Prejean Dry Gewurztraminer 2006

The Prejean Winery is a favorite stop in the Finger Lakes. Their whites are crisp and tasty. During the Thanksgiving holiday we opened a bottle of their Dry Gewurztraminer.

Gewurztraminer is a spicy, acidic white that pairs very well with turkey and Asian food. This bottle was creamy with a floral nose and fruit flavors. It is bone dry.

The wine is barrel fermented and made with 100 percent estate grown vines. This is a winner and a good choice for discerning lovers of white wine.

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Tannenbaum Trail Event Sold Out

We've been informed by the Ohio Wine Producers Association that tickets for the Tannenbaum Trail winery event have sold out. The Tannenbaum Trail is a self driving tour of 13 outstanding regional wineries. It began last weekend and continues December 11-12 and 18-19. Even if you haven't yet purchased tickets, you can still visit the wineries. So if you planned to do the trail (which stretches from the Geneva area to Conneaut) I'd suggest you still do so. Although you can't get the package price for tastings and some of the other goodies, tastings at each winery are very reasonable.

Debbie Hammond of OWPA points out that there are some great upcoming events on the Vines & Wines wine trail. On February 5-6 and 12-13 the wineries will be hosting the Chocolate is for Lovers Wine Trail. It is the same idea as the Tannenbaum Trail. Visit wineries, sample wines, enjoy appetizers and collect different chocolates. The cost is the same $45 per couple and $35 per single. The Wine 'N Bloom event is in May.

Be sure to view the stories elsewhere on our site for the wineries we visited during our Tannenbaum trip.

Suggested Links: A Wide Web of Wine

Have you noticed our assortment 0f links on the site? I cruise the Web frequently to check other blogs, scout wineries and compare tasting notes. Here are some links I think you’ll enjoy:

On Cellar Tracker you’ll find some great resources including info of wine pairings, aging of wine, cool background on wine barrels and wine bottle sizes. This last item gives you insight on those large format bottles. For example, do you know how many bottles of wine a Salmanazar is equivalent to? The answer is 12. Come to think of it, that would make a great Christmas present!

Another interesting site is Ampelography, a blog by Adam Mahler.  Adam is a wine broker in Toledo and has some thought provoking insights on wine and wine marketing. One article that grabbed my attention recently was Adam’s post, “Another Charity Wine Tasting. Woo hoo.” There are also some great links. Check out the ones to his portfolio of wineries.

Here’s one just for fun: the Silly Tasting Note Generator. Amused by the pompous wine reviews by aficionados? Now you can generate your own. Here’s a sample: “Rich and thick but equally attractive Chenin Blanc. Drops melon, musty citron and perceptible salted beef. Drink now through 2010.”

Here’s a shout-out to Austin Beeman. Austin is the wine manager at Walt Churchill’s Market in Maumee. Austin is now doing wine videos on Austin Beeman Online. Austin has two videos up, the first being “What is Wine?” His second installment is a live tasting of a Rioja Blanco. He also has some nice music podcasts.

Three region specific links I recommend are: Finger Lakes Wine Country, Ohio Wine Association and Michigan Wines. All these wineries are within driving distance of Toledo. You can check out wineries, special events, lodging and other great features. The Finger Lakes site has a great itinerary feature which allows you to click on a hotel, winery or event and save it to your itinerary. Great for creating a travel plan.

Wine Log is a great site where you can record your tasting notes on wine you try and share it with an online community. You can also browse tasting notes from others. More than 30,000 wines and 4,000 wineries are in the database.

I’ve got more links listed in the left column (scroll down). Give them a click and enjoy. We’ll add more as we discover them. If you have a favorite link, click on “comments” below and let us know.

Photo by Ricardo Martins

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Finger Lakes Winter Wine Weekends Scheduled

Hotels and inns in Finger Lakes (NY)  wine country are offering a special Winter Wine Weekends promotion beginning January 4, 2010, and continuing through March 21, 2010. Participating lodging properties will be offering "stay two nights, get the third night free." The promotion also includes a free bottle of a select Finger Lakes wine, and a free exclusive Palate Passport with free wine tastings and museum visits.

And this just in... The first 200 packages booked with receive a free Polar Passport ($10 value) from the Seneca Lake Wine Trail and the first 100 packages book will also receive a free Vino Visa Coupon Book ($15 value) from the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail. These coupon books are great deals and make it almost too cheap not to go.

Check out the Winter Wine Weekends link to get the list of participating properties and further details.

