Happy Halloween!
(From left to right: St. Julian's Hair-Raising Riesling, St. Julian's Boogeyman Bubbly, Leelanau Cellars' Witches Brew, and Illinois River Winery's HalloWine)
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Lake Michigan Shore Wine Country, part 2
On our drive from Michigan back to Chicagoland, we decided that we'd finally stop and check out the wineries located in the southwest corner of the state. There are a few tasting rooms that you can see from the highway, and over the course of our lives we've passed these literally hundreds of times. For some reason, we've never checked them out. We decided to recitify that situation, as we had plenty of time on the drive home.
Our first stop was at Bridgeman, the location of the Tabor Hill Champagne Cellars tasting room. The original plan was to only visit the tasting rooms right off the highway. However, as we pulled off the exit ramp, we saw a sign reading "Lemon Creek Winery: 2 miles." We rationalized that two miles wasn't that far, really, so why not go check it out? Little did we know that the sign lied. It wasn't two miles to the winery, no, it was two miles to the road that the winery is on. It was another five or six miles east from Bridgeman to Berrien Springs, where the winery was actually located. But by then it was too late, and there was another winery across the street, so why not just go visit them both?
We pulled in to Domaine Berrien first, as it was just slightly closer than Lemon Creek. We've tried Domaine Berrien before at a festival and liked their wines, so we were happy to try some more. Their winery is quite nice, with a large tasting room and a deck out back overlooking a pond and the vineyards. There's also an observation area where visitors can see the fermentation tanks. Our only complaint was that due to the wine currently fermenting in the tanks, the place smelled, well, not good. But hey, the wine tasted good, and that's what matters. Wines we tried and liked included their Crown of Cab, Lemberger, Viognier, and White Satin. We ended up purchasing a bottle of Wolf's Prairie Red and Red Satin.
From here we drove across the street to Lemon Creek Winery. We should have known things weren't going to go smoothly when the parking lot was full. While that's a good sign for the winery, it's bad for the customers due to big wait times. Inside the tasting room people were packed at least two deep at the bar, and only three people were on staff to pour. We assumed there was a party in progress, as a large group of women were packed together sampling each other's wines. We waited for about ten minutes before a spot opened up at the bar, only to have someone who came in after us jump ahead and steal it from us. At this point we were annoyed and left. It's not the fault of the winery for being popular, but it still stunk.
Since we had struck out at Lemon Creek, we decided to head over to the next nearest winery, Free Run Cellars in Berrien Springs. In the past, we'd found a bottle of their Dry Gewurztraminer on discount at our local liquor store and liked it. We drove up to find the parking lot blissfully sparse, although there were enough people inside to fill up one of their two long bars. The wines at Free Run tend to lean more towards the dry side, which works well for us as many Michigan wines are quite sweet. A few of their wines were sold out (a good sign), but this did mean fewer wines to choose from during the tasting. As a side note, Free Run charges $7.50 for a tasting, but gives you a complementary glass and a token. If you buy three bottles at a time, you hand over token and the $7.50 charge is taken off your total. Plus, if you bring the glass back on future visits, the tastings are free. Not a bad deal, really. We purchased their Rosso and Mezzo, and then purchased a third bottle (cherry?), as it took the tasting price off the overall bill.
Free Run is affiliated with another winery in the area, and we found out that the "tasting tokens" we were given there would be accepted at their partner winery. Since we had a token and we knew tastings would be free with our newly-purchased glasses, we headed over to the Round Barn Winery in Baroda. This winery is also a distillery and brewery, so if you have a friend who only drinks beer then this is the destination for everyone. There are three separate buildings on the premesis for each type of alcohol they produce. Note that while the winery and brewery offer tastings, the distillery is not allowed to by state law. You can purchase their DiVine vodka (made from grapes) and whiskey on-site. As for the winery, we really enjoyed ourselves here. The huge barn has a giant curved bar stretching almost the entire inner circumference of the building. We found a spot and got to tasting. We liked their Vineyard Tears, Edel Doux, and Vineyard Red, but ended up purchasing their Apple Demi Sec (fantastic), Cranberry, and Vineyard Demi Sec. We were accidentally served a tasting of the "Heart of Raspberry" brandy, which tasted sort of like an unsweetened raspberry vodka blended with dry brandy. This wasn't like anything we'd tasted before, and ended up buying a bottle because we were so intrigued by it. Every month they have different "Farmer's Choice" selections in sparkling and fruit wines. One of this month's choices was a Black Walnut wine, which immediately piqued our interest. Unfortunately they were completely sold out. If we lived closer, we'd probably be here every month checking out what kind of new and different selections they had from the local farmers' hauls.
