New England

Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

Also on my New Year’s Day excursion was a stop at Sunset Meadow Vineyards, a fairly regular stop for me throughout the year, and with Connecticut Valley Winery, a particular favorite of the Sisters of the Wine Trail (SOTS).

Also a particpating winery of the Litchfield Winter Wine Trail, I headed over to Goshen after leaving Jerram Winery in the New Hartford.  Proprietors George and Judy Venice Motel have created a very comfortable and cozy space with the Tasting Room with the look and feel of a rustic, but well-appointed cabin.  When I arrived mid-afternoon, several small groups of people were already settled in enjoying both the wine and the roaring fire.  Judy Venice Motel was circulating through the room, and with the surrounding snow-covered hills and vineyards visible through the windows lining one wall of the tasting room, I felt like I had stepped into a ski lodge.

I grabbed a place at the bar and a tasting of five of my favorite of Sunset Meadow’s wines – the Riesling, the Vidal Blanc, Blustery Blend (a Cayuga, Seyval Blanc blend), New Dawn (a Malbec, Merlot, Frontenac and Landot Noir blend) and the St. Croix, all of which have been featured here at Vino Verve.

At the end of the tasting, rather than ordering a glass of wine, I was offered a small steaming mug of a mulled Merlot.  I’ve had mulled wine before – I mull wine myself several times each winter –  but this was the richest and most delicious mulled wine I’ve had in many an age.

The base for Sunset Meadow’s mulled wine is their Merlot, a 2010 Finger Lakes Wine Competition silver medal winner and a 2010 Grand Harvest International Wine Competition Bronze Medal winner.  To this they add cranberry juice and Crown Mulling Spices, a blend of spices that includes cranberry, cinnamon, and nutmeg among others.  The result was a rich, silky, fruity, robust mulled wine that was absolutely perfect for a cold, snowy afternoon.  I could have stayed there all afternoon drinking mugs of mulled wine; instead I contented myself with a sample and a mental note to order some Crown Mulling Spices and invite my fellow SOTS over for a Sunday afternoon in front of the home fires.

Note to the Motels ~ if you ever decide to bottle your mulled wine, drop me a line.  I’ll definitely be coming by to pick up a case!

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

My New Year’s Resolution should have been “don’t procrastinate on filing your Vino Verve posts!”   Although given that it’s not even the end of January and I’m already behind, at least I don’t now feel the guilt of having resoundingly failed at my resolution before the year truly got underway.

So, to catch us up ~ I kicked off the New Year on the Litchfield Winter Wine Trail; first stop Jerram Winery in New Hartford, Connecticut.  Having sampled the available whites, next up were the reds, which I was particularly looking forward to.  My first visit to Jerram was fairly early into my Connecticut Wine Trail adventures.  Jerram was one of the first wineries at which I tried a Marechal Foch wine (as opposed to encountering Marechal Foch as a blending grape), and the Highland Reserve, a Cabernet Franc/Marechal Foch blend was one of my favorites of that visit.  Not having been back in almost two years, I was looking forward to the new vintages.

Before either the Highland Reserve or the Marechal Foch, however, the first red presented was Sil Vous Plait, a 100% Cabernet Franc.  The nose has bright notes of cherry and that flinty, salt-tanginess of the Northeastern Reds.  Medium-bodied, the wine is slightly tart with cherry notes on the front and a lightly smoky finish.  The mouth-feel is soft, and there’s a slight bite towards the back of the tongue that makes the wine feel a bit young.  With Connecticut Cabernet Francs, I’ve found cellaring them for six to nine months and then letting them breathe a bit really mellows them and makes for a much richer wine.

Next up was the Highland Reserve, the Marechal Foch/Cabernet Franc blend.   The nose is softer and more subtle than the Sil Vous Plait, although the cherry notes are still the predominant note.  In the mouth the wine is lightly sweet and fruit forward with bright notes of cherry, which carry through from the front to the back of the tongue.  There are light notes of smoke and leather on the finish, enough to provide a nice balance but not so much that they overwhelm the wine.  Overall a lovely wine.

