The Craig

The Holidays: The Quiet After the Storm

Now that the grapes are all in and the fermentations complete, work in the cellar can proceed at a more reasonable pace. We get to arrive home in time for dinner with our families and weekends don’t require us to be on hand morning, noon and night. With the Holiday Season comes a reflective time in the winemaking process where we can look back on what we’ve accomplished while re-connecting with family and friends whom we’ve missed during the hectic harvest period.

While the Holiday Season gives us a chance to catch our breath, we cannot exactly sit back and relax completely. There is still quite a bit of work to be done at this time of year before we turn our attention away from the 2009 vintage and back to the 2008 vintage wines in our cellar.

With all the grapes in, crushed and the primary fermentations complete, we need to transfer the young wines to the barrels where they will “live” for the next year and a half.

French oak barrels are an essential part of making top-quality Cabernet Sauvignon. Choosing the proper barrels to fill with a particular wine takes considerable care and attention to match up that wine with the ideal cooperage that will coax forth and highlight the best features the wine has to offer.

While in barrel, the lots must be monitored frequently to asses the progress of malo-lactic fermentation. This is a microbial transformation of the tart malic acid, which is inherent in the grapes, to the softer, creamier lactic acid. It will occur naturally unless prevented, so we monitor the process to ensure that no other unwanted microbial changes take place.

Analysis of the malic content is one of many analyses performed on the young wines at this time of the year. We also must determine the alcohol, pH and titratable acidity, to name a few others, so that we can oversee the health and well being of the young wines and track their progress with an adequate level of data for each lot.

Thorough tasting and evaluating the results of the vintage, lot by lot, gives us a “first look” at the wines as we begin to think about the ultimate blends and which lots will most likely "make the cut" as well as which lots may have to be de-classified. These evaluations occur frequently and routinely into the New Year until the final blends are assembled and returned to barrel.

Additionally, we must make sure to “top-up” all the barrels in our cellar in order to displace any oxygen in the barrels and replace wine which is lost to evaporation – or “the angel’s share” as they say.

While the slower pace of the Holiday Season is welcome, it seems that the fast pace and long hours of harvest have ended as quickly as they began. I guess “time flies when you’re having fun”, especially when we live and work in such a beautiful and amazing place as the Napa Valley.

Happy New Year!

Stephen Tebb and the winery team

Holiday Comfort Food ~ Boneless Beef Short Ribs alla Genovese

'Tis the Holiday season and time for dinner parties.  The question is how to cook a great meal for a hungry crowd in between working, gift shopping, card sending and all the other demands of late December.  This recipe is the perfect answer.  It is true comfort food that appeals to everyone (well, not vegetarians), is easy to prepare, and can be made the day before -- in fact it's best when refrigerated overnight. 

We've adapted this recipe from the short ribs at A16 Restaurant in San Francisco, Shelley Lindgren's terrific Marina-area bistro featuring southern-Italy cuisine -- and Robert Craig Affinity!  It serves 12 - 16 and leftovers keep well in the freezer, but you can also cut the recipe in half for smaller groups.

This is a rich, hearty dish that goes well with mashed potatoes or polenta and a green salad. Best of all, it's the perfect match for luscious Craig Cabernets! 

~ Lynn Craig

Boneless Beef Short Ribs alla Genovese

Note: You can use regular bone-in short ribs, but we prefer the boneless kind, which can be ordered from your neighborhood butcher or supermarket meat department.

6 pounds boneless beef short ribs (or 8 lbs with bone in)
Kosher salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
2 anchovies (optional)
2 whole cloves
8 black peppercorns
4 large onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup red-wine vinegar
1 bottle red wine, reduced to 3/4 cup (we use a lower-priced Merlot or Cabernet)
1 cup beef broth
12 sprigs fresh Rosemary
1 small can tomato paste

Start 2 days before serving.  Season the short ribs generously with kosher salt.  Cover & refrigerate overnight.

The next day, pour the bottle of red wine in a saucepan and bring to medium boil.  Continue to boil until reduced to 3/4 cup (approx. 20 - 30 minutes).  Heat oven to 275 degrees. In a large heavy-bottom pot, heat 1/4 cup olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the short ribs, a few at a time, to brown.  Transfer to large platter or bowl and reserve.

Pour out the fat, add another 1/4 cup oil, carrot and celery to the pot.  Saute over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to brown. Add anchovies (optional), cloves and peppercorns.  Cook a few minutes more and add onions.  Season with 1 tsp. salt.  Cook until onions are soft, scraping up any brown bits from the pan. Add red-wine vinegar, the reduced red wine and beef broth, stir to combine and remove from the heat.

Place ribs and any juice that has accumulated in a braising or roasting pot and pour sauce over them.  Add rosemary sprigs. Cover pot with its lid (or foil) and bake at 275 degrees until the meat is soft and yielding -- approx. 3 - 4 hours (meat should be very easy to cut with a knife). Do your gift wrapping, card addressing or other chores while the ribs cook.  Place the ribs/sauce in refrigerator overnight.

The next day, skim off the fat that has accumulated on the surface (easy to do when the sauce is cold).  Remove short ribs from the sauce. (Optional: If you like a smooth sauce, put the sauce through a fine mesh sieve, pressing the vegetables to get out all the liquid, and discard the veggies). Add tomato paste to the sauce, reheat and simmer for 30 minutes.  Return ribs to the pan and continue simmering until they are heated through. 

Note:  Any leftovers are great on pasta, topped with parmesan.  Or freeze and enjoy later!