WINE COUNTRY: MAINE - MAINE MEAD WORKS

Maine's wine industry is a tiny one, as is the case with many of the "other 47" American states.  Their 43,000 gallons per year production is ahead of only Montana in volume.  With only a handful of vineyards in the state, Maine's wine producers often rely on cold-weather hybrids or fruit other than grapes.  Grapes are also sourced from New York and California.  You are likely to find Maine wines made from cranberries or blueberries, or cider, made from apples.

Maine, unfortunately, led the nation by passing the first state law prohibiting the sale of alcohol except for "medicinal, mechanical or manufacturing purposes."   They are, to their credit, making up for that error.

Mead is also popular in Maine.  As we have learned in the Wine Country series, mead is wine made from honey, not grapes.  Not always sweet - as one might expect from a product made of honey - meads are produced using only honey, but are also produced using a mixture of honey and fruit.

Maine Mead Works operates out of Portland.  Portland is Maine’s largest city, with over 66,000 residents, but the Greater Portland metro area boasts a population of over 500,000.  One third of the people in Maine live near Portland.

Technology entrepreneur Ben Alexander founded Maine Mead Works in 2007 with the assistance of award-winning South African meadmaker Dr. Garth Cambray.  The meadery makes their meads using Maine wildflower honey and other locally-grown products.  Their meads are sold under the Honeymaker label, and the eight varieties all register a 12.5% abv number.

Honeymaker meads come in a variety of styles - Dry Mead, Blueberry, Semi Sweet, Apple Cyser, Cranberry, Lavender, Strawberry & Dry Hopped Mead.  They also do an Elderberry mead for the winter.  They recommend you enjoy their meads by the glass, as a mixer in a cocktail or as a secret ingredient in cooking.  Maine Mead Works provided me with two samples of their Honeymaker meads.

Honeymaker Apple Cyser is a blend of 84% apples and 16% honey.  It's a light golden color with a trace of efferevescence in the glass.   A very nice nose of apples and honey is no surprise.  A slight hint of caramel apple dipped in honey flutters beneath the fruit.  The caramel hint comes across on the apple-laden palate, too.  The cyser has a nice acidity and is quite refreshing.  They recommend a pairing with turkey or pork - sounds good to me - but it's born to pair with a cheese plate.  I find it really good with smoked cheese and almonds.

Honeymaker Dry Mead is 100% Maine wildflower honey.  It shows a pale greenish-gold hue in the glass and a nose offering an herbal quality right up front, with the notes of honey coming underneath.  It should be noted that the honey aroma is not sweet at all, and neither is the taste.  The mead’s palate is as dry as advertised.  The herbaceous quality found on the nose comes through as a flavor profile, too.  That taste becomes most prominent on the finish, where it lasts a good, long while.  There’s a fruity taste as well - a green apple component that stops just short of tartness - and the honey again plays a supporting role.  Pair it with shrimp, if you like, or a fruit salad chock full of herbs.  Frankly, though, this mead is great all by itself as an aperitif.  The lack of sweetness may take you by surprise, considering it is made from something sweet.  The taste reminds me a bit of white vermouth. 

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NOW AND ZIN WINE COUNTRY

In the United States, California grabs the lion's share of attention when it comes to wine.  New York, Oregon and Washington get quite a bit of notice, too - but wine is produced in all fifty states in America.

What about the "other 46"?

Wine Country is a Now And Zin series spotlighting the wines of the "other" states.  The idea is to try wine from every state and write about the experience.  Along the way, we hopefully will learn about many different grape varieties from all the different American growing regions.

It should prove to be an interesting tour, and we hope you'll join us for all the whistle stops as the Now And Zin wine train makes its way across the nation.

By the way, if you are a winemaker in one of the "other 46" states, we'd love to hear from you about the grapes you use in your area, your winery and the challenges you may have encountered.  You can email me at nowandzin@gmail.com.  We're always ready for a great story about wine.  Check for Wine Country updates on the Now And Zin Wine Blog!

The Wine Country List:

Alabama

Morgan Creek Winery

Alaska

Glacier Bear Winery

Arizona

Arizona Stronghold Vineyards and Winery

Arkansas

Circle T Vineyards and Winery

California

There's a lot of California wine on Now And Zin!

Connecticut

Saltwater Farm Vineyards

Colorado

Canyon Wind Cellars

Decadent Saint

Delaware

Harvest Ridge Winery

Florida

Keel and Curley Winery

Georgia

Tiger Mountain Vineyards

Hawaii

Tedeschi Vineyards at Ulupalakua Ranch, Maui

Idaho

Sawtooth Winery

Illinois

Illinois Sparkling Co.
Lynfred Winery

Indiana

Turtle Run Winery

Iowa

Schade Creek Vineyard and Winery
Tabor Home Vineyard and Winery
Tassel Ridge Winery
Iowa Winemaker Fights City Hall

Kansas

Holy-Field Vineyard and Winery

Kentucky

Elk Creek Vineyards

Louisiana

Amato's Winery, Pontchartrain Vineyards

Maine

Maine Mead Works, Honeymaker Mead

Maryland

Elk Run Vineyards and Winery

Massachusetts

Cape Cod Winery

Westport Rivers Vineyard & Winery

Michigan

L. Mawby Vineyards

Two Lads Winery

Mari Vineyards

Hawthorne Vineyards

Chateau Grand Traverse

Minnesota

Fieldstone Vineyards

Mississippi

Missouri

Stone Hill Winery

Montana

Hidden Legend Winery

Nebraska

Big Cottonwood Winery

Nevada

Pahrump Valley Winery

New Hampshire

Moonlight Meadery

New Jersey

Valenzano Winery

New Mexico

St. Clair Vineyards and Winery

New York

Finger Lakes Rieslings
Red Tail Ridge Winery
Shaw Vineyards
Red Tail Ridge Rieslings

