Tag Western Pennsylvania

Days of Wine and Cheeses: Finale

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Parmigiano-Reggiano is called by some “The finest cheese in the world.” Parmigiano-Reggiano is made in Italy from raw cow milk under strict adherence to a prescribed procedure. To harden the young cheese’s rind, it is left in brine for three weeks or more before being allowed to age from twelve months to three years. A wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano weighs eighty-five pounds and goes from an ivory paste color when young to an amber gold when mature. Don’t cut this cheese, use a blunt knife that will break it into chunks thus preserving its signature texture. You will need a medium to full-bodied red to pair with this cheese. Brunello di Montalcino, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Zinfandel would be a great pairing.

Original Blue is a raw cow milk aged blue cheese made by the Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company and is the only blue cheese made in California. The morning milk is taken directly from the milking parlor to the cheesemaker where it is cultured, coagulated with rennet, and inoculated with Penicillium roqueforti. As the cheese ages, it develops the characteristic blue-gray veins that give blue cheese its name and distinctive taste. Pair a French Pinot Gris or dry Riesling from the Finger Lakes of New York. I have also found Champagne is an excellent pairing because it cleanses your palate. 

Manchego is Spain’s most famous cheese. It is made from raw or pasteurized sheep milk but most of Manchego today is made on an industrial scale using pasteurized sheep milk. You can find year-old Manchego at cheese shops in the U.S.  This aged version of Manchego has a firm dry interior that is ivory to light yellow in color. It is best served with something sweet to contrast its tangy salty bite. Quince paste is usually served as the sweet accompaniment. Manchego pairs well with a Rioja from its homeland of Spain. Think tapas on a beautiful evening in Barcelona when selecting a wine.   

I hope you enjoyed my posts on pairing wine and cheese as much as I enjoyed writing them. Cheers!

Photo Credit: Gourmetfoodstore.com, PointReyesCheese.com, and almagourmet.com

Days of Wine and Cheeses

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You may have surmised from the name of this blog and my social media handle (wpawinepirate) that I am a Jimmy Buffett fan, a Parrothead, if you will. I have been a member of the Phlock for a long time, making some good friends and beautiful memories along the way. Jimmy’s lyrics “Warm summer breezes and French wine and cheeses” from his song “He went to Paris” was the inspiration for a series of posts I will be writing about wine and cheese pairing

I will never forget the first time I tasted Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam. It was at their shop in the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Mt. Tam is a triple cream bloomy rind American recipe cheese made from pasteurized organic pasture-based cow milk that is produced by farm partners using sustainable farming practices. Mt. Tam is made in Marin County near San Francisco, as if you had any doubt it was a California product after that lead-in. Cowgirl Creamery describes their Mt. Tam as “At room temperature, features a dense fudgy core enveloped in an evolving pudgy creamline.” This cheese is both creamy and buttery but also displays earthy flavors. http://cowgirlcreamery.com Mt. Tam pairs well with sparklers like Prosecco and Cava or a California Chardonnay that will cleanse your palate. Freixenet Cordon Negro Cava Brut or Trefethen Family Vineyards 2018 Chardonnay Oak Hill District Napa Valley work nicely with Mt. Tam.

Staying on the coast of California, my next cheese is Humboldt Fog from Cypress Grove Chevre in rural Humboldt County. Humboldt Fog is a unique soft-ripened goat cheese. It is made from high-quality goat milk sourced from local farms. This is a pasteurized goat milk cheese. The quality of the milk used in the making of Humboldt Fog is reflected in its clean and balanced flavors while muted acidity and salt levels prevent the potent goaty taste that turns some people off to goat cheese. http://cypressgrovecheese.com Enjoy Humboldt Fog with the iconic New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc Cloudy Bay, or Sokol Blosser Redland Cuvee Estate Willamette Valley 2018, a medium-bodied Pinot Noir from Oregon.           

I will be exploring cheeses from America’s Heartland and the East Coast in my next post.                                  

Review: Ménage à Trois “Silk” Soft Red Blend 2020

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A few posts ago I wrote about mass-produced and widely distributed wines. To prove I just don’t “Talk the talk but walk the walk” I bought a bottle of Mènage à Trois “Silk” Soft Red Blend 2020 to review. This is one of the offerings from the immensely popular Ménage à Trois label of  Folie à Deux. Ménage à Trois is a St. Helena California winery. Mènage à Trois “Silk” Soft Red Blend 2020 is a blend of separately fermented Pinot Noir, Malbec, and Petite Sirah with a light oak flavor from the time it spent in French and American oak. “Silk” Soft Red Blend is a ruby red color in the glass with muted floral aromas followed by flavors of cherry and spice with both medium body and acidity. If you like a sweet light-bodied wine this wine is NOT for you. If you like a big California Cab this wine is NOT for you. If you want a red wine that is right down the middle in its body, fruit flavors, acidity, and economy priced then this wine is one you should take a close look at. I paired it with grilled steak and it was an acceptable match. I purchased it for $13.99 in Pennsylvania but it can usually be found for around $10-$15. http://menageatroiswines.com  

Greendance The Winery at Sand Hill Harvest Update

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I recently checked in with Dr. Rick Lynn at Greendance The Winery at Sand Hill in Mount Pleasant Pennsylvania to see what was happening at his winery and vineyards. 

