local wines

Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

On the day I stopped by, Adair Winery was featuring tastings of five wines: three whites, a rosé and a dessert wine.  In general, all of the wines were delicate with stronger earth notes as opposed to fruit – somewhat unusual for the Northeast based on my experiences, where I’ve found either because of the hardier hybrid grapes grown here, or the terroir, or both, the wines definitely tend toward the fruitier with a preponderance of citrus in the whites and cherry and plum in the reds.

My tasting kicked off with the 2009 Seyval, a nice delicate wine with a musty earth nose.  The light in the Tasting Room was somewhat dim and yellow-y, so I wasn’t able to get a true sense of the color, but it’s close to a pale straw. In the mouth the wine is light and delicate, with earthy notes of light grass and a hint of green pepper.  Low acid on the finish gives the wine a much smoother finish than I had anticipated.   The tasting notes indicate it is structured along the lines of a Muscadet Sur Lie, and sur lie aged for 7 months.   I found that the wine’s delicateness prohibited me from fully appreciating it during a 1 oz sip – although truth is you can’t fully appreciate any wine from just a 1 oz sip – but in this case I very definitely felt that I wasn’t getting the full impact of the wine.

Solitary Oak Aged for 8 months in a combination of French and American Oak barrels, this was a stronger, less delicate wine.  A blend of 40% Seyval, 50% Vidal and 10% Vignoles, all primarily estate grown grapes, this was my favorite of the five Adair wines I tried that afternoon.  The nose is floral with notes of apple blossom.  In the mouth, the wine is crisper than the Seyval, while still being somewhat light.  There’s a tangy/tart sweetness of green apples on the palate and a nice balance of acid on the finish with a light note of grapefruit.  As I describe it, I know it sounds like that might be a strange, and perhaps too tart, combination, green apples in the front, grapefruit on the back, but it creates a really interesting contrast which gives the wine additional character.  The oaking is light, providing just a hint of smoke, rather than the butter or cream one often finds with oaked whites.

The last of the three whites on the menu was the 2009 Cayuga White, a semi-dry wine that is stronger and fruitier than either of the previous two.  The nose is quite strong with lush notes of nectarine and apricot.  In the mouth, the wine is soft and sweet with notes of nectarine and orange.  The finish is very smooth, and people who prefer their wines sweeter should really like the Cayuga.

From there we moved on to the 2009 Rosalis, a 50/50 blend of Frontenac and Dechaunac grapes.  The nose is earthy and lightly floral with faint notes of strawberry.  The wine is made in a beaujolais style, light and smooth.  Strawberry is the predominant note, and the tannins are very light making this a very smooth wine overall.   The lighter-bodied, more delicate nature of the wine helps keep the strawberry notes from becoming overpowering.  This would be a great sipping wine for a spring or summer afternoon.

And then finally, the tasting concluded with the 2009 Blackberry Kir a blend of 95% Cayuga and 5% Blackberry Wine.   Not surprisingly the dominant notes in both the nose and mouth are blackberry, but it’s not overpowering or too sweet.  In the mouth, the wine is smooth and clean and the rich sweetness of the blackberries, while present, don’t overwhelm the wine.  Personally I found it a bit too sweet for my tastes, but it is an interesting wine, and one I would encourage any visitor to Adair to try.

With that, I picked up a bottle of the Solitary Oak to sample more leisurely at home, said farewell to my hosts and headed back across the river to Connecticut.

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

Well I’m finally back on the win(e)ding roads…   Once again life has a way of interfering with fun, although to be fair it is life – or more strictly work – that pays for all of these wonderful jaunts.  So I suppose I can’t complain too much.

Truth be told, though, I haven’t actually hit the wine trail in almost two months; a fact I was bemoaning to Jean, one of my fellow SOTS, just yesterday.  But we hope to rectify that soon.  In the meantime, I still have notes, pictures and wine from the last two wineries I visited this past summer.

I finished up the month of August with a second visit over to the Hudson River Valley and the Shawangunk Wine Trail.   My first, and unfortunately only, stop of the day – Adair Vineyards in New Paltz, New York.

Producing wines since 1987, Adair Vineyards is located a few minutes off the thruway just outside the small downtown area of New Paltz.  The vineyards encompass 10 acres, growing Seyval, Vignoles, Marechal Foch and Millot grapes, and the winery produces approximately 20,000 bottles a year.

