A heart-felt thank you - to everyone in the Gastown Hospitality Family who came to help us lay our Bar into its new home. I love the look on peoples faces when they get their first peek at the finished wood. We still shake our heads in disbelief; grateful and bewildered that it all happened so ideally. This past weekend, I finally got a chance to try to give back to Vista D’Oro and Patrick & Lee Murphy for their priceless contribution to Pourhouse.

Every Bastille Day for the last three years, the Murphy’s have gathered their extended family of friends for the Annual Vista d’Oro Walnut Harvest. The family’s flagship wine is the port-style “D’Oro” - and truly tastes like it’s made of gold. To create the unique profile of this gem, winemaker Patrick Murphy follows the time tested method laid down by the Dudicourt family from Northern France - the recipe dating back to 1796. This incredibly delicious style of wine was introduced to the Murphys by friend Jerome Dudicourt of Oyama Sausage Company; a regular face at the annual harvest. The property of Vista D’Oro Farm is a beautiful sight indeed - the landscape marked by an endless variety of prolific trees and vines. Standing high above the homestead, are the mighty Walnut Trees. For each vintage, thirty thousand nuts must be harvested; a daunting task, but an army of eager helpers would make surprisingly short work of it. Two tasks for the day: picking nuts, and chopping nuts. I arrived unfashionably early, but was rewarded for my punctuality with taking the first shift in the “Man-Lift”. For those afraid of heights I suppose the idea of going three stories high in a wee metal basket might not be so enticing a perk.

While Patrick and I furiously foraged for fruit from high above, the business of butchering our buckets of bounty began below. Fresh Green Walnuts are not good eating - trust me, I tried one. There is quite a process to go through in order to extract the goodness dwelling deep within them. Each nut harvested had to first be inspected for quality, then cut in quarters - accessing the vibrant and intense juice inside.

Chopping Green Walnuts is a tad arduous, as you really need to concentrate your technique on stabilizing the fruit while attempting to accurately hack through the dense exterior. Gloves were distributed to keep hands from being stained black from the insides of the nuts - I chose to go bare-handed, as didn’t feel I had a safe grip on things through plastic. If my hands got a little dirty it would be proud evidence that I was part of the harvest effort. I was then informed that the walnut stains got rather deeply entrenched, and would take about a month or so to fade away - no amount of soap doing any good. Looks like the timing might work out for me to have my hands back to normal just in time for opening day at Pourhouse.

Though trying my darnedest to be quick yet precise with the knife, I still felt like a rookie - surrounded by the familiar faces of some serious Chefs. Next to me was Chef Ann Kirsebom (Toast of the Town Catering & Tequi-Lime Sauces). One particular table notably featured Robert Clark (Executive Chef of C, Nu & Raincity Grill) flanked by wife and Pastry Goddess Maureen Seay (Pastry Chef at Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts), and Julian Bond (Executive Chef & Program Director at Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts). I’d peek over to compare my progress to theirs - the flurry of slain walnuts and flashes of furious steel quickly discouraged me from trying to keep up with their pace. I was not worthy.

Six hours later, and work in the orchard was done. Lee had graciously been keeping us laughing; quenched with humour and fresh farm Lemonade - hand squeezed and garnished with fragrant Lemon Verbena, right from the garden. Charcuterie, cheese, olives and fresh bread were our fuel through the afternoon, and we were ever so grateful. The time flew, as it didn’t really feel like work - we knew we were all part of something special. The wines at Vista d’Oro are made with great ingredients, and great passion. Now that the knives were put away, Lee brought out the Sangria; made with Vista d’Oro Pinot Noir 2007. I’ve never really been a fan of Sangria, but I sure am a fan of Lee’s recipe (can’t give away the secret though) - It was the perfect treat. After a quick break, the wine making process would begin, as Lee put together the feast for dinner.

Patrick’s trusty tractor took the tubs of walnuts over to the winery - 1,200 liters of Brandy were waiting to be be wed. This rather large tub of tipple was made from premium Okanagan Valley Gamay grapes for Vista d’Oro, by none other than Master Distiller Frank Dieter of Okanagan Spirits in Vernon, BC. Patrick enlisted us in different roles in the winery - each of us keen to assist, but fearful of buying the farm; literally. Hoses were attached to pumps, and clamps fastidiously put in place as Patrick jumped around the vats and barrels feverishly orchestrating us through the transfer. This is a man who loves what he does, and is happiest sharing every part of the process. The Walnuts were split into two containers, and each batch then submerged in Brandy - drowning the gorgeous green beauties in booze. That’s how I want to go.

A thorough stir for each of the tubs to get things going, and our work is done for the day. The walnuts however, are just getting started; for the next nine months, these little guys will kick back with the brandy. Over that time, something wonderful happens - the volatile oils and acrid personality of the fresh nuts will mellow and change, revealing its friendlier personality to the liquor. Their relationship starts slowly; growing more harmonious with every passing month. Meanwhile, the wine component of D’Oro matures on a parallel path. A mix of Marechal Foch from the North Okanagan, with Cabernet Franc and Merlot from the Central Okanagan have been sitting impatiently in American Oak Barrels for nine months - alongside the tubs of walnut brandy. When Patrick decides the time is right, the forces are joined: the wizened walnuts are pressed and removed from the brandy; having achieved their goal of full maceration (These little walnuts aren’t quite done yet though - soon they will find a further purpose in Patrick’s other unique wine: the Vista d’Oro Pinot Noix - their flavour and residual brandy creating a sherry-like sensation with Okanagan Pinot Noir). The walnut-steeped brandy is added to the red grape blend, fortifying it and thereby retaining the seductive sugars. Another five months in American and French oak Barrels, and D’Oro will be ready for bottling.

Back at the house, Lee and the Chefs are rubbing seasoning into racks of ribs and shucking corn for the BBQ, while the other harvesters get a tour around the barrels and happily taste from Patrick’s array of barrels and tanks. The drive back to the city looms, so I regretfully have to take a pass on the magnificent and generous feast. I think Lee is still mad at me for having to go.

We spend our lives behind the Bar, and sometimes forget the visceral satisfaction of manual labour and a hard day’s work. Part of the thrill for me in building Pourhouse is that sensation of physical accomplishment. From demolition, to building the Bar, to working with the Murphy’s on their wine - I get to enjoy the wonderful pride and fulfillment of truly being part of creating something. The wines of Vista d’Oro taste of the passion and hard work they are made with. We hope you will feel the same about what we do at Pourhouse.

Cheers,

J

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 26th, 2009 at 12:31 am and is filed under Bartending, Pre-Opening, Wine, vista d'oro. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.