WHY: After our arachnid Magellan guided us down Foxen Canyon Road in Santa Maria Valley, we arrived at what was essentially the grand opening of FOXEN Winery’s brand new facility. In fact, we found our mötley crüe on a tour of the eco-conscious solar-powered winery and tasting room of FOXEN guided by none other than Dick and Jenny Doré, two of the four owners. Having the Dorés as our guides initially stunned us Hipsters, but just like sitting on Santa’s knee, if you don’t ask, you won’t receive. We drooled over the Rosé of Mourvèdre cases, salt’n’pepa’d them with questions about the energy consumption of the facility and discussed their new organic rows. After absorbing as much technical information as we could, we went inside to soak up their wine.

While we were tasting the regular flight, we were also lucky enough to experience the beautiful 2008 rosé we had lusted over in storage. In fact, it was Jenny who couldn’t help but notice the wine and label matched Jesse’s hair perfectly. It wasn’t long in the new tasting room before she convinced us to visit FOXEN’s original tasting room/shack half a mile away. As we sipped flights from one tasting room to the other, we knew reviewing just one wine wouldn’t work. We were but four hipsters staring into the vastness of FOXEN’s catalog. We knew we’d need a themed dinner party. Jenny was nice enough to give us a bottle of the Rosé and we bought two others for the dinner: the 2005 Vogelzang Cabernet Sauvignon and 2005 Mission Accomplished.

To start the dinner, Jesse made a kale, mesclun and bell pepper salad with homemade vinaigrette compiled from chili honey and ponzu. Luke topped the salad with pan-seared miso & ginger colossal white shrimp. There was a lot of flavor put forth in this salad, but what better way to let the rosé show us what it was made of? The Rosé of Mourvèdre has a bouquet and body suited for spicy or bold flavors. The sweet of the honey and miso combined brought out the crunchy crème brûlée and sweet watermelon nose, which followed through to the palate. Pairing this bottle with a kind of Cal-Asian fusion allowed for wonderful rusted raspberry, sea-salt and mineral notes aiding in a luscious mouth feel. Quite simply, this is a sexy wine.

The 2005 Vogelzang Cabernet Sauvignon was up next. For this bangin’ bottle, Luke made roasted rosemary and shallot lamb chops with rosemary bacon mashed potatoes. Before roasting, the chops were rubbed in salt, pepper and baking spices to compliment the warmth and complexity of the Cabernet. Luke’s strategy worked as we detected wonderful musk and oak that only a great cooper could have intended. This smart cab matched well with the richness of the lamb with tasting notes of burnt sugar smoke, the barrel, ending with a thin mint finish, etc., etc. This wine breathes so easy, smooth and fast, Renee exclaimed, “It’s like you’re dating a race car driver!” and then she flipped her hair and pigeon-toed her sexy boots. (Sexy boots!) Ultimately, we all agreed that one is more cultured after experiencing this wine.

For the last course, we purchased slices of triple chocolate tiger cake and raspberries to pair with FOXEN’s 2005 Mission Accomplished. This wine is made entirely of Mission grapes. The nose breathed chocolate, red delicious apples and baked pie-crust while we found pink lady apples and butterscotch on our tongues. This silky dessert wine was definitely something comfortable to slip into.

The Wrap: Pairing three wines with as many courses is a feat we highly recommend, especially if you can get your mitts on wines of FOXEN’s caliber. The 2008 Rosé of Mourvèdre has a rockin’ body combined with the minerality of a pinot gris. We recommend treating it like a Mourvèdre. Let it open up a little bit, sit down and eat something with it and do not chill it like your grandma’s white zin. For those bigger meals, it is hard to find a more developed, palate-exciting cab sav than the 2005 Vogelzang Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is phenomenal and could easily see more growth with age. Finally, the 2005 Mission Accomplished says it all in the name. This isn’t Bush aboard a battleship; this really was a victory. As for the migrating tarantula, we hope he found love.