A wine focused podcast discussing art, philosophy, business, and the pursuit of living a good life, produced by winemaker Chris Missick, based in the Finger Lakes region of New York.
S2 EP0039 - Chris Brundrett of William Chris Vineyards - Texas Hill Country AVA
Thursday, April 7, 2022 • Duration 49:31
Chris Brundrett, co-founder of William Chris Vineyards, is a force to be reckoned with in the Texas wine scene. His winery, its growth, and his vision for Texas wines are as big as the state itself.
Our show today was recorded in the gorgeous Wine Club tasting room at William Chris Vineyards, along the 290 Wine Trail in Texas Hill Country. Chris Brundrett, co-founder of William Chris Vineyards, is ubiquitous in the Texas wine industry. From his personal and political push to ensure wine labeled as Texas contains 100% Texas fruit, to his efforts to promote elevated service and wine education amongst industry members, to his charitable and philanthropic efforts to aid communities in Texas. Chris seems to be everywhere at once. He’s also done a great job presenting the many faces of Mourvèdre that are grown in Texas, via his numerous single vineyard and cuvee bottlings of the varietal.
He’s an affable man, who at the same time feels part evangelist, part farmer, part winemaker, and part CEO of one of Texas’ most recognizable wine brands. More importantly, he seems to be the kind of person you just want to be friends with, the kind of person who would be happy to help if you needed something, and the kind of person you’d be happy to lend a hand to if he asked. He’s the picture of the budding Texas wine scene, and I’m happy to share our conversation with you.
With that said, the Texas wine industry is bursting with wonderful, big personalities. From Sil over at Saint Tryphon, to Dr. Bob at Bending Branch. And from the picpoul blanc at Lost Draw, to the Roussanne at Kuhlman - fascinating, and wonderful wines await you at the most unlikely of locations and visits.
And as a final word, there is a lot of good food to be had in Hill Country. We loved Hill and Vine and Otto’s in Fredericksburg, I even grabbed a great panini at a roadside gas station that echoed the quality of Oakville Grocery, but the best combo of food, a relaxed and comfortable environment, a predominantly and not pretentiously dominant Texas wine list, and my favorite overall Hill Country restaurant, was 259 Brantley’s Bistro and Bar in downtown Boerne - spelled BOERNE. Boerne isn’t a wine town, at least not yet, but this beautiful Hill Country, riverside village offered an array of wonderful regular menu options and original specials. If you’ve visited and dined in the Finger Lakes, it was like a marriage between Ports, Kindred Fair, and Vonney’s roadside biker bar. I enjoyed the wild hog schnitzel, the mussels were the best I’ve had outside of Belgium, and the service staff always donned a pleasant smile and ensured your glass was full. The mussels were especially good with the Muscat Pet Nat by Saint Tryphon, and may have been one of the best Pet Nats I’ve ever had. Life was good in this place.
This may be the end of this short series on Texas Hill Country, but it is not the end of my coverage of Texas wines. I love this place - the people, the spirit, the service, and the sense that the best is yet to come. As a cool climate winemaker, the alcohol levels in some of the wines do take a bit of getting used to. I’ve produced Cab Franc with alcohol levels ranging from 10.8 to 12.9, but generally simply seek balance and a representation of what the vintage represented. Then again, Texas not only has a longer growing season than the Finger Lakes, it has a lot more sun and a lot more heat. The balanced wines though, are really something - and when paired with local cuisine and a cool night by the Guadalupe River, are the stuff dreams are made of. Chris Brundrett is another man who knows something about dreams - he knows a little something about making dreams come true. So without further ado, here’s the show.
S2 EP0038 - Texas Hill Country AVA: With January Wiese, Cliff Bingham, and Michael McClendon
Thursday, March 31, 2022 • Duration 01:13:31
The Texas wine scene is growing by leaps and bounds, and Hill Country as a destination continues its growth at a record pace. In this episode, we change up our format to introduce you to some of the leaders of the Texas wine industry. You’ll meet the Executive Director of the Hill Country Wineries Association, Cliff Bingham of Bingham Vineyards, and Michael McClendon, a winemaker/owner at the custom crush facility, Sage’s Vintage.
Check out our guests and some other great links at:
My first taste of wine from Texas, was actually a little more than seven years ago. One of the things many people don’t know, is the Finger Lakes international wine competition is largely a fundraiser for a place called Camp Good Days and Special Times, which serves as a retreat for children that are fighting cancer. An additional fundraising stream for Camp Good Days through the competition, is a large banquet that follows the end of the competition. A component of that banquet is a silent auction of many of the remaining wines. In 2015, I was invited by Scott and Ruth Osborne, owners of , to be their guest for the dinner. Scott, if you recall from our first show, the subject of our very first viticulture interview nearly a year ago, has been called the Robert Mondavi of the Finger Lakes.
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S2 EP0029 - Wine Reads - Fredericksburg Pleases the Palate in a Texas-Size Way
Sunday, January 2, 2022 • Duration 12:02
If you like this podcast, please be sure to rate us 5 stars in Apple podcasts and like our videos on YouTube, and visit my winery in the Finger Lakes at Missick Cellars.
Episode 0029:
Wine Reads – January 1, 2022
Hi, this is Chris Missick, and welcome to Viti+Culture, and our segment Wine Reads, where we take a look at some of the most interesting, compelling, and even controversial stories and articles in wine. On the heels of this holiday break, I have decided to take a few spur of the moment trips, one to the Yadkin Valley in North Carolina, and the other to the Texas Hill Country in mid-January. I’ve heard so many great things about both regions, and the Hill Country in particular, and figure it will be a nice break from the upstate winter we’ll be fully enmeshed in. With that in mind, my Google News Alert with the keyword Finger Lakes popped up with this message about Fredericksburg, widely considered the heart of the Texas Hill Country AVA. It’s an AP wire story, so I don’t have an author to directly credit, but you can find the article by googling the title, Fredericksburg pleases the palate in a Texas-size way.
So here we go:
“California has Napa and Sonoma; New York has the Finger Lakes and Texas has Fredericksburg,” said Jesse Barter, owner of Hill & Vine Restaurant as he poured a ruby-hued Tempranillo into my glass.
It does indeed. The Hill Country west of Austin and north of San Antonio includes Texas-sized acreage devoted to wine production, making it the second largest AVA (American Viticultural Area) in the U.S.
The Central Texas Hill Country is one of two major wine-producing regions in the state – the other being the Llano Estacado (Staked Plains) in Texas' northwestern corner.
Here in the Hill Country, some 100 wineries dot the landscape along Highway 290, known as the Wine Road, from Fredericksburg to Austin. Fifty of those are in Fredericksburg itself, with 50 more in the permitting process.
More about the wines later, but back to Barter and Hill & Vine. When I was there for dinner the restaurant had been open for three weeks, and if you were lucky enough to snag a reservation at all, the waiting time for a table was often two hours or longer.
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S2 EP0028 - Matt Butts, Cellar Assistant at Missick Cellars in the Finger Lakes
Thursday, December 9, 2021 • Duration 47:06
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Today we are exploring how one person found his way into the wine industry, and the steps he's taking to learn winemaking. Matt Butts is currently working in the cellar after years of working in tasting rooms, and a career in welding before that. In this show, we highlight one path towards becoming a winemaker, and the steps Matt has taken to achieve his dreams.
