Dear Friends,
Today I begin a blog series, At Home with Left Coast, that will come to you every two weeks. In it, we will profile the lives and times of core members of the Left Coast Family. In the coming weeks, others will contribute to this, each illustrated by our own Cali. We greatly welcome your own responses and input as well. This is a time for continuing to building community and connectedness. This, I feel, we all need.
At my table for one today, I am feeling the effects of isolation and concern on the part of all of us. So, I am here, granted virtually, to raise a glass to all of you, to wish you all continuing good health and, perhaps, even more difficult, the sustenance of well-being and the optimism that, of course, we shall brave and surmount these extraordinary challenges. Through this series, we plan to feature the lives and faces of those who contribute daily to the wines that you have so generously supported, their lives on property, past and present, and while working remotely as well.
So, today, I begin with me. What's on my plate and in my glass and how I came to both.
The Journey to Wine, part 1: This second-generation child of Swedish and Norwegian ancestry, was, admittedly, oddly focused on Italy from a young age. That made no sense as such Northerners produced, only occasionally, mushy pasta with the welcome lefse (a Scandinavian pancake made from potato) for dessert.
Yet, when I was offered the opportunity to spend my junior state college year in Florence, I leapt at the chance. My father, however, counseled Uppsala, Sweden, please, Suzanne! To this day, I am not quite sure how Florence won out!
The Journey to Wine, part 2: Besides gaining 35 pounds on my then slight, 20-year-old frame, the year was a pivotal changing point in my life. I experienced what real Italian pasta was, and the best advice of the year was to drink local, locale in Italian. Even today, when people ask what was my favorite wine of all times, I can't help thinking of sitting on the piazza, outside the Cathedral of Orvieto, a solitary experience also that. The sun was shining in the early spring defrosting of an extremely cold, nearly unheated winter, by American standards. The chilled bianco locale, the local white wine, was as delicious as I can remember. In fact—no exaggeration—I felt I may have been beatified in that experience. The stuff of youth that lingers still.
The Journey to Wine, part 3: Today, of course, there is no Orvieto locale but instead, our flagship wine, Cali's, in a half bottle from 2011. I found it just yesterday while attacking cupboards in this newly available time. On Friday last, we opened an expanse of 10 Library Wines—2007 to 2014 vintages—to taste for our upcoming Virtual Tastings series coming to you online. I am delighted to say that they had aged and deepened magnificently with their time in bottle. In sharing the experience with Winemaker Joe, Lisa, Sue, Mitch, Emma, and Bob, it was a gathering—yes, properly socially distanced—that added to my feelings of gratitude, hope, and communion. Mitch and Lisa will follow up with special, weekly library offerings online in the coming weeks.
Today’s Meal: For those of you who have enjoyed the Left Coast Kitchen (including the offerings of Executive Chef Carolynn, Pizza and Bread Maker Extraordinaire Greg, and Bob's Boeuf Bourguignon or, should you be a member of our Sparkling Society Wine Club, his magnificent Maine Lobster), you are well aware that I am not the cook of the Left Coast Family! However, this dish, now heartily devoured, is a simple and delicious preparation of polenta, red peppers (yellow would have added more color), tomatoes, and celery. Cooking time is close to zero, in a hot skillet, primed with Olive Oil (Italian, of course, preferred). Pasta can be substituted for polenta. And while I prefer a red wine pairing, you well know you can cross those borders these days. I have earlier added the spice of a homemade salsa, and our White Pinot, the newly released 2019 perhaps our best ever, held up nicely against the spice.
Buon appetito❤
Now, frankly, I am ready for a nap!!
BE WELL🌻
