Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

Shortly after I heard about the New Jersey Thanksgiving Wine Trail weekend, I received an email from Haight-Brown Winery in Connecticut announcing their participation in the
1st Annual Litchfield Hills Winter Wine Trail
The winter wine trail is comprised of six participating wineries all clustered around Litchfield, Connecticut.  Visit any of the wineries between December 1st and March 15th and pick up a Winter Wine Trail registration card.  Get your card stamped at all six wineries by March 15th, and you’ll be eligible for the grand prize drawing of an overnight stay at a Litchfield County Bed & Breakfast with second and third prizes being a a family 4-pack of passes for Ski Sundown and dinner at a Litchfield County Restaurant.

The participating wineries include:
CT Valley Winery ~ New Hartford, CT
Jerram Winery ~ New Hartford, CT       **Vino Verve Visited**
Haight-Brown Vineyard ~ Litchfield, CT     **Vino Verve Visited**
Hopkins Vineyard ~ New Preston, CT     **Vino Verve Visited**
Miranda Vineyard ~ Goshen, CT       **Vino Verve Visited**
Sunset Meadow Vineyards ~ Goshen, CT      **Vino Verve Visited**

The Litchfield Hills are lovely any time of the year and the towns scattered throughout the region often feature charming 18th and 19th century farmhouses and Queen Annes (or newer houses styled like more historic buildings), local farms and vineyards with a wide area of fresh produce and wines  and picturesque town squares (particularly in the town of Litchfied).  Decked out for Christmas, especially if there’s snow on the ground, the area is practically a Currier & Ives lithograph come to life.

Combine all that with the chance to win some great prizes, and you’ve got a new Locapour Holiday Tradition.

I’ll be hitting the trail on Saturday December 5th with three of my newest wine-trail buddies, Cheryl Grayson and sisters Deb Shaw-Esteves and Melissa Shaw.   It will also give me the chance to check off one more winery in my quest to complete the entire Connecticut Wine Trail.   Hope to see you there!

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

A few weeks ago, on what was finally a beautiful, sunny, Spring afternoon, I headed back into the Western Connecticut Highlands for the Haight-Brown Annual Spring Barrel Tasting.  The sun was shining, the skies were a gorgeous deep blue, and while the trees weren’t quite yet blooming, you could see shoots of spring flowers in front of houses and along the roadsides.  The temperature was also cooperating, being a very mild mid-60s, and I rolled down the windows, cranked up the IPod and enjoyed the drive as much as I did the event.

The tasting was held in the winery’s barrel-aging room, a large room on the ground level.  Haight-Brown ferments only in stainless steel, and there were five large tanks in the main room, and a few others in a smaller back room.   One of the first questions asked by participants, was why HB ferments in stainless steel rather than oak.  The easy answer is because oak is very expensive and you can’t reuse oak barrels indefinitely, meaning you have to invest in new barrels on a fairly regular basis.  But it’s more than the cost – fermenting in stainless steel allows the winemaker to better control the oak in the wine through the introduction of oak chips.  It also allows the winemaker the choice of oaking or not depending on the wine and the effect he (she) is going for.  As I looked around, I also realized that the stainless steel tanks are MUCH larger than oak barrels and can stand vertically, therefore they take much less storage space; something not to be sneezed at, particularly for smaller wineries.

As we settled into our seats, we were greeted by our hosts for the afternoon, Courtney and Tina.   Copies of the afternoon’s tasting menu were passed out, along with large spit buckets, jugs of water, and wine crackers for cleansing our palates.  On the menu for the afternoon were 11 wines: six served from the tank and five served from bottled inventory.  The menu was designed to highlight comparisons between the wines from the tank and their finished product from the bottled inventory.  It was a really interesting contrast…

The wines served from the tank are, obviously, young wines, and all had that “tangy bite” that you often find at the end of young wines, but in several cases I found the wines from the tank more interesting than their bottled “finished” counterparts.  My favorites included:

• The first wines of the day: the Chardonnay and then the Seyval Blanc directly from the tank.  Both were a pale yellow color, almost a light straw.  Both were crisp and had discernible acidity.  The nose on the Chardonnay was a bit sharp and somewhat tart, while the Seyval Blanc was more grassy.  The Chardonnay had been oaked, the Seyval Blanc remained unoaked, and as a result there were stronger notes of fruit, primarily grapefruit, in the Seyval Blanc.  

