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Interview: Alfredo “Alfie” Alcantara, dear native grapes Winery & Vineyard

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The last time I checked in with Alfredo “Alfie” Alcántara was in July, just before he and co-owner Deanna Urciuoli celebrated the grand opening of their vineyard and winery in Walton, New York. Situated in the Catskill Mountains, dear native grapes is dedicated to reviving American heritage grape varieties that have been largely overlooked by the modern wine industry after being a mainstay of winemaking during the pre-prohibition era. To say the least, dear native grapes has been a resounding success, so I decided to see what “Alfie” has been up to and what’s next for these fearless wine romantics. 

The following is my interview with Alfredo Alcántara verbatim and unedited for length.

Rich wpawinepirate:

First, I would like to congratulate you and Deanna on the successful launch of your groundbreaking vineyard and winery, dear native grapes. I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me because I know you have also been busy with the premiere of your latest documentary, “The Age of Water.” 

Can you share some of your experiences and candid thoughts, both personal and professional, about the events of the last few months and your plans for dear native grapes?

Alfredo “Alfie” Alcántara:

Thank you, Rich! We feel so fortunate to have reached this milestone and finally share it with others. We opened our winery doors to the public in July, and we feel like time has flown by. Opening day was an absolute party. It almost felt like our own wedding, with so many friends and family, as well as visitors from all over, gathering to celebrate. Everyone was so excited to see and experience this project, taste the wines, and learn about the history of American grapes. We got lucky with the weather that day; the sun was shining, our friend was spinning records, a local Mexican restaurant was making delicious tacos on site, and everyone had a great time. Of course, Deanna and I were running around trying to make sure everyone had a glass of wine and keeping up with dirty dishes and glassware…that we barely got to sit and chat with folks! We’ve been open every Saturday since then, and every weekend has brought a new set of rich and enlightening experiences. 

One of the coolest things we’ve seen is how the space has evolved from being a dream that only Deanna and I had into a shared community space that now belongs to many. We love it when guests arrive, they order their wine, and sometimes they sit with their book and blanket somewhere out in our fields, or they bring their families and set up a picnic for the day. The winery is situated at the top of our vineyard and is surrounded by the beautiful Catskill mountains, so many folks see it as a place to commune with nature and relax. Every Saturday, we’ve hosted a local food pop-up or food vendor. Initially, our goal was to increase our offerings, but we’ve also noticed how each food vendor has elevated the winery space by sharing their heritage and cooking background. Folks now look forward to trying different cuisines and we are blessed to have so much culinary diversity in our Catskills region. 

We’ve also hosted a basket-weaving workshop, a live music event, and a special Friday evening dinner party. All this to say that we feel so excited to see the space come to life, and at the same time so exhausted. Even though we only open on Saturdays, both Deanna and I still hold our day jobs during the week, and the management of the winery and the prep before each weekend has been rigorous. We’ve also struggled to manage and maintain both the winery and the vineyard, since it’s just the two of us at the moment. We’ve gotten really good at making to-do lists at the beginning of each week. I can’t say we’ve ever been able to cross everything off, but it definitely helps! The winery tasting room is also our production space, and as you can imagine, wine production can at times be very messy and unsightly, so we’ve had to be even more aware of our organization and cleanliness. However, many guests have told us they really like to see the production area. They feel closer to the wine and where it comes from. 

The main takeaway from these past few months is the realization that we’re now making wine for our community, and that’s a really cool feeling. And more and more, our guests are casually enjoying wine made from little-known American varieties without hesitation. It’s becoming totally normal for them to drink wine made from Delaware, Steuben, or Catawba grapes. That’s literally the goal of the project, and it’s been amazing to see in action. We’ll be taking a small hiatus in January to recharge, dream up future events, and oh yeah..make more wine! 

If your readers are interested in visiting us, the winery is located at 17 Crawford Rd, Walton, NY 13856. We keep our website updated with upcoming events, so feel free to check that out too! dearnativegrapes.com

Thank you again, Alfie, for sharing your unique perspective and candid insights about your wine journey. Wishing you all the best and continued success!

