New Direction - coming full circle

I've been going through somewhat of a mid-life crisis these days.  When I began this blog over 4 years ago, I set out to educate my readers on wine.  I then began to focus on the Hudson Valley Wine Region.  I've lived here for most of my life and feel the region needs to be recognized for the wines it produces. A passion of mine.  I've tried to bring the Hudson Valley to you and educate you on the wines and the people who bring them to you.

I drink a variety of wines through out the course of a week.  I've traveled to many different wine regions and I would like to share them with you. With that in mind,  I decided to begin a new blog called "Confessions of a Wine Goddess."  That was all fine, running two blogs...but something is getting lost.

Last week there was a turn of events in my life and I decided to change the direction of my blog to include it all. I will still focus on the Hudson Valley Wine Region as I feel it is extremely important, but also important are other experiences. With the focus on the Hudson Valley expect also to be thrown in are the wines of the world I taste to the regions I visit.

Thank you, all of you for bearing with me during my hiccup.  Now back to the regular scheduled program.

Riesling and Fish Dim Sums

On a snowy evening a few weeks back I made a fish stoup for dinner.  What's a stoup, well..not quit a soup, not quite a stew.  I had fresh, frozen Pollack in my freezer that my friend Sharon had sent me home with on a recent visit.  (Her husband is a Merchant Marine Ret. and runs a fishing charter business off the coast of Massachusetts on the Sharon B.) Now that I made this stoup enough for 8 and there were only 3 of us, what do I do with th leftovers?

I made dim sums with a ginger lime dipping sauce and served it with a 2009 Whitecliff Riesling.  What a great pairing for a football Sunday!  There was soft spice in the fish that was complimented by the hint of sweetness in the Riesling. The apricot in the Riesling blended very will with the dipping sauce. 

This Riesling happen to have won the "Best White Wine" at the 2010 San Francisco International Wine Competition.  Unfortunately I don't think they have any left in the tasting room, but I have a bottle or two left in my cellar.  Will be very interesting to see how it ages.  Stay tuned..

What's in a Bottle of NYS Wine

Did you ever wonder what goes into a bottle of New York State Wine besides the fermented grapes?  Take a look at the true ingredients; Vineyard Land, Workers, Mortgage, Trellises, Grape Vines, Fermentation Tanks, Barrels....etc.............


What's in a bottle of NYS Wine?

Office - Wine - Matchmaker

I am a firm believer that there is a wine for everyone.  I always keep an open mind when tasting,  just because I don't prefer a certain wine, someone else will.  There is nothing to say the wine is good or bad, it is personal preference.

With that in mind, the holidays rolled around and I decided to pair local Hudson Valley Wine with my co-workers. (my day job is in health care not wine).  I have one co-worker who likes sweet fruity wine.  During the summer I was in the liquor store at lunch with Jillian and she purchase Arbor Mist for a party.  She joked with me about being with the Wine Goddess asking my opinion and then walking out with Arbor Mist.  I told here not feel bad, she likes wine spritzers and you have to purchase what your palate enjoys.

For the holidays I purchased a Brookview Station Whistle Stop White for her.  Knowing Jillian liked fruity wine with some sweetness, I thought this would be a nice match for her.   On Wednesday evening I received the following text from her:
     "Ok can I tell you how good this wine is that u gave me for Christmas?  I opened it and said I am gonna have 1 glass.  Yeah right, I might have a hangover tomorrow!"

Score a wine match for me! Score a new customer for Brookview Station.  No she didn't have a hangover in the morning.  She only had 2 glasses and saved the rest for the next day. (stressful week at work)

Millbrook's Grand Portfolio Tasting

Millbrook Vineyards & Winery is located on 130 acres in Millbrook, New York.  Formally a dairy farm it now produces 13 acres of Chardonnay, 5 acres of Pinot Noir, 7 acres of Cabernet Franc and 5 acres of Tocai Friulano.  They produce between 10,000 and 12,000 cases a year.