Greendance is home to one of the three young Saperavi plantings in Western Pa. and I was eager to hear how his young vines were progressing. Rick told me: 

“We had some early to mid-season powdery mildew on only the Saperavi and on none of others that included Kerner, Riesling, and Cab Franc, I personally used the same spray program on all and they were all in the same location.   This reduced the Saperavi crop but the plants recovered and ended the year appearing healthy. There was not a large enough quantity to make a reasonable sized batch. We had about 40# of Cab Franc with good ripening stats as were the Kerner numbers.”

I am patiently awaiting next year’s Saperavi harvest that will hopefully provide ample fruit to produce Greendance’s first vintage of Saperavi. I am also curious how Rick will be able to integrate Saperavi’s signature acidity and dark color into his wine making style to yield new and completely unique blends. 

Unlike the humans that tend to them, grape vines can’t contract Covid19 they only respond to the influences of their environment. I asked Rick to share his thoughts on this year’s harvest:

“Our overall hybrid harvest this year, as for everyone else, was exceptional and in the range of 15T. We had 2T+ of Petite Pearl and 3T+ of Frontenac Gris/Frontenac Blanc. Our farm red blend is Frontenac and Chambourcin and there were plenty of them.  Our wine for American grape lovers is Niagara softened with Louise Swensen and Aldamiina.

I addressed the recent stretch of sub-zero temperatures that had overspread the region and he had this assessment:

“Concerning of course but only for the trial vinifera planting and not the hybrids. This is a better test year for their graft and bud survival. The advantage this year is a gradual but full opportunity for deep dormancy and then steady cold to keep them there up to this point and probably at least for the next 2 weeks.” 

Every year has its own challenges and 2021 was no different but winemakers always find a way to meet those challenges and craft wines that express the very best each year has to offer. I look forward to tasting the 2021 releases from Rick and his team at Greendance Winery. For more information about Greendance The Winery at Sand Hill  please visit http://www.greendancewinery.com Photos Courtesy: Greendance The Winery at Sand Hill

Watching V is for Vino Wine Show

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Have you seen the wine and travel show V is for Vino? If you haven’t, I strongly recommend that you add it to your must see list. This show isn’t just about the wine and winemakers of a region but is an immersive experience into how the food, wine, and culture of a region are all intertwined. V is for Vino delivers it’s viewers several options to interact with the show. It offers the wines featured in each episode for sale so you can be drinking them along with the host as you watch. You can also become a member of the VINO VIP CLUB for exclusive perks, like early access to new episodes, virtual tastings with the host, and discounts on wine plus much more. V is for Vino has plenty of entertaining and informative content making it perfect for both the novice and seasoned wine lover. 

I recently had the opportunity to ask the show’s host/creator Vince Anter to tell my readers about his wine journey and the story of V is for Vino. I want to thank Vince for taking the time from his busy schedule to work with me on this project. 

My name is Vince and I’m a certified sommelier and the producer and host of the wine and travel show V is for Vino. Each episode, I host the show in a new wine region, so wine lovers can really be transported to where their wine is made! You learn about the place, the grapes, meet a local winemaker, and learn how to cook dishes from a local chef that pair perfectly with the wine featured in the episode. We also always try to explore as much of the local culture as we can, and meet people who can really tell the story of the places we visit. For instance, in the Finger Lakes we went ice fishing , and in Mexico we went to the local seafood market in downtown Ensenada. Wine is as much about the place and people around it as it is the beverage itself, and the goal of the show was always to capture that. Then, you can actually buy the wine from the episode on our website. I tell people it’s like the Anthony Bourdain of wine: and you can actually drink the wine along with us! 

I started the show in 2016. I had come out to LA in 2010 to be a rock star, but as it turns out, a lot of other people had the same idea. During the 5 years spent pursuing music, I paid my way through gigs with bar and restaurant jobs and discovered a love for wine. I spent a year becoming a certified sommelier, which was one of the most challenging things I’d ever done; it involved many textbooks and flashcards. I decided I wanted to find a way for people to learn and understand more about the wine in their glass without having to pick up a book. And thus, V is for Vino was born. Video content is everywhere now, and I knew the timing was right for a video-based wine company. I’ve always been a fan of Alton Brown, Anthony Bourdain and Dinner’s, Drive-ins and Dives, so I decided to model my own show as a hybrid of the three. I knew I could host the show myself, as I was used to being in the spotlight from my days with my band, and I learned how to interact with all walks of life from my time bartending. Plus, I’ve always loved teaching, so this whole idea came very naturally to me.

