The 2019 WineAmerica Wines of America Reception

After a week of meetings and lobbying, WineAmerica held its annual Wines of America Reception in coordination with the Congressional Wine Caucus; an event that features a wide selection of wines from across the United States. This year the states represented crossed the map from Georgia to Vermont, Texas to Michigan, and Arizona to Washington.  The wine grapes continued to expand across regions as there was Gruner Veltliner from Pennsylvania (Galen Glen Vineyard & Mazza Vineyards) and Michigan (St. Julian Winery); Albarino from Virginia (Ingleside Vineyards) and Washington (Maryhill Winery); Blaufrankish-Lemberger from New York (Fox Run Vineyards), Indiana (Huber Orchard & Winery), and Colorado (Carlson Vineyards); Viognier from Idaho (Cinder) and Texas (Blue Ostrich Winery & Vineyard & Becker Vineyards).  Cinsault is now grown in Texas-(William Chris Vineyards) and three Russian grape varieties are found in Maryland's Big Cork Vineyards Russian Kiss. This an off-dry wine we keep well stocked in the cellar.

Other notable wines from the other 46 were Vermont's La Garagista Damejeanne Marquette, Big Cork Vineyards BCV Reserve Petit Verdot, the sparkling wines from the Illinois Sparkling Co., the Chardonnay Ice Wine from Ohio's Vermilion Valley Vineyards, the Pinot Noir Rose from Michigan's Chateau Grand Traverse, and the Arche Vineyard & Winery Syrah from Texas.

There are also a few wines I'd like to highlight from Oregon and California. The Brooks Winery Amycas is a delicious blend of Reisling, Muscat, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Gewurztraminer. That wine needs to come East.  And Sonoma's Saini Vineyards used an interesting blend in their Valentina Marie Rose - Grenache, Carignane, and Sangiovese. Dry and flavorful.  Saini also provided a contrast in vineyard sites pouring Old Vine Zinfandel from the Apple Block and Olive Block; the later is deeper and bigger whereas the Apple Block is earthier.  Cheers.

The United Grapes of America - Minnesota's Alexis Bailly Vineyard Voyageur

Minnesota wine was present last month at the annual Wine America Congressional Tasting through the Alexis Bailly Vineyard Voyageur ($29). The wine is a blend of Minnesota grown Marechal Foch, Leon Millot, and Frontenac. The first two grapes are French hybrids whereas the later was developed by the University of Minnesota in 1996 as an extreme cold hardy wine grape for northern growers. The wine itself, as well as the winery, is named after their 4th great grandfather, Alexis Bailly, who along with a handful of other French/Canadian pioneers (voyageurs) paddled their way through the St. Lawrence Seaway to Hastings, Minnesota. And the Marechal Foch and Leon Millot were part of the original vineyard when, in 1973, David Bailly planted the fist modern vineyard in the North Star State.

StarChefs.com: The United Grapes of America

The vineyard was inspired by not only Bailley's interest in wine but also a desire to start a business where he could deduct wine trips to Europe. I can relate to that sympathy. In 1967 he tasted the Boordy Vineyards Red from the historic Maryland winery and realized European styled wines could be made in the east. Further research lead him to Millot and Foch and over time he concluded that "the Léon Millot has made the best wine and the Maréchal Foch has been the most winter hardy".

The Voyageur is dark, both in color and black fruit forward flavors; stressing the fruit forward nature of this wine. Ten months of oak treatment comes in play during the mid-palate and outweighs the fruit, whereas the wine finishes with plenty of acids and a slight tannic coating. This wine shows well, a bit pricey in the world market, but more reasonable in the drink local market. Cheers.

The United Grapes of America - Kentucky's StoneBrook Winery Vidal Blanc

The annual Wine America Congressional Tasting delivered once again with a new state wine, in this case, Kentucky and the StoneBrook Winery Vidal Blanc ($13). The winery is located in the western part of the Bluegrass state, just south of Cincinnati, in the Ohio River Valley AVA. This viticultural area is the second largest in the U.S. spanning portions of four states (Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky) and encompassing 26,000 square miles. (The Upper Mississippi River Valley AVA is the largest at 29,914 square miles.) This region also possesses a long history of grape growing reaching back to the early 1820s with Catawba and Isabella being the featured grapes.  In most cases French hybrids have now replaced these native Labrusca grapes.

StarChefs.com: The United Grapes of America

StoneBrook Winery is a 5th generation farm composed of two farmsteads dating back to the 1870s and 1890s. Their tasting room is located in the remodeled Kool House originally constructed in the 1890s. Their Vidal Blanc was the winery's first estate wine and is fresh and floral on the nose, transitions to a sweet pear and grapefruit flavor finishing with decent acids to balance the sugar.  I'm sure this is their best seller. Cheers.