A tasting of HB’s Covertside White, a Chardonnay-Seyval Blanc blend, immediately followed.  The Covertside White is back-sweetened prior to the bottling process and has 1% added sugar.  Tasting the wine immediately after the unsweetened direct-from-the-tank Chardonnay and Seyval Blanc was a fascinating experience.  The bottled wine was a smoother wine, less acidic and the tartness is gone, eliminated by the back-sweetening and the blending of the two grapes.  There are stronger fruit notes, particularly of grapefruit and melon, than are noticeable in either of the tank wines.

• At roughly the half-way point, we moved on to the Reds, beginning with a tasting of the Marechal Foch from the tank.  Marechal Foch is generally a tarter grape and can become quite acidic in the grape, with acidity levels sometimes matching sugar levels.  As a result, winemakers will often choose to pick Marechal Foch early and back-sweeten it, rather than letting it sweeten on the vine.  Because of it’s tartness and acidity, Marechal Foch is often used a blending wine, rather than bottled in its own right.

Anticipating a very acidic, very tart, wine, I was quite surprised with the tank sample.  With strong cherry notes in the nose and mouth, the wine had an interesting depth and character that I wasn’t expecting.  Yes, it was tart, but the tartness did not detract from the wine, rather it just simply felt young.  Quite a few of us present mentioned that were pleasantly surprised and quite intrigued by this wine.
Courtney, our host, then went on to say that the winemaker had the same experience.  This year, the winemaker decided to experiment with the Marechal Foch, leaving the skins on overnight during fermentation in an attempt to produce something similar to a light Beaujolais.  They liked the result better than previous vintages and are in the process of bottling the wine under the name Nouveau Foch.  
While not yet ready for sale, we were allowed to sample the Nouveau Foch from the bottle.  A light bodied wine, with a lovely medium garnet color, this was one of my two favorites of the afternoon.  The nose still has strong notes of cherry, but the minerality of the tank wine has been smoothed out.  It’s a nice crisp wine, and not something I would ever have expected from a Marechal Foch.  Courtney advised that we let this one breathe, as it really opens up the longer it’s exposed to air.
This section of the tasting concluded with samples of HB’s Picnic Red and Morning Harvest.  Both wines are the same blend: 90% Marechal Foch/10% De Chaunac, but the Picnic Red is a lighter-bodied off-dry wine and the Morning Harvest a medium-bodied fully dry wine.  Both are also quite different than the Nouveau Foch, providing a very interesting contrast between the four samples.

• The tasting concluded a short-time later with a sample of Muscat from the tank juxtaposed with HB’s Apricot Moon a fortified muscat dessert wine.  Apricot Moon is one of my favorites among the HB inventory, and I’ve written about it at length in a previous post, so I was looking forward to finishing on such a great note.  But as with the Marechal Foch, it was the Muscat that was the star of the pairing – the wine has a lovely nose of apricot, pear and some light floral notes.  In the mouth, it’s soft and sweet, with notes again of both apricot and pear.  The Apricot Moon, which is fortified and was served, post-mixing, directly from the tank, has stronger notes of apricot and the pear and floral notes have largely disappeared.  It’s still a beautiful wine, but most of us present that day felt that HB could very easily bottle the Muscat on its own and have another excellent dessert wine.

As the tasting concluded, we were invited to take a short tour of the vineyards and finish our day in the Tasting Room where we could relax with a glass of wine and hors d’oeuvres.