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S2 EP0027 - Wine Reads - The Future of Winemaking is Hybrid
Thursday, December 2, 2021 • Duration 14:31
If you like this podcast, please be sure to rate us 5 stars in Apple podcasts and like our videos on YouTube, and visit my winery in the Finger Lakes at Missick Cellars.
Hi, this is Chris Missick, and welcome to Viti+Culture, and our segment Wine Reads, where we take a look at some of the most interesting, compelling, and even controversial stories and articles in wine. With harvest behind us and winemaking ongoing in the cellar, I had bookmarked a story from September, that I thought would shed a fascinating light on an entire category of winegrapes that many grape growers on the West Coast of the U.S., and certainly in many of wine growing regions around the world, have very little experience with, than is hybrid grapes. Although I personally farm vitis vinifera, Riesling, Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc, I work with growers and make wines from a wide variety of hybrid grapes here in the Finger Lakes. From Seyval Blanc, Vidal Blanc, and Cayuga, as white varietals, to Marechal Foch, De Chaunac, Marquette, Baco Noir, Chambourcin as red varietals.
Some receive their own bottling, most are components in delicious, but cost effective blends, and all are worthy of more attention and some discussion. I’ve enjoyed some wonderful hybrid wines from Switzerland, and tasted some remarkable hybrid wines from places like Missouri, Michigan, and Tennessee. These varietals make winemaking possible, where vinifera otherwise wouldn’t survive or thrive. They also lend a new light on sustainability efforts, requiring less sprays, and less concern over certain aspects of canopy management or cold damage.
Coming to us from the Wine Industry Network ADVISOR, Kathleen Willcox discusses these varietals in a piece entitled The Future of Winemaking is Hybrid, and details why “U.S. winemakers are seeking out non-vitis vinifera grapes.” Links to the article are in the shownotes, and I encourage you to check out the article. According to her bio, Kathleen Willcox writes about wine, food and culture from her home in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. She is keenly interested in sustainability issues, and the business of making ethical drinks and food. Her work appears regularly in , and many other publications. Kathleen also co-authored a book called , which was published in 2017. You can follow her at @kathleenwillcox. So here we go:
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S2 EP0026 - Phil Plummer of Montezuma Winery, and Idol Ridge and Fossenvue Wineries
Friday, November 26, 2021 • Duration 01:49:57
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Today we are speaking with Phil Plummer of Montezuma Winery, as well as Idol Ridge and Fossenvue Wineries in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Phil's work with these wineries and brands is broad in scope, but some of his small lot projects had come to my attention for their purity, clarity, and deliciousness. Our broad and wide ranging conversation visits deep dives on winemaking, art, music, and social commentary. Phil understands much more than winemaking, but he certainly is mastering the art.
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Episode 0025:
Wine Reads – November 24, 2021
Although I can not say Thanksgiving is uniquely American, as our Canadian neighbors celebrate Thanksgiving at least a month or so before those of us in the United States, the holiday does possess a uniquely American mystique, with art, music, movies, cartoons, and other cultural motifs proliferating our celebration of this day throughout the world. Considering some of our largest listenership comes from folks outside the U.S., it’s pretty clear that there are hundreds of people listening who won’t be sitting down at a table tomorrow to eat turkey, say a prayer of thanks for the blessings in their lives, and dig in to a large meal and hopefully, lots of really cool wines. Additionally, although I understand it can be really helpful, I kind of get tired of all those lists with the “Great Thanksgiving Pairings” in the title. So, in light of our own Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., and the fact that every culture has some holiday they celebrate that generally involves the ritual of gifting a bottle of wine, I thought I’d share this thought provoking piece from Mike Veseth, over at the WineEconomist blog, at WineEconomist.com. I share my own thoughts after reading the piece, but his article, dated November 23, 2021, and titled “An Economic Theory of Thanksgiving Wine,” combines economics, wine, and the spirit that really captures the multidisciplinary approach we take here.
For today’s special Thanksgiving Wine Reads, here’s Mike’s post:
Thursday is Thanksgiving Day here in the United States and many of us will gather with family and friends for the holiday feast. If you have been invited to share Thanksgiving with others (and if you are interested enough in wine to be reading this column), then you must confront a perennial problem: what wine should you bring?
Deadweight Loss?
Why is the choice of a gift wine an economic problem? Well, it isn’t much of a problem if you plan to drink it all yourself. Then you should just buy what you like — but don’t expect to be invited back next year!
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S2 - EP0024v2 - Wine Reads - Welcome to Our New Segment
Sunday, November 21, 2021 • Duration 23:59
If you like this podcast, please be sure to rate us 5 stars in Apple podcasts and like our videos on YouTube. Sorry for the misfire - harvest got me out of practice!
Episode 0024:
Wine Reads – November 18, 2021
Welcome back to Viti+Culture, and welcome to season 2. It’s been a few weeks since our last podcast, but here we are, rested and ready to deliver some great content. Harvest is finally over, a few fermentations remain bubbling away, the cellar is cleaned, our equipment is winterized, and we are moving into our next phase of cellar work - stabalizing and bottling sparkling wine, preparing to bottle our early release wines like our Cabernet Franc Rose, our White Merlot, and some of our Chenin Blanc, and finally disgorging some of our sparkling wines, such as our 2017 and 2019 Chardonnay based Blanc de Blanc, and Chenin Blanc. I’ll keep you updated as to what winemakers are experiencing in the cellar as we move forward with season, and key you in to some of the winemaking decisions we have along the way.
We are also launching a new segment - Wine Reads - where we choose an article from the world of written content on wine, read it on the show, and share our thoughts and opinions on the topic. If you’re a wine writer, feel free to forward me an article for consideration at viticulturepodcast@gmail.com. I’m happy to look it over, and maybe even discuss it with you on the show. We will continue to produce and publish our long-form interviews on YouTube, but some of the shorter content will be podcast and Substack only, so make sure you’ve clicked subscribe in your favorite podcast platform, and sign up to our Substack newsletter.
For our first Wine Read, I figured I’d actually reflect on the 2021 vintage by reading the letter I’m preparing to send out to our Missick Cellars Wine Club. I’m excited to be shipping out the first Finger Lakes produced Sparkling Chenin Blanc with that shipment, as well as some other really cool small lot wines, but I also generally engage with our members by sharing some of my deepest thoughts, and letting them know what is going on in the cellar. Here’s a sneak preview of the vintage, an audio taste of our wine club, and a survey of what the final tally of the 2021 vintage felt like.
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S1 EP0023 - Andreas Hütwohl of Weingut Von Winning
Thursday, September 23, 2021 • Duration 49:51
Andreas Hütwohl is instrumental to Weingut Von Winning, a producer of renown Grosses Gewachs (Great Growth) wines in the Pfalz, centering on Riesling, Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay. Andreas and I delve into the traditional winemaking practices that have garnered Von Winning acclaim, and we chart his course from studying Biology, to pursuing winemaking. Andreas is an energetic, insightful leader in the German wine industry, and his perspectives offer an exciting new take on the future of high end German wine.
Today, we are speaking with Katerina Axelsson, who while working towards her Bachelor in Science in Chemistry from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, paid her way through college by working in a large regional wine chemistry lab. Her hard work ethic and obsession with unlocking the secrets of sensory science and consumer preference, led her down the path towards tech start-up, entrepreneur, and CEO. Today, she leads Tastry, touted as being the world’s first artificial intelligence driven sensory sciences company, with a tag line that Tastry taught a computer to taste. From my research, there’s a chance that Tastry is about to revolutionize the global wine industry with a variety of models to connect boutique wineries with as yet unknown customer bases, those seeking AI based blending solutions, and an overall deeper understanding of exactly what is in our wines.