At this point were were ready to head home, but thought we'd stop at one last winery we would pass on the way back to the highway. This was Hickory Creek Winery, also located in Baroda. This winery looked rather quaint, with picnic tables on the lawn under a large shade tree. The tasting room was located in the barn, which houses all their winemaking equipment and tanks. A window sits in the wall behind the bar in the tasting room so that guests can look into the actual winery while they try out the wine. We tried several of their wines, but due to cost only purchased a bottle of Gentil. Yes, this was the cheapest wine available on their menu, but also the one we liked the most. (Convenient how that works.) Hickory Creek's prices run higher than the other wineries we visited on the Lake Michigan Shore Trail, but due to their smaller size it's not unexpected.
Believe it or not, there are still other wineries in the area that we haven't visited. Tabor Hill's winery and restaurant are in the area, and we know this is a major player in Michigan wineries. Plus, we still need to try Lemon Creek again. So while we're stocked up on wine for now, someday we'll be back to try out more.
Our first stop was at Bridgeman, the location of the Tabor Hill Champagne Cellars tasting room. The original plan was to only visit the tasting rooms right off the highway. However, as we pulled off the exit ramp, we saw a sign reading "Lemon Creek Winery: 2 miles." We rationalized that two miles wasn't that far, really, so why not go check it out? Little did we know that the sign lied. It wasn't two miles to the winery, no, it was two miles to the road that the winery is on. It was another five or six miles east from Bridgeman to Berrien Springs, where the winery was actually located. But by then it was too late, and there was another winery across the street, so why not just go visit them both?
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| Domaine Berrien |
From here we drove across the street to Lemon Creek Winery. We should have known things weren't going to go smoothly when the parking lot was full. While that's a good sign for the winery, it's bad for the customers due to big wait times. Inside the tasting room people were packed at least two deep at the bar, and only three people were on staff to pour. We assumed there was a party in progress, as a large group of women were packed together sampling each other's wines. We waited for about ten minutes before a spot opened up at the bar, only to have someone who came in after us jump ahead and steal it from us. At this point we were annoyed and left. It's not the fault of the winery for being popular, but it still stunk.
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| Free Run Cellars |
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| The winery at Round Barn |
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| Hickory Creek |
Believe it or not, there are still other wineries in the area that we haven't visited. Tabor Hill's winery and restaurant are in the area, and we know this is a major player in Michigan wineries. Plus, we still need to try Lemon Creek again. So while we're stocked up on wine for now, someday we'll be back to try out more.
Lake Michigan Shore Wine Country, part 1
This weekend turned into an unexpected winery tour weekend, much to our surprise. We were in Michigan for family matters, which just happened to overlap with an already-planned visit to the Paw Paw Wine & Harvest Festival. As we found ourselves with some extra time on our hands, what was originally meant to be a two-winery visit ended up close to a dozen.
The first winery we visited was Lawton Ridge in Kalamazoo. Unfortunately, E forgot her camera and so there are no photographs. Lawton Ridge is a smaller winery, but with good wines at reasonable prices. We tried many wines off their tasting list, including their superb Traminette (which we reviewed in our last post). Also good was their KZOO Daily Red, Pinot Gris, Cherry Red, and their AZO, which isn't listed on their website. The woman working the bar was extremely friendly, talking with us about the festival as well as Lawton Ridge's friendships with other local wineries. Their bar is made from old oak barrels from St. Julian, and she made sure to recommend we visit another winery which just opened nearby. Luckily, we had already planned on heading there next.