Photo Credit: Jason Martin Photo Credit: Katie Gregoire

Interview: Alfredo “Alfie” Alcantara, Winemaker, Vigneron, Emmy Award-Winning Producer, Director & Cinematographer

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In the town of Walton, nestled in the Catskill Mountains of New York, reside a couple of forward-thinking winemakers and vineyard owners who are looking to the past to chart a possible path forward that could help the wine industry survive in a world facing the uncertainty of climate change and other challenges. 

Alfredo “Alfie” Alcántara and Deanna Urciuoli, co-owners of Dear Native Grapes, are members of a small but growing vanguard of winemakers who are reviving forgotten and seldom-used native grapes to produce natural wines. These resurrected wines not only display distinctive flavors but also serve as a vehicle to expand the diversity of the vines that are being planted in vineyards.

Alfie is an Emmy award-winning documentary producer, director, and cinematographer whose latest critically acclaimed film, “The Age of Water,” delves into the human toll that Mexico’s water crisis is exacting on its people. The “Age of Water” will air on September 28th, 2025, on PBS. I was able to catch up with Alfie and ask him about the grand opening of dear native grapes tasting room and what else he has been up to. The following is my unedited and verbatim interview with Alfredo Alcántara.

1. Congratulations on the grand opening of your tasting room. What can your guests look forward to when they visit ‘dear native grapes’ on opening day and in the future?

“Thank you! We are beyond excited to finally open our doors and welcome visitors.

It’s been five years since we started ‘dear native grapes’ in the garage of our home. In that time, Deanna and I got used to navigating a tight maze of fermenters, barrels, and packaging material that we stuffed into our small space, and somehow we were able to launch our little winery. Producing wine in the garage was a romantic idea, but we knew we had to scale up to grow our business. 

In 2023, we pooled our savings to pay for the construction of a pole barn that would one day house our production area as well as a small tasting room to host visitors to the farm. Since then, we’ve been hard at work getting the space ready. 

We’ve always felt passionate about sharing the story of America’s wine grapes, and we believe folks might feel equally inspired to see these grapes actually growing and thriving at our site. It’ll be even more exciting to have visitors taste the unique and expressive wines that these grapes can produce. We hope that experience will inspire more ideas and conversations around the potential of American grape varieties. 

The winery is situated at the top of our vineyard and is surrounded by the beautiful Catskill Mountains. We hope it serves as a space for community building, inspiration, and relaxation in nature. We’ll also be featuring local food vendors and food pop-ups that showcase the culinary diversity of our region. 

Our opening day is July 19th, 2025, and we’ll be open every Saturday from 12pm to 7pm.”

2. You have chosen to grow and craft your wines from non-traditional native and hybrid grape varieties. What is your vision for dear native grapes?

“At its core, dear native grapes is an educational project designed to shed light on valuable grape varieties that could pave the way for more diverse, climate-resilient winemaking, energizing local economies in the process.

Our vineyard is an experimental plot meant to test the resilience of several dozen varieties. Since planting in 2020, we’ve already begun to see some really exciting results. A handful of varieties–both heritage and newer cultivars– have stood out as promising for our region. Our site is on a windy ridge top that gets pummelled with all sorts of weather throughout the year. The growing season is short, the winter is very cold, and there’s a danger of frost at each end of the season. So being able to successfully get these grapes through harvest is really encouraging. Among the heritage and heirloom varieties that have performed well are Delaware, Wine King, and Empire State. Among the newer varieties, Petite Pearl and Brianna are becoming the clear winners in terms of growth, disease resistance, and overall resilience.” 

3. Tell us about your wine journey, how it brought you to where you are today, and your plans for the future. 

“I think I may have some weird past-life connection to winegrowing. Since I was a kid, I dreamed of growing grapes. For some reason, it has always resonated with me. I met Deanna in college, and we lived in Brooklyn for ten years. During that time, we fell in love with natural wine. We got to taste wines that felt alive and vibrant. Many were made from indigenous grapes grown in regions we had never heard of. We were truly inspired each time we experienced a different bottle. And so that really got our gears turning. 

During that time, we stumbled upon the history of America’s native grapes and how we had lost so many varieties during Prohibition. We learned about the rich history of New York winegrowing and its steep decline during that time period. How could such an important face of American viticulture fade away into obscurity? We were instantly hooked. I would talk to Deanna non-stop about the possibility of pursuing this as a serious business: we could bring some of these grapes back into production, and help restore value back into long forgotten varieties. 

