I have to be honest here, the Rose type of wine isn't something I seek out. I try to be open minded with everything, honest and try new things.
The Adair Vineyards Rosalais is made with 50% Dechaunac and 50% Fronenac.
When I opened the Rosalais and had a sip I decided that this wine needed to be chilled. It tasted like warm strawberries that could benefit from a little chilling. I gave it a while in the chiller - another glass was poured. One thing I will say to describe this wine is Strawberry! Strawberry everywhere, but not sweet, sugary strawberry. If you've ever made strawberry jam and crushed the strawberries just prior to adding the sugar, that's the strawberry flavor that this wine has. However, there is a slight hint of sweetness as in the finished strawberry jam product on the finish. If you like strawberries and strawberry wine, this Rosalais is for you.
This wine is only sold in their tasting room and various farmers markets they attend.
On a trip to Adair Vineyards, I tasting their 2008 Blackberry Kir. This is a Blackberry dessert wine. It is blended with 10% of dry Cayuga White.
The color as you can see is a little light which is the Cayuga diluting the dark blackberry color.
This wine is not to terribly sweet. The touch of dry Cayuga leveled off the sweetness so it wouldn't be to intense. The flavors I tasted in this wine remind me of a blackberry lifesaver.
I tasted this 2008 Cayuga White while wine tasting last week at Adair Vineyards. I don't usually like wine made with Cayuga grapes because it taste to grapey. That wasn't the case here.
This wine was aged in oak for 10 months and was bottled two weeks ago (three now.) It was a blend of fruity flavors with a strong butterscotch finish.
When a winemaker tells you he receives comments that one of his wines gets customer reviews as a light Cabernet Sauvignon, and it's made with hybrids, what would you pair it with?
Adair Vineyards 2008 Barrel Aged Mountain Red I paired with pulled pork. The result was a good match. I felt the wine was a bit thin but had a nice plum color. Then again, a light Cab wouldn't be complex and this wine wasn't. It had hints of strawberry with a smoky finish. Perfect with the pulled pork.
The Mountain Red is comprised of 50% Frontenac, 25% Leon Millot, 25% Marechal Foch and aged in older oak (French and American) for 11 months.
Marc Stopkie owner/winemaker of Adair Vineyards is known for his Peche wine, made from Hudson Valley white peaches. In fact, his Peche had the highest score at this years Hudson Valley Wine Competition. The creation of the Peche was an experiment. It began a while ago when a orchard had some weather damage to their peach crop and they couldn't sell the peaches at market. They asked Marc if he would like to purchase some and try to make a peach wine. Hence, the birth of Peche. Marc tells me it's the Peche is the most popular wine in the tasting room. Every year Marc purchases 2 tons of peaches and produces his Peche which is sold in 375 ML bottles.
This year has been a tough year for the Hudson Valley in regards to weather. We've had lots of rain as well has localized hail all throughout the spring and summer. It seems that the same orchard which Marc purchases his peaches from suffered damaging hail to their nectarine crop and asked Marc if he would like to try to make a nectarine wine. Since this is how the Peche was born, why not. Processing a stone fruit wine takes time. First the pit is removed by hand from the fruit. Marc explained that there are machines that do this task, but he prefers to do it himself. After the pit is removed, it is necessary to remove the little brown nob where the fruit was attached to the tree. Believe it or not that little nob thing contains arsenic. Wouldn't want any casualties associated with your wine. Next Marc brings the fruit to his crusher. It is now all hand crushed before being put in the fermentation tanks. Marc then adds a late harvest yeast to the nectarines and the magic begins...fermentation. This year he will make about 120 cases of the Nectarine Wine which still doesn't have a name. He hopes the wine will be ready in early December.
After we were finished with the nectarines, the crew started on the peaches. To view more pictures from the day of processing Nectarines click here.
I leave you with a video I put together. By no means am I a videographer, but I try my best.
I've been wanting to open this bottle of Adair wine for a while. After tasting and really enjoying Marc's oak aged Vidal, I was looking forward to the Sur Lie Aged Vidal.
Some might not know what the term Sur Lie Aged is so here is the definition: The French term for "on the lees." Wines that have been aged in contact with dead yeast cells or or residual yeast to gain some measure of complexity.
After I opened the bottle, I decided to take little smell not of the cork, but of the bottle. Boy did I get a nose full of yeast. The smell was as if I was making a loaf of bread. I was a little sceptical but once I poured it in the glass I received a bouquet of lemon zest. Now I felt better.
I tasted hints of grapefruit and the bitterness that sometimes accompanies the fruit. The balance of this wine was okay. I did enjoy this wine but personally like the Vidal that was aged in oak for 8 months. That's my personal preference. What's yours?
There is nothing better to drink on a warm spring evening than a nice crisp white wine with some herb covered Chevre cheese purchased at the farmers market. First I have to admit this wine is a leftover from the Hudson Valley Wine Competition where it won a bronze medal.
Wine of cocktail hour is a 2007 oaked aged Vidal Blanc from Adair Vineyards.
Vidal is a hybrid grape that was created from the parents of ugni blanc and seibel. It grows well in the cooler climate. Characteristics of Vidal are a full body white, clean citrus flavors of lemon and grapefruit.
I was quite surprised at this wine. First I was wondering on the oak, as it was aged in it for 8 months, but the oak did not overpower this wine at all. It put a nice mouth feel to it.
On the nose I identified honeydew melon. It is a nice clean and refreshing wine. I was also quite surprised on the spice I found in the wine mid palette. This wine had a nice long finish that stays with you.
This wine went wonderful with the herb covered Chevre cheese I purchased at the Millbrook Farmers Market earlier in the day. I really enjoyed this wine as I sat on the deck relaxing after a long day.
Marc Stopkie owner/winemaker of Adair Vineyards has produced his first Estate Grown Cabernet Franc. This Cab Franc is the first to be produced with his young vines. There are only 40 cases made.
I like my Cab Franc with a little spice on the end. Marc told me he made it more fruit forward and it didn't have the spice on the end. He told me that he and Lori like it that way. It's all a matter of opinion, likes and dislikes when it comes to crafting a wine.
The color was very nice. On the nose I smelled a little earth. I didn't get a lot of flavors at first. The wine was very smooth. As the wine sat and opened, I got the flavors of cherry.
This wine is a drink now wine. I wouldn't purchase this wine to cellar it. I think it would go well with a pork dish.
