Sam Pillsbury

Palette to Palate kicks off Devoured Culinary Classic 2011
Devoured Culinary Phoenix Art Museum

Phoenix Art Museum was the setting for Palette to Palate 2011

The people who snapped up the 250 VIP tickets for Palette to Palate last Friday night at the Phoenix Art Museum were treated to some of Arizona’s finest food and wine pairings.

The lineup of Chef’s included Payton Curry and Geoffrey Gersten with the team at Guerrilla

Payton Curry and The Guerrilla Gourmet

Gourmet, James Porter and Randy Slack from Petite Maison, Aaron Chamberlin chef and owner of St. Francis and James Angel and last but not least Silvana Salcido Esparza from Barrio Cafe with Hector Ruiz.

St Francis Phoenix

Aaron Chamberlin's Salmon and Beet creation

Arizona wine makers Sam Pillsbury (Pillsbury Wine Company), Todd and Kelly Bostock (Dos Cabezas) and representatives of Arizona Stronghold Vineyards were on hand pouring wines to be paired with the Chef’s creations.

Check out the Weekly Wine Journal’s FACEBOOK page for more photos from this event.  Don’t forget to hit the “LIKE” button (but only if you really do like!)

Below is a video summary of the event including interviews with Chef James Porter and Chef Aaron Chamberlin.

Arizona Wine Week declared!

Governor Jan Brewer was unable to attend

Wine glasses cheers

Cheers!

and read the proclamation in person, so Rhonni Moffitt – executive director of the Arizona Wine Grower’s Association read it as it was written.  The press conference ( which The Weekly Wine Journal ACTUALLY attended!) was held at the Phoenix Public Market in downtown Phoenix.  In attendance were some distinguished guests and prominent Arizona wine-makers including  Todd and Kelly Bostock , Robert Carlson,  Sam Pillsbury, Curt Dunham, Kari Zemper and Pavle Milic.  Here is a quick video of Rhonni Moffitt reading the Governor’s declaration:

For more information on Arizona Wine Week click HERE

See more photos of this event on the Weekly Wine Journal’s Facebook Page!

Dinner with Arizona Chefs and Winemakers up for Auction

The Arizona Wine Growers Association is providing a unique opportunity to enjoy an intimate family style meal prepared by a high-profile Arizona chef along with wines selected and served by a leading Arizona winemaker. Seven such dinner packages will be auctioned off at The Festival at The Farm on Saturday, Nov. 6.

Unlike other chef and winemaker dinners, these meals will be enjoyed at a single table with the chef and winemaker dining alongside auction winners, sharing their creations and stories in an intimate, once-in-a-lifetime setting.

During the live auction, attendees will have the opportunity to bid on a chance for themselves and five guests to enjoy one of these rare dinners with an Arizona chef and winemaker. The dinner-wine pairing lots being auctioned include:

  1. Dick Erath (Cimarron Vineyard – Willcox)  and John Hall (Canela Bistro – Sonoita)
  2. Maynard Keenan (Caduceus Cellars – Jerome) and Mark Tarbell (Tarbell’s Restaurant – Phoenix)
  3. Todd Bostock (Dos Cabezas WineWorks – Sonoita) and Chris Bianco (Pizzeria Bianco – Phoenix)
  4. Kent Callaghan (Callaghan Vineyards – Elgin) and Charlene Badman (FnB Restaurant – Scottsdale)
  5. Rod Keeling (Keeling Schaefer Vineyards – Willcox) and Rod Kass (Cafe Roka – Bisbee)
  6. Sam Pillsbury (Pillsbury Wine Company – Cottonwood) and Greg LaPrad (Quiessence Restaurant – Phoenix)
  7. Eric Glomski (Page Springs Cellars – Cornville) and Jeff Smedstad (Elote Café – Sedona)

In addition to these all-star dining experiences, other auction lots include wine getaways, vacation packages and wine tasting experiences.

