Vino Con Brio Sold

Vino Con Brio winery in Lodi is closing on 5 June and the property has been sold on the retirement of the owners, Mike and Renae Matson.

Vino Con Brio has the largest Pinotage plantings in America. They make their own Pinotage, which I have tasted and its a good clean fruit forward modern wine, and they sell grapes to a number of other wineries who want to make Pinotage.

This follows the sudden sale in March of New Zealand’s Muddy Water winery to neighbouring Waipara producer, Greystone. Muddy Water made one of my favourite NZ Pinotages, a powerful ‘no prisoners’ taken statement wine. Winemaker Belinda Gould, Muddy Hill’s winemaker of eleven years lost her job.

New Zealand journalist Sue Courtney called the Muddy Water 2009 Pinotage “voluptuous” and that it was a wine that “totally seduces the senses in every way - a wine that lovers of full-bodied reds will find hard to resist.” Sue is doubtful that Greystone will continue with making Pinotage.

Sad news when two top non-South African Pinotage wineries close in few months of each other.

98 Points and Double Gold for Vino Con Brio

Vino Con Brio are celebrating that their 2005 Pinotage scored 98 points and won Double Gold and Best in Class awards in the "Alternative Red" category of the California State Fair Wine Competition.

The formal announcement will be made at this evenings California Grape and Gourmet charity event in Sacramento

The California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition is the oldest and most prestigious wine competition in North America and is open to California bonded wineries selling retail. In 2007, 661 wineries entered 3,029 varieties of wines into the annual judging contest.

Vino Con Brio, in Lodi, has North America's largest Pinotage vineyard and their first vintage was 2000. Mike Matson planted Pinotage after he discovered that Lodi had a very similar microclimate to Cape Town. The two areas share the exact same numbers on heat summation tables.

Congratulations to Vino Con Brio!

Matching Food & Pinotage – Salmon or Lamb?

Vino Con Brio in Lodi, California are pleased with the 88 points their 2004 Pinotage was awarded by Steve Heimoff in Wine Enthusiast! who wrote "Dark, thick, soft and juicy, an amazingly flavorful wine with a depth of exotic flavors. Blackberry liqueur, dark chocolate, cherry jam, violet flower, charred beef bones and peppery spice flavors swirl together into a complex finish..." and they recommend Con Brio Cedar Plank Salmon as the perfect food match in this recipe from their current newsletter.

1 cedar plank (6 by 14 inches) well soaked

2 salmon fillets (1 1/2 pounds total)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 tablespoons Dijon mustard

6 tablespoons brown sugar

Soak cedar plank in salted water for at least 2 hours, then drain. Remove skin from salmon fillet. Remove any remaining bones. Rinse the salmon under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Generously season the salmon with salt and pepper on both sides. Lay the salmon (on what was skin-side down) on the cedar plank and carefully spread the mustard over the top and sides.

Place the brown sugar in a bowl and crumble between your fingers, then sprinkle over the mustard. Set grill for indirect grilling and heat to medium-high. Place the cedar plank in the center of the hot grate, away from the heat. Cover the grill and cook until cooked through, around 20 to 30 minutes. The internal temperature should read 135 degrees F.

Transfer the salmon and plank to a platter and serve right off the plank with Vino Con Brio's Estate Pinotage.

Lamb Curry

But over at Stuffed and Plastered, Rach thinks Pinotage is ideal with her Lamb Curry which she says “does not taste like a true Indian curry, more of a Mongolian one with subtle spices and less afterkick.”

She finds Cabernet Sauvignon “makes the wine taste sour” and Rioja/Tempranillo is “too heavy a grape and loses the rich flavour and aromas of the food”.

Rach says Stellenbosch Pinotage makes the best match, and she recommends Kleine Zalze and Beyersksloof Pinotage.