Deanna pushed me to volunteer at farms and wineries, and we took business planning courses. She’s a great financial planner, and so she put us on an aggressive savings plan for a few years. In 2019, we had saved enough money for a down payment on some farmland, and we decided to make the jump. We bought our place that same year, and in 2020, with the invaluable help of friends and family, we planted our 5-acre vineyard. In 2021, we had the opportunity to make wine from old vines grown at Buzzard Crest Vineyard on Keuka Lake, and we released our first vintage in 2023. That same year, we had the opportunity to work with Stephen Casscles, author and grape historian, who has cultivated a vineyard of rare and nearly-extinct heritage varieties. Steve has become one of our wine mentors, and we’ve made wine from his grapes for the past two years. This year, we hope our home vineyard yields a significant harvest. 

We feel like the past five years have flown by… We’ve been on the steepest learning curve we’ve ever experienced, constantly challenged by the realities of rural living and farming, and constantly humbled by Mother Nature. However, we feel so grateful each day to have the opportunity to pursue this project. It’s brought so much richness to our lives in terms of the community we’ve been able to foster around us. As we gear up to open the winery to visitors, we feel like another chapter is about to begin: one where we can finally start sharing the story of American grape varieties with a wider community. That’s our ultimate goal!”

Make plans to attend the grand opening on Saturday, July 29th 2025, from noon to 7pm, or visit any following Saturday, noon to 7pm

Thank you, Alfie, for taking time from your busy schedule to give us a heartfelt glimpse into Deanna and your quest to make dear native grapes a reality. dear native grapes is truly an example of a “Labor of Love”

dear native grapes

17 Crawford Rd

Walton, New York 13856

alfie@dearnativegrapes.com

dearnativegrapes.com

Photo Credit: dear native grapes

J. Stephen Casscles Releases Revolutionary “Wine Evaluation Schematic”

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Internationally renowned Heritage grape authority, Steve Casscles, has released an innovative wine evaluation schematic. He has envisioned all the information you need to analyze characteristics of a wide range of wine grape varieties. The how and why Steve created this tool and how to best use it are fascinating. I asked Steve to share the story behind his creation. The following is my verbatim and unedited interview with J. Stephen Casscles. 

“About 20 years ago, when I started to seriously evaluate wines to implement my idea for writing a Cool Climate/Heritage grape book, I was searching for a methodology to accurately evaluate wine and include descriptors that readers could use to understand these wines. There were several charts or aroma wheels that were a model for a good first step to evaluating wines.  However, while good in that they set up a framework for me to evaluate and write down wine descriptors, I found that they were somewhat deficient in the descriptors to be used for wine. Further, they were not organized by the kinds of fruits that were being cited as being in the wine. So I greatly expanded the fruit descriptors. More importantly, most evaluators put too much concentration on aromas/flavors, and not enough on wine texture, and energy on the palate. This Wine Evaluation Schematic brings in considerations such as texture, body, mouth feel, appearance, body, finesse, and how the wine is integrated into one unified taste experience. Also, most charts did not give guidelines to give a wine an “overall score”, so that the evaluator could go back years later to rate that wine with other wines that the evaluator has scored.”   

“It is my goal in releasing this Wine Evaluation Schematic that this Wine Evaluation Schematic is a starting point for each evaluator.  Modify it as you like to fit your needs, and please add your own terms and descriptors. This Wine Evaluation Schematic can be used by individuals who want to appreciate wine, wine educators who want to convey a methodology or a conceptual framework to approach teaching their students about the concepts of how to approach this subject, and wine writers that want to more accurately convey to their readers the wines that they are writing about, and wine judges that evaluate wines for their wine competitions.”    

“Right now, I have approached my wine colleagues in Korea, some of whom own wineries or wine schools, to translate this into the Korean language. Many of the grape varieties grown in New York State are also grown in Korea, so the flavor profiles of our wines are similar in many ways, especially regarding body, mouthfeel, and texture.”

