Ode to a Pumpkin
Jovial sitst thou ‘pon the clay
Beneath the wan and with’ring day,
Gorged on summer’s rip’ning juices,
Wreathed in ochres, umbers, puces.
“Fruit o’ the harvest,” thou art sworn,
Lord o’ pantry, pie and horn,
Pledge thou sustenance and cheer
Against the dwindling of the year.
But what of these dost thou deliver
‘midst winter’s ache and rot and shiver?
What canst a figure-head like thee do
Against the damp and chill and ague?
O foolish regent, bastard heir!
Dost thee with a summer’s day compare?
For storing, thou canst not restore
Our golden hours upon the shore,
Nor willst our sunny games reduce
To frequent, meager, pale soups.
Ruddied gnome, hie thee hence!
Thou art but ill a recompense
For verdant hills and tawny limbs,
For apricots and midnight swims.
Though born of summer’s balmy breath,
Betidst thou only rime and death—
Thus youths to carve thee it doth please
With hellish physiognomies.
Thou ghoul, thou shouldst ha’ buried been
With onions, turnips, and their kin,
Lest thou be yet ere dawn dis-patched—
Thou moon! Thou shipwreck! Doorstop! Wretch!
And bitter wraiths, chilled past their bones,
Dash thee ‘gainst the cobblestones.
he first week in October. Bloomsdale is a heavily-crinkled Savoy spinach with none of the bitter tannins that abet a blanket and perpetual renunciation. It doesn’t go near a processing plant or animal shed. It isn’t mixed with the leaves of 150 farms. It is taken directly from the field to the market. These farmers understand the importance of clean irrigation water; of well-rotted compost, spread in the field 90 days before planting; of the vulnerability of a 35 day crop grown so close to the ground. Chef Rich is proud of the quality and safety of their produce. Before you cut and run on spinach, remember Sage continues to be a haven for lovers of leafy greens.
Wandering into Sage Eastbluff four or five years ago, they enjoyed, as Jeff remembers it, some particularly good heirloom tomatoes on the patio while scrutinizing—as they habitually do—the wine list: “There was nothing flashy—no pretense—just a small number of select wines. You could tell there was a story behind every purchase.” Julie, who now works part-time in order to handle sales and marketing, heard plenty of them when she brought in a bottle of 2001 Couchant—their first vintage—for Chef Rich to taste. The Couchant, a slippery term in French meaning aiming or reclining, but which the Provençal toss out for “sunset,” has been on the list ever since. It’s 100% Cabernet Franc, but California style: “It’s big, intense, chewy—fruity but with a nice balance,” says longtime fan Leanne Swanson. “It can stand up to the Spinach and Prosciutto Salad, the Asian Shortribs, even lighter dishes like the Seared Scallops. It makes other wines seem boring.”
Sunday’s dinner will include an ’01 and ’02 Couchant, an ’03 Thompson Vineyard Syrah, an unreleased ’04 syrah, and an ’04 grenache, all bottled at their winery on 19th Street. Of their foray into Rhône varietals Jeff says: “We thought about what we like to drink, since we have to drink the leftovers.” They are currently working on a Rhône blend called 3ie Dé gre (loosely, “that step beyond”) as well as a Bordeaux blend using the merlot vines leased to them by a Santa Ynez winemaker. Jeff, who is taciturn about his work in nuclear medicine, as if grimly indentured to a button factory, says for him winemaking is “…all about the land. Perfect grapes make themselves into great wine.” That’s why they’ll walk the fields all summer, driving up to Santa Barbara County once or twice a week, test-tasting the grapes. They now have five crops come in during the crush. The fruit is hauled from the field to the crusher/destemmer at Old Man Jaffurs’ place (hi Craig!). The resulting pulp, skins and what-all is put into bin boxes and forklifted onto Penske trucks for the ride down to Costa Mesa. They’ve recently tripled production, to 1000 cases, knocking out a wall, upgrading their corker, buying more equipment, new French oak barrels and new glassware. Come to the dinner and meet this dynamic couple. They’ll have you barrel tasting in no time.
