Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

Whhoooa… Back up there partner! I skipped a highlight of Minnesota. Silly me.

That highlight is Minnesota’s only AVA, Alexandria Lakes. The appellation was created in 2005 and is located between Lakes Ida, Carlos, Darling, Alvin and Miltona. (Hey, it is Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes, after all)

The AVA is nearly 11,000 acres and home to one winery. Carlos Creek Winery is the largest winery in the State of Minnesota and is located on 160 acres of which 12 acres are planted with vines such as Frontenac, Marechel Foch, Valiant, Swenson Red, La Crescent, King of the North, Brianna, Marquette, Petite Pearl and Edelweiss. They make sixteen wines from their estate grown grapes as well as out of state grapes and juice and six apple wines (there are fifteen acres of apple orchards on the property as well).

Best of all? The winery is just a hop, skip and a jump from the interstate! Hoping that I will get a chance to stop!

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

North Dakota! Where the winds go sweeping down the plains! Ooops, wrong song. But North Dakota is where I’ll wind up next and there are plains. So that much is accurate. To get there, all I have to do is cross the Red River from Minnesota. Easy-peasy. Now, I have seen the Red in action. it is no meek, mild river. I got to enjoy its delightful flooding during the summer of 1993 in the even more delightful city of Winnipeg. Do you know how big mosquitos get in Manitoba during a flood? I still have nightmares about them.

So what do I have to look forward to in North Dakota?

Well, there is Fargo. Still no Marge, but still. I also get to go through the capital, Bismarck, named for the German Chancellor, not the donut.

Other options for me:

The Roger Maris Museum
The National Buffalo Museum where there are albino bison.
A walking tour of Louis L’Amour’s hometown
I got excited about the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Hall of Fame, but it turns out that it is a portrait gallery of famous North Dakotans Now it is interesting because I learned that Lawrence Welk, Peggy Lee and Angie Dickinson all came from North Dakota.
Fort Abraham Lincoln and Custer House might be more up my alley so long as I avoid the guided tour (I have been banned from the Freedom Trail, after all. Marguerite is similarly banned. We are not good on historical tours, in fact, we are downright snarky.)
Salem Sue! I love giant animals! I visit the Big Duck often, how could I skip the duck’s dairy equivalent?
Dakota Dinosaur Museum. Did you just hear my nerd alert go off? WHEE!
Did I mention that this will be my first time seeing the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt_National_Park?

Now I just have to figure out what the quintessential food of North Dakota is… Any ideas? You know how to reach me or comment below.

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

This year, I will once again, be driving out the Wine Blogger’s Conference. This year, the event will be held in beautiful Walla Walla, Washington. Naturally, I need to find places to stop along the way. No road trip is complete without a bite of the local color. So the key is to start planning now. I have two potential routes to adventure. I can either take the incredibly convenient to hop onto Interstate 90 which will lead me through Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington; OR the equally incredibly convenient to hop onto Interstate 94 which will lead me through Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Washington.

Choices, choices. The common denominator is the ease with which I will be able to hit the road as from Chez Neuman it is a five minute drive to either Interstate. Talk about your Gateway to the West!

Now is the time, for me to figure out as much as I can to make an informed drive. So if you know a cool, geeky spot, I should stop, a nice, but reasonable place to stay for the night, the local fare that should be tried or a great winery along the way? Email me at gretchen@vinoverve.com. If I use your suggestion a beautiful Locapour t-shirt could be yours!

Locapour Lite by VinoVerve
View more Locavore T-Shirts

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

I love local wine. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t drink wine that is made more than 100 miles away from my home. Why? Well at the moment there are only 37 wineries within that boundary and I don’t love all of them (Though I do love several that I have encountered so far). Plus, I love to explore and tasting new wine and food is like taking a little vacation from your everyday life. I call this seeming paradox the Tip O’Neill Corollary. Why? Well, Tip O’Neil once famously remarked that all politics is local. And the fact of the matter is, that all wine is too. It is local to someone. So I go ahead an enjoy those wines too and sometimes I even write about them.

This last week I tried a Crémant d’Alsace , a sparkling wine from Alsace (home of my Miller ancestors). I had tried still wines from the same House, Gustave Lorentz and had always liked them. So I was really looking forward to tasting this sparkler.

And I wasn’t disappointed. The wine was wonderful with medium sized bubbles and a dry but fruity taste. The varietals used to produce this bottle were Chardonnay 60%, Pinot Blanc 20% and Pinot Noir 20%. The winemakers feel that this provides fruity liveliness (from the Chardonnay), freshness and elegance from the Pinot Blanc and depth and persistance from the Pinot Noir.

In addition to the Crémant, the Maison Lorentz also produces still wines from traditional Alsatian variatels, including several Grand Cru Rieslings, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris, several late harvest wines and Eaux-de-Vie, liqueurs and an Alsatian Marc which is a type of grappa made from the skins of Gewurztraminer grapes.

The Crémant and still wines (Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris) are available at my favorite wine shop, Good Grapes. The Crémant is about $20.

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

Too often wine is viewed as something you can only drink in a formal setting…

Here is proof positive that this idea is a myth.

