New Release the 2020 Petit Verdot

Introducing our first-ever 100% Petit Verdot, an exclusive release for our wine club members! Our 2020 Petit Verdot is a bold and expressive wine, showcasing the full intensity of this distinctive varietal. While we’ve previously reserved this varietal for our Four Chords blend, the 2020 vintage marks the debut of a standalone Petit Verdot and we are thrilled!

About the 2020 Petit Verdot Vintage
The 2020 vintage is memorable much like the year for obvious reasons. Bud break was a little late due to rainfall in the Spring, but there were no frost issues with it being a warmer year. The flowering was normal and occurred in good conditions. Summer arrived with hot weather and record heat waves in August and September. This encouraged the 2020 harvest to begin and end in the blink of an eye. During the beginning days of harvest, Paso Robles and most of the Central Coast was overcast with smoke from fires in Northern California. Despite this challenge, the Petit Verdot was left to complete its ripening and the winemaking team worked their magic to save the wine from smoke taint. Therefore, the 2020 vintage showcases the hardwork and determination of our winemaking team to keep
the quality that you have come to know and love at Parrish Family Vineyard.

After fermentation, the wine was aged for 22 months in 75% New French Oak. It features a combonation of El Pomar and Adelaida estate fruit that was hand harvested. 

Petit Verdot Tasting Notes 
On the nose, you'll encounter vibrant aromas of blackberry and blueberry, interwoven with floral hints of lilac and a touch of warm baking spices. On the palate, rich dark fruit flavors dominate, led by juicy blackberry and ripe blueberry, enhanced by subtle layers of cinnamon and spice. The wine is full-bodied with structured tannins, delivering a powerful yet elegant finish. A true expression of Petit Verdot's depth and complexity.

Would you like to try this wine? Join us in the tasting room to sample this Wine Club exclusive wine!

Cabernet Sauvignon Pairing

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Looking for a cooler season red wine? Look no further, the 2019 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is a lux red wine that will grace and impress your holiday occasions. I may be partial, but this Cabernet Sauvignon is my favorite wine on the wine tasting flight. 

Cabernet Sauvignon Tasting Notes

The 2019 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon has delicious notes of black cherry, blackberry, chocolate, coffee, and a dash of nutmeg. This wine can stand alone without food, but it is a perfect wine to pair with meat, or hearty vegetables like mushrooms and cauliflower. 

Wine & Food Pairing

There is a traditional food pairing philosophy that teaches red wine with red meat and white wine with white meat. Those pairings can absolutely work and if you are just starting in wine and food pairings it can be a good starting point. That being said, they are not absolute rules that should restrict you. There are so many wine varietals, blends, and styles of winemaking that not every red wine will show best with a red meat, but instead fish and chicken. Pairings depend greatly on the wine and the aromas and tasting notes you get from it.  

Another important note is that spices and herbs can move proteins and produce in various directions. Meat, vegetables, and fruits obviously have their own flavors, but overall spices and herbs can direct the flavors. For instance, the right spice rub can move lighter proteins and vegetables to pair with a bigger red wine like Cabernet Sauvignon. Recently, we had a Skillet Mexican Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream and a Coffee Caramel. This delicious dessert went beautifully with the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. This was somewhat of a surprise as normally sugar is an adversary to red wines, but what made this Mexican cocoa brownie sing with the Reserve Cab was the spices. We added chili powder and cinnamon to the cocoa, which marries with the baking spice notes found in Cabernet Sauvignon. And then the coffee caramel and vanilla ice cream met the notes imparted by the barrels chosen to age the Cabernet.  Spices can steer food pairings. 

Cabernet Sauvignon Food Pairing 
At Parrish Family Vineyard, we love coffee. There is a lot of coffee that powers our team behind the scenes - from the winery to the tasting room and especially the kitchen. Not only do we love drinking coffee, but my husband Ethan and I love to use coffee to make rubs for our meats. The coffee adds a depth of flavor due to its acidity, smokiness, nuttiness, and chocolate notes. This ingredient can help proteins pair with red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. 

We came up with a coffee rub that can be used for any protein or hearty vegetable that can then be paired with our beautiful 2019 Reserve Cab. We hope this flexible spice blend can inspire your next pairing. 

