The Owl and the One-Eyed Cat

You may think you know where this one is going but unless you're thinking about something that includes a tetanus shot and a week of antibiotics, you're way off base.  We're talking cat bite on the day before our planned trip to the FLX.  Aside from the fact that it makes a really cool title, it did not affect our trip - the bite was on my non-wine glass-holding hand so not a problem!

We started out on Cayuga Lake and on a whim, stopped at a winery that we have not visited for several years.  Our last experience included a pleasant man who rhymed all of his wine descriptions.  He did our tasting and was so enthusiastic that I felt kind of guilty that I didn't really enjoy the wines.  He did everything he could to persuade me, including opening new bottles and making up new rhymes but alas, it was to no avail - they were just not to our liking.

But here we were, at Thirsty Owl Wine Company, bellied up to the bar and about to start a tasting.  Little Rhyming Man was gone but apparently replaced by Younger Singing Man.  More about that later, perhaps.

There were seventeen wines on the tasting menu and we were asked to choose five.  It wasn't that difficult, because of the nine whites, seven were listed as semi-sweet or sweet.  I passed on the Chardonnay and started with the 2010 Dry Rielsing.  A pleasant surprise, it had nice acidity with tropical fruit and a crisp, clean finish. 

The reds started with the 2008 Pinot Noir.  It didn't show a lot of fruit, it had firm tannins and a spicy finish.  The toasted oak of the 2008 Syrah jumped out of the glass.  The caramel nose of this medium bodied wine led to a fairly smooth palate, firm tannins and a black pepper finish.

Ok, at this point I expected that I would be ready to jump off a bridge but not yet.....what's next?  The 2008 Meritage.  Velvety mouth-feel with slight black pepper and fruit with soft oak on the finish - nice!  The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon was drinking really young.  The fruit was trying to emerge but for the most part, it was over powered by oak and spice.  It needs time, for sure.  Finally in this line-up was the 2009 Cab Sauv, Syrah,  Malbec.  (18, 60, 22% respectively)  We have tried this before and have been less than excited - it should be freakin' awesome!  The 2009 blend showed grapefruit and black pepper but had some spit-sucking tannins.

To finish, we were serenaded through a tasting of the 2007 VINTE, a port-style wine from Cab Franc and Chancellor.  We're not huge Chancellor fans but we tasted with an open mind.  At 8% RS, it was soft and silky and not overly fortified.  It retained its wine characteristics and had that dessert-replacement  sweetness.

All in all, we found the wines a bit more approachable than in the past and the absence of the Little Rhyming Man was a relief.  There was, however the issue of Singing Man.  Nonetheless, we grooved our way through the racks, grabbed a Meritage and a VINTE and boogied for the door before our ears started to bleed.  It's not that his singing was bad, it just got old....fast.

We All Remember Our First Love...

I don't know about you, but I still remember my first love.  I'd say it was a summer love kind of thing but it was more than that.  It was my first FLX Riesling love...it may be the one responsible for sucking me into the whole Rielsing thing.

We read a few things online about the new kids on block so when we found ourselves at the northern end of the east side of Seneca Lake, we couldn't pass up a chance to visit Zugibe.  We had a great tasting with Brendan and we have made it a point to stop in any time we're in the area - but that's fodder for another day.  This one is about the rock star - Zugibe 2008 Dry Rielsing!  It had everything I love - acidity, minerality and lime...lots of lime.

We opened our last bottle the other night and the gripping acidity has mellowed over the past year.  I got a wet slate kind of minerality on the nose with no petrol at all.  It was light and refreshing with citrus and lime; it was beautifully balanced with lovely acidity leading to a crisp finish...and it was awesome with slow roasted shrimp!  I keep telling you I'm fickle!

Easy and Affordable, But NOT a One Night Stand

After years of proclaiming that we are not white wine drinkers, I keep finding more and more empties in the recycling bin.  I guess it should come as no surprise that this lovely, warm Fall day, and some beautiful, incredibly fresh wild caught shrimp, and humongous sea scallops had us reaching for a white. 

The white-of-the-night was Shaw Vineyard 2008 Sauvignon Blanc.  We're not huge fans of Sauv Blanc; in many we find a grassiness that makes it somewhat unpleasant to our taste.  We were very open to tasting this one while visiting the winery but I have to admit that I felt a split second of hesitancy when my PIC brought this one out of the cellar.  We love all of the Shaw reds, so I ask myself, what's not to like?

As it turns out, nothing!  It is light, crisp, and refreshing with a minerally, wet slate nose.  It's beautifuly balanced with green apple, melon and a hint of pineapple on the palate.  It is easy drinking but not just a simple summer sipper.  I can see a lot of this in the Fall lineup!

You can say meri-TAHJ, but you would be wrong!

Meritage.  French, right?  Not so much.  Merit + Heritage = Meritage - rhymes with heritage.  Now that we have the wine-speak down, what does it mean to us as consumers?  Not much.  The term Meritage refers to New World wines blended in the tradition of Bordeaux and...hold on to your hat...they can be red or white. 

It really means more to the producers.  In order to use the term Meritage on their label, a winery must join The Meritage Association, which was was formed by a group of American vintners in 1988.  Their goal - to "identify handcrafted wines blended from the traditional "noble" Bordeaux varieties".  Producers pay something like $1/case produced to a maximum of $500 per year for the privilege of using the name.

