We have a toad living in the basement. I've named him Prince Harry. He's really cute.
We released the white wines Memorial Day weekend, and they were very well received. The River Village Cellars white wine at $9.99 is a delight. There was so little white wine from 2012 it is only being sold at the winery on summer Saturdays from 11-5. If any is left, it will go out in the fall when we start tasting and distributing the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Petit Verdot.
Anna and Logan
Here's a recent blog review:
"There’s a reason that the best known wines in North America
aren’t grown in the Midwest. Is there some good juice out there in America’s
heartland? Sure there is! Alas, the process of creating those wines is going to
be much more difficult than making good wine in, say, Sonoma County.
Most grapes that thrive around here are either going to be our
area’s indigenous grapes or hybrid grapes crossbred to withstand our humid
summers and cold winters. Let’s face facts – most of the wines made from either
of these grapes are inferior. I have yet
to find a winemaker that could wring consistently good wine out of Norton or
Chambourcin. (Especially the latter…by the Seven, that’s awful crap. Prove me
wrong, someone.) Even the native stuff, like Catawba and Concord, can rise a
level above Manischewitz, but not much more than that.
There are a few
wineries and winemakers in the area that fly in the face of our oenological
reality. A small number have the proper terroir to grow vinifera grapes –
grapes like Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Viognier, Chardonnay, etc. The
winemakers at these wineries also need the technical knowhow to make these
grapes into decent wine. Most importantly, those folks must possess the level
of bullheaded stubbornness that prevents one from settling for an inferior
product. A couple of these combinations are in the vicinity of Ripley, Ohio – including Kinkead Ridge Estate Winery.
Every year on Memorial Day & Labor Day weekends, many local
wineries take the opportunity to release some of their new offerings. The Sweet
Partner in Crime and I took a little roll down the road to Ripley to enjoy a
beautiful day’s drive and sample some of their new goodies.
We started at Kinkead Ridge, where we got reacquainted with
Nancy Bentley, co-owner of the place with Ron Barrett, the winemaker. Nancy
handles all the “front of house” duties. Kinkead Ridge, available in many local
establishments, releases their new whites on Memorial Day. (Labor Day is for
the reds.) They were pouring their three new whites for the assembled folks.
They opened with their River
Village Cellars 2012 White Wine, a “field blend” of seyval blanc, sauvignon blanc, semillon,
chardonnay, and a few other grapes from their “experimental” block, including
albarino. The result was a light, zippy, grapefruity white that calls for a
porch and some warm weather. $10.
From there, they shared the Kinkead Ridge 2012 Viognier/Roussanne. This is my personal favorite
of the wineries’ selections, and they’ve rarely missed on a vintage of this.
This is a more tropical, creamy wine than the River Village with a very
pleasant, perfumey nose. The crisp finish would make it a nice accompaniment to
plenty of fish, shellfish, or chicken dishes. $17.
Finally, they poured their River Village Cellars 2012 Traminette. Traminette (technically a
two-vinifera hybrid, but we’ll give it a pass) yields a wine that’s a little on
the sweeter side. It’s got a similar profile to gewürztraminer, but without the
fullness of flavor or pepperiness. It still creates a fruity product that’s
friendly enough – especially with spicy foods. I liked it, but it came in third
at this tasting. $10.
Nancy and Anna at A Taste of Duveneck, Cincinnati Art Museum
The Bottling Crew
Sarah on the capsule machine.
We also learned that Nancy and Ron are selling
Kinkead Ridge to move eventually to North Carolina for their “second
retirement.” We will hate to see them go, for sure.
Recent Comments