This month, we feature two wines from one of my favorite wineries - Handley Cellars, a deep Tempranillo-based Toro from Spain, and a great Lake County Cabernet blend. 

Milla Handley has been crafting wines under the Handley Cellars label in the Anderson Valley since 1982.  Since that time, she has garnered a national reputation for balanced, well-made, and well priced wines that reflect the terroir of the Anderson Valley. 

The grapes for Handley Cellars  Estate Chardonnay comes from a small block on the winery property, all organically farmed.  It offers aromas of fresh pear and apple compote with a hint of nutmeg. Clean and bright flavors of ripe apple are nuanced by lemon cream and vanilla. This wine is nicely balanced with a graceful texture and lasting finish.  Fermented in 20% new oak barrels and puncheons, stirred on the lees for creaminess and a lengthy finish.   This is a wine with great acidity and aging potential. 

Handley Cellars Mendocino Pinot Noir is a blend of 30% Potter Valley fruit, an inland valley that characteristically produces Pinot Noir with mid-palate texture, soft tannins and red fruit flavors. The remaining 70% was sourced from various Anderson Valley vineyards - Handley Estate, Helluva, Pratt, and Day Ranch.  This Mendocino County Pinot Noir is a fruit-forward, multi-layered wine. It shows aromas of blackberry and dark plum, with a bit of blueberry, cinnamon, and vanilla.  A smooth texture carries the flavor into a long finish.

I tasted Cal Blanca Toro on a Spanish wine trip last April, and was very impressed by the wine's deep and rich flavors, sense of place, and its great price point. 

This 100% Tinta de Toro (aka Tempranillo) comes from 80- to 100-year-old original rootstock  vines that produces a gorgeous, rich and balanced wine.

Parker gave the wine 90 points:  "The opaque purple-colored 2007 Cal Blanca is 100% Tempranillo sourced from 80- to 100-year-old vines. It was aged in seasoned French oak for six months followed by three months in 5000-liter concrete tanks to provide unoaked oxygenation. It delivers a nose of roasted mineral, black cherry, and blackberry. This leads to a structured wine with exceptional richness, outstanding concentration, and a lengthy finish. Drink this remarkable value over the next six years. "

Finally, there's The Sum from 75 Wine Company, founded by the famed winegrowing Beckstoffer family, who believe that there are great wines to be made from grapes grown in Lake County . This is Tuck Beckstoffer's wine label, devoted to using his family's know-how to make affordable, quality wines.

The first vintage of this California appellation, Cab-based blend - with a  bright and focused nose of cherry, peach and apricot, complemented by cedar and cinnamon. In the mouth, the wine layers darker flavors with oak and spice notes . The depth offered as this wine opens makes it hard to believe it's under $25.

91 points and an Editors' Choice from The  Wine Enthusiast: "Rich and dramatic, this blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Petite Sirah offers smooth, unctuous flavors of cherries, black raspberries, choclate and pepper. It's a seductively appealing wine, with thick, refined tannins and a dry finish. Should gain in the bottle over the next 4-6 years. Great price for the quality."

90 points Robert Parker: "The real star, and a great bargain, is the 2007 The Sum.  This is an absolute steal when it comes to high-class wine. A blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Syrah, and 10% Petite Sirah, there are 5,200 cases of this wine, which is truly outstanding and an amazing value. Sweet blue and black fruits, camphor, and spice box all jump from the glass of this dense, medium to full-bodied, juicy, supple wine, which is a hedonist's dream come true. This is a beauty to drink over the next 4-5 years. California and Napa Valley need wines like this. Don't dare pass it by!"

Recipes
Chardonnay:  Chardonnay-Poached Lobster Tails with Asparagus and Baby Leeks serves four

This elegant, rich lobster pairs beautifully with the Handley.

6 baby leeks, trimmed and soaked in cold water to remove grit, tops reserved
I cup Chardonnay
3 sprigs lemon thyme
5 black peppercorns, coarsely cracked
4 lobster tails
2 bunches thick asparagus, trimmed and peeled

Sauce:
1 cup Chardonnay
2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
1 golden shallot, minced
8 ounces cold unsalted butter, cubed
2 teaspoons lemon juice
To serve: salmon roe and chervil sprigs

Combine leek tops, Chardonnay, thyme, peppercorns and lobsters in a large saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil over medium heat, simmer for 3-4 minutes or until lobster is just pink, then remove from heat. Drain, then remove shell. Keep warm.
For the sauce, combine the wine, vinegar and shallot in a small saucepan and simmer over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes or until reduced to 1 tbsp. Reduce heat to medium and whisk in butter, a cube at a time, until incorporated. Add juice, season to taste with sea salt and ground white pepper. Keep warm.
Cook asparagus in a saucepan of boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes or until just tender, adding baby leeks for the last minute of cooking. Drain using a slotted spoon, transfer to serving plates and season well. Thickly slice lobster and arrange beside leeks and asparagus. Spoon sauce over lobster, scatter with salmon roe and chervil and serve.