Coffee Rub Recipe

1 Tbsp Freshly Ground Coffee, Fine 

1 Tbsp Paprika

1/2 Tbsp Coriander Powder

2 Tsp Dried Basil

1/2 Tsp Mustard Powder

1 Tsp Onion Powder 

1 Tsp Garlic Powder

2 Tsp Salt 

1. Finely ground coffee.
2. Once you have the coffee ground, pour into a bowl and whisk together the rest of the ingredients.
3. To make the overall rub more fine, you could ground all together in a spice grinder, or a powerful blender.
4. Use the rub on your choice of meat or hearty vegetable. For meat, put the rub on the night before serving, or at the latest 3 hours before cooking. For vegetables, add the rub 1 hour before.

Notes: 

• You can sub the herbs for other preferred herbs. 
• Smoked paprika could be used for a more smoky rub. 
• This rub can be made in large quantities and stored in an airtight container for future use. 
• DIY Christmas gifts anyone? Get some cute jars, ribbon, and tags to give these out to loved ones. 

Cabernet Franc Paired with an Easy Appetizer

Need an easy wine and food pairing? The holiday season is fast approaching, which can drive any cook crazy. The mess. The various palates and food needs. The dirty kitchen with the mound of dishes. The too many cooks in the kitchen. We can console each other as holiday cooking can be overwhelming. But here's an easy appetizer to pair with our 2020 Cabernet Franc. 

Cabernet Franc Tasting Notes
The Cabernet Franc is a wonderful variation from its relative, Cabernet Sauvignon. It features a lighter body and lovely red fruit notes. Our 2020 Cabernet Franc is medium-bodied with notes of leather, cranberry, pomegranate, and red cherry. It has a good balance of earthy and fruit. 

Cabernet Franc Food Pairing Suggestion
The food pairing I am sharing for this club wine was an accidental creation. I was preparing my husband's recent birthday dinner. Ethan had requested pizza with homemade dough, sauce, and all the toppings. I had prepped ingredients for his anchovy mushroom pizza (that was definitely for him), classic pepperoni, and then a pesto butternut squash pizza. The pesto butternut squash pizza was one I wanted to make as we had butternut from the garden. I started working with the pizza dough. It was oddly only enough for two pizzas. This wasn't normal and I wasn't sure where I tripped up in my recipe, but regardless, I had ingredients prepped for one too many pizzas. I then thought of the on-sale crescent dough we had picked up at the store the day before. I decided with just 20 minutes to pivot and I would make the pesto butternut squash into a crescent roll appetizer.

I rushed around the kitchen and made these fall crescent rolls. I pulled them out of the oven, plated them, threw some flower petals on top for garnish, and then Ethan pulled up the driveway. Phew. I knew I didn't need to be stressed, but I was trying to make it a special dinner. 

While we waited for the pizzas to come off the smoker, we tried my in-a-pinch creation. It was simply delicious. As soon as I had a filled roll, I knew it was the dish to pair with the Cabernet Franc.

I hope this can help make your holiday table a little more fun and less stressful. You can make it as easy, or homemade as you would like! 

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Squash Crescent Rolls

INGREDIENTS

1 Butternut Squash, peeled and cubed

1 tsp Dried Tarragon 1 tsp Dried Thyme 1/2 tsp or Salt

1/8 tsp or Black Pepper

Oil (Olive Oil, Avocado, Saf{lower)

1/2 Onion, chopped

1/2 cup Pesto

1 can Crescent Rolls

1/2 cup Romano Cheese, shredded
 

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix butternut squash in a bowl with preferred oil, dried tarragon. dried thyme. and 1/8 tsp of pepper, and 1/2 tsp of salt. Place on a baking pan or roasting pan covered in parchment (less clean up!). Pop in the oven for 20-30 minutes till tender. Once done, cool for 10 minutes.

2. In a saute pan, heat on low-medium with oil. After a minute or so, put your chopped onions in with a couple pinches of salt. Cook and cover the onions until softened and a little brown...cararmelized. Set aside.