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The Finger Lakes International Wine Competition is one of the largest in the country, and entrants come from all over the world. Texas wines have done well in that competition, and one of the lots I had bid on was a case of Gold medal winning reds. Fortunately for me, many of them came from Texas producers. Within this box were several Texas producers, one of which I had heard of at the time, but many of which were still new names for me. The Pedernales Tempranillo was a wine I had some vague acquaintance within my mind, probably from reading about it in a magazine or seeing something online.
In the weeks after winning that auction in 2015, I tasted two of the Texas wines that were in that lot. I enjoyed them, and at the time, if I recall correctly, they were of the 2013 and 2014 vintage, and I remember thinking that these wines simply needed a bit more time. Periodically, throughout the years, I would enjoy a bottle or two, to see how they had come along and each time I was impressed. It was sometime around Thanksgiving in 2021, that I discovered a YouTube series called Texas winemakers. This 11 part series of shorts was impressively produced, and followed a handful of Texas producers from throughout the state as they tended their vineyards, made their wines, and discussed their philosophy and their tasting room experiences. The docu-series, produced in 2020-21, captures what was a very difficult period for the Texas wine industry. Inclement weather including freezes, a pandemic, and a difficult business environment throughout the entire country was a headwind. Despite the challenges, the community of Texas winemakers seemed optimistic, tight-knit, and focused on making Texas one of the premier wine states in this country. Between the high quality of production of the series, and the larger than life characters that were featured, there was a sense that there is a momentum and energy to Texas wine that reminded me of what I first felt in the Finger Lakes in 2009. It convinced me that I needed to visit. I also headed down to my own cellar after watching the series, where I pulled out a 2013 Hye Meadow Winery Malbec. Eight years in, that wine was tasting delicious.
My trip to North Carolina, was planned sometime between Christmas and New Year’s of 2021, and before I knew it I was on a plane visiting the Yadkin Valley. I had a little bit more time when it came to planning for Texas, as I figured I would visit in the third week of January. I had contacted one of the winemakers from the Texas winemakers docu-series, Chris Brundrett of William Chris Vineyards. Within a day of telling him I was planning on visiting the region, he had responded that it was actually going to be an excellent time to visit if I wanted to meet many of the folks in the community. He told me that the Texas Hill Country Wine Symposium, an event that you’ll find in many winemaking regions around the world where local producers come together to discuss their challenges, achievements, and generally just build their local winemaking community, was scheduled to take place the first three days of my planned visit. It seemed fortuitous, and got me really energized at the opportunity to meet many of the folks behind the wines I had seen, and by this point, read so much about. For anyone who has never been to a symposium like this, it is also one of the very best opportunities to taste a wide range of wines produced. These symposiums always offer opportunities to engage in deep dive tastings, generally with between four and six wines, while the winemaker is on stage discussing everything about the vineyards, and the vinification. In addition to that, there are almost always social hours, where you have the chance to share your own wine while tasting many of the wines the members of your community have made. Since most symposiums happen at a convention center with a hotel attached, the evening social tasting is usually a great time where people don’t have to worry about driving home. Upon hearing about the symposium, and booking my ticket that day, I decided I would need to extend my trip by a few more days if I was going to enjoy the symposium, but also have a chance to see what the Texas Hill country was all about.
Before I go too far, I have to make sure that of a big shout out to Shelly Wilfong and her podcast This Is Texas Wine. With a catalog of nearly a year of shows, Shelley is meticulously documenting the Texas wine scene as it grows and develops, and does an amazing job exploring the lines and the businesses of producers in the state of Texas. I had the chance to meet her at the conference, and she is just as pleasant in person as she is on the show. You’ll learn a lot about Texas wine with every episode.
Texas is a huge state. And winemaking in Texas is not quite as simple as picking a region and understanding that the grapes that you’ll be tasting in that region or from that region. 80% of the fruit grown for fine wine making in Texas is actually grown in the High Plains, up near Lubbock Texas. The High Plains is a vast flat area, but one whose elevation helps to promote a diurnal shift in temperatures, and to grow some exceptionally good fruit.
The High Plains is far enough inland so that hurricanes from the Gulf are no longer a worry, and the range of temperatures means there is an enormous variety of different grape varietals that can be grown. In the early days, the focus was on Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Sauvignon, and in more recent times the focus has shifted to varietals that are more associated with southern France, Spain, and Portugal. That is not to say there aren’t some growers that can grow Riesling - they can. And yet others, are able to grow Rhone varietals that reach a peak of ripeness similar to the Rhone. Here, it is about elevation, and planting varietals that match the site. Unlike state like New York and California, where you go to taste wine where the grapes are grown, Texas wine tourism isn’t actually located around the core of its viticulture country. The states premier wine tourism destination is within the AVA known as the Texas Hill country. For those who think of Texas, and think of vast desert planes and tumbleweeds, this is a totally different concept of what Texas geography has to offer. Gentle Rolling hills, beautiful winding roads, lined with her insert the type of trees here, offer a rugged back country feel that reminded me i’m visiting Provence. My wife is from Toulouse, but much of her family is spread out throughout southern France. From the seaside village of La Teste de Buch, near Arcachon on the Atlantic, and clear through Provence, I’ve had the opportunity to see most of this South of France through the eyes of locals. Driving through Texas Hill country, brought was an otherworldly reminiscence of Provence.
The Texas Hill country itself is a vast AVA, with nearly 9,000,000 acres. It has a major advantage in that the Hill country starts as you exit Austin to the east and San Antonio to the south. It is a beautiful region, but has a Normas population centers just outside of its smaller towns. These populations create a massive pool of potential visitors for tasting rooms. In all, Texas Hill country has a population of nearly 28,000,000 people within about a 3 Hour Dr. of wine country. When you combine that fact, with the fiercely loyal nature of Texans to all things Texas, you have the potential for growth unlike almost any region I’ve ever visited.
With my cameras and my recording equipment in hand, I was prepared to tackle many more interviews than I was actually able to complete. I was in Texas in January, just as the omicron variant of Covid was spreading quickly throughout the country. During my last three days I felt like I was coming down with a little something, but thought that it could have just been allergies as the Hill Country cedars were in the midst of their pollination cycle. In any event, I opted to stay away from going to too many public places, and meeting with any more interviewee‘s. I had my at home test kits with me, and they continued to show I was testing negative. It wasn’t until I returned home to the Finger Lakes region, that I eventually tested positive.
What that means is, there are a lot of personalities and winemakers I didn’t have the opportunity to interview while I was visiting Hill Country. This series will be a little shorter than I had anticipated, but I have plans to make sure we hear from many of those outstanding folks in the future. Some of them will include Seth Urbanik of Wedding Oak Winery, Sam Jensen of Bingham Vineyards, Ron Yates of Spicewood and Ron Yates Winery, Regan Meador of South+Hold, the good folks at Turtle Creek, Bénédicte Rhyne at Kuhlman Estates, and so, so many others. Wineries like Lost Draw, Hye Meadow, Grape Creek, Farmhouse, Becker, Crawson, Kerrville Hills, and Bending Branch, also have so much to offer - and I haven’t even scratched the surface of wines in Texas you need to taste.
