Chiarello Family Vineyards

Take one hundred people from all over the country, some
family, some friends, some like me, virtual unknowns, a
Food Network Chef & Vineyard owner, a giant table
surrounded by Zinfandel & Cabernet Vines and what do
you get? An enchanting evening under the Napa Valley
sky and one incredibly memorable moment in time, that’s
what! The Chiarello Family Vineyards Spring Release
Party, as it was dubbed, featured barrel samples of wines
yet to be released, a four course dinner prepared by non
other than Michael Chiarello himself and a splendid tour of
the property and vineyards. As wonderful as all that was, it
was the people I got to meet and being able to bear witness
to Michael’s undying passion for food, wine, life and love
that will truly be the bookmark in my memory of what
turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences of
my entire life.

It was Michael and his wife Eileen that played host to this
fairy tale event and it was their home in Napa that was to
serve as the location. An ultra-modern styled home with a
whole lotta Napa charm surrounded by vineyards in every
direction. Even though the evening would feature a
wonderful four-course dinner, quite literally in the
vineyards, make no mistake, it was the wines that would
play the starring role this evening.

Heading over to the Chiarello’s house on this Saturday in
late April, I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was to be
participating in all of this, as a guest of course. This was
after all, the reason I made the trip to Napa in the first
place, and why? Because I really admire Michael’s
approach to life. Passion! It is his passion that sucks you
into his Food Network show, which I personally believe is
that network’s best show. The main premise of Michael’s
show is all about entertaining with food, so could you
imagine a better way to experience it than being at the chef’
s house in person? I certainly couldn’t.

From the moment I first walked up to the hospitality tent, I
felt right at home. I was met with the first barrel sample of
wine, which was the 2004 Felicia Old Vine Zinfandel. I’ll go
into more detail about the origins of this wine later. For
now, all you need to know is how good it was. Now, going
into this, I honestly wasn’t sure what the wines would really
be like. I mean a lot of celebrities get into making wine,
some do it with great success and many others fail
miserably. However, I would be lying if I told you
otherwise, this may have been the best Zinfandel wine I
have tasted, ever! No kidding. Thick and extracted,
undeniably in no small part due to the old vines that ooze
out a juice as worshipped as pure gold. So let’s just say,
right off the bat, the bar was set awfully darn high!

Armed with my first glass of wine in hand, I proceeded to
surf through the crowd and began to meet and mingle with
the other guests. For those that know me well, you know
that my passion for all things wine is rivaled by only one
other thing in this entire world and that is of course the
Pittsburgh Steelers. It must be a subliminal gift that I was
born with, but I can pick out the other Steeler fans in a
crowd like nobody’s business and within moments of
searching, I had found two other couples in the crowd that
paid allegiance to the black and gold. Needless to say, we
became fast friends and ironically, I still keep in touch with
one couple that still lives in the North East. Isn’t football
grand?

Ah yes, but this evening was about Michael & Eileen and I
suddenly found my glass empty, so I ventured over to a
different table where they were pouring the 2004 Roux Old
Vine Petite Sirah. That Old Vine Zin was a hard act to
follow, but this Petite Sirah did so nicely. There were some
homemade dips laid out on a table along with some crostini
to spread them on. It took strong flavors to stand up to the
wines. How often do you say that? Usually it is the other
way around. It was shortly after my stint with grazing on
these appetizers that we were rounded up into a large
group in the back of Michael & Eileen’s house where they
began to addressed the crowd. This is where our story
really begins.

Michael was the third of three brothers in an old world
Italian family. He grew up in Turlock, California. He says
that even though his family was very poor, they lived the
good life because they were blissfully unaware of what they
were missing out on. Growing up he recalls that food was
the one thing in the house that the family centered around.
Dinner was family time. Perhaps it was those fond
memories of the family gathered around the supper table
that may have spurned on Michael’s desire to become a
chef.

When Michael started out cooking as a chef, he explored
high-end French food, simply because Italian food was
much too simple. You know, spaghetti and meatballs. Of
course, all of that has changed now as the Italians have
become more known world wide for the culinary
applications and what better style of food to cook then the
very style you grew up with. So although Michael does
make a wide variety of cuisines, you could say that Italian
themes would be more his area of concentration. Even still,
he made it a point to stay away from traditional dishes, like
Lasagna for example, believing that restaurant patrons
would never believe these dishes were as good as their
mother’s. Smart thinking and how true.