I guess it is similar to two bota bags packed into your bra….

Not exactly what I need, but still… it might have its uses.  That being said, I hope I didn’t get this for Mother’s Day.

Find it at Baron Bob’s

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

I am nothing if not predictable. After discovering that there was a Lake County in California, it was all but certain that I would have to prepare a map of it….

So… Voilà

The Red Hills Lake County is one of five AVAs located in Lake County, California including Clear Lake, High Valley, Benmore Valley and Guenoc Valley. Red Hills is located on the southwestern shore of Clear Lake. It is located at the foot of Mt. Konocti, an extinct volcano between Excelsior Valley, Big Valley and the Mayacamas Mountains. The appellation was designated in 2004 and consists of 31,250 acres of which 3,000 are under cultivation. The soil is volcanic and is full of shards of obsidian that was formed as the magma from the Mt. Konocti cooled quickly due to the waters of the lake. The elevation of the area is betwen 1,400 and 3,000 feet and receives between 25 and 40 inches of rain per year. The region is perfect for Bordeaux and Rhone grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Mourvedre and Zinfandel.

Wineries and vineyards located within the AVA include:

Sol Rouge
Fortress Vineyards
Ferrel Ranch Vineyard
Red Hills Winery
Obsidian Ridge Vineyard
Fore Family Vineyard
Becht Vineyard
Eden Crest Vineyard
Roumiguiere Vineyards – Red Hills Ranch
Snow Lake Vineyard

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

Over the weekend I started getting the email notices about H.R. 5034.

It is a short bill. But what it lacks in size it makes up for in the potential to further entrench the power of private wine, beer and liquor distributorships. This is being done under the guise of eliminating litigation that might potentially open up the wine, beer and liquor markets to increased competition. Egads! The horror!   After decades of being told that dereguation is good, now that some of the goodness of it might trickle down to the common man, it must be eliminated.  Like the plague.  If this bill is passed, advocacy groups such as Marylanders for Better Wine and Beer Laws,  Free The Grapes, The Specialty Wine Retailers Association and the Illinois Wine Consumers Coalition attempts’ to allow you to purchase the wine of your choice will be forced to prove that the regulation in question:
“has no effect on the promotion of temperance, the establishment or maintenance of orderly alcoholic beverage markets, the collection of alcoholic beverage taxes, the structure of the state alcoholic beverage distribution system, or the restriction of access to alcoholic beverages by those under the legal drinking age.”
Ahh. right.  So we can’t improve our alcohol distribution system in our states because they achieve SOME of their goals?  Certainly not the most progressive reason I have ever heard.  But who do these regulations work for?  Not the consumer who can only buy what the distributors allow them to chose from at the price that the distributor decides to sell it to them for.  Not small wine shops which won’t be offered competitive prices because the big boys in the industry don’t have any incentive to deal with them.

Worse, the reasons given for  this legislation have been ridiculous.

Expensive wine keeps our children safe from disease and alcoholism.  The law would allow the States to avoid expensive litigation brought by advocacy groups.  An open wine market would return us to the days of Tommy Guns and Al Capone because liquor is a “lawlessness unto itself”1.

Who are they kidding?  The aim of this legislation is not to improve temperance (who said this should be the goal of the state?) and protect children but rather to insulate those individuals who control the distribution channels.  The proof of this?  The legislation is almost verbatim from a draft written by the National Beer Wholesalers Association.   Are we really to suppose that they love my children more than I do?  I don’t think so.  But they do love the monopolistic powers granted them from the states.

If they manage to get their way with this legislation, you can be certain that the Distributors will not be content with State laws as they exist.  Slowly but surely, you will find them working to make certain that their products are the only legal game in town.

The legislation has been introduced by Reps. Coble of NC (who’s number one contributor was the NBWA), Chaffetz of UT (also received donations from NBWA), Delahunt of MA (his PAC has received donations from various alcohol concerns) and unfortunately my own Congressman, Mike Quigley.

I have already called Congressman Quigley’s office in Washington and left a message with his Legislative Aide. To date, I have not recieved an answer back. And honestly, after the experiences that I had with the Illinois Wine Consumers Coalition, this doesn’t surprise me. I found that most of the politicians that I tried to speak to, even those, who like Rep. Quigley represent me, never had the courtesy to return a call or an explanation of their policy positions. Which leads me to speculate…. cynically.

If I ever hear back from the Congressman’s office, I will let you know what I learn.  In the meantime, I urge you to contact you member of Congress and tell them that you oppose this legislation.

You can find the contact information here.

1. Duckworth v. Arkansas, 314 US 390 (1941)  (I always try to make my point with 70 year old litigation… it makes your point seem so modern and relevant)

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

At the time of this writing, the Red Mountain AVA is, indeed, the smallest appellation in the State of Washington, although if the trend of designating smaller and smaller sub-regions continues we will eventually have every block of vineyard considered unique.  The appellation is located in both the Yakima and Columbia Valley AVAs in Benton County, Washington between the towns of Benton City and Richland.  This area has 4,040 acres, 600 of which are under cultivation.