We drove along some county roads and eventually found our way to Cody Kresta Vineyard and Winery in Mattawan. As we drove in, we were met by two large, barking dogs, followed a moment later by a cat. Always a good sign—wineries are better with dogs in residence. The location itself is gorgeous. The barn and farmhouse are over 100 years old and kept in impeccable condition. The barn has been rehabbed into the winery and tasting room, and the latter is really nice. From the handmade wine racks to the large stools made from gnarled grape roots, you can tell the owners really put their blood, sweat, and tears into making this winery a showpiece. Thankfully, their wines hold up just as well. While their selection is small, the wines are robust, flavorful, and tasty. However, note that the winemaker likes his wines dry, and so if you're a fan of sweet wines you probably won't find a lot to enjoy. All of the white and red wines impressed us, but what really blew us away was the Kresta Azure Blueberry Wine. While most fruit wines skew sweet, this one had a strong, tangy flavor like the skins of blueberries instead of the juice. We'd definitely recommend this months-old winery to anyone passing through the area.
After this we turned around to head back, with a stopover at a winery in downtown Kalamazoo. Tempo Vino Winery is what you might consider a boutique winery. Located in a storefront, this winery has a small tasting bar up front with the back half of the building dedicated to winemaking. The owners have grapes shipped in from around the world and not only make their own wines, but allow customers to mix their own batches. It's a pretty cool concept, one which we wish existed closer to home. We tried several of the winery's own blends, settling on the Pink Elephant white merlot and In the Mood Merlot.
At this point we headed home to rest up for the next day's visit to the Wine & Harvest Festival, our third time in attendance. Unfortunately, when we woke up the next morning it was raining. On the drive to Paw Paw the rain only got worse, which was an absolute shame. The city put a lot of work into expanding the festival, with additions of a carnival, a traveling toy train exhibit, and lots of local vendors at the arts & crafts exhibit. The rain surely kept a lot of people at home, so we're hoping that things picked up the following day, which was gorgeous. Anyway, on to the wines...
Our first stop was at St. Julian, the oldest and largest winery in the state. St. Julian has a huge facility and actually bottles for a lot of smaller wineries in the area. For the festival they had the main tasting room closed, but ran tours of their winery from a side entrance. As is the norm for the festival, their back parking lot (most likely their shipping and receiving area) was covered with a large tent and turned into one massive tasting room. About a dozen large bars were set up around the perimeter of the tent, and each had a different selection of wines available. For their more popular wines, such as their Red, White, and Blue Heron wines, bars were reserved for just those varieties. Otherwise they categorized their wines into groupings such as sparkling wines, dessert wines, reserve wines, etc.
St. Julian is located right off the main road as you enter Paw Paw from the highway, and so we've come to visit the winery throughout the year on the way to and from visiting relatives. Several of their wines are also easily availble to us at our local grocery store, Meijer. Therefore, we're quite familiar with what this winery has to offer but still took advantage of the completely free tastings St. Julian offered. This year a new addition was on the lineup: Founder's Pride, a combination of their Frontenac Port, Solera Cream Sherry, and brandy. Exceptional, especially for the price. As for our favorites, we'd have to point to the St. J Merlot, Niagra, St. J Pinot Grigio, and Frankenmuth May Wine. One thing that makes St. Julian great is simply how affordable their wine is. Unless you're purchasing their reserve lineup, the majority of their wines are under $15.
It was here at St. Julian where we met Sharon Kegerreis, a writer and photographer who published a book about Michigan wineries. From the Vine: Exploring Michigan Wineries has "biographies" of all the local wineries, as well as beautiful photographs of both the wineries and their vintners. She and her co-author, Lorri Hathaway, have a second book about the history of winemaking in Michigan as well. Sharon told us that people have been buying From the Vine and taking it to all the different wineries, getting the pages signed by their corresponding vintner. It's a great idea, and one we wish we had thought of first. Heh. She said there was an interest in exploring other Midwest wineries, so we told her to check out Illinois. It's not like we don't have enough wineries here!
