Daily Ritual

Gigondas, in France’s Rhone region, is known for it’s sumptuous, full-bodied Grenaches. Sometimes they blend a little Syrah into the Grenache give their wines color, balance and depth. Carole Watanabe’s painting reminds me of the Southern French attitude about supporting local purveyors of fine foods, riding a bike in the countryside, or capturing the moment with some richly colored paint on a small canvas.

The vineyards selected for this wine are most of the best in Santa Barbara County (and California for that matter) for Grenache: Larner Vineyard in Ballard Canyon, Watch Hill in Los Alamos, and Camp Four in the Santa Ynez Valley interior, near Happy Canyon. All three of these lots were picked in 2008, and barrel aged in semi-neutral French and American oak for one year. To give the wine some aged complexity, spicy/floral aromatics, and to soften the tannins I blended in some 2006 Syrah from Westerly Vineyard.

Daily Ritual’s tannins must be tamed with 2-3 years bottle age or 30-minutes of fresh air by decanting, but once this youthful enthusiast matures, you will be rewarded. Currently the wine shows bright blueberry, brambleberry and light French/American oak. It seems to stain your glass deep purple as you swirl it. I recommend this wine with the classic gamy dishes, but personally would like to experiment with eggplant parmesan or grilled veggie combinations. Alas, I am going to have to wait.

- Wine Notes by Bion Rice, Artiste Winemaker

 

"Daily Ritual" is a painting symbolic of the truly beautiful quality of life I experience every summer while painting in the tiny ancient village of Soreze France. The painting is of the bakery where I buy my bagette, connect with my neighbors, and learn the French language of food and art practiced like a very beautiful basic sacred ritual. My home there is the site for yearly creative retreats, to which you are invited. See artfully.com for information if you would like to experience " Daily Ritual "first hand.

Carole Rae Watanabe

 

Peaceful Alliance

Two people rowing out to sea on a canoe. Or are they bringing us a message? Carole Watanabe’s label clearly has strong symbolism, but also leaves us asking questions. From a winemaker’s perspective I translate this into “the great debate” amongst us winemakers: Which wine is better? Pinot Noir or Syrah? Many a night have I found myself listening to winemakers deliberating over the strengths and weaknesses of each. The Pinot Noir with it’s feminine complexity and the Syrah with it’s in your face full bodied masculinity. Peaceful Alliance melds together these two opposites with a little help from a friend: Viognier.

The 2008 Pinot Noir that was selected for this wine was produced by a grape growing pioneer in Santa Barbara County and long time friend of mine, Louie Lucas, from a vineyard in Santa Maria called Goodchild Vineyard. The 2006 Syrah is from Westerly Vineyard in the innermost part of the Santa Ynez Valley, where it gets 50-60 degree swings from day to night. The slightly effervescent 2008 Viognier is from a new acquaintance of mine that I met in 2008, Phillip Staley, who grows tiny amounts of Rhone wines on his vineyard in the Russian River Valley, near Healdsburg.

Peaceful Alliance is super aromatic in floral, spice and fruit. Flavors of bright cherry, dried herbs, fennel, and spice are followed by a really long finish with subtle French oak. Soft tannins with medium acidity will make this wine excellent with most dishes, but I look forward to trying it with Grilled Salmon in a red wine reduction or a simple white bean soup for the Holidays.

I really wonder how this wine will age, but feel confident that it will only improve over the next year, peak at about 2011-2014, then start to fall off, and like all things in nature, it will row out into the abyss. Perhaps it will carry our message back?

- Wine Notes by Bion Rice, Artiste Winemaker

 

The"Peaceful Alliance "painting was born after a 10 day Vipassana meditation retreat. I was having a show in Paris, on the maritime theme, and was very unhappy with what I was creating. My son said" Mom you just need to let go and go sit in silence for 10 days." Somehow he knew I needed to do some mental and visual house cleaning to make way for some new magic. Out of that peace came one of my favorite paintings of all time. No matter how many times I paint the quiet image, I feel as though I am able to return to the place of stillness, where all fine art emerges from.

Carole Rae Watanabe