What you might not have known, is Millbrook Vineyards & Winery is one of 4 properties owned by John Dyson and it all began in Millbrook, New York. In 1979 Mr. Dyson converted an old dairy farm into what is Millbrook Vineyards & Winery today. Then in 1989 he purchased Villa Pillo in Tuscany, 1990, Pebble Ridge Vineyards (Central Coast, CA) and in 1998 Williams Selyem, Healdsburg, CA.

For the first time this past November, Millbrook Vineyards & Winery opened their doors and all their wine for a special tasting.  It was the first time you were able to taste the entire family under one roof.  Do to all the wines at this tasting, I will highlight a few from each station.

We began at the Aromatic/Fruity Wines station where there were 2 New York State wines and 3 Central Coast, CA wines.  We began with a Millbrook 2004 Brut Proprietor's Special Reserve which was a blend of the classic grapes in Champagne - Chardonnay, Pinot Noir & Pinot Meunier, fruity and not to dry. Central Coast, Hunt Country White that is blend of 52% Riesling, 32% Pinot Grigio, 16% Gewurztraminer and has 3% residual sugar.  The Gewurztraminer definitely came out on the nose.

Next table was all Chardonnays, 2 Central Coast, CA, 2 Hudson River Region and 1 New York State.  This was the first time I got to taste anything from Pebble Ridge.  The 2008 Pebble Ridge Chardonnay, Central Coast was 2/3 tank fermented and 1/3 barrel.  It had a nice pear nose with hints of apple.

We then moved to the reds and began with the Pinot Noirs.  1 NYS, 1 Central Coast, CA and 1 Hudson  River Region. The 2007 Millbrook Grand Reserve Pinot Noir, Central Coast, had a nose with hints of clove that showed up strong on the finish.  Other flavors that came to the palate were cherry and raspberry.

Bordeaux Blends were next with 3 NYS, 1 Hudson River Region and one Napa Valley, CA.  As much as I love Cabernet Franc for years I have friends who always rave on Millbrook's Hunt Country Red, so that will take the spotlight here.  This is  New York State blend with 58% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Franc, 8% Zin and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon.  This is a dark fruit wine with earth and plum on the nose, opening to black raspberry, and plum on the palate.

The last two tables were Williams Selyem and Villa Pillo. At Williams Selyem there were 3 Pinot Noirs and 2 Zinfandels all from California.   One that stood out as the 2008 Feeney Zinfandel, Russian River Valley, CA.  This had aromas of blackberry and toffee.  The palate was jammy with raspberry, blackberry and finishing with coffee.  Off to Italy where there were 5 tuscan wines.  The 2008 Borgoforte, Tuscany, Italy is Estate Bottled made with 50% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon.  This is a nice smooth silky wine with black cherry and licorice on the palate.

After all the wine tasting the very last table was the cheese man.  He had some wonderful cheeses to compliment the wines.

Millbrook did a wonderful job showcasing it's portfolio at this tasting.  I look forward to next years event.

Snow-Flakey Fridays at the Hudson-Chatham Winery

Hudson-Chatham Winery just announced a great January promotion.  When you are tired from the snow, you create promotion around the white flaky stuff.  Kudos to them!

Dominique and Carlo don't want you to go without in the event you are snowed in.  You need the necessary supplies...wine of course! On Fridays during the month of January if you stop by their tasting room to warm up, you will be treated with a 10% off your wine purchase. They want to make sure you are well stocked with their deep reds that go well with winter warmers like stews, soups, stoups and roasts.  They also have a great selection of dessert wines that are great after the end of a day skiing or that 9pm shoveling shift. Their sparkling cider is great substitute for people that don't care for beer as they watch the football playoffs.

If you find yourself in the area, stop by, say hello, warm up and take home some wine. I might just stop there today on my way home from Schenectady if time permits.

Winter in Hudson Valley Wine Country

Do you have cabin fever yet?  Why not spend the winter wine tasting in Hudson Valley Wine Country. Visit 10 wineries within 59 days - can you do it?