Our abbreviated Texas series will consist of two episodes and four interviews. In this first episode, we will be talking with January Wiese, Cliff Bingham, and Michael McClendon. There is a logic to this series of interviews. I wanted to spend this first episode exploring Texas Hill Country through the eyes of the executive Director of Hill Country Wineries, the member-funded marketing association in the Hill Country, headed up by January. Next, I wanted to talk with a grower, and a grower with a winery and tasting rooms throughout the entire state, including one in Fredericksburg in the heart of Hill Country. Cliff Bingham brings an amazing amount of insight to growing grapes in Texas. And finally I wanted to talk with a winemaker, and showcase the work of Michael McClendon. Michael is one of the cofounders of Sage’s Vintage, a custom crush facility that operates out of Nacogdoches in eastern Texas. Michael has built up an excellent reputation with growers throughout the state, and his custom crush operation helps new wineries get off the ground, and existing wineries maintain their current inventories. Working with fruit from all over the state, means Michael has a broad view of what is happening with Texas. He’s a great winemaker too, as I tasted many of his wines and they were absolutely delicious. As I mentioned in the interview, he may have found the secret spot in winemaking, as you get to do what you love in making wine, but can maintain relatively low overhead and not have to deal with any of the additional stresses this industry can bring.
I really can’t say enough positive things about my Hill Country experience. Although the state of Texas has a wonderful history in wine grape growing, I don’t think it is unfair or uncharitable (even to the pioneers that have been at work here for decades) to describe Hill Country as a new region. That is not to take anything away from the pioneers like Dr. Becker, at Becker Vineyards, who many decades ago witnessed Robert Mondavi tasting in his tasting room. Mondavi was effusive as to the quality of the wines, and himself realized that the future of Texas wine was incredibly bright. In fact, I think that thee still hidden aspect of Hill Country, and Texas, for those outside of the state, is a blessing for Hill Country producers.
There is just so much energy, and so many new pockets of landscape and terroir to discover. I think that we may be on the cusp of entering one of the most exciting times for this region. That is not to say that there aren’t some enormous headwinds off in the distance. I allude in my conversation with Cliff Bingham, to the major issues that are impacting vineyards in the High Plains due to the use of dicamba, an herbicide that is applied on genetically modified cotton to kill the weeds, but not the plant. They farm nearly 3 million acres of cotton in the High Plains, so you can only imagine what that impact may be.
I’m hoping to do a deeper show in the future on the topic, as I think that it is an extremely important issue in the context of discussing how we should be properly farming in this country. Out of nearly 40 shows, I’ve probably talked about my emphasis on respecting, honoring, and building soil in nearly half of them. The health of our communities from volatilized particles, and how that may harm not just our plants but ourselves and our children, can not be ignored.
As a final note, time constraints have prevented me from having the chance to edit and produce the video versions for the last few shows. For the time being, we will continue to move forward with the audio podcast, and temporarily suspend the video version of the show. We will continue to film interviews, and hopefully, when time permits, complete the editing and release them on the channel.
The buzzy crowd sipping cocktails while they waited didn’t seem to mind. Yes, the food is that good. Most everything has a Texas twist — the hummus, for example, contains black-eyed peas. The taco is stuffed with snapper from the Texas Gulf Coast, while the onion rings use onions from the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas.
I ordered the watermelon and green tomato salad with mint and basil leaves, spiced local pecans and herbed goat cheese with a citrus vinaigrette dressing, and thought it the tastiest salad I have ever had.
That was followed by the smoked Santa Maria Tri-Tip with smoked chili butter, sea salt, roasted butternut squash and Brussels sprouts with a chili salsa. Dessert was Croissant Bread Pudding with bourbon anglaise sauce. You get why people are willing to wait two hours for a table.
Now, back to that award-winning Tempranillo. You just know that this being Texas, they wouldn’t be satisfied with a mere medal of excellence, and they didn’t have to be. Hill & Vine’s vintage won a saddle (yes, a saddle) at a wine competition during the Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show, and pardner, that beats a medal any day.
Hill & Vine is just the latest addition to a remarkably robust dining scene for a town of 12,000 people. Alas, I didn’t make it to the Granite House or Vaudeville Bistro, two lauded dining spots, but I did do dinner one night at Otto’s German Bistro.
The German influence is strong in the Hill Country as German settlers were the only ones able to forge a tenuous co-existence with the native Comanche Indians who ran off others attempting to put down roots. Today, you’ll see examples of German culture everywhere.
The menu at Otto’s transcends schnitzels and sauerbraten to include dishes such as Steelhead Trout and Deep Sea Prawn with green pea puree, sugar snap peas, snow pea shoots and tomato oil, and veal loin with broccolini, mushrooms, sweet potato puree and almonds.
I did go German and ordered the Wurst Platte (smoked paprika gruyere sausage, German potato salad, house made sauerkraut and house made spicy mustard.) I was glad I did.
The menu changes weekly, and Otto’s gets most of its ingredients from local, organic or sustainable farms, ranches and fisheries.
There’s no dearth of breakfast and lunch options either. Try Caliche Cafe for the former — the Salmon Eggs Benny are to die for. Clear River Ice Cream & Bakery makes a good lunch stop — you don’t have to eat one of their 47 flavors of ice cream for lunch, but you can if you want to.
Finally, don’t miss Das Peach Haus. This multipurpose facility tempts those in search of shopping, sipping, dining and learning.
The general store sells everything from jams and jellies to chipotle and BBQ sauces. Shoppers can sample their peach cobbler or peach cider while browsing.
I had dinner there beside a small lake and under a canopy of pine trees more reminiscent of East Texas than the Hill Country, and those wishing for a full dining experience can reserve a table. They recently opened a distillery where you can sample their gin and whiskey, and if you’re interested in cooking classes, they are happy to oblige. About the only thing you can’t do is pick the peaches.
Don’t fret. At Jenschke Orchards, you can pick all the plump peaches you want from the 3,000 trees in their orchards. You will have to think of a creative way of getting them home as the Orchard doesn’t ship outside of Texas.
As strange as it may seem to those who equate the American wine scene with California and Oregon, Texas is one of the country’s leading wine producers, and Fredericksburg ranks right behind Napa as a destination for lovers of the grape.
As for that grape, because of its hot climate, Texas excels in Mediterranean varietals – those found in sultry, steamy southern Spain and Italy.
During a lunch and tasting at Signor Vineyards, I tasted some of these under the expert tutelage of winery host Andre Boada, whose wine pedigree comes courtesy of his Spanish father and French mother. My favorite of the wines Boada poured was an Albareno white, originating in the Galicia Region of Spain, but utilizing Texas grapes.
Signor is one of the Hill Country’s most beautiful wineries. Open only three years, it has become such a popular stop they are adding 40 casitas in the vineyards for overnight guests. Even if you don’t stay overnight, you can sign up for one of Boada’s food and wine classes (Friday and Sunday, $50).
Two other wineries I highly recommend are Pedernales Cellars and Narrow Path Winery and Vineyards.
At Pedernales, the vineyards overlook the scenic Pedernales River, and their white wines come mainly from its sister winery in the High Plains around Lubbock. Narrow Path has a tasting room in Fredericksburg, but make your way to nearby Stonewall to sip in style in their main tasting room overlooking the vineyard.
If you want to combine wine tasting and shopping, do head for Fredericksburg’s picturesque main street. At Becker Vineyards, sip a Viognier from their vineyard 12 miles outside of town where, in addition to grapes, five acres are given over to lavender fields.
