoma's Foppianos.
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