jon erickson

What’s for Sipper, Jon Erickson?

by whit on September 22, 2011

I first met Jon last year at the Barbera Meeting in Asti, Italy. My first thought: that is one handsome, seriously stylish dude. Second thought: Is he married? Kidding. Sort of. The answer to that question is YES. To a woman, whom is every bit as (or more) beautiful/stylish/talented, named Jayne Battle. And together they own Jayne’s Gastropub in San Diego. The food is ridiculous, the design is spot on and I can think of no other place I’d wanna hang while in San Diego.

Let’s get to know Jon, shall we?

Name: Jon Erickson Hometown: Westport, CT  Location: San Diego, CA

Favorite seasonal beverage: The Pimm’s Cup works all summer long, especially here in San Diego where it never ends.

Favorite cocktail or spirit: The Corpse Reviver #2 is an incredible cocktail.  Equal parts gin, Lillet, fresh lemon and Cointreau with an absinthe rinse, shaken with ice into a chilled glass with a single Luxardo maraschino cherry.

Favorite place to grab a drink: The Turf Club in the Golden hills neighborhood is a great place to drink.  You grill your own $7 steaks and get stiff drinks in a dark, un-renovated 1950′s bar.  There are better cocktails to be found in SD, but the faux prohibition suspenders and $14 drinks grow tiresome.

Favorite toast: Jayne’s favorite toast is one from her hometown of Liverpool: “Get it down yer neck.” {ed. note: I LOVE this. I’m stealing it.}

Favorite post-dinner quaff: Something sparkling, preferably Bollinger Brut Rosé Champagne

Favorite food & beverage pairing: Pizza pairs well with traditionally made high acid, tannic Nebbiolo.  Try the entry level Langhe Nebbiolo from Produttori del Barbaresco.

If you could travel to one region of the world right now for its food and/or drink where would you go? I would head straight to Cal Pep restaurant in Barcelona for some Pan Con Tomate and their cast iron skillet, made to order Tortilla Espanola washed down with a glass of Spanish beer with lemon.

What’s for sipper? I will be drinking a glass of Kabaj Rebula from Slovenia.

That’s a photo I took last year of Jon’s car. Yeah…

And if you want to see a photo of Jon disgorging a bottle of Movia Puro, check out this Do Bianchi post and also mine (with appearance by Anthony Wilson!) The man knows his way around some Puro.

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Livin’ La Vida Puro

by whit on April 5, 2010



At Jaynes last Sunday, Jon had the brilliant idea to pop open a bottle of Movia‘s Puro Brut Rosé. <<high five>> I had never had this wine but knew of it and was super excited to taste. I was even more excited to see someone open a bottle. Firstly, a little background info in case you’re wondering what the hell the words Movia and Puro are-  Movia is a winery in Italy’s far northeastern region of Friuli. And it is also a winery in Slovenia. Huh? Their acres of land straddle both countries, as a few wineries do in the area, because the borders of Slovenia and Italy have ebbed and flowed over the years.  Ales Kristancic is the (bio)dynamic winemaker behind it all and produces some of Italy’s most interesting (and delicious) wines. Alder at Vinography has an informative post about Ales, Movia and tasting notes on a lot of the wines here if you so care to take a gander.

the beginning

Jon went to the cellar to retrieve the wine and came back with a punch bowl full of water and a bottle of Puro turned upside down. What is all this craziness? Well, Puro is a metodo classico sparkling wine made from pinot noir. With Champagne and almost any other bottle fermented sparkler you will come across, the bottle has been disgorged (dead yeasts removed.) Puro is undisgorged… Ales makes you work for the prize in the bottle. I will once again point you towards the master, Do Bianchi, for video footage of someone opening a bottle and for his coverage on the “how to open a bottle of Puro debate.”

Anthony Wilson was up for the disgorging challenge and Jon stepped aside to teach a new student the ways of the Puro. With steady hands and strong spirit, Anthony approached the punch bowl.

anthony

Into the water it goes, as A-Dub begins to turn the bottle with cork firmly in hand…

a dip

Aaannnnd- success. The aftermath…

dirty bath

Time to get it in our glasses for pete’s sake. The stuff in the bottle…not the punch bowl.

beauty

A thing of sparkling beauty.

menagerie

wine porn

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The Barbera 7 (Semi) Reunion

by whit on April 1, 2010



signage

Where: Jayne’s Gastropub, San Diego

What: Piedmont tasting (Cogno, Giacosa, Produttori oh my!)

Who: Jermey “The Jar” Parzen, Jon “Stylin’ & Profilin’” Erickson and Whitney “The Only Gal” Adams (almost exactly half of the famed, revered and feared blogilicious Barbera 7)

window seat

the room

bar

First things first- a little love letter to Jayne’s Gastropub. It is a thing of beauty, carefully and thoughtfully designed by owners Jayne Battle and Jon Erickson. The restaurant is beautiful, the food is beautiful, they are like the most beautiful couple ever… tons of beauty all up in there. I highly suggest you get your butt to San Diego and pay them a visit. Now on to the vino!

[click to continue…]

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On The Road with the Barbera Boys (& Gal)

by whit on March 8, 2010



Day 1. After 60 plus barbera wines under our belt, we hit the road for a mini tour of Asti wine country.

wheels on the bus

The guys doing what they do best. Jeremy- talking, Fredric- being a stone cold motha, Thor- smirking and Jon- looking like a Tom Ford model. First stop- a tasting of barbera senza solfiti (without sulfites) at Azienda Paolo Marcarino.

glasses

saignee

vino

We tried a barbera that was blended with 20% dried grapes…a bit reductive and amarone like, otherwise known as bit “too much wine” via Cory. Also tasted was an extremely gulpable cortese (aka “grandpa wine” as says Jeremy) straight from the tank. Lovely little amaretti cookies were served with our final wine, a moscato d’asti, the region’s golden child.

amaretti

the sauce

Thor and the barbera soaked mouth of Mr. Stuart George.

dilap

barrel

As our little bus worked its way up the hills, blankets of snow crept onto the vineyard slopes. We reached the cellar  at Il Falchetto for more barbera. And more moscato. A surprise hit was their “Lurei” 2007 Barbera D’Asti which that morning wasn’t as well received in the blind tasting for whatever reason. The mysteries of the palate and the bottle…

snow vines

cork

barbera

snow

As evening approached, it was time to hit the road again. We had another 37 producers to work through- before dinner.

open

menu

Bread was broken and wine was shared with the winemakers spread throughout the dining room and around our tables. After dinner, the boys hit the town for an ice cold beer- a welcome change of pace for their wine drenched palates. This gal decided to call it a day and hit the hay. Today- another full day of barbera. Giddy up!

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