Workin’ it in Washington

Pretty in Pink

Bubbly and fun, this lovely girl was serving a Pink Prosecco Party Punch. She was working an event I attended this past weekend in DC. While it wasn’t specifically a wine event, there was always a glass of fermented fun nearby. Which is good, since it usually helps to loosen the tie of even the stuffiest stuffed shirt.

Prosecco is a sparkling wine from, most notably,  the region of Veneto in North Eastern Italy.  Pink Prosecco is just what it sounds like. What makes it pink? Skin contact with the Pinot Nero (Noir) grape.  According to WineSearcher.com the varietal blend is: 85% Prosecco (Glera) ~ the 15% remaining may include: Bianchetta Trevigana, Perera, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and Pinot Noir (if you want it pink). Some notable brands worth sampling: Ruffino ($12), Canella ($17), Bisol Bel Star ($20). For mixing in punch, you might want to stick with the lower priced offerings. If you’re going to spend $20 on a bottle, it’s best to keep it the star of the show.

I find that sparklers like Prosecco go right to my head, so my rule of thumb is: One glass to feel dreamy ~ two or more and it’s lights out. But when combined with one of the first warm evenings of spring, it prompted me to start thinking, and anticipating, a great season ~ alfresco and under the stars.

Cheers!

©TheWineStudent, 2013

It’s Always Sweet in Florida: San Sebastian Winery

 

Wherever I travel, I always try to find a winery. Not that I can’t go a day without a glass of wine, but it’s a great way to check out local offerings and to taste the differences in growing regions. On this first trip to Jacksonville, I wasn’t sure I’d find one so close. San Sebastian Winery in St. Augustine, was only 45 minutes away by car. Sweet.

Established in 1996, San Sebastien Winery uses a combination of hybrid bunch grapes; Stover, Suwannee, Blanc Du Bois along with Muscadine. The Muscadine grape thrives in humid, warm conditions and well-drained, loamy sand. It bears fruit in small, loose clusters that allow for better air flow and circulation. If you look at the picture, they look really different from what we’re used to here in Ohio.

Muscadine Grapes Image via drlindseyduncun

Their growing season begins from bud break in mid-March to harvest in late July and August.The skins change from a bronze into a deep blackberry color, when fully ripe, and have a very high content of polyphenols and trans-resveratrol, highly touted for its’ health benefits. Muscadine wine is typically sweeter due to the sugar content from the winemaking process.

Unlike many wineries I’ve visited, there was no direct access to their vineyards, (Lakeridge Winery) located several miles away in Clermont, Fla. So we toured the winery, saw an informational video about how wine is made, had a quick look at the barrel room, the bottling area and finally wound it all up in the tasting room. There, we sampled a few of their products including: the Castillo Red (very Merlot-like) and the Stover Reserve ~ quickly moving down the list, from dry to sweet, until we reached the sherry and port.

Tour guide Doc Michealson, instructed visitors on why the swirl is important and, specifically, how to properly sip the port and sherry. He explained that it would take three sips of each to get the full flavor. One lone sip and all we’d taste would be “the booze”, not that there’s anything wrong with that. However, I got his point that the beauty was in tasting the nuance of the flavors. For a winery whose mandate is for visitors to take with them some education about wine, and also a bottle or two, they do a nice job.

We found that most of the wines tended to be on the sweet side, even ones that were billed as dry, tasted quite sweet. That makes sense given the type of cultivar that do well in summer heat as well as the style of winemaking. It also could be because our palates are used to beefier, full-bodied reds from Italy, Oregon, Washington and Napa.

But that was the most interesting element because it was a true expression of their particular terroir.

Instead of being a copy of some other style, it was uniquely their own.

Cheers!

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©TheWineStudent, 2013

 

Apt Pupil

I’m so excited! I just registered for the WSET level 1 Foundation Certificate course at the American Wine School here in Cleveland! For three Mondays starting in April, I’ll learn about varietals, factors affecting the style of wine, food and wine pairing and proper wine service. I’ve been wanting to take this course for a long time , and it’ll be great to immerse myself in a methodical look at the world of wine.

