Great Wines from Places You May Have Never Heard Of!
It has been a really long time since I have updated this column. I guess what used to be little known out of the way wine regions are rapidly becoming main stream do to the general high quality of all wines from everywhere. But, we just had an interesting forgotten wine from our cellar that I though deserved a bit of attention. see below This is an open ended column which I will continue to expand as we taste more and more great wines from places that are not well known as producers of quality wine.
TASTED 1/23/2023
Wow, I haven’t added to this column in over two years! So, if you are a regular reader, you only need to read this post. Everything else is pretty old but nonetheless, if you haven’t read them, they may be of interest. So, for today we opened a bottle of Six Mile Creek Winery Ithaca Red (Red Hybrids) Finger Lakes NY ($12.99 at the winery) which we picked up on our most recent trip to the Finger Lakes, so although it is non vintage, I would guess the grapes are probably about 2018 or 2019. This is actually the very first Finger Lakes winery Alice and I ever visited some 30+ years ago. The winery was quite new then and the owner/founder Roger Battistella spoke quite frankly with us. He stated that his site was less than ideal for viticulture so they would be growing early hybrids exclusively and buying most of their grapes to produce the much more popular vinifera based wines. He chose the site because it is the first winery one encounters getting off the interstate at the Ithaca / Finger Lakes exit which is exactly why we stopped there. Smart man. Today almost all of the varietal wines produced in the Finger Lakes are vinifera based and hybrid based wines are few and far between. As a winemaker who at the time made hybrids exclusively, I had been seeking wineries that grew and produced hybrid grape wines. Six Mile Creek has a very extensive menu of wine offerings these days with all of the varietal wines made from purchased grapes and all of the generic and whimsical wines made from hybrids that they grow. Ithaca Red really surprised us. It is much more sophisticated and elegant than I would have expected. Though lighter to medium bodied, the hybrid grip and intensity is there giving it both a sense of its terroir and enough character to make it very appealing. It is far more interesting than most of the vinifera based wines we encountered while touring. It is a real shame that New Yorkers (and Michiganders) have an attitude against hybrids. Other states, such as Missouri have whole heartedly endorsed and supported hybrids. Why grow grapes that make so so wine when hybrids on just about any half way decent site make excellent wine?
TASTED 11/8/2020
Our neighbor’s daughter lives in the Finger Lakes, one of Alice’s and my favorite places on earth, and routinely brings us wines that we cannot buy in Michigan. Of course, no matter where you live you’ve heard of the Finger Lakes, but, very very little is shipped out of state. Almost all of the fine wine produced in New York is consumed in New York. That’s no small feat considering the size of the industry there. If you back out Wild Irish Rose and Manischewitz, New York is still among the top three or four producers nationally. Including all wines made in New York, it is number two second only to California. So, we were enjoying fried fondue tonight with beef, chicken, shrimp, brussels sprouts, califlower, mushrooms, tater tots, various tangy sauces and opened up a 2014 Anyela’s Vineyard New York Overlay (Merlot/Cab Franc/Cab Sauv/Pinot Noir) NY (abv 12.7%) about $18. The appellation is New York suggesting that some of the grapes may have come from the Buffalo area or the Hudson River area, but, on the website, it states the source as Finger Lakes. At any rate, the wine is very sophisticated. This is one of those wines to stump every one in a game of “20 questions”. There is clearly a northern climate freshness making one think of the Pacific NW yet, the balance and ripe, soft mouthfeel suggests something warmer, like maybe Lodi California. It has none of the obvious markers of Eastern wines. It is certainly not high acid nor overly tannic. This is a wine that when you put it on the table, it mysteriously disappears and you need a second bottle. Though hardly a wine you’d call “big”, it is not unsubstantial either. I guess, perfect balance would be the best descriptor; ideal for a mixed bag of flavors from fried fondue.
TASTED 10/30/2020
I went to the cellar tonight for a bedtime glass of wine and as is often the case these days, focused my search on wines with a tag on them. All of the wines which are getting old OR are of some special significance, like an odd varietal, odd region etc. I have tagged to be sure I don’t forget about them. However, this particular wine was tagged as simply “Tempranillo”. It was in the section with Misc. California Varietals. So, I thought I was drinking a California Tempranillo. I think this wine was an extra bottle left over from a Tasters Guild judging. If the first wine is good, there is no need to open the second bottle so when all is said, done and recorded, the judges are encouraged to take some of the unopened bottles home to enjoy later. When I opened it, it struck me that Tempranillo from California rarely tastes like wine from Spain, but, this one does. In fact, we had just enjoyed a bottle of CVNE Reserva a couple of nights ago and this bottle from the cellar had many of the same characteristics. It offered up a very dense ripe black fruit aroma, a mildly acidic mouthfeel and a slight sense of the terra cotta one experiences with aged Rioja. I only had one short glass that evening. The next day, Alice poured herself a glass and so did I. Remarkably, it was nothing like what I remembered from the previous evening. The wine was overtly fruity, overtly acidic, no taste or smell of earth or oak, and a wild flavor not unlike early Michigan hybrids such as Marquette! I didn’t say anything, but, immediately suspected that Alice had somehow switched my glass with some of my own Michigan Vintner wine to see if I was paying attention. Well, she was innocent and I’ll be damned if the more I tasted it, the more it made me think of Michigan early hybrid wine. So I looked closely at the label expecting the appellation to be a relatively obscure California appellation like Temecula and as I read, I was astonished to learn that the wine was from a winery in Georgia! It does not state where the grapes were grown, however. Maybe/probably California?? 2013 Chateau Elan AMERICAN Tempranillo US (14.5% ABV) about $60 for the current vintage really makes me wonder about varietal character vs terroir. Not knowing whether the grapes were vinified in Georgia or simply brought in already bottled adds to the mystery. My guess is that because the wine really does not taste anything like a wine grown, vinified and bottled west of the Rockies, it came to Georgia as grapes or juice and fermented at the winery where an entirely different cast of microbiological characters acted out. By and large it is a nice wine. If Alice had switched glasses, I would have been proud to call it my own.