Strictly speaking, a Red Meritage is a blend of two or more of the red “noble” Bordeaux varieties - Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot and the rarer St. Macaire, Gros Verdot and Carmenère.  A White Meritage must be a blend of at least two of three specific white “noble” varieties  - Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon or Muscadelle du Bordelais.   Neither can include any other grape variety and no single grape variety can make up more than 90% of the blend.

What brought this on, you ask?  I'm not really sure except that we opened a bottle of Ravines 2005 Meritage and the wheels started turning.  The growing conditions in 2005 were almost perfect and this blend of 45% Cabernet Franc, 32 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 23 % Merlot is a fine example of that.  It is deep ruby in color, with tons of fruit and spice and a hint of cocoa.

MERI-tidge, meri-TAHJ....."if we ever part, that would break my heart"!

Rendezvous with Clark and Judy

Every now and then, we get a yearning for some Virginia wine country.  That's not to say that we don't get the same feeling for the FLX, but with cousins in Northern Virginia, it's an easier, and less expensive, getaway.  They enjoy the occasional glass of wine but are not as into it as we are.  Mobility issues limit them to one, maybe two wineries and Pearmund Cellars has been one of our usuals. 

It's been a great place to stop by with them on a Sunday morning before heading home and we have always had a great experience there.  Not only have we enjoyed the wine but they have always been so considerate to my cousins who don't do a tasting but love to sit at the tables in the tasting room and just enjoy each other's company.  From time to time, they will taste one of the white wines that are on the tasting menu, but mostly, they cherish their time together...they are so in love and so I want to be them when I grow up.

Our last visit found us there on a Saturday afternoon.  We've been so spoiled going on Sunday that we forgot how crazy these wines trails can be on the weekends!  I say trails because this phenomenon is not unique to Virginia, we find the same thing everywhere.  The first bad sign was a bus in the parking lot and you can pretty much bet that it's filled with ridiculously dressed, soon to be married, drunk people and their drunk best friends and drunk relatives.  Sadly, that was the case this time but fortunately, they were at the end of their tasting so normalcy was quickly restored upon their departure. 

I thought about all of this when we opened the Pearmund Cellars 2008 2 Principals Vineyard Petit Verdot .  It is deep garnet, almost inky in color with a nose that is earthy and mushroomy with some foral notes.  It's got great structure with some dark berries - blackberry, blueberry? -  and a dusty, cocoa finish.

I sure hope that bus load of party people took some PV home with them because they should be very, very happy right about now!

Crossing Vineyards - Part III: Please Exit Through the Gift Shop

The Premium wines started with the 2008 Chambourcin Reserve, described by the winemaker as a "complex Zinfandel-style wine" which piqued our interest.  Unfortunately, I'm not really sure how to describe it except to say that it was not Chambourcin as we know it.  The nose was a little oaky and I couldn't really pick out any flavor profile.  Having said that, I didn't dislike it but it wasn't really up my alley.  The 2008 Pinot Noir Reserve had the same brownish color in the glass as the first Pinot but the nose was more earthy.  The tannins were firm with some fruitness in the back of the palate and it finished with hints of black tea. 

The tasting ended with two dessert wines.  The first, the 2009 Late Harvest Vidal Blanc, was lovely!  Nicely balanced  - sweet but not cloying - it had a hint of petrol and dried apricot on the nose with a long honey-apricot finish.  The second was the port-style Chocolate Cherry Truffle.  A fun, light-bodied after-dinner drink reminiscent of chocolate-covered cherries, I can see sipping this one by the fire on a cool fall night.

In a nutshell, I would say that Crossing Vineyards was a mixed bag for us.  My PIC was more disappointed than I was but perhaps our bars were set differently.  I thought that the whites were pretty solid but most of the reds were just not my style.  We did, however, exit through the gift shop, and did not leave empty-handed.

Crossing Vineyards - Part II: Please Remain Seated Until the Ride Comes to a Complete Stop

The reds began with the 2010 Le Noveau, a play on Beaujolais.  With not a Gamay grape in sight, this one is Chambourcin and I'm just not a fan of Chambourcin.  Let's leave it at that.  Now, on to serious wine, the 2008 Pinot Noir.  It was a bit brown in color and a little oaky for my taste.  I got oak and allspice on the nose and a spicy, chile pepper finish. 

Next was the 2008 Merlot which was light bodied with firm tannins but again, more oak than I enjoy.  The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon was softer than the Merlot and had some really pretty fruit on the nose but I detected a hint of dill, that my PIC did not, that for me, detracted from the fruitness. 

The 2008 Cabernet Franc was light bodied and well balanced with lovely fruit, nicely integrated tannins, and a long toasty oak finish.  The ruby red 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot blend - 55% Cab Sauv, 45% Merlot - had a soft, round texture with firm tannins but I got that hint of dill from the Cab Sauv.  The final pour in this group was the Vintner's Select Red, a NV Meritage-style blend of 40% Cab Sauv, 40% Cab Franc, and 20% Merlot.  I found it to be a bit acidic but there was nice fruit and toasty oak on the nose with a chile spice finish.

On to the Premium wines....