This winter has made my brain feel a little like Swiss cheese, so I can’t wait to have a new challenge. And when the main topic is wine, who says learning can’t be fun?

Cheers!

©TheWineStudent, 2013

Ice Whine

Icy Loveliness: Ferrante Cab Franc Ice Wine

If you’ve read my blog for a while, you’ll know that I love Ice Wine. And in Ohio, there is a burgeoning industry that I am very happy to enjoy and help promote. Last year, my friends and I ventured out to the far East of Cleveland to enjoy the Ice Wine Festival, if you click on the archives for March 2012, you’ll find pics. But I have a conundrum: to get to any of the events from where I live, you have to travel at least an hour, through a variety of possible weather conditions ranging from snow to snow | wind to snow and freezing snow | rain | slush | yuck mix. I think you see where I’m headed.

The way the North East Ohio (NEO) Ice Wine festival currently works, patrons travel from one winery to the next, sampling the latest offerings and pairing with specialty appetizers or desserts. It can be a lovely afternoon, if the weather gods are smiling. If they’re not, you can find yourself navigating some fairly tricky roads both on major freeways and the unplowed back roads to get to your destination.

I understand that having the Ice Wine festival at the individual estates is a great way to bring people out to the wineries during the off-season; and that’s good for business. I also understand that there are many who live on the East side and so the drive isn’t too difficult. But how about a little love for those of us on the West side or downtown?

An additional Ice Wine festival downtown, perhaps on E4th ~ where the area is closed to all but walking traffic, would bring visitors to the resident restaurants that also experience a bit of a slowdown in the winter months. It could be done as part of the annual East side festival ~ three weekends dedicated to Ice wine and the promotion of NEO wineries. The first weekend could be as it already is; with trips out to the participating wineries. The following weekend could have a more urban flavor, at E4th, and the third at Crocker Park,  providing greater access to downtown and West Side dwellers, respectively.

I know, it sounds a little like putting up a barn and having a floorshow. But I really like the NEO wine industry and the wines they are producing can be really terrific. In September, Crocker Park in Westlake sets up a premier wine event promoting the industry and recent vintages. Their attendance is usually quite high. Downtown wine events are also well-attended.

It’s just a thought but it might be a great way to bring in some other unique wineries from the surrounding regions as well as the East. And it might be a way to open up the NEO wine market to all of North East Ohio.

Cheers!

©TheWineStudent, 2013

Friends in Need

Last week, one of Cleveland’s historical treasures burned. The West Side Market on West 25th was one of those landmarks that I was told I absolutely HAD to visit when I first moved here 5 years ago. Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of shopping, sampling and moving about the busy stalls, interacting with sellers of just about anything you could imagine. There’s an energy there that rejuvenates me every time. When you dine at many of the restaurants within Ohio City, you know that what’s on the menu has come from the market. It’s great to know that the produce, fish and meat you’re getting is fresh and that you’re helping to support the local economy.The West Side Market represents a vital part of Cleveland as well as its heritage; many of the vendors are third and fourth generation.

And it will come back ~ the cafe just announced its reopening but it will be a few weeks before the entire market is back to full function. Many surrounding businesses that depend on the market for their livelihood have stepped up to the plate to offer their support.

Cleveland Clothing is also helping by designing a t-shirt, with 100% of all proceeds going to the Market Vendor Relief Fund of The Michael Symon Foundation.

You can get involved by purchasing a t-shirt or contributing directly to The Market Vendor Relief Fund.

Another way you can help is by keeping an eye out for announcements about the grand reopening in the news; on Facebook and Twitter and make sure to go back to visit and shop.

Helping those in need can always make us feel good. And with Valentine’s Day coming up, sharing the love can make helping that much sweeter.

Cheers!

