THERE'S STILL ROOM IN NEXT WEEK'S CHEESE SEMINAR

Please join us! Here's the description...

CHEESE SEMINAR
Wednesday, July 1 6:30-8:00 p.m.
In this special program, we host a field trip to The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, where owner Norbert Wabnig and his knowledgeable staff will describe the history and technique of cheese making. We will sample many of their imported and domestic cheeses as well as wines and other specialty foods which are appropriate for serving with cheese. If you haven’t been to The Cheese Store yet, this is one of the only resources of its kind in the L.A. area and you are in for a treat. The seminar will meet at the store, 419 N. Beverly Drive. Note: There is no seating at the store.

Cake Video from 2001

This is an ancient video that was shot at the school, but our next door neighbors at ArtWorks Studio just sent us the YouTube link, so here it is...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8qsCpLxPPo&feature=related

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Last stops in the Guadalupe Valley

From Mogor Badan, we headed next to Viña de Liceaga, where the wines are made from grape varieties purchased throughout the Baja wine region and there were no standouts EXCEPT the aged grappa. I believe it was three years old and aged in oak, producing a scotch-like flavor. Very nice. Our last winery stop was Vinesterra, located off the highway in the town of San Antonio de las Minas, where owners Abelardo Rodriguez and his lovely wife (name utterly forgotten) entertained us like old friends for almost two hours. They have a beautiful new cellar positioned next to a few acres of vines in the heart of this nice village. Their wines were nice but we only bought the 2004 Syrah Mouvedre for a whopping $45 because they had been so hospitable, not because it was the best wine we tasted.

The best wine we tasted was hands-down the Badan Cabernet Franc and I would say that, all things considered, Mogor Badan was also the most special winery of our visit.

Before heading up to the hilariously ill-appointed La Fonda north of Ensenada, we stopped for a late lunch at Restaurante Mustafá. As the name suggests, the restaurant had a few Middle Eastern specialties, but we were hungering for Mexican food, which was fresh and authentic. Had we not stuffed ourselves already, we would have purchased local cheese and bread from the San Antonio de las Minas cheese shop, a shocking discovery just before we left for the coast.

What a wonderful two days! I highly recommend the Guadalupe Valley for everyone with a love of wine and a little adventure. Finally, I'll recommend the Tecate border crossing station for at least one direction of your journey and the Otay Mesa station which has much shorter waits than the San Ysidro Station.

San Antonio de las Minas

After checking out of la Villa del Valle, we proceeded directly to Mogor Badan, the oldest winery in the valley. Dr. Antoine, or as he is known locally, Antonio Badan moved with his Swiss family to the Guadalupe Valley in 1948. All of his wines are organic and biodynamic, and his sister operates an organic farm just next door. He very literally could not have been more hospitable, dropping what he was doing (on this occasion, topping off the barrels with wine to keep the air out and protect the wine from turning to vinegar) to talk with us about his wine and the region's politics. We sampled (and bought) a 2005 Cabernet Franc and a 2007 Chaselas. The cabernet was bold and minerally, but will probably be better with a little age. Chaselas is a Swiss white grape and varietal. The wine was slightly effervescent, floral and quite dry and according to Dr. Badan, ideally suited for raclette. I am really looking forward to a little raclette and chaselas fest later this summer.

Dr. Badan explained that he uses the protein from one of his own organic chicken eggwhites in each barrel to pull the tannins from his wine, thus making for a lusher mouthfeel. We also discussed the absurd U.S. laws which allow only one and a half bottles of wine per person to come across the border by foot or by car but allow U.S. residents to bring up to 5 cases of wine per person in to the country by boat. A few other Californians had by now joined us and shared their smuggling tips with us.

If you are traveling to the region, this is one of the most rewarding stops you can make, both for the physical beauty, the exceptional wine and the warm welcome you will receive. 646 177 1484. abadan@cicese.mx.

Valle de Guadalupe, Continued

After the memorable lunch at Laja, we headed out to look for more wineries and our hotel. We very literally stumbled upon an adorable winery which I believe was called the Tres Mujeres. This vineyard is not on the Highway 3 map and wasn't marked, except with a tiny "winery" sign. It is just a few meters west of the entrance to Mogor Badan. The winery is shared by three women who are not sisters but who are making some lovely organic wine.



The stick tunnel you see in the photo protects the wine room from the sun. The tasting room and wine cellar was nicely appointed with local pottery and artwork. Again we were served an artisanal olive oil and good bread. None of the wines had foils or labels, but we were lucky enough to meet one of the hardworking women who own the winery and who make the wine. We purchased a Zinfandel, Granache y Carignan 2006 and Yvette the winemaker hand-labeled our bottle for us with a gold pen. I highly recommend a visit here if you can find it, which really shouldn't be any trouble.

By now, the weather was declining and we thought we had better get to our hotel. It was the gorgeous Villa del Valle, http://www.lavilladelvalle.com. Because of the rain and possibly relating to all the wine we had by now consumed, we had a little trouble following the teeny signs to the inn, and headed off in the wrong direction through some olive orchards. Once we figured it out, we had no trouble negotiating the pitted and sodden dirt road to the inn. What a gorgeous place to stay:



The Villa has hired one of the finest chefs from Ensenada and each meal we enjoyed there was perfectly executed. All the herbs and produce came from the inn's own gardens and nice touches included homemade granola, marmalade and exceptional salsas served with the morning eggs. The Villa del Valle sells all the good wines from the valley as well as several good local beers. We sampled a delicious ale made by a neighbor of the owners. I was a little surprised in general by the fact that the food we tried up until this point skewed toward the Mediterranean and away from the Mexican. I want to also mention that the weather for our journey featured the surprisingly late spring rain I mentioned earlier and was quite chilly. For this reason, we did not try out the Villa del Valley pool or hot tub, but they were gorgeous. You can find all sorts of other information on their website, so I'll just say that we loved it. I would go back in a minute.