To get your alcoholic intake in a different form, drop by Chocolat, specializing in liquor and wine-infused chocolates. The shop offers some 400 different European-style chocolates rotated throughout the year, with about half on display at any given time. Chocoholics will think they have died and gone to chocolate heaven.
When it comes to quality wine, watch out Napa, Sonoma and Finger Lakes – Fredericksburg is gaining on you.
I was fortunate enough to get some great recommendations from the fellows over at the podcast Cork Talk, which focuses on North Carolina wine. I also reached out on a whim to Chris Brundrett of William Chris Winery in the Hill Country. I had learned about him and William Chris winery from the wonderfully produced Texas Winemakers, a docuseries currently available on YouTube that features an amazing array of different Texas winemakers and viticulturalists. He informed me that the Texas Hill Country Wine Symposium had been planned for the week I was visiting, and so I promptly purchased a ticket, and plan on tasting and meeting with a number of great producers in the AVA. I’ll be bringing my equipment with me, and plan on reporting on the regions while I’m there.
I’m excited to report on my findings, and in the meantime, if there is a destination, or a winery that you recommend, drop me a line at viticulturepodcast@gmail.com. In our next episode, this Thursday, we’re sitting down with Tom Wark, a pro in the wine public relations space, and the author of one of the most influential wine blogs - The Fermentation Blog. Tom is insightful, opinionated, extremely intelligent, and willing to tackle the tough issues in the wine and culture space. I think you’re going to love this show. Thanks, and see you soon.
Why US winemakers are seeking out non-vitis vinifera grapes
—Kathleen Willcox
There will always be a place for conventionally produced vitis vinifera. But, in truth, more and more influential producers and consumers are looking for something with a little more soul, and a lot more edge.
Hybrids—especially in the challenging grape-growing zone of the East Coast—have become ascendant for several reasons.
First, more consumers are seeking out unconventional, organically grown wines. IWSR predicts that by 2023, about 976 million bottles of organic wine will be consumed, up 34 percent from 720 million in 2018.
Younger wine lovers are especially keen to find wines produced from sustainably grown grapes, according to Silicon Valley Bank’s most recent Wine Industry Trends and Report, which stated “sustainability, health and environmental issues,” in tandem with concerns over “social justice, equity and diversity,” are driving the purchasing decisions of Millennials and members of Gen Z.
Unfortunately growing classic vitis vinifera in certain East Coast regions is nigh impossible without nuking them with chemicals.
But growing hybrids pretty much anywhere is arguably easier. And more eco-friendly.
Thankfully, the pioneering work of scientists and early adopters of non-vinifera grapes have helped yield a new generation of growers, producers and consumers who embrace them.
The Hybrid Science
Programs at Cornell University and University of Minnesota have created thousands of new varieties of grapes designed to combat diseases and weather challenges. Grapes that emerge from these programs are typically crosses between so-called European vinifera, and others native to North America and Asia, like riparia, labrusca and rotondifolia.
Cornell has been working on developing hybrid grapes for more than 100 years.
“Genetic sequencing technology has come a long way, and in the past 10 years we have been able to use sequencing to quickly determine cold hardiness and disease resistance,” says Bruce Reisch, a professor who specializes in grapevine breeding. He joined Cornell in 1980, and since then, has released 10 new wine grapes and four seedless table grapes. He explains that they are not genetically modifying the grapes, merely determining which ones will flourish in challenging conditions, and pursuing the more promising hybrids.
For wineries like Shelburne Vineyard in the Champlain Valley, where winters are harsh, springs rainy, and summers humid, the work of scientists like Reisch is nothing less than essential.
“Shelburne has been planting hybrids since 1998, and while they pioneered hybrid grape growing in Vermont, we have all been thrilled to see how much the market has grown and developed,” says winemaker Ethan Joseph, who joined Shelburne in 2008. “We’ve learned how important site selection, careful vineyard management, and low intervention winemaking are. We treat our hybrids with as much care and thought as other growers treat their vitis vinifera, and that has allowed the terroir and the best qualities of these grapes to shine through.”
Joseph’s ultimate goal is to eliminate the use of chemicals, a feat he says would be “impossible” if they grew all vitis vinifera. He’s most excited about Marquette (a Pinot Noir hybrid with notes of cherry, pepper and summer berries), Louise Swenson (a white hybrid with acidity, and floral notes), and La Crescent (a white wine hybrid with notes of apricot, citrus, and peach).
In 2017, Shelburne went out on a limb and pushed aggressively into the natural wine and hybrid space with Iapetus. “That line has skyrocketed,” Joseph notes. “Now it comprises about 40 percent of our 5,000-case annual count.”
Convincing the Consumer
Colleen Hardy, co-owner of Living Roots Wine Co. in the Finger Lakes and Adelaide, concurs. She launched Living Roots in 2016, in partnership with her South Australian winemaking husband Sebastian as a kind of cross-global viticultural experiment.
“We wanted to use grapes in both regions that are, first and foremost, climate appropriate,” Sebastian Hardy says. “In the Finger Lakes, that means Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Gewürztraminer, but also Aromella, Arendell, Rougeon, Regent and Petit Pearl.” The couple, who sells 85 percent of their production from their tasting room, doesn’t have trouble hand-selling their hybrid and hybrid-vitis vinifera blended wines. “Once we talk visitors through it.”
Colleen Hardy says that finding high-quality hybrids is dependent on the grower. “We offer to pay more if they grow it with the same care that we expect with vinifera, and hold off on spraying,” she says
“In the Hudson Valley, especially if you want to grow organically, hybrids are necessary,” says Todd Cavallo, who founded Wild Arc Farm in Pine Bush, N.Y. with his wife Crystal. “We lost our entire crop of Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir in 2018. We replanted some of the Pinot Noir, but the rest we planted to hybrids.”
Wild Arc’s one-acre estate vineyard is primarily experimental though; they source most of their grapes.
“We are working with other like-minded producers who want organically grown hybrid grapes,” Cavallo explains. “A lot of [hybrids] have been grown for bulk wines, but we are promising growers that if they change their farming practices, we’ll pay more.”
By working cooperatively, Cavallo and others hope that they can simultaneously increase the value of hybrid fruit, and change market perception.
Philadelphia-based Alexandra Cherniavsky, a sommelier and consultant who finds distribution for wineries at restaurants, has seen the market for hybrid wines change firsthand. But she believes there’s still a long way to go before restaurants are ready to open their lists to hybrids.
“Once people try wines made from hybrid grapes, they’re a lot more open,” she says. “They sell well in tasting rooms, where the winemaking team can explain their history and provide context.”
But if they’re going to take off, they need to appear on more restaurant lists. “Wineries should approach local restaurants armed with the educational materials and context they provide at the tasting room. If they know how to explain them to diners, they’ll be a lot more liable to put them on the list,” Cherniavsky says.
Not Just for Challenging Climates
The East Coast is hardly the only place hybrids are found. At Bells Up Winery in Newberg, Oregon, winemaker Dave Specter says that their Seyval Blanc is farmed with fewer chemicals than his vitis vinifera. And, the wines have achieved “cult status,” selling out every year.
“We are the only planting of Seyval Blanc in Willamette Valley, and only the second in Oregon. It’s not only a part of our plan to diversify our vineyards and enable us to react to climate change, but also part of our larger push to appeal to younger, more adventurous consumers,” he says.
A parallel movement, PIWI, is happening in Europe, although as Reisch explains, it’s slightly different.