©TheWineStudent, 2013

Field Trip ~ Colaneri Estate Winery, Niagara.on.the.Lake ON

@ Colaneri Estate Winery

One of the things I love about going home to Niagara for the holidays; apart from seeing family and friends, is picking a new winery to try. Since I left almost 5 years ago, there has been an explosion of great wineries with something to please every palate.

When HubbyDoug and I were walking the main street we slipped into a little bar for a glass to take away the chill. We were treated to a Colaneri Estate Winery ’09 Cabernet Corposo. I noticed a distinctive richness and old world vibe from the very first sip. To be honest, my experience with many Niagara reds has been somewhat disappointing. They have a tendency towards a lightness and a green, vegetal quality that I don’t always care for. While they eventually settle into a pleasant flavor, it’s generally when you get to the bottom of the glass. I like a red to look me in the eye as it gently takes me by the collar and eases me back into my chair. This wine winked as it looked me in the eye.

I had to find out what made it so unique. A trip to the winery became my top priority.

Colaneri wines are made using an appassimento process that dates back to ancient Roman times. Harvested grapes are hung to dry before winemaking, to remove any excess water, thus shriveling the grapes. And why would you want this kind of shrinkage? All the better to concentrate the sugars and flavors in the resulting wine.

• Recioto ~ also an ancient style of winemaking and also incorpporating the drying of grapes to concentrate the sugar content. Recioto may be red or white, dry or sweet. The dryer wines in this style are Amarone which can be intense at 16% alcohol.
• Ripasso is a style that means to revisit or go over. It involves a double fermentation process in which additional dried grape skins are added. The sugar content has been heightened by drying and this increases the final alcohol and phenolic content in the wine which is known as passito.

Our winery guide, Pam, explained that Colaneri was one of only three Niagara region wineries to use this process. Their wines are kiln-dried, using both greenhouses with industrial fans and tobacco kilns. ”Since the kilns were no longer being used to dry tobacco, they have been put to use in winemaking”, she said. In the tobacco kilns, the fans push air up through the floor; where the greenhouse fans circulate the air around the fruit. The drying process can take up to two months with skin contact completed within 7-10 days.

After harvest, the grapes for Amarone and Recioto are set aside to dry in trays in kilns, or are hung in lofts ~ the hanging and careful placement in trays allows for complete air circulation so no mold develops. There they stay for approximately four months after which the semidried grapes are crushed and fermented with the grape skins. The grapes not used for Amarone or Recioto are crushed and fermented to be used later.

Once prolonged skin contact has finished, the wine is stored for aging. The additional wine (that had been fermented seperately) is introduced by being pumped over the Amarone | Recioto skins, thus starting the second fermentation. The saturated skins are still quite full of unfermented sugars, making them high in aromatics and tannins.

Tasting at Colaneri Estate Winery

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It was time to began our tasting with a spectrum of lighter fare: Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurtztraminer, Chenin Blanc. The Chenin Blanc was my favorite; it had a taste of pear, pineapple and cotton candy (yum) with lots of citrus on the nose. Pam then took us into the reds starting the Red Blend ~ a combination of Cab Sav, Syrah, Merlot, Cab Franc and Petit Verdot. She mentioned that it was their everyday wine that pairs well with everything from pizza to red meats to chocolate.

We then turned our attention to the Cabernet that we had enjoyed the day before. The scent of rich molasses was prominent on the nose with sweet tobacco, blackberry and raspberry resonating on the palate. Awesome.

The Cabernet Franc was rich and flavorful, with an distinct essence of plum. Pam mentioned that some who tried it but don’t enjoy prunes/plums weren’t always fans. She recommended pairing with tomato-y dishes to counterbalance the prune essence.

We spend a good part of the afternoon sipping and learning a lot about some very special wines. Pam was friendly, knowledgeable and made the field trip to Colaneri so much fun.

I came away from the trip feeling happy to have discovered a jewel of a Niagara wine. I’ll make a point to look for more wines created using this time-honored method.

Cheers!

