Veraison

I realize from my previous post, there are many of you that don't know what Veraison is. Let me explain.

Veraison is the time of year grapes begin to change color, tannins ripen and astringent malic acid begins to give way to softer tartaric acid. Leaves are often pruned at this time to give grapes more sun and wind exposures. It's during this time of the year where we like warm days and cool nights. We don't want any rain during this time of year either.

The weather can dramatically affect the entire growing season at this time. Late rains can dilute sugar levels and excessively high temperatures can lower acidity too much. This can make wines either flat and boring or overly alcoholic. The risk of leaving grapes on the vine for too long must be weighed against the need to develop varietal characteristics.

If you are visiting a vineyard, and notice the grapes turning from a hard green state to their soften color form, you are watching veraison. You might think once the grapes turn they are ready for harvest, but that is not the case. Now is the time they ripen and the sugar levels increase. It's during this time the grapes develop their sweet and fruity aromas.

Grape to Harvest

As we roll into September we roll into harvest season. I will do my best to keep everyone up to date on the veraison report. You may want to know what kinds of grape we harvest in the Hudson Valley. Here is a sampling:

If you have the opportunity to go to the tasting rooms in the valley within the next two months, you will see the 2009 harvest in full swing. Don't be afraid to ask questions. As long as the winemakers are not busy, they will be glad to speak with you.

Seyval Blanc – French American hybrid grape. Heavy producing white. Most widely planted white grape in the Hudson Valley that produces good sugar and acid balance. Usually blended with other varieties.
Baco Noir – French American hybrid grape. Produces medium bodied, deeply tinted red wine with aromas of vanilla and chocolate and with good acid balance
Chardonnay – French Vinifera grape. Fruity, with a smoky vanilla and butter flavors and aromas if barrel fermented. Most widely planted vinifera grape in the Hudson Valley.
Cabernet Franc – Red vinifera grape best suited for growning in the Hudson Valley. Produces a wine with soft tannins, good fruit with a peppery nose and usually found in Bordeaux style blends.
Pinot Noir – Medium bodied red wine with aromas of black cherries, raspberries, and currants.
Gamay Noir – Medium bodied red wine that is a clone of Pinot Noir. French vinifera grape dating back to the 15th century. Produces a wine with elements of cherries and cranberries. Sometimes made into an early season Nouveau
Vignoles – White wine that can be made into a dry wine or late harvest wine. Floral aromas and fruity flavors of pineapple and apricot.
Riesling – A crisp white wine characterized by mineral and slate flavors with fruit notes of peaches and apricots when fully ripened
Frontenac – full body red grape, with cherry / plum aromas.High in sugar, heavy producing hybrid
from University of Minnesota.
Traminette is a late mid-season white wine grape which produces wine with pronounced varietal character likened to one of its parents, 'Gewürztraminer'. 'Traminette' is distinguished by its superior wine quality combined with good productivity, partial resistance to several fungal diseases, and cold hardiness superior to its acclaimed parent, 'Gewürztraminer'
Marechal Foch - purple-skinned French hybrid grape, with its deep inky purple-coloured juice, reliably produces sturdy, flavourful and ageworthy reds in cool-climate growing regions. Its wines are without fail acid-driven, making them naturally food-friendly. Tannin levels are minimal, which makes varietal Foch easy to enjoy young, although the strong acidic backbone can lend some respectable ageing potential. As a vine, Foch is winter-hardy and its fruit is early-ripening; like many varieties with North American parentage, it has good disease resistance.
Vidal Blanc - is fruity, with grapefruit and pineapple notes.
Merlot - It is a fragile grape, sensible to dryness as well as cold. Merlot gives a richly colored wine, with body and softness.

Tocai and Salmon

Salmon and Tocai Friulano - not sure if it's what I would have pulled out of the cellar, but this was Paul's night of cooking. All I did was purchase a wonderful piece of Alaska Wild King Salmon at Adams. Every now and then Paul likes to cook. So I kick my feet up and sip my wine and watch, sometimes direct him to supplies he needs.

Tonights dinner was Salmon, corn on the cob and a nice salad. Paul sauteed radishes, green pepper, onion, and garlic in seseme oil, soy sauce and a tiny piece of habanero pepper. He grilled the Salmon for a few minutes on the grill, then put it in some foil with the sauteed veggies, wrapped it up and put it back on the grill for a few until done. I will say it was very good!! He is becoming quite the chef!

Now onto the wine I was sipping while watching. Millbrook Vineyards 2008 Tocai Friulano. On the nose was kiwi and honeysuckle and very fresh and crisp. It had a hint of spice at the end at first along with a mineral taste and a hint of pear. As the wine warmed up (I think it was to cold) the pear flavor became more present. As the pear flavor dominated, it brought a smooth mouth feel to the wine.