So many people put their heart and soul into their wine and cooking, and it’s so awesome to be able to tell their stories. I think we’re unique in the sense that no one is getting as in-depth into the stories behind the wine as we are. And, we’re even turning non-wine lovers into fans: I try to break down topics plain and simple so that everyone can enjoy wine! Wine isn’t this mystical beverage that only snobs can understand and I think, I’m helping contribute to busting those perceptions! People often say that show helped them learn more about wine than years tasting in tasting rooms, and that’s always one of the best compliments I can receive; I want wine to be as accessible as any other beverage out there!  

We’re currently filming season 4 of the show, and most of our upcoming episodes are in Europe, which has been a blast. It should come out by May 2022. The best way to see the first 3 seasons is on https://visforvino.com/ for free! They can also be seen on Amazon Prime (paid), Roku, and YouTube. One of the best parts of the show is you can purchase the wines from the episodes at https://visforvino.com/buy-wine so you can order before you watch, and drink with us as we taste the wines on the show! We also have a virtual VINO VIP CLUB that has a TON of benefits, including behind the scenes content, full length interviews, raffles and giveaways, virtual tastings and events, and discounts on wine! It’s only $5 and really helps you get more out of the show; we work hard to over-deliver on value for our VIP members! https://visforvino.com/vino-vip-club/  Cheers, and I hope you enjoy the show! -Vince 

All photos courtesy: V is for Vino

I Regret Nothing!

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After seeing how well a couple of my posts on Instagram (@rich_wpawinepirate_ ) were received I realized a lot of people were just as curious as I was about the wine they sell on QVC. I posted a bottle pix of Kevin O’Leary’s Malbec and Rosé. Like me, everyone had seen his wines being presented and wondered after listening to him hype the virtues of his wine if they might be an interesting wine to try. I know all too well the risks of buying “processed wines” as they are now being called. You might remember them as “industrial wine.” With that being said, this type of wine is widely distributed, readily available, and enjoyed by millions.

I ordered the Kevin O’Leary Fine Wines Reserve Series Malbec Argentina 2020 and the Kevin O’Leary Fine Wines Reserve Series Rosé Vintage 2019, to be exact. O’Leary wine is sold as groupings or as three bottles of a single variety. The wine arrived promptly, well-packed, and cost about $15 a bottle when purchased from QVC.

The Malbec has a light/medium body and wasn’t overly dry with “middle of the road” acidity. This wine is best suited for an evening of grilling on the deck with family and friends. Rosé was my favorite. It is a very drinkable wine with a lighter body and a touch of sweetness. The most noticeable feature of this Rosé is its inviting vivid color. Kevin mentioned in his sales pitch that it is a blend of seven grape varieties and you can taste that because no one variety stands out, it is truly a blend.

If you are feeling adventurous and want to try some of “Mr. Wonderful” wine I would suggest starting with his Rosé. It is not a serious wine and can be enjoyed either alone as you relax at the end of the day or paired with lighter fare on a picnic in the country. You don’t have to over think these wines.

Till We Meet Again

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Isabella Grapes Photo Courtesy: Double-A Vineyards

In my last post, I explored the idea that you didn’t need to try wine from far away places to experience something new. There are plenty of grape varieties that were commonly found on kitchen tables and being made into everyday wines have fallen out of favor for a myriad of reasons can provide an interesting distraction from the predictable narrative of today’s offerings.

Isabella is a Vitis labrusca grape that was once prized for it’s ability to produce fruit that was marketable as table grapes, juice, and grapes for winemaking. Isabella is a large round grape with dark purple skin and a green-yellow flesh that is easily separated from its skin.

In many European countries, Isabella is still banned from being grown and it is illegal to make wine from its grapes. The importation of Isabella vines from North America was widely blamed for the phylloxera plague that ravaged vineyards across Europe in the mid-1800s. Despite it being outlawed in many European countries Isabella can still be found in vineyards and being made into various styles of wine, especially in Italy where the sweet dessert wine Fragolino is very popular. Isabella’s reputation as a desperado has necessitated it being known by more than fifty aliases. Those names range from Alexander and Fragola to Moschostaphylo and Kerkyraios but no matter what name you have known Isabella by it always displays that trademark “foxy” flavor that Vitis labrusca grapes are known for.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

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Today’s forecast for Western Pennsylvania was for sunshine and

Smoke from West Coast wildfires hazes Western Pennsylvania skies.

mild temperatures. The prospect of an extended period of sunshine and mild weather after a summer that set record high temps and a moderate drought was a welcome prospect. When I was outside doing some work around the house I suddenly noticed that while the temperature was in the ’70s the sky was not blue even though there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Later, a meteorologist on the local news gave me the explanation for the gray overcast conditions that had overspread the region. The reason was smoke from the wildfires on the West Coast. He said the smoke had risen and was swept eastward to the point that it was passing over the area at 30,000 feet. At that altitude, it didn’t affect our air quality but did filter out some sunlight leading to lower temperatures at the surface.

