Cayuga

Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

Continued from Tuesday, December 1st.

The winery is housed in a ranch-style house with the tasting room located in a large open room in the back of the house.  As we made our way back, we discovered that despite it being close to the end of the day, the tasting room was fairly busy and all the spots at the bar were taken.  So Maree and I hung out for a bit, browsing the gift shop and admiring the extensive and very creative samples of custom labels that Four Sisters offers for people who would like to order custom labels for their wine.

The folks ahead of us at the bar had seemingly settled in for the afternoon, and the staff didn’t seem inclined to move them along despite the fact that there were now another 4-6 people waiting with us for spots at the bar.  But finally after about 15-20 minutes a couple spaces cleared, and Maree and I were able to start our tasting.  We had each purchased the 10 tastings for $5 package and decided 10 wines was more than enough for each of us to get a full sampling of the Four Sisters range of wines, so we skipped our usual “let’s coordinate our selections” and just focused on our own choices.

I kicked off my tasting with the

Seyval Reserve Like most of the whites I’ve tried here in the Northeast, the Seyval Reserve is a very pale yellow color.  The nose has lovely light floral notes, and in the mouth the wine is light, crisp and fruity with soft notes of melon and almost no citrus.  The finish is light and crisp, and this wine would pair well with seafood or grilled chicken.

Vidal Blanc Next up for me was the Vidal Blanc.  As anticipated this was a little sweeter than the Seyval although it is still a pleasant, dry table wine.  The color is very pale, almost straw, and the nose is grassy with subtle notes of green pepper.  In the mouth the wine is lightly tart with citrus notes, particularly lemon.  The finish is smooth with a slight smokiness from the oaking.

Cayuga Over the past year I have become a real fan of Cayuga whites.  When I first started on the Connecticut Wine Trail in October 2008, I wasn’t really sure what I thought of the Cayuga; interesting certainly, particularly given I hadn’t really encountered Cayuga before, but not something I found overly impressive.  Over time, though, as I’ve tried more local Cayuga wines and blends, I’ve found myself really liking this grape, and the Four Sisters’ Cayuga is no exception.  Also a pale yellow, almost straw color, the nose is extremely clean – in fact there’s almost no nose.  Clean is also the best word to describe the experience in the mouth: light, crisp, smooth, the wine has light citrus notes, low acid, a pleasantly smooth finish and just a hint of sweetness.  This would make a good “lunch” wine, pairing well with salads or light pasta dishes.

Niagara The last of the whites I sampled was the Niagara, made from Niagara grapes.  The tasting notes describe it as “spark childhood memories of eating grapes off the vine.”  I don’t know why that didn’t clue me in that it was going to be a sweet wine, but I found myself surprised by the sweetness when I tasted it.  The nose is light with nice floral notes, and in the mouth the wine has notes of melon and a touch of honey.  It’s a very nice wine, but as I definitely prefer drier table wines, this was not one of my overall preferences of the afternoon.

I had also selected one of the Blushes, the

Merrill Blush I admit I tried this because I was intrigued by the tasting notes which read “enjoyed by traditional wine lovers,” and found myself wondering what on earth that meant.  Is the implication that traditional wine lovers don’t like blushes?  And what is a traditional wine lover anyway?  On tasting I discovered a fairly complex wine with an interesting spicy nose (unexpected after the predominant floral notes among the whites), notes of melon and a touch of lemon on the palate which produces a semi-sweet blush with tart notes at the end that give the wine some bite.  As someone who definitely prefers dry wines, I often don’t buy or serve blushes finding them too sweet for my tastes. But the tartness at the end gave this wine some kick and, for me, made it more interesting than other blushes I’ve tried.  Perhaps that’s what Four Sisters is getting at with their tasting notes for “traditional wine lovers” read “people who prefer drier wines.”

That concluded the first half of the tasting, next on to the Reds…

Continued on Thursday, December 10th.

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

Continued from Tuesday, November 10th.

To our surprise, the tastings weren’t presented according to the printed tasting menu, and we actually began with the two sweeter whites before moving on to to the lighter, drier whites.  It was an interesting choice, explained to some degree, by our server’s announcing that the first two she was pouring for us were her favorites among the Heritage Trail wines.  Unfortunately, they weren’t ours.  The first selection was the

Winthrop White.  100% Cayuga estate grapes, the tasting notes indicate that this is Heritage Trail’s “Estate Boutique label.”   It’s a sweeter wine, almost too sweet, but is completely overpowered by the nose which is very earthy and bordering on unpleasant.  As this was our first wine of the tasting, both Christy and I thought the odors were from the glass – as if it had been washed in extremely hard water.  But after surreptitiously sniffing our water glasses, we realized it was the wine.  The nose has a strong, pungent, mustiness which Christy said reminded her of the smell of a manure.  Interestingly, you don’t taste the earthiness; the wine itself is light and sweet.  With a softer – or fruitier – nose, the wine would have been quite pleasant, but we just couldn’t get past the nose.