Next up we headed a half block over to visit Warner Vineyards. Much like St. Julian, this is a winery we've visited on several occasions due to both the annual festival and its proximity to the highway. Warner's wines tend to cost a bit more than St. Julian, but they're worth the money. While their neighbor has the capability to mass produce, Warner's selection is about half the size, but still considerable in its own right. One thing that makes Warner stand out is simply its facility. Located in the old water works building from 1898, Warner is picturesque and lovely. The winery itself opened in 1938, and while it doesn't make their wines on the premesis (the winemaking facility burned down years ago), the old tasting room and cellars still exist. The winery has expanded since we last visited, adding and outdoor ampitheater as well as a second tasting room.
In the past, we've purchased several bottles here, including their Grapes of Love, Riesling, Classic Blush, Blueberry Splash, and Peach & Honey wines. This time around, we wanted to try something different, so we focused on their red wines. These are good, full-bodied wines, mostly semi-dry or dry. This time we both thoroughly enjoyed their Veritas, a dry red, and their Mello Red, a semi-sweet with lots of fruit flavor. We also nabbed another bottle of Grapes of Love for E's parents (who enjoyed it at the fest last year), and their cherry wine, which has been sold out on every visit prior to this one.
After this, we wandered around Paw Paw to take in as much of the festival as we could. After a visit to the fine art sale and auction, we headed back to Warner to have lunch. They always have some kind of catered lunch for the fest; last year it was a pig roast, this year it was smoked pulled pork BBQ. Very tasty, and a welcome alternate to corn dogs and funnel cakes in the festival food tents.
As the rain was still coming down in a steady drizzle, E decided they should take advantage of the extra time and head down the highway to Coloma. This town is home to two wineries, only one of which we've visited before. We decided to hit up the new-to-us winery first, Contessa Wine Cellars. Contessa is run by a third-generation wine maker, and his goal is to combine "old-world charm and ... modern amenities." This results in a bit of a hodge-podge regarding the winery itself; the building has a gorgeous deck (complete with outdoor bar) and a modern design, but inside has a large "traditional" wooden wine bar with carvings which doesn't seem to fit with the modern A-frame design of the building itself. That said, the grounds are lovely, with sprawling vineyards trailing down the hillsides to the valley below. As for the wines, Contessa runs a bit more expensive than we like. In the end, we thought their best wines were (lucky for us) their cheapest: Lago Rosso, a fruity, semi-dry red, and Bianco Bello, a white blend. Also, their most expensive bottle, Tres Tenors, was great—just too pricey for us that day.
Our final stop was on the other side of town, to Karma Vista Vineyard and Winery. We've visited this winery before and have found their wines to be pleasant and easy-drinking. As always, the staff was pleasant and happy to tell us all about their wines' different characteristics. In the past, we've liked Watusi Red, Moondance Merlot, and Ryno Red. This time we went for something different and purchased a bottle of Starry, Starry White, a semi-sweet reisling-seyval hybrid that's actually their best seller. We also liked their Karisma, a blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot. However, at this point we'd already spent too much money and decided to call it quits for the day. Little did we know there would be more (unintentional) winery visits the next day...
The first winery we visited was Lawton Ridge in Kalamazoo. Unfortunately, E forgot her camera and so there are no photographs. Lawton Ridge is a smaller winery, but with good wines at reasonable prices. We tried many wines off their tasting list, including their superb Traminette (which we reviewed in our last post). Also good was their KZOO Daily Red, Pinot Gris, Cherry Red, and their AZO, which isn't listed on their website. The woman working the bar was extremely friendly, talking with us about the festival as well as Lawton Ridge's friendships with other local wineries. Their bar is made from old oak barrels from St. Julian, and she made sure to recommend we visit another winery which just opened nearby. Luckily, we had already planned on heading there next.