©TheWineStudent, 2013

2012 Cleveland Wine Festival ~ Sun, fun and wine

I didn’t think we’d make it downtown. The forecast was shaping up to be rain with a chance of more rain. But the thing about Cleveland weather is what might be happening in one ‘burb might not be happening in another. On the other hand, there’s nothing worse than trying to quaff when your glass is filling with rain instead of wine. As luck would have it, when we arrived at the Giant Eagle Cleveland Wine Festival at Voinovich Park, the clouds parted and we were treated to great sunshine, a warm lake breeze and some interesting wine to sample.

Cheers!

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Summer Lovin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo

 “Summertime is always the best of what might be.” ~ Charles Bowden

Friday’s summer wine feast highlighted a few of the best of what is to come this summer.  Shelly and I had two hours to sample as many of the fine wines as we could. It proved to be fairly tricky since there were seven tables with five wines each. Five food stations with samples of cheeses, main course offerings and dessert were available to navigate along with the wine.

David fromVintage Wines said that Riesling was going to be one of the big trends this summer and we paired the Richter Estate Riesling with samples of baked, breaded Hake in pesto sauce. I’d never tried Hake, but it proved to be a tasty yet light fish. The flavorful delicacy of the fish and basil from the pesto brought out the floral and citrus vibe of the wine. As for the reds, the Tamarack Red Blend was pleasant enough at first taste but as the sample wound down, Shelly found it became more bitter with a vinegar aftertaste she wasn’t really into ~ so in the chum bucket it went.

On to our next pick of the night: an 07 Tudal Cabernet Sauvignon. Cab Sauv always brings to mind colder temps and a hearty beef dinner. Jack from Wine Trends suggested pairing it with the tricolor tortellini salad and kale with blueberry quinoa. I didn’t think it would pair well at all but found it to have a subtle strawberry on the nose; fruit forward jam essence, peppery in the middle and a finish of soft caramel. The mild spice of the tortellini and sweetness of the kale quinoa was beautifully offset by the complexity of this Cab and it was surprisingly refreshing. Only 490 cases of this vintage were produced so it was a rare and wonderful find. At a price point of 39.99, I thought I’d splurge for a wine that was toe-curl worthy.

We did our best to use our limited time wisely but didn’t get through all the stations before closing time. Yet with the rush, we still managed to get to the cassata cake. Even when you’re at your busiest, there’s always time for cake.

It was great to experience a tasting like this; like speed dating but with wine. And while we couldn’t sample everything, we did come away with a couple of good numbers to hook up with for the summer.

Cheers!

Cassata cake!

Summer Lovin’

I think it’s safe to say that old man winter has put on his hat and taken his crotchety, blustery self back to where he came from. To celebrate,  I’m going tonight, with my friend Shelly, to the Summer Wine and Beer Feast at Heinen’s in Strongsville.

It’ll be nice to put on my white jeans (gasp! before Memorial Day and everything) and see what is trending this season for summer wine fun.

I’ll post some pics and our picks of the night’s offerings.

Cheers!

Wherefore art thou Zinfandel?

Tonight, I had the great opportunity to take my daughter to the Great Lakes Theater’s production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. She’d read it last year and will probably tackle it again next year. I wanted her to have the experience of seeing it up close ~ with the hope that the text would magically become real.

Dinner before the show was a special tradition I loved when I was growing up; it made going to the theater more of a special event. We found a little place downtown to settle in for a leisurely bite before curtain. The waiter suggested I try a Monster Zinfandel by Norman Vineyards which sounded scary but proved to be a creamy, full-bodied, fruity gem. I sipped slowly and enjoyed it with a light meal of mozzarella caprese ~ with tomato and fresh basil on a garlic baguette. Managing to save the last few drops for  a dessert of carrot cake was worth the challenge, as the jammy essence of the wine brought out the sweet richness of the cake. Yummy.

In days of yore, you could pick your poison ~ Romeo and Juliet certainly did. And it’s a tragedy they couldn’t have tasted this vintage. They might have lived happily ever after.

Cheers!