We quickly moved on to the

Sweet Reserve A blend of 70% Cayuga and 30% Seyval grapes, this, as the name implies, is another sweet wine.  The tasting notes indicate this is a semi-sweet wine, but it more closely resembles a sweet dessert wine.  In the mouth, there are lovely notes of citrus and apricot, although there is a strong citrus/acid bite at the end which was a bit startling.  But as with the Winthrop White, what we tasted was overshadowed by what we smelled: another strong, musty, earthy nose.  Not as pungent as the Winthrop White, we still found the nose unpleasant and had a hard time getting past it to enjoy the wine.

We were thinking about saying something to our server when she returned, particularly given that she had been so enthusiastic about these wines when she poured them.  Perhaps we had gotten tastings from a couple of  bad bottles?  But then we overheard a different server saying to the people next to us who had openly commented on the smell, “oh yes, we get that a lot; people often say they find the nose to be very strong…”  and we realized, no we didn’t get a bad bottle.  But it did make me wonder why they didn’t mention the nose upfront and perhaps explain what it is we were smelling and why…

Christy suggested it might be the grapes – both were predominantely Cayuga.  Maybe the nose was a hallmark of the grapes?  But we’ve both had a number of Cayuga wines at other wineries, and didn’t have this reaction to the nose.  We then started to worry that perhaps this was a hallmark of all the Heritage Trail wines.   Luckily the next wine was much more to our liking…

Quinebaug White Another Cayuga blend, this time with Vidal, the Quinebaug is a light-bodied white wine, drier wine with a touch of sweetness.  The nose is pleasantly earthy, with grassy notes.  In the mouth, the wine has subtle notes of citrus and pear with a crisp finish.    We both liked this wine, although in all honesty, some of what we liked was that it didn’t have the nose of the first two wines.  Finally, we finished up the whites with the

Chardonnay This is an unoaked Chardonnay with a soft, fruity nose with notes of grapefruit.  In the mouth, the wine is smooth with lovely notes of grapefruit and a nice balance of acid at the finish.  Very nice Chardonnay, particularly for those who prefer their Chardonnays without oak.

With the whites behind us, we rinsed our glasses and awaited the Reds…

Continued on Tuesday, November 17th.

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

I have always wanted to go to Colonial Williamsburg. It calls a nerd like me. During the Bicentennial, we Miller’s got into the Tobin Packing Company car (Dad was a salesman for the company) that looked like a skunk (it was black and white with a Tobin’s decal on the doors) and drove down south… We didn’t stop at Williamsburg because there was an argument about whether we should stop at Kings Dominion. Plus we had already stopped at Mount Vernon.

When I am visiting Nanny and the cousins in Virginia Beach, I don’t get a chance to stop either. They keep me busy catching up. What I really need is to bring the girls with me so that I can use them as an excuse to go. Not that they are interested in Interpretive History. They might have had their fill of that in Salem.

What I was able to do while in Virginia was to make a stop at the grocery store. And there I found a decent selection of local wine (NOT an option at my local Jewel). So I picked up a couple of bottles.

Yesterday, we opened this one. Williamsburg Winery was created in 1985 by the Duffeler family and produced its first wine in 1988. The first wine produced was the Governor’s White. It is a medium-bodied semi-dry wine with grapefruit and Golden Delicious apple flavors (or maybe apple pear, I am undecided). The wine doesn’t list what varietals were blended to create it. But the winery grows Cayuga, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petite Verdot, Traminette and Vidal Blanc in their vineyard. Judging from the flavors I would guess that Vidal Blanc was one of the primary grapes used for this wine.

Other wines produced by Williamsburg Winery include:

• James River White
• Plantation Blush
• Susan Constant Red
• Two Shilling Red
• John Adlum Chardonnay
• Andrewes Merlot
• Arundell Cabernet Sauvignon
• Acte 12 Chardonnay
• Burgesses’ Measure Merlot
• Henings Statute Cabernet Sauvignon
• Seyval Blanc
• Viognier
• Merlot Reserve
• Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
• Gabriel Archer Reserve
• Virginina Trianon (a Cabernet Franc)
• Vintage Reserve Chardonnay
• Late Harvest Vidal
• Blackberry Merlot
• Raspberry Merlot
• Spiced Wine

The wines range in price from $7.50 to $65.00 with the majority of selections in the $9.00 to $16.00 range. WIlliamsburg Winery can be ship to California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Washington, DC, Texas, Virginia, Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio.

