A New Year’s Resolution

January 1, 2010 by MTB

Let’s make 2010 a Locapour Year!

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Looking Ahead to 2010

December 31, 2009 by MTB

Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

New Year’s Eve – the time to look back over the previous year and look ahead to the coming year.

2009 was a great year for us at Vino Verve: Gretchen became an officer of the Illinois Wine Consumer Coalition and was invited to participate on a panel discussion with Bill Daley, wine critic for the Chicago Tribune, and Anthony Terlato, President of the Terlato Wine Group. I began branching out beyond Connecticut, exploring wineries in nearby New Jersey and Rhode Island, and along the way picking up new wine-trail-buddies, Christy Sherard and Maree Prendergast. Kevin took advantage of his frequent business travel to discover wine venues in unexpected places, including discovering a new trend of locating upscale wine bars in major airports. And while Rory has been relatively quiet with regards to Vino Verve, he’s been busy behind the scenes attending business school and keeping Kevin and Gretchen well-connected within the Chicago wine scene.

But most important, to my mind, 2009 was the year we truly found our voice. Ever since Gretchen founded Vino Verve almost 3 years ago, there has been a focus on “local” – things we discovered, things we drank, winemakers or sommeliers we met, etc. But as I look back over 2009, I can see a progression as we continued to define and refine exactly what we’re all about here at Vino Verve, a change that’s also reflected in the blog’s redesign, courtesy of Gretchen, our editor, and the creation of the Win(e)ding Roads and Better Know an AVA sections to help us organize our explorations.

I’ve seen a similar progression in myself - what started as an occasional hobby has become a passion, something I look forward to and plan for. In 2009, I visited over 30 wineries and explored almost every nook and cranny of Connecticut along the way. Christy and I visited our first wine expo and participated in a phenomenal seminar, the Frescobaldi Grand Cru. I joined Snooth and became the curator for the Connecticut Group page – although I have been lax and haven’t updated anything recently; need to get back to that. I attended some great Spring and Harvest Festivals at area wineries and met some great people, who now recognize me (and I them) when I stop by the winery. And along the way I’ve learned a lot – I think my posts have improved over the year, and I know my palate has.

So with all that in mind, what’s ahead for 2010?

First and foremost, I’m on track to finish the Connecticut Wine Trail by March – there are just a few wineries left that I have yet to visit, one of which, Taylor Brooke Winery, I’ll be heading out to this afternoon before they close for the season.

Come January 23rd you’ll find me in Boston at the Boston Wine Expo for the Corton Charlemagne and Corton Grancey: The Great Grand Cru’s of Maison Louis Latour and the Alain Junguenet: A Collection of 2007 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Super Cuvées seminars. A locapour focus does not preclude one from taking advantage of opportunities to sample some of the world’s great wines when given the chance. And the following Saturday will find me in southeast Connecticut at the Mohegan Sun Winefest and the Chateau St. Jean Chardonnay: It’s All About Terroir seminar.

By mid-March, once I wrap up Connecticut, it’s on to Rhode Island and then by early Summer, Massachusetts.

Come July is the Wine Blogger’s Convention, which Gretchen will be attending, and I, if I can afford it. If not, then perhaps a long weekend in Philadelphia with day trips to explore southern New Jersey wine country or a trip up to Niagara Falls and a comparison of the Canadian Niagara wine region and the wineries of the US Niagara Escarpment.

And with the turning of the leaves, it’s Harvest Festival time.

Throughout the year I’m looking forward to my newest tradition – monthly wine excursions with some new wine-trail-buddies, a group of friends from work. We call ourselves the “Sisters of The Connecticut Wine Trail” (SOTs for short), and we pick one Saturday or Sunday a month and head out to check out a couple of local wineries. While we’ll spend most of our time in Connecticut, we are planning a long day trip to the North Fork of Long Island at some point – one of my favorite wine regions in the Northeast. If you’re in a Connecticut Winery and there’s a group of women off in a corner having way too much fun – that will be us!

I also want to continue to refine my focus – spending more time getting to know the winemakers and the history behind the wineries. One of the things I’m considering for 2010 is a new series on the winemakers of Connecticut – we’ll see how it shapes up.

So here’s to a great 2010!

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Wine, Family and Holidays

November 30, 2009 by admin

Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

Holidays are about family.

Holidays are about celebrating with good food and wine.

The problem with these two statements is in their intersection. How do you celebrate the holidays with family and good food and wine? Particularly with the younger members of your family.