North Carolina

Biltmore Estate Winery

North Dakota

Pointe Of View Winery

Ohio

Meier's Winery

Oklahoma

Oregon

Elizabeth Chambers Cellar
Cornerstone Cellars Oregon

Abacela Vineyards
Lenne Estate
Oregon Trail Wine Company
Troon Vineyards
Troon Zinfandel

Pennsylvania

O'Donnell Winery
Lakeview Wine Cellars

Rhode Island

Greenvale Vineyards

South Carolina

Irvin-House Vineyard and Winery

South Dakota 

Strawbale Winery

Tennessee

Grinder's Switch Winery

Texas

Duchman Family Winery
Duchman Family Winery

Llano Estacado Winery
Piney Woods Country Winery and Vineyard
Bruno and George Winery
CapRock Winery
Brennan Vineyards
Eden Hill Vineyards
Pedernales Cellars Tempranillo 2010
Pedernales Cellars Tempranillo 2012
Messina Hof Riesling
Messina Hof Merlot

Utah

Vermont

Eden Vermont Ice Cider

Virginia

Rappahannock Cellars
Stinson Vineyards
DuCard Vineyards

Washington

Interview with Bob Betz
Betz Family Winery

West Virginia

Daniel Vineyards
Kirkwood Winery

Wisconsin

Wollersheim Winery

Wyoming

WINE COUNTRY MASSACHUSETTS - WESTPORT RIVERS VINEYARD AND WINERY

The Massachusetts wine industry is a relative newcomer to the national wine scene - the state's first winery of the modern era opened in 1971.  

Massachusetts boasts only about 30 wineries, but they are making a name for themselves.  Several folks who know a lot more about Massachusetts wine than I do have told me it's high time that wine from the Bay State got its due.

The grapes you'll find growing in Massachusetts are likely to be Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc or Pinot Gris.  They are also growing some American hybrids like Vidal Blanc and Cayuga.  Wine made from fruit other than grapes is also in the picture, and mead - wine made from honey - figures in to the winescape.

Wine Country has already visited Massachusetts - Cape Cod Winery - which gave us a chance to try a wine made from hybrid grapes.  This time, we taste some more traditional winemaking grapes.

Westport Rivers is a small, family-owned farm in Westport, Massachusetts which has been growing grapes and making wine for 25 years.  Over that time they have racked up a lot of gold medals and good press, but they are most proud of the fact that their wine has been served in the White House under two administrations.

Their website sings the praises of their "dark, rich, New England loam on well drained gravel."  The cool New England weather is tempered by the Gulf Stream, which warms the South Coast of Massachusetts.  Westport Rivers is situated in the Southeastern 

New England AVA, where most of the Massachusetts wineries are located.  They are also a member of the Coastal Wine Trail of Southeastern New England.

The folks at Westport Rivers also sing the praises of their wines.  They point out that their wines are literally tailor-made to go with the seafood and cheeses of their region.  Westport Rivers was kind enough to provide six of their wines for the Now And Zin 

Wine Country series.

Westport Rivers Pinot Gris 2009 - After harvest they let the grapes sit in the press for a few hours before pressing, to give the wine some color and aromatics from the skins.  It works!  The wine has a great golden tint and the nose is bouquet of flowers - a big bouquet.  There's also a touch of minerality in the aromas which comes across more like a gentle earthiness.  The palate plays peaches against melons with a lovely herbal quality rising along with some acidity to keep things food friendly. 

Westport Rivers Pinot Noir 2010 - At 13.2% abv, this is much more old world than new.  Medium ruby in color, the nose on this Pinot Noir shows muted raspberry and a strong herbal aroma that smacks of greenness. It's nothing like a whiff of high octane Cali Pinot, that's for sure. The palate shows that same herbal edge, reminiscent of Cabernet Franc, and it weighs in nearly equally with the red plum and sour cherry flavors. The minerality is strong, the acidity lip smacking. It's herbaceousness and acidity show that the winemakers were thinking of the state's seafood bounty when they crafted this one.  It's a light, even delicate, framework for a wine that's more about feel than flavor. 

Westport Rivers Chardonnay 2009 - 100% estate-grown Chardonnay, this wine is 80% aged in French oak, sur-lie.  Letting wine rest on the dead yeast during fermentation imparts a richer, fuller feeling.  That does not come at the expense of acidity, though - there’s plenty of acid to tingle the taste buds.  Big tropical aromas and spices dominate the nose, while the palate also gets the palm-tree treatment - there are traces of pineapple, guava, banana and even a little coconut in the flavor profile. There's also a trace of lemon peel and even a ginger-like quality that flirts on the palate.  That earthy minerality shows up here, too, as it did in in Pinot Gris.  It's quite a complex little Chardonnay, and - once again - not very California.  A 12.2% abv number makes for a very drinkable wine.

Westport Brut RJR 2006 - A traditional method sparkler comprised of 65% Pinot Noir grapes and 35% Chardonnay, the Brut has a light golden hue.  The frothy head dissipates quickly.  Its nose reminds me of earthy peaches, very ripe.  I swear I smell mayhaw jelly.  On the palate there's a distinct banana flavor and a toastiness with that earthy quality.  A light mouthfeel and a lingering sense of banana candy give me plenty to ponder while sipping. This is a singular sparkler in my tasting experience.  It's fascinating.  By the way, RJR stands for Robert James Russell, Westport Rivers' winemaker. 

Blanc de Blancs Ultra Brut 2000- This yellow-gold sparkler offers one of the most pungent noses I've ever experienced in a sparkling wine. The tropical aromas I found in the Chardonnay are here, along with a heaping helping of toasty earthiness. The Blanc de Blancs is made from 100% Chardonnay grapes and is aged over seven years before finishing.  The palate is rich and citrusy, with plenty of bubbles and a bracing acidity.  There's a very intense nutty quality i find fascinating  It does wonders for a handful of peanuts!  The winery recommends you pair it with oysters, and that would seem to be an even better choice. 

