FOOD + DRINK
THE LATE WORLD-TRAVELER and chef Anthony Bourdain believed that
food, culture and landscape are inseparable, and one can begin to understand both people and place through flavor. In today’s food-focused culture, we’re fascinated with exploring why a particular soup, bread or wine tastes the way it does. More and more we are beginning to see how flavor is both an expression of cultural identity and of geographic location. The stuffy sounding but simple French concept terroir — how the soil of a region is expressed through flavors and aromas — gets to the heart of the matter more quickly. Wine is the archetypal example but the concept applies to any form of agriculture, pastoralism or even seafood, known as merroir. Most anyone who has passed an afternoon in a tasting room (or watched the movie Sideways) is familiar with the concept. But in Humboldt County — a wildly diverse foodscape — it’s challenging to identify a regional style or distinctive terroir from food and wine alone. Perhaps we’ve missed a course? Humboldt County is the cultural home of cannabis. It’s a corner of California bordered by the rugged Pacific Ocean and tooth-picked by majestic redwood trees. While cannabis doesn’t grow wild behind the redwoods, at times, it’s been perfected here. Just like an apple or a
explains Jamie Evans, a former wine industry professional with a degree in enology and viticulture from Cal Poly. After taking an early interest in pairing wine and cannabis, Evans created her blog The Herb Somm in 2017. Billed as “Your gourmet guide to cannabis,” Evans writes about food, wine and cannabis in addition to partnering with winemakers and cultivators to host upscale events throughout Northern California. At a recent “Terpenes and Terroir” dinner, Evans invited cannabis farmers to talk about their growing practices while guests passed around wine glasses of green buds, inhaling the rich terpene profiles. For now, state regulations prevent almost any THC consumption at licensed cannabis events, putting an innovative sector of the cannabis industry on hold. Still abiding by 2018 regulations, Herb Somm events educate guests on the interplay between of food, wine and flower as an immersive and experiential tool. “Terpenes directly reflect the region in which they are grown, which is why organic farming is so important if you’re trying to achieve an expression of place in your cannabis,” adds Evans. Winemaker Adrian Jewell Manspeaker refers to “expression of place” as “site-reflective.” As a producer of premium pinot noir —
Tasting Humboldt Weed and wine pairings
by Nora Mounce Photographs by Amy Kumler Styling by Jacqui Langeland & Lynn Leishman
wine grape, cannabis can be cultivated in countless varieties (strains) that offer various scents, flavors and nuances. The final product is also crafted for different delivery systems (i.e. dried flower, concentrates, oil, edibles, salves) and quality ranges from the mass-produced to the boutique. Finally, cannabis has more scales of measure than most agricultural products: Do you prefer a strain by bud size, aromatics or its psychoactive effects? The variables are endless. In order to pair cannabis with wine or food, it’s useful to understand terpenes. Naturally occurring compounds found in cannabis and other plants, terpenes are responsible for the signature aromas and tastes associated with different strains. Even seasoned winemakers are hard-pressed to analyze their wines with such specificity, though a high level of “terps” is comparable to a wine with a “big nose.” Terpenes such as linalool, myrcene, humulene and limonene are indicative of quality and help to distinguish a particular strain or brand of cannabis with aromas such as pine or tangerine. As the newly legal industry evolves and more cannabis knowledge flourishes, consumers will have the opportunity to pinpoint their preferences: Would you like your OG from a coastal climate cooled by off-shore breezes or heady, dry-farmed flower grown in the inland heat? “Terpenes are how plants communicate and express themselves,”
considered the most nuanced style of wine — Manspeaker strives to create wines that tell a story through taste. Raised in Southern Humboldt, today, Manspeaker is the co-owner of Joseph-Jewell Wines in Sonoma. In 2004, Manspeaker started making wine in the garage with a buddy and “caught the wine bug,” as they say. As newcomers to the wine industry, they had trouble finding grapes grown under the coastal influence that many believe is essential for premium pinot noir. “All of a sudden, all these lightbulbs popped,” says Manspeaker, and his home in the foggy redwoods beckoned. “We make Pinot from three different vineyards in the Russian River Valley [Sonoma] and three different Humboldt County pinots. Each one reflects different soil types and character,” explains Manspeaker. Using cool-climate fruit from Southern Humboldt, Joseph-Jewell markets their Humboldt County single-vineyard pinot noirs as a style between fruit-forward Sonoma and the subtlety of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. “People love our Humboldt County wines,” adds Manspeaker. Until your next exploratory visit north, try these wine and weed pairings in the comfort of your own home. Each was selected to highlight the character of Humboldt and elevate the nuance of each strain or style. → HUMBOLDT CANNABIS
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