The Other Wines in the House - Sheldrake Point Riesling Ice Wine

Yum..Ice Wine.  When I went to Lake Niagara 6 years ago, I didn't have the palate for Ice Wine, but now I seem to.

You will find Ice Wine comes in smaller bottles and is a bit more expensive than your average bottle of wine.  Since grapes are 80% water, they need to be completely frozen to be harvested.  Harvest usually happens in the middle of the night before daybreak. When the grapes are harvested, they are usually at 35 brix.  

This 2008 Sheldrake Point Riesling Ice Wine was harvested on January 2, 2008 and bottled on August 7, 2008.  It has a residual sugar of 16.4, yes that is sweet! There were 175 cases of this made.

The wine had aromas of mango that led to a palate with apricot and hints of lemon and petrol.  You could taste a little bit of honey towards the finish.  It was slightly syrupy, but light.

As you can see, I was enjoying this wine while working late one night.

Wine for Wishes

The Elant Foundation is holding an event "Wine for Wishes" Thursday February 2, 2012 at Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville, NY.  Thursday evening from 5:30pm - 8:30pm for $40 you will enjoy a tour of the wine cellars, hors d'oeuvres, unlimited wine tasting and some exceptional entertainment.

This all goes for a great cause. Elant is a not-for-profit organization providing healthcare and housing programs throughout the Hudson Valley.  Its network includes seven locations throughout the region as well as in-home and day treatment programs. It offers a broad spectrum of services to meet the needs of older adults and chronically ill people of all ages.

Spend Thursday evening, February 2, at Brotherhood all for a good cause with some good wine.

For more information on this event or to purchase a ticket contact jriccardi@elant.org or call 845.360.1410

Barrel Tasting 2011 Vintage at Whitecliff Vineyards

It doesn't happen often when I get invited to a winery to do some wine education but I take advantage any time I'm asked.  Michael & Yancey Migliore owners of Whitecliff Vineyards invited me and Paul over one Sunday afternoon for some barrel tasting of the 2011 vintage.

Notes from the tasting:

Traminette - Fabulous aroma and taste.  It's tasting really good! Low in acid
Riesling - Hudson Valley Riesling - very good, nice nose, acidity and flavor.  The mix of Finger Lakes and Long Island, not as good. Low acid and fruit flavors weren't there.
Vignoles from the Finger Lakes - good, citrusy. Vignoles from his vineyard was outside and unable to get to.
Petit Verdot - good as a blended grape, inky and plenty of tannins
Malbec - young and choppy, nice fruit and very aromatic.
Cab Franc - ok
Merlot - needs color
Cabernet Sauvignon - tasting good.

Hunt Country Red

Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the winery.

Many people have asked me what the significance of the words Hunt Country plays in Millbrook Vineyards & Winery Hunt Country Red.  Millbrook, New York is known as "Hunt Country".  The Millbrook Hunt was founded in the 1890's and is one of the premier equestrian organizations in North America.   The Millbrook area is home to numerous thoroughbred horse farms that train and /or participate in these sporting fox hunts that take place throughout Millbrook. Thus, Millbrook has become known as "Hunt Country" hence the label and name for the wine Hunt Country Red.

This 2009 vintage is a blend of 58% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Franc, 8% Zinfandel and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon. It was harvested at 21.6 brix, went through 100% malolactic fermentation and was aged in oak for nine months.  It was bottled in September of 2010 and there were 1250 cases made.

Aromas of dark fruit, cassis and vanilla fill the nose. The palate opens to flavors of black raspberry, dark fruit, hints of oak and soft tannins. There are nuances of clove and spice blended with strawberry on the finish.

The wine sells for $15.50.

The Other Wines in the House - 2003 Chappellet Prichard Hill Cabernet Franc

Another goodie pulled from the depths of my wine cellar.  One of these days I must go in and take inventory of what I have and need to drink NOW.

This Cabernet Franc is from the original Cab Franc vines planted on Pritchard Hill in 1989.  The grapes were harvested at brix of 27 between October 15 and 18, 2003.  The wine is a blend of 77% Cabernet Franc, 7% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Malbec and 2% Petit Verdot.  It clocks in at 15% alcohol.  The wine was bottled after it spent 18 months in 60% new oak.

The nose was filled with plum, black cherry and hints of black pepper.  Background notes of cedar and dark chocolate became apparent as the wine began to open.

The palate opened up nicely to red fruit and cherry.  Nuances of forest pine and earth make showed as flavors of black tea and tobacco round out the taste.  The finish...my favorite, black pepper spice! That has become my personal benchmark for Cab Franc.

CIA Dinner with Cereghino Smith Wines

Last Thursday was the 2012 kick off dinner of the Culinary Institute of America's Winter Dining Series and the wines featured were from Cereghino Smith Winery in the Hudson Valley.  I will go into the wines in more detail in another post.

We began the tasting in the Danny Kaye Theatre with 6 of their wines, 2 whites and 4 reds.  After the seminar we strolled across the courtyard to the American Bounty Restaurant where 5 of their wines were paired with 4 courses.

The first course was Dry-aged Beef Carpaccio, Watercress, Anchovy Pine Nut Dressing paired with 2010 Eaten by Bears which is a Meritage blend of California and New York Grapes.  The wine went very well with the beef.

There were two wines paired with the next course.  2009 NY Chardonnay from Keuka Lake and 2010 Tarragona which is a Mourvedre from Lodi California.  The Chardonnay went beautifully with this course.  The Duck brings out the oakiness in the wine and mellows it out.  It was smooth flowing and the pairing mellowed out the strong butterscotch finish that was present prior to the Ducks influence.  The Tarragona was not that favorable.  The pairing neutralized  the wine.  Brings out some hints of woody cherry.

The main course was Roast Dry-aged Strip Loin, Veal Essence, Butternut Squash Gratin served with 2010 Petite Sirah from Lodi, California.  The wine paired very well with the beef.

For dessert we had Warm Gingerbread Caramelized Apples, Creme Fraiche paired with 2009 Bianca from California. This was a great pairing.  The Bianca was a semi-dry and acidic with hints of soft bubbles.  The sweetness of the dessert combats the acidity of the wine very well.  The fruitiness in the wine adds to the gingerbread.

The dinner was lovely and I paid for it the next day with a nice food hangover.  Not use to eating so much.

Albany Chefs' Food & Wine Festival

We had a great weekend at the Albany Chefs' Food & Wine Festival, Wine & Dine for the Arts.  The event was well attended.  Great food, wine and spirits.  The mixologists were wonderful!

We got to meet new friends and they got to taste Happy Bitch Wines

Keryl & Debbie

The display

Happy Bitches!

The food 

Keryl getting instructions from the mixologist

Reading the back of the label to happy tasters