Evan led us out of Hell’s Backbone Farm, across another plot of land, over a fence, up a hill, and then into the sunshine atop an Eastward(ish) facing hill. We Goat Campers gathered as close as the warm afternoon sun would allow us to hear Evan’s story of how he came to arrive on this hill and what lies ahead for him. As we listened, the sun dipped further behind us and extended a welcome shadow over the now un-planted land. Soon though, this will change.
I have a long, loving history with Evan. Before food and wine reunited us in adulthood, Evan was a youth group intern at a church I attended with my family in junior high and high school. I was (and still am) crazy about his warm, infectious personality, his beautiful voice, and his kind heart. Evan moved on in his life to learning about and then making wine on four different continents for about a decade while I quietly continued along my path through college and beyond, most of that here at Caputo’s. Evan reappeared in my life as the wine director at Pago one summer evening. His clear rimmed glasses and wine vocabulary assured me he was miles ahead of me in both coolness and wine knowledge, but his smile and jovial nature reminded me he was the same friend from before.
Another year or so later, I attended the release celebration for Ruth Lewandowski’s very first wine, Mahlon. Evan’s story and the creation of Ruth Lewandowski is lengthy and beautiful and I will never, ever be able to do it the justice it deserves (you can find a small bit of that here). Instead, I will tell you that I became acquainted with natural wine under Evan’s spell, and I haven’t looked back. Beginning in 2012 and five years later, Evan has been making wine in Utah from California grown fruit. The wines are a fascinating mix of delicious, intriguing, and challenging nuances that take hold of you and don’t let go.
Five years and six wines after the first release of Mahlon, I was standing behind Evan on that hill in Boulder. Since the inception of Ruth Lewandowski, the goal has always been to make wine in Utah from Utah grown fruit. Wine is not the kind of industry that is kind to newborn labels and makers. The means required to achieve such a lofty goal take many years (five-ish) and an unfathomable amount of work. But, Boulder is a place where dreams come true and hard work is rewarded with a bounty of support and serendipitous circumstances. On that hill, not a mile from our Hell’s Backbone farm, a dream became destined to become truth and reality. Vines will be planted on that hill in the coming years and our little group had the very humble honor of being the first people to see it with Evan. Ruth Lewandowski will make a home in Boulder, Utah alongside the ladies of Hell’s Backbone legend and all the other kind inhabitants of this beloved town.
Utah is, however, a curious little place. We Utahns proudly wear our Local First buttons and hats, carry around our reusable Eat Local canvas totes, and display our locally produced beers, distilled spirits, and vegetables on any available surface and social media platform possible. We love being locavores… well, mostly. Utah has been a challenging market for Ruth Lewandowski. RL Wines are only available by special order through Utah’s liquor and wine stores and I can count on two hands the restaurants in town that offer these wines on their lists. In a city so dedicated to local fare, we’ve forsaken one of our own. Evan’s biggest markets for his wines are San Francisco, New York City, and Paris. Notice Utah is not included. My typical sunny disposition breaks with fiery anger when I have to talk about this, and we do have to talk about it.
Though we are but a small market for wine compared to the booming cities along the East and West coasts, there is a seat at the table for every producer, especially a local one. New perspectives often challenge what we once knew as ‘good’ and ‘right’. This is no different. Yes, there is more than one way to make wine taste good. Yes, winemakers can choose whether or not to add yeasts and other ingredients to wine. No, one way is not more right than the other. Yes, we can enjoy wines made both ways. And you know what’s great about that? We can disagree and have have fond affections for different wine, and I will still respect you (yes, you), your palette, and your right to drink whichever wine makes you happiest. Each wine has its own story, from the people behind the bottle to the work that’s gone into it all the way to us, the consumer. The beautiful thing about it all is that each of us affects the other, which is always something for the consumer to consider; what we purchase affects both our local and national wine industry and this power is, perhaps, just as impactful as anyone else involved. I will simply ask that you consider the people behind the bottle, the work that’s gone into it, and how your purchasing power affects both our local and national wine industry.
Every wine has a story. This particular story has affected me personally and I can’t help but share it.
Evan is my friend. He is my talented, driven, hard working friend that makes thought provoking, delicious wine. I am so proud to know him and to have been able to participate in this journey. There is a sunshine-y hill in Ruth Lewandowski’s future, and I suspect one day soon I’ll visit again and the view will be drastically different.
