Ohio/Michigan Wine Clash and Astonishing Auction Bids for KR wine

This was the brainchild of Andrew Hall (oinosnervosa.com) as an adjunct to the big Ohio/Michigan football rivalry, and to encourage people to buy local rather than support the transportation of Nouveau Beaujolais across the big pond.

Kinkead Ridge 2007 Cabernet Franc rated top Ohio wine in the 2nd annual Ohio Michigan wine clash. It was the only Ohio wine in the top five, and the least expensive wine in the group... at $17.95, besting the other retail prices of $60.00, $45.00, $40.00 and $35.00. For details see

http://www.ohiovsmichiganwineclash.com

The 2008 Riesling was in the top 11, and was the least expensive wine on the list at $11.95.

Here's what Joel Goldberg, one of the Michigan judges said about our Cabernet Franc:

"The only repeat-winner winery in either state from last year’s Clash, Kinkead Ridge makes its home southeast of Cincinnati, near the Ohio River.

They scored this time with the lone under-$30 wine among the top five. It provides the yang to 2 Lads’ yin; instead of a hulking bottle to lay down for years, you’ll be hard-pressed to keep your hands off this, with a berry nose that jumps from the glass and silky, fruit-driven palate that seduces your taste buds with a serious “yum” factor.

Co-owner and winemaker Ron Barrett – who formerly owned a vineyard in Oregon – explains his pricing as “part of our philosophy. Our whole objective is to show we can be competitive in the marketplace. If we priced higher, we’d still sell out – but at the same time we’d turn off some people to our wine.”

Crush and Punchdown

One more middle of the night crush for Ron, then tomorrow the last red wine will be pressed (Petit Verdot and Syrah). He'll be happy to get a full night's sleep, after punching down every six hours for several weeks.

Taste in the Valley Wine Auction

Another outstanding wine auction and dinner, "Taste in the Valley" to benefit Hocking College culinary and hotel management students in Nelsonville OH. Auction donations from Kinkead Ridge and Hocking College consisted of three cases and five bottles of wine. These 41 bottles generated an astonishing $2,580 in bids. The highest bid was $200 for an autographed bottle of 2005 Petit Verdot, only 76 cases produced. I was happy for the school!

Here's the table with a beautiful sugar centerpiece... and the wine rack ice sculpture. Even these centerpieces were auctioned, someone paid $100 for one, I got mine later in the game for $20. It's gorgeous. Will use it on the table for our employee Christmas party in December.

I wore the hat I bought for my flapper outfit on Halloween!

Your friendly wine blogger

Nancy Bentley, Owner & Managing Partner, Kinkead Ridge Winery

Comments

[valereee]

Posted about the clash!

http://cincinnatilocavore.blogspot.com/2009/11/ohiomichigan-wine-clash-kinkead-ridge.html

[Nancy Bentley]

Here's a recent review of the Petit Verdot, so to the bidders who bought this wine at the Hocking College Taste of the Valley... great choice!

"I've been sitting on half a dozen bottles of the Kinkead Ridge 2005 Petit Verdot for almost two years since its release, tasting it only at the winery on two occasions. Yesterday evening I was moving some wine from one location to another and decided it was time to see if the wait paid off. Dinner was two small lamb chops and some rosemary roasted potatoes and the weather was cool for this time of year. Out came the cork from the bottle.

The wine was intensely dark purple, almost black in the glass. After five or ten minutes it began to open up and offer dark, ripe plums and cassis and a few super dark cherries thrown in the mix. The nose was earthy and there were a few herbs and flowers coming out of the glass as well. The taste was equally about dark fruit, plums and blackberries mostly. The wine was very tannic, but the tannin never interfered with the fruit. During the course of the evening the tannin finally began to settle a little though it still had a wonderful grip. There was good acid and with the tannins softening the finish was smooth, clean and long. This is from an Ohio wine blogger.

I've had numerous bottles of Kinkead Ridge's wine, both red and white over the last few years and have appreciated all of them. Some are obviously better than others and bottle for bottle my favorite is still their Riesling. This wine, however, is the best I've had from them. It's hard to imagine that it could get any better. Total production was only 76 cases and the wine checked in at an almost perfect 13.4% alcohol. I'm very happy there are five more bottles in the cellar."