“Most of Europe does not have the harsh winters that we do here,” he says. “The hybrid programs there are inherently very different, because their grapes are being crossed with the goal of resisting different disease and weather pressures.”
Some regions have yet to open the door to hybrids; they’re banned in France in wines with appellation names, but for a certain type of American winemaker—and consumer—that kind of prohibition only makes them more enchanting.
As a producer, I have experience many of these anecdotes firsthand. Year after year, our bold red blend of hybrid grapes, our crisp dry Seyval Blanc, our Charmat produced blend of hybrid whites, and our balanced but sweet Moscato made from Valvin Muscat, a grape developed by Bruce Reisch, are among our bestsellers. In our immediate region, our Seyval Blanc sees perennially brisk sales at off-premise retail locations. I craft these wines with the same dedication as every other wine, and consumers love them. They still do not receive the recognition they should from major wine publications, but they keep our customers happy, and that keeps us in business.
Even I admit to stressing our production of vinifera varietals, from sparkling to still, and from white to red. It is afterall, what we personally grow. But I commend the three growers I work with in the Finger Lakes, that year after year, with drastically less inputs and nearly regardless of weather, grow and deliver clean and delicious fruit. When I left California to make wine in the Finger Lakes, people questioned why I made the transition. A major component for me was the sense of adventure, and feeling of it being a frontier. Frontiers introduce us to new things, they force us to think differently, and find new ways of addressing challenges. For a century, the Finger Lakes and much of the East coast has done that through developing grape varietals that suit the climate. Today, it’s done with those considerations in mind as well as with a thought towards preservation and conservation. Saving a pass through the vineyard with the tractor means one less spray, or more, and that means less compaction of the soil, and better soil health. Every little thing we do adds up, and just like that, a century of lessons from the frontier may impact the world of wine in the century to come.
If you’re a wine writer, feel free to forward me an article for consideration at viticulturepodcast@gmail.com. I’m happy to look it over, and maybe even discuss it with you on the show.
Since the point will be to share the wine with other guests, the choice is more difficult because just as you can’t be sure exactly what dishes will be served, you cannot be certain what wines the other guests will like the best.
There is a pretty good chance that you will experience what economists call a “deadweight loss” which is more or less where the benefit that the guests derive from your wine is less than what they’d have gained from a simple cash transfer. The story (which is possibly true) is told about the time Malcolm Forbes threw himself an extravagant birthday party where the guests were served some of the rarest, most expensive wines on the planet. Forbes went from guest to guest pouring the evening’s show-stopper wine. Finally he came to Warren Buffet. Wine? said Forbes with a smile. No thanks, Buffet replied. I’ll take the cash!
Warren Buffet understood the concept of deadweight loss and wanted nothing to do with it!
The Problem of Other People’s Money
The problem is asymmetric information. You know your own preferences and budget situation pretty well and so you have a fairly good idea of what you are giving up when you buy an expensive bottle of wine as a gift. But you don’t know the preferences of the other guests very well or whether they would prefer your wine or a simple cash payment to be spent on something else. You can’t be sure that their gain is greater than your loss.
This leads (I hope you are following along) to the conclusion that you are most efficient when you spend your own money on yourself because you can fairly well calculate both the gain and the opportunity cost. You are less efficient (in terms of deadweight loss) when spend your money on others. You are even less efficient when you spend other people’s money on yourself. And you are hopelessly inefficient when you spend others people’s money on other people.
What do you think?
So it would seem like the most efficient thing to do would be to decline that dinner invitation and stay home with your wine. How sad! No wonder economics is called the “dismal science.”
It’s Not About the Wine
But here’s the notion that saves the day. Thanksgiving is not really about the wine (or the turkey or the green bean casserole), it is about the sharing. Thanksgiving is more public or communal good than private good. And so, if you do it well, the particular elements of Thanksgiving including the wine will play a secondary role to the general warmth of the shared experience.
I used to get frustrated when wine wasn’t the centerpiece of gatherings, some of which were actually organized to celebrate the wine. But then I got over it. Wine is doing its job when it makes everything else better. Don’t you agree?
This fact changes a bit how you might approach your choice of a Thanksgiving wine to share. Cost is nearly irrelevant. Picking a wine that draws undue attention to you (and your fine taste or great wealth) almost defeats the purpose. A modest wine that makes everyone smile — maybe something with bubbles? — will serve very well. And then you can concentrate on what Thanksgiving is really about.
That said, no one will complain if you bring a nice Port, Madeira, or Sauternes to savor at the end of the meal.
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Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Enjoy the wine and the feast and most of all each other!
I must say, I couldn’t agree with Mike more. Thanksgiving is, my personal favorite holiday. Yes, it is a day of some indulgence, but if that indulgence stops with food or wine, you have missed the point of life. It is a day that is set aside as special. You wear a nicer shirt, you may even throw on a sports coat. You put out your finer china, the special family set you only use a few times a year. You honor the tradition of generations past you may have never met, while your kids run around making memories that they will carry with them and share with generations you’ll never meet. Importantly, based on your family tradition, you share the same meal. Each family has their own special side dishes, prepared in their own special ways - that one specific dish that if you went to someone else’s Thanksgiving they may not have, and even if they did, would be made in a different way. These are the things that create a family culture, and as a country, though we lose some of the finer touches that happen at each individual table, we share as a national culture by trimming our work hours, trimming a turkey, and sitting together with the one’s we love.
Wine is an important part of all of this. It is the lubricant of conversation, the complement to our hard work in the kitchen, and the reflection on time and place that make this life worth living.
As for my Thanksgiving pairing suggestions, I’d be a bad businessman if I didn’t say to pair your dinner with a Missick Cellars wine. Although, of course, they’d be great! I would be a worse winemaker, and a worse host, if I didn’t say, find a wine that means something. A place you and your family have visited. A flavor profile that reminds you of your childhood that you can share with your family. A year or vintage that has some deeper meaning to those around the table. Thanksgiving is a time for meaning, and the most important wines on your table aren’t those that merely taste the best with turkey, or cranberry, or potatoes, or some vegan vegetable protein for those that don’t eat meat - it is the wine that tells the story of some part of your family, your history or your place. It is about the story of something you connect to. Thanksgiving connects us as a people that exist in a place that is not just merely lines on a map, but reminds us that we Americans are a nation. We need that right now. We can also use wine to remind those around us of the great times we’ve shared, as we enjoy a moment together where we make new memories.
I must admit, I studied political theory as an undergrad, and no small part of those studies were dedicated to economic thought. As an actual economist, Mike nails the point here. Bubbles, a fun dessert wine, and something not too ostentatious capture the spirit of the day. I always encourage American wines on such an American holiday, and there are so many great places in the US making wine today. Grab one, or few, of those bottles...but also think about a bottle that ties your family to the American narrative. Open a bottle that provides an emphasis on your own family story. Whether your national roots are English, Belgian, Italian, French, Brazilian, Mexican, or Lebanese, or any of the great places that make wine in between - enjoy the holiday, open a bottle of summer in a glass, and study, remember, and cherish the faces around you. This, is what life is all about.
Remember, if you like this podcast, please be sure to rate us 5 stars in Apple podcasts and like our videos on YouTube. It really helps with the ratings and in introducing new folks to the show. Be sure to tune in next week, where I speak with Phil Plummer, winemaker at Montezuma, Idol Ridge, and Fossenvue wineries. Phil embraces the ethos of our show, those of the philosopher-maker, and intertwines culture, art, history, and music in some subtle, and not so subtle ways, into each of his wines.