Grace Chardonnay NV - This is their aperitif Chardonnay, one of those gold medal winners they like to brag about. Westport Rivers blends their eau de vie of Chardonnay with fresh pressed Chardonnay juice, then they age it in French oak.  Repeat for seven 

vintages and you've got Grace.  It has an alcohol content of 17.5% abv, so you'll want to go easy on it before operating heavy machinery. This wine looks terrific in the glass.  It's a rich shade tending towards amber, almost like bourbon.  Gorgeous aromas of caramel and honey just about knock me off my feet. The palate is awash with flavors of lemon peel drenched in dark honey.  After regaining consciousness, I realize what great acidity this wine has - feel free to bring on the fattiest cheese and pâté for it.

The one thing that keeps appearing in the wines of Westport Rivers is the amazing terroir, the sense of earth that permeates each of the wines I tried.  It marks each wine as a distinctive representative of Wine Country Massachusetts.

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WHO IS DRINKING ALL THAT WINE?

Most of the wine produced in America comes from California.  Oregon, Washington and New York are also significant producers.  After that, though, wine production per state drops off dramatically.  That was the inspiration for the Now And Zin Wine Country series - exploring wine from “the other 46” states.

What about consumption, though?  Who is drinking all that wine made in the top four wine producing states?  You might be surprised which states consume the most wine, per capita.

In Washington, D.C., the average consumption of wine is 6.6 gallons per adult citizen per year.  That means, statistically speaking, the nation’s capital has the largest concentration of wine drinkers in America.  Alright, if you say that doesn’t surprise you, I’ll buy that.  I’ll wager the rest of the top five might.

Folks in New Hampshire consume 4.8 gallons of wine per year to land at number two.  I would assume that cider and mead are probably in that mix, too.  In Massachusetts and Vermont, they drink 4.1 gallons per person annually, while Nevada rounds out the top five at 3.8 gallons.

Connecticut, Delaware and New Jersey residents consume 3.6 gallons each per year, while Rhode Islanders, Hawaiians and Californians check in just under that mark at 3.4 gallons.

That's the top eleven wine-consuming states in America.  Are you surprised at the numbers?


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WINE COUNTRY VERMONT: EDEN VERMONT ICE CIDER

Traditional wine grapes don't grow too well in the very cold climate of Vermont.  The Vermont Grape and Wine Council reports only 14 wineries, some of which import juice from California.  The VGWC notes, though, that great wine is being made from cold-hardy varieties like Frontenac, Riesling, Cayuga and Lacrescent.

The weather that throws a curve to grape growers happens to be pretty good for beekeepers and apple farmers, though.  Mead (made from honey) and cider ( from apples) are a big part of the Vermont wine scene.  Ice wine is also a local favorite, as is ice cider.

Eden Ice Cider Company operates from a former dairy farm in the Northeast Kingdom village of West Charleston, Vermont.  "Northeast Kingdom" refers to a three-county area in the northeastern corner of Vermont.  Vermonters refer to it simply as "The Kingdom."

Eleanor and Albert Léger established Eden in 2007.  Since then, they have planted over 1,000 apple trees and produced three vintages of their ice cider.  The cider is produced from 100% Vermont-grown apples - some are estate fruit, some are purchased from other vermont orchards.

Ice cider is not made exactly like ice wine, but the processes are similar.  Ice wine is made by harvesting frozen grapes and bringing them in for fementation.  For ice cider, the apples are pressed in early winter but the juice is left outdoors to freeze for four to six weeks.  The frozen juice is then brought indoors, melted and fermented.  This brings out the sweetest juice.  The Légers are proud of their natural approach to cider making.  "We don't add coloring, sugar or any other flavoring.  We blend (apple) varieties to achieve complexity of flavor with sufficient natural acidity and structure to balance the residual sugar."

It takes more than eight pounds of apples to make a bottle of cider.  The result, according to Erin Zimmer of Serious Eats Blog, is like "drinking the juice of ten apples in one gulp."

The Légers provided me with several of their Eden Vermont Ice Ciders to sample:

Eden Cidre de Glace du Vermont Calville Blend 2010Eleven different apple varieties go into this blend: Empire, Macintosh, Roxbury Russett, Calville Blanc, Cox's Orange Pippin, Hudson's Gem, Ashmead's Kernel, Esopus Spitzenberg, Black Oxford, Belle de Boskoop and Reinettes.  Whew!  This cider has a 10% abv number and 15% residual sugar.

The color is a beautiful golden hue, deep and rich looking, a little darker than apple juice.  The aromas the ice cider offers are of baked apples, pure and simple.  It's a lovely nose.  The taste is sweet and much more concentrated than apples or even apple juice.  After all, you're drinking ten apples at once.  The acidity level is fantastic - you'd never get this in apple juice. Sometimes I dont get it in wine!  It's a slightly viscous drink with a full mouthfeel and a bit of zippiness on the finish.  It's great on it's own, but is more than ready to pair with cheese or even meats.

Eden Cidre de Glace du Vermont Northern Spy 2009This one is a single-variety ice cider made from 100% Northern Spy apples and aged in French oak for a year.  The color is extremely rich looking, darker than the unoaked cider.  It looks quite like bourbon in the glass and it smells like a holiday apple pie, with that baked apple aroma drenched in cinnamon and nutmeg.  Much oak nuance graces the palate, too.  It's viscous, like the unoaked, but a bit more tart on the finish.  I find it quite complex with maybe a bit more of a "grownup" taste.  They advise you pair it with cheddar or creamy blue cheese.