3. Open the crescent rolls can. Separate and lay out on a cutting board.

4. Now it's time to assemble each of the rolls by spreading pesto, then adding onions, and next butternut squash.

5. Fold the dough over each other covering most of the filling. Then top with cheese.

6. Bake for 10-15 minutes or unlil golden brown.

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Rosé Food Pairing for Fall

Where does Rosé fit in the holiday season?
We all know that rosé is perfect for a day by the pool, but it shouldn't be left till the warmer months return. Rosé has a place in the Fall and Winter months alongside the holidays. The 2023 Rosé we currently serve is a lovely, bright pink of Grenache. It has notes of dried strawberries, pineapple, white peach, lemon rind, rose, raspberries, and a slight minerality. It's too pretty not to invite to the parties! 

Rosé Pairing 
A few ideas for pairing Rosé are to use dried fruits, nuts, and herbs to welcome it to the table. Some suggestions would be: 

Pork Tenderloin with an Apricot Chutney or Sauce

Braised Duck with Herbaceous Wild Rice

Butternut Squash Chili with Cornbread

Thanksgiving Turkey & Chestnut Stuffing

Smoked Cauliflower with Pumpkin Seed Pesto & Tahini

Sourdough Stuffed Acorn Squash (see Recipe Below) 

Hopefully, this encourages some ideas for your holiday gatherings! Below is a recipe I came up with since Ethan and I grew acorn squash for the first time this year in our garden. As many of you know, we also make a lot of Cabernet Sourdough, so this would be delicious for stuffing. Cheers to you and yours this holiday season! 

Sourdough Stuffing in Acorn Squash Paired with 2023 Rosé

2 Acorn Squash, cut in half & seeds cleaned out

Olive oil

8 cups cubed stale Sourdough

1 cup rough chopped Pistachios

1 cup Dried Cherries

1 cup chopped Medium Onion

1 cup chopped Celery

2 tsp Dried Sage

2 tsp Dried Thyme

1/4 cup chopped Parsley

4 Eggs

1 1/2 cups warmed Vegetable Broth

3 tsp Salt

Pinch of Black Pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Meanwhile, rub olive oil, salt, and black pepper on the acorn squash halves. Put the squash halves cut side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast for 35 minutes, or until soft.

2. Toast the pistachios in a small pan and toast for a few minutes taking care not to burn, by moving the pan frequently.

3. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat and cook the onions and celery until translucent.

4. Next add dried sage, thyme, and parsley with the onion and celery. Mix well and let cook for about 2 minutes.

5. Then pour the onion mixture over the bowl of sourdough. Add in the pistachios, and the dried cherries. Mix.

6. Add the eggs. Depending on the bread dryness and hardness, you can reduce or increase the eggs. 

7. Slowly add the vegetable broth to the sourdough-onion mixture. Add and mix gently until the stuffing holds together. Again, you can reduce or increase the broth depending on the bread. 

8. Put the mixture in the squash halves and place under the oven's broiler for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown.

9. Top with more chopped parsley or marigold petals to serve. Best enjoyed immediately.

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Notes:

• Add cooked pancetta cubes, or chopped bacon to the mixture.
• Sub onions for shallots or leeks.
• Use avocado oil, butter, or ghee in lieu of olive oil. Brown butter would be amazing!
• Try whatever bread you would like including gluten-free.
• Use chicken broth or whatever stock you have!
• Leftover stuffing? Turn into stuffing balls. Bake for 20 minutes until golden in color. 

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New Food Offerings for Wine Tasting

Ready to enjoy wine with food? We released our newest food menu to accompany our wine tasting at our Paso Robles tasting room along Adelaida Road. Our husband and wife kitchen team try to release a new menu every few months to keep things fresh and seasonal. Here is a look at the latest dishes that join our classic bread and oil, cheese and charcuterie, and BLTA.

Harvest Burrata: Ethan and Cecily sourced Italian imported burrata. With this mozzarella being so delicious, they wanted a way to highlight it without it being another caprese. That is when Cecily's childhood memories of working in their apple orchard kicked in. She created a warm spiced apple and butternut squash roast to pair with the burrata. The team finishes the burrata with pecans, olive oil, balsamic reduction, and a pinch of salt. It's a simple dish that pairs wonderfully with our 2019 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon.

