December is almost here and another wine club order is heading your way! We will be processing all orders on Monday, December 3rd. All orders that are scheduled to ship will also go out and all pick up orders will be avail-able on Monday the 3rd. Remember, you have 75 days to pick up each order (Please pick up before February 15th).

Wine C lub Case Sale!

December 8th & 9th Only To order: Drop in, phone, email

or purchase online.

2010 C laret $200/Case

2011 Chardonnay

$100/Case

2010 Viognier (Rio Club Only) $20.00 bottle/$16.00Wine Club Tasting Notes: The nose displays aromas of orange peel, grapefruit and a hint of herbal notes such as hay. On the palate the mouth feel is full, textured, and is held together by its great acid-ity. The partial barrel aging pro-vides an elegant aftertaste, lingering with complexity.

Wine C lub Release Notes . . .

2010 Cabernet Franc (Rio Club & Reds Only) $28.00/bottle/$22.40 Wine Club

Tasting Notes: The nose displays mostly woody characteristics such as coffee, burnt toast, cedar and hazelnut. The first impression on your palate is true to the nose, reflecting the wood com-ponents due to the barrel aging. As the wine opens it offers a soft essence of almond. The finish lingers with fruit and a hint of bell pepper typically found in Cabernet Franc.

2009 Merlot (Reds Only) $35.00 bottle/$28.00 Wine Club Tasting Notes: The complex Merlot displays aromas of blueberry, licorice, and herbal flavors such as thyme. The barrel aging enriches the aromatic with delightful smoky characteris-tics. On the mouth the tannins are supple and elegant. The wine offers a modest finish with a pleasant aftertaste due to a year of oak aging.

Here are your Winter selections . . .

Wine C lub Gift

Rio Club: 2010 Viognier 2010 Cab Franc

Reds Only: 2010 Cab Franc 2009 Merlot

Enjoy a fun new compact shopping bag. This colorful bag folds up small enough for your key chain, so you are always ready to shop!

Wine Club Exclusive

It is still a little too early to establish the true potential of the 2012 harvest, but some key characteristics can be found that can help us create some perspective on the final outcome. We can do so by comparing previous vintages. The warmth of this summer provided us with an extra 400 growing degree days* over last year, putting this vintage in a similar growing year as the 2008 harvest. In 2008, we had fruit forward wines with lush and round tannins, which devel-oped very quickly through the aging process; today those wines are still drinking very well. In tasting the 2012 vintage, I can already foresee a lot of similarities, however, this year the tannin structure seems bigger and perhaps indicates bet-ter aging potential. Nevertheless, we will have to be patient and a wait a bit longer before we can enjoy the 2012 vintage around the dinner table. Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season! Santé! Jean-Michel Jussiaume

Your Opinion Matters! We would love to hear what you think about our events and wine club. Please let us know if you have any sugges-tions or events you would like to see at Del Rio. Feel free to email, call, or stop by with your opinion.

Harvest 2012 The Del Rio Family

In the Winery . . . What to Expect from the 2012 wines

Growing Degree Days (GDD)- are an attempt to quantify heat available for vine develop-ment during the growing sea-son. By convention grape de-gree days are tallied between April 1 and October 31, and a base temperature of 50°F is used.

Information from www.winebusiness.com

Todd Jennings

Todd Jennings is the newest addition to our tasting room crew. We are very excited to have him join our team. Stop by on the weekend to meet our newest team member.

Jolee, Todd, Courtney & Lindsey at our first Murder Mystery Event this Fall.

@delriovineyards

Fol low Del Rio Online!

News & Updates

Wine C lub Upgrade! We have added an new opportunity for wine club members. Now you can opt in to receive 12 bottles of wine per shipment and in doing so your wine club membership discount raises to 30% off!

Have you been getting the Del Rio email updates? If not, please email us at:

taste@delriovineyards.com. OR add this email address to your whitelist (contacts/address book): Del_Rio_Vineyards@mail.vresp.com

Wild Mushroom Crostini Ingredients 1 tablespoon unsalted butter Extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps sliced 1/4 in thick 1/2 pound oyster mushrooms, sliced 1/2 in thick 1 shallot, thinly sliced 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 1/4 cup dry white wine 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon finely chopped thyme 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley, plus more for garnish Kosher salt Freshly ground pepper Four 1/2-inch-thick slices of rustic sourdough bread 1/2 pound fresh ricotta cheese (1 cup) 1/4 cup tarragon leaves 1/4 cup snipped chives

Directions In a large skillet, melt the butter in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the shiitake and cook over mod-erately high heat, stirring, until browned, 4 minutes. Add the oyster mushrooms and cook until softened and lightly browned, 4 minutes. Add the shallot and garlic and cook until fragrant, 2 min-utes. Stir in the wine, lemon juice, thyme and the 1 tablespoon of parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Brush the bread with olive oil and grill until toasted and charred in spots, about 1 minute per side. Spread each toast slice with 1/4 cup of the ricotta. Spoon the mushrooms on top and sprinkle with the tarragon, chives and additional parsley. Cut the crostini in half, drizzle with olive oil and serve.

Brown Sugar-Walnut Pound Cake Directions Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter two 5-by-9-inch loaf pans. Combine flour and 1 tablespoon salt in a bowl. Cream 4 sticks butter and dark-brown sugar with a mixer on high speed until pale and fluffy, for 8 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Reduce speed to medium, and add vanilla extract. Lightly beat eggs, and add to mixer bowl in 4 additions, mixing thoroughly after each and scraping down sides. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture in 4 additions, mixing until just in-corporated. Fold walnuts into finished batter. Divide batter between pans. Tap on counter to distribute; smooth tops. Bake until a tester inserted into center of each cake comes out clean, about 65 minutes. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire rack. Make the peach-maple sauce: Combine maple syrup, light-brown sugar, 1 stick unsalted butter, and 1 teaspoon salt in a saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until sugar dissolves and liquid comes to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in heavy cream, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat; add sliced peaches. Let thicken, 5 minutes.

