AVA

There is more to my neighbor to the north besides cheese and the Green Bay Packers. I have had several nice experiences in the Dairy State and am pleased to learn that an application has been filed for a new appellation.

Called Wisconsin Ledge, this potential AVA consists of the western most part of the Niagara Escarpment as it reappears out of Lake Michigan.  The application points out the regions underlying rocks of dolomite (Lockport Dolomite) which provide minerals as well as drainage to the areas soils and are overlain with sand, loam and glacial moraines.  If this sounds vaguely familiar, it is because it exceptionally close to the geography of the Niagara Escarpment AVA in western New York  State.  In the case of the New York appellation, the climate is moderated by two Great Lakes (Erie and Ontario) and the prevailing west wind that would blow across them.  The Wisconsin Ledge has a more moderate temperature due to its proximity to Lake Michigan but the west winds would be more continental.

The new potential AVA is located in the Door Peninsula, south of the Fox River, east of Lake Winnebago and north of County Highway T (North of Milwaukee).  This area is already home to at least twelve wineries including the Cedar Creek Winery in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

So three cheers to Wisconsin Ledge!  It is about time that they got some wine with that cheese!

Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor,
October 25, 2011

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Once I am on a mapping roll, I sometimes can’t stop. Here is the McMinnville AVA from Oregon and the Arroyo Grande Valley AVA from California. You might be wondering why I working on west coast appellations, but all will be revealed soon enough.

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor
September 29, 2011

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It may look like there is nothing going on here at VinoVerve, but we are always plugging away at something…

New additions to the site include:



Gretchen Neuman, VinoVerve.com Editor, September 28, 2011

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Kevin and I are headed to NOLA this weekend to watch some football and sample the delights of the city. He asked me to see if we could stop at a winery on our way there. I checked my map. Each dot represents a winery.

It appears that we will have plenty of choices depending on what route we take.

Good thing we don’t live in a wine producing region, eh? It appears that we will have 20 options in the deep south.. and more as we head north.

Laissez les bontemps rollez.

What’s your favorite southern winery?

Gretchen Neuman, VinoVerve.com Editor, September 13, 2011

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After visiting Monticello, it makes perfect sense that my first stop the next day was the Jefferson Vineyards. The property was originally part of Monticello and granted to Filipo Mazzei so he could develop a vineyard. Jefferson had been disappointed by his attempts to produce wine grapes so he brought in Mazzei, a Venetian viticulturist to take over the effort. This is a story about timing being essential. Luckily, the dream lives on at this winery.

Jefferson Vineyards
1353 Thomas Jefferson Parkway
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
434-977-3042

Gretchen Neuman, VinoVerve Editor August 30, 2011

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

I have traveled nearly 2,000 miles in the last ten days. That is far enough to get to the Arctic Circle, assuming that I was inclined to do such a thing in March and April (which I am not).

So, now I have a dilemma. Where do I start on telling the tales of my journeys. I have decided to work backwards. Why? It is as good as anyway to begin… plus have I have fewer photos to dig back through….

so that means…

On to the Alexis Bailly Vineyard.

There were a couple of things that I knew about this winery before I got there. A. It is the oldest winery in Minnesota. 2. It is in the Upper Mississippi River Valley AVA which is one of the newest and definitely the largest appellation in the U.S.

The winery was established in 1973 by David Bailly and is named after the City of Hastings first permanent resident. David selected grapes varietals for his 20 acre former winter rye farm winery less on their cold weather heartiness and more for their flavor. The intent was not to just make a Minnesota wine but a superior Minnesota wine. Using the French adage that the vines must suffer to produce good wine, David Bailly believed that Minnesota was a place where the grapes would receive the requisite punishment.

Lately my wine journeys have been more of the solo variety but on this day, I had my Mom with me. We had travelled to the Land of 10,000 Lakes in order to attend the Mizuno Northern Lights Midwest Volleyball Qualifier. Which meant that we were in for three long days of volleyball. Oh, and it was Mom’s birthday. I am not going to tell you which one. Let’s just go with 19th (my mother’s traditional age) or as we learned at the winery “Plenty-nine”. Sophie wasn’t due to start playing until 3:00 so Mom and I headed out of the Minneapple and headed to Alexis Bailly.