Wine has been part of family dinners since I was a child. Kevin and I have carried on the tradition with our family. The girls have received a little watered wine in order to join family toasts for a number of years now, but we find other ways to include them as well.

My younger daughter loves to open and pour the wine. Her older sister can do it as well. This year she opened the champagne at dinner. They also get to tell us what they smell from each bottle as well as a take a sip occasionally.

What is the purpose of this? Well, in part to keep teens who normally would try to eat in 15 seconds at the table and talking, but also to teach them about wine and culture. The culture of hospitality… the traditions of family.

And isn’t that really what the holidays are about?

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We Gather Together

November 23, 2009 by admin

Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

With Thanksgiving looming before us this week (Please keep your Christmas references at bay, please… I can only handle one holiday at a time), many people are trying to decide what to have for the big feast.

Turkey is the obvious choice (though venison would be traditionally correct as well, as the local Wamponoag people brought five deer to the feast)

One thing that we can be sure of? Those people celebrating their first feast of thanksgiving in Plymouth (or Virginia) dined on local food. There was no Beajolais Nouveau or Beaujolais Vieux for that matter…

What seems totally appropriate? Drinking local. During the colonial period, the Pilgrims would have had beer from home grown barley, or cider from home grown apples or even wine from from native grapes (fox grapes named for their flavor… think Concord and tell me if you can avoid thinking of grape jelly!) or other local fruit.

So my plan?

To drink as much local wine as possible… The thing holding me back? Well… my parents are hosting our feast.. and Dad does have all of those wine clubs that he is a member of… I will do my best to bring more wine than Lionstone International can send my father.

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Avoid the Malls – Spend Black Friday on the New Jersey Wine Trail Instead

November 19, 2009 by MTB

Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

November is New Jersey Wine Month, and the local wineries are capping off the month with the Holiday Wine Trail Weekend! Friday, Saturday, Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend (November 27-29), local wineries across the state will be offering tastings, tours, and in many cases special events. Many of the wineries offer gift baskets and gift certificates so you could also get a lot of your holiday shopping done at the same time. Who knows? Maybe it’ll be the start of a new “Win(e)ding Road” holiday tradition…

Personally, I’m liking the idea of winery gift certificates; knock out most of my holiday shopping in one fell swoop!

Holiday Wine Trail Weekend Participating Wineries include:

Alba Vineyard, Milford, NJ **VINO VERVE VISITED**

Bellview Winery. Landisville, NJ

Brook Hollow Winery, Columbia, NJ

Cape May Winery, Cape May, NJ

Cava Winery & Vineyard, Columbia, NJ

Cream Ridge Winery, Cream Ridge, NJ

Hawk Haven Vineyard and Winery, Rio Grande, New Jersey

Hopewell Valley Vineyards, Pennington Vineyards

Laurita Winery, New Egypt, NJ

Natali Vineyards, Cape May Courthouse, NJ

Plagido’s Winery, Hammonton, NJ

Sharrott Winery, Blue Anchor, NJ

Swansea Vineyards, Shiloh, NJ

Ventimiglia Vineyards, Wantage, NJ **VINO VERVE VISITED**

Villa Milagro Vineyards, Finesville, NJ **VINO VERVE VISITED**

Westfall Winery, Montague, NJ

The wineries listed are within a day trip from New York or Philadelphia. Check out the Garden State Wine Growers’ Association website for wine trail “cluster” suggestions – mini-trails of 4-5 wineries.

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Party Time

October 5, 2009 by MTB

Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

We toasted her with Rebel Girl and Rose Ole and a delicious cake with a buttercream peony. We told stories about our love for her and hers for us. Finally, at 1:00 am the birthday girl headed off to bed. Overwhelmed and happy.

I was glad that my wine was part of the celebration. Happy Birthday, Nanny.

– Posted From My iPhone

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Is Wine An Appropriate Gift?

September 30, 2009 by GMN

Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

Frankly, I always think that wine is an appropriate gift. But in this case the Birthday Girl (which is always capitalized at my house) will be 102.

Yes, I have decided at the last minute to visit my grandmother for her birthday this weekend (though her birthday is tomorrow. GO Nanny!) This is why today’s post is so late. I have been calculating cost benefit analyses about whether to fly or drive (15 hour drive/flexibility of having own vehicle to explore wineries and cheapness even if including rental car and gas v. trying to get a reasonably priced flight less than 48 hours out) – driving won.