The winery is housed in an historic old barn, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Dating back to 1800, the building is beautifully preserved both inside and out.  I fully admit I’m a sucker for red barns; there’s something about them that just calls to me.  Particularly if they feel like they’ve been there forever – a sense of connection to the past.

Outside, the barn, which sits just off the road, fits perfectly with the surrounding fields and vineyards and welcomes visitors to stop and linger at one of the several picnic tables that dot the yard.  Inside, the Adair has capitalized on both the charm and history of the barn.  Inside the main door a small foyer with whitewashed walls opens up onto a stairway leading to the converted hay loft which now serves as the winery’s Tasting Room.   3/4 of the way up the stairs a small landing houses an antique victrola, above which hangs a lovely tapestry.

As you reach the top of the stairs, the space opens up into a large open room flanked by alcoves on the left featuring wine-themed gifts and accessories and the tasting bar running along the back and right walls.  The A-line roof is supported by large exposed oak beams, likely original to the space.   Antique farm implements are positioned around the room and the back walls are lined with pictures and advertisements from the early part of the 20th century.   Centering the room, both literally and figuratively, is a lovely wagon wheel chandelier.  The overall effect is both roomy and cozy, and despite the lack of chairs, guests are made to feel comfortable, welcome and encouraged to linger.

On the afternoon I stopped by in late August, Adair’s menu included five wines, three whites, a beaujolais style rose and a dessert wine, a blackberry kir.  Tastings are $5 and include all five wines.  Adair is open from May through December, Friday-Sunday 11:00 – 6:00, with additional hours added during the harvest months of September and October.  A member of the Shawangunk Wine Trail, Adair participates in the trail’s special events, including the current Wreath Fineries Event, but restrict trail events to groups of 10 or fewer only.

Coming next Tuesday, the Wines of Adair Vineyards

Adair Vineyards
52 Allhusen Road
New Paltz, NY 12561
845.255.1377
www.adairwines.com

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

Continuing my Michigan winery planning I move on to Lake Michigan Shore. Why? Well it contains the Fennville AVA and is the appellation listed on the bottles for the only winery in the Fennville AVA. And frankly, it is the Michigan appellation that is closest to home for me as it takes about 90 minutes (not counting traffic snarls) to enter into Michigan.

Why is this area significant? Well, unlike most northern wine regions, Michigan Shores produces a good number of vitis vinifera grapes, including Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Lemberger, Malbec, Marsanne, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Roussanne, Syrah, and Viognier. The reason? Something we Midwesterners* call “Lake Effect”. The water in the Great Lakes (essentially small fresh water inland seas) moderate the temperatures and the precipitation on lands west of each lake. Temperatures never become as frigid as they would on the east coast of a lake as they do on the west coast. Anyone who has lived in Chicago and Buffalo or Detroit can tell you how they differ (and this blog has a couple of gals who have experienced the difference. Chicago is much colder). This gives the grapes a longer growing season than is experienced in say, Iowa and a couple of weeks makes a big difference. The soils are a relatively uniform throughout the region, consisting of glacial moraines.

In addition to being relative close to home, there are a good number of wineries in the AVA. How many? Well that depends on who you ask and what you count. Why who you ask? Well, the folks at the Lake Michigan Shore Wine Trail list count twelve wineries as members. Me? I count about seventeen. More is better right? Well, that leads to the what you count part, as several of the wineries have multiple tasting rooms. Tasting rooms are great in a pinch, but frankly I prefer going to the winery directly, at least if it is possible. Given the number of beachfront cottages, condos and other casual getaway places in the area, I would have been surprised if there weren’t tasting rooms trying to take advantage of the numbers of summer people.

I am planning to head out on Sunday (barring teen disasters) to visit a couple these wineries. If you have a favorite? Let me know… contact me at gretchen at vinoverve.com

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

Ever since my visit to Greenvale Vineyard outside of Providence, RI last summer, I had been eyeing the 2007 Chardonnay I had brought home.  It was absolutely my favorite wine of the afternoon, and one of those wonderful experiences during tasting when after just one sip you know you’ve found something you really, really like.

I had been “saving” the bottle for a dinner with friends that never materialized and decided that as much as I wanted to introduce the wine to others, there was nothing wrong with being selfish and keeping it all to myself.

