The Finger Lakes Wine Region of New York (FLX) is only a 5 hour drive from my home in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Having a World-Class wine-producing region so close provides my wife and me the luxury of making a trip to the area when the mood strikes us. During our trip last week we visited old favorites Herman J. Herman Winery and Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery while adding a new favorite Standing Stone Winery. All three of these wineries produce excellent Riesling along with other notable wines. Cool-climate white wines have always been this region’s claim to fame but on this visit I was curious to see first-hand how the development of the Saperavi grape was progressing. In the following series of posts I will give you my personal take on the wine, grapevines, trends and scenic views I encountered around these glacial lakes. Come along with me and see what’s new in the FLX.
Tag wine
Hollywood Stars Blind Wine Tasting
I recently heard an interview with Billy Gardell, the star of the hit TV comedy Mike & Molly and Pittsburgh native, telling about a blind wine tasting party that he attended. Every year Louis Mustillo, who plays Vince on the show, throws a party for the cast at his home. Billy brings jazz records from his collection and Lou provides a blind tasting of wines ranging from $15 to $100. Billy said as the evening progressed everyone would sample a wine then he would play a song and they would discuss the wine. At the end of the evening they voted for their favorite wine and every year the $15 bottle has won. Then he did a great “Vince” impression saying “See, I told you the $100 bottle never wins.” I enjoyed hearing this story because it confirmed the foundation on which this blog is built. I have always said “Drink what you like because it doesn’t matter how much a wine costs if you don’t like it then it’s not a good wine for you.” I often have people say to me “I don’t know anything about wine” to which I respond “If it tastes good to you that’s all you need to know.” Billy is hoping that his wife will let him paint the Steeler end zone in his backyard and to that I say “Good Luck Billy.”
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Greg Norman’s Australian Grille
My wife and I spent the last week of May in Myrtle Beach and Charleston, South Carolina. We were fortunate to have beautiful weather during our stay. On one of those beautiful days we drove up Hwy 17 to Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle Beach to have dinner at Greg Norman’s Australian Grille. This steakhouse describes itself as ” The Upper Crust of Down Under Dining.” As we arrived I immediately took note of the building that was masterfully designed to resemble something you would expect to see in Australia. The dining room is set in rich dark wood with plush seating that creates an elegant yet inviting dining experience. We ate inside but if you prefer they offer tables on a large patio that overlooks the intercoastal waterway.
Our steaks, as are all their steaks, were 100% Premium Black Angus Beef, aged a minimum of 28 days. They were wood grilled to perfection with a variety of homemade sauces to choose from. How were they? I can’t put into words the taste and when we paired them with Greg Norman wine all I can say is “WOW.” I had a Greg Norman Estates 2012 Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina and my wife had Greg Norman Estates Cabemet ( yes, Cabemet) Sauvignon,Paso Robles, California both were reasonably priced at $9 a glass. Their exclusive wine list has received the “Award of Excellence” from Wine Spectator Magazine every year for over a decade.
When you are in North Myrtle Beach you should seriously consider Greg Norman’s Australian Grille as your choice for lunch or dinner. Greg Norman’s Australian Grille 4930 Hwy 17 S North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Greg Norman’s Australian Grille
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China Star Rising
Chateau Changyu, Beiyujia Vineyards, Shandong, China
I read an article recently about how China has now surpassed France for the amount of land dedicated to wine-making vineyards. China now boasts 1.9 million acres of vineyards, passing France for second place and behind the number one grower, Spain. China remains the 7th largest producer of grapes due to production inefficiencies. The increase in vineyards is in direct response to the need for more wine grapes to satisfy the explosive rise in demand for wine in China. China has experienced a cultural evolution toward drinking wine over the past 15 years that is directly tied to the increase in disposable income. Red wine is preferred by the majority of Chinese wine drinkers so it is no surprise that Cabernet Sauvignon is the most planted grape variety in the country.
China is a huge country with many sub-climates and even more micro-climates, not to mention the countless soil types and varying terrain. I believe when you have that many variables combined with an ancient culture that thrives on challenges and ingenuity the only logical outcome from Chinese wine makers will be superior and creative wines. The wine business in China will continue to focus on products and production to satisfy domestic demand. But as we have seen the Chinese do in so many other arenas, they will be constantly comparing their wine to the best in the world to judge their progress and making changes to excel.