Grilled Cheese: Who doesn't like grilled cheese? It's a classic, soul-warming sandwich. Ethan and Cecily created this version to feature salty and nutty havarti, buttery brioche, and black currant gelée. The currant gelée is made to match the black fruit notes found in most of our red wines. This messy sandwich pairs best with our food-friendly 2019 Silken.

 

Gardener's Pie: This Summer, Ethan and Cecily grew a bountiful garden, which inspired many vegetable dishes. They felt it was time to release a shepherd's pie but with just the veggies. The pie comes in a cast iron skillet with zucchini, peas, carrots, leeks, haricot verts, and mushrooms. The vegetables are sauteed in Sauvignon Blanc and served with a vegetable gravy. The dish is topped with mashed potatoes as well as fried fennel. This vegan-friendly pie pairs well with the 2023 Sauvignon Blanc and 2019 Four Chords.

Duck Mole Flatbread: This flatbread was inspired by duck mole nachos that the couple loved from the old Villa Creek restaurant in Paso Robles. After the restaurant closed, Ethan and Cecily learned to make mole, which is a labor of love. The duck is braised slowly and then shredded on the flatbread with the mole. It is then topped with pickled manchego cheese, which Ethan created to add acidity in a new way. The flatbread is finished with a zest of orange and micro cilantro. It is not spicy, so it pairs with our 2019 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon or 2023 Rosé.

Maple Crème Brûlée: Last but not least is dessert! This dessert was created by Ethan's nephew, James, who joined the team to help on the weekends. Ethan and Cecily decided it would be fun to let him do his specialty, crème brûlée. James brought in a maple crème brûlée and wowed the entire team. We recommend finishing with this custard dessert and the 2019 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc.

Are you ready for wine and food, now? Visit us at our 3590 Adelaida Road location in the beautiful hills of Paso Robles. Reservations are always encouraged. We look forward to you trying our new menu with our estate wines!

 

Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc Pairing Suggestions

Our 2019 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc is our sweet wine on the menu and delivers notes of apricot, pineapple, banana and orange sherbet. It features estate grown Sauvignon Blanc that we allow to stay on the vine longer into the season to develop more sugar, so it is considered a dessert wine. The wine is perfect with sweet treats or cheese & charcuterie plates. Sweet wines pair best with sweet foods, but cheese with the creaminess and salt can also be a delicious pairing.

I've compiled a list of desserts and cheeses that would pair well with our Late Harvest to inspire your upcoming hosting and holiday season! (Graphic Above) One last idea for using the Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc, is that you can do a reduction to create a delicious sauce to top desserts like ice cream, flourless chocolate cake, or cheesecake. We hope you enjoy this sweet treat at your next get together or just because!

New Year, New Food Menu

Ready for wine & lunch in the beautiful Paso Robles wine country featuring our delicious new food menu at Parrish? We are, and we work here!

We are excited to offer our new food menu, which kicks off 2024 with delightful twists. Before we dive into the new offerings, we should clarify that the wildly popular BLTA, with its praline bacon and house-made Cabernet sourdough, will return. We will also be returning the Lamb Enchilada. If you haven't had the Lamb Enchilada, it is a must, featuring braised lamb, house-made sweet potato tortillas (gluten-free), guajillo sauce, pickled shallots, and crema. It is collectively a team favorite that we highly recommend pairing with the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Our married culinary duo, Ethan and Cecily, are bringing some creative new dishes to the menu. The couple, being a part of the Parrish family, love having the freedom to imagine and design dishes to complement the wine that their family works hard to make. "We can pull from childhood favorites to things we just want to try and make. We're able to do whatever we like, but it has to fit along with the wine tasting. It can be challenging, but it's an honor to be a part of showcasing the work of our family," says Cecily. 

So, here's the upcoming menu without further ado. A sandwich that will be popular is the Brisket French Dip. This sandwich features braised brisket on a house-made cheddar and onion roll and served with au jus. Ethan loves cooking up brisket, so it was an obvious choice for the sandwich. You might think of French onion soup with this dish.