Eden Orleans Aperitif Cider

Orleans is a dry wine made in collaboration with Caleb Barber and Deirdre Heekin, owners and - respectively - the head chef and maître liquoriste of Osteria Pane e Salute in Woodstock, Vermont.  It is infused with Vermont-grown herbs.  The alcohol content is a bit higher than the other two I tasted, 15.5%, and there is only 1% residual sugar.  The comparison to Vermouth comes quickly, and Eden has a booklet of suggested mixed drinks utilizing Orleans.  It's also been mentioned as a great mix with Prosecco and lime, or all by itself on the rocks.

I tasted it chilled, straight up.  Orleans is slightly lighter in color than the Northern Spy.  The aroma profile shows herbs on apples - sage, thyme and oregano leap forward.  The apple flavors have the herbs coloring the taste, too - as if Vermouth were made from apples.  The finish is tart and zingy.  And the herbal quality stays around long after the sip.

My introduction to Vermont cider was indeed an enjoyable one.  All three of these ciders would be welcome any time of the year, but the Northern Spy seems particularly suited to the holiday season.  Its aromas and flavors mirror those found in holiday foods, especially desserts.  The Orleans Aperitif Cider could easily be a mainstay on your bar for mixing, although it's great all by itself.


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WINE COUNTRY: NEW YORK - FINGER LAKES RIESLING

The wine industry in New York dates back to the 17th century, when Dutch immigrants planted grapes in the Hudson Valley.  Commercial production didn't begin until the 19th century.  The Hudson Valley's Brotherhood Winery is the oldest continuously operating winery in America.  They've been producing wine for some 350 years.

The real takeoff point for wine in New York came in 1951, when Ukranian viticulturist Dr. Konstantin Frank started telling anyone who would listen that New York's wine had yet to achieve greatness because they should be growing vinifera grapes, the kind grown in Europe, instead of French and American hybrids.  His argument finally found a receptive ear in Frenchman Charles Fournier, the chief at Gold Seal Vineyards.  Fournier hired Dr. Frank, Riesling was planted, and the rest is New York State wine history.  Dr. Frank has also had success with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Gewurztraminer and even Cabernet Sauvignon, but Riesling is his calling card.

Today, Riesling is the big grape for New York's Finger Lakes region.  It grows well in the cool climate.  You'll also find Seyval Blanc growing in New York vineyards, along with American Hybrids like Catawba, Delaware, Niagara, Elvira, Ives and Isabella grapes.  French hybrids like Vidal, Cayuga and Vignoles also get some important acreage.

The Finger Lakes region is the best-known of New York's four AVAs, leading the way for the Hudson Valley, Lake Erie and Long Island AVAs.  It's also one of the largest AVAs in the country and one of the leading cool-climate regions, too.  The terrain around the three main lakes helps keep the vines safe through cold winters. 

The 2010 vintage is the product of the warmest growing season seen in the Finger Lakes region in 40 years.  It was wet, too, with the most rain since 1973.  Varied wines were produced, but there is a general tendency to lower acidity and big, expressive fruit.  Different wineries harvested at different times, resulting in plenty of variation in styles.  Most of the Rieslings produced here retail for under $20.
The Finger Lakes Wine Alliance was gracious enough to provide me - and other wine writers - with samples of six Finger Lakes Rieslings from the 2010 vintage.  Here they are:

Anthony Road Wine Company
Dry Riesling Finger Lakes 2010As with all these wines, Anthony Road's is 100% Riesling with a moderate alcohol level of 12.6% abv.  The fruit is from their Nutt Road Vineyard, block 3.  The grapes are taken from different blocks in each vintage.  There’s a “dryness meter” on the label, and the pointer points to “dry."

The nose and palate have a robust minerality, something that seems to be a hallmark of Finger Lakes Riesling, at least as far as I found from these six examples.  Fruit aromas here fight to get through, and a scent of melon peeks out from behind the rocks.  The palate is also laden with wet rocks and a nice lemon zest flavor appears alongside very good acidity.

Dr. Frank's Vinifera Wine Cellars
Dry Riesling 2010Dr. Frank got the Riesling ball rolling in the 1950s and his son Willy carries on the winemaking tradition.  Again 100% Riesling, this wine has a 12.2% abv alcohol number.

The wine is quite pale in color and has a stong minerality, but that is abetted by a huge fruit expression.  The nose shows what the winery calls "Keuka Lake minerality" and an intense pear and pineapple juice profile.  The palate is dominated by that slate minerality.  Some citrus component accompanies it, with orange or tangerine on the finish.  It's quite refreshing with an acidity which, while adequate, does not make itself the focal point.

Fox Run Vineyards
Dry Riesling 2010Fox Run's grapes are grown in the glacial Seneca Lake soil with broken slate and sandy loam.  Another 100% Riesling, winemaker Peter Bell utilizes fruit from Fox Run Vineyard Block 1.  The alcohol level is a low 11.5% abv.

It's a lovely, pale, golden color in the glass and shows those slate minerals on the nose, along with citrus and an ever-so-slight hint of honey.  The taste is full of Meyer lemon and big minerals, and there is an extremely nice acidity.

Ravines Wine Cellars
Dry Riesling 2010
The Riesling for Ravines dry effort is taken from three different vineyards: 16 Falls (70%), Argetsinger (25%) and Hobbit Hollow (5%).  16 Falls and Hobbit Hollow feature shale limestone soil, while Argetsinger is gravel on limestone bedrock.

These grapes from the east side of Keuka Lake are whole cluster pressed, and the finished product shows an alcohol level of 12.5% abv.

The Ravines Riesling pours up pale golden in the glass.  It's not a surprise by now, but minerals abound on the nose.  Fruit does make a good play here, though, mainly lime and honeydew.  On the nose, lime notes and a minerality even stronger than on the nose make an appearance.  Citrus zest on the finish mates with a very good acidity.

