Corti Brothers Newsletter for December 2004   Page 3 

 "RAGNO” STOCKFISH AND NORWEGIAN SALT COD 

With the release of Stony Hill Chardonnay 2002, a record has been achieved in the Napa Valley. Stony Hill, one of the first “small wineries” in Napa Valley, was founded by Fred and Eleanor McCrea. The land was purchased in 1943 as a 160 acre, goat ranch and in 1947 the first vineyards of the current total 39 acres were planted. The property is on the west side of Napa Valley, just out of St. Helena and is planted on terraced hillsides.

Maynard Amerine and other friends suggested that they plant white grapes and the McCreas began with chardonnay. A few other white varieties were also put in like riesling, gewürztraminer, pinot blanc, and sémillon. The small winery was completed for the 1952 harvest, probably the first new winery built in the Napa Valley after Prohibition. Stony Hill Chardonnay became the model of the variety in Napa Valley and has always been sold directly to customers from a mailing list. Corti Brothers began offering Stony Hill wines in 1966, with the 1964 vintage. Stony Hill has rarely ventured to change their wine making style and to this day it remains a singular production where the “placeness” of the wine is intact.

Fermented in small, old wood, bottled without malolactic fermentation, and sold with one year of bottle age, Stony Hill Chardonnay was and still is unique. Unfortunately, there is not much of it. It is not a flashy wine; it requires bottle age–ten years is not too old–but it speaks of its uniqueness, not of fashion.

Since 1973 the same winemaker, Mike Chelini, has been in charge of growing these grapes and guiding their wines into bottle. In 1965, when the State Department asked that certain knowledgeable wine experts select wines for use in American embassies throughout the world, Stony Hill was the Chardonnay in the forefront. With one exception: the 1963 vintage. Professor Amerine did not like this wine since it was made in new French wood and he explicitly barred it from the list. So much for fashion!

Stony Hill wine speaks for itself. It is the best expression of a vineyard and a wine making concept. If you can, try it. Better yet, try it now and age some for 5-6 years and you’ll see what “terroir” is all about.

Riesling and Gewürztraminer, both made dry, are fine examples of their varieties. They also age well and 12-15 year old examples are still marvelous drinks.

Kona Deep Sea Salt is produced by solar evaporation of deep sea water from 2,000 feet beneath the ocean surface. I first tasted it at the opening in 2003 of Honolulu’s first Farmer’s Market created by Joan Namkoong, former Honolulu Advertiser food editor, and cookbook author. I was in Honolulu as a judge for the U.S. National Sake Appraisal. (More about this later.)

I was struck by Kona Deep Sea Salt’s flavor: a clean, slightly sweet taste without any acrid finish. Made using the same glass hot house, shallow basin dehydration, of Japan’s famous Oshima Island Blue Label salt, it has irregular granules. The sea water from which Kona Deep Sea Salt has been concentrated is bacteria and pollution free, coming from a depth at which no light penetrates for bacteria to grow, and run-off is not found as it is in ocean surface water. Packed with trace minerals, this salt is remarkably unique. A new product from Hawai’i, Kona Deep Sea salt may well become a necessity at your table.

 1    2   << Page 3 >>   4 

<< Back to Top