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Nectar of the Gods
When Matt Falenski, owner/meadmaker, of the Laurel Highlands Meadery received state approval for his operation in 2011 his timing couldn’t have been better. Mead is the oldest beverage known to man dating back to approximately 7000 B.C.. It is now enjoying a resurgence in popularity fueled by the wave of craft micro-breweries and their adventurous patrons. Commonly known as “Honey wine” mead is made from honey, yeast, fruit or spices depending on the style of the meadmaker. Laurel Highlands produces a full menu of mead for you to select from including: Traditional, Bochet, Maple, Hopped, Blackberry and Chocolate. Their meads come in sweet or dry table wine and dessert wine. Matt has plans for a tasting room but for now his mead can be found at All Saints Brewing Greensburg, Beaver Brewing Beaver Falls, Four Seasons Brewing Latrobe, Piper’s Pub S
outhside, Pittsburgh and are always available to order on his website Laurelhighlandsmeadery.com
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Happy Easter
May the spirit of hope that Easter brings, fill your life with love and joy.
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West Pa. Winery & Brewery Website
West Pa. Winery & Brewery is the companion website to this blog. I started this site as a comprehensive source of contact information for many of the wineries and breweries in Western Pennsylvania. The homepage allows you to choose directories for wineries and breweries that list addresses, phone numbers, and links to these businesses. Links to this months and next months scheduled events can be easily accessed by clicking on the desired months tab. You can view photos either on the gallery page or on the scrolling slide show on the homepage. The “More” tab contains pages for contacting me with your event info, a Finger Lakes Region winery directory plus a page linking you to some of my blog posts. I started this website with the sole purpose of providing a place where you could find all the info about the wineries and breweries in West Pa. I don’t have a hit counter on this site and had no idea if it was being used until I was doing maintenance on it and I noticed it had 5000 Facebook “Likes”. There isn’t a Facebook page for this site and I am asking everyone to help me promote it by giving it a “Like”, tweet, retweet, post, repost, well you get the idea. I hope this site can be helpful in educating the public on what is available for them in the area of winery and brewery entertainment. Thank You twitter@wpawinepirate West Pa. Winery & Brewery
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On the Edge of Glory
I talked with Chuck Zaleski of Fero Vineyards & Winery in Lewisburg, Pa recently and got the inside story on “What’s New” at his winery. When I asked about the 2014 harvest his voice filled with pride and excitement saying it was a record year in both quality and quantity. The harvest was so good that he even sold some grapes this year. It is a good thing that his vineyards are producing extraordinarily well because Chuck was planning on sales growth of 20% last year but it came in at 30%. This year he will hold growth to 20% because his focus is always on the quality of the wine being maintained and improved. Fero is the only producing Saperavi vineyard in Pennsylvania and Chuck’s plan is to double his acreage of Saperavi grapes as soon as he can acquire the vines.
Fero will be adding three new sweet wines to the menu this year. The apple, cherry and peach wines will be made from the same Grüner Veltliner grapes grown in their vineyard that produced a Double Gold medal winner at the 2015 Pa. Farm Show. Chuck makes great sweet wines but his real passion is for his excellent dry wines. The judges at the 2015 Pa. Farm Show awarded Fero Vineyards & Winery 8 medals, they are: Double Gold: Grüner Veltliner , Gold: Pinot Gris, 3 Silver: Reisling, Pinot Noir and Saperavi and 3 Bronze.
This year’s fund- raising schedule is nearly full with only a very few dates still available. New this year will be the Wine-N-Mile on May 29th. This event is similar to a Beer-N-Mile where runners race a figure 8 course through the vineyard stopping at six stations to drink 2 ounces of wine at each. After the race guests are invited to stay for live music and the summer “Happy Hour” kickoff.
If you would like more information about Fero Vineyards & Winery wine or events visit www.ferovineyards.com or call 570-568-0846
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Ripepi Winery & Vineyard
Winery Manager: Pete Abvulovic (L) Owner&Winemaker: Rich Ripepi(R)
When you think of leaders in the resurgence of winemaking in Western Pennsylvania one name that should immediately come to mind is Richard Ripepi and his Ripepi Winery & Vineyard in Monongahela. Rich showed great foresight when he founded his vineyard in 1987. Those initial rows of grapes have now grown into a 10 acre vineyard containing nearly 5000 vines made up of 21 different varieties of wine grapes.