“Taste the Wines of America” Congressional Wine Reception

Last week I was able to attend the “Taste the Wines of America” Congressional Wine Reception, which coincides with the annual Board of Directors & Membership Meeting of WineAmerica, and organization which "...serves the interests of wineries in all 50 states by leveraging its formidable grassroots lobbying strength to benefit the entire industry.".  The reception is a unique event that allows guests to sample wines from throughout the United States (see list below) and particularly those made from non-standard grape varieties.

 For instance, we sampled a few Chambourcin - notably our friends at Port of Leonardtown Winery (MD) as well as Glacial Till Vineyard & Winery (NE). In fact there were several Nebraska wines with James Arthur Vineyards and Soaring Wings Vineyard Dragon's Red from Frontenac - being two more to follow. Texas was represented including Blanc du Bois ( Chisholm Trail Winery Belle Star Lone Oak Winery) as well as our favorite the McPherson Cellars “Tre Colore” Red Wine. Temparnillo seems to be a popular grape in the Lone Star state as two wineries brought some to share: Landon Winery & Pedernales Cellars. Tennessee's Arrington Vineyards contributed their Petite Noir made from the Noiret grape - another Cornell University variety with Steuben as a parent. The wine is interesting, raspberry with a little smoke finishing with smooth tannins.

But perhaps the most unique non-standard grape was the Valiant Vineyards Winery Wild Grape Wine - actually produced from wild grapes. Proprietor Eldon Nygaard uses native vitis riparia (riverbank grape) that grow along the rivers and streams in the South Dakota and being native grapes are very cold-hardy and disease resistant. Nygaard's property resides near the banks of the Missouri River and while chatting he explained how Lewis & Clark camped on his site. He also showed us pictures of his Wild Grape Wine in wine shops in Paris selling for over 70 Euro. You don't have to pay that much in dollars - it's closer to $30 domestically. The wine is quite good, somewhat jammy as are many native grapes, but with a chocolate texture and a smooth tail. Very nice. Nygaard was also pouring his Full Throttle Saloon a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Norton - another nice wine

Moving to more traditional grapes, there was plenty of Riesling represented by Colorado, New York, Michigan wineries. The Black Star Farms Arcturos Riesling was a favorite - with the brand being named for the brightest star in the constellation Boötes and the northern celestial hemisphere. Fenn Valley Vineyards Edelzwicker (Riesling and Traminette blend) was another nice wine from the Wolverine State. The Midwest was also represented by other Michigan wineries as well as a couple from Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana's Oliver Winery. Unfortunately no mead. The Northeast was well represented with wines from throughout New York state - from Lake Erie to Long Island. From the later, Cabernet Franc was well represented from the North Fork by Clovis Point Wines, Palmer Vineyards, & Osprey's Dominion Vineyards. From Connecticut, the Jones Winery Woodland White blend was quite nice and we always enjoy the Dornfelder from Presque Isle Wine Cellars (PA).  Heading into Virginia, I had never sample the Lovingston Winery Petit Manseng - giving us another incentive to visit the winery. Needlesstosay, there was quite a few wines being sampled - other favorites included the Colorado Cellars Winery (CO) Gewurztraminer; Gallifant Cellars (AZ) Chenin Blanc; and Stone Hill Winery (MO) Norton & Vignoles.

What about the big three - California,Washington, and Oregon. They were well represented with several Oregon Pinot Noir - all very nice and very similar. L'Ecole No. 41 wines and proprietor, Marty Clubb, came from Washington and his Columbia Valley and Walla Walla Valley wines are always fine. Note to self to start drinking more from the Pacific northwest. And finally their were several California wines with the most interesting being the Bokisch Vineyards & Winery Verdelho and, as always, anything from Cakebread Cellars.

And special thanks to the winemakers who attended, always great to talk to Ron and Mary Bitner from Bitner Vineyards; Jim Ballard James Arthur Vineyards; the Coes from Black Star Farms; Marty Chubb L'Ecole No. 41; and Eldon Nygaard Valiant Vineyards Winery. Cheers.

Tasting the Wines of America

Last night we were invited to the joint WineAmerica & Winegrape Growers of America reception on Capital Hill called "Taste the Wines of America". The event was to recognize the Congressional Wine Caucus, which is bipartisan group of lawmakers aiming to "educate and engage colleagues in legislative and regulatory matters pertaining to the wine community." The reception also coincides with meetings within the wine industry on matters affecting the entire community. But the highlight for most was the reception which featured wines from every region of the country. Most impressive was the large selection of wines from the Other 46. Yes, California, Oregon, Washington, and New York were well represented, but how many times do you get to sample wines from Massachusetts, Iowa, Nebraska, Georgia, Indiana, Arizona....... You get the picture.