Another offering is the Caprese Waffle, which features a waffle infused with basil oil and served with burrata, confit tomatoes, balsamic reduction, and fresh basil. Cecily loves caprese and margherita pizza, so this dish merges her favorite dishes together, but with a savory waffle involved. The Caprese Waffle pairs wonderfully with the Rosé as it will make the wine a little creamy!

If you are looking for a more vegetable-forward dish, Cecily has crafted a Gnocchi Salad. This salad features potato gnocchi and roasted vegetables served with sprigs of arugula, house-made cashew ricotta, pea pesto, and toasted pine nuts. It's a flavorful and light offering that we highly recommend with a glass of our Four Chords blend.

Last but not least is dessert! And this will be for the chocoholics, a Skillet Brownie. A Mexican cocoa brownie served with house-made vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of coffee caramel. This dessert surprised us as Ethan and Cecily worked with the Tasting Room team on a wine pairing. We loved it with the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, so this will be a decadent finish to your wine tasting. While the dessert comes in a personal cast iron skillet, it is shareable between 2-4 people. Although, we know die-hard dessert enthusiasts will only request one spoon, which we understand. 

If this whetted your appetite, feel free to book a reservation to enjoy our wine and food offerings soon. Come to think of it, the writer of this blog may need to make a reservation for that Skillet Brownie. 

2019 Zinfandel

Winemaker David Parrish, Tasting Room Manager Lupita Sotelo, and Winemaker Cody Alt taste the 2019 Zinfandel and share their thoughts on this newly released wine. It will sell out soon! 

Library Dinner

On Saturday, March 5th, we were joined by our high-tier club members for our first Library Dinner featuring library wines by candlelight alongside Winemakers David Parrish and Cody Alt. The wines were paired with a four-course meal lovingly crafted by Assistant Chef, Ethan Ray, and Culinary Director, Cecily Parrish Ray. It was a beautifully intimate occasion giving members access to time with the winemakers and limited wines. 

Welcomed with 2021 Rosé
served with fresh whipped butter, housemade walnut sourdough, and homemade cast iron focaccia

2013 Petite Sirah paired with Salmon Rosettes
salmon rosettes with lobster tails and brown butter bread crumbs served with a champagne frisée and basil oil

2013 Silken paired with Mushroom Toast
roasted local oyster mushrooms with brioche toast, pea shoots, garden broccoli blossoms, and a miso duck hollandaise

2013 Cabernet Sauvignon paired with Wild Boar Medallions
wild boar medallions wrapped in beef bacon, israeli couscous with smoked macadamias & black garlic, crispy sunchokes, braised leeks served with a currant silken sauce

2014 Clone 6 Cabernet Sauvignon paired with Pear & Blueberry Tier
angel food cake topped with a pear gelée, blueberry compote, lavender whipped cream, pistachios,
and a late harvest sabayon drizzle

We look forward to hosting more events in the future for our club members! If you are looking for a library event, up next in April is a Petite Sirah Vertical. And mark your calendars for our 2021 Rosé release with a Mother's Day Brunch! 

Wine Temperature

"We're having a heatwave, A tropical heatwave. The temperature's rising, It isn't surprising..."

Sung by Marilyn Monroe (There's No Business Like Show Business,1954) echoes in my mind as the Summer months hit. While Summer is bright and happy, I find myself to be like wine and prefer milder temperatures. So, it brings up a question that we frequently get in the tasting room, how do you properly store wine? It's a great question because there are definitely ways to keep wine temperatures perfect. 

Traveling with Wine
You are meandering the beautiful roads of Paso Robles. Hopefully, you're on Adelaida Road because it's one of my favorites in the area (not biased, right?!). You have the windows down, wind blowing, and you smell the wild grasses of wine country. You're happy even though it's 90 degrees out. Well, there's one thing in the car not so stoked on life and that's the wine you just bought. It's too darn hot for the wine! There are ways to ease the transport for your wine. 

• Store your wines in a cooler or a fun wine chilling bag. Check on the temperature frequently. Add ice packs as needed. 
   
• Bring your wines with you. It's okay to bring your wines into the next tasting room. We love our neighbors and would hate for their wine to spoil in the car. 
   
