Hosted by Tim Willard
Platform – Join us at 7:30 EDT on Zoom.
Special Guests – Winemaker and Proprietor of Lioco, Matt Licklider and our very own Jon-David Headrick
Musical Guest – Cory Cain @0ysterhead
Wines of the Night – Lioco Rosé of Carignan, Lioco Indica Red, Claux Delorme Valençay Blanc, Jean-François Mérieau Bois Jacou
Questions – Please email tim@europeancellars.com with any questions or assistance in sourcing wine
LIOCO was at the vanguard of the New California Wine movement, and for the past 14-years has been rendering minimalist wines from some of the state’s premier vineyard sites. Inspired by traditional European practices and the California wines of the 1980s, owners Matt & Sara Licklider seek out the “special places”–often dry-farmed, organic/bio vineyards with interesting soil, older vines, & heritage clones. Along with winemaker Drew Huffine and star viticulturalist Prudy Foxx, their team is redefining California Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Carignan.
PLACE MATTERS in the words of Matt Licklider:
Why has wine survived for 9,000 years? We believe it’s because unlike any other beverage it can transport us–in one whiff–to the far corners of the earth. Wine should smell and taste like it came from someplace. Without this unique expression of place, wine loses its distinction… and its story.
Fortunately, this sensory experience is not reserved for expensive single-vineyard bottlings. Many of the world’s great wine values are made by blending regional vineyards. On California’s wild North Coast where a cold sea, foggy river valleys, and ancient redwoods co-mingle with vineyards, this concept is especially resonant. There is an abundance of “there, there,” which is why the words Sonoma County and Mendocino County as seen on a label should mean something. All four County Wine labels now sport a wrapping topographical map that corresponds to the wine’s place of origin. Mendo Pinot Noir shows a river mouth and the Pacific; Indica Red a mountainside; Rosé a benchland; and SoCo a sprawling estuary. Like all the LIOCO labels before them, these contemporary new labels have a singular color identity and dynamic, tech-sheet back labels.
You can follow Matt and Lioco at liocowine.com, @liocowineco & @liocomatt
Standing in a rocky, chalk-covered vineyard a many years ago, I listened as a winegrower friend talked about the current state of wine. “Fruit in wine is easy”, he said. “Purity is elusive.” He was right, of course, but I’d never really thought about it in such stark terms. He continued, “Purity comes from hardship. It comes from the struggle of the vine’s roots through the rocks it is planted on, it comes from the fight against every other plant vying for the same water and nutrients, and it comes from the plant learning to fight for itself and not having man fight its battles.”
In creating my portfolio, I was looking for these kinds of wines, and I found them planted on a massive swath of chalk and slate that runs from the Atlantic Ocean through the Loire river valley and into Champagne. This “chalk line” produces wines of extraordinary purity, minerality, and soul and represents the heart of my portfolio. The properties with which I work are consumed with making true wines – wines that are true to where they come from, true to the earth, and true to the winemaker’s obsession with quality. The vast majority of the properties with which I work practice organic or biodynamic viticulture and I wholly support winemakers who harvest by hand, use indigenous yeasts, and who vinify with little intervention. All are leaders in their appellations and harvest at dramatically lower yields than their neighbors. Above all else, they are farmers.
To join in the tasting we will be establishing retail partners in several markets. If you are interested in becoming a retail partner, or you are a consumer who would like to participate please contact us and we will try to assist you in locating the wines.
If a basic crust recipe isn’t in your repertoire now is the time to perfect your pastry skills. As I’ve written before, Mireille Johnston’s crust recipe is always in high demand with friends and family and can be filled with both sweet and savory fillings. While you and use any oil in the recipe, I’ve found that walnut oil has the best results. I’ve posted Isabelle Sabon’s recipe for a tomato filling before but this time I’ve modified it for 4″ inch tart tins.
The first few times you start making your own pastry, be ready for some frustration, but once you have the technique mastered, managing it will become second nature. One trick I learned early on was to add about 1/2 a teaspoon of cider vinegar to the crust recipe. This addition prevents the formation of gluten so if you have to make a few attempts to roll out the dough properly, you can retain its flaky texture and prevent the crust from shrinking when you prebake it. Once you’ve got the hang of things you can omit this ingredient.
I’ve discovered that you can cut the salt back to 3/4 teaspoon if you’re mindful of your sodium intake, any more than that and it throws off the chemistry and the crust feels oily and bland. It is absolutely necessary for sweet fillings like the rustic apple tart in the image below, the interplay between salty and sweet is amazing.
Same crust recipe with sweet and savory fillings
By Isabelle Sabon (tomato), Steven Spanbauer (chard), crust recipe from Mireille Johnston’s The Cuisine of the Sun
6 servings / 1 hour preparation time & 50 minute cooking time
Despite its Nordic roots, Gravlax makes a suitable substitution for a charcuterie board and is a welcomed addition to those looking to reduce their red meat intake or the additives often found in cured meats. Oddly, many people are strange around fish, especially if it is not “cooked”. Heat isn’t the only way to finish protein however and it can be replaced with citrus juice as is used in ceviche, or the salt & sugar in this recipe. Now more than ever as people are baking at home or looking for more “rooted” and traditional ways to prepare food, why not give this simple recipe a try? I guarantee that the results are better than anything you can find at the store and far less expensive.
You can skip ahead to the recipe if you’re not interested in the etymology or history of Gravlax.
The word is a compound of “lax”, meaning salmon and “grav” which refers to it being buried. Before the days of refrigeration, most of the fish caught in Scandinavia was cured by being pickled (herring anyone?), salted and air-dried like salt cod, or cured in salt and sugar and stored underground. Out of these methods of curing fish, Gravlax is the most gentle – preserving and concentrating the flavor of the salmon. I opt for a shorter cure of 18 hours and then at least 1 day of rest before serving. If you prefer a drier style of lax you can cure it for up to three days before rinsing and resting the fish. Just keep in mind that the longer the salmon is in contact with the cure, the more lactic and tart it will taste.
I like to pair Gravlax with a high-acid white wine such as Sancerre, Sauvignon de Touraine, and Muscadet. It also is good with Rosé and lighter red wines with fresh acidity and lower tannins. And as always, you can never go wrong with Champagne.