We found the winery easily enough (sometimes directions out in the country can be tricky) and when we pulled into the lot we were greeted by the winery dog, who barked at as we headed into the tasting room. The funny thing was that the pooch stopped barking the second we walked into the building… He just headed over to his rug and plopped down. His job was finished.

Mom and I headed into the tasting room and were greeted by actual people! We decided to do the full tasting which included the special ice wine for $7.00 Being really early in the season (which opened April 1) and early in the day 11:30, we were the only folks tasting. The staff was getting ready for the winery’s first event of the season, their Chocolate, Cheese and Wine Tasting. Despite this, everyone was friendly and knowledgable. Perfect for Mom’s first time out with me!

We started with Seyval Blanc which was bright and crisp with green apple notes. Fermented and aged in stainless steel to maintain the full force of the fruit flavors this wine surprised me. Why? Mom LOVED it. And she is a dedicated red wine lover. She loved it so much that she bought some to take home. A real recommendation.

Next we tried the Country White. This wine is a blend of Seyval Blanc and La Crescent and is designed to be an easy drinking vins de pays. Perfect for everyday, though not terribly complex or aged.  This wine is off dry with a good burst of fruit and would be perfect for dishes with some spice or creaminess to them.

I bought a bottle of the next wine and am waiting for the proper weather to drink it…  The Golden Gris reminded me of Lillet Blanc.  Rich and full with an slight orange flavor.  Made of a  blend of La Crescent (90%) and Frontenac Gris (10%).  I am planning to use it on the first hot day of the season with a slice of orange and topped with bit of seltzer.

At this point we moved on to the reds, more familiar territory for Mom, though the first selection was actually a rosé, but a deep and rich one.  Aptly named Rosé Noir it is made of Marechal Foch and DeChaunac.  The color of this wine is much deeper than a standard rose but is rich with dark cherry flavors.  In another stunning move, Mom loved this wine as well…

Next we got to taste the Country Red, a proprietary blend designed to evoke thoughts of French Rhone wines.  The wine is dry, with good fruit and light, leathery tannins.  Truly, the perfect wine for a weekday meal.  The Voyageur on the other hand is a much bolder wine.  A blend of Marechal Foch, Léon Millot and Frontenac and aged 10 months in oak, this wine is inky black with deep, rich, woody flavors.  Voyageur is the most New World tasting of the Alexis Bailly’s wines.

After enjoying the biggest of Alexis Bailly’s wines, Mom and I moved on to the dessert wines.

The Hastings Reserve is a blend of grapes that are blended with vintages from several other years to create the consistency that is seen in solera aged ports.  In taste and consistency it was very much like a ruby port, though perhaps a little hot for me.  The Bailly’s Chocolate Port was a hit with Mom, who loved the richness of the chocolate essence.  I have to admit to preferring my chocolate separately from my fortified wines, but found the flavors to be much more lush than I have had in the past.  The last of the wines for the regular tasting was the Ratafia, a wine that I have read about but never had.  Ratafia  was something that I read about in Victorian novels or Restoration comedies.  Ratafias are fruit, nut and herbally flavored fortified wines that were produced in Mediterranean countries.  When checking my notes on this wine I laughed when I saw my scrawl of, “Holy Cow!”  The wine is rich with vibrant orange and spices – perfect for dessert or an aperitif.  It is totally out of the ordinary and worth a try.

The last wine that we tasted was their version of an ice wine.  Unfortunately the weather in Minnesota is so unpredictable that the winery can’t rely on the grapes freezing anything other than solidly making a real ice wine out of the question.  Instead they buy contract grown juice and freeze it, using the concentrated juice to produce the wine.  The wine is a lighter version of a German Eiswein. It was very nice.  In the meantime, the winery is working to grow grapes that will produce enough sugar to create the wine naturally at the vineyard.  I look forward to trying these wines in the future.

Sadly, at this point, Mom and I needed to head off to the Minneapolis Convention Center for six hours of volleyball.  We didn’t even get a chance to have dinner, which was a shame as it was her birthday that day.  I don’t think she minded, as she got to go to a wine tasting with me and see what I do when on the road.  I was glad that everyone at Alexis Bailly was sweet, personable and really well informed.  We even found a new way for my mother to express (not) her age.  Henceforth, she will no longer be 19, but instead will be “Plenty-nine”.