Hudson Valley Wine Country is offering a Winter in Wine Country Tasting Passport that is good from February 1 - March 31st at 10 wineries for $30pp.  You can taste at your leisure during the course of the winter.

The winter is a great time to visit the wineries.  Honestly, it is a slow time of year so it won't be crowded and you do get personal attention of the tasting room staff.

The 10 wineries participating in Winter in Wine Country are:

•  Benmarl Winery
•  Brotherhood Winery
•  Brookview Station Winery
•  Hudson-Chatham Winery
•  Millbrook Vineyards & Winery
•  Palaia Vineyards & Winery
•  Robibero Family Vineyards
•  Stoutridge Vineyard
•  Tousey Winery 
•  Whitecliff Vineyard & Winery

I see at least three weekend day itineraries here.  They would be:

Weekend day 1:  Millbrook Vineyards & Winery, Tousey Winery, Hudson-Chatham Winery, and Brookview Station Winery

Weekend day 2: Robibero Family Vineyards, Whitecliff Vinaryd & Winery, Benmarl Winery &; Stoutridge Vineyard

Weekend day 3: Palaia Vinards & Winery and Brotherhood Winery

Now that I have planned three days of wine tasting for you, purchase your ticket for Winter in Wine Country and choose three Saturdays or Sundays to venture out and go wine tasting! Ticket are on sale until January 31 

Millbrook's 2009 New York State Chardonnay

This wine is 100% Chardonnay from the three primary growing regions in New York State.  The Hudson Valley, Long Island and the Finger Lakes. 40% of this wine was aged in American oak for 4 months.

Aromas of mineral, pear, coconut finish off with a hint of citrus.   On the palate there is pear, honeydew melon giving way to hints of butter, tangerine and lime zest.  The finish was soft minerally lime.

This wine will go nicely with Chilean sea bass!  It is available in their tasting room and is priced at $16.

Good Ol' Boys Club Wine - H-C 2005 Merlot

Yes I am calling this wine "The Good Ol' Boys Club" wine. Why?  The first aroma I received from this wine took me to a room full of cigar smoking men sitting in a country club with their smoking jackets on.

This deep black cherry color wine gave way to cigar humidor aroma giving way to earth and hint of black cherry.

The taste on my palate was one of plum and hints of black cherry, tobacco and bitter taste of strong coffee on the finish.

This is one instance of a wine we purchased and held onto for a few years.  It's nice to dig it out of the wine cellar and see how it's aged.  Unfortunately I don't think you will be able to purchase the 2005 now, but take a look in your cellar and see if you have a bottle you forgot about.

Ice Wine

Ice Wine vines @ Inniskillin

I first learned about Ice Wine on a trip to the wineries on Niagara on the Lake while visiting the Falls with my family. It's funny, I went to school for 4 years in Buffalo, NY and visited Niagara Falls Canada quite often but never ventured past the falls.  Little did I know about 3 miles down the road is Niagara on the Lake, a cute town and 22 wineries. Many years later with kids in tow we stayed in this cute town and visited the wineries of course after we saw the Falls. It was the girl in the tasting room at Jackson-Triggs who educated us on the entire process of the ice wine harvest.

When the grapes are harvested for ice wine, it is usually done in the middle of the night between the hours of midnight and 5am.  The frozen grapes must be harvested and crushed before the sun and temperature rise.  She said when it is decided to harvest, a phone chain is started.  Everyone arrives at the vineyard around 11pm and 12am and the harvest begins. This was a few years ago, so I would tend to think it is still done today.

Ice Wine harvest @ Brotherhood Winery

In the Hudson Valley it is rare that a vineyard will harvest grapes in December or January for ice wine.  Last year Brotherhood Winery did just that with Riesling from their vineyard in Hudson, New York.  I was fortunate enough to be there for the harvest.  They did harvest the grapes during the day, but who am I to question it, it was pretty cold out!

I had just left the vineyard around 11am when the videographer arrived.  He did a very nice job with the video below of Brotherhood's Ice Wine. I believe they just released the wine and it is available in the tasting room.  I will have to get over there to get a bottle for review.