What makes a Great Vintage?
From its early start this April to dry spell this summer, visitors are asking everywhere on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail – “Is this a good year for growing grapes?”
And the answer is “Well, it depends.” The premature bud break was very beneficial to most of the vineyards, but a few of our local grape growers did have frost damage. The recent hot, dry weather was a little taxing for the vines. Just like people don’t like working outside in extreme heat, grape vines stop working, or photosynthesis, at temperatures above 90F. Temperatures have begun to moderate and August generally brings less heat and cooler nights, which are perfect ripening conditions for grapes.
While the grapes undergo color change and soften, our members are busy scrubbing tanks, cleaning harvest lugs and power washing crush pads in anticipation of grape picking commencing mid to late August. Our winemakers are busy too, ordering yeast and cellar supplies to prepare for the onslaught of fermentation.
So what can you expect from the 2010 wines? “Well, it depends.” While it is a little early to forecast, without any hurricanes or other large rain events this Autumn, it shows great promise to produce some exceptional wines. Wine is a reflection of its origin and growing season. The Lehigh Valley Appellation is an ideal climate for grape farming, this combined with a favorable growing season can only mean great wines to savor and enjoy.
We were generously reviewed in the Morning Call and very well featured on CBS (you can see the video at www.cbs3.com under Lehigh Valley Wine Trail Cookbook.)
It has a hard cover, a spiral binding so that it lays flat when open, info on each winery on the trail and more great appetizer, soup, entree and dessert recipes that feature our delicious wines than you will have time to prepare. It is only $11.99 so you need at least 2: one for you and one for a gift.
You can pick up a copy at any of the Wine Trail wineries.
Recipes
We are featuring one recipe a month from our Lehigh Valley Wine Trail Cookbook. Hopefully, this will prove as a teaser for you to run out to your nearest Wine Trail winery and buy a copy of the cookbook.
Sorrenti Cherry Valley Vineyards' Cantaloupe and Prosciutto Salad with Niagara Wine Vinaigrette
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Serves 4
- 2 tablespoons Niagara wine
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 cantaloupe: halved, seeded and cut lengthwise into ¼ inch thick slices
- ½ pound fresh mozzarella, at room temperature, cut into 4 slices
- 4 thin slices of prosciutto
- 1 ½ ounces baby arugula (2 cups)
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- In a small bowl, combine the Niagara, olive oil, rice and balsamic vinegars. Season with salt and pepper.
- In a large bowl, drizzle the cantaloupe with 1 ½ tablespoons of the dressing and toss to coat. Arrange the slices on the plates. Set a slice of mozzarella on the melon and drizzle the plates with 1 tablespoon of the dressing. Drape a slice of prosciutto over the cheese. In the large bowl, toss the arugula with the remaining dressing. Top the salads with the arugula and serve right away.
One reason many people shy away from wine is their perception that drinking it is fraught with arcane ritual and esoteric jargon. It's true that wine professionals evaluate wine in an analytical way and use a variety of metaphors to describe it. But learning how to appreciate wine, assess its quality, and talk about it with confidence is actually fairly simple. You'll be able to discuss a glass with the best of them once you understand how to evaluate wine's essential features. Wine isn't made solely for the connoisseur. Whether you follow the rules or make your own, you're sure to enjoy PA wines. Have questions about basic practices? The answers are right here!
Pronunciation
White Wines
- Chardonnay (SHAR-doe-nay): The world's most popular dry white; it's medium-to full-bodied, with rich apple and citrus flavors and sometimes a buttery tone from fermentation and aging in oak barrels; a good choice for simply prepared seafood and poultry dishes.
- Sauvignon Blanc (SO-vin-yawn BLONK): Generally lighter than Chardonnay, with bright melon and citrus aromas and a herbal character suggesting bell pepper or freshly mown grass; a versatile food wine for shellfish, lighter fish and chicken dishes, pasta with pesto and Caesar salad.
- Riesling (REES-ling): A light-bodied wine of German origin with flowery aromas of honeysuckle, apples, and peaches; Rieslings range from slightly to very sweet and can be either table or dessert wines. Drier versions go well with chicken and pork dishes, as well as spicy foods.
Red Wines
- Cabernet Sauvignon (CA-burr-nay SO-vin-yawn): The king of red wines; makes the great red Bordeaux wines of France, and among the finest reds in California, Chile and Australia; full-bodied with rich currant flavors, but can be somewhat rough (tannic) when young; best with simply prepared beef and lamb dishes.
- Chambourcin (Shom-bor-san): Chambourcin is a vigorous grape variety developed from a complicated parentage of at least eight of the American species of Vitus. It has a good resistance to downy mildew and powdery mildew, and also to phylloxera, a serious insect pest which has had catastrophic effects in many parts of the world. Chambourcin grapes are producing a range of styles of wine from Rose, medium bodied reds, sparkling fermented, to Vintage and Tawny Ports.
- Merlot (Mare-LOW): Similar to Cabernet, but softer and fruitier, with cherry-like flavors and hints of tobacco and mint; the current rave among novice wine consumers, because it's easy both to drink and pronounce.
- Pinot Noir (PEE-know Na-WAHR): Makes the great reds of Burgundy in France, and good wines from California and Oregon; more delicate than Cabernet or Merlot, with strawberry and tea-leaf aromas and flavors; excellent with grilled salmon, roast chicken, and grilled lamb.
