Health, Fitness and the Best Time Ever with Team In Training!

Submitted by Lawrence Lohr
Photo by Susan Ito

This year at J. Lohr, we are in the middle of launching a wellness plan for all our employees. In addition to trying to eat more healthy and be more active, many J. Lohr family members and employees are stepping it up, supporting wellness by training for races that raise money towards research for a number of illnesses including breast cancer, leukemia, lymphoma and diabetes. This is a double-benefit! By getting in shape and enjoying more exercise, we can help others get well, too. One weeknight back in December, my wife Emily and I were winding down from our day when she made, in hindsight, a huge decision. She showed me a piece of junk mail we got that day from Team In Training and said, “I think I’m going to do this.”

Team In Training is the endurance sports training program for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). They do two very important things: help train people for endurance events like marathons, triathlons and century bike rides, and raise millions of dollars to benefit LLS. Participants receive coaching and are given tailored training schedules. In exchange for coaching and incredible team camaraderie, participants agree to fundraise. Emily chose to participate in the Avia Wildflower Triathlon, which took place on May 6th at Lake San Antonio, just northwest of our vineyards in Paso Robles.

Emily began training at the end of January with the East Bay Triathlon Team, and she started from a point in which athletic fitness was not a regular part of her life. She trained almost daily for 13 weeks. When her race day came, she made it through an Olympic distance triathlon, which consists of a 1.5K swim, 40K bike ride and a 10K run. When she crossed the finish line, she was met by her teammates and coaches with cheers and hugs. Emily and her team stayed until all of her teammates finished. 

 
                   Emily Lohr (center) with team mates Lily and George

I was so proud to spend the day with hundreds of people who were there with Team In Training, knowing that they were racing not just for themselves, but for a cure. I rang my cowbell and shouted “Go Team!” as they jumped in the water, hopped on their bikes, and ran to the finish line. I know how much the training sometimes took out of Emily (after a difficult workout, she would often smile and say, “Wow, curing cancer is really hard work!”),  but in the end it was more than worth the effort. She says she’ll do it again, and I’m all for it!

A number of J. Lohr employees and family members have chosen to challenge themselves this year by training for events that benefit others, and we are so proud to know so many caring, motivated people! On June 2, we’ll also have a chance to get the whole J. Lohr team together to participate in the Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association (MCVGA) Winery Walk – a 5k walk through the vineyards at Paraiso in the Santa Lucia Highlands to raise money for college scholarships for the children of vineyard and winery workers. It’s not an olympic distance triathlon, but it’s certainly a start! As summer approaches, we’re looking for more ways to get active and get involved.

What will you be doing to take care of yourself this season? 

For more information on Team in Training, visit teamintraining.org
To learn about the MCVGA Winery Walk, click here. 

A Mother’s Day Tribute

Submitted by Cynthia Lohr

The celebration of Mother’s Day is one Steve, Lawrence and I covet as a chance to honor not just our own mother, but all female caregivers. This includes those who might not be birth mothers, but who guide and nurture others through daily gestures of love, kindness and sacrifice. Our mother, Carol Waldorf Lohr, personified these attributes, and one way we’re acknowledging her influence on our lives is by commemorating her namesake vineyard in St. Helena, Napa Valley.  We are thrilled to debut this sign in honor of Mom, and are inspired daily by her legacy of goodness through our partnership with the National Breast Cancer Foundation to fund mammograms for women in need through sales of Carol’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc—right from this vineyard!
 
As both a mother and stepmother of two kind-hearted and talented girls, I feel blessed to celebrate this day. The Lohr family wishes you and yours a Happy Mother’s Day!

From left: Jerry, Lawrence, Cynthia and Steve Lohr

Budbreak 2012: Paso Robles

Submitted by Sarah and Johnny
Photography by Sarah

Spring is here and budbreak is in full swing in Paso Robles! We had a chance to get out in the vineyards with Assistant Viticulturist Johnny Pierini to see what’s happening right now.  Check out the photos below for a look at the various stages we find our vines in this week!

From Top: 1) Cabernet Franc from our Home Ranch Vineyard at bud-swell, 2) and 3) Merlot from our Home Ranch Vineyard at budbreak, 4) Syrah in our Buena Vista vineyard at budbreak, and 5) Syrah with expanded leaves and the development of primordia (miniature grape clusters!) 

