The "Empire" strikes White

Hudson-Chatham Winery has released their 2009  "Empire Reserve White."  Empire is a brand that Hudson-Chatham developed by blending wine wine from the three major wine regions in New York State: The Finger Lakes, The Hudson Valley and Long Island.  The release of the Empire White compliments the Empire Red that was released last fall.

The Empire White is a blend of Seyval Blanc from the Hudson Valley, Sauvignon Blanc from Long Island and Riesling from the Finger Lakes. Carlo DeVito of Hudson-Chatham Winery told me this is one of his biggest winemaking risks he had ever taken.  Instead of dimpled jackets and lots of filtering, they packed the barrels of blended wine in giant tubs of ice and tended to them daily.  Their goal was to let the wine form as naturally as possible.  The delicate flavors of the white wine mingled and the result is a grat wine that expresses the terroir of the three regions.

Onto the wine!  The color is a bit of the clear pale yellow of the Seyval and Sauvignon but the Riesling adds another shade of yellow.  On a color palette it would be a light warm golden yellow.

On the nose I immediately smelled yeast which lead way to the citrus of the Sauvignon Blanc and Seyval.  It is a very crisp and light wine with a soft mouth feel.  The taste is a little mineral with limon which leads to a honeydew melon which rounds out the taste and follows by a hint of green apple and grapefruit.  The wine finishes with a citrus ending.

This is a limited wine and is available in Hudson-Chatham's tasting room or at the farmers markets they atttend.

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Sangria Festival at Hudson-Chatham Winery

This Saturday, August 14th at Hudson-Chatham Winery is their 3rd Annual Sangria Festival.  I am going to do my best to try and attend.

Hudson-Chatham will be sampling several sangrias from traditional to sparkling.  To accompany the Sangria, you can feast on carne asadas from Mexican Radio.  They will have live flamenco guitar music and more.  The festival hours are 12 noon to 5pm.  Admission is $5 and you get to taste 5 sangrias.

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Tousey Winery

I began the Hudson-Berkshire Beverage Trail on Saturday at Tousey Winery.  From my understanding Tousey has been doing farmers markets for the past year or so but hasn't opened a tasting room until last Saturday. A nice addition to Hudson Valley Wine Country!  Welcome!

We arrived just after they opened their doors.  Although you can tell there is still work to be done in the tasting room, Ben and his wife (didn't catch her name - along with her infant daughter) and Bruce (the winemaker) were there welcoming us with open bottles.

The first wine we tasted was their Seyval Blanc,their Hudson Heritage Wine. The grapes were purchased from Doug Glorie's Farm in Marlboro, NY.  There was 15% of Cayuga blended in.  I am not a big Cayuga fan, but this did bring a touch of fruit (grape) to the wine which was not overbearing.  It was a citrus blend with a soft grape/fruity smooth feel.

Next up was their 2008 Vidal.  These grapes came from Fino Farms in Marlboro, NY.  I right away picked up on the sugar in this wine.  When I asked for the RS, my question wasn't answered.  He told me the grapes were picked at 25 1/2 brix.  This was as semi dry wine with a nice mouth feel.  Sweet nose with hints of melon.

Now we moved along to try the Chambourcin.  The grapes here were sourced from Glorie Farm Winery in Marlboro, NY.  The wine was decanted and probably needed a little more time in the decanter.  It was a dry wine and you could taste the cherry.  It was thin and acidic.

The final two wines we tasted were their Plum Wine and Cassis.  Ray and Ben grow the fruit for the Plum Wine.   It was dry to sweet and slightly acidic.  The finish was all plum, like biting into a juicy one.  Nice.

Then the Cassis.  The cassis was made with honey from their farm.  It was sweet but had a tart finish. Would go great with cheesecake!

I wish Ray, Ben and Bruce the best of luck!  For Ben's wife (whose name I didn't catch) the best of luck with your jams (and baby).  She has produced a nice selection of homemade jams that are on sale in the tasting room.