Spring has opened her arms over Southern California, releasing a shower of blossoms. The undeveloped hills of California chaparral are graced with native bush monkey flowers, California poppies and purple lupine. Spring's gentle breeze rustles the leaves and breathes renewal into the land. It feels like a paradise on a glorious day in March.
On another splendid spring day last week, around 30 of us drove over Santa Marcos Pass from Santa Barbara to the Santa Ynez Valley to taste wine and have a picnic alfresco at the Refugio Ranch vineyards. Nestled against the northern flank of the Santa Ynez Mountains and just south of the Santa Ynez River, the property is dotted with oak trees and is situated with a view of the ranch one one side and the Valley on the other. Owners Kevin and Niki Gleason and their family, have been careful shepherds of this idyllic piece of land, carefully carving out sustainably farmed blocks of grapes in the 415 acre estate while preserving its rustic beauty.
The vineyards are planted mostly to Rhone grapes. The whites (in order of acreage): Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Roussanne, Semillon, and Malvasia Bianca, are carefully crafted into the Refugio Ranch Sauvignon Blanc, Tiradora (100% Sauvignon Blanc aged sur lie), Viognier and Ineseño (Roussanne and Viognier) by winemaker Ryan Deovlet. The reds: Syrah and Petite Sirah, are used to produce the Refugio Ranch Barbareño. There are also blocks of Sangiovese and Grenache. The latter will be included in a new blend to debut this fall.The individual Refugio Ranch vineyard blocks are hand-harvested at night to insure maximum quality. At the winery in San Luis Obispo, Deovlet crafts the fruit into expressive and beautifully-balanced wines.
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nside Wine Santa Barbara co-founder Lila Brown used her catering experience to lay out a beautiful spread of food, including pork loin with apple slaw, homemade chicken salad , breads, cheeses, salad, veggies and mushroom pate. We had a friendly "Best Dessert" contest with Prem winning a bottle of coveted Refugio Ranch wine for her pie made with hand-grated coconut.With delicious wines to enjoy, tasty food, good friends and lovely views, we had the quintessential wine country afternoon at the peaceful Refugio Ranch vineyards, thanks to Sales Manager Nicole Carnevale. The vineyards are not open to the public, but their friendly tasting room at 2990 Grand Avenue in Los Olivos is open Friday and Saturday 11 am - 6 pm, Sunday and Monday 11 am - 5 pm.
Refugio Ranch wines will be featured at the upcoming Santa Barbara Culinary Arts "Backyard Bounty" dinner at the Rockwood Women's Club on April 22nd. Three chefs will prepare a gourmet dinner from local, sustainable ingredients.
In the emergency room, someone comes in with severe gastrointestinal distress after eating wild mushrooms. Who do you call? Professor Robert Cummings of SBCC. He regularly is asked to identify wild mushrooms, being an expert on mycology--the study of fungi. Last Monday evening, Professor Cummings entertained the 
The mountains of Santa Barbara sprout an abundance of mushrooms in the spring, from bear's head and puffballs to the coveted chanterelles. Several restaurateurs and caterers in town are known for their wild chanterelle creations. Chef Randy Bublitz , Chef Isidro Carrillo and their team of culinary arts students at SBCC created an outstanding dinner to accompany Professor Cummings' talk, using a range of mushrooms provided by the Berry Man, a purveyor of wholesale produce from Malibu to San Simeon. 