Thank you to everyone at Alexis Bailly for helping me give Mom a great birthday present!

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

The nice part of goals is missing them sometimes. Yes, it was your editor’s goal to complete podcasts for all four Missouri viticulture areas before leaving for the Show Me State… but that sadly hasn’t happened. Something about teenagers and their crazy schedules screwed that up. Oh, and randomly placed Spring Breaks. Ahhh.  Good times…

So, instead of showing you are about the Ozark Mountain and Ozark Highlands AVAs, I will postpone the publication of these videos so that I can gather some footage of my own…. and instead will talk about where I am planning to go on my Missouri adventures. While I am only going to be in Missouri for a long weekend and most of that time will be spent in St. Louis, I have found that I will be able to visit all four viticultural areas. Yeah!

As you can see, I have gotten lucky that all of these appellations are located at least in part near St. Louis. So naturally, given that I have no obligations to teens and/or volleyball (like last year or next week) I get to explore Missouri.

The conference location is the starting or ending point of the trip. At least from a planning perspective this is the raison d’être for my get away. Kevin is watching the teens, which earns him my pity as it is their spring break. He initially wished to join me along this journey but thought better of it as it is likely teens would have sucked all the joy out of me for this adventure, and I thank him profusely.

Why Ste. Genevieve? Simply, it is the oldest town in the state. Founded by the French along the Mississippi River before even the French and Indian Wars, the town has a collection of Creole-French buildings that were common among French settlers or habitants…  Obscure?  Perhaps.  But I love that kind of stuff.  Plus there are wineries there too which are located within the Ozark Mountain AVA. This AVA is the biggest in Missouri (especially since it extends into Arkansas and even Oklahoma) and the Ozark Highlands and Hermann appellations are located within its boundaries.

My next must see stop is the town of Kaskaskia, Illinois.  Crossing back over the Mississippi, you say?  Hardly.  Kaskaskia, also a French settlement, was located east of the Mississippi but as the river has changed course, so has the location of the town and it is currently located just a couple of miles south of Ste. Genevieve.  Actually, most of the original town has been lost to flooding and hardly anyone lives there anymore (the 2000 census indicated a population of 9).  The appeal of Kaskaskia is twofold.  It is the original capital of the state (or maybe territory) of Illinois.  Also?  It has a bell that was a given to the local parish church by Louis XV (Yes.  Louis XIV is dead, to answer my husband’s snappy response whenever hear hears the name of a monarch with a number attached to his name.. Thanks so much, dudes from Monty Python).

The next goals of the trip are to visit all three appellations that I haven’t been to before.  This means, stopping at wineries in Ozark Mountain (done… with stops in Ste. Genevieve), Ozark Highlands  (done with stops in and around Leasburg or Steelville, MO) and in Hermann.

As if this isn’t a busy enough weekend, I will then be attending the Drinklocalwine.com conference in St. Louis.  Whew.  I am going to be tired come Monday.  But I will have lots to talk about when I get back!

Hope you have as much fun this weekend!

Next stop

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

On my quest to be prepared for the DrinkLocalWine.com conference I am moving on from the Augusta AVA on to Hermann. The town of Hermann was founded by the German Settlement Society of Philadelphia in the 1830′s after they sent school teacher George Bayer to purchase land where they could establish a German utopia. Bayer selected the area that is now known as Hermann because it reminded him of his childhood home in Germany. Unfortunately the land was not ideal for traditional farming or industry, but was perfect for viticulture. Lucky for us!

Check out the new Hermann AVA page!

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

Yes, I did say that the second video version of Better Know an AVA would be for the Western Connecticut Highlands. But several things occurred. First, I did not anticipate how long it would take me to produce a video. And B. I forgot that I am going to Missouri in April. April 1st. So, clearly Missouri AVAs are prioritized.

First and foremost, the Missouri Win(e)ding Road page was updated as has the Augusta AVA page….

Lastly….

Well, we have video.

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

When I decide that I am updating part of the website, I prefer to go all out. And this holds true for our Better Know An AVA pages. As I roll one out with its new improvements I will post here on the main page with a vlog. Bear with me as I am learning how to put this together, though I think I managed to pull this off.

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