So, here we go, our 2021 Missick Cellars Wine Club Newsletter:
Dear Wine Club Member,
When I was deployed as a soldier in the Army with Operation Iraqi Freedom, every few months we were able to take an R&R day, and head down to the large U.S. base in Kuwait on the coast of the Persian Gulf called Camp Doha. Camp Doha had a PX (post exchange) that was both sized and filled with the inventory of a Super Walmart. It was where we could stock up on nearly everything we needed, or wanted, to get us through the long weeks back at our small desert outposts.
Camp Doha also had a Starbucks and a Burger King, all of which brought a sense of normalcy, but also a little bit of cognitive dissonance. I remember browsing those location oriented Starbucks mugs while waiting in line that list the city you are in, and looking at the one with Kuwait City and the skyline depicted. I wish I would have bought one as a memento. The pearl of Camp Doha in those days however, was a place called the Marble Palace. It was a short bus ride from camp, and had a large recreational pool adjacent to the Gulf, there were therapeutic masseuses, and in many ways, offered everything you could find at a luxury resort. It was, for a day, potentially overnight if you had some other business to attend to, a respite from the dusty tents we slept in, the day to day monotony of my job as a Signal Corps non-commissioned officer, guard tower shifts in 110 degree temperatures, and hours spent sitting under the skud bunkers scattered all throughout my home camp with a battle buddy, talking about home.
Harvest certainly does not carry the emotional intensity or gravity of deployment, I would not sell our servicemembers short by drawing a straight line between the experience of deployment and the intensity of the harvest or the crush pad. There are analogies though, and in many ways, the pace of harvest rarely allows for the periods of pause and contemplation that a deployment permits. Nonetheless, as harvest approaches, the mind prepares for what you know will be extremely long days, endless physicality, isolation from family and friends (outside the wine industry), discomfort, and exhaustion. Similarly, it provides a purpose, a mission, with goals that must be accomplished, in specific periods of time with little room for error. The elements of weather, of available resources, the risk of physical danger around powerful equipment if you’re careless or thoughtless, and the knowledge that there is an end date, all provide a very similar psychological framework to that the soldier experiences. You have set out on a path, the end goal is known, there will be surprises and challenges, but at the end of this period, victory is in sight.
I recalled my time at the Marble Palace, a place I hadn’t thought about in years, after returning home for the first time in what felt like weeks (though it had only been a few days), to spend an entire day and night with my family. It was mid-October, about half-way through crush, and having the chance to push Andrew and Audrey on the swing-set in the backyard, sharing dinner at the table with the family, and having my wife Laure massage my shoulders that night made home feel like the R&R I had been craving. I particularly enjoy pairing our wines with meals during harvest. It puts a perspective on the hard work we are presently enmeshed in, and opening the time capsules of vintages past during dinner with the family, ties moments of our past to moments of the present, even as we all sacrifice and work for the future that is gurgling away through its fermentation in the cellar.
Perhaps the moments from my deployment were fresh with me this year after what we witnessed in Afghanistan in August, and during which I spent countless hours speaking with other veterans and checking in on friends that I knew had spent years of their life in that country. Perhaps it was because we were shorter on cellar staff this year than in years’ past, placing extra burdens and extra work on myself and my assistant. Maybe it was simply because I see my children growing so fast and am realizing how quickly time goes with every year we gather around the table to watch them blow out that additional candle on the cake. And finally, it may have been because this was such a difficult harvest, where extra vineyard work coupled with crucial picking decisions dictated the quality of the wine that was made, and with our first year of a significant harvest from our estate vineyard, I felt an enormous amount of pressure to deliver the best possible effort to everyone who enjoys our wine.
2021 was our most difficult vintage since 2018. As with 2018, moisture was the catalyst for a lot of stress on vineyard crews this vintage. The heavy rainfall, high temperatures, and high dewpoints which kept vineyard canopies and clusters too wet for too long in 2018, had analogs for all of us who farm grapes in the Finger Lakes this year. Granted, temperatures were not as high as three years ago, and dewpoints were not as deleterious, the rain proved a difficulty that we had to navigate around. There were indeed some much needed breaks, three or four days here, maybe a week there, but from August through the end of October, the rain fell, and we needed to be cognizant of when it was falling.
Though 2021 wasn’t our largest harvest, between our own wines and some custom crush projects, we processed nearly 70 tons of fruit, with about 6 tons coming from our own vineyard. We managed an incredibly clean harvest of Chenin Blanc, Riesling and Cabernet Franc, with multiple passes in the Riesling in order to produce some different styles of estate wines, from sparkling to still. Our vineyard, planted in 2019, is in what is called its third leaf, in other words, its third growing season. The third leaf is generally when you can expect to get your first real crop, with an expansion of yield occurring in the following vintages. Of course, yield is not the most important aspect. The vineyard must be balanced, producing enough fruit to match the energy output of the vine, but not so much that you stress the vine or dilute the concentration of flavors that a vineyard can deliver.
In addition, we worked with our traditional growing partners at Gibson Vineyard and Morris Vineyard, to bring in varietals like Seyval Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Valvin Muscat, and some other hybrids that will go into our Foreword series.
Although we have a significant amount of wine still fermenting, I must share with you that I am more proud of this vintage than nearly any in the last 10 years. There are vintages that naturally make great wines. The weather is perfect from April to November, harvest happens on your schedule and not based on the risk of rain, and every piece of equipment cooperates fully with no downtime or repairs required. I think of vintages like 2012, 2016, and 2020, where a winemaker can only get in the way of making good wine. Nature gave us great, clean and ripe fruit, and we need only fulfill its promise. Vintages like 2021 require inordinate amounts of attention to detail, a willingness to sacrifice bad fruit in the vineyard in order to make good wine in the cellar, a dedication and time commitment unparalleled in many other fields, and a drive that overlooks exhaustion, lack of sleep, and sore muscles. Those ingredients have added up to what amounts to be the proof of work, required in challenging wine regions like the Finger Lakes, and years like 2021, that deliver high quality, deliciousness, and inspiration even under trying circumstances. These are the vintages that prove the mettle of the winemaker.
2021 will be a vintage that I believe will deliver some of our best sparkling wines. On their way in the years to come will be a small lot of estate Chenin Blanc, Cab Franc Rose, Chardonnay based Blanc de Blanc, Estate Riesling, and Gewurztraminer. Our sparkling wine program has continued to grow and witness strong sales, and we are responding by increasing production with the focused goal of being known as one of the great sparkling wine producers in the region and the U.S.
In other areas of “winery life,” our brand change continues moving ahead. New signage should be up by the spring, and new labels showing up on shelves in Upstate New York retailers. Our new labels shipped in October, and we began labelling wines as quickly as we could. Our new labels speak to our place, with the shoreline of Seneca Lake outside our cellar presenting the background frame for where we are, our new logo, as discussed in our previous letters playing a prominent role, and each wine now suggesting a specific food and wine pairing. Of course, these are only my opinions, but I welcome you to try them out and send me your suggestions as well!
I generally try to make our Fall Wine Club shipment focused on wines that I think will pair well for Thanksgiving, and so with that backdrop, each of these wines will be on our Thanksgiving table, paired perfectly with all of the classic accoutrements of my favorite holiday.