Ingredients For The Cake 1 pound (3 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon coarse salt 4 sticks softened unsalted butter, plus more for pans 2 cups packed dark-brown sugar 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 9 large, room-temperature eggs 2 cups toasted, chopped walnuts For The Topping 1 cup pure maple syrup 1 cup packed light-brown sugar 1 stick unsalted butter 1 teaspoon coarse salt 1/4 cup heavy cream 1 or 2 sliced peaches

Enjoy with Del Rio V iognier

Give the gift of wine! Del Rio Vineyards is happy to announce the return of our holiday gift boxes. We have three choices offering a range of prices from $25 to $100. Each box highlights the premium quality wine Del Rio has to offer. Orders can be completed in the tasting room or via mail, phone or online. Visit our online store to view all the gift boxes.

December Recipes - Warm for the Holidays

Enjoy with Del Rio Merlot

Mark your calendars for Saturday, January 12th for our annual Winter Wine Event. This year we have a great list of local food vendors ready to sample and sell their artisan creations. The winery will be filled with the wonderful sounds of the Oregon Little Big Band duo. Details: Date: Saturday , January 12th, 2012 Time: 1-4pm General Public Noon - 1pm Early Entry for Wine Club Members Admission: $15/Public & $10/Wine Club Visit our website for more information on events: http://delriovineyards.com/eventcalendar.html

Ingredients Spinach and Cheese Cakes: 2 packages frozen chopped spinach, 10 ounces each 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 1 for onion, 2 tablespoons to frycakes 1 small onion, chopped 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs, 3 handfuls 1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, 2 handfuls 1 egg, beaten 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, eyeball it Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper Steaks: 4 thin slices bacon, look for packaged bacon marked "Center Cut" in packaged meats case 4 beef tenderloin steaks, 1 1/2 inches thick Coarse salt and cracked black pepper, season to your tastes 2 tablespoons butter, divided 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1/2 cup dry red wine 1/2 cup beef stock, available on soup aisle Plate Garnish: 4 small Roma tomatoes Extra-virgin oil, for drizzling 2 tablespoons chopped or snipped fresh chives

Bacon Wrapped Beef Tenderloin Steaks

Directions Defrost spinach in microwave. Wring spinach dry by nesting in kitchen towel and twisting towel over garbage bowl or sink until spinach has given off all of its liquid. Place spinach in a medium mixing bowl. Heat a nonstick skillet over me-dium heat, add oil and onion and saute the onion until soft, 5 minutes. Add on-ion to spinach in bowl and return pan to stove top. Turn off heat.

Add remaining ingredients to spinach: bread crumbs, cheese, egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Combine mixture with a fork, then form into 3-inch patties. Set aside.

Line bacon up on meat-safe cutting board a few inches apart. Preheat a second skillet over high heat. Reheat the spinach cakes skillet over medium high heat. Season steaks with salt and pepper and set on bacon slices in the center of each slice. Wrap bacon over steaks. Place seam side down in pan and cook 2 minutes on each side.

Add 2 tablespoons oil to spinach cakes pan and set cakes in to cook. Work in 2 batches if necessary. Cook cakes 3 minutes on each side. Reduce heat to medium under steaks after the first 2 minutes on each side. Cook meat another 6 to 10 minutes, turning occasionally, for medium rare to medium well doneness.

Remove meat from the pan and let it rest. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter and flour and cook together 1 minute. Whisk in wine and deglaze pan. Whisk in broth and thicken sauce 1 minute. Add remaining tablespoon butter and re-move skillet from heat.

Quarter tomatoes lengthwise.

To serve, set the spinach cakes and steaks beside each other on 2/3 of serving plates and pour sauce evenly over steaks. Scatter a quartered tomato next to spinach cakes on each plate. Drizzle tomatoes with oil, season with salt and pep-per and top with chopped chives. Serve plates immediately.

~ Enjoy with Del Rio Cabernet Franc

9th Annual Winter Wine Event A Sneak Peak @ Vendors: Auntie Mae’s Sweet Treats The Cupcake Daily Mrs. Britt’s Oregon Kitchen O’ Brien’s Mountain View BBQ Rogue River Bees Simply Delicious Sherry’s Pasta

h

Del Rio V ineyards 52 N River Road

Gold Hill, OR 97525

Tasting Room Winter Hours Monday– Sunday

11am to 5pm 541-855-2062

Return Service Requested

www.delriovineyards.com

Saturday, December 8th 2012 1-4pm Join the Del Rio team for an afternoon of decadence, soups and fine wine in the Winery. Come and sample the December wine club releases and enjoy a delight-ful fair of food provided by the Del Rio staff. You will be the judge of our staff cooking contest. This year each of our tasting room employees will be preparing their favorite holiday soup. We love giving away Del Rio “swag” so don’t forget to wear your tackiest holiday sweater. Be sure to take advantage of the wine club only case specials: 2010 Claret- $200.00 and the 2011 Chardonnay - $100.00. The afternoon’s delicious food and wine will be accompanied by the delightful music of Rachel Sandeen. Four tickets complimentary per membership. Additional guests are $10 per person. Additional ticket can be purchased at the door.

December Holiday Wine C lub P ick Up Party

Rachel Sandeen