Win(e)ding Roads: Continuing Adventures on the Connecticut Wine Trail

Margueite Barrett

Contributing Writer

The Jerram Winery tasting menu consists of six wines: three whites and three reds.  Tastings are $5.00, which includes the tasting glass to take home with you at the end of your visit.

Prior to Summer 2008, the menu included all 10 of the Jerram wines.  However, according to Jim Jerram, people protested that this was too many.  Turns out, most people aren’t comfortable spitting; they drink the wines rather than tasting and then spitting.   And if you’re spending a day on the wine trail visiting several wineries, those 1 oz samples add up quickly.  

So, as a result of comments received, Jerram revised the tasting menu to feature just six wines.  And as with all tasting menus, first up were the Whites:

White Frost Made from Chardonnay grapes, this is a light wine with a delicate bouquet and taste.  The color is a pale yellow; the nose rich with hints of fruit, and the taste dry and slightly fruity.  The wine is aged in oak, but the oak is very faint; you get only a hint of the nuttiness  that often comes from oak barrels.  The tasting notes indicate it should be served slightly chilled, and would make a good aperitif.  

Gentle Shepherd A blend of Cayuga, Chardonnay and Aurore grapes, this is a richer and slightly sweeter wine than the White Frost.  The color is a lovely medium yellow, and the nose crisp with faint notes of fruit and berries.  The wine itself is crisp and smooth, with a beautiful finish.  The sweetness is nicely balanced, and the wine is quite refreshing.  The tasting notes suggest pairings with light cheeses, salads or spicy foods.  Personally I am looking forward to trying this wine with a spicy Thai curry; I suspect it will be wonderful.

Aurora  Named for the Roman Goddess of the morning, and not the Aurore grape, this is a semi-sweet white that is crisp and refreshing.  I know I’ve mentioned in other posts that I generally prefer dry wines; in fact, as Gretchen will attest, I’ve often steered away from whites, going straight for the Reds because they are drier and fuller-bodied.  But I really liked this wine.  Made from Villard Blanc grapes, the Aurora is a lovely wine, with notes of citrus both in the nose and on the palate.  The tasting notes indicate there is a hint of oak as well, but I didn’t pick that up; the oak is very subdued.  The sweetness is well-balanced, and the Aurora will pair well with spicy foods.

I really liked all three of the Whites and took home a bottle of each.

In addition to the White Frost, Gentle Shepherd, and Aurora, Jerram produces two other whites, which while I wasn’t able to taste, I was able to learn quite a bit about: the Seyval Blanc and the Seyval BC.

Seyval Blanc grapes are a French-American hybrid that grow well in the cooler climates of the northern and northeastern United States and Canada.   According to Jim Jerram, the Jerram Seyval Blanc is a crisp, dry white wine that would pair well with chicken or fish.  Seyval Blanc were one of the first grapes Jerram planted when he began the winery in the last 1970s.  However, Seyval Blanc grapes tend to produce drier wines, and Jerram was finding that increasing numbers of people were expressing preferences for the sweeter wines.  So Jim decided to experiment and back-sweetened a barrel of the Seyval Blanc creating the Seyval BC in 2008.

This is their newest wine, and is not yet on the tasting menu.  Because the first barrel was an experiment, Jerram didn’t have a name or new label ready when the first bottles were produced.  And since, due to federal and state licensing regulations, labels have to be distinct, they modified the existing Seyval Blanc label to accomodate the new wine, including changing the cap color from green to Black – hence the name Sevyal BC (“Black Cap”).  While the modifications satisfied labeling regulations, they are only temporary measures, and Jim and the team hope to have the new label ready later this year.  The design of the new label features an etching by a local artist, and the winery is currently sponsoring a contest to name the new wine.

I’m looking forward to going back and trying both the Seyval Blanc and the Seyval BC.  Based on the quality of the other whites I sampled during this first trip, I expect to enjoy both.  But I think it will also be fascinating to taste them back-to-back – the same wine, dry vs. sweet.

But that’s for another trip – and I still had the Reds to taste…