Some Pig: Home-grown Swine & Local Wines

by MzRAD · Published August 9, 2013 · Updated December 9, 2015

Sweet-tea Brined, Apricot-Rosemary Glazed Roasted Pork Loin paired with a 2011 Deovlet Pinot Noir, La Encantada Vineyard and a 2009 Refugio Ranch Barbareño

His name was Milk Stout. Almost 300 pounds of Gloucestershire Old Spot crossed with a Hampshire, this Buellton hog fattened up over his gluttonous 8 month lifespan on grain and tasty swine treats such as heirloom tomato ends, vegetables past their prime, chicken stock solids, and other piggish delights sourced from Santa Ynez Valley restaurant partners. This fortunate pig played a starring role at a special mid-summer meal in San Luis Obispo where Farm joined hands with Table to craft an exceptional, local meal paired with the interesting blends and single varietals of Refugio Ranch Vineyards and Deovlet Wines.

Chilled Romaine Soup with Bacon Lardons and Spiced Yogurt paired with Refugio Ranch 2010 Tiradora, Sauvignon Blanc

Mr. Spice and I joined some friends at this inaugural family-style supper club at the incognito Refugio Ranch/Deovlet Wines cellar space at a San Luis Obispo industrial park. The surprise of passing through a nondescript door off the parking lot into a room full of stacked wine barrels aging the younger siblings of the wines we enjoyed that night marked a trend for the evening. We relished a steady stream of culinary entertainments designed to please, from the pretty table under the stars to the bright-green chilled Romaine soup in the first course, to the delicate creaminess of the 2011 Deovlet Chardonnay, to Milk Stout’s fantastic pork loin, and beyond. I love spending suppertime with people who think a lot about food wine pairing, pleasure, and happiness.

To Farming, Through Cooking

TerrificPig What made this pig taste so terrific? The farmer who raised the animal is also the chef who prepared it for supper. If you’re a foodie, it’s not at all unsettling that the person who helped raise an animal also harbored culinary plans for its various pieces and parts. Chef Jake Francis landed in the Central Coast after an experiential culinary training in East Coast and Southern kitchens. “I came to farming through cooking,” he says: “I wanted to get closer to the food I’m producing so we started raising pigs. Getting into butchery was the natural next step.” His business card reads, “Pig Farmer & Chef.” Farmer-chefs bring more to the table, much like sommelier-winemakers bring further insight to the glass.

RERA_WineBottles During the Refugio Ranch and Deovlet Wines supper, Chef Jake’s cooking brought out the layers of flavor he had worked to develop, not just with the sweet-tea brine, apricot-rosemary glaze preparation of the pork loin but with all the good feed this animal enjoyed over his life. Why does it matter what the pig eats? As I learned in Novella Carpenter’s Farm City, pig section: swine will taste like what you feed them so bring on the wheel of brie and compost from fancy food restaurant partners. Good feed and treatment makes for a low-stress, happy pig that gives the chef a head start in making the resulting dish taste even more delicious. Sourcing local, fresh ingredients for the rest of the meal brought it all together: ripe tomatoes, fresh herbs, refreshing greens, savory fruits, and more added to the generous variety of Ryan’s wines for a memorable mid-summer foodie experience.

Conversational Wines Paired with Great Food

Winemaker Ryan Deovlet discusses the wines

Vintner and story teller Ryan Deovlet drinks deeply from the well of history, expertise, and wisdom of Central Coast winemaking and loves to share his appreciation for its vineyards, regions, and personalities. In 2011 when I first tasted the blends Ryan produces for Refugio Ranch Vineyards, to me his wines tasted like a conversation with their various layers and interesting directions. If you weren’t at the dinner, enjoy reading the menu below and consider attending a future supper club under the stars.

The wine and food pairings were designed to bring out nuance as opposed to highlighting the obvious. Instead of matching the food traditionally with elements of the wines, Jake and I discussed pulling out the layers of the wine lying underneath to enhance not only the complexities in the wines, but allowing the multiple dimensions in the food to be accentuated. For that same reason, other than the soup pairing, we wanted to pour two wines for each course offering the guest an opportunity to find their own direction within the depth of flavors in food and within each wine.

—Ryan Deovlet, winemaker

We all reaped the benefit of the combined forces of the patient farmer, the talented chef, and the delighted winemaker. The various and hard working designers of this first event obviously enjoyed putting together their family-style food-wine pairing in an unexpectedly pretty spot for this friendly, hungry crowd. We’re pleased to hear that they plan to present more such events in upcoming seasons. Thanks for inviting us to your first party. Cheers!