A Week at Cooking School

Submitted by Jeff Meier, Director of Winemaking

My wife Kathi asked what I wanted for Christmas last year, and instead of the usual “I don’t need anything,” I said I would be interested in going to a cooking class.  Although my daughter Emily flattered me by saying “Dad, you already are a good cook,” I personally felt that my skills were somewhat limited, and I wanted to get some expert teaching on the subject.  For many years, when my wife and I lived in north Berkeley, we received cooking class solicitations from a school in San Francisco called Tante Marie’s, and had always been intrigued by their class titles, such as “The Basics (Series I and II),” “Springtime in Greece,” and “All about Ice Cream and Sorbet.” I was also enthused that this would be a hands-on experience, where there would be doing, not just listening.  As a winemaker, there is a lot of doing. Knowing how many skills and techniques I’ve personally learned in my 28 years, I figured it was time to give cooking the same focus. 

I settled on Tante Marie’s “Cooking Camp I” which ran from March 12^th to 16^th – described as “an intense one-week course that will give you the confidence and basic skills and knowledge to cook well for the rest of your life.”  How can you beat that?  I took BART (our regional commuter train) into the city each day from Pleasanton, where I live, and enjoyed the 45 minute ride to Montgomery Station in San Francisco’s financial district. Because of the daily rain, I usually hailed a cab to the class in North Beach, just north and west of Coit tower on Francisco Street. 

In the class, there were fourteen students and two tables that faced the main cooking display table where our instructor, Malcolm Jessop (a British chef with many years of cooking experience in France and England), demonstrated and explained our activities each day.  

Instructor Malcom Jessup (left) and me

Each morning, we were greeted with fresh breads, fruits, crème fraiche, sliced meats and great coffee as we gathered for class, which started at 10:00 a.m. The students (5 women and 9 men) ranged from their mid-thirties to early seventies and included investment bankers, young retirees, a former Chihuly glass blower, and the head of a charitable organization that disarms land mines.

Day 1 – Knife Skills!

Malcolm went into great detail about knives, what we really need in our kitchens, the available products, and their strengths and weaknesses - the real choices either being German or Japanese knives.  German knives come from sword making and are thicker (for bludgeoning) and therefore tend to wedge food some when you cut.  Japanese knives are thinner (perfected in Samurai sword manufacturing) and are better for thinner cuts. He recommended Shun knives from Japan.  Additionally, Malcolm recommended that we do ninety percent of our kitchen cutting with a Chef’s knife (the single most important knife) and a paring knife.  Whereas a good Chef’s knife will run close to $200.00, a quality Victorinox paring knife is only $6.00!  The third knife to have is either a boning or boning/filleting knife.  The difference between the two is that the filleting knife is a very thin flexible blade that is really perfect for filleting fish.  The last knife we were told to include in our kitchens is a bread knife, normally with a serrated edge.  Malcolm recommended not spending a lot of money on this.  The other optional knife he talked about was a fluted-edge carving knife – not a necessity, but good for slicing meat.  Finally, a good knife sharpener coated with diamond dust is an absolute requirement.  In general, a good knife should rarely need to be sharpened, but instead honed before every use – realigning and reshaping the edge.  A good sharp knife should be able to slice a tomato with no pressure. 

A good knife also deserves a quality cutting surface – the best being wood.  Besides being more friendly to the blade of the knife, they tend not to slide when you are cutting.  They can be cleaned in soap and water, and if oiled periodically can last for a lifetime.   

The next several hours, we were shown how to cut vegetables, onions, garlic, soft herbs and hard herbs.  Next we learned how to properly cut up a chicken, to butterfly a pork loin and fillet a fish.  And finally, Malcolm spent a lot of time talking about the proper techniques for cutting up citrus.  His first twelve days on the job in a kitchen he spent cutting up oranges, and was very particular about the proper technique. 

The first day we made only two recipes, and my favorite was for Spanish Roast Chicken, using the two boneless breasts of a chicken cut in two, the two thighs, two legs and two wings. 

What you’ll need:

1 medium fryer chicken, cut into 10 pieces
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of smoked paprika (Spanish paprika)
1 ½ large lemons, thinly sliced into 16 pieces
1 head of garlic, peeled, cloves separated and smashed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper – generously applied

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl – making sure to squeeze the lemon slices to incorporate juice and lemon pieces.  Use your hands mix thoroughly. Transfer the chicken, garlic and lemon slices to a roasting pan and arrange the chicken so the skin side faces upwards. Roast in the oven for approximately 1 hour, until the juices in the leg and thigh run clear when pierced with a knife, and the chicken skin is crispy.

Serve with a simple green salad.

I brought along some J. Lohr wines, and this dish paired extremely well with the J. Lohr Gesture Grenache Rosé, but it would also pair nicely with our J. Lohr Estates Riverstone Chardonnay or our Cypress White Zinfandel.  I have prepared it since my class at home, and my daughters have loved it!