The wine was everything I remembered – and more.  But wines usually are – more, that is – when you get a chance to experience more than a 1 oz sample and also pair the wine with food.  The color was that lovely light golden color I remembered – closer to the color of a California Chardonnay rather than the paler whites so predominant throughout the Northeast.  The nose is earthy with grassy notes, and took me back to that warm summer afternoon.

In the mouth the wine is really lovely – smooth and soft with the creamy butteriness I found so enchanting during my first tasting.  There is a nice bite of acid on the finish which keeps the wine from being too soft and buttery.   Over time and subsequent sips, the wine layers in the mouth and I started to pick up tangy notes of grapefruit, particularly in the back of the mouth.  It’s a subtle note, but it gives the wine character.

The first night I drank the wine on its own; the second I paired it with grilled blackened chicken and vegetables.  The wine held up very nicely the second evening, and if anything the fruit notes pulled forward a bit more strongly that second night.  The creaminess of the wine’s oaking paired well with the peppery heat of the chicken, with the pepper cutting through the butter nicely.

People who prefer cleaner, or more lightly oaked Chardonnays may not like this, but fans of the robust California Chardonnays should find a local treat in Greenvale’s Chardonnay.   I’m looking forward to a SOTS (Sisters Of the wine Trail) outing to Providence; I suspect this wine will be a hit with everyone.

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

By the time I arrived home from my Maine trip that Friday afternoon in mid-August, I had visited 10 wineries in 4 states in just 7 days.  With only two days left until I was due to return to work, I decided Saturday and Sunday would be best spent at home, relaxing, doing laundry and making the mental shift from vacation back to work-mode.

But I still had the Shawnagunk Wine Trail Summer Pass in my pocket and 7 wineries left on the trail.  So the following weekend found me back on I-84 heading west.

85 miles north of Manhattan and about 120 miles west of me here outside of Hartford, CT, the Hudson River Valley lays claim to being the oldest wine region in the United States.   French Hugenots planted the first vines in 1677, and wine production has continued in the region through the present day.  The region boasts the oldest continuously operating winery, Brotherhood Winery, and the oldest continually cultivated vineyard, Benmarl Vineyards in America.

In 1982, the Hudson River Region AVA was designated, running along the banks of the Hudson River under the shadow of the Shawngunk and Catskill Mountains, from White Plains in the south to just below Albany in the North.  Today the region is home to 20 wineries, most in the southern portion of the AVA, well within an easy drive of New York City, Albany, Connecticut and northern New Jersey.

In the heart of the AVA lies the Shawangunk Wine Trail. On the western banks of the Hudson River at the base of the Shawangunk Mountains, the trail is comprised of 11 wineries that stretch between New Paltz and Warwick, New York, along some spectacular scenic drives.  The area was lovely in the height of the summer and must be absolutely stunning in the Fall.

Throughout the year, the Shawangunk Wine Trail hosts special events and promotions, including the Summer Pass which had prompted my first visit to the region.  Coming up is the Wreath Fineries promotion, which runs three weekends in late November/early December.  At your first winery stop you’ll receive a Shawangunk Wine Trail wine glass, a holiday wreath crafted from grapevines, and a holiday ornament to hang on the wreath.  At each subsequent winery you can pick up additional ornaments until your wreath is complete.  1-day and 2-day passes are available, and the event runs the weekend before Thanksgiving (November 20-21) and the first two weekends in December (December 4-5 and 11-12).  Tickets can be purchased online through the Shawnagunk Wine Trail website.

That second trip to the region was a relatively short one – I left late and managed only one winery stop, Adair Vineyard, which will be featured here on Vino Verve beginning Tuesday.  But there are 6 wineries still remaining on the Shawangunk Wine Trail and at least 9 more in the larger Hudson River Valley – enough material for several months at least.

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

I’ve been a bad, bad girl.

I’ve been careless with a wine blog

~ Gretchen with much assistance from Fiona Apple

Yes,  I played blog hookie today.  Ok, technically not since I am catching up tonight… still.  You get the point.

I went kayaking today, having just taken possession of my new kayak late last week.

Today I used it and got something that doubted was possible.

An October sunburn.

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

Back at Sweetgrass, I found a place at the bar, perused the Tasting Menu, and despite the urgings of my hosts that afternoon decided to skip a tasting of the gins in favor of tasting all five of Sweetgrass’s wines and the Cranberry Smash.   Leading the way was the Blueberry wine, made from some of the 8,000 pounds of Maine Wild Blueberries that Sweetgrass harvests each year.