The menu:
The wines:
It was unanimous--everyone I spoke with raved about both the food and wine. The simple combination of egg and black truffle was divine--a dish that explained why black truffle is so expensive and desired. The port and morel sauce was rich and intense; Chef Randy commented that the secret was in the long, slow cooking to develop the flavors. The Korean salmon dish was also superb with a bit of chile to give heat without overwhelming the delicate salmon, Shiitake and oyster mushrooms. The wines were paired very nicely, with the crisp, citrus and honey taste of the Fess Parker dry Riesling balancing the rich sauces--I do believe a quantity of delicious butter was used--and the Zaca Mesa Roussanne providing a white wine for those who prefer the creamy mouthfeel of a wine aged sur lie. The New Zealand Pinot Noir from the Marlborough region had deep fruit and a smokiness that paired very well with mushrooms--Pinot Noir and mushrooms are always a great pairing. The Chateau du Prieur is a very expensive-tasting Bordeaux that easily met the challenge easily of pairing with the diverse meal. It is from an 135 acre estate in Bordeaux, just 5 miles from St. Emilion, so its excellent terroir shone through in the glass. 
If you want to try your hand at collecting wild mushrooms, read up on it first and make sure you have any mushrooms checked by an expert. The North American Mycological Society's 30 year report found there have been 1,641 people sickened by wild mushrooms, with 1% of them dying. Also, there were 15 cats and dogs deaths, with the cause confirmed as mushroom poisoning. The "death cap", Amanita phalloides, can kill someone just by touching other mushrooms collected and eaten. The amatoxin α-amanitin it contains stops cell metabolism and destroys the liver within days. Young Amanita look identical to the edible straw mushrooms and puffballs, so if in doubt, don't collect any of these.
I grew up foraging for mushrooms with my family in Colorado. Like the other Japanese-Americans, we preferred matsutake Tricholoma matsutake which grows only on fallen pine logs and has a signature aroma and flavor of pine. It is so concentrated that a single matsutake can flavor an entire pot of soup. I treasure the memories of time spent as family walking through the quiet woods looking for the brown caps poking out from under the pine leaf litter. Their aroma is intoxicating. As with all mushroom hunters, our hunting grounds were secret. Try asking a mushroom hunter in Santa Barbara where they find their chanterelles--they will never say! Fortunately, wild mushrooms can often be found at farmer's markets and you can easily grow your own from one of the mushroom kits available online.
From our first event in September of last year, we have been fortunate to have a number of winemakers come to pour their wine for the group. One of the highlights was 
Touring and Tasting has generously sponsored several of our Inside Wine events, including our 
Our next event is March 23rd, when we'll have a picnic and wine tasting in the pastoral vineyards of Refugio Ranch, an expansive site with lovely views, normally not open to the general public. Once part of one of the original Spanish land grants, the 415 acre estate vineyard is now owned by Kevin Gleason and his family who have the land sustainably farmed and the grapes hand-harvested to insure optimum quality. Under winemaker Ryan Deovlet's guidance, the wines are complex and beautifully balanced.
The documentary "Somm" which debuted at the Napa Film Festival, sold out at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival and was bought by Samuel Goldwyn for theatrical distribution, follows a group of young sommeliers studying for the test to become a Master Sommelier. Only 186 people in the world have earned the title of Master Sommelier in the four decades the test has been in place. The test is that difficult! Applicants have to pass a rigorous written exam, a test of their wine service skills, and a test in which they need to identify the varietal, vintage, region and perhaps the brand of six wines--in a blind tasting with a total time of just 25 minutes.
One of the successful candidates to receive the coveted title of Master Sommelier is the tall, dark and broodingly handsome Brian McClintic. Brian began his wine service at Morton's Steakhouse in Costa Mesa, California, going on to work at Marche Moderne in the same area, then The Little Nell, Il Mulino and Matsuhisa, in Aspen, Colorado before passing the rigorous Master Sommelier exam. He is partnering with Eric Railsback, an Advanced Sommelier, in Caveau Bar a' Vins. Eric began his distinguished career selling wine at the venerable Wine Cask of Santa Barbara, moving on to be the wine director of the hip Hungry Cat, then Osteria Mozza and Gordon Ramsey in Los Angeles. He was asked to help open Michael Mina's RN 74 wine bar and restaurant in San Francisco where he led a team of sommeliers before starting the new Santa Barbara venture. The wine bar is slated to open mid-May, but Brian joked that our Inside Wine event may be "a hard hat party". Stay tuned!