Pinot Noir Lemon-Pine Nut Crusted Lamb Chops with Pea Shot Gnocchi Serves 4

This recipe offers lots of flavors for just a little effort, and is a great dinner party dish that will be sure to impress your friends, and family!

5 ounces pea shoots, leaves only
3/4 cup whole milk ricotta, wrapped in a towel and squeezed dry
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 1/2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted and cooled
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs, preferably brioche
3 tablespoons unsalted cold butter , cubed
1 small garlic clove, chopped
1 lemon, zested
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, leaves only
1/4 cup basil leaves
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 lamb racks, about 24 ounces each split in half, 4 bones per serving, chine bone removed
1/4 cup chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 400F

Plunge the pea shoots into a large pot of boiling salted water for about 2 to 3 minutes until tender. Drain the leaves and run under cold running water. Pat them dry between paper towels.
Put the pea leaves and ricotta into a food processor with the olive oil an blend until smooth. Add the flour, season and pulse just to blend. Press the gnocchi through a sieve into a bowl.
Bring a large pot of boiling salted water to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Create an ice bath. Using two teaspoons, make dumplings, about an inch in diameter, by picking up some of the gnocchi mixture on one spoon and scraping it off gently into the simmering water with the other. Cook the gnoochi about 4 to 5 minutes or until they float to the top. Transfer to the ice bath. When cool transfer to a plate and drizzle with olive oil, cover and set aside until needed.
Put the pine nuts, parsley, basil, salt and pepper in a food processor and pulse until the nuts and herbs are fully combined. Add the breadcrumbs, butter garlic and lemon and process until the mixture is relatively smooth. Reserve the lemon-pine nut mixture until needed.
Season the lamb racks with salt and pepper. Heat a large saute pan over high heat and add the lamb racks, meaty side down and sear until nicely browned, about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to the oven and roast about 5-7 minutes, turn the lamb and roast a further 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with the mustard, and cover each of the racks with the lemon-pine nut mixture. Return to the oven and cook a further 3 to 5 minutes, before placing under the broiler for about 2 minutes. Remove and keep warm.
To finish, add about 4 tablespoons of butter and the chicken stock to a medium size pan and bring to a simmer. Add the gnocchi and cook until warmed through. Check the seasoning, and using a slotted spoon, divide the gnocchi evenly between 4 dinner plates. Cut the lamb racks into 2 or 4 pieces and place over the gnocchi. Drizzle with some olive oil and serve immediately.

Cab Blend: Santa Maria-Style Tri-Tip  Serves 6

The recipe from Thomas Keller, is a very simple and flavorful way of utilising the tri-tip, a cut from the bottom section of the sirloin, between the ribs and the rump. Serve the roast wide sides of grilled corn, foil baked potatoes, a nice chopped salad and lots of the The Sum Cab!

1 Tri-Tip roast, about 2 1/2 pounds
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon piment d'Esplette
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
Salt
Canola oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 rosemary sprig
1 garlic clove, smashed, skin left on
5 very thin lemon slices, preferably Meyer lemon, seeds removed


One day ahead, trim the meat of all silverskin. Combine the black pepper, Esplette, and paprika and rub all over the meat. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Thirty minutes before cooking remove the meat from the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 300F. Set a roasting rack in a roasting pan.
Pat the meat dry with paper towels and sprinkle on all sides with salt. Heat some oil in a large frying pan over high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the meat and sear, for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes to brown the bottom. Turn the meat over, add the butter, rosemary, garlic and lemon slices, and brown the second side of meat, another 2 minutes or so; as it browns, tilt the pan from time to time and baste the top of the meat with the butter mixture. Transfer the meat to the rack and arrange the lemon slices, rosemary and garlic on top.
Put the roasting pan in the oven and roast for 40 to 60 minutes, depending on the thickness of the roast, until the temperature in the center of the meat is about 135F. Let the meat rest on the rack in a warm spot for about 30 minutes for medium-rare.
Cut the roast into thin slices: the grain in the tri-tip does not follow a straight line, so adjust the angle of the knife as you carve to continue cutting against the grain. Arrange the meat on a platter and garnish with the lemon slices, rosemary and garlic.

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