Chiarello Family Vineyards is a family run winery
facilitated by the hard work put in by Michael and Eileen
with a little financial help from his In-Laws. Michael likes
to refer to his Mother & Father In Law as partners
because the winery is not yet profitable. He says as long
as they don’t ask for a ‘cash call’, then the balance sheet is
okay. To this his Father-In-Law replied, “Balance sheet?
We have a balance sheet?” This brought about a large
guffaw from the crowd. Michael makes a great point when
he states the ‘Family Winery’ is back and these are the
wineries that make a real difference in the wine world. It’s
true, they don’t make decisions on the quality of the wine
based on the number of cases they can sell for their
shareholders. In fact it’s okay that they are not profitable
right now. His Father-In-Law gave him some very sound
advice. “To increase the bottom line, you must first be
happy at home.” Judging from what I saw, I think they will
someday be very rich, besides, the wines are awesome.
We just need to get the word out! Michael said that he
hopes his daughter Giana will want to take over the winery
someday, thereby keeping it in the family.

From here Michael takes us around to the front of the
house, home to I believe the youngest grapevines on the
property and the ones that make up the Giana Zinfandel
wines. The vines here were planted in 1997. It might seem
unusual to have grapevines planted right outside your front
door, but consider this; they are surrounded on both sides
by Caymus Special Select Vineyards to the South and
Silver Oak to the North. That is pretty good grapevine
company to be in, wouldn’t you say? When Michael had
bought the place he had to pull up some eleven hundred
trees that were on the property. The portion of the land
that did already have grapevines planted, the old vine
vineyards, were in bad shape. He had met Larry Turley
(Of Turley Zinfandel Fame) and became fast friends and it
was Larry that helped him turn the vineyards on his
property around.

Michael starts off by stating that grapevines, like human
relationships, need stress. Stress is a key component in
sustainable farming and sustainable living is Michael’s
personal philosophy. You must give more in life than you
receive or you will run a deficit. It starts with crucial
planning and it takes three years for every decision you
make in the vineyard to come to fruition.

For instance, they use high-intensity propane gas to kill the
weeds. This large apparatus that Michael refers to as
“Viagra for farmers”, blows out the gas that prevents
weeds from taking in water. Most wineries would use
simozene, a pre-emergent chemical placed in the soil to
prevent plants that are trying to germinate from
penetrating the 1-½ inch of soil at the top, where the
chemical is embedded. Michael does not endorse using a
chemical like this. They use well water on their property
for their source of drinking water and have children that
play around the yard. These types of chemicals could
prove harmful to the family.

Speaking of water, they deficit irrigate (don’t water as
much). The water they do use is placed deep beneath the
ground so that the grapevines will dig for it. He believes
that root depth is directly proportional to flavor quality.
The old vines on his property for example, go some twelve
to twenty feet below the surface. If you just water the
topsoil, the vines will curl back up to the surface.

Some sulfur used in wine making is inevitable, however,
grapes contain anti-oxidants naturally and if you do your
job right in the vineyards, it will cut down the need for
sulfur later. And as far as dealing with vineyard pests is
concerned, they have some helpful friends in the form of
bats, humming birds and ladybugs. There are bat boxes
located throughout the property and they will eat their body
weight in bugs in a single night. As for the ladybugs, they
will buy up to two million of them in a year. I asked
Michael how one receives two million ladybugs and he
informs us that they come in the mail with approximately
one hundred thousand of them to a box. He was a little
disappointed because he half expected a giant semi truck
to pull up loaded to the guilds with ladybugs. Once these
ladybugs are released into the vineyards, they immediately
get to work eating all of the bad bugs. For the next couple
of months, Michael is paranoid about mowing his lawn
because he is afraid he will kill some of those ladybugs.

The wine varietal that the Chiarello’s deal the most in is
Zinfandel and Michael refers to Zin as the Labrador
Retriever of wines because it is so excepting of difficulties
and easy to grow. It is what the state of California was
founded on, sort of the unofficial state grape if you will.
Zinfandel also just happens to be the wine varietal that
pairs quite conveniently well with most of the food he
prepares. His Zin vines are narrow spaced, roughly four
feet apart and pruned very aggressively. There are two
shoots on each vine and two clusters grow out from each
shoot (about 1 ½ pounds). One of these grape clusters per
shoot is removed fairly early on for fruit quality purposes.
The young Zin vines produce about four tons per acre from
which they get about two hundred and forty cases of wine in
a vintage year. By contrast, the old vine Zin vineyards
only produce a ½ ton per acre and he loses a lot of money
on those vines. But the wines made from those old vines
are indeed special and Michael says, “You don’t kill your
grandmother just because she is old.” So those vines,
which are ninety-four years old and by the way and are the
oldest grapevines in the Napa Valley, are staying put!