Red Newt Cellars
"Circle" Riesling 2010
Red Newt’s “Circle” Riesling has the pointer on the label’s “sweetness scale” pointing to medium-sweet.  Winemaker David Whiting uses grapes from the southeastern shore of Seneca Lake to produce a Riesling which carries an 11.5% abv number and has a residual sweetness of 3.4%, several points higher than the previous offerings we’ve tasted.  The '09 vintage was a double gold medal winner, and the ‘10 vintage is the result of a warmer than usual growing season.  The winery says you can expect extra notes of baked fruit.

The pale wine has a beautiful nose of honeysuckle and oranges, with the minerality not as prominent as in the four tasted so far.  Peaches and a light citrus spray decorate the palate, with the finish delivering a lengthy show of grapefruit.  Not really a full-blown sweet wine, I’d call it off-dry.  The acidity is nearly bracing, too, so it’s a food-friendly quaff.

Wagner Vineyards
Riesling Semi Dry 2010
The Wagner family has four generations of winemaking behind them on the eastern slopes of Seneca Lake in Lodi, New York.  I’m a big fan of wines from Lodi, California, so my hopes are high that more than the name will be similar.

The sweetness meter on the back label has the pointer right in the middle.  The grapes come from the Wagner’s estate vineyard.  Three lots of fruit are independently vinified, then blended together.

A little yellower than Red Newt, but still fairly pale, this Riesling smells of apricots in a big way.  There’s a slight minerality on the nose, but fruit is the big thing.  The palate shows a nice lemon/lime/orange display of citrus and a hint of tropical fruit on the finish.  The acidity is right on the money.　
　
Find out more about the Finger Lakes wine region atFingerLakesWineCountry.com and FingerLakesWineAlliance.com.


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WINE COUNTRY: NEW HAMPSHIRE - MOONLIGHT MEADERY

New Hampshire is a relatively new entry to Wine Country.  The Granite State's wine industry didn't get started until 1994.  The New Hampshire Winery Association membership includes not only grape wine producers, but also makers of mead and cider.

Moonlight Meadery is based in Londonderry, New Hampshire, near the southeast corner of the state.  The town's name originated from its early settlers, many of whom were from Londonderry, Ireland.  The first American potato was grown there in 1719.

Londonderry was the birthplace of several governors and congressmen, but we'll try not to hold that against them.  San Francisco Giants pitcher Brian Wilson is from Londonderry, too.  As a Dodger fan, I'll try not to hold that against them, either.

The town is known for its apple orchards, and a meadery - Moonlight Meadery - which produces what they call "Romance by the glass."

Moonlight's mead maker Michael Fairbrother states on his meadery's website, "Mead, to me, is passion.  It's about living and love, it's about enjoyment, family and friends, and sharing."  Sounds good to us.  You can see Fairbrother in this video story from WMUR.

We have covered mead before in the Wine Country series.  Mead is wine made from honey, water and yeast.  It can range from sweet to dry and be produced as still, slightly fizzy - pétillant - or sparkling.  A melomel is a mead made with the addition of fruit.  A cyser is a melomel made with apples, and a pyment is a melomel where grapes are used in addition to the honey.

Fairbrother gives his meads names like Smitten, Desire and Sensual, playing off that "romance in a glass" analogy.  He supplied me with four samples of his meads for this article.

The mead he calls Wild is honey and blueberry wine made from unprocessed New Hampshire wildflower honey and mountain grown blueberries.  It carries an alcohol level of 14.2% abv.

Wild's medium ruby color allows light to pass through easily.  The nose shows a strong herbal note leading the way with blueberry aromas underneath and honey and flowers trailing.

The taste is completely dry and the blueberries really come forward on the palate. There's a strong sense of greenness on the palate, too.  Nice, gentle tannic structure matches well with a good acidity level.  It's very fresh and clean tasting.  I had blueberry wine from Florida which was much sweeter and more juice like than this honey and blueberry wine.  The Moonlight mead is much more like a red wine than a fruit juice.  I tried it chilled and not, and was pleased with the experience both ways.  The herbal finish is fairly lengthy.

Utopian is the strongest of the quartet I tried at 16.9% abv.  It’s a semi-sweet, limited edition mead which is fermented and aged in Samuel Adams Utopias barrels.

The color gives a beautiful, rich, golden glow.  On the nose, the honey gets down to business.  It smells much like a dark honey, maybe chestnut honey.  There’s a bit of sherry and a bit of coffee, too, in what strikes me as quite a complex package of aromas.

On the palate, Utopian's sweetness is delicate and the mouthfeel quite viscous, like a dessert wine.  There’s a sherry-like flavor that’s pretty incredible and the finish is looong with a note of coffee mocha in it.  It's really nice paired with almonds - you could even pour this over vanilla ice cream or a have it with pound cake.  Once again a very nice acidity is present.

Desire is a beautiful deep ruby color.  The nose again has a firm underpinning of honey aroma with a pretty straightforward display of the fruit used in making this melomel - black currant, black cherry and blueberry.  The palate is dominated by the currant to the degree that it bears a striking similarity to cassis.  It's not as viscous as Wild, but it definitely sits very full in the mouth.  The 16.7% alcohol content means it's a fairly stiff drink, at least in the realm of wine.  There's good acidity here, but I don't think I could bring myself to eat while savoring the texture and flavor of Desire. Well, maybe some chocolate.  Desire beat out 352 other wines in a New England competition.

The golden mead called Sensual shows a whole honeycomb full of honey aroma.   That’s no surprise, since it is a traditional mead, made only from wildflower honey, water and yeast.  The palate is dripping with honey, too.  Once again, a resounding acidity is present and the finish is very long and ridiculously satisfying.  The taste of pure honey is all that remains after a drink, and it’s there for quite a while.  The alcohol level for Sensual is 15.3% abv.  It's the simplest of the four featured here, but it may be my favorite.

Once again one of the American states brings mead to Wine Country, and once again I am floored by the quality.