Tickets to attend The Festival at The Farm are on sale now and can be purchased online for $65.  Click HERE for tickets

Sam Pillsbury’s new tasting room, Cottonwood Arizona

For those of you who Sam Pillsbury is, he’s a movie director who was born in the North East, moved to New Zealand as a teenager and then moved back to the USA in the 1980’s.  He has been growing grapes and producing wine in Arizona for the past 10 years.  For more detailed information click on the link at the bottom.

Here are a couple of short videos of my trip:

Pillsbury Wine Company tasting room north soft opening, April 9-11 2010

I received a special invite to the “soft” opening of Pillsbury Wine Company’s Tasting Room North. A soft opening is different from a Grand Opening in that the event is not

Pillsbury tasting room north

promoted to the general public. The general public is welcome, it’s just not announced. A soft opening is where the restaurant, bar, hotel, it’s where the business opens and works out the kinks in the system by testing it out on their friends!
Pillsbury Wine Company’s North Tasting Room is located at 1012 Main street in Old Town Cottonwood, Arizona. It’s called the north tasting room because the vineyard is actually located far away in the south eastern part of the state. Cottonwood is about an hour and fifteen minute drive north of Phoenix, just a few miles from Jerome where Tool front man Maynard Keenan’s Caduceus cellars and Merkin vineyards tasting room is located.
Pillsbury’s tasting room, features a simple design and layout. It also features art work by members of Sam’s family. There is an espresso bar, and of course wine to taste!

Inside the Tasting Room

On Friday night Sam estimates that there were close to 100 visitors over the course of the night, that is some soft opening! I arrived at about 11am on Saturday to meet Sam and do a little interview for the Weekly Wine Journal’s Youtube Channel, and take some pictures for the Facebook account. Nice way to plug alternate forms of media eh??
I also tasted 2 wines. I tasted the 2008 Roan red, which is a Grenache based Rhone style wine. And I also tried out the 2009 Viognier. The Viognier had just been bottled by 3pm the previous night. We will be giving more in depth reviews of Pillsbury’s wines in the future, but here is a little teaser.

The 2008 Roan Red is stylistically quite similar to the ’07 Roan Red, if you liked that, you won’t be disappointed with the new offering.

Beautiful color on the 2008 Roan Red

The 2009 Viognier is amazing! In just a couple of weeks it will have settled nicely in the bottle, but even at the time of tasting, with less than 24 hours in the bottle this was a very nice smooth, crisp wine. I was amazed. This wine will sell out fast, only 80 cases were produced.
Before I left I had to pick up a bottle of the 2007 Petite Sirah. Only 30 cases were made of this monster 15.4% 28 brix wine. Sam told me that there are now only 3 cases left. I will be opening this one soon!

more of that beautiful color

Interview with Sam Pillsbury, Pillsbury Wine Company

Sam Pillsbury

Sam Pillsbury is a director/producer turned winemaker.  He has directed and produced feature movies, documentaries, TV series and TV movies.

His bio includes a number of interesting facts:

“He has designed and built a number of houses in New Zealand, L.A. and Phoenix, including the one he lives in…he is a sailor, a windsurfer, a scuba diver and a skilled horseback rider…He taught English Literature at Victoria University, Wellington…he was Chairman of the New Zealand Motion Picture Academy for 4 years. He has played the drums in a rock and roll band, is a mechanic who used to build his own cars literally from scratch.  He is a graduate of the Bondurant Grand Prix Road Racing School in Phoenix, Arizona and holds a competition license.”

His new project  is the Pillsbury Wine Company.  He purchased 100 acres in

A Happy Wine Maker!

Cochise County, Arizona a few years ago and planted 12 acres of Rhone vines.  He continues to add 6 acres of Rhone varieties a year.

I recently emailed Sam some questions and he responded.  In ALL CAPS.  I decided not to do any editing because I actually like the way that looks. He seems to be a larger than life character and all caps suits that just fine.

Tim:  Where were you born and where did you grow up?

