Brut Rose Vertical at Heart & Hands Wine Company

Have you ever been to a vertical wine tasting? Often winemakers will hold back some of their wines for their wine "library". The library wines can then be accessed for special events such as the Vertical Tasting on Sunday at Heart & Hands Wine Company. At a vertical, you are able to compare different vintages side by side. The Heart & Hand's vertical of their Brut Rose included the 2007, 2008, and 2009 vintages. Winemaker Tom Higgins had tasting notes available with information about the vintage season, which Pinot Noir clones were used and his tasting notes from when each was opened Sunday morning. He paired the Roses with Strawberry shortcake (and whip cream - yum) which really brought out the berry flavors in the sparkling wine.

Before I tell you about each vintage, I think a short course in Champagne and Sparkling Wines is in order. For a wine to be called Champagne, it must be made from either Chardonnay, Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier grapes grown in the Champagne region of France. Since Heart & Hands is in Union Springs NY, they must call their wine Sparkling Wine. HOWEVER, Tom uses the Champagne METHOD (or Traditional method) to make his Sparkling Wine. The Champagne Method is labor intensive, takes longer and is more expensive than other methods used. In the Champagne Method, the final blend of the still wine is bottled with a small amount of wine, sugar and yeast. A secondary fermentation occurs in the bottle which can last up to 3 months (to get those bubbles). Then the bottles are stacked with their necks pointing down and are turned at regular time intervals. In the degorgement stage, the bottle necks are plunged into a freezing solution which freezes the bottle around the sediment (which has traveled to the neck). The bottle is turned upright, the cap popped, and ice and sediment shoot out. Lastly, the bottle is topped with a reserve wine and sugar combo, re-corked and further aged. Using the Champagne Method generally produces a higher quality sparkling wine, and Tom is all about quality.

So - the 3 vintages:

2007: A hot and dry vintage. Dijon Pinot Noir Clones were used. This is important as these clones are from Burgundy and used to make still wines (such as Pinot Noir). The wine was a slightly darker shade of pink than the other two due (according to Tom) to thicker skins on the grapes. This sparkling wine was described by Tom :" Raspberry opens up on the nose leading to ruby red grapefruit, cranberry-raspberry-orange muffin". It was really really good with the strawberry shortcake!

2008: This was a normal vintage. The Pinot Noir clones were Champagne clones (from the Champagne region of France). Tom described it as "Plum skin and delicate floral notes open up to grapefruit and freshly mowed straw supported by a firm backbone."

2009: This vintage was cool and moist. Again Champagne clones were used. Tom's description:" Hints of candied cherries enter the nose followed by a ripe cherry burst on the palate with a touch of dried cranberry tartness on the finish."

All were really good and while there were commonalities among them, each had subtle differences that distinguished them depending on the taster's palate! Needless to say,we purchased the 2009, which is currently in the tasting room. But get some soon, because it won't last long.

New releases also available in the tasting room now are the 2010 Dry Riesling (108 cases produced) and the 2010 Riesling (226 cases produced). Other wines available for tasting are the 2009 Pinot Noir and the 2008 Barrel Reserve Pinot Noir (which is out-of-this-world).

P.S. Thank-you, Tom, for graciously signing a bottle of the Reserve Pinot Noir for Jim to give a friend who is retiring.

Fox Run Vineyard's Harvest Winemakers Dinner

My loving husband, bless his soul, knew that the only way to help me come to grips with my monumental birthday was to wine and dine me! And he made a spectacular choice. Nothing could have been more perfect than our Harvest Winemakers Dinner at Fox Run Vineyards on November 1. You can see by the photo that it was an enchanting evening! From the picture perfect setting in the old wine making room to each course and glass of wine to the company, the evening was spectacular!

Jim and I entered the Fox Run Winery at 6:00 pm sharp and proceeded to the front wine tasting room facing Seneca Lake. Hors d'oeuvres abounded: crab cakes, bacon wrapped scallops, shrimp, cheese galore and more. You could sample any of the wines to go with them. We were approached by a gentleman who asked what wine we wanted to try and of course our first response was "Riesling" . He suggested the semi-dry as we were having the Dry Riesling with one of our dinner courses. We got chatting and the gentleman introduced himself to us as Peter Bell (the winemaker!!!) We had a great conversation about NY State wines, fun wine gatherings (especially our "Try the Tierce" party) and kids in college and otherwise. Then it was time to eat...

The group all went downstairs into the candle-lit Barrel Room and took our seats at the beautifully set long table (There were 30 of us). As we were taking our seats and chatting to the people around us, Peter came over and sat next to me! The owners of the winery, Scott and Ruth Osborn sat down at the other end of the table. Scott got up and introduced himself , his wife, Peter, executive Chef Frank Caravita and then spoke a little about the winery and the dinner and what to expect.

Peter then got up to tell about the first wine/food pairing:

Celery Root Soup with Bacon and Green Apple along with Fox Runs 2006 Chardonnay. Delicious! Our next course was a mixed Baby Green Salad topped with Fried Brie Cheese and Walnut Dressing. This was paired with their exquisite 2007 Dry Riesling. Course 3: Cheese Raviolis with Pumpkin and Sage Sauce paired with the 2007 Reserve Pinot Noir. The fourth course was Roasted Pork Loin with Root Vegetables and Pear Chutney paired with the 2006 Lemberger (very much like a Shiraz) and finally dessert - Normandy Apple Tart paired with Tawny Port. PHEW! Everything was out of this world. In between courses, we had plenty of time to learn about how wine glasses influence the wine's taste, what good things are in wine that keep us healthy, what "umami" is (google it!) and mostly about the wonderful wines this winery produces (and has produced for the past 15 years). Fox Run has been chosen as one of the top 100 wineries in the world by Wine and Spirits Magazine and Peter Bell is considered one of the top 22 winemakers in the United States! This dinner is proof positive of why they are so successful.

After the dinner/feast we were able to purchase some wines, so we happily left with a bottle of 2006 Lemberger (which we have already enjoyed with Jim's famous smoked pulled pork) and a bottle of the 2005 Reserve Cab Franc that we will save for an occasion. We also had time to chat with the Scott and Ruth and let them know what a fantastic time we had at the dinner.

Fox Run will host another winemakers dinner in February (Valentine's Dinner) and Jim and I are already looking forward to it!