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WINE COUNTRY: KENTUCKY - ELK CREEK VINEYARDS

"Fine wine from the great Commonwealth of Kentucky."  That's the banner on the Elk Creek Vineyards website, showing their pride in the wines grown and produced in the rolling hills near Owenton, about an hour from Lexington, Louisville and Cincinnati.  What's more, they claim to be the largest winery in the state better known for bourbon and horses than wine.

The story of the wine industry in the Bluegrass State is an interesting one, and it goes back to the very beginning of the wine industry in America.

The Kentucky Wine website says Kentucky was "home to the first commercial vineyard in the United States, and once producer of more than half the nation's grape and wine output."

That first vineyard was in Lexington, on the Kentucky River.  Swiss winemaker Jean-Jacques Dufour sailed over in 1798 to find new land for grape growing.  He was the winemaker for the Marquis de Lafayette.  Dufour bought 600 acres and dubbed it "The First Vineyard."  According to Kentucky Wine, his first vintage in 1803 went to none other than Thomas Jefferson.

By the late 1800s, Kentucky was the third largest producer in America.  Prohibition, of course, killed Kentucky's wine industry, and wineries weren't legal again until 1976!  Now there are over 50 wineries in Kentucky.

Time and Prohibition took their toll in The First Vineyard, as it fell into oblivion.  Reconstruction of that vineyard began in 2002.  In 2008, 40 Cape grapevines were planted.  They are said to be the grapes Dufour first planted there, and are also known by the name of Alexander.  The present owners have since planted Riesling, Norton and Vignoles vines.

The great blog The Other 46 featured a nice video from Kentucky Wine, which I have borrowed here.

Elk Creek Vineyard's Estate Cabernet Franc 2008 is the second vintage of this wine from Elk Creek.  Cab Franc is considered by the University of Kentucky to be difficult to grow and somewhat susceptible to cold weather

It says on the wine's label, "Kentucky Grown," and the folks at Elk Creek are quite proud of that.  The wine has a most reasonable 13.2% alcohol content.

Medium ruby in color, Elk Creek's Cab Franc boasts a nose so fruity it’s almost perfumed.  Extreme blueberry aromas, red plums, cassis, vanilla spice and a touch of cinnamon all compete for attention.  Throw in a little pencil lead and you’d have a fine impersonation of a Napa Cab.

The taste seems a little hot at first, but after proper time to breathe it settles down very well.  On the palate I find all that fruit my nose got acquainted with, plus a little trace of bell pepper.  The green, or herbal notes really come forth on the finish, which is a lengthy and satisfying one.

After enjoying this great expression of Kentucky fruit, it's easy to see why Elk Creek Vineyards has so much pride in their heritage and their product.


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WINE COUNTRY: COLORADO - CANYON WIND CELLARS

The wine industry in Colorado began in 1890, when then-governor George Crawford planted 60 acres of grapes and other fruit along Rapid Creek, near Palisade.  There was modest growth in grape growing and winemaking until you-know-what.  Prohibition killed many states' wine industries.  In Colorado, the bell tolled early, as the state passed its own Prohibition statute in 1916 - predating the national law by four years.  All the grapevines were pulled up at that time in favor of fruit orchards.  It wasn't until the late 1960s that grapes and wineries began reappearing in the state.

Norman Christianson was a geologist who made a career of mineral exploration before becoming a vintner.  He founded Canyon Wind Cellars in 1991.  A family-owned estate winery, Canyon Wind employs Napa winemaker Robert Pepi, who oversees the winemaking work of Jay Christianson.

Canyon Wind Cellars is located in the Grand Valley AVA, in Palisade, Colorado east of Grand Junction north of the Colorado River.  The high altitude location offers their grapes hot days and cool nights in which to ripen in the sandstone soil.

The Christiansons are proud of their winery's greenness.  In the vineyard, sustainable practices are observed: no herbicides are used and only organic pesticides when needed.  A gravity flow system gets the wine to the barrel cellar using no electricity.

Canyon Wind Wines

I received three wines to sample.  Two of them are from Canyon Wind's 47-Ten series - a Pinot Grigio/Chardonnay blend and a Merlot rosé - and a Petit Verdot from their varietal line.

47-Ten White 2010

The name of the 47-Ten series refers to the altitude of the vineyards, 4,710 feet.  That’s Rocky Mountain high.  60% of the wine is Pinot Grigio from the Cliffside Vineyard while the remaining 40% is Chardonnay from the Riverside Vineyard.  At 13.6% abv, this wine does not bring the heat.

The nose shows lovely floral notes and honeydew on a somewhat earthy background.  There are melons and peaches on the palate with a shading of yeasty minerality.  It’s really quite a delicious white, with a zesty acidity.  There’s plenty here to make it useful at the lunch or dinner table.

The mouthfeel is nice and full, and the nose and palate both show a bit of spiciness and vanilla.  I was surprised to learn this is an unoaked effort - but the Pinot Grigio was aged sur lie in stainless steel for six months before being blended with the au natural Chardonnay.  This explains the rich feel of this wine.  (When the dead yeast cells - lees - fall to the bottom of the vat after fermentation, the wine is left in contact with the lees for a time to impart a richness and yeasty flavor.)

Put a chill on the 47-Ten White, and you have a perfect companion on the deck this summer.

47-Ten Rosé 2010

Another from Canyon Wind's 47-Ten line, this rosé is such a deep pink it’s almost red.  Made from 100% Merlot, taken completely from Canyon Wind’s Riverside Vineyard, this wine is produced entirely in stainless steel.

The nose comes on like a fruit truck overturned.  Fresh, ripe strawberries and cherries abound on the nose and palate, and it’s all fruit - no candy.  It’s a wonderfully dry rosé with a nearly astounding level of acidity.  I wouldn’t pair it with steak, not because I don’t think it could stand up it, but because I like a red wine with beef.  I wouldn’t think twice about having this wine with a grilled pork chop.  At 12.3% abv, it doesn’t hit so hard that you have to worry about the second glass.

