"See these grapes, they were harvested Monday in the Hope Valley. Aren't they beautiful? And you should see the grapes in St. Helena. The whole valley has this amazing funky smell right now. It's like when an old stinky dog jumps in your lap, but you love it," said Florence, who was at Herringbone restaurant in La Jolla Thursday to host the first official winemaker's dinner for his 5-year-old Tyler Florence Wines.
Florence may be best known for his 16-year career on The Food Network, but he's also carved out a second career as a best-selling cookbook author, restaurateur and proprieter of a retail kitchen goods store in Mill Valley, where he lives with his wife, Tolan Clark, and their two young children. Now, the 41-year-old South Carolina native says he's ready to enter the next phase of his life, which he calls: "Tyler Florence 3.0."
Tall and engaging, Florence speaks with infectious enthusiasm about the wine label, which started as a hobby in 2006 and has grown into a successful boutique winery producing four vintages that each year average 150 to 5,000 cases apiece. The wines are co-produced by the Michael Mondavi family under the supervision of 40-year winemaker Tony Coltrin. Florence said it's intoxicating to work elbow to elbow with the Mondavis and Coltrin, immersing himself in the history, science and sheer risk-taking of winemaking.
"With restaurants, if you don't get something right one night, you can go back and come at a dish in a different way the next day, but with wine, you get one shot and that's something I find really exciting," he said.
Florence says winemaking is the career he plans to grow old with. And Tyler Florence Wines is no celebrity vanity label. To build his knowledge, Florence will start an intensive two-year viniculture degree program next fall at UC Davis. His wines have earned 13 medals over the past three seasons and consistently good notices from Wine Spectator magazine.
Florence talked about his passion for winemaking to more than 100 people who paid $100 apiece to attend the dinner, a pairings menu prepared by Herringbone chef de cuisine Amanda Baumgarten.
The dinner opened with a Maine diver scallop crudo in a citrus glaze with crunchy pink peppercorns paired with Florence's top-selling wine, the bright and crisp 2010 Sauvignon Blanc.
In its ranking of the top domestic wines in the country announced last week, Wine Spectator picked Florence's Sauvignon Blanc as No. 8 in value for the money (priced under $25, it's rolling out to wine shops and specialty food markets around the nation this fall).
His rich and full-bodied 2010 Pinot Noir was paired with the evening's best dish, an Alaskan halibut with spicy chorizo, Jersey apple, watercress and almond.
And duck breast with celery root, black currants and juniper matched well with the smooth and chocolately '08 Old Vine Zinfandel. Florence said the vintage is so-named for the gnarled gray vines in St. Helena that were planted the same year the Golden Gate Bridge was built. The vines produce a wine with a complex but mellow flavor.
"After it gets some air, it melts into this sexy glass of velvet fog," Florence said.
A duo of beef ---- medallions of New York strip and shortrib ---- with charred tomato jam and lemony fingerling potatoes were served with the '08 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, a specialty bottling of just 200 cases each year.
When asked when he came up with the idea to make his own wines, Florence said the idea first popped into head when he was working as a 15-year-old restaurant dishwasher.
"I would sit around with the chef and the sommelier and listen to them talk about wines. That's when I realized it's about a lot more than just the wine itself. It's about the man, the grape, the terroir," he said. "One thing about me is that if I can't flushan idea out of my head it will drive me crazy, so I'm finally getting around to acting on that initial idea."
