Jones Winery ~ The Whites & Rosés

Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

Jones Winery currently has 12 wines available, 3 whites, 2 rosés/blushes, 3 reds, and 4 fruit/dessert wines.   The tasting menu, which is $6, includes 7 wines, three of which are pre-selected by the winery, the other four are your choice.

The tasting begins with one of the pre-selected whites, the

2008 Pinot Gris A dry, crisp wine, this is an estate wine, produced from grapes grown on Pumpinkseed Hill behind the main farmhouse and winery.  The driest of the Jones Winery whites, the Pinot Gris is a very pale yellow, almost straw color and has a dry grassy nose.  The wine is smooth and crisp, with light notes of citrus, and a slightly acidic tang at the end which gives the wine a bit of depth.  Overall an interesting wine, and a promising start to tasting.

For the next wine, I was presented with a choice, either the Stonewall White, a blend of Seyval Blanc and Cayuga grapes, or the Woodlands White, which is primarily a Cayuga white.  I opted for the Stonewall, partially because it was described as being a drier wine than the Woodlands, and partially because Connecticut produces a lot of Cayuga wines, so I thought the blend might be more interesting.

Stonewall White This wine didn’t disappoint.  Like the Pinot Gris, the color is a pale yellow, but the Stonewall White was slightly deeper in color.  The nose is fruity with notes of berries and light citrus notes, perhaps grapefruit.  In the mouth, the citrus and berries blend nicely together, with some light notes of tartness from the citrus and a touch of acid to help balance out the wine.  The finish is smooth and the wine has a pleasant lingering.  This would pair well with fruit and cheese, seafood, and light pasta dishes.

Next up was another wine pre-selected by the winery, the

Pure Rosé This is a drier Rosé than one usually finds, and I liked it the more because of it.  A light pink rose color, the nose is light with pretty floral notes.  The wine becomes more interesting in the mouth, with an earthiness and grassiness that I wasn’t expecting.  The wine is a blend of Seyval Blanc, Cayuga, and Cabernet Franc, and in addition to providing the color, the Cab Franc gives it that earthy depth that is both unexpected and intriguing.  This is the first year Jones has produced this wine, but I suspect it will not be the last.

With that, we rinsed glasses, cleansed the palate and moved on to the Reds and Sweet wines.

Tags: Jones Winery

This entry was posted on August 18, 2009 at 12:01 am and is filed under Cayuga, Connecticut, Connecticut Wine Trail, Marguerite Barrett, Pinot Gris, Seyval Blanc, Western Connecticut Wine Trail. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.