Photo by Liz West

Ohio Winery Visit: St. Joseph Vineyard

TANNENBAUM TRAIL REPORT -- Our second stop on the Tannenbaum Trail was St. Joseph Vineyard in Thompson. I knew very little about this winery -- except that it had very colorful labels on its wine. As we rambled up the driveway, we were pleased to see large bunches of grapes on the vine apparently waiting to be harvested for ice wine.

St. Joseph is a 35-acre vineyard with grapes growing in Lake and Geauga County. It is certainly a boutique operation with typically no more than 10,000 gallons of wine produced a year. It has, however, claimed its share of impressive awards, especially for its Pinot Noir.

The tasting room is a nicely decorated but small affair with a bar and a couple of tables. Glass doors lead outside to a wooden deck with a great view that should be superb in the summertime.

We started with a Riesling. This was semi-dry with flavor notes of melon. It was pleasant, but not the wine that St. Joseph is known for. We followed this with a Gewurztraminer, which we felt was nothing special.

The reds were up next and this is where the St. Joseph wines shine. We tried the Reserve Pinot Noir and it took the tasting to a new level. The grapes are hand picked late into the harvest to allow extra hang time. The gently crushed grapes go through a prolonged maceration in an open top fermenter which includes a cold soak. After pressing the wine is aged in French medium toasted oak barrels.

The Reserve Pinot is dark ruby red and was a moutful of black cherry and plum with complex layers of flavor including spice. It's easy to see why the St. Joseph Pinot Noir has won awards in California, New York and Michigan in competitions where they have gone against hundreds of entries, including those from Napa Valley, New Zealand and Washington.

For our final tasting we tried the St. Joseph Noir (12 + 1). I mistakenly thought this was another Pinot, but it actually is a proprietary blend of 12 red grapes plus one white (Viognier). This accounts for its unusual moniker. The blend includes Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Sirah, Merlot, Shiraz and Sangiovese. This was an easy sipping, enjoyable glass.

We didn't have a chance to sample the ice wine, but we'll put that on our list for our next visit.

Ohio Winery Visit: Grand River Cellars

TANNENBAUM TRAIL REPORT – Our tour of Ohio Wine Country wineries began at Grand River Cellars in Madison. This was our starting location for the Tannenbaum Trail so we picked up our information packet, crystal wine glasses, Christmas tree and an ornament.

The winery was first established in 1976 as the Grand River Wine Company. Initially the focus was on wine production and grape growing. The  winery opened to the public in 1978.

We enjoyed the view as we drove down the long drive past row after row of vines. The scenery of gently rolling hills and farmland on the ride in chased away the tensions of the work week and put us in the mood for some nice wine.

At each participating winery an appetizer and two wine tastings were offered, along with a Christmas ornament. These ornaments are not to be confused with handcrafted German glass keepsakes, but they do look nice on the small tree.

Our friendly server was Beth and we selected a sunny table in the tasting room and settled in. The appetizer was toasted pita chips with an herbed cream cheese dip that went nicely with our wine. My wife started with the Pinot Grigio, which had the Grand River Valley appellation.  This had flavors of pear and citrus. It was pleasant but simple.

My first was the Grand River Valley Riesling. This tasty glass had a nose of green apple and peach and citrus flavor notes.
Moving to reds, Green Dragon savored a glass of Reserve Merlot. This wine had some tannins that provided a bit of a bite. Black cherry and tobacco were evident in this standout. Priced at $18.99, this is a nice buy.

The final taste was the American Red Zinfandel. The color was a deep garnet color with flavors of red raspberries and strawberry. This had a round and smooth finish and we rated it as our best.

As we would notice with other wineries on the Tannenbaum Trail, Grand River Cellars has a great tasting room, suitable for dinner or special events. The menu includes appetizers, a sandwich called the Funky Chicken and it tops out with a Twin Lobster Tail entree. There are many other selections to choose from as well.

The grounds and patio look like they would be inviting sites for enjoying a glass (or bottle) during a return visit in warmer weather.

Photos: Top – Rachael and Beth serve it up at Grand River Cellars.
Below – Wine aplenty in the gift shop.

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Holiday Cheer On The Tannenbaum Trail

We've been to quite a few wineries over the years, but hadn't yet visited perhaps the top wine region of Ohio, the Grand River Valley and the wineries of the Geneva area. We happily corrected that situation this last weekend as we took advantage of the Tannenbaum Trail.