I am not sure if I would have served this wine with the Salmon due to the harbanero, but wine and salmon were gone in no time.

Hudson Valley Wine Country Awards

Congratulations to these Hudson Valley Wineries who won medals at the
New York Wine & Food Classic

Gold Medals
Brotherhood Winery - Holiday Spiced Wine
Stoutridge Vineyard - 2007 Cabernet Franc/Noriet

Silver Medals
Bashakill Vineyards - 2007 Black Bear
Brookview Station Winery - Cherry Wine
Brotherhood Winery - Ruby Port
Hudson-Chatham Winery - 2008 Cabernet Franc
Hudson-Chatham Winery - Paperbirch Highlands Fine Ruby
Millbrook Vineyards - 2007 Chardonnay Proprietor's Special Reserve
Millbrook Vineyards - 2007 Pinot Noir Block Five East, Estate Bottled
Palaia Vineyards - 2007 Pinot Noir
Stoutridge Vineyard - 2007 Glen Vidal
Whitecliff Vineyard - 2008 Traminette
Whitecliff Vineyard - 2008 Gamay Noir

Bronze Medals
Brookview Station- Whistle Stop White
Brotherhood Winery - 2008 Riesling
Clinton Vineyards - Royale Methode Champenoise
Clinton Vineyards - 2008 Seyval Blanc "Victory White"
Hudson-Chatham Winery - 2008 Malbec
Hudson-Chatham Winery - Paperbirch Palladian White
Millbrook Vineyards- 2008 Tocai Friulano, Estate Bottled
Oak Summit - 2007 Pinot Noir
Stoutridge Vineyard - 2007 Hudson Quimby's Rose
Stoutridge Vineyard - 2007 Hudson Heritage Red
Whitecliff Vineyard - Awosting White, Estate Bottled

The Back Room Experience

For the past three days Paul and I volunteered to work at the New York Wine & Food Classic. This is THE New York Wine Competition. Entries consist of only New York wines made with New York Grapes and Fruit. There were 805 entries in this competition. However, I was very disappointed in the show of Hudson Valley Wines. Only 5 wineries in the Hudson Valley entered their wines in this competition.

The purpose for my trip to this competition was so I can see how it is run and improve on the Hudson Valley Wine Competition. I will say there will be many changes forthcoming for the 2010 competition. During the competition I was under a gag order, I could not blog or tweet about it due to situations beyond ones control.

Sunday night it began with a BBQ at Lakewood Vineyards. This was the meet and greet stage. We drank some wonderful Rieslings from around the world. We had a 1990 German Riesling that was outstanding, but I didn't write it down. We met everyone we would be spending the next two days with. Coke Roth who was one of the judges and from what I hear an amazing cook, actually cook dinner for all of us. The chicken, sausages, veggies were wonderful and cooked perfectly!

Monday was the beginning of our Back Room Experience. What is working in the back room like at a large wine competition....exhausting. I should have gone to the gym a good 3 weeks prior to the date and worked on my upper body strength. I was assigned to Table #1. I cared for my 4 judges for two days. The judges were wonderful; Ann Littlefield, Direct Wine Marketing Brand Champion, Napa CA, Maggie Rosen, Independent Journalist & Author, Fred LeBrun, Columnist, Albany Times Union, and Peter Marks, Wine Educator, Icon Estates, St. Helena, CA. I carried trays with tasting glasses full of wine (24 max per tray) to them and cleared the table after the tasting as well as dumped the leftover wine and the dump buckets into a larger bucket. I broke NO glasses!

Paul on the other hand was drying glasses and sending the dirty glasses to the kitchen for washing. He worked with Jonathon Daly from the Pacific Rim Competition. It was quite humorous as a glass broke, John always said that it was his favorite. But we won't mention when the tray was being carried out by a male back room staffer and a glass fell and we had a small domino effect. Very lucky, as we only lost one glass.

Monday evening we were treated to a wonderful dinner at Red Newt Cellars We had appetizers of local cheese and duck confit on flatbread. All the Silver Medal Wining wines were brought over for dinner. For dinner, I had the Sea Bass which melted in your mouth! Paul had the vegetarian dish and he said it was wonderful. Desert was a blueberry cheese cake which was so light and a chocolate something that was light but very rich. (I ordered one and Paul the other and we switched half way thru). Deb Whiting did a wonderful job and she is an amazing chef! With a full belly we headed back to the hotel to rest up for the final round of competition - The Governor's Cup

For the final rounds all the judges tasted the Double Golds to decide which wine won the Governor's Cup. For these rounds, the men carried the wine into the judging room and we were clearing glasses and putting glasses on the table. I was reaching in, out, around trying to make room for all the glasses at one point. We went from about 50 wines to 2 to the Winner.
Imaging everyones surprise when it was announced that Ann and John from Anthony Road won! They had been assisting in the back room. All of us back room staff went to find the open bottle of their Riesling to taste and toast to them. Congratulation Ann and John! It was a pleasure meeting and working with you for two days.
It wasn't over yet. All the wine needed to be loaded into the truck, as well as the glasses and trays. More heavy lifting. When we were all done, we headed over to the track for the Governor's Cup Lunch where the award was presented.