Appearance
Hold your glass against a white background, such as a tablecloth or wall, and notice the wine's color and clarity. The wine should be brilliant, not cloudy or murky, and its color should be appropriate for its type and age: Young white table wines range in color from pale straw,
sometimes with greenish tints, to rich amber.
The color depends on the grape variety, the ripeness of the grapes at harvest, the way the wine was fermented and aged, and how much oxygen the wine was exposed to during vinification and bottling. White wines fermented and/or aged in barrels will be darker than those aged entirely in stainless steel tanks. As they age, white wines darken, assuming a deeper golden color, and with excessive age, they will actually begin to brown. If a young white has a brownish tinge, you probably don't want to taste it.
Red wines, on the other hand, grow paler as they age. Young reds range in color from a translucent cherry for lighter wines such as Beaujolais or Pinot Noir to a deep ruby, sometimes with purplish tints, for a Zinfandel or Syrah. Older red wines will display a brickish hue around the edges. In a younger red, this is a sign of premature oxidation.
Aroma
The most important faculty we employ in perceiving a wine's character is our sense of smell. In fact, most of what we take to be taste is in fact odor. Think of how the taste of food changes when you have a bad cold and can't smell.
When you swirl wine in a glass and sniff it, the volatile essences of the wine are carried by thousands of nerve endings in your nasal cavity to the olfactory bulb in your brain. The same thing happens, via the retronatal passage in the back of the mouth, when you sip and swallow wine. In effect, flavors are odors in your mouth. Swirling volatilizes the wine's aromas and sniffing draws them into the olfactory bulb, which "interprets" them -- i.e., compares them to other familiar smells.
This is a complex process, because a wine consists of over 200 different chemical compounds, many of which are identical or similar to those found in fruits, vegetables, spices, herbs, and other substances. That's why wine geeks compare the aromas of different wines to smells as various as apple, melon, citrus, cherry, berry, raisin, honey, peach, vanilla, butterscotch, mint, bell pepper, grass, green olive, clove, licorice, cedar, coffee and chocolate. They're not being fanciful; there's a chemical correlation underlying the comparison, and this fact explains the rich metaphorical language used to describe a wine's sensory characteristics.
The primary grape smells of a wine, distinct by variety, make up its aroma, while secondary characteristics, caused by factors such as fermentation and oak and bottle aging, blend with its fruit smells to form the wine's bouquet.
There are also smells associated with spoilage in wine. A vinegary smell is caused by acetic acid, while a nail polish aroma reflects the formation of ethyl acetate. Rubbery, skunky, rotten egg or garlic/onion aromas are byproducts of sulfides, while a barnyard aroma results from a yeast spoilage organism called brettanomyces. Faulty corks can cause a moldy or wet cardboard aroma, while a sour milk aroma is due to another spoilage organism called lactobacillus. These organisms won't hurt you, but if they're in high enough concentrations to notice, the wines they mar are probably not worth drinking, and you should return them to the retailer or restaurateur from whom you purchased them. Given modern wine technology, you will not encounter flawed wines very often.
To fully appreciate a wine's aroma, swirl it in your glass -- not too vigorously, or you might have a large cleaning bill. The aroma should be clean and fresh, without any of the off-odors mentioned above. If the wine is young, you should smell the characteristic scents associated with the variety, perhaps accented by the smell of the barrels it was aged in. If the wine is older, you'll likely notice a less fresh and fruity aroma, but one with more complexity.
Serving Temperatures
As a rule, white and sparkling wines are best served well-chilled (45 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit), with lighter, fruitier whites at the low end of the scale and fuller, more flavorful whites, such as Chardonnay, at the upper range. An hour in the refrigerator or a half-hour in the freezer is usually enough. Over-chilling should be avoided, because it stuns a wine's aromas and flavors.
Red wines should be served at cool room temperature (55 to 65 F.), with lighter, fruitier reds, such as Beaujolais or Pinot Noir, at the lower range of the scale and fuller-bodied varieties, such as Cabernet and Zinfandel, at the top.
Of course, specific conditions may call for exceptions to these rules. On a hot day, for example, when room temperatures may run into the 70s or 80s, it's a good idea to chill a full-bodied red slightly before serving, to mute its alcoholic "heat." Conversely, a very rich white may be best served at close to room temperature, so its complex aromas and flavors may be fully appreciated.
Storage
You don't need a fancy, expensive cellar to store your wine. If you're like most wine consumers, you'll enjoy your wines soon after you bring them home, so all you need is a cool, dry, dark place away from direct sunlight and free of vibration. A small wine rack or even a carton would do to house the wines for a while.
The basic requirements are a cool steady temperature, ideal cellar temperature is 55 to 65 degrees fahrenheit, and protection from direct sunlight and vibration. Bottles that won't be consumed for awhile, whether in racks or cases, should be stored on their sides so the corks don't dry out.
If you plan to buy and store a significant quantity of wine for future use, you'll likely need a larger space, such as a closet, crawl space, compartment under a stairway, or portion of a garage or basement. Choose a space larger than you might need initially, because once buying wine becomes a habit, you'll fill the space up quickly.
If you plan on becoming a serious wine collector, including wines requiring long-term aging, you might want to invest in a fully outfitted wine cellar. A variety of companies offer the various building blocks of such cellars, such as wine racks, refrigeration units, humidifiers, and so on.