Carrie Oliver Rating: Gateway Beef™
This is a grass-fed steak I might serve to someone to debunk the myth that lean beef is “tough” or grass-fed beef is “gamy.” The steak was neither; it was simple, approachable, and familiar. I owe the inspiration for this style of beef to April Pogue, a Seattle-based Sommelier who compared a similarly reserved grass-fed steak from Idaho to an Australian Shiraz or Austrian Riesling, which to many offer a “gateway” into the world of wine.
Tasting Notes
This grass-fed steak had a nice chewy Texture, was a bit grainy, and had a very reserved Personality. It had an easy-going, generally “beefy” flavor with a hint of iron in it. The Impression was very brief. At a party, this beef would be the host who makes everyone feel welcome.
Wine Pairing
Chris Shackelford, Restaurateur & Sommelier, Trelio, Fresno, CA: Sounds light & mostly texture, I am thinking straightforward, fruity reds:
- Robert Sinskey, Merlot, Carneros
- Happy Canyon Vineyards, Chukker, Santa Ynez Valley
Meet The Ranchers
US Wellness Meats is a small, mid-western group of ranchers who work together to bring this grass-fed beef, along with a variety of other meats, to a national audience. Unlike many raising & producing grass-fed beef, this team chooses to wet-age the beef, which is likely a key behind its more reserved Personality.
Tasting Overview:
| Taster: | Carrie Oliver |
| Date Tasted: | December 2009 |
| Cut Tasted: | New York / Kansas City Strip |
| Diet/Feed: | Grass Fed |
| Cooking Method: | Ridged Grill Pan |
| How Served: | Medium Rare |
| Seasoning: | Kosher Salt |
| Previous Cut Tasted: | None |
| Previous Date Tasted: | None |
| Previous Taster: | None |
Quick Facts:
| Breed: | English Breeds & Cross Breeds |
| Growing Region: | Northern Missouri & west-central Indiana |
| Farm/Ranch: | US Wellness Meats |
| Farmers/Ranchers:lllllllll | John Wood, Jim Crum, Kenneth & Pat Suter |
| Diet/Feed: | Grass Fed & Finished |
| Raising Protocols: | Suter family raises calves from birth to finish on a 5th generation farm. Wood & Crum have relationships with all-natural cow/calf producers and devote their entire pasture base to growing grass-fed beef. No commercial fertilizer, insecticide or herbicides are used. No GMO plants raised. Apple cider vinegar is used to control internal and external parasites. Bentonite clays are used for mineral supplementation. No starch or hormones are added to the animals. |
| Finishing Protocols: | Cattle are taken to finished weight on a mixed sward of grasses and legumes. A warm season component is coming back from 100 years of hibernation. |
| Slaughterhouse: | JF O’Neill, Omaha, NE (one of only 3 EU approved plants) |
| Butcher: | Quality Processing Services, Omaha, NE |
| Aging Technique: | Wet-Aged |
| Aging Time: | Minimum 10 Days |
| Packaging: | Cyrovak vacuum sealed |
| Never Use Antibiotics Ever: | - |
| Use Vet Approved Spot Treatment Antibiotics: | X (Remove from program if treated)* |
| Never Use Feed Antibiotics | X |
| Never Use Added Growth Hormones: | X |
| Never Use Ionophores: | X |
| No Animal, Fish, Fowl By-Products in Feed: | X |
| 100% Vegetarian Feed: | X (100% forage-based feed) |
| Practice Rotational Grazing: | X |
| Practice Managed Intensive Rotational Grazing: | X |
| USDA Natural: | Yes |
| USDA Natural New Voluntary Certification: | Yes |
| Certified Organic: | No |
| Certified Humane: | No |
| Other Third Party Certifications: | No |
| Other: | *Excenel is the only beef drug that does not have a withdrawal time period and can be used on a dairy cow and milked the same day. Drug is administered within ear cartilage. Rarely used as grass-fed cattle are rarely stressed. If animals are within 100 days of slaughter they are removed. Used only on young calves for one treatment. |
I created the concept of Artisan Meat and evaluate, rate, and create professional tasting notes for individual farms, ranches, and butcher teams. Some call me the Robert Parker of Meat, others Beef Geek. 
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