The flavor of the wines produced in a grapevine’s first
vintage are special because you are getting fruit from the
new cane. However you lose the depth of flavors that older
vines have. The old vines for example produce a wine that
is extremely rich in both flavor and mouth feel. You can
blend the two styles together to get the best of both worlds!

It would seem somewhat illogical that given all plants must
have water to survive, that rain can sometimes be the
enemy of grapevines, but that is precisely the case. A lot
of rain early on in the vintage year can cause mildew when
the grapes start to develop. Excessive mildew will bring
about the need to add more sulfur to the vines. Rain during
fruit set can cause the flowers to fall off and if that
happens, you will lose your entire crop for the vintage
year. So far, in 2006, there has been more rain than
normal in the spring.

We headed to the vineyards to the back of the property,
which are home to the old vine Zinfandel and Petite Sirah.
These vineyards are a sight to behold. No trellises or
trains are needed; they just sit there on top of the earth
like grumpy old wise men. On our way back to those
vineyards, we are met by Lorenzo, from Mexico, who is the
vineyard manager. Lorenzo has been with Michael for six
years and works eleven months of the year, all the while
sending money back home to Mexico once a week.
Lorenzo is working hard to earn his citizenship so that he
can bring his family up to live with him in Napa full time.
He more or less works the vineyards by himself. He asked
Michael one day why it was that he didn’t just hire a big
crew to come in to work the vineyards and get everything
accomplished in a short period of time. Michael’s reply
was, “Then what you do?” This way Michael can keep
Lorenzo on full time the whole year.

After our vineyard tour we retreated to the great big table
amongst the vineyards for dinner. I don’t know how I
managed this, but I was able to sit with Eileen’s family. In
fact I had the pleasure, nay, the privilege of sitting next to
her parents for dinner. You could go the entire world over
and not find two people that are more charming and
delightful than they are. Michael says that he knew he was
in like Flynn with his in-laws because his Mother-In-Law is
Italian, like him, and his Father-In-Law is Irish so he will
always have someone to drink with!

Our first course consisted of a Tuscan BBQ Duck Confit
Shortstack paired with the 2004 Giana Zinfandel. Both
were amazing. It would seem hard to top, but oh my, it was
by the second course. This course featured Morel
Mushroom Tortellini with Zinfandel Buttersauce and
Grilled Asparagus teamed up with the 1998 Roux Old Vine
Petite Sirah. I can still taste the tortellini and they haunt
my culinary dreams! The third course showcased the 2003
Eileen Cabernet, probably my second favorite wine of the
evening after the Old Vine Zin, partnered up with Toasted
Spice Grilled Napa Lamb Loin, and Pea Smashed Potatoes
with Spring Onion Jus. Wow! As a perfect end to a perfect
meal, we were treated to Grilled Pears & Honey with Point
Reyes Original Blue Cheese and Spiced Candied Walnuts
and an assortment of Dark Chocolate Truffles with Petite
Sirah Ganache. Okay, how bad do you hate me right
now?!? We were allowed to go back and sample whatever
wines we liked with the dessert. Excuse me waiter! Is
there anymore of that Old Vine Zin left?

As we were getting ready to eat the second course and the
wait staff were pouring the 1998 Old Vine Petite Sirah,
Michael confessed that asparagus (which was in the
tortellini dish) is like the “A” word because you are never
supposed to pair asparagus or artichokes with wine
because it kills the flavor (although I think Sauvignon
Blanc is okay). But he says, “Well guess what, it is
artichoke and asparagus season so I used them in my
dishes anyway!” One way to get around this wine fauxpaux
is to counteract the asparagus’s affect on the wine by
bridging ingredients. For example, he grilled the asparagus
to give it a smoky flavor and used the morel mushrooms to
bring out the earthiness to the dish. You see, all it takes is
a little planning!

Michael continued to tell stories about his past culinary
experiences while Eileen went around the table spending a
little one on one time with each of the guests. After a
period of time, the cooking and wait staff, along with the
volunteers for the event that work for NapaStyle were
brought out and introduced to us. Many of the cooks were
still in culinary school. Wow, how do I get that internship?
We had a little time after dinner to buy some additional
wines and buy and have Michael sign a copy of his latest
cookbook. It was also a time for me to say goodbye to all
of the new friends I had met on this evening.

To wrap things up, Michael thanked us for taking the time
out of our busy lives to be there. Can you believe that?
He thanked us for coming to his house for dinner and
tasting his wines! No Michael…Thank you and Eileen for
providing me with one of the most rewarding experiences of
my lifetime!

If you would like to sample some Chiarello Family
Vineyards wines while you are in Napa, you can visit a
place in St. Helena called Vineyards Collective (Main St.)
or visit their website at www.chiarellofamilyvineyards.com

Move On To Burgess Cellars