TASTED 05/10/2018
Besides traveling all over the place and stopping just about anywhere that grapes are growing and wine is being made, Alice and I also participate in numerous wine judgings. The most important one is one which is put on by Joe Borrello and Tasters Guild. Over a thousand wines from every corner of North and South America as well as a few from overseas are assembled for a couple dozen judges to taste blind and evaluate. Last year, my sister and brother-in-law who live in Ann Arbor and like me are U of M Alums, decided to put on a dinner and wine tasting of foods and wines from the states of the Big 10 (now 14, actually). It was Alice’ and my job to come up with wines to match everything from Maryland Crab Cakes to Buckeyes. Fortunately, every winery entering a wine into the competition, sends in two bottles in case one is corked or flawed by some other taint that quite possibly only affected one bottle. We then taste the second bottle and throw out our score on the first flawed bottle. Generally, of the thousand plus bottles, less than a hundred require a second bottle, so there are lots of leftover wines which the judges and organizers may select to take with them when the judging is over.
In this instance, Alice and I were looking for wines from New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. We ended up bringing a lot more wine than we could possibly use assuming that many of the wines would be of dreadful quality and we’d need to bring the second string “off the bench” to fill in deficiencies in the “starting line-up”.
To our amazement, without exception, all of the wines were not only acceptable, but, the majority quite good and several exceptional!
Needless to say, there was a lot of wine left over, that Alice, myself, my sister and brother-in-law brought home to enjoy later. One of the wines we opened just the other day was a Wollersheim Winery “Prairie Fume” Seyval Blanc that we enjoyed with crab cakes that I made from the jumbo lump crab meat that they sell at Costco and Sam’s Club. Who knew that they are making great wines in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin? Based on the lot number placed on the bottle by the Tasters Guild organizers, we know that it sold for less than $10 per bottle. Imagine that! We were both taken aback by the pure clear Bosque pear-like fruit, perfect balance and refreshingly clean citrus-like fruit in the finish. Though it is 1.5% residual sugar, the fresh acidity perfectly balances it so this wine comes across as neither acidic nor sweet. Just perfect!
On our last trip to the New York Finger Lakes we stopped at a few wineries that we’ve driven past dozens of times but for some reason, never took the time to belly up to the bar. One such winery located just a stone’s throw from where we rented a cottage about a decade ago, is Anthony Road Wine Company. If you are driving up the west side of Seneca Lake, you can’t miss it. The winery is not named after anyone named Anthony, but rather a road, Anthony Road to be precise. Living on Anthony Road, there is an elderly gentleman named Tony who frequents the winery and has expressed his desire for wines that aren’t so dry and “serious” tasting. After years and years of hearing this from Tony and other patrons, the winemaker decided to produce a medium red rose with about 3-4% residual sugar and a pleasant spritz on the palate. Not Champagne like, maybe about two atmospheres of pressure for a rapidly disappearing mousse that just prickles the palate a little bit. In homage to the old gentleman, it is called Tony’s Bubbly Sparkling Red Wine even though it is neither really red nor really sparkling. Who knows why my dear wife put it in our box at the winery, she must have liked the story, but it’s been sitting chilled in our garage refrigerator since November. The other night, we were having seared Scottish salmon with dill and Dirk Hoffius’ (yes, the former GR judge) salmon seasoning with a green salad. We couldn’t have selected a better wine to refresh our palates had we been confronted with all the roses of Southern Europe. The sugar sounds high, but, again, fresh crisp strawberry-like fruit, plenty of fresh acidity and the prickle of carbonation all balance it out and really cleanse and stimulate the taste buds. It sells for $14.
Lakewood Vineyards Finger Lakes 2016 Long Stem Red produced just north of Watkins Glenn is a gem. The winery claims this wine is "jammy" and it does not disapoint. No one will ever describe this fat devil as "subtle". If I had 10 guesses, I would have not guessed NY. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE NY wines. But, I normally expect fairlly lean, bright, fruity, fresh, nervous, edgy, gripping reds and brilliantly floral whites one can only describe as vigerous. This one is fat, jammy, extrememly dark with ruby highlights and finishes with ripe supple red berry and black cherry essence. The acid/tannin/sugar balance is just right. My score 17+/20. An absolute steal at $10!!
