Balletto Vineyards/Hot Time In The Summer Sun/Summertime Wines

As the summer has taken off and the heat stays well into the evening,I find myself searching for wines that are both refreshing and bold.Our feature today is with two perfect wines for this time of year. Anthony Beckman is the wine maker for Balletto vineyards.In his first career, he worked as a news daily news journalist in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. He then moved into bio-tech website development in San Francisco. While in San Francisco, he spent all his free time and money on wine, food and trips to Sonoma County wineries. It became evident this was his calling. So he quit his technology job and a month later found himself knee deep in a tank of Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel. There was no going back. After working his second harvest in New Zealand, Anthony came back to California and worked for three years as the wine buyer for Taylors Market, a gourmet grocery and wine store in Sacramento, while putting himself through UC Davis Viticulture and Enology program. He spent his mornings in classes learning the chemistry and microbiology of winemaking and afternoons tasting thousands of wines from around the world. It was the perfect combination of intellectual learning and hedonistic training. He graduated from Davis with high honors and department-wide recognition. Anthony has been with Balletto Vineyards since January 2007 when he was hired as the company's enologist. He was promoted to winemaker in January 2009. Prior to joining Balletto, he worked harvest for Peay Vineyards in the Sonoma Coast, Hudson Vineyards in the Napa-Carneros region, Delegats (Oyster Bay) in New Zealand and Quivira Vineyards in Dry Creek Valley.Now let's check out the tasting notes on these two special wines. 2013 Pinot Gris, Russian River Valley Estate Its rare to find the complex aromas and nuanced textures that this cool-climate Pinot Gris offers. Its both savory and fruity; crisp yet velvety, and the finish is long and intense. The wine begins with a magnificent mix of both bright and heady aromatics: lime, honeysuckle, ripe apple and fresh fig. The texture follows with lovely viscosity and structure thats balanced with a streak of acidity and minerality. The grapes were grown on a magnificent eight-acre vineyard that is planted exclusively to Pinot Gris. The estate vineyard is located adjacent to Ballettos highly acclaimed Burnside Rd. Vineyard. Planted on Goldridge soils and located about 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean, the site slopes toward the south and allows for excellent exposure. It produces cool-climate Pinot Gris that is both distinct and identifiable as Pinot Gris.Balletto Vineyards makes all of its wine from sustainably- farmed estate vineyards located throughout the cool southern third of the Russian River Valley. It is one of the few Russian River wineries to be 100 percent estate grown and estate bottled, and specializes in vineyard-designated Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, which are consistently elegant, balanced and delicious.Pinot Gris Winemaking Philosophy: Pinot Gris is the close cousin to the famed Pinot Noir, with only small mutations to make bronze-colored grapes as opposed to black (noir). With this in mind, its obvious why site selection is key to producing distinct Pinot Gris. Balletto Vineyards has planted their Gris in one of the most prime Pinot Noir locations in Sonoma County, the hills southwest of Sebastopol. To showcase this site, there is minimal winemaking intervention. The grapes are whole cluster pressed and fermented in both neutral oak, for texture and length, and stainless steel for focus and minerality. The final blend captures the site and the palate. Vin de Paille 2011 Estate Pinot Gris Vin de Paille (French for Straw Wine) is a sweet wine traditionally made by drying whole clusters on straw mats. The Pinot Gris for the wine was harvested at 23% sugar and left to dry on racks for 18 days. When the sugar reached 38%, the dehydrated clusters were pressed and fermented in 100% new French oak. Straw spun into pure liquid gold. Unique & Delicious. We have paired the Pinot Gris with a beautiful Halibut Oscar From Salty's On Alki.Amazing white fish with King Crab,and a rich beautiful sauce.our dessert was made perfect as we paired this dessert wine with Cheese Cake from Stark's Steak House. Now please join me as we open these wines and enjoy our pairings.We did save you a seat!Cheers! Click here and join us for an early evening dinner with Balletto Vineyards.