Sam: BORN WATERBURY CONN. 1946, LIVED IN THE CARIBBEAN AND NEW ENGLAND, MOVED FROM OUTSIDE OF BOSTON IN 1960 WHEN I WAS 14 TO NEW ZEALAND. GREW UP IN NZ, HAD FAMILY AND FILM CAREER, MOVED TO LA IN 1989, MADE FILMS, MOVED TO PHOENIX AND STARTED VINEYARD IN 1990.

Tim: What did you want to be when you were a child?

Sam: A ROCK STAR OR A CAR DEALER!!!

Quality Control

Tim: How did you get into the film business?

Sam:  LOVED LOVED LOVED MOVIES IN HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE IN NZ, DECIDED TO MAKE FILMS AFTER WRITING SOME FILM REVIEWS IN THE AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Tim: When did you realize you were passionate about wine?

Sam: IN THE 1980’s. I BOUGHT SOME LAND ON WAIHEKE ISLAND FOR A VINEYARD IN THE MID 80’S BUT DROPPED PLAN WHEN I MOVED TO THE USA MAKING FILMS IN THE LATE 80’s

Tim: How did you get into the wine business?

Sam:  SAME AS THE FILM BIZ…LOVED WINE, DECIDED TO MAKE IT!

Tim: Why did you choose Arizona?

Sam: WAS HERE SHOOTING IN 1993, MET WOMAN ON CREW WHO I GOT TOGETHER WITH AND WHILE CAMPING IN AZ IN THE LATE 1990’s SUDDENLY REALIZED THE POSSIBILITY OF GROWING WINE HERE…POSSIBLY PARTLY BECAUSE OF SEEING FINE WINES DEVELOP IN UNLIKELY PLACES IN NZ.  I ALWAYS LOVED BEING A GROUND BREAKER (WAS THE FIRST NEW NZER TO GET A FILM IN TO THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL).  IT IS VERY EXCITING BEING ON OF THE FIRST, AND IN THE CASE OF VINEYARD LAND, ABLE TO PURCHASE ACREAGE OF PRIME GRAPE GROWING LAND FOR $400/ACRE!!!

Tim: Do you want to continue with your film career or is that on the back burner, how do you juggle the responsibilities between the wine and the film?

Sam: I HAVE A SETUP WHERBY I CAN HAND OVER ESSENTIAL STUFF IN THE WINE BIZ AND DO THE REST BY EMAIL OR PHONE…BUT FOR NOW I HAVE PUT FILMS ON HOLD AS THIS NEW OPERATION HAS BECOME CONSUMING…WE WILL SEE WHAT EVOLVES…

Tim:  If you won 200 million dollars what would you do?

Sam: SET UP A CHARITABLE FOUNDATION TO TEACH PEOPLE TO BECOME SELF SUFFICIENT HERE AND OVERSEAS AND PROMOTE PROGRESSIVE CHANGE IN THIS COUNTRY, LIKE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND WELFARE. AND BUILD A FABULOUS WINERY/SPA/RESTAURANT ON MY VINEYARD LAND…

Tim: Name some of your favorite films and favorite wines

Sam: 400 BLOWS, JULES AND JIM, THE GODFATHER

GRANGE HERMITAGE, HOSPICE DU BEAUNE, ANY CHATEAUNEUF DE PAPE

Tim:  Your favorite piece of American culture, your favorite piece of New Zealand culture?

Sam: ROCK AND ROLL, 1968 CAMARO SS CONVERTIBLE,  NEW ZEALAND ARTIST RALPH HOTERE

Pillsbury Wine Company makes a Rose, a Pinot Gris, several Rhone blends, and a Petite Sirah.

Just another day at work

The Rhone blends are called “Roan Reds”

2006 “Roan Red”:  Grenache Syrah Mouvedre

2007 “Roan Red”: 93.2% Syrah, 6.8% Grenache. 186 cases produced

2007 “Diva” 64.3% Grenache, 21.4% Petite Sirah, 14.3% Mouvedre…This wine was named “Best of Arizona” by the San Fransisco Examiner.  173 Cases.

2007 Petite Sirah.  Only 30 cases produced!