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Haight-Brown VineyardsFruit, Dessert & After Dinner WinesMarguerite BarrettContributing WriterHaving finished with both the Whites and Reds, Christy and I moved on to the Fruits, Dessert & After Dinner wines.  FruitsHoney Nut Apple    First up was the Honey Nut Apple wine.  According to the Tasting Notes, this is one of the most popular wines among regular HB customers.  It’s a good fruit wine, sweet, but not cloyingly so, with nice notes of both apple and honey.Golden Delight   Golden Delight is a blend of HB’s Seyval Blanc grapes with a “twist of lemon and honey.”  According to the Tasting Notes, it makes a good wine spritzer.  It’s a light-bodied wine, and I definitely think it would be better as a spritzer.  The least impressive of the three fruit wines.AppleCrannie   This is a seasonal Fall wine made from apples and cranberries.  It has a lovely bouquet and while a bit tart, not surprising given the presence of both apples and cranberries, the flavors are subtle and blend nicely together.  It would be a nice pairing with horsd’oeuvres to start out a holiday meal. All in all a very interesting wine.Dessert & After Dinner WinesApricot Moon   This is a fortified dessert wine that is truly delicious.  The Tasting Notes describe it as a “muscat wine with the essence of apricots.”  It is smooth and silky and really quite delicious.Media Noche   This is a Spanish-style sherry.  Deeper and richer than the Apricot Moon, it too is smooth, with subtle hints of fruit, and absolutely delicious.  Unfortunately this concluded our wine tasting.  Overall Christy and I both agreed that the wines were interesting with several standouts – our favorites being the Covertside White, The Apricot Moon and the Media Noche.  We both found the Morning Harvest interesting, although I think I liked it better than she did.  We also had a lot of fun – we really felt comfortable just relaxing and enjoying the wines and the conversation.  At no time did we feel rushed, and it was tempting to just buy a couple of bottles and sit on the sofa in front of the fire for the rest of the afternoon.  However, we had planned to stop at a second winery that day, so we picked up some flyers about upcoming classes and events, and reluctantly bid goodbye to our hosts.  We’ll be watching the event calendar, though, and will definitely be returning to Haight-Brown in the near future. Save This Page

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Haight-Brown VineyardsThe RedsMarguerite BarrettContributing WriterOne of the nice things about hitting a wine trail in the “off-season” is that you avoid the crowds.  On the day that Christy and I stopped by the Haight-Brown Vineyards, we had the place to ourselves for the first 1/2 of our tasting.  As a result we were able to linger over the wines – and the cheeses – and spend some time chatting with our host.  Having finished the Whites, we then proceeded to the Reds.  Overall the HB Reds are an interesting mix of wines.  One thing I noted is that they are young wines, and as a result end with a real bite.  When I commented on this to our host, she confirmed they are young wines, but also added that part of what I was tasting were the Marechal Foch grapes which often produce a slightly sour finish.Picnic Red   The tasting notes describe this as a “light, fruity table wine made from Marechal Foch grapes.”  According to our host it is only fermented for 3 months, and she indicated that they always serve it chilled.  The best way I have to describe it is that I found it to be “thin” – I didn’t find much depth to this wine – and the bite at the end is quite strong. Morning Harvest   Interestingly, this is the same formula as the Picnic Red but it’s made “in a different style.”  I definitely tasted the same notes as the Picnic Red, but found this to be a more interesting wine – it had greater depth and complexity than the Picnic Red, and I think if left to age for a while, this could be a very interesting table wine.  Like the Picnic Red, I found it to have that “bite” at the end, which according to our host, is due to the Marechal Foch grapes.  I must say that it’s fascinating to taste the two reds back-to-back; you really taste the difference that fermentation times and blending styles can make to the wines.  It’s not often that you get a chance to have a tasting experience like this – and if you ever get to the Western CT Highlands, I recommend you stop by HB if for no other reason than to experience the difference between the Picnic Red and Morning Harvest.Merlot    The Reds section of the tasting concludes with HB’s Merlot.  The Tasting Notes acknowledge that Merlot grapes can be very difficult to grow in the New England climate.  Often you’ll find Merlot blends rather than true Merlots among New England wines.  But this is a true Merlot, although it is lighter than California or even Long Island Merlots.  This wine was paired with the third cheese, a Cana de Cabra cheese from Spain.  I realize that I (and you) am here because of the wine, but I have to digress and say this cheese is AMAZING!  If you can find some – anywhere – try it.  There’s an interesting depth to the cheese with the flavor growing more intense as you move closer to the rind.  Even more fascinating is that you can actually see that progression when you look at the cheese – it resembles a cross-section of a tree with “rings” – lighter milky color in the center becoming darker as you move closer to the rind.  Truly magnificent cheese.But back to the wine.  For New England this is not a bad Merlot, but it’s not a great Merlot either.  It definitely benefited from pairing with the cheese, but it’s still a light-bodied and mild wine.   I found myself much more intrigued by the Morning Harvest, despite (or perhaps because of?) the sour note at the end. Save This Page

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Haight-Brown Vineyard The Whites, Blushes & RosésMarguerite BarrettContributing WriterOn a recent Sunday afternoon, my friend Christy Sherard and I wandered over to Litchfield, CT and the Haight-Brown winery. As we settled in for our tasting, we were presented with a wine list of 13 wines and tasting options that included:

• $5 – your choice of 8 wines served in a plastic glass. Needless to say that option was quickly dismissed;
• $7 – your choice of 8 wines served in a HBV wine glass, which you can take with you at the end of the tasting, or
• $10 – a wine and cheese pairing: your choice of 8 wines served in a HBV wine glass and three cheeses specifically chosen to pair with the wines.