Petit Verdot 2008

This blend of Petit Verdot and a two-percent splash of Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced entirely from Canyon Wind’s Riverside Vineyard.  In the original planting for the vineyard in 1991, it was thought two blocks of Merlot from different nurseries were put in the ground.  It turned out that one block was not Merlot, and it wasn’t until eleven years later - with the help of genetic fingerprinting - that the mystery block was determined to be Petit Verdot.  A low-intervention vinification leads to 22 months in French and American oak.

Petit Verdot usually plays a supporting role in wines.  Indeed, even this grape - during its time in the Twilight Zone - was used for blending.  In this wine Petit Verdot gets to sit in the driver's seat and Cabernet Sauvignon has to ride shotgun.

The wine’s color is deep, dark red, but light does get through.  On the nose, immediately upon pouring, there is a strong whiff of alcohol.  That does not remain for long.  In fact, the wine settles down very nicely in short order.  The alcohol content is only 13.4% abv, so it was a bit of a surprise to find it so forceful at first.  Other elements vie for my attention in much the same way.  One whiff is full of amazing fruit - cassis and blueberry, jammy as can be - while another has campfire smoke and creosote on it.  It’s like a fireworks show for the nose.

There’s a lovely greenness in the flavor profile and it’s unmistakable even amid all the intense fruit flavors.  The wine has a medium-full mouthfeel and a firm tannic structure.  It does not lack acidity and shows plenty of the earth in which the grapes were grown.  Behind it all is a freshness that makes me think of a mountain stream - an unusual quality in a red wine, at least in my experience.

Our thanks go to Canyon Wind Cellars for contributing these wines and becoming an able representative for Wine Country Colorado.


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WINE COUNTRY: NEBRASKA - BIG COTTONWOOD WINERY

The wine industry in Nebraska began in the late 1800s, but never really got a major foothold.  What was left of the Nebraska wine industry after Prohibition was decimated by a huge blizzard in 1940.  There's an interesting story about that storm here.

Nebraska's first winery of the new era didn't open until 1994 and there are a couple dozen on the books now.  There are no AVAs designated for Nebraska, but the University of Nebraska - Lincoln has a viticulture program.

Deb and Rick Barnett are the proprietors of Big Cottonwood Vineyards and Winery, a small farm winery located in the rolling hills of northeastern Nebraska four miles west of Tekamah and about 43 miles north of Omaha.

Big Cottonwood uses estate grown fruit as well as grapes from nearby Nebraska vineyards.  They rely heavily upon grapes which are suited to cold weather - Frontenac, Seyval, Brianna, St. Vincent, De Chaunac, St. Croix, Vignoles and Prairie Star.

The Barnetts say Big Cottonwood is the only Nebraska winery they know of which makes a méthode champenoise sparkling wine.  It's made from Brianna, a fairly new grape variety which can survive the brutal winters and is found mainly in Nebraska.

Their line known as The Pelicans are wines made as a tribute to Lewis and Clark's westward exploration over 200 years ago.  There is a mural commemorating the trek on the side of the VFW hall in Tekamah.  I like this facet of Nebraska wine, as the Wine Country series dabbles a bit in history, too.  We are usually restricted more or less to the grape history of America.

The pelican tie-in results from the fact that the Lewis and Clark expedition stopped along the Missouri river east of Tekamah and shot a pelican there in order to measure it.  That's how it was back in the pioneer days - shoot first and break out the tape measure later.

Big Cottonwood Winery was kind enough to supply two wines from their Pelican line as the Nebraska entry to Now And Zin's Wine Country series.

Prudent Pelican

This white wine is a blend of Brianna and Prairie Star.  Brianna is a hybrid grape developed by Wisconsin grape breeder Elmer Swenson, who also developed Prairie Star and St Croix.

It has a lovely golden color and the nose shows a honeyed herbaceousness.  The wine is off dry with a medium mouthfeel.  Flavors of dried pineapple and banana - are carried along on a vibrant acidity.  I’d love some shrimp or a swordfish steak with this.

Saintly Pelican

This red table wine is a blend of St. Vincent and St. Croix - another pair of hybrid grapes - hence the "sainted" name.

Medium ruby in the glass, it's not so dark that I can’t see through it.  The nose has a rubber aroma and a strong scent of mint.  An unusual spice aroma wafts in and out, and there’s a note of brown sugar.  To say the least, it's quite a striking and distinct aroma package.

On the palate, it’s just as distinctive.  Very dry and rough hewn, the tannins are not too tough to handle, but they do speak up.  Flavors of sour cherry draped in tart raspberry make me want to pair it with grilled chicken or venison sausage.  A ferric quality persists into the finish, which is lengthy.

Both of these Nebraska wines from Big Cottonwood are very different tastes for a palate accustomed to wine made from vinifera grapes.  This is part of the American wine experience, though.  I’m glad I had the chance to get to know these grapes a bit.  I hope you'll get that chance, too.



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WINE COUNTRY: NEVADA - PAHRUMP VALLEY WINERY

Still striving to taste 50 wines in 50 states, Now And Zin's Wine Country series gambles on a Zin from Nevada.

Nevada's wine industry is one of the tiniest in America.  There are only three wineries in the state and a half dozen additional vineyards.  At one time not too long ago, there was only one winery in Nevada, and it was the Pahrump Valley Winery, about an hour outside of Las Vegas.

Wine grapes are very hard to grow in Nevada, as the weather is not hospitable.  Depending upon where you are, it's either too hot or too cold.  The University of Nevada at Reno studies grape growing in an effort to stimulate that industry for the state.  They feel the grape-growing areas in Washington and Colorado are similar in climate to the northern part of Nevada.

Pahrump Valley Winery is in the southern part of the state, where temperatures are very hot throughout the long summer and can get quite cold during the winter.