The day I visited Rich I found him to be the same welcoming and gracious host that I have come to know over the years, the kind that always makes you feel like one of the family. While sitting in his tasting room I took the opportunity to ask him how the 2014 season had played out. He told me it started out in early March with him leaving on extra buds because that was the consensus last year due to the extreme winter we had just experienced and the excepted damage it had caused to the vines. In reality his vines sustained little if any damage with the exception being his Cabernet Sauvignon that required some vines to be replaced because of winter damage. The spring brought rain and extra growth that prepared the vines for a huge volume of fruit to be set. After June 10th normally the grapes should on the vines signaling it is time for the nets to go up and the spraying program to end. It rained hard all summer and because of that the spraying had to continue to protect the crop. By late August the vines were so laden with fruit Rich had to decide whether to drop a portion of the fruit or roll the dice on perfect fall weather. Rich went with rolling the dice and he won. September had abundant sunshine and little rain making conditions favorable for all of his grape varieties to ripen within a 3 week picking window instead of the usual 6 week harvest season. Rich was both surprised and delighted with the resulting harvest that was the most bountiful and high quality of any in the history of Ripepi Vineyard. Vines that usually average 7 to 8 pounds of fruit each produced 10 to 12 pounds per plant in 2014.
Work at a winery may slow in the winter but it never stops. During my visit they were moving 800 gallons of wine outside to cold stabilize while Winery Manager Pete Abvulovic was in the lab working to find the alcohol content of various wines. Decisions were being made on which Ripepi wines would be sent to the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition (F.L.I.W.C.) and which would be entered into the Pennsylvania Wine Association (P.W.A.) competition.
Rich honed his wine making skills by attending conferences and workshops sponsored by various universities and wine industry organizations. During the early days of his winery he was helped immensely by two people that he met at these gatherings. Rich made a special point to acknowledge the invaluable help given to him by his friends and viticulture experts, the late Robert Pool of Cornell University and the late Dr. Garth Cahoon of Ohio State University.
No trip to Ripepi Winery & Vineyard would be complete without tasting wine. I tasted his award-winning DeChaunac, an excellent Merlot-like Chancellor and the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cab was especially enjoyable because it contained grapes that my wife and I helped pick during the 2013 harvest that was featured in my post ” Harvest at Ripepi Winery “. For more information go to www.ripepiwine.com or follow him on twitter at @RipepiWinery Phone: 724-288-3738
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Oak
The flavor and aroma of oak in wine is only second to Red or White in dividing wine drinkers. Many people simply will not give themselves a chance to appreciate how oak can be artfully used to enhance wine quality whether it’s Red or White. I like the flavor of oak in any of its applications especially when it is used to shape a wine into a more complex version of itself. Wine makers have leaned on oak barrels for centuries to give their wine both structure and flavors. The oxygen that seeps into the barrels helps mature the wine while causing the loss of a small amount of wine that is said to be the ” Angel
New Oak Wine Barrel
Share”. Oak wood for wine barrels is grown throughout the world and has a distinctive flavor associated with each region from which it is harvested. American Oak has a pronounced level of flavor that is imparted to the wine while French Oak is said to be more subtle (Let the arguments begin). Coopers are able to give wine makers more control over their flavors by the amount of toasting they do to the inside of a barrel, mixing different kinds oak staves used to make a barrel and even making the oak wood in to chips or sticks that can be floated in vats of wine. Today’s wine makers don’t have to paint the portrait of a wine using only broad brush strokes of oak, they can paint shadows of light and dark accents of flavors with the precision of an artist using small brush strokes to bring out all the nuances of a wine. The organic compounds that are released into the wine give it structure and flavor while drawing out hidden flavors to add complexity to the wine. When done correctly the addition of oak can produce a truly unique wine. The difference that oak makes in the personality of a wine can be seen by tasting three different Chardonnay. The first being made entirely in stainless steel to preserve fruit flavors, the second aged in used barrels for texture only and the third aged in new oak to get a creamy texture plus an aromatic vanilla taste. After tasting the differences in the three you will be able to the tell which methods you like the best.
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