Williamsburg Winery is NOT in the confines of Colonial Williamsburg but rather a couple of miles outside of the town. Along with the winery, the property is home to a hotel, Wedmore Place and the Gabriel Archer Tavern. It is located at:

5800 Wessex Hundred
Williamsburg, Virginia 23185
757-229-0999
wine@wmbgwine.com

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

A tasting at Alba includes your choice of six or seven of the 18 wines available for tasting: five whites, one blush, three reds, and six dessert wines produced under the Alba Vineyard label, and three reds produced under the Chelsea Cellars label.  Despite the fact that the Chelsea Cellars grapes are picked whole and shipped to New Jersey for pressing, aging and bottling, New Jersey law prohibits the winery from labeling them as Alba Vineyards wines as none of the grapes are grown locally.

I always find it challenging when forced to “choose my own” tasting menu.  On the one hand, and particularly if it’s my first visit to the winery, I want to select a range of wines that showcase the range and depth of the winery’s cellars and the winemaker’s art.  On the other, there are types of wines (blush, semi-sweet) and varietals (pinot grigio, riesling) that are not among my favorites, and I’ll tend to avoid them.   Always gravitating towards those tried and true varietals that I tend to drink more often (cabernet franc, pinot noir, sauvignon blanc) presents the opportunity to specialize at it were – comparing similar wines from winery to winery – but runs the risk of never discovering something new or sampling a local gem.

There’s always the fallback of simply asking the winery staff to select wines for you, but that does take some of the fun out of the experience.

As I’ve come across more and more wineries that allow you to create your own tasting menu, I’ve developed a few simple rules that have stood me in good stead: First, balance the tasting between whites, reds and dessert wines (if the winery produces dessert wines), allowing yourself the chance to sample the winery’s range.

Second, look for pairings or contrasts.  Often wineries will produce different “versions” of the same or similar wines, an oaked and an unoaked Chardonnay, for example, or an estate or reserve version of a wine.  Tasting these back-to-back will often prove to be one of the highlights of a winery visit.

Third, look for things that are different, particularly if they are unique to the area or region.  Part of the fun of winery visits and tastings is the chance to try something you’ve never or rarely had, and that you’d be unlikely to try if you had to purchase an entire bottle.

Fourth – CHEAT.  If you’re with friends or in a group, coordinate your tasting selections and pass glasses; the wineries certainly don’t mind, and you get to taste a bigger selection!

So keeping all that in mind, particularly rule #4, Maree and I made our selections.  We both opted to start the tasting with Alba’s most popular wine…

Mainsail White The Mainsail is described by the winery staff as being “like an everyday Pinot Grigio” in style.  The wine is actually a blend of Cayuga (very popular grape here in the Northeast) and Vidal Blanc with a bit of Riesling thrown in for  the “aroma.”  The lighting in the tasting room is soft and yellow-ish, so it was tough to get an accurate “read” on the color, but in the glass the color appeared pale yellow.  The nose was bright with distinct notes of melon and grapefruit.  In the mouth the wine is light-bodied, with definite grapefruit flavors and a nice balance of acid, particularly on the finish.   This is an easily drinkable wine, and I can see why it is so popular.

In addition to the Mainsail White, Alba has two white “pairs,” a more traditional Riesling and a Dry Riesling, and a Chardonnay and Estate Barrel Reserve Chardonnay.  Maree opted for the traditional Riesling but took a pass on the Dry Riesling, and in keeping with rule #2, I decided in favor of the Chardonnay/Estate Barrel Reserve Chardonnay pair.

2005 Riesling While definitely sweeter than the other whites, the Riesling is still tending towards a drier wine.  The nose is sunny, with strong notes of fruit, particularly melon.  In the mouth, the wine is smooth and velvety with distinct notes of melon.  Maree also noted honey, although I must admit I didn’t pick that out myself.  A nice wine and one that Riesling fans would definitely enjoy.

2005 Chardonnay The Chardonnay is initially oaked in a combination of French and American barrels and then moved to stainless steel for finishing.  The result is a light-bodied wine which has a very light nose with notes of green apple and grass.  In the mouth, the wine is clean, with crisp notes of apple and just a hint of citrus.  The oak is subtle, providing a touch of vanilla that smooths out the wine for a satisfying finish.

2004 Estate Barrel Reserve Chardonnay In contrast to the Chardonnay, the Estate Barrel Reserve is aged completely in oak and subjected to Sur Lies aging by stirring the wine during fermentation to increase contact with the yeast.   The Estate Barrel Reserve is, as a result, very different from the Chardonnay.  The nose has an earthy smokiness and in the mouth, the wine while smooth and lush, is also very smoky with strong notes of burnt toast.  It’s an interesting contrast with the Chardonnay, but I found the oak to be too overpowering for this to be a really compelling wine.

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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.

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