We decided on the wine and cheese pairing and settled in for a leisurely tasting. Haight-Brown produces wines in four categories: Whites, Blushes & Rosés (5), Reds (3), Fruits (3), and Dessert & After Dinner (2). As there were two of us each with a selection of 8 wines, and only 13 wines total, we divided up our selections so that we could cover the entire list between us. Chardonnay The tasting begins with the Chardonnay. The tasting notes indicate it’s a light dry wine with citrus notes. While I definitely tasted the citrus notes, I found the wine to be a little too acidic for my taste.Covertside White Next up on the list is the Covertside White. This wine was paired with a Goat Cheese with Figs from Celebrity Cheeses in Canada. The wine is a blend of Seyval Blanc and Chardonnay grapes and has a slightly fruity taste. It’s an interesting wine on its own, but paired with the cheese which was slightly sweet and absolutely divine, the wine really came alive. The tasting notes and website indicate this is HB’s most popular white wine – and I believe it. Even without the cheese pairing, it’s a very nice wine.Barely Blush This blush is a Seyval Blanc and Marechal Foch blend. It was paired with a Brillat Savarin cheese from France. I’m not a big fan of Blushes, but this wasn’t bad – it’s drier than many blushes I’ve tried, and I liked it because of that.Riesling Like the Blush, this Riesling is slightly drier than one normally finds. HB is quite proud of this wine, and even though only one of us had selected the Riesling as part of our tasting (figuring we’d share a single tasting), we were treated to a second glass so we could each have our own tasting. I’ve tried this wine on a previous trip to Haight-Brown, and found I liked it more on the second tasting. I’m still not a huge fan of Rieslings overall, but I think this is a wine that could grow on me.Pink Cadillac The Whites concluded with the Pink Cadillac, a rosé. The tasting notes indicate that this is made from Seyval Blanc grapes with a touch of California Syrah thrown in for “color and complexity.” I found it to be too light for my tastes, and it’s one of my least favorite of all the HB wines. Save This Page

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Haight-Brown VineyardMarguerite BarrettContributing WriterLast weekend, my friend Christy Sherard and I hopped into the car and headed over to the Western CT Highlands.  I had been telling Christy about my adventures on the CT Wine Trail, and being a recent transplant from Texas, she thought it was a great way to get to see more of her new home state – and an even better idea to spend a Sunday afternoon sampling wine.If you’ll remember from earlier posts, I began my wine adventures in the northwest corner of the state, and am actually making my way backward down the Western trail.  Having already visited Land of Nod, Sunset Meadow and Miranda, the next winery on the trail is the Haight-Brown Vineyard in Litchfield, CT.Haight-Brown was established in 1973 and is Connecticut’s first winery.  It’s a scant mile down the road from the town of Litchfield.   The vineyard is approximately 10 acres, and the winery itself sits in what looks to be a chalet-style converted barn.  The tasting room is one of the most comfortable and welcoming I’ve encountered on the CT Wine Trail.  When you first enter the winery, you’re greeted by a large lobby with information and brochures on the winery, special events and the wine trail itself.  Proceed up a small flight of stairs to enter the tasting room itself. At the top of the stairs is a large U-shaped bar with comfortable stools for the tasting.  To the left of the bar is a large retail area with gifts including cookbooks, candies, and wine-related merchandise.To the right of the bar is a large and very comfortable seating area.  On the day we stopped by, a fire was burning in the fire place and there was a a relaxed feeling of comfort and welcome pervading the entire room. Beyond the fireplace seating area is a smaller private room which is used for private events, wine tasting classes, or can just be  a place where someone can curl up and enjoy a glass of wine.Haight-Brown also offers wine classes, special events such as their end of month wine, cheese and chocolate pairings; their spring barrel tastings; their Fall Festival, and a host of other special events throughout the year.  Finally, the winery is available for private events and will also produce personalized wines.But as charmed as we were by the ambience of the tasting room, we were there for the wines.  Next Up: The Whites! Save This Page

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