Pahrump Valley Winery was established in 1990 in the town that bills itself as "The Heart of the New Old West."  Besides the winery, Pahrump is probably most noted for its legal brothels.  Pahrump Valley's 2005 Nevada Ridge Zinfandel was the first Nevada-grown red wine produced in the state.  They made 100 cases of that vintage and plan to produce 1200+ cases of wine in 2011.  They also have the first-ever Nevada Port aging presently.

Pahrump Valley does utilize some California and Oregon grapes, but the Zinfandel is all Nevada and they proudly say it represents their terroir well.

Bill and Gretchen Loken - the winemakers and proprietors - give special thanks on the label of the ‘08 Nevada Ridge Zin to Jerry Nelson and Bob and Roni Regan, who are listed as contributing growers.
　
The Nevada Ridge 2008 Zinfandel is a medium ruby color I can see through.  Wild cherry on the nose is joined by plenty of vanilla spice notes.  There is quite a bit of alcohol on the nose, and on the palate at first.  That’s surprising since it carries a 14.2% abv number, not huge by Zinfandel standards.  The heat does settle down nicely after a bit of time, though.  I’d recommend decanting for a couple of hours.

The wine shows big, bright berry flavors; there’s a raspberry layer over the wild cherry I smell, and a dusty aspect laces the fruit.  A flavor of black tea lasts into the finish very pleasantly.  It’s a fairly lengthy finish, too.

The mouthfeel is a little lighter than I am used to with California Zinfandels, but in the hot desert summertime, that’s probably a welcome attraction.  I can even see drinking the Nevada Ridge Zin with a bit of a chill on it - say, at a barbecue.


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WINE COUNTRY: MONTANA - HIDDEN LEGEND WINERY MEAD

When the Now And Zin Wine Country series kicked off - I'm trying to taste 50 wines from 50 states - Montana was one of the states I feared might not be represented too well.  The wine industry in Montana is very small - the winery count was 13 earlier this year - and the weather is just not conducive to growing traditional wine grapes.

An article from Fresh Vino reports that there is work being done in Montana to concentrate on cold weather grapes like Marquette, Frontenac, Traminette and Marechal Foch.  They are getting some help from Pat McGlynn, who is the agricultural extension agent at Montana State University.  She comes to Montana with experience at Cornell University and New York's Finger Lakes area, so she knows about cold-weather grape growing.

Many climatically-challenged areas make tasty wine from other types of fruit, like cherries, peaches and bluberries.  Some take a different approach altogether.  Mead.

King Tut drank mead, as did Eric The Red and Queen Elizabeth I.  The story goes that someone stumbled upon a beehive that had been out in the rain.  The honey inside had fermented, and that was the beginning of mead.  Mead is sometimes known as honeywine.  Rather than fermenting grapes, or other fruit, it's honey which undergoes fermentation and becomes "nectar of the gods," or "man's oldest drink."  Joe Schultz says people were making mead a thousand years before grapes came into play.

Joe Schultz at Hidden Legend Winery makes award-winning mead using Montana honey which is not boiled, thereby avoiding the scorched flavors he says are common in meads.  The Hidden Legend mead is all natural, no sulfites are added and Schultz describes his mead as "straddling the fence between dry grape wine and traditional mead."  His meads all carry a modest alcohol content of 12.5% abv.

Mead can dry, sweet, still or sparkling.  It can also be mixed with fruits or spices for different flavor variations.  Hidden Legend Winery makes all kinds of mead.  The two varieties they supplied for the Wine Country series are Wild Chokecherry and Spiced Honey Mead.

Hidden Legend Spiced MeadLabelled as "honeywine with spices" this beverage carries a suggestion that you "heat it with a stick of cinnamon or serve it over ice with a sprig of mint."  It’s a beautiful reddish-brown color, rich, dark and inviting in the glass.  The nose is fascinating, with honey dripping from it and spices coloring, but not covering those notes.  The aromas remind me first of a Bit-O-Honey candy, then of cinnamon and allspice, and finally a waxy scent wafting up.  The honey aromas aren’t really sweet - they are reminiscent of dark honey, like avocado honey or even chestnut honey.

On the palate, the flavor of the honey comes forward first, without the sweetness.  This is an off-dry honeywine with a good level of acidity and nice flavors of the spice rack which make themselves known, but don’t take over in a "holiday beverage" sort of way.  This is really tasty!

Hidden Legend Wild Chokecherry Mead

This mead is made from 60% honey mead and 40% chokecherry wine.  I’ve never been to Montana, so I was unfamiliar with that fruit.  It sounds like a cousin to Frankenberry, the made-up breakfast cereal fruit from childhood.

According to Schultz, the chokecherry is a wild cherry which grows throughout Montana and does not turn sweet until after a frost.  Schultz says Montanans have been using chokecherries to make syrup and jam for years.  He thought it would be nice to blend some chokecherry wine with his honey mead.

Its color is even redder than the Spiced Mead - a translucent cherry-red.  There’s a little more of an herbal aroma on the nose, but the honey is still fully present and a layer of cherries joins in to form a truly beautiful  bouquet.

The wine tastes much drier than the spiced version.  The palate shows a blast of cherry Starburst candy, but in a completely dry framework.  Great acidity leaves my mouth watering.  I can’t help but think this chokecherry mead would pair very well with a chicken breast or pork chop.

When tasting a wine, I look mainly for four things: color, aroma, taste and acidity.  The Wild Chokecherry Mead scores well on all four points.  An amazing red color is joined by an intense nose and flavor package, all highlighted by a wonderful feeling of acidity in the mouth.  This  mead was truly a surprise for me, and it was a delight to drink.

The Hidden Legend Wild Chokecherry Mead won a gold medal in the Tasters Guild International Wine Judging, and after tasting it, I don’t wonder why.