Appropriately enough given the name of the appellation, the area is known primarily for its high quality red varietals including Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese and Syrah.  It is believed the quality comes from the Southwest facing slopes which are warmer than typical for the Columbia Valley and cool evenings which preserve the acid levels within the grapes.  Additionally the gravelly soil with high levels of calcium carbonate and acidic soils help to balance the flavors and concentrate the berry flavors of the grapes.  Is this how the mountain got its name?  No.  It is named for the wine red color that the native cheatgrass turns in the spring.

Wine began to be produced on the Mountain in the 1970s with John Williams of Kiona Vineyards and Jim Holmes (now) of Ciel du Chaval.  There are now 13 wineries including:

• Blackwoood Canyon
• Buckmaster Cellars
• Canon del Sol Winery
• Col Solare Winery
• Corvus Cellars
• Goedhardt Family Winery
• Hedges Cellars
• Hightower Cellars
• Kiona Vineyards and Winery
• Oakwood Cellars and WInery
• Seth Ryan Winery
• Tapteil Vineyard
• Terra Blanca Winery

The total acreage in the AVA under cultivation is 14.85% of the total… imagine the wines that could be produced from 15% or 20%!

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

Kevin and I continued our exploration of local wines with the winery that sits on our 100 mile mark and at the very edge we discovered the Cedar Creek Winery.

In all fairness, we had a heads up on Cedar Creek.  Kevin had discovered the wine while at Mars Cheese Castle.  But the actual winery was new to us.  The funny thing is that we love a winery’s story and we had no idea of that from his trip to the ‘Castle’.  The trip to the winery… or at least the tasting room provided the rest.

The winery in Cedarburg, Wisconsin is one of a pair.  Cedar Creek’s sister winery is in Prairie du Sac and is within the Lake Wisconsin AVA (and now the Upper Mississippi River Valley AVA) which I will undoubtably illustrate for you later.  Because, when push comes to shove?  I am a map geek, and geography major, thus meaning that I know how to make maps.

Cedarburg, Wisconsin is one of those quaint little towns that is full of artists, antique shops, cute little restaurants and “general stores” .   Often they have no connection to the reasons that we consider them unique.  But in the case of Cedarburg, the town was home to largest wool mill outside of Philadephia in the 1800s.  In the 1890s the town began to produce electricity through a contract with the Cedarburg Light and Electric Commission.  The company still exists.  Now the town still contains its “quaint” antecedents while still moving into the 20th century.

This includes the winery.

The winery is owned by the same family that owns Wollersheim Winery in the Upper Mississippi Valley AVA and share a wine maker, Phillipe Coquard who has been with family since 1984 and is now part of the family having married owners Robert and JoAnn Wollersheim’s daughter Julie.  Because of the cold temperatures in Wisconsin, the vitis vinifera grapes used to produce Cedarburg’s Chardonnay,C abernet Sauvignon, Riesling, Pinot Grigio and Syrah are contract grown in California, Washington and New York.  The vineyard in Prarie du Sac grows hybrid grape varietals, St. Pepin and Lacrosse, which are used in some of their wines.

The winery produces 16 different wines, including a non-alcoholic champagne, an oaked and non-oaked Chardonnay (which is a nice contrast of flavors), a number of fruit blends and holiday spiced wines.  Additionally Beaujolais made by the winemaker’s Uncle Pierre is also available.  (The Wollersheim winery carries the wine produced by Uncle Jean’s Beaujolais as well as  Phillipe’s brother’s Lombardian Bonarda.

Cedar Creek Winery
N70 W6340 Bridge Rd.
Cedarburg, WI 53012
(262) 377-8020
1-800-827-8020
info@cedarcreekwinery.com

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

Designated as an AVA in 2005, Horse Heaven Hills has been producing wine grapes since 1972 when Mercer Ranch owner, Don Mercer planted a seven acre block of Cabernet Sauvignon with the hope of growing grapes that would rival those of Chateau Lafite in Bordeaux. That vineyard, now owned by the Champoux Family in partnership with the Andrew Will, Powers Winery and Woodward Canyon produces high quality Cabernets. Twenty vineyards are located within the AVA, including Washington’s largest which belongs to Columbia Crest. The majority of the vineyards are producing for grapes for wineries in other appellations. Seven wineries call Horse Heaven Hills home.

Wines produced on the south facing slopes of the hills have reduced rot and fungal diseases due to the strong winds blowing up from the Columbia Gorge. Additionally the winds keep the area dry, stressing the vines and producing higher quality fruit. Other varietals produced in the area include: Barbera, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc, Grenache, Malbec, Merlot, Mourvedre, Petit Verdot, Riesling, Roussane, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Viognier and Zinfandel.

The appellation and the mountains got their name from James Gordon Kinney an early settler of the area who, remarking about the knee high grasses that fed the feral horses in the area, “This is surely a horse heaven!” In fact, the fossil record of the area shows that early horses were in the hills as early as 12,000 years ago (the feral horses seen by Kinney were actually re-introduced into North America by the Spanish Conquistadors). Either way, I keep thinking of that Poco album, Legend that had the cover art designed by the late, great Phil Hartman. And yes, that means I am old enough to remember record albums.

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