I would like to congratulate Steve Osborne of Stoutridge Vineyards who won a GOLD for this Cab Franc/ Noiret blend. Congratulations Steve. This is his first medal and it's well deserved!

Complete results of the 2009 Classic can be found under "New York Gold at www.newyorkwines.org

Fish Chowder with Striped Bass

I made this recipe,paired and cooked it with a Goosecross Chardonnay. Although I strayed from the Hudson Valley on this one, a Whitecliff Chardonnay or Millbrook Chardonnay would go just as well . You want a Chardonnay that is slighly oaky with a hint of butter. It's a very simple dish and easy to make.

1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 medium onion, chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 bay leaf
1 carrot, chopped
1 summer squash shredded
3/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 can (15 ounce) crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp saffron threads
2 pounds Striped Bass cut in cubes
1 cup heavy cream

Heat oil in a stew pot and add fennel seeds, then add oinions, potatoes, and bay leaf. Cook for 6 minutes. Add carrot , summer squash and season with salt and pepper. Stir in wine and let evaporate about a minute. Add stock, tomatoes, turmeric and saffron. Bring to a boil. Season fish with salt and pepper and add to soup and poach for 10 minutes. Add the cream and return soup to a boil. Simmer for a few. Discard bay leaf. Serve with Garlic Bread.

Palaia 2007 Traminette

I am really liking Traminette these days. Traminette is a hybrid that grows well in the Hudson Valley. It's parents are Gewurztraminer. If you like Gewurztraminer, you will like Traminette. I see a future blog posts of a verticle tasting of Palaia's 06 and 07 Traminette. (I still have one 06 left in the cellar.)

For now I will share with you my tasting of Palaia's 2007 Traminette which I purchased at the Bounty of the Hudson Wine Festival August 2, 2009.
I love how Jan incorporated her family into her wines with pictures. Really gives you a nice sense of family!

This wine is busting out with the aroma of lychee all over. It's a wonderful fresh aroma that really puts a smile on my face. Brings me to a calm relaxing place. Mid palate the melon flavor became present. This wine has a nice body and round feel. It's a nice smooth drinking wine that is lightly acidic.

WBW #60 - I have Zinned

It's Wine Blogging Wednesday and the 5th birthday of this event. Lenn Thompson of Lenndevours began this wonderful event 5 years ago, in honor of WBW Megan aka Sonadora of Wannabe Wino Wine Blog is taking charge of this anniversary event. Thank you Megan!

When I came home from the Wine Bloggers Conference and I saw the topic, Paul and I opened a bottle of Novel Zinfandel and celebrated my homecoming. This was the evening I returned from California and my daughter had left us a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies. You can't beat a better dinner than a bottle of Zin and some homemade cookies. I wrote down my tasting notes and put them on my desk along with some other papers not even thinking. It seems when my dog is angry at me she tends to go into my office and steal business cards I might have laying around. In this instance, two days later I couln't find my notes or the other papers I put on my desk, next to my computer. YES the dog ate my tasting notes! She must have been angry that I was gone for 6 days.

Not to worry, there is more Zinfandel in the house. Last week we opened a Truett Hurst 2006 Old Vine Red Rooster Zinfandel from the Dry Creek Valley.This wine had a nice rich ruby red color and a very high alcohol content at first. It had front notes of red raspberry and blackberries with black pepper on the finish. This Zin had nice body.

I would suggest decanting this wine, unfortunately we didn't. As the wine began to open the alcohol dissipated and the pepper on the finish became softer and allowed for more of a blackberry finish.

What have I learned since I have Zinned? To keep my office door closed!

Baco Noir - 2007 Hudson Chatham Reserve

Baco Noir isn't a grape every one is familiar with. It's a grape that is a hybrid made from the the famous Cognac grape Folle Blanche and the native American Vitis Riperia. A hearty and vigorous grape that is able to withstand cold temperatures (-20°̊F) the Baco Noir is planted extensively in the cooler winegrowing regions of North America. This grape grows well in the Hudson Valley. Only a few vineyards actually grow the grape.