Review: Chateau Niagara Cabernet Franc Reserve 2022

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Jim Baker, owner, winemaker, and vigneron of Chateau Niagara Winery Newfane, New York http://chateauniagarawinery.com has a special touch when making high-quality Cabernet Franc. His Chateau Niagara Cabernet Franc Reserve 2020 is no exception. He uses Cabernet Franc grapes grown in his vineyard and a nearby vineyard to produce his award-winning Cab Franc year after year. Jim told me “These are some of the best wines I have made.”

Chateau Niagara Cabernet Franc Reserve 2022 is a plump and juicy full-bodied dry wine that dazzles with a medium ruby red color in your glass. Bright acidity, tart red cherry, and raspberry flavors are front and center with subtle pepper background notes. Smooth tannins carry through a long finish. This Cab Franc drinks well now and should age nicely. 

Review: Chateau Niagara Cabernet Franc Appassimento 2023

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The following two posts will be my reviews of Chateau Niagara Cabernet Franc Appassimento 2023 and Chateau Niagara Cabernet Franc Reserve 2022. Jim Baker owner, winemaker, and vigneron of Chateau Niagara Winery Newfane, New York http://chateauniagarawinery.com told me “These are some of the best wines I have made.”

Chateau Niagara Cabernet Franc Appassimento 2023

A wine made in the Appassimento style is created by using partially dehydrated grapes. It is a technique used by Italian winemakers to give Amarone di Valpolicella its signature depth and complexity. Jim applied this process to his Cabernet Franc grapes to produce his outstanding Chateau Niagara Cabernet Franc Appassimento 2023. 

Beginning with a bewitching dark ruby red color in your glass this Cab Franc quickly opens with aromas of blueberries leading into flavors of cherry, dark berries, and plum. Supple tannins and balanced acidity carry through a long lingering finish. Consider purchasing several bottles with the intent of drinking some now and leaving some to age in your cellar. 

Interview: Alison Morris Roslyn Francey Not Fancy wine consultancy

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It may seem trite to say that Alison Morris Roslyn starting her wine consulting business Francey Not Fancy was her destiny, but trite or not, it is the truth. Alison was born into a family with a heritage of wine appreciation. It would also be true to say wine is ingrained in her DNA because a pair of her grandparents are from France. Alison has always believed that wine is meant to be shared with friends and family. The lasting memories and personal connections made while sharing life’s most cherished moments with loved ones never require an in-depth knowledge of wine or an expensive wine in your glass, all you need is to be drinking a wine you like. 

She didn’t take a direct path to being a wine professional but was coaxed from her successful career by the gravitational pull of the “wine life” into her current career. At first glance, her two professions appear to be polar opposites but upon closer examination, they share similar characteristics. 

No one can tell the story of Alison Morris Roslyn’s wine journey better than Alison herself. She graciously accepted my invitation to share her candid thoughts and observations with me. The following is a complete verbatim and unedited account of our interview. Thank you Alison for your honest and sincere responses. 

1. Tell us about yourself and your wine journey. 

“I’m a journalist who used to enjoy wine after work, now wine is my work. 

I grew up in a family of wine drinkers, who enjoyed mostly reds and mostly Napa Cabernets. My uncle introduced our family to Silver Oak when it wasn’t nearly as popular or expensive as it is today. That was probably our first favorite fine wine.

When I graduated from college in 2001, I moved to Paris, where I met my dear friend, Georges Nony, whose family owned a château in Bordeaux, Château Caronne Ste Gemme (they sold it to Bernard Magrez in 2022). Georges taught me so much about French wines and fine wines, even though I was too young to truly appreciate it at first.

For the next few decades, wine was a hobby for me. I enjoyed keeping a small collection in a few wine refrigerators in our apartment and then our home.

My interest and collection grew pretty steadily, and for my 42nd birthday, my husband gave me a wine cellar (we converted the trash and recycling room in our basement)!

As my love of wine grew, my passion for the news was starting to fade. Two decades of hard work and Covid-19 did me in, and I decided it was time to make a change. I quit TV news and went back to school, got wine certificates from Cornell and Le Cordon Bleu, and got my Level 3 Sommelier Certification from the National Wine School. Now wine is my day job.”