Stay tuned for more stories and recipes collected during Jeff’s week at Tante Marie’s!

At Winter’s End: Paso Robles

Submission and Photography by Sarah S.

Foxtail, a native grass, is also sprouting up alongside the vines.

Budbreak 2012: Monterey County

Photography by Paul Kirchner

Above: Our first Chardonnay buds of the year

Below: A rainbow over our GV 9 Vineyard in Greenfield, California

Well everyone, it looks like winter out here in California is coming to a close! We’ve been watching every day for budbreak - the exciting time when our vineyards come out of dormancy and we get to see the first new buds opening on the vines. So far, we have budbreak only in our Monterey County vineyards, but we expect Paso will be just around the corner. 

New Releases: 2010 J. Lohr Highlands Bench Pinot Noir & Chardonnay

Today, we are thrilled to announce the long-awaited release of two new wines to our Vineyard Series portfolio:  2010 J. Lohr Highlands Bench Pinot Noir and 2010 J. Lohr Highlands Bench Chardonnay, made from the first fruit harvested in our new vineyard plantings in the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation of Monterey County.  For the next several months, these wines will be available exclusively in our tasting rooms, to our wine club members and for purchase online.

When we first introduced these wines this past weekend at our Wine Club Highlands Bench Preview events in San Jose and Paso Robles, we were asked by some folks why we’ve decided to release yet another Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to our already well-rounded portfolio. The answer is this: the styles of Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays available out there today are as diverse as the palates of wine drinkers, and these varied styles have as much to do with the growing conditions of the grapes used as they do with the winemaking techniques employed in their production.

Unlike our Arroyo Seco Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, whose rich, Burgundian styles reflect the fog, wind, cool air and gravelly soils in which they are grown, our new 2010 J. Lohr Highlands Bench wines are markedly Californian in style, full of voluptuous fruit flavors. Grown on eastward-facing terraces on the slopes of the Santa Lucia mountains to the west of the Salinas Valley, the vines are grown at altitudes between 280 and 600 feet, are bathed in warm sunlight, and receive gentle ocean breezes off of Monterey Bay, leading to bold fruit flavors of cherry and raspberry in our J. Lohr Highlands Bench Pinot Noir and intense tropical flavors of passion fruit, pineapple and juicy, ripe peach in our J. Lohr Highlands Bench Chardonnay.  To accentuate the New World styles of our Highlands Bench wines, our winemakers used several native fermentations, more malolactic fermentation and a higher percentage of new oak. As a result, these wines display beautiful, compelling structure and a lush, velvety mouthfeel.

Some of the country’s most acclaimed Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs are coming out of both the Arroyo Seco and Santa Lucia Highlands appellations. But which are better? Here at J. Lohr, we believe you are the best judge of that. This spring, we invite you to come into our J. Lohr Wine Centers in San Jose or Paso Robles for a complimentary tasting of this exciting first release of our Highlands Bench wines. We look forward to hearing about your first impressions!

The Developed Palette: Painting with Wine

Content submitted by Avery and Jenna
Written by Sarah 

This week in our J. Lohr Paso Robles Wine Center, we got a visit from artist Steven Nakamura of Lake Forest, California. Many artists come through wine country to paint the vineyard landscape, but Steven works in a very special medium: he paints with wine! Making a palette using J. Lohr wines, he also whipped up a portrait of Avery, one of our awesome tasting room hosts!

In Steven’s palette, the brightest violet (top right) is our 2010 J. Lohr Estates Wildflower Valdiguié. The deep crimsons are Syrahs, the lighter bricky reds are our Cabernets and Merlot. J. Lohr Gesture Zinfandel shows up a rosy pink, and J. Lohr Late Harvest White Riesling is blended with 2009 J. Lohr Estates South Ridge Syrah to form a pale lilac.

We think wine makes a great medium for painting! An added bonus: the pieces smell almost as good as they look.

Wine & Chocolate

Vintner’s Winter

Submitted by Sarah

Although the vines are bare and dormant, winter can be one of the most beautiful seasons in wine country. Here in Paso, visitors sip on warming reds in our cozy Wine Center and watch out the windows as storms roll over the hills, bringing us our much-needed rainfall. Right now, as our vines sleep off the season and we eagerly await budbreak in spring, our team is hard at work pruning and preparing our vineyards for our 38th vintage here at J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines. We hope you can come in for a visit soon, but for those of you who live far away, here are some snapshots taken around our Wine Center and in our vineyards during the last few weeks: