Fess Parker and Tom Perini Spice Up Grilling Season

(PRLEAP.COM) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Kristen Green
Charles Communication Assoc. LLC
415-567-2999/kgreen@charlescomm.com
Michellene Boyd
Fess Parker Winery
805-688-1545x312/ Michellene@fessparker.com


Grilling ~ America’s favorite summer pastime
Let two legends Add flavor to your wine and grilling!

Santa Barbara, CA – It’s grilling season and you don’t have to leave your backyard to taste a multitude of grilling styles from across the country! Just fire up the grill, grab a glass of syrah and follow along as two western legends – Fess Parker (The Fess Parker Winery Los Olivos, CA) and Tom Perini (Perini Ranch Steakhouse Buffalo Gap, TX ) share their nearly fifty years of crowd-pleasing flavors.

The idea of cooking food over fire dates back to prehistoric times and certainly is a preferred method even today. Fire infuses foods with deep rich, smoky flavors and aromas. Grilling is perfect for summer meals because it requires minimal time in the kitchen, a cooler cooking environment and little clean up. Today 75% of households own a grill so it’s no wonder America’s favorite past time in the spring and summer months is grilling.

The Perini Ranch Steakhouse in Buffalo Gap, Texas has been named one of the Top 10 Rural Restaurants by Gourmet Magazine and their clients include President George W. Bush & Mrs. Bush. Tom Perini cowboy cook and owner believe “all a good steak needs is a little traditional Texas dry rub seasoning and a very hot fire of mesquite coals. We use mesquite wood (America’s #1 choice1) coals because it makes a good hot, even burning coal. We make our own coals from 10-year-old wood and recommend our fellow grillers try sprinkling some mesquite chips on top of their coals at home. You will get some of the great flavors we are known for.”

The perfect accompaniment while standing over a grill of coals is a glass of syrah. Often described as meaty, smoky and flavorful, “this grape has a flavor profile that compliments meats and poultry whether it’s grilled, smoked, marinated or barbecued,” according to winemaker Eli Parker. The Fess Parker Winery crafts several styles of syrah that fit any wine lover’s budget. The Santa Barbara County Syrah ($18-20) strikes a wonderful balance of big, rich fruit and dried herbs and clove, and finishes with firm, chocolaty tannins. The Parker Station Syrah ($10-12) is more fruit forward, softer on the palate and eminently drinkable. Frontier Red ($10) is a well balanced Syrah-based blend with blackberry and cassis fruit and a hint of spice on the finish. The winery’s single-vineyard Syrah wines – Rodney’s Vineyard and “The Big Easy” ($35-40) – are massive, concentrated wines with the stuffing to age another 8-10 years. The Wine Spectator recently awarded the Rodney’s Syrah a 91 point score.

After a long family friendship and involvement together in the second annual Buffalo Gap Food and Wine Summit this year, the Fess Parker Winery and the Perini Ranch Steakhouse have collaborated to provide grilling enthusiasts with a jump-start on the season of casual feasts and garden parties by offering the opportunity to sample a customized Perini Ranch Dry Rub on bottle neckers of Fess Parker’s Syrah wines. Visit the websites, www.periniranch.com or www.fessparker.com, for more information and availability of the dry rub and wines.

Perini believes in dry-rubs because “there’s no major labor involved, there is no need to marinate for hours and we have perfected the mix of seasonings to lock in and compliment the flavors in meats. We are happy to also be offering this rub on our website and in the steakhouse.”

About the Fess Parker Winery:
The Fess Parker Winery and Vineyard, located along the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail in Santa Barbara County, focuses on producing diverse, Estate Grown, Burgundian and Rhône wines from 400 acres of vineyards. The winery was established in 1989 by former actor Fess Parker, and is family-run by son, Eli Parker as President, Director of Winemaking and Vineyard Operations, daughter Ashley Parker Snider as Marketing and Public Relations liaison, and son-in-law Tim Snider who is Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

About Perini Ranch:
Perini Ranch Steakhouse, located in Buffalo Gap, Texas (population 463) is 20 miles southwest of Abilene and has been serving real Texas food for over 20 years. The steakhouse is a true destination restaurant, located on the Perini family ranch. In addition to the steakhouse, Perini operates a successful national catering and mail order business and is opening a bed and breakfast on the ranch. Cowboy cook Tom Perini takes great pride in serving traditional foods that he says “look good, taste good, and you can recognize!”

For more information please visit www.fessparkerwinery.com and www.periniranch.com.






Grilling Fact Sheet

General Trends

• Shift from charcoal to electric grills:
o 1985: 8 million charcoal units sold vs. 3 million gas
o 2004: 5.5 million charcoal units sold vs. 8.7 million gas.
• 75% of US households own a grill.
• 84% of families and 50% of single households own a grill.
• 57% own gas grills with over 50% owning both gas and charcoal.
• Bigger families barbecue more often (3-4) people.
• 64% of electric grill owners grill year round while 41% of charcoal users grill year round.
• 1/2 of grill owners are heavy users – 4 times per month.
• Men are more apt to do the grilling and increasingly so.
• Smoker sales increasing and extend the barbecue season. 2/3 of smokers used year round.
• Most popular wood: Mesquite, Hickory and fruitwoods like cherry and apple.
• Most popular grill foods: burgers, steak, hot dogs, chicken breasts.
• Fourth of July is the most popular holiday on which to grill (3 out of 4 grill owners do) second is Memorial Day (58% of grill owners) and then Labor Day (51%).
• The Northeast leads the heavy grilling category, followed by North Central, South and West
• 90% of grill owners use barbecue sauce always or sometimes, with the vast majority buying sauce.



What Americans are grilling and where?

East – Pork
South East – Pork
West – Beef
Midwest - Pork & Beef

Based on research conducted by the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association and the Barbecue Industry Association






BBQ BABBLE

A slow process that requires attention to detail as well as patience, effective barbecuing requires a savvy barbecuer who knows his stuff. Here’s a lesson in barbecue terminology for the novice:
Baby Back Ribs (or Loin Back Ribs) - A cut of ribs from the pork loin, usually weighing around 2 pounds per slab.
Barbecue - To slow cook meat over the heat of hardwood and/or charcoal at a temperature of 200 to 375 degrees.
Barbecue Sauce - A liquid mixture, usually tomato-based, sweet and sour, with spices. Apply to meats during the final minutes of cooking. Can be served on the side as a dipping sauce or condiment.
Burnt Ends - The blackened, somewhat charred pieces of brisket ends that cannot be sliced - a prized menu item in some area restaurants. Also referred to as "brownies."
Glaze - A finishing sauce applied to meats during the final minutes of barbecuing.
Long End Spare Ribs - The first six ribs from the breast bone on back.
Marinade - A liquid mixture (usually an acid, oil, and spices) used to soak meats prior to cooking.
Mop - A cotton mop used to baste meats while cooking.
Pit - The cooking unit used to barbecue. May be a closed container, cement or brick structure, or even a hole dug in the ground.
Rib Tips - The breast-bone at the top of a slab of spare ribs.
Rub - A dry marinade; a mixture of dry spices added to meats to impart flavor.
Short End Spare Ribs - The last seven or eight ribs in a slab of spare ribs.
Wood Chips - Small chips of wood, usually fruit wood or hard wood used to impart smoke flavor to barbecued meats. Soak in water before using.
*Source: Kansas City Barbeque Society, copyright 1997

Kansas City Style: “The Melting Pot of Barbecue”

http://www.experiencekc.com/barbeque

Home to more than 90 barbecue eateries and restaurants, Kansas City has developed a reputation as “The Melting Pot of Barbecue”. In Kansas City, barbecue is dry rub-spiced meat that has slowly roasted over a pit of hickory and is slathered with a rich barbecue sauce. Here they’ve taken traditional Carolina style sauce, made of mixed peppers and vinegar, and combined it with the tomato base of traditional Texas sauce to create a thick, sweet and tangy barbecue sauce that literally sticks to your ribs.

North Carolina Style: “The Cradle of American Barbecue”

http://hkentcraig.com/BBQexp.html
http://bullocksbbq.com/_wsn/page3.html

In North Carolina, barbecue is traditionally pulled or chopped pork. Either the shoulder or the entire pig is slowly cooked for long periods of time, (usually a minimum of 16-18 hours) in a “hog cooker” over oak or hickory coals. Low temperature (roughly 250 degrees) and the application of a vinegar-based sauce keep the pork moist and tender.

Texas Style: “Home of the Holy Trinity of meats”

Deemed the Holy Trinity, the meats most often used in Texas style barbecue are brisket, sausage and pork ribs. Texas barbecuers, not grillers, use both smoke and low temperatures to cook their meats in a process known as “hot smoking”. The smoke produced by the mesquite and oak typically used, infuses the meat with a unique flavor and gives it a distinct pink smoke ring at the edges. Texas barbecue sauce is usually tomato based and can be spicy or sweet. While thick, Texas barbecue sauce is generally thinner than most commercial sauces.

Memphis Style:

Memphis is known for its pulled pork and ribs. Ribs can be wet; made with a mild and sweet sauce applied before and after smoking - or dry; prepared with a dry-rub before and after being barbecued. Pulled pork sandwiches are served on a hamburger bun with sweet coleslaw.

Santa Maria (CA) Style: “Known for Tri-tip”

Santa Maria style barbecue is best known for its original cut of top sirloin refered to as tri-tip. Usually covered in a dry-rub of garlic, salt and pepper, Tri-tip is grilled over oak or coals and served with salsa.

Used for all regions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_variations_of_barbecue#Tennessee