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Storm Front BBQ Sauce Recipe
11/23/11
Our Storm Front BBQ Sauce was a big hit at our November release party. We served it with meatballs from a large warehouse store. Here is the recipe (adapted from Steven Raichlen’s BBQ USA):
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup onion
2 minced garlic cloves
1-1/2 cups Convergence Zone Storm Front (consume the rest of the bottle with the meatballs, or drink while cooking!)
3/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
Salt and pepper
Makes about 1-1/4 cups
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup onion
2 minced garlic cloves
1-1/2 cups Convergence Zone Storm Front (consume the rest of the bottle with the meatballs, or drink while cooking!)
3/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
Salt and pepper
- Melt butter in non-reactive pan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook till just starting to brown.
- Add all but 2 tablespoons of Storm Front and bring to boil over high heat until reduced to about 1/3 cup.
- Reduce heat to medium and stir in ketchup, brown sugar and liquid smoke. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer 6-10 minutes until rich and thick, adding the remaining 2 tablespoons of wine after 4 minutes.
- Serve warm or at room temperature. The sauce will keep covered in the refrigerator for several weeks and can also be frozen.
Makes about 1-1/4 cups
The 2011 Harvest--Weinbau Vineyard
09/25/11
“The weather in the Columbia Valley started with a cool, wet spring. Recent weather has been better for the vineyards, with projected harvest about 10-14 days behind last year--a normal harvest time.”
The quote above was from our August 2010 harvest report. Strangely, it’s also true for this year. This year is characterized by impacts from last November’s freeze, which damaged many vines (and even whole vineyards) as well as a cool, moist spring and summer. Some vineyards had powdery mildew problems which could also affect next year’s crop. However, our sources were able to recognize the potential problems and apply appropriate viticultural practices for this challenging vintage.
We visited our vineyard sources on August 18-19. Veraision has not started yet in most of the rows, so it’s too early to tell when harvest will occur. Some fruit is about 3 weeks behind, logically to be harvested three weeks or more later. For more photos, visit our Flickr page.
We will focus on one or two vineyards per blog post. Here is our first report:
Weinbau Vineyard, Wahluke Slope: Starting in the north, we arrived at Weinbau Vineyard east of Mattawa. Weinbau is owned by Sagemoor Farms and is located in the Wahluke Slope AVA (American Viticultural Area).
Established in 2006, the Wahluke Slope AVA is naturally bounded by the Columbia River to the west and south, by the Saddle Mountains on the north, and on the east by the Hanford Reach National Monument. The 81,000 acre region features approximately 5,652 acres of vineyards: nearly 15 percent of the total wine grape acreage in the state. It is home to more than 20 vineyards. Wahluke Slope has one of the driest, warmest climates in the state, allowing nearly complete control of vine vigor and ripening through irrigation.
This is our first year sourcing Mourvedre from Weinbau. The 5.5 acres of vines in block 62 were planted in 2009, making this the youngest fruit we are using this year. This year’s crop will be small, probably less than one ton per acre.
Selling Out
06/08/11
No more wine. Nada. Zilch. Well, maybe a little left. If you’ve been following us on Facebook or Twitter or receive our e-newsletter, you know we are sold out of our wine. We have no more 2008 Storm Front left at the winery, but some of our retail partners may have some. We have a few cases of 2010 Dewpoint Riesling left, but we need to save them for upcoming events. Essentially we are sold out of wine.
So what’s next? We recently blended two new red wines for bottling soon and release this fall. The raw materials are in the photo above. Storm Front will return, with more grapes invited to the party. We will also have a special limited production red wine that we will offer first to our e-mail list. If any is left, we will offer it to the public. If you haven’t signed up yet, now is a good time to do it. Sign up here.
We are also working on grapes for this fall. I can’t believe that crush is about 3 months away! Some areas of Washington suffered a severe freeze last November, with some vineyards losing up to half of their vines. So far, our sources seem to be ok, but a few more weeks into what has been another cool growing season will tell. We plan to visit vineyards in July or August and will post photos and a full report then.
Until then, thank you for supporting us in our first full year as a winery. We are looking forward to our 2009 red wine release this fall. Our 2010 wines are fruity, balanced and just wonderful. Hopefully 2011 will give us the same quality of fruit.
So what’s next? We recently blended two new red wines for bottling soon and release this fall. The raw materials are in the photo above. Storm Front will return, with more grapes invited to the party. We will also have a special limited production red wine that we will offer first to our e-mail list. If any is left, we will offer it to the public. If you haven’t signed up yet, now is a good time to do it. Sign up here.
We are also working on grapes for this fall. I can’t believe that crush is about 3 months away! Some areas of Washington suffered a severe freeze last November, with some vineyards losing up to half of their vines. So far, our sources seem to be ok, but a few more weeks into what has been another cool growing season will tell. We plan to visit vineyards in July or August and will post photos and a full report then.
Until then, thank you for supporting us in our first full year as a winery. We are looking forward to our 2009 red wine release this fall. Our 2010 wines are fruity, balanced and just wonderful. Hopefully 2011 will give us the same quality of fruit.