Blueberry A 100% blueberry wine, aged in French Oak.  The color is that beautiful medium/dark bluish-purple of ripe blueberries.  The nose has deep smoky notes of blueberry.  In the mouth, the wine really surprises – the deep notes of blueberry in the notes are not as prominent in the mouth.  Definitely a dry wine, the blueberry essence is quite subdued, present but tantalizing you through hints of blueberry, rather than overpowering your palate.  The oaking provides notes of smoke and leather which were very interesting and, for me, very unexpected.

I have cautioned people – and admonished myself – many times in these “pages” about not presuming, not assuming, and keeping an open mind.  And yet, I catch myself again and again being surprised, not realizing that I had preconceived ideas of what I would be tasting.  And yes, it happened again.  While I have learned that I can expect interesting complex fruit wines from the vintners here in the Northeast, I realized that I still expected to find them to be cleaner wines – less or no oaking.  The strength of the oaking in this wine really took me by surprise.  I also feel it may have overpowered the wine a bit, helping to subdue the blueberry character.   My overall impression was that while this isn’t a bad wine by any means, the oaking was too strong for my taste.

Beaujolais Also a 100% blueberry wine made in a Beaujolais style – hence the name – I found this a much more appealing wine than the Blueberry.  The color is similar to that of the Blueberry and the nose has lovely notes of fresh blueberries.  In the mouth, the wine is much more discernibly blueberry, but the fruit is not overpowering.  Still a dry wine, the stronger presence of the fruit provides a light sweetness which gives the wine a light, refreshing character.  I definitely preferred this to the previous wine.

Apple Hands down, this was my favorite of the Sweetgrass wine line=up.   Made from heirloom New England apple varietals grown at the Sweetgrass Farm, this is crisp and refreshing.  The color is a very pale yellow and the nose has lovely notes of apple blossom.   In the mouth the wine is crisp and lightly sweet with notes of tarter sweet apples, but without the tartness of Granny Smiths.  There’s a nice balance of acid on the finish which balances the fruit’s sweetness and really gives the wine some character in the mouth.

Others agree with my assessment.  Not only was it my favorite of the Sweetgrass line-up, but the Apple wine also won a gold medal at the Big E wine competition and was named Best Wine Grown & Produced in Maine.  Congratulations to winemaker Keith Bodine!

Cranberry Apple A 50/50 blend of locally grown cranberries and apples, this was another wine that both surprised and intrigued me.  The color is a lovely deep rose, not so much a blush as a deep rosy-pink.  The nose is soft and fruity with notes of both the cranberries and the apple.  In the mouth the wine is sweeter than any of the previous three wines, but balanced with a tart tanginess from the cranberries.  I found cranberry to be the dominant note, but it was overly tart – the blending with the apples really softened what could have been a harsher edge from the cranberry, producing a softer, richer more interesting wine.

Peach The wine selection finished with Sweetgrass’s Peach wine.  The sweetest of all of the wines, it’s smooth enough to be a light dessert wine as much as a sweet table wine.   Generally, I’m not a fan of peaches in anything; I don’t dislike them, but they don’t really do anything for me either.  And that apathy, I’ve found, has carried over into wines as well.  Sweetgrass’s Peach is a nice wine, a lovely golden color that sparkles in the glass and a surprisingly earthy, somewhat grassy nose.  In the mouth the wine is pretty – sweet with subtle notes of peach.  There’s a low amount of acid on the finish, just enough to give the wine a bit of depth, but not enough to disrupt the overall smoothness of the wine.  While not one of my favorites, I anticipate many people will find this wine quite appealing, particularly people like my friend Cheryl, who prefer their wines smoother.

Cranberry Smash Having made my way through the five table wines, I bypassed the gins and vermouth in favor of sampling the Cranberry Smash, a port-style wine made from a blend of Cranberry wine and Cranberry brandy.   Winemaker Keith Bodine described it as “liquid cranberries,” and he wasn’t kidding.  In the mouth the wine is lush, rich and sweet – and very cranberry.  The cranberry tartness that I didn’t find in the Cranberry Apple was present here, but by fortifying the wine with brandy and producing a port, Bodine has managed to keep the essence of the cranberry – tartness and all – and still produce a sweet, very drinkable wine.  As you can probably tell, this also went to the top of my list – as well as coming back home with me for a more leisurely sampling later.