Part 3 of 4. Go to Part 2: Hell’s Backbone | Part 4: After Goat Camp
Our group departed along different roads: one through the heart of Capitol Reef National Monument, the other along Notom Road filled with winding backroads and breathtaking beauty. When just the 60 mile journey is enough to impart wonder and appreciation for our little state, we’re living in the right place. We reconvened at Hell’s Backbone Farm for a tour and discussion on sustainability in the restaurant, on the farm, and the implications for the surrounding area. Blake led us through the 6.5 acres of farmland while sharing the history of all things Hell’s Backbone, past and current challenges, and its bright future. Blake’s peace and joy were infectious, the staff was the same. I’d always known farming was not as easy a planting a seed and only returning to harvest, but this became more clear while hearing about both the challenges and small victories they face daily. Though these challenges are certainly not without success. I mean, they harvested over 18,000 pounds of produce in the 2014 season. More astounding than the weight of harvest is that they used all 18,000 pounds at their restaurant. Sustainability is often a fluid, sometimes abused, term in our industry. The Hell’s Backbone team is the most true and honest example of what it means to live and work sustainably. All food waste from the restaurant is composted and fed back to the farm, any excess produce is preserved for the winter season, and anything beyond that even get turned over to feed their flock of chickens. After discussing the idiosyncrasies of growing asparagus, we were feasting upon it at the grill not four hours later as part of a meal that left us all with full heart and bellies.
We took a walk to another future farm after visiting the Hell’s Backbone Farm (more on that later), and regrouped for dinner at the Grill. The restaurant team was in the middle of launching a new cocktail program during our visit. Convenient, right? We spent happy hour on the patio of the restaurant reflecting on our visit, sharing ideas for new recipes, planning our next visit back, or maybe just never leaving. The cocktails were balanced and delicious and the perfect way to begin our experience at the restaurant. What came next was transcendent. I’m quite positive there has never been a more satisfying meal ever served in all of Southern Utah. Salads and vegetables and soups and proteins arrived in waves. I still get teary eyed at the thought of the sunchoke soup, but each dish was as good as that. Well seasoned, perfectly cooked, made with love.
Blake and Jen are shining examples of what happens when love and kindness intersect with food. Quality is a natural priority because honoring the integrity of land and animal existed from the very beginning. Everything at Hell’s Backbone feels warm and inviting, it tastes delicious and comforting, and it left us inspired and full.
In a humble farm market store, over nibbles of Randy’s cheeses and fresh coffee, I, and many others, rediscovered why we do what we do. Matt has always said it best – we don’t work in specialty food because we want to be millionaires; we do it because we have a love for food, with its cultural and historical implications, and we have to protect that. Randy’s cheeses are as excellent as they are because Randy is committed to creating them from the very best beginnings. His herd – which is now at 38 lovely little goat ladies- graze freely on the banks of the Fremont river. During the winter, their diets are supplemented with a much higher quality feed than industry standard; in fact, it’s organically grown specifically for Randy’s herd by his neighbors. That doesn’t come cheap. Even more surprising than their feeding practices was learning that Randy only milks during the natural cycle. As winter comes and the babes begin grazing themselves, Randy does not give the goats any kind of hormone to lengthen the milking. When they dry up, he closes up shop until the next spring. This is so uncommon and nearly unheard of in modern day cheese production, even for most artisan cheese production.
Since Randy doesn’t cut corners (or costs): we receive the kind of quality cheeses people write poems and love stories about. Whether it’s one of our cave-aged cheeses, chevre, or feta, the taste is unlike any other cheeses we carry. There’s true Utah terroir buried deep within the paste of each cheese because that’s where it came from. From the natural grasses and plants nourished by the Fremont river to the buckets of milk separated into curds and whey, something truly magical happens. Add expert cave aging to the mix from the loving, deft hands of our own affineuse, Antonia Horne, and suddenly, it’s like nothing else matters and no cheese ever existed before this one.
With all this beautiful imagery and romanticism, I almost forgot Randy was facing closure of his farm before our partnership. It wasn’t until Caputo’s and our customers began purchasing and raving about the cheeses that things started looking up. This year, 
Heartbreak aside, hope exists. Hope exists at 
This guy, he knows how to stir, shake, and garnish accordingly. I bet he’s got the home bar to back it up, too. 
The one downfall of a classic strawberry shortcake has always been texture and complexity. While there is something truly lovely about the soft, pillowy shortcake and sweetened strawberries, we (and Mom) deserve more. More crunch, more flavor, more fun.
Here, you’ll find a recipe based on James Beard’s beloved approach that uses no sweetened whipped cream, only fresh cream poured atop your cake just before serving. Make your cakes and macerate your berries the day before you Mother’s Day brunch for an effortless and gorgeous treat to end your meal.
Rosewater Strawberry Shortcake
If you’ve enjoyed a cocktail lately, there’s a good chance Dale Degroff had a hand in restoring it’s popularity. The art of the craft cocktail has slowly been revived since its near extinction from the time of Prohibition. During his time at the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center, Mr. Degroff helped to restore the respected position of bar-tending while also helping to resurrect America’s appreciation for the classic, balanced cocktails of decades past. After countless mixology awards, two published books, and a decade later, we can now bring a piece of Dale Degroff home with us by way of his own handcrafted bitters.
Antonia Horne