2020 Sparkling Chenin Blanc
I’ve mentioned in the past that we have been pioneering Chenin Blanc in the Finger Lakes since 2015, when we engaged in our first contract planting of the varietal at the Gibson Vineyard. The logic was pretty simple… I love Loire Valley wines. The Loire, being a cool climate growing region in France, famously grows Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc. One of the most premiere subregions in the Loire Valley, is Vouvray. What is wonderful about Vouvray wines, is that so many different wine styles can emerge from them. From dry crisp whites, to sparkling, to wonderfully rich and sweet styles, Chenin Blanc from Vouvray exhibits an amazing amount of versatility. Knowing that the Finger Lakes can have such variable vintages, with there being a necessity to alter the styles of wine depending upon what the year gives us, combined with the fact that Cabernet Franc is, in my opinion, our premiere red varietal, planting Chenin Blanc just made sense to me. We garnered our first harvest in 2017, making only a few dozen cases. We have continued exploring the varietal, planting our estate block, and making a wide range of Chenin Blanc wines. This spring, I hope to release our 2020 barrel fermented dry Chenin Blanc, alongside our 2021 estate Chenin Blanc which was fermented in stainless steel and finished with a touch of sweetness. In the meantime, I’m extremely excited to share this first, Wine Club disgorgement of our 2020 Chenin Blanc.
We began producing sparkling Chenin Blanc in 2019, but that wine remains in tirage, resting on its lees in bottle, with an anticipated disgorgement in 2023. Only 50 cases were made in 2019, and with its level of acidity, it will need time to grow into its full potential. 2020, being a beautiful and ripe vintage, also managed to deliver to us some exhilarating and fresh sparkling wine bases. Our 2020 Sparkling Chenin is technically an early disgorgement. Most of the 100+ cases will be disgorged at a later date, but with the profile of this wine showing such elegance, I wanted to disgorge a special lot for our wine club members to enjoy this holiday season.
Just prior to harvest, we disgorged 30 cases, removing the spent yeast sediment and finishing the wine with a small dosage of a few grams of residual sugar. This sparkling wine is still dry, but accentuates the wonderful fruit that comes from Chenin Blanc from the Gibson Vineyard. Rather than topping the bottle with a Champagne cork, we opted to use a stainless steel crown cap. Most of the time, when I use cork on sparkling wine, I will let the wine sit in the cellar for up to 6 months before release. It can take quite a bit of time to allow the cork to cease its propensity to expand. Trying to open a sparkling wine that has just been corked is nearly impossible, and can be dangerous if it is tried with a corkscrew due to the pressure inside. Opening with a bottle opener isn’t as exhilarating as popping a cork, but I assure you, it has no impact on the quality. It also means, you won’t have a problem opening it on Thanksgiving, should you want to share it with family and friends.
Produced in the classic traditional method, the base wine was picked slightly early, fermented to dryness, and chaptalized with 24 grams per liter of sugar prior to bottling with a yeast culture. The wine then went through its bottle fermentation and aged for around a year on the lees in the bottle prior to disgorgement.
This is the first sparkling Chenin Blanc ever produced and released in the Finger Lakes, and we managed such a small disgorgement in order to ensure that our Wine Club members received the first chance at tasting the “unicorn” wine. It has actually been one of the fun benefits of having the only two plantings of Chenin Blanc in the Finger Lakes, since ever demi sec, barrel fermented, sparkling, and dessert Chenin will inevitably be the first ones ever produced and released. My hunch is, given some time and the opportunity to taste what these wines can do, we’ll start seeing more and more plantings of the varietal in the region. When that happens, you’ll be able to say you joined us in this journey before anyone else.
2019 Morris Vineyard Riesling
As you may know, my philosophy on Riesling is to treat it with utmost care, producing dozens of small lots from which I can later blend our mainline Dry Riesling and Riesling. I do that because I see these two wines as the canvas upon which I paint my view of that vintage through this varietal. Fermenting in small lots, in different mediums with different yeast cultures, provides the color palette from which we can paint these pictures. It is from these small lots that some exciting single vineyard, or specifically designated wines come from. Our 2019 Morris Vineyard Riesling is no exception.
An incredibly small lot of 22.5 cases, this bottling represents a single barrel of Riesling which exhibited such immense appeal to me, that I wanted to be able to share it with our wine club. Fermented in a ten year old barrel that delivered little to no oak flavor influence, this wine was uninoculated. In other words, no commercial yeast culture was added to this wine, rather, only ambient yeasts converted the sugars in this wine to alcohol. The Australians have a term for these wines - ferrell ferments. Ferrell, referring to the fact that the fermentations are wild, are characterized by their lack of intervention from the winemaker. Interestingly, it also means that there likely wasn’t a single yeast culture that fermented the wine, but rather, numerous different cultures that rose and fell in dominance depending on the conditions of the wine, i.e., the alcohol, nutrient load, etc., at any given time. It was our job to merely produce fresh clean wines with as light of a hand as possible. Consequently, after fermentation, the wine was allowed to rest on its lees (spent yeast) until March of 2020, when it received a small dose of sulfur to prevent oxidation. It was removed from the barrel in June of 2020, and bottled in July. We allowed the wine to cellar in a temperature controlled room until this shipment and its release.
In ten years, we have likely released more than 50 Rieslings. Some vintages have seen as many as 8 different bottlings of the varietal. Of all these different wines, this specific bottling is likely my favorite bottling of still Riesling to date. Although dry, it provides generous fruit and balanced, but bright, acidity. It is a perfect food pairing wine, and will be an excellent accompaniment for Thanksgiving Dinner.
2018 Cabernet Franc
Of all the wines I produce, if there is one that my wife will most frequently ask me to grab for dinner from the winery, it will be one of my Cabernet Francs. She loves them, and she also loves the variability they provide vintage after vintage. Our 2017 Cabernet Franc, with a bright and sunny fall, but coming from a slightly larger crop, was refreshing and light with prominent notes of cherry and raspberry. It has been the kind of wine enjoyed with a meal, and just as often, with some chocolate and television, relaxing after we have put the kids to bed. Our 2018 is a much deeper wine, with slightly more pronounced tannin, richer color, and complement of herbs to match the fruit. It’s richer texture can carry fattier meats, and pairs just as well with game. It has become the new favorite around our house, and it is wine I am thrilled to be releasing shortly. As with the other wines in this shipment, Wine Club members are getting the first tastes of these exciting new releases.
When it comes to producing red wines, I do engage in some slightly different cellar practices than many of my other colleagues in the Finger Lakes. I have mentioned many times before, but saignee is a French word for “the bleed.” This practice involves removing portions of juice from a red wine fermentation before the fermentation has begun. The goal of this technique is to naturally increase the skin to juice ratio of the red wine fermentation, thereby increasing the availability of anthocyanins and tannins. Anthocyanins are the red color molecule that gives red wine its color, and so by increasing the availability of this molecule in the fermentation, I am able to produce deeper color red wines. Additionally, increasing the tannin naturally provides more bonding points for the color, and adds structure to the wine. All of this is in the backdrop of understanding that berry size tends to be much larger in the Finger Lakes, due to the amount of rainfall we receive. Saignee provides the winemaker with a natural tool to make deeper, more structured red wines, while also making some pretty delicious rose from that initial “bleed.” Finally, there is an impact on the acidity of the wine. Grape skins contain potassium, and potassium can help precipitate tartaric acid during the fermentation, naturally lowering the level of acid and increasing the pH of the wine.
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