So if you know of any good wineries along major highways from Chicago to Virginia through the states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland or Virginia please let me know..

I am reachable on Facebook and Twitter!

Oh, and Nanny will be getting wine…. and maybe I will be sharing with the cousins too….

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Happy Birthday, Mom

April 7, 2009 by MTB

Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

Today is my mother’s birthday, and in addition to wishing her a happy birthday, I am also gifting her with six large bottles of Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth.

Not your standard birthday gift, I’ll grant you, but for my mother, who “came of age” in 1950′s America, a great martini is a thing of beauty – not to be trifled with. To make a great martini, you need great gin and dry vermouth – and for decades the only choice for serious martini drinkers has been Noilly Prat – the king (le roi?) of dry vermouth. I guarantee you, those martinis they are downing in Mad Men? They’re all made with Noilly Prat.

Unfortunately, Noilly Prat announced earlier this year that they are “changing formulas” – abandoning the dry formula favored by American Martini connoisseurs (like my mother) in favor of the sweeter European-style “original formula.”

Seriously.

This is akin to the “New Coke” debacle of the 1980s.

So make room in the pantry, we’re stocking up! Happy Birthday, Mom.

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day

March 17, 2009 by MTB

Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer
The Drinkin’ O’ the Green!

In the spirit of the holiday, I thought it appropriate to celebrate Irish wine. Yes, I know – whisky and beer, not wine, are what first come to mind when one thinks “Ireland and liquor.” But Ireland is a wine-producing nation, and within the last 10 years has been officially recognized as such by the European Commission.

While Ireland is not going to give France a run for the money over vineyard acreage or cases produced anytime soon, the Irish do have a wine heritage that began over a millenia ago with mead. Mead itself dates back to the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, and it appears most cultures, including the Celts, Vikings, Gauls and Romans all produced mead. A lush blending of honey, water, and sometimes grapes, mead is believed to possess powers that endow virility and fertility on its drinkers, and thus for centuries was the featured wine at weddings. It also has a rich heritage in the culture and history of the British and Irish isles, and one can imagine medieval feasts with men gathered around long wooden tables, wild pigs and game fowl roasting on large spits, and tankards of mead being passed throughout the hall…

I first discovered mead on a vacation to Ireland when I made a stop at Bunratty Castle, County Clare, home of the Bunratty Winery. Like the castle, which was finished in 1425 (and is a glorious example of a medieval castle and fortress), the recipe for Bunratty Meade dates back to the Middle Ages. There are other current producers of mead, including wineries in England and Wales, but Bunratty is one of the oldest – and likely one of the best known – meads being produced today.
But Irish wine is not all mead, and there are a handful of wineries scattered across southern Ireland. Like Bunratty, most are located in County Clare; undoubtedly the gulf stream ocean currents which run very close to the southwestern coast help temper the climate and weather and make this area one that is capable of sustaining vineyards. These other wineries are small and generally produce white wines from German grapes which are better suited to colder, harsher climates. Currently all of these wines are sold or distributed locally:

Blackwater Valley Vineyard – with only 5 acres under cultivation, Blackwater Valley grows Reichensteiner, and produces a few thousand bottles of white table wine annually.

Longueville House – Longueville House is a 20-bedroom Georgian country house, now operating as a hotel and restaurant. On the grounds, the owners have planted 1.1 acres of Reichsteiner and Muller Thurgau grapes. The wine is produced exclusively for the Longueville House hotel and restaurant.

Thomas Walk Vineyard – another small vineyard, Thomas Walk produces both a white and a red. Tomas Clancy, the wine columnist for The Sunday Business Post, in 2006 described the Thomas Walk Amurensis red as similar to a “light beaujolais.” Clancy, in the same article, also posits that Ireland’s late-entry into wine production is the result of their never having been invaded by the Romans. Interesting, never thought about the rise of wine production being a result of the spread of the Roman legions – chalk up one more thing to the Caesars.

Lusca – Finally, across the country in County Dublin, David Llewellyn has established Ireland’s northern-most winery, growing cabernet, merlot and chardonnay grapes. Llewellyn and his Lusca wines are currently “Ireland’s largest commercial wine producer,” according to an August 2008 article in the Tribune.

Bunratty Meade is imported into the United States, and most larger liquor or wine stores should carry it – if not, they can probably order it for you, or you can order it online through a number of sources. As for the others? Ireland is beautiful this time of year!