Category Archives: Passport

Passport, winery

Passport-Wine Trail: Sunday, August 30, 2009

This is the fifth installation of Passport to Connecticut Wineries, or Sophie and Cecelia’s adventures tasting their way through Connecticut wineries! Standard disclaimers apply: we are not a professional wine connoisseurs—we’re just enjoying local wines. Another note: I cannot emphasize enough the value of writing these posts as soon after the tastings as possible. I don’t understand half of my notes!

On Sunday, August 30, we visited Rosedale Farms & Vineyards, Jerram Winery, and Connecticut Valley Winery.

Rosedale Farms & Vineyards

25 East Weatogue Street, Simsbury, CT 06070, (860)-651-3926

Paul was our server. Tastings are $5 and include six wines and the glass.

rosedale01

This year, all of Rosedale’s whites are estate grown. The Simsbury Celebration is a creamy white. Serendipity is nice as well. Three Sisters has a bit of a bite, but very nice. The Summer Bouquet was sweet. The Farmington River Red disappeared on the finish. Lou’s Red was the best of the lot, but there’s California inside.

rosedale02

Jerram Winery

535 Town Hill Rd (Rte 219), New Hartford, CT 06057, (860)-379-8749

Jim (the vintner) was our server. Tastings include six of their 11 wines and the glass.

jerram01

Jerram’s wines are made from about 80% of their own grapes. The White Frost, a Chardonnay, was very delicate. The Seyval Blanc was tart and tangy. The Aurora was sweet. The Highland Reserve was entirely estate grown Cab Franc and Foch. The Marechal Foch is a delicate red. The Nor’easter was somewhat sweet, in a pleasant way.

UPDATE: I’d brought home a few bottles of the Marechal Foch. Out of the shadows of it’s “siblings,” this wine’s character has a chance to blossom. It’s fast becoming one of my favorites.

Connecticut Valley Winery

1480 Litchfield Turnpike, New Hartford, CT 06057, (860) 489-9463

Judy Ferraro was our server. Tastings include 10 of the 12 wines.

ct_valley01

The Chardonel was light and slightly sweet. The Chianti (yes, an American Chianti) is 66% estate grown and is smooth for a Chianti. The Black Tie Cabernet Franc was my favorite (despite the California inside). The Black Bear port was outstanding. I also tasted Ruby Lite, Deep Purple, Midnight, Just Peachy, Raspberry Delight, and Dolce Vita but my notes on these wines are sorely lacking. Clearly another visit is in order.

Visit the recap collection page for a menu of sorts…

locavore, Passport, winery

Passport-Wine Trail: Saturday, August 29, 2009

This is the fourth installation of Passport to Connecticut Wineries, or Sophie and Cecelia’s adventures tasting their way through Connecticut wineries! Standard disclaimers apply: we are not a professional wine connoisseurs—we’re just enjoying local wines.

On Saturday, August 29, we visited Gouveia Vineyards, Priam Vineyards, and Heritage Trail Winery.

Gouveia Vineyards

1339 Whirlwind Hill Road, Wallingford, CT 06492, (203) 265-5526

Christine was our server. Tastings are $5 and include five of their nine wines and the glass. All of their wines are made from estate-grown grapes.

christine

The Chardonnay Oak was not bad considering I’m still not a white wine aficionado. The Stone House White was rather sweet. I was unable to form an opinion on the Whirlwind Rose. The Merlot finished peppery. Though I couldn’t taste the berries in their Cab Franc, it was nice.

gouveia

Priam Vineyards

11 Shailor Hill Road, Colchester, CT 06415, (860) 267-8520

Jutta was our server, with many anecdotes about Priam’s wines and a vast wealth of knowledge about wine in general. Tastings are $6.50 and include five wines and the tasting glass (a little more if you want the big glass). They have additional and reserve wines that you can taste for a few more dollars. All of Priam’s wines are made from estate-grown grapes.

jutta_gary

The Riesling was not bad at all (red-wine-lover disclaimer applies again). The Salmon River White was interesting with an original taste. I can’t remember what I thought of the Jeremy River White. The Westchester Red pairs well with Lindt Cherry Chili chocolate. The Salmon River Red was nice. Very nice.