To anyone who lives in or around Maryland, my inclusion of this next wine among "places you may have never heard of" may seem insulting. But, because of the Michigan legislature's general disdain for artisinal wineries, most of my local readership has never tasted a wine from Maryland and may not even know that it is a hotbed of quality. For dinner, we were about to enjoy our favorite Costco rib-eye shoulder pinwheel steaks and needed something red. So from the many Tasters Guild wines we've garnered, I found a Royal Rabbit 2015 "Il Barone" Barbera from Parkton MD. Alice was first to taste it and she exclaimed "RHUBARB"! Although she has always had a better palate than I, and especially now, post-cancer, I still don't always believe her. She was spot on! Yes, bright red exuberantly fresh rhubarb boasting lots of other nuances such as red plums, prickly pears, watermelon, green tomatos and cilantro. This is not your grandfather's Italian Piedmont Barbera, but, indeed the good folks of the Appellation Mountain Piedmont can be proud of this one. It was delightful with steak, but, I think with a slight chill, seared tuna, salmon, or nicoise salad might take advantage of the fresh fruit flavors even more. The price isn't quite as exciting as the wine itself, however. They get $25 at the winery.
Of course, anyone who lives in or has traveled to New York's Finger Lakes region knows that no wine lover should ever regard this region as a place "you didn't know made great wine". But, other than those wines from the late Konstantine Frank, none of the other great wines from the 300+ wineries makes it to Michigan. So, maybe you didn't know that since the 1960's, New York has been the leader in quality and innovation among the Great Lakes wineries. If you do visit the Finger Lakes (which I strongly advise), don't be mislead by the party atmosphere in the Hazlitt tasting room. Yes, you are just as likely to belly up to the bar next to a wild bearded biker quaffing down Red Cat as a Cornell professor sipping Gruner Veltliner, but, this winery takes grape growing and wine making very seriouisly. To me, this is the flagship winery for the region's flagship grape; Riesling.
Crab cakes with ancient greens (just finished the remainder of the 3-7 batch today 4-10) has become a lunch staple for us and what could possibly be better than Hazlitt Riesling? I had a bottle of Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards 2012 Riesling Homestead Reserve, Finger Lakes, NY chilling in the garage. Like the great estates of Germany, Hazlitt Riesling ages gracefully and keeps getting better. This 2012 is remarkable in every aspect from the nose of white fleshed peaches and pears to the finish of pure yellow plum and minerals. A wine like this 2012 with a few years of age, starts to show the massive depth in the bouquet to the long lasting pallet impression of light wafts of fussil oil*, clay and limestone. It will compare favorably to any Riesling grown anywhere at any price. There is no let down in quality between this $23 reserve and the $16 regular dry Riesling and the $12 regular semi dry Riesling.
*In case that doesn't sound like a good smell, keep in mind that it is for this smell that people gladly pay $50+ per bottle to enjoy Mosel greats like Scharzhofberger.
At a recent AWS/Tasters Guild wine reception hosted by Dan and Jackie Hansen, I ran into a wine from the UP. Those not from Michigan, might not know that Michigan has a frozen Upper Peninsula on the other side of the Straits of Mackinaw. It's hard enough to grow tomatoes up there let alone grapes. However, the folks are hearty and seem to thrive under the most adverse weather conditions. Jim and Robin Barker planted a vineyard at their home farm in 2015 and bingo, in 2017 they actually picked enough grapes for a few small batches of wine including a wonderful 2017 End of the Road Winery Michigan Marquette ($15). The nose is extremely pure with loads of black cherry, black raspberry and a lively hint of fresh kiwi and lemon zest. It has little of the earthy component that this grape often exhibits. The finish is just as fruity and fresh as the nose and easy to like. BRAVO!!! Who would have thought that anyone could grow grapes and make quality wine in the UP? If any of the wines listed above fit the discription of "wines from places you never heard of", surely this winery at the end of Barker Road near Germfask MI clearly takes the cake!
Another wine from up north, but, way way west in the warmer Pacific climate, is the 2016 No. 99 Wayne Gretzky Okanagan The Great Red (meritage blend of Merlot, Cab Franc and Malbec) British Columbia VQA (about $18). We also encountered this wine at the Hansen's AWS/TG reception. I include it not because the Okanagan is that off beat, it is after all, one of the most important wine regions in North America more inline with the US Pacific NW than other emerging regions of the midwest in terms of quality. Wines from this region typically exhibit the freshness of northern climate wines with the richness, ripeness and power of the other West Coast climates. This is no exception with fine deep color, powerfully ripe black berry fruit, a dense composty complex bouquet and a fat, glass coating fruit filled mouth feel. The finish is several seconds long yet leaves the mouth feeling very fresh and clean. A fine effort from our neighbors to the north!
That’s all for now. Keep an eye on this column as it will continue to expand as we encounter great wines from places you may not have even known produced wine.
Enjoy in Good Health, Brian Cain, the Michigan Vintner