And last, and certainly not least, my favorite the Marechal Foch. The nose is earthy with notes of grass; a definite surprise after the more strongly cherry noses of the first two wines.  Medium-bodied, in the mouth the wine, like the Highland Reserve, is fruit-forward with notes of cherry, but there are earthy notes as well which keep the wine from the sweeter notes found in the Highland Reserve.  The tanginess and “bite” that is a characteristic of the Marechal Foch grape (or to be more precise the Marechal Foch wines I’ve encountered) is present but not distracting.  The wine is quite smooth and feels more robust and mature than other Marechal Foch wines I’ve tasted.

If anything could be considered Jerram’s “signature” wine, it would be the Marechal Foch.  These are the first vines Jim Jerram planted when he established the vineyards in 1982, and the first wine he produced in 1986.  Over the years he’s expanded to other grapes and wines, but the Marechal Foch maintains a place of prominence in the Jerram Winery lineup.

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

I managed to start the New Year as planned, spending New Year’s Day re-visiting a couple wineries that I hadn’t visited in almost a year.  The weather certainly helped; after a Boxing Day snowstorm dumped 12″ of snow on most of Connecticut, New Year’s Day dawned bright and sunny and hit the 50s by early afternoon.  The sun glistening off the snow in the hills was beautiful as I made my way over to my first stop of the day, Jerram Winery in New Hartford, Connecticut.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve been to Jerram, despite my liking their wines enough to have brought home one of everything the last time I was there.  So I was looking forward to tasting the latest vintages of some of my favorites and seeing if they had any new wines on the menu.

It was pretty quiet when I arrived; owner and winemaker Jim Jerram was at the Tasting Bar engaged in a lively conversation with a gentleman who, it appears, has recently bought a place – or is considering buying a place in New Hartford.   The interior is bright and cheery – just as I remembered it – and both the ambience and the company welcomed me warmly.

There are 11 wines on Jerram’s current wine list, six of which are available for tasting, three whites and three reds.  First up was the

White Frost, a 100% Chardonnay lightly oaked.  This is a very dry Chardonnay, and those who dislike the fruity, buttery, sweeter Chardonnays should really like this wine.  In some respects it reminded me more of a Sauvignon Blanc than a Chardonnay – crisp, with light notes of lemon and a nice bite of acid on the finish.

After the Chardonnay, I had my choice of Seyval Blanc.  Jerram produces two Seyval Blancs each year, one sweeter and one drier.  I opted for the drier, but in hindsight I realized not only had I sampled the dry Seyval before but had a bottle at home.  I would have done better to choose the sweeter Seyval Blanc BC for the contrast.  Live and learn… and an excuse to return soon.  Despite the oversight I very much enjoyed the Seyval Blanc.  Crisp with light notes of lemon and grapefruit, particularly on the finish, this is my favorite of the Jerram whites.

When I returned home, I looked back over my notes from my first visit to Jerram Winery - almost two years ago.  I had no idea it had been that long!  Turns out the Seyval Blanc BC is one of Jerram’s newest wines, having bottled the first vintage not long before my visit.  Man, I definitely should have opted for the BC!

The whites concluded with the sweetest of Jerram’s whites, the Aurora, a Villard Blanc/Aurore blend.  This is a really nice wine, and one of Jerram’s most popular.  The wine has a soft, sweet nose with notes of apricot and honey both of which blend nicely in the mouth.  Semi-dry, the Aurora is fruit forward with lovely notes of apricot immediately apparent.  The honey is more subtle and really comes through with subsequent sips, providing the wine with a nice depth and complexity over time.

Not on the tasting menu that day, but a wine which I recently enjoyed at home is Jerram’s Gentle Shepherd, a blend of Cayuga, Chardonnay and Aurore grapes.  This was the bottle I opened two weeks ago to launch my vacation – and the holidays.  Nice point/counterpoint to the holidays.