At this point, it was time to pack up and head back to my hotel for the evening.  But overall, definitely a very successful first Win(e)ding Road foray into Maine – and one I look forward to repeating again soon.

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

Yes, I have a lot of material from places that I have already been, but I have a little ADD. I sometimes, just need to move on to a new topic and this is one that I am pleased to get to… as it is about local wine. It is my home state of Illinois’ neighbor to the east, Michigan.

Why Michigan? Well, a lot of their wines are within 100 miles of my house making them very locapour…

Michigan has been producing wine from local wine grapes since the late 1600s. Yes, 1600s.

Currently the 2,000 acres of wine grapes planted in Michigan are a mixture of American (vitis labrusca), Eurasian (vitis vinifera) and hybrid varietals. Michigan is home to over 100 wineries and four viticulture areas: Fennville, Lake Michigan Shore, Leelanau Peninsula and Old Mission Peninsula. Michigan is famous for its fruit wines, ice wines and also for their sparkling wines that have made the wine lists of some of the best restaurants (Charlie Trotter, The Girl and the Goat to name a few).

So let’s begin our exploration of Michigan wine! As always, if you have a favorite, please let me know (and Marguerite too).

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

The first thing I noticed as I entered Sweetgrass Winery & Distillery, my last winery stop during this, my first Maine trip, was the smell of alcohol.  Quite pungent.  The smell subsided quickly, but that first waft is strong.  Not surprising given that Sweetgrass produces more spirits than wines, and indeed, has been recognized for the quality of their gin, with their Back River Gin being named one of Wine Enthusiast’s Best Spirits in 2008.

Despite the awards, in addition to Back River Gin, Sweetgrass’s Apple wine was named best Maine wine at the 2010 Big E Wine Competition, Sweetgrass Farm is an unpretentious operation.  The winery/distillery is set in a charming two-story, shake sided building which on the exterior resembles a Maine cottage.  Inside, a large u-shaped wooden bar shares space with the fermentation and distilling tanks.  The dim, cool interior was a welcome respite from the late afternoon sun, and despite a lack of bar stools, the casual atmosphere was extremely comfortable and encouraged people to linger.

The bar is large enough to hold perhaps 30 or 40 people comfortably, and there’s plenty of room for 3 or 4 servers behind the bar.  I arrived late in the afternoon, close to 4:00 pm, and there were only a handful of people there ahead of me, including a group of 20-somethings  who were vacationing in the area.   I found a spot at the bar easily, and Keith Bodine, Sweetgrass’s owner and winemaker, was on hand to welcome me and walk me through their tasting menu.

Sweetgrass’s tasting menu was one of the more unique I’ve encountered since beginning my win(e)ding road adventures, as it includes both the full range of spirits as well as the wines.   A tasting includes your choice of six of any of the items listed on the menu, with no premium charges for the spirits.   Both the wines and spirits are fruit based, principally cranberry and, of course, blueberry.  Sweetgrass Farm produces 8,000 pounds of Maine Wild Blueberries a year, most of which make their way into the wine and spirits.

To those “purists” out there who too quickly dismiss fruit wines, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – don’t count the wines or the winemakers out.  I continue to be impressed with the overall quality of the wines I find across the Northeast, fruit wines included.  A big robust California Cab they are not – but that makes them no less appealing.

Winemaker Keith Bodine produces five wines, 10 spirits including gin, rum, brandy, vermouth and bitters and a pure vanilla extract.  As my focus, and preference, is wine, I selected all five of the wines and the port-style, Cranberry Smash for my tasting that afternoon.  Despite Bodine’s urging that I should try the Back River Gin, I just didn’t feel up to something so strong after a long day of driving and touring.  However, as I sit down to capture my impressions of the visit, I find myself rather regretful that I skipped that.  Not that I didn’t enjoy the selection, but I probably should have at least tried one of the “50 Best Spirits.”  Looks like I’m adding Sweetgrass Farm to my next Maine itinerary.

Sweetgrass is open daily 11:00 am – 5:00 pm from mid-May through December 31st.