The Tannenbaum Trail is a self driving tour of 13 outstanding regional wineries. You have three weekends (Fridays & Saturdays-Noon to 6pm) to visit 13 northeast Ohio wineries. Tannenbaum Trail weekends continue December 11-12 and 18-19.The cost is $35 per person and $45 per couple.

We had the chance to visit nine different wineries during our weekend outing -- seven on the tour and another couple that were nearby and certainly worth a visit. I'll be doing a write-up on each of the wineries, but wanted to post this right away so that you take advantage of this great event. Don’t miss out!

The event focuses on the Lake Erie Vines and Wines Trail, which features 20 wineries spread from Madison to Conneaut. Thirteen wineries participated in the Tannenbaum Trail and they are listed in the link above to my previous story. This is in the heart of Ohio Wine Country in picturesque Lake and Ashtabula counties. In addition to the wineries,

there are more than 16 covered bridges in the area and the rollicking city of Geneva, which has plenty of entertainment, dining and lodging.

In the top photo you can see some of the bounty we brought back from our trip. The lower photo shows Rose Dolanck and Leslie Braugh of Pittsburgh enjoying themselves at the Ferrante Winery tasting room in their stylish wine glass spectacles.

Stay tuned. I’m working on the winery reports right now!

 

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Wine Tastings & Events: Week of Dec. 7, 2009

Monday, December 7
Gil and Jen Evans will host an Old World wine tasting at their restaurant Pasta Fina, 5931 Heatherdowns Blvd., Toledo, (419) 866-0670. The event is from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The cost is $25 per person. Six wines will be paired with Pasta Fina dishes and appetizers. This event is casual. Tickets are on sale now, or at the door. Reserving your seats now could be a good idea, as space is limited.

Wednesday, December 9
Beer and Wine Cave, 4400 Heatherdowns, (419) 382-6221. 6-8 PM, $15.

Thursday, December 10
The Andersons, Wine Tasting. Maumee 5-7 PM. Nominal charge.

The Andersons, Wine Tasting. Talmadge Road 6-8 PM. Nominal fee.

Beer and Wine Cave, 4400 Heatherdowns, (419) 382-6221. 6-8 PM, $15.

Corks Wine and Liquor, Promenade Plaza, 27250 Crossroads Pkwy., Rossford – (419) 872-6800. 6-9 PM. Wow, Wow Washington. Washington state has been tearing up the wine scene for decades and right now wines from the Evergreen State are better than ever. Join special guest Dave Perwitz of DJP Selections as we pour some delicious Washington gems. Cost $1 - $3 per glass.

Vino 100 Shop, Wine Bar and Lounge, Promenade West, 3355 Briarfield Blvd., Suite C, Maumee – (419) 866-8466. Vino 100 Live Music. John E. Cash. Guess what they'll be playing. See you there! 7:30 – 10:30 PM.

Friday, December 11
Aficionado Wine and Cigars, The Shoppes at RiverPlace, 26567 N. Dixie Highway, Suite 135, Perrysburg, (419-873-4444). Shiraz. 1. d'Arenberg "Stump Jump" Shiraz, 2. Layer Cake Shiraz, 3. Marquis Philips Shiraz, 4. Hope "The Ripper" Shiraz. $10 tasting.

Corks Wine and Liquor, Promenade Plaza, 27250 Crossroads Pkwy., Rossford – (419) 872-6800. 6-9 PM. Wow, Wow Washington. Washington state has been tearing up the wine scene for decades and right now wines from the Evergreen State are better than ever. Join special guest Dave Perwitz of DJP Selections as we pour some delicious Washington gems. Cost $1 - $3 per glass.

Special Event: Tannenbaum Trail. Self-driving tour of 13 Northeast Ohio wineries.

Saturday, December 12
Aficionado Wine and Cigars, The Shoppes at RiverPlace, 26567 N. Dixie Highway, Suite 135, Perrysburg, (419-873-4444). Red Blends. 1. Palo Alto Reserve, 2. Bangin Red, 3. Mary Hill, 4. Rancho Sisquoc River Red. $10 tasting.

Walt Churchill’s Market, 3320 Briarfield. Maumee, (419) 794-4000—Noon to 5 PM. Burgundy and Bordeaux with Krystal Di Matteo. Pay by the sample or for the whole flight.

Special Event: Tannenbaum Trail. Self-driving tour of 13 Northeast Ohio wineries.

Special Event: Holiday Open House at Sandhill Crane Vineyard, Jackson, Michigan.

Sunday, December 13

Special Event: Holiday Open House at Sandhill Crane Vineyard, Jackson, Michigan.