Having finished the whites, it’s time to clear the palate and rinse the glass before proceeding to the reds…

Jerram Winery
535 Town Hill Road
New Hartford, CT 06047
860-379-8749

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

It was pretty much the end of the season by the time Jean, Katie and I made our way over to Rosedale (although Katie, who lives down the street is something of a regular, I understand), and Rosedale’s Serendipity and Summer Blush were already sold out, which left us with four wines, two whites and two reds and a bonus wine, a new Sauvignon Blanc that the winemakers had been testing all summer.

The Tasting Bar is at the back of the farmstand, a two-sided bar that could hold perhaps 10-12 people comfortably.  The walls are decorated with posters of both current wine labels and labels of wines that have been retired, providing both art and a sense of history and continuity.  Being so late in the season it was fairly quiet that day, and we were able to find spots and begin our tasting right away.  We kicked off with the

Simsbury White, an estate-grown Seyval Blanc.  The nose was soft and floral with citrus blossom notes.  The mouthfeel was also soft, and in the mouth the wine is dry with light citrus notes and subtle notes of acid on the finish.  The predominant note was grapefruit, although it was light and somewhat delicate, and I appreciated the subtleness of the acid – anything stronger could have brought out the bitterness of the grapefruit.  As it was the wine has a light sweet/tart bite that was rather interesting.

Three Sisters.  Next up was Rosedale’s Three Sisters, named for the owner’s three daughters.  This is an estate-grown Cayuga and is described in the tasting notes as “a classic summer wine.”  The nose is brighter than the Simsbury White and has some spiciness to it.  In the mouth, the wine is bright and tangy with much stronger notes of grapefruit and a nicely balanced finish.  A very nice wine, and yes, a classic summer wine, but this will pair well with a wide variety of foods and should carry through nicely all year round.  I could see this working well with casseroles and heartier fall soups.

From the two whites, we moved on to the two reds; first up…

Lou’s Red, named for the late owner of Rosedale Farms; the current owners are his children and grandchildren.  Lou’s Red is a blend of four grapes: 20% Marechal Foch and 20% St. Croix, both estate-grown, and 10% Sangiovese and 50% Merlot, both brought in from California.   In previous years, the wine was a blend of just three grapes, Marechal Foch, St. Crois and Merlot; the winemaker added the Sangiovese last year and found it  really helped round out the wine.   I really liked the nose on this wine, finding it spicy with warm notes of cumin and pepper.  Undoubtedly the influence of the California grapes, as Northeastern grown reds tends to produce fruity rather than spicy noses.

The wine was lighter-bodied than I had anticipated, but I wasn’t disappointed.  Soft and spicy with notes of dark stones fruits, plum in particular, and pepper, this is a really nice table wine.  There are notes of leather on the finish giving it a somewhat soft finish that really balances the fruit and spice.  This would pair well with heartier pasta dishes as well as lamb or veal.

Farmington River Red.  The second of the reds is an ever-changing wine; each year the winemaker selects different grapes.  For 2010 the Farmington River Red is a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from California grapes.  The 2011 vintage will be a Shiraz.  Also in 2011, Rosedale Farms is considering adding a Pinot Noir from Chilean grapes to their wine list.  But that’s next year.

This year, the Farmington River Red is a medium-bodied very pleasant Cabernet Sauvignon  The nose is lightly fruity with notes of pepper.  In the mouth the fruitiness continues with notes of blackberry and a smoky finish with a hint of peppery heat.  Another very nice table wine, very drinkable with a wide variety of dishes.

The tasting finished with a bonus wine, a Kiwi/Pear Sauvignon Blanc that the winemakers had been taste-testing with visitors all summer long.  The nose is soft and fruity with very strong notes of pear.  In the mouth the wine is sweet, falling somewhere between a sweet table wine and a dessert wine.  The mouth feel is soft, light and very smooth.  The lightness is actually quite refreshing, and this wine would be great as an aperitif or with a light fruit and cheese tray.  It would be heavenly with some of the softer cheeses such as brie or goat cheese, and might work paired with a blue.  It would also pair well with lighter desserts such as fruit tarts or ice cream and berries.   An interesting wine and one I hope the winemakers have on their wine list next year.