I recently opened a Hudson Chatham 2007 Baco Noir Reserve from Casscles Vineyards. The color of this wine was a somewhat faded red. On the nose I first smelled alcohol, but as the wine opened, the alcohol dissipated and the aroma turned to an earthy note. I tasted the spice of black pepper, some dark fruit and prunes.

Baco Noir is one of the red hybrids I really enjoy.

Sangria Festival - South of the Border

Actually North of the Border - Just north of the border from Dutchess County sits Columbia County and Hudson Chatham Winery Yes, I was up there back in December and do need to visit soon as you can tell from the picture.

I tasted a wonderful Gewurztraminer they were pouring last weekend at the Bounty of the Hudson and wish I could make it to their Sangria Festival this weekend. They are having it catered by one of my favorite Mexican restaurants "Mexican Radio"

Since I am not available to attend this weekend, I hope you can attend and let me know how you enjoyed the fun, wine and food.

The details - yes, you do need those. Hudson Chatham Winery is located at 1900 State Route 66 in Ghent NY. If it doesn't come up on your GPS, try Highway 66. The Sangria Festival is tomorrow - Saturday, August 8 from noon to 5:30pm. There will be opportunity to sample 5 different kinds of flavorful sangrias made with Hudson Chatham's wines and fresh fruit.

Food - Mexican Radio will be providing a variety of foods to go with the drinks. If you have a sweet tooth like me, Corrina's Comestibles will be there with Mexican wedding cookies (another one of my favorites) and Jose Miralles will be entertaining you on his flamenco guitar.

I'm counting on your comments so I can be jealous on what I missed.

Wine Blending at Millbrook Winery this Saturday

Two years ago I blended wine at Whitecliff Winery. It was a fantastic experience. Just ask for Sky Island, it was blend #5. Was it the first time I did such a thing. No..I did one many years ago with Kendell Jackson at a Winter Dinning Series at the Culinary Institute of America. It's fascinating how just a little wine from a different barrel changes the entire complexity of the wine.

This weekend you will have the opportunity to be winemaker for the evening and blend your own wine. It's quite an experience and I recommend you try it. You won't be disappointed. In fact, you might get hooked!

It all begins at 5pm Saturday August 8th at the Millbrook Winery's 2nd Annual Wine Blending Experience & Dinner. This will be an evening of winemaking and education and lots of fun! Blending is the highest art form in winemaking and you will have this unique opportunity to discover your "inner winemaker."

You will begin the evening tasting the blending componenents. (Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon) as well as some blends John Graziano the winemaker has created. John will lead you in the use of the pipettes and graduated cylinders as you create your own master blend. Once you have created your favorite cuvee, you will bottle and cork it and finish off the packaging with a personalized wine label.

After all that hard work you will be rewarded with a wonderful 3 course dinner prepared by Michel Jean of The Stissing House in Pine Plains, NY. Space is limited and there are a few seats left. Tickets are $125 per person for this terrific experience. Make your reservations by Wednesday, August 5th by 12noon and receive $10 off each ticket by using code BLEND. Reservations can be made by calling 845.677.8383 ext. 17 or click here

Lovin' the Vineyard

The Bounty of the Hudson this weekend was a huge success. We had great weather on Saturday. Even the rain on Sunday didn't keep people away. I guess when it's been raining for two months, you get use to it. I must say, the staff at Millbrook Winery outdid themselves. They did a fantastic job organizing this event! A big THANK YOU from me, for all they did, from the organization, fantastic staff, to the emergency evacuation plan should we have had a strong weather cell roll through.(that didn't happen, but we were prepared). Thank you Stacy,David,Scott and Barbara!



There was some great wine being poured at the Bounty. Oak Summit had their 2006 and 2007 Pinot Noir. Palaia had their 2008 Traminette, Whitecliff had their Gamay Noir, Adair has their 2008 oak aged Vidal, just to name a few.

There was some great food too. Two bakeries were there with a selection of goodies, ranging from eclairs and black and whites, to large chocolate chip cookies. We can't forget the farm vendors who had wonderful selection of local produce. Fresh from the farm you could purchase corn, squash, peaches and more.

Oh..and the BACON - Mountain Products Smokehouse has a great selection. I brought home the bacon - Maple Cinnamon and Chipotle Southwestern to be exact.

I suppose no wine festival at a vineyard is without some sort of temptation. Especially if you are from the city and have the chance to escape to the "country." After everything was cleaned up on Saturday, I was sitting in front of the tasting room with the staff at Millbrook enjoying a glass of Castle Hill Chardonnay and a women appeared from the vineyard. Then her partner strutted his stuff coming out of the vines. I happen to have my video camera on me and got the entire scene on tape. You never know what happens in the vineyard. If you see a "Sex in the Vineyard" label on one of their 2009 vintages, you will know what block it was from.