| Helping People Live the Paso Style;
Real Estate News, Events, Wine, Food, Living |
September 2010 |
WINE NOTES(Local Wine and Real Estate News)
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Crush
The excitement is starting to build.
Crush time is quickly approaching in Paso Wine Country. The
wineries will be working overtime to bring in the new harvest.
It's an exciting time for all. Opinions vary on quality and timing
of this year's bounty. Most seem to agree that the season is
running about 3 weeks behind normal due to the cooler summer we have
experienced. Probably the important thing is quality, most
agree that quality has not suffered. Unless we are hit with early
moisture or frost it should be a good year.
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Old Wine
I've made my love of aged wine very
clear. I opened a bottle of wine recently that I'm guessing most
people wouldn't have bothered with. A 1985 White Zinfandel from
Martin Bros. Oh, the mid 80's and White Zinfandel, the
beginnings of what some consider a birth of the American wine market and
to others the dark days of it.
I have to admit, I
had very low expectations when opening this bottle of wine (I was
looking for some cooking wine and found it in the cellar). I have
to admit I was pleasantly surprised. This White Zinfandel had held
up quite well for 25 years. Most of the sugary, "Kool Aide" taste
and character was gone. What remained was a slightly sweet wine
with hints of mature flavor. I'm guessing this wine tasted better
than when it was bottled so long ago.
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QUICK REAL ESTATE STATS:(California)
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Median Home Price-
California $314,850 |
Highest Median Home Price
Santa Barbara So. Coast $871,250 |
Lowest median home price
High Desert $128,950 |
Mortgage rates- week ending
8/26/10:
| 30-yr |
fixed |
4.36% |
Fees/points: 0.7% |
| 15-yr |
fixed |
3.86% |
Fees/points: 0.7% |
| 1-yr |
adj |
3.52% |
Fees/points: 0.7% |
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WINE AND LOCAL TRIVIA
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 It's
Crush time in Paso Wine Country, almost. Grapes appear
to be a few weeks later this year due to the unseasonal
cooler temperatures we've experienced this summer.
Grapes are starting to ripen and the sugar levels develop.
A key time in the life of a grape is what's known as
Veraison. Veraison is a French word which has gotten
acceptance in American viticulture. What does Verasion
mean?
| a) | Sugar |
| b) | Ripe |
| c) | Color Change |
| d) | Raisin Sec |
(Please visit
http://www.pasostyleliving.com for the answer) |
PASO STYLE LIVING REAL ESTATE (Local Real Estate Market Conditions)
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 Absorption
Rate. There are so many Real Estate statistics
published it can be confusing. Especially when often the
information seems contradictory. There are two key numbers
most often reported. The Median Sales Price and the "Sales" or
volume of homes sold. It's confused more by New versus Resale
homes, but that's another discussion. Median Home price is not
an average, but a ranking of home sales price taking the one
in the middle. These two indicators will often be in conflict
during market shifts. In a steady state market these numbers
can measure growth, but it's been a while since we're seen a
steady state Real Estate market.
Real Estate professionals
look more at Absorption Rate during a unsteady market like we are in
now. Absorption Rate is the measure in months of how quickly
the available inventory of unsold homes can be sold or absorbed by
the market demand. The rule of thumb is an absorption
over six months is considered a buyers market. You can see by
the chart, the Absorption Rate is hovering in the 7 month
range locally and is trending upward. I publish this chart
each month.
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Real Estate Up, Down, and Around:
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Area(08/1/10-8/31/10) |
Avg Price |
Homes Available | Sold |
Pending |
| Atascadero |
$354,601 |
113 |
21 |
26 |
| Paso Robles |
$386,083 |
282 | 36 |
39 |
| Templeton |
$543,500 |
59 | 5 |
4 |
| All Paso Wine Country |
$363,248 | 548 |
71 | 720 |
| Paso Wine Country contains the following real estate areas (Paso Robles, Atascadero, Templeton, San Miguel, Creston, Shandon, and Santa Margarita) (Single Family Homes, SFRSB)
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REAL ESTATE HOT LIST (Special Properties for Sale in the Paso Wine Country)
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FOOD CORNER (Personal Recipes and Favorite Restaurants of the Paso Wine Country)
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Risotto
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I love good Risotto. So, here's my recipe I use
when making it. It's takes some time and effort,
but it is delicious. Now when I made this last,
I used the 25 year old White Zinfandel mentioned above.
You don't have to do that, any good white wine
should be fine.
| 2 cups |
Risotto Rice, Please
don't try it with regular rice |
| 2 tbls |
Olive Oil |
| 2 cups |
Chicken Stock |
| 2 cups |
White Wine |
| 1/2 cup |
Whipping Cream |
| 1/2 cup |
Grated Parmesan Cheese |
Place the sauce pan over high heat, add the olive
oil and rice. Continuously stir the rice to
prevent burning. When the rice starts to change
color slightly add the chicken stock.
Gently
stir, continuously until all the liquid of the chicken
stock is absorbed. Now add the wine and repeat the
process. Continuous, gentle stirring.
When
all liquid is absorbed, add the cream and cheese,
reduce the heat and stir until the rice is cooked, but
still slightly firm.
Enjoy! | |
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