"Kukkula" Winery

Tonight's tasting were wines from the "Kukkula" Winery with John Behler from Johnson Brothers.

A winery focusing in blending varietals to reach a specific taste profile - Rhone style wines. And in very small production quantities.

Kukkula is located in Adelaida, Paso Robles, California, about 3/4 mile east of Adelaida Road, on Chimney Rock Road. At the time they purchased the ranch in the Spring of 2004, it had about 75 acres of walnut trees and 1 1/2 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon. The property is mostly hilly with most of the hills oriented to the north. We replaced 27 acres of walnuts for 16 acres of grapes and 8 acres of olives. The areas that were cleared have mainly west and south slopes. About a third of the area is sloping north.

The vineyard is dry farmed, and it is their plan to farm it organically. All of the vines (Mourvedre, Grenache, Counoise, and Zinfandel), with the exception of Syrah, will be head pruned. They are going to attempt to train it on a six foot vertical stake. Their experience has been that Syrah is unbelieveably vigorous, so it will be interesting to see what kind of challenge they about to face.

Their 16 acres were planted in January 2006 and started harvesting small quantities of grapes by the 2008 harvest and started making estate wines this year during harvest season.

The four wines presented tonight:

Vaalea (Roussanne/Viognier) - a Finnish word that means "white" or "light". This intriguing blend balances the rich aromatics of Viognier in harmony with supple fruit forward Roussane. Only 280 cases produced.

paired with uku tartare and risotto cake

IPO (Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah/Zinfandel) - is a nod to the wine maker's business as a financial advisor. Only 391 cases produced.

paired w/ grilled pipikaula, swiss cheese sandwich on rye

SISU (Syrah/Grenache/Mourvedre) - a Finnish word that means patience, perseverance, and stamina. Only 209 cases produced.

paired w/ braised beef, mustard seed salsa verde

Lothario (Grenache/Mourevedre/Zinfandel) - is refreshing with concentrated flavors of boysenberry, strawberry and hints of sweet toasty oak. This unorthodox blend resulted from alittle extra of each of its component varietals. Lothario means "a man amorously attentive to women; seductive".

paired w/ risotto, duck giblet confit, hamakua mushrooms