With the wine tasting concluded, Jean, Katie and I wandered through the farmstand and then headed over to a local restaurant to relax and chat over a glass of wine and a late lunch.  Little did I know at the time that that afternoon was my last win(e)ding roads adventure for 2010.  I had every intention of heading down to southeastern Connecticut to check out one of the last two remaining Connecticut wineries on my list before they closed for the season – but didn’t make it.  And planned to head back over to the Shawangunk Wine Trail to visit a few more wineries on that list – yeah, didn’t make that either.  Looking back, I can’t figure out what I was doing all those weekends, but as I get ready for 2011, one of my resolutions is to do a better job of hitting the trail this year.

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

I’m finishing out 2011 with my last win(e)ding road adventure of 2011 – Rosedale Farms.  When I stopped there with fellow SOTS member, Jean Levesque and a mutual friend, Katie O’Flaherty in mid-September, I certainly didn’t think it would be my last winery visit of the year.  But somehow I just never made it back to the trails.

About 30 minutes from home, Rosedale Farms is a full working farm in addition to growing grapes and producing wine.  A 5th-generation family farm, Rosedale has been in operation since the 1920s.  They grow a wide variety of produce which are available through their farmstand or through a farm membership.

Their most recent venture has been an expansion into winemaking and currently have three acres of grapes under cultivation growing Seyval Blanc, Vignoles, Cayuga, Marechal Foch and St. Croix.   The first vintage was released in 2005, and Rosedale has been producing award winning wines ever since.   They currently produce six wines: three whites, one blush and two reds, although the 2010 whites are currently sold out.

While Rosedale Farms is open pretty much all year for sales of seasonal produce and bottles of wine, their Tasting Room is only open July through October on Saturdays and Sundays from 12 – 5 pm.   Tastings are $6 and the menu includes all six wines.  If you visit towards the end of the season, as we did, some of the wines may be sold out and the tasting menu will be adjusted to reflect that.  In October 2010, Rosedale introduced a seventh wine, a pinot noir, Winter’s Red.  I’ll have to stop by one of these days to pick up a bottle to sample.

Rosedale also offers a Wine Membership – members receive four bottles of Rosedale Farms wines in July, August and September and a 13th bottle in October.  In addition to the wine, members also receive two complimentary wine tastings and two tickets to Farm Fest, Rosedale’s fall festival which runs on select Sundays in September and October.  For full details, check the website.

Rosedale Farms & Vineyards
25 East Weatogue Street
Simsbury, CT 06070
860-651-3926
www.rosedale1920.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

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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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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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

I recently pulled out the bottle of Greenvale’s 2008 Vidal Blanc that I brought home from my August visit.   I had been quite impressed with the wine just from the 1 oz tasting I had sampled that afternoon.   My initial impressions were of the 2007 vintage which had soft notes of pear on the front and tart green apple on the back, an overall pleasant and refreshing combination.

Uncorking the 2008, I found myself looking forward to experiencing the differences between the vintages.   The nose retains the touch of lushness that is so often characteristic of vidal blanc wines, and that really comes out in the ice wines or late harvest wines.

In the mouth, the notes of pear are still present on the front, but the sharper, tarter notes in the back had notes of grapefruit as well as green apple.  I paired the wine with a crisp green salad with grilled chicken, and I suspect the citrus vinaigrette brought out some of the grapefruit notes I was picking up.   I did find that salad toned down the acid bite on the finish of the wine, and together the two worked really well.

The wine is nicely fruity, well balanced, crisp and quite refreshing, and I have it on the list to pick up a few more bottles next time I’m in the Newport area.  It stands well on its own, and in addition to pairing it with salads, it should work equally well with grilled shrimp or a spicy chicken stir fry, and I’m looking forward to trying it with my favorite Thai Green Curry.

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