We walked in to immediately see the three B's of Virginia representing the Southeast: Barboursville Vineyards, Boxwood Winery, and Breaux Vineyards. Plenty of Viognier and Bordeaux blends available at that table, as well, as wines from Tennessee, Georgia and North Caroline, with Biltmore Estate Winery representing the Tar Heels. We learned that their estate NC wines are made from grapes grown in Polk County, south of Asheville.

We moved next to this year's DrinkLocalWine.com hosts, Colorado Wines, which were part of the Rocky Mountain contingent. Also representing Colorado was Guy Drew from Guy Drew Vineyards in Cortez Colorado who was pouring several of his wines: Viognier, Rose, Riesling, and a very nice Meritage. Another Colorado wine we really enjoyed was the Rhone blend made from Snowy Peaks Winery from Estes Park. Their Grand Valley "Eleve" consists of Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault, and Viognier. Incredible that these grapes can flourish in the Grand Valley. Finally, we met Dr. Ron Bitner, one of the first growers in Idaho and owner of Bitner Vineyards in Caldwell. We enjoyed his Snake River Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve where the grapes are harvested around Thanksgiving. Yes, that late. Frost is obviously a concern, but the vineyards steep slopes allow the cold air to pass easily down the mountain. And we finally got to sample a wine from the famed Arizona Stronghold Vineyards - this the 2009 "Site Archive" Merlot. Hope to follow up with a visit to Arizona wine country this summer. And check out the DLW12 Conference being held April 28th at the Metro State College in Denver. The Twitter tasting of Colorado wines should be very, very interesting.

The next table was the wines from the Northeast, handled by Maryland Wine. We started with the flexible Chambourcin, sampling the Rose from Port of Leonardtown Winery Leonardtown Maryland and the Knob Hall Winery (Clear Spring MD) Cumberland Valley "Le Reve Rouge". This was an interesting take of a Rhone wine, substituting Chambourcin for Syrah and Vidal for Viognier. After tasting some wines from Massachusetts, we found our favorite from North East Pennsylvania: Presque Isle Wine Cellars Dornfelder. There's a nice little micro-climate near Lake Erie which allows vinferia grapes such as Dornfelder, Riesling, Pinot Noir, and even Cabernet Sauvignon to survive.

The Great Lakes were next, featuring wines from Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. We were reminded why Traminette is the state grape of Indiana through Wildcat Creek Winery. Wisconsin was represented by Wollersheim Winery and there were several Michigan wines; yet we couldn't find the L. Mawby Vineyards Cremant Classic sparkling wine. Painful. Someone was monopolizing the goods. But not the ice wine. The Breitenbach Wine Cellar Vidal Blanc Ice Wine is a true ice wine, where the frozen grapes are harvested during the middle of the night to maintain the condensed sugars. Nice.

And then there the wines of the Midwest containing bottles and bottles of unique grapes: Blanc du Bois, Vermentino, Tempranillo, Marquette, Brianna, St. Croix, Norton, Edelweiss, and Vignoles. The table was represented by Missouri Wines, James Arthur Vineyards from Raymond Nebraska, and Fredericksburg Winery from Fredericksburg, Texas. The later was pouring a savory Muscat Canelli and started a trend of nice whites including the McPherson Cellars Rousanne and the Duchman Family Winery Vermentino. These are two clean, food friendly wines. We've mentioned the Stone Hill Winery Norton many times over the years and this night reinforced why that grape should not be overlooked. And then there were the hybrids - many manufactured from the University of Minnesota specifically for cold weather climates. There were the Tassel Ridge Winery Brianna, Marquette, and St. Croix and the James Arthur Vineyards Edelweiss, a sweet wine with a balanced acidity. Yet the easy favorite was the JAV Vignoles - an off dry wine with strong apple flavors and nice acidity. This is one wine I always want to have available; suitable for dry and sweet drinkers.

As for the big four (California, Oregon, Washington, and New York), we were able to sample a little from these tables. For New York, Anthony Road Wine Company stood out with their Cabernet Franc\Lemberger and Pinot Noir; lovely wines. We stuck to Pinot in Oregon and California, first the Willamette Valley Vineyards and King Estate Winery, then the La Crema 2009 Sonoma Coast. Merlot and Viognier were the choices from Washington - from Three Rivers Winery and Novelty Hill Winery respectively. Then there was the leathery wine - the Red Tail Winery SP 2007 Ventura County Syrah - which Andrew Stover recommended. Total earth and leather - so interesting....

Thanks WineAmerica and the Winegrape Growers of America for a nice tasting from across the states. Cheers.