• Plan on stopping at your hotel/B&B/inn during the day to put your bottles in the chilled room.  
   
• Take a tour! Let someone else drive, enjoy your tastings, and let them handle the wine temperature. Our friends at Toast Tours will always carry your wine out for you. 
   
• Have your wine shipped by the tasting room. Keep in mind that shipping is expensive year round, but it is more expensive to ship with temperature control, but it is an option. 

At Home - How to Store Wine 
Most of us do not have a dream wine cellar waiting at home. Instead, we have a workhorse Whirlpool fridge that holds our dietary treasures or a cramped master bedroom closet with shoes that need shaping. Do you have to get a wine fridge? The answer is that it depends on you. 

What kind of wine drinker are you is the question you should ask before spending money on a wine fridge.  So, are you...

• Buy as you go or enjoy soon - Store in your home fridge 
   
• Enjoy good wine and store quite a bit - Get a mid-range wine fridge 
   
• Wine enthusiast - Put some money into a nice wine fridge or cellar (Obviously, a wine enthusiast is not reading this blog because they already know this, but maybe we have some wine enthusiast beginners!)
   
• Super wine enthusiast with no space - Rent storage at a wine storage facility. These do exist as we ship orders to wine storage facilities.

There are some tips regarding wine storage that can help you further decide how to best store your wine and if a wine fridge is necessary for your wine enjoyment. 

• Constant temperature. Wine does not like fluctuating temperatures. Store consistently at about 45-65 ℉. 
  • There are wine fridges with multiple zones, which are great for keeping whites chilled at 45℉ and reds at 60℉.  It's easier for serving wine to have the storing temperature not too far off from what you plan on serving wine at.  
  • If you are going to store a wine for a long time, have the temperature a little cooler to assist with smooth aging. 50℉ is recommended for a red wine. 
  • Don't go below 40℉ for wine (unless it's bubbles). Too cold can also be harmful for wine. 
  • If you cannot afford a wine fridge, and that's okay, do your best! I would pick your home fridge first or a basement cellar. If you can keep your home at a constant temperature, a closet would work as well. 
• Somewhere dark. Light actually can tamper with the wine's structure and ultimately hurt the flavor profile. 
   
• Avoid lots of movement and vibrations. It disrupts the aging process by disturbing the sediment. 
   
• Think about the corks as they can dry out. Store your wines horizontially (or upside-down in a case box). If you do have a wine fridge, use humidity. I'd say like 65% is a good precentage.

Opening Wine & Serving 
Once you open a wine, oxygen is now in contact and that begins to change the wine as it starts a ticking clock of how long you have till the wine is lack-luster. You may think serving wine is not super important, but it does make a difference in how a wine showcases itself. 

• Serving suggestions
  • Serve red at like 58-65℉ - warmer for older wines, cooler for younger wines
  • White wines at 45-55℉
  • Bubbles actually can be served at 38-45℉
• Let red wine breath a little. I'd generally recommend an hour before serving opening the wine and this is especially true for younger wines. It will help the wines express more aroma and flavors. You can use a decanter or an aerator to assist with this also. 
   
• Keep whites chilled as you enjoy. This can be done by keeping the bottle in your home fridge or having a chilling bucket on your table. Also, hold your wine glass by the stem so you do not warm the bowl of the glass. 
   
• Use a Coravin for those wines you want to savor. I'm not a Coravin rep, but honestly it's great for sampling or enjoying just a glass of a special wine. 
   
• Wines that have been opened can last for different times.
  • Lighter wines and whites - 1 or 2 days
  • Red wines and heavier bodied wines - 3 days
  • Ports and high alcohol wines - weeks (maybe months depending on the alcohol)  

Is your head spinnning yet? No worries. I wrote this not only for you, but for myself as I can't remember all the tidbits sometimes. I typically recommend to guests that ask about wine fridges that they should spend some time researching as it is an imporant investment. I personally know that Liebherr is a good brand. Outside of that, just read lots of reviews to make sure whatever fridge you purchase meets the important tips about wine storage. 

Hope this helps and most importantly, stay cool! 

-Cecily