2. How did your philosophy about wine lead to you starting your wine consulting business Francey Not Fancy?

“I spent 20 years in journalism before getting into wine, and while they seem like really different businesses, they have a lot in common. I was a reporter, covering mostly business, in both print (The Wall Street Journal, The Hartford Courant) and on TV (CNBC, KDKA, FoxCT, Fox 5 NY, NBC News) and one of the things that always bothered me about the business world was how exclusive it could feel. I would constantly hear from people that they didn’t understand business, finance, or taxes because it was all too complicated. Business isn’t necessarily complicated if someone is willing to explain it to you in basic terms. There just aren’t enough people doing that.

The wine world is very similar. People think you need to know a lot about wine to talk about wine or that you need to spend a lot on wine for it to be good wine. Neither of those things is true. But here’s the problem: the more people learn about wine, the less they’re able to talk about it like a regular person. Wine critics describe wines with words the average person would never use. They often give really high ratings to wines most people can’t afford and they often don’t even review the wines that most people have access to. A regular person doesn’t want to hear about mouthfeel and the flavor of mirabelles. They want to know what might taste good with that meatloaf they’re making on a Friday night or the BBQ they’re having next Sunday afternoon. (I’d go with a Syrah from the Northern Rhône in France in both situations, by the way.)

I got into news and wines for the same reason: to make them more accessible. I like connecting with people and finding common ground. Wine just happens to be a much more fun ground to connect on.

So at Francey Not Fancy we talk about wines without being snobby or taking ourselves too seriously. I call it a “welcoming wine consultancy” because I want everyone to feel welcome to pull up a glass at our table and talk about wine, whatever your level of knowledge. I hope we can help people learn more about wines, discover wines they love, and figure out how to buy and order wines they love to drink.

I love wine at all different price points. My favorite Pinot Noir that we drink nonstop in my house is Au Bon Climat’s Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir, and you can get it online for $21. Sure, it’s nice to splurge on special bottles, but you don’t need to spend a fortune to drink something delicious.”

3. Your business Francey Not Fancy takes a unique approach to wine consulting, can you give us an idea of what services you offer your customers?

“For starters, we have a website with a ton of great write-ups on wine. They’re all free, so check out the site: franceynotfancy.com and learn some more about grapes and wines you might want to try. We also send out a free newsletter every Wednesday that takes less than a minute to read and will teach you something new about wine every week. You can sign up for that on the website too. And we have a ton of great wine content on our Instagram: @franceynotfancy. So please give that a follow.”

As for our client services, we offer wine classes and tastings (both in-person- in the NYC area- and on Zoom).

We consult people to help them find wines they like, whether that’s a case for a special occasion or several cases to start their own collection or to fill out their wine cellar.

We do corporate events for groups of all sizes, whether that’s a wine tasting, a wine education class, or wine training for a professional sales team that needs to know more about wine to entertain clients.

We can also help with travel itineraries and wine visits, particularly in France!”

4. What are some of your favorite wine regions, grape varieties, and winemaking styles?

“If the name Francey Not Fancy didn’t already give it away, I’m a big French wine fan. My mom’s side of the family is French and the wines and regions there are top of my list.

My grandfather was from Corsica, so let’s start there. Corsican wines are tough to find in the US; I will drink any Corsican wine I can find stateside, red or white. The whites have this fabulous salty quality from the sea, and the reds have this dry earthiness from the mountains. You can really taste the flavor of the island in your glass.

I’m also a huge Champagne drinker. I prefer Champagne-method or traditional-method sparkling wine (which means the second fermentation happens in the bottle not in a big vat), so I absolutely love bubbly from Champagne, especially Chardonnay-dominant blends or blanc de blancs (100% Chardonnay Champagne). If we’re venturing outside of France, I like Franciacorta sparkling wines from Italy and Cava from Spain—both are traditional-method sparkling wines.

For reds, I love Syrah from the Northern Rhône in France, especially the region of Saint-Joseph. They’re fabulous and more affordable than Côte Rôtie or Hermitage.

I’ve also recently gotten into red wines from Sancerre, which are made from Pinot Noir. Most people think of Sancerre as the home of Sauvignon Blanc, but they are making some fantastic reds there that can rival Burgundies but at much better prices.

For white wines, I love love love Saint Aubin. It’s in Burgundy and is home to beautiful Chardonnays that are rich, but also precise. I love those contrasting qualities and that you can find better bargains here than in neighboring Meursault or Puligny-Montrachet.

And if we’re talking rosé, it absolutely has to be French, preferably from Provence. 