Coming Thursday…  The wines I did sample

Sweetgrass Farm Winery & Distillery
325 Carroll Road
Union, Maine 04862
207-785-3024
info@sweetgrasswinery.com
www.sweetgrasswinery.com

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

Having finished the whites and blushes, next up were the reds and dessert wines.   On the menu that afternoon were four table wines and a dessert wines, opening with

Barn Red 100% Leon Millot, all gorwn locally, and aged in a 50/50 split of French and American oak.  This was my first encounter with Leon Millot, at least as far as I was aware.  The color is a very deep purple, and hte nose is rich, smooth and fruity with discernible notes of cherry.  In the mouth, the cherry is also present but not as strong a presence as in other cold climate red grapes, particularly the Marechal Foch.  The wine is somewhat fruit forward with smooth notes of cherry in the front and finishing with notes of leather in the back.  According to their website, this is Savage Oakes “signature red wine” – and it’s definitely worth a stop, if for no other reason than to add Leon Millot to your list of grapes.

Blue Moon A table wine, Blue Moon is 100% Maine Wild Blueberries and aged in French Oak.   The result is not at at what I expected.  Don’t be put off by the fact that this is a fruit wine; like many of the fruit winemakers here in the Northeast, the team at Savage Oakes has produced a dry table wine that has a degree of complexity that one doesn’t anticipate in a fruit wine.  The color and the nose are what I expected from a blueberry wine: a lovely deep blue-purple color and a nose that evokes late summer blueberries on the vine – it’s really a lovely nose.  In the mouth, though, the wine really surprises.  Not only drier than I anticipated, the blueberry notes were much more subdued and subtle – they tantalized the palate.  The finish is peppery with light notes of smoke, and the wine built nicely in layers over subsequent sips.  It wasn’t my favorite of Savage Oakes wines by an means, but it was more interesting than I had assumed it would be.

Come Spring Hands-down, my favorite wine of the entire Savage Oakes line-up.  Come Spring is a Beaujolais-style wine made from locally grown Marechal Foch grapes.  I’ve come a long way since my first encounter with Marechal Foch at Haight-Brown winery almost two years ago.  At the time I was put off by the “bite” I found at the end and attributed the brightness to the wine’s being young, rather than it being a characteristic of the grape; definitely was not an initial fan.  However, over time and with more chances to experience the grape, including Haight Brown’s beaujolais-style Nouveau Foch, I have become more and more intrigued.  Savage Oakes Come Spring, obviously, did not disappoint.

The color is a lovely dark purply-ruby.  The nose has the soft cherry notes that are a hallmark of the grape.  And in the mouth, the wine is lush and smooth with the Marcheal Foch bright tangy notes of cherry and notes of pepper and leather finish.

Concord The last of the reds is named, as you can image, from the Concord grapes used in it’s production.  An interesting choice as Concord grapes are used more often jams and juices than in wine.  I found myself approaching the wine with some slight trepidation – while I love lush dessert wines, particularly Ice Wines and Late Harvest Wines, I’m generally not a fan of most sweet or even semi-sweet table wines, and wasn’t too interested in a wine that probably tasted like grape juice.  But I’ve learned never to assume – always to taste.  Rather than being fermented grape juice, the wine is subtle and very much drier than anticipated.

The color is a lovely garnet color, the first surprise, as I half-expected the wine to be a dark purple similar to grape jelly.  The nose was definitely Concord, lightly jammy with lush notes of grape.   In the mouth, the wine has a touch of sweetness (the tasting notes indicate a 1.0% residual sugar) that is not overpowering.  The grape notes are present, but are more reminiscent of fresh grapes than of grape juice or jellies.  There are nice tannins on the finish providing just enough of a bite to give the wine some depth.  Overall, this is a more interesting wine than I, and I expect many people, initially give it credit for.

Blueberry Pi The tasting concluded with another 100% Blueberry wine, this one a dessert wine.  Although not fortified, this is made in the port-style, and fermented to a 17% alcohol content.  Like the Blue Moon, the wine is garnet color.  The nose, interestingly, has very discernible notes of Concord grapes with soft notes of blueberry.  In the mouth, the wine is rich and sweet.  The mouth feel is thick and lush, although not so thick that it coats the mouth.   The blueberry notes are stronger here than with the Blue Moon, but interestingly they pick up more in the back of the mouth than in the front.

In addition to the ten wines on the Tasting Menu, Savage Oakes website lists several other wines in their repertoire, including a recently released Marechal Foch Rosé and three wines which are currently sold out: Sterlingtown, made from Niagara grapes, and two apple wines, Crooked Tree and Apple Wine.

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