The smoke from the fires proved to be a curiosity for me but for the wine industry on the West Coast, it is presenting the possibility of being a disaster. The vineyards and wineries not directly impacted by the flames are subject to having their unharvested grapes damaged by “Smoke Taint”. Smoke taint is when grapes are exposed to smoke in the vineyard. Smoke in the vineyard doesn’t necessarily mean that the grapes will be damaged by contact with it. The grapes aren’t harmed by smokey soot settling on them but are injured because the smoke can be absorbed through their skin and goes directly into the grape’s sugars. It then gives the glycosides a smokey aroma, think what your clothes and hair smell like after you stood too close to a campfire. With that is in mind, growers aren’t finding much smoke damage from the wildfires, in fact, many are hopeful that any harm will be manageable. With the testing labs experiencing substantial backlogs of grapes for testing a definitive answer to the extent of the problem remains unknown. We will have to wait for the final judgment on the wine quality from the 2020 vintage in the affected regions.  

Dancing the Zweigelt Waltz

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When a vintner is considering adding a new variety of wine grape to their vineyard the thought process involved in choosing which vines they eventually plant can be very tedious and time-consuming. The most important consideration when making that decision is the vine’s compatibility with their growing conditions but it’s not the only factor to study when making a selection. Of all the other variables probably the most important influence on a winemaker’s decision to grow a particular grape is their belief they can make a premium wine from it. Winemakers often begin their search for that “perfect” match in wine regions around the world that are similar to their own and are producing quality wines from the grape under consideration so they can use them as a guide.

Zweigelt (pronounced TSVYE-gelt) is beginning to attract attention from growers in the northeastern United States and a few Canadian vineyards in British Columbia and Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula. Zweigelt is a cool-climate Austrian hybrid red grape developed in 1922 by the hybridization of two Austrian grapes, Blaufrankisch (Lemberger) and St. Laurent. Zweigelt is the most extensively planted red wine grape in Austria. It is a very fertile grape that requires intensive leaf control and yield regulation because of its prolific yields. Zweigelt is a good choice for growers as an insurance grape because it’s bud break is later in the spring than many other varieties when the danger of a killing frost has passed and it ripens mid-season before most of the bad weather that damages the crop later in the harvest. These are some of the reasons why the acreage of this red grape has increased substantially in Austria between 1999-2015 but has now stabilized in recent years. Zweigelt displays characteristics from both of its parents. Blaufrankisch makes a bigger, bolder and deeper wine while St. Laurent is described as being fresh, agile, and akin to a Pinot Noir but with more muscle. Zweigelt is generally made into a dry, medium/light-bodied wine with low tannins and medium/high acidity but can also be made in a sweet style or ice wine. In the glass, it has a violet/reddish color and flavors of red cherry, raspberry, black pepper, and chocolate with a spicy floral aroma.

Zweigelt is a fresh light wine that pairs well with a wide range of food, making it a great picnic wine. It is common to find Zweigelt as a varietal but it is also widely used in blends with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to yield an Austrian spin on the classic Bordeaux blend. It is frequently blended with Blaufrankisch to double down on its Austrian lineage.

The great thing about wine is that there are so many completely different wines to explore. With that in mind, I suggest when judging a new wine grape don’t base your impression on a single bottle because with these unusual wines every winemaker has their own vision for the wine. It is a good idea to try as many samples as possible before forming your opinion. If you would like to taste an American Zweigelt consider trying one made in the Finger Lakes Wine Region of New York by Rob and Kate Thomas at their Shalestone Vineyards. http://shalestonevineyards.com

My Article in Michigan Uncorked

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I would like to invite you to view my article about Saperavi in the Spring 2020 issue of Michigan Uncorked. An online version of the magazine can be accessed by going to http://michiganuncorked.com and clicking on the Spring issue link on the home page to read the free flip-page edition (I’m on page 6 + 7) or use this link to go directly to the front cover of the magazine http://online.fliphtml5.com/hllky/gjob/#=6This is an edited version of an article that appears in the Spring 2020 issue of the American Wine Society Wine Journal.

Thanks to Michigan Uncorked’s Editor-in-Chief Jim Rink for the opportunity to share my story with the readers of Michigan Uncorked. I hope you enjoy the article and it provides you a bit of relief from the uncertainty and stressful times we are experiencing. Be prudent and stay safe!