I could keep going, but I think you get the idea.” 

If you are considering retaining the services of a wine consultant I would highly recommend contacting Francey Not Fancy and discussing your needs with Alison. Scroll down for contact information. 

Website: http://franceynotfancy.com

email: bonjour@franceynotfancy.com

Instagram: @franceynotfancy

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alison-morris-roslyn-453081a

See Alison’s interview on KDKA TV from Paris http://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/video/catching-up-with-former-kdka-tv-reporter-alison-morris/?intcid=CNM-00-10abd1h

You can also get a message to Alison via this website’s (http://wpawinepirate.com) email wpawinepirate@gmail.com 

2nd Annual Saperavi Festival Trade & Media Event Finger Lakes Press Release

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I wanted to share this press release I received from the co-founder of Saperica, Erika Frey. The 2nd Annual Saperavi Festival in the Finger Lakes will be held on May 12-13, 2023. For more details see the following press release.

March 23, 2023,

2nd Annual Saperavi Festival in the Finger Lakes Press Release

Saperica, Inc., Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery, Chama Mama Restaurant, and the National Wine Agency of Georgia presents the 2nd annual Saperavi Festival in the Finger Lakes region of New York.

Hammondsport, New York – Saperica, Inc., is pleased to announce that the 2nd annual Saperavi Festival will take place at Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery in Hammondsport, New York on Saturday, May 13, 2023. The festival will bring together producers of Saperavi and Rkatsiteli wines from the Finger Lakes region of New York along with their counterparts from the country of Georgia and throughout the USA. Authentic Georgian cuisine with a modern twist will be featured from New York City restaurant, Chama Mama. Sponsorship will be provided by the National Wine Agency of Georgia.

Saperavi Festival attendees will have the opportunity to taste a wide variety of wines crafted from the Saperavi and Rkatsiteli grape varieties which are native to the country of Georgia and have been grown in the Finger Lakes region for over 60 years. The wines will be paired with Georgian food specialties like Khachapuri, Khinkali, and Chakapuli. Cooking demonstrations will be presented throughout the afternoon.

The Saperavi Festival will take place on Saturday, May 13, 2023, from 12pm to 4pm, on the grounds of Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery located at 9683 Middle Rd, Hammondsport, NY 14840. More detail and tickets are available for purchase at Eventbrite via this link: http://eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annual-saperavi-festival-tickets-577274843597

The event can also be found on Eventbrite by using the search words “saperavi festival”.

Members of the trade and media are invited to participate in educational seminars and events which will occur on Friday, May 12, 2023, from 12pm to 4pm on the grounds of Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery located at 9683 Middle Rd, Hammondsport, NY 14840.  For more information about attending as a member of trade or media, please send an email to saperavi@saperica.org.

The 2nd annual Saperavi Festival is organized by Saperica Inc, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Saperica’s mission is to promote Saperavi and other Georgian grape varieties along with Georgian gastronomy and culture in the Finger Lakes, NY, and around the U.S., by organizing and facilitating educational seminars and exchange programs between the regions, for wine and culinary professionals and enthusiasts. Any proceeds from the festival will help to fund future Saperica programs.

For additional info, please visit www.saperica.org.

Email questions to http://saperavi@saperica.org.

We hope to see you at the festival!

Chateau Niagara Du Monde 2020

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Jim Baker is a visionary when it comes to the wine he makes at his Chateau Niagara Winery located on the Niagara Plain near Lake Ontario in Newfane New York. Jim isn’t afraid to think outside the box or even outside of North America when it comes to the grapes he grows, styles of wine he makes or even the techniques he uses in the cellar. Chateau Niagara Du Monde 2020 is a perfect example of a blend of two well-known white grape varieties that yield a surprising unique wine when they are made using centuries-old methods from the fabled cradle of wine making. 

Chateau Niagara Du Monde 2020 is a blend of 50% Chardonnay and 50% Riesling with a R.S. of nominally 0 and an A.B.V. of 12%. Everything from how this wine is made, to the fascinating character these two highly stylized grapes yield when blended together using a process almost exclusively reserved for red grapes is far from the common place. Du Monde 2020 must be tasted to be understood but don’t wait because only twenty three cases were made. I asked Jim to explain how he makes Du Monde so we can appreciate the nuances of his wine.