Of the additional wines, I sampled the Blackledge White and thought, “Wow” and “smooth.” Of the reserve wines, I tried the Essence of St. Croix, which is a port style wine. Really, really nice.

Gary Crump is their energetic vintner (pictured above).

priam_vineyard

Heritage Trail Winery

291 North Burnham Highway, Lisbon, CT 06351, (860) 376-0659

Marcus was our server. Tastings are $7 and include all seven wines. The glass is an additional $5. We had the Grand Pairing for two. Tastings are in the cafe, at a table so that if you decide to eat here, you won’t have to move. Most of their wines (except the Cab Franc) are made from estate-grown grapes.

marcus

The Quinebaug White is a blend of Cayuga White and Vidal grapes. Light and citrus-like, somewhere between grapefruit and orange. The Chardonnay was clean tasting. I liked the Winthrop White (all Cayuga White) and Cecelia did not. We found the Sweet Reserve to be citric and tart. The Shetucket Red was okay. I tasted the oak and smokiness of the Rochambeau Red, but not the “essence of vanilla” nor the “hints of dark chocolate.” I did enjoy the Cab Franc.

The cafe is lovely and the food, prepared by Chef Harry is excellent, innovative, and as local as possible. The yam chips with chili sauce and wasabi goat cheese are a must-try.

Til next time, Salut!

Connecticut, Passport, winery

Passport-Wine Trail: Saturday, June 28, 2009

This is the first installation of Passport to Connecticut Wineries, or Sophie and Cecelia’s adventures tasting  their way through Connecticut wineries!

On Saturday, June 28, 2009, we visited DiGrazia Vineyards and McLaughlin Vineyards.

DiGrazia Vineyards

131 Tower Rd., Brookfield, CT 06804, (203)775-1616

I was immediately impressed with the grotto at the entrance. Once inside, the tasting consists of your choice of six of their 15 wines. Matt was our tasting guide and explained the whole process to us.

Matt, explaining the intricacies of a DiGrazia tasting

I tasted Anastasia Blush, Honey Blush, Blacksmith Port, Wild Blue, Wild Blue Too, Fieldstone Reserve, and Newbury. (I know that’s seven—I tasted some of Cecelia’s choices too!) I’m a red wine lover and don’t care much for white wines, rosés, or dessert wines and was pleasantly surprised with the Anastasia Blush, the Honey Blush, and the blueberry wines. I felt their reds were a little lacking: the Fieldstone Reserve had strong hints of iodine and the Newbury didn’t have much of a finish. Still, I have friends for whom the Newbury would be a good glass of wine. The blueberry wines were the surprise of the day since I am somewhat biased towards wine made with grapes. These delicious wines are also very high in antioxidants.

The tasting team at DiGrazia

The staff is delightful and make for a fun tasting, but are new to the business and could not tell us much about the composition of the wines. Perhaps we’ll have to come back at the end of the season when they are more, well, seasoned.

I left with bottles of Anastasia Blush, Honey Blush, Wild Blue, Wild Blue Too, and Newbury.

McLaughlin Vineyards

14 Albert’s Hill Road, Sandy Hook, CT 06482, (203)426-1533

I have been to McLaughlin’s tastings numerous times before, but this was the official Passport visit.

McLaughlin tastings are a tour though each of ther six wines: Chardonnay, Coyote, Snow Goose, Red Fox Rosé, Merlot, and Vista Reposa. Liz (our tasting guide) recounted the details and highlights of each of the wines as she poured. The McLaughlin tasting includes the etched McLaughlin wine tasting glass.

Vista Reposa is a particular favorite of mine. It goes with nearly everything I cook and each person I introduce to it enjoys it. The Red Fox Rosé is new this season and is quite refreshing. The Merlot goes particularly well with dark chocolate. I don’t generally like Merlot or dark chocolate, but together, I do!

Bruce McLaughlin: the man and his grapes
New life
Up close

I left with bottles of Merlot, Red Fox, and (of course) Vista Reposa. My apologies to Liz for leaving the camera in the car. I’ll catch you next time and make an update.)