“Du Monde is a wine made as a Georgian style white. These wines are traditionally skin fermented in clay amphora called qvervi for long periods of time. We did not use a qvervi, but we did a long skin maceration of eight weeks. This is similar to red wine making technique and results in a wine with many red wine characteristics such as deep color of amber rather than red. The skin tannins and phenols that give a sense of drinking a red wine, with a white wine finish. Our Du Monde is a 50/50 blend of Riesling and Chardonnay making a unique and promising blend. The combination yields a certain spiciness that is not apparent in either grape variety. This results in Du Monde pairing fantastic with all sorts of Mexican food.”

It would be correct to say this wine is a simple 50/50 blend of Chardonnay and Riesling but that is a much too simple description. It would be better to use the analogy of two perfectly matched dance partners where neither one outshines the other so you can enjoy their performance in its entirety. Chateau Niagara Du Monde 2020 opens with notes of candied fruit leading into flavors of melon and tropical fruit followed by a medium finish with a tinge of lemon peel. This wine is perfectly balanced and displays a deep amber color in the glass. 

All of Jim Baker’s wines can be purchased online at http://chateauniagarawinery.com and by visiting or calling the winery at 2466 West Creek Road Newfane NY 716-778-7888

Organic, Natural, or Biodynamic?

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Confused by what the difference is between natural, organic, and biodynamic wine? Well, you are not alone. The growing trend toward natural, organic, and biodynamic wines has created a marketplace in which an informed consumer stands a much better chance of buying a product that fulfills their desire to live a “greener lifestyle”.

In my opinion, the best way to feel confident that you are purchasing a natural, organic, or biodynamically produced wine is to buy it from a producer you trust. Before you decide on which production practices best suit your needs let’s look at an overview of each method. You must keep in mind that there is no clear-cut distinction between practices and there is often an overlap between terms describing them; the qualities are not interchangeable between methods. 

Organic wines are separated into two categories in the U.S. The first is wine certified organic by the United States Department of Agriculture using strict regulations. The U.S.D.A. guidelines require the grapes to be grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers and all ingredients added to the wines must be certified organic. No sulfites may be added to these wines. Only wines that meet these strict rules may display the U.S.D.A. certified organic seal. The second category contains wines made from grapes that were grown using organic farming methods. Wines in this category were made using organically grown grapes and may or may not have been made following organic winemaking methods. 

Biodynamic wine is made using the principles of Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner. I think of biodynamic practices as embracing a holistic approach toward viticulture. It observes farming methods based on a specific astronomic calendar. An example of this would be only harvesting grapes on days designated as “Fruit” days or only pruning on “Root” days. Biodynamic farming isn’t only dependent upon the calendar but is similar to organic in that it only allows for the use of organic fertilizers and bans the use of any type of pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, or any synthetic chemical intervention in the vineyard. Biodynamic wines are, however, permitted to contain sulfites. It is these small differences that can cause confusion when comparing whether a wine is organic, biodynamic or both. A wine designated as organic doesn’t mean it is also biodynamic or a biodynamic is always organic.

Natural wine or low-intervention wine, as it is often called, is fermented spontaneously by its native yeasts. As the name implies they are, for the most part, unmanipulated and never filtered or fined. By not filtering these wines they appear cloudy because of the solids left suspended in them. Due to the minimal amount of intervention by the winemaker these wines have limited stability and should be treated accordingly. If a winemaker doesn’t want to go through the regulatory process of having their wine certified as organic they can just skip the process and label it as “Natural”.

This is why I strongly suggest when you are looking for a wine to purchase in this segment of the market it is always a good idea to buy from a producer you know and trust.

Australian & South African Winemakers Need Your Help

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Winemakers in Australia and South Africa are facing a crisis. Australia is embroiled in a trade dispute with China in which China has halted the purchase of Australian barley, most beef, seafood, coal, and yes,wine. By early December 2020 Australian wineries had lost 1.2 billion in sales. South Africa has banned all alcohol sales as it battles a resurgence of Covid-19. You can help by buying a bottle or two of Australian and South African wine when you visit your wine shop. This is a perfect opportunity to revisit an old favorite from these countries or explore something new, either way it’s a win/win situation.