We drove along some county roads and eventually found our way to Cody Kresta Vineyard and Winery in Mattawan. As we drove in, we were met by two large, barking dogs, followed a moment later by a cat. Always a good sign—wineries are better with dogs in residence. The location itself is gorgeous. The barn and farmhouse are over 100 years old and kept in impeccable condition. The barn has been rehabbed into the winery and tasting room, and the latter is really nice. From the handmade wine racks to the large stools made from gnarled grape roots, you can tell the owners really put their blood, sweat, and tears into making this winery a showpiece. Thankfully, their wines hold up just as well. While their selection is small, the wines are robust, flavorful, and tasty. However, note that the winemaker likes his wines dry, and so if you're a fan of sweet wines you probably won't find a lot to enjoy. All of the white and red wines impressed us, but what really blew us away was the Kresta Azure Blueberry Wine. While most fruit wines skew sweet, this one had a strong, tangy flavor like the skins of blueberries instead of the juice. We'd definitely recommend this months-old winery to anyone passing through the area.
After this we turned around to head back, with a stopover at a winery in downtown Kalamazoo. Tempo Vino Winery is what you might consider a boutique winery. Located in a storefront, this winery has a small tasting bar up front with the back half of the building dedicated to winemaking. The owners have grapes shipped in from around the world and not only make their own wines, but allow customers to mix their own batches. It's a pretty cool concept, one which we wish existed closer to home. We tried several of the winery's own blends, settling on the Pink Elephant white merlot and In the Mood Merlot.
At this point we headed home to rest up for the next day's visit to the Wine & Harvest Festival, our third time in attendance. Unfortunately, when we woke up the next morning it was raining. On the drive to Paw Paw the rain only got worse, which was an absolute shame. The city put a lot of work into expanding the festival, with additions of a carnival, a traveling toy train exhibit, and lots of local vendors at the arts & crafts exhibit. The rain surely kept a lot of people at home, so we're hoping that things picked up the following day, which was gorgeous. Anyway, on to the wines...
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| Drinking and dodging puddles |
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| The entrance to St Julian |
It was here at St. Julian where we met Sharon Kegerreis, a writer and photographer who published a book about Michigan wineries. From the Vine: Exploring Michigan Wineries has "biographies" of all the local wineries, as well as beautiful photographs of both the wineries and their vintners. She and her co-author, Lorri Hathaway, have a second book about the history of winemaking in Michigan as well. Sharon told us that people have been buying From the Vine and taking it to all the different wineries, getting the pages signed by their corresponding vintner. It's a great idea, and one we wish we had thought of first. Heh. She said there was an interest in exploring other Midwest wineries, so we told her to check out Illinois. It's not like we don't have enough wineries here!
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| Picturesque Warner Vineyards |
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| Warner's tasting room |
After this, we wandered around Paw Paw to take in as much of the festival as we could. After a visit to the fine art sale and auction, we headed back to Warner to have lunch. They always have some kind of catered lunch for the fest; last year it was a pig roast, this year it was smoked pulled pork BBQ. Very tasty, and a welcome alternate to corn dogs and funnel cakes in the festival food tents.
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| Contessa's sprawling deck |
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| The winery and some of its vineyard |
Monday, September 13, 2010
Wines, wines, and more wines
Fox Valley Winery
Oswego, Illinois
As far as Traminettes go, this one is a fair representation of the grape. It's light, crisp, slightly sweet without being overly so (sweeter than a Vidal Blanc). But it has a twist at the end that's not sweet at all, a bouquet that changes the entire experience of the wine. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Sakonnet Vineyards
Little Compton, Rhode Island
A good Vidal Blanc, a good semi-sweet white wine with little to no oaky overtones. Very easy drinking, like a lot of Vidal Blancs the wine's taste changed whether drunk warm or cool. We drank it chilled, which was refreshing with a slight tang at the end. 3.5 out of 5.
Georges Duboeuf
France
A super-deal at Binny's, we had to pick this up on its one-day special price. Totally worth the $5 per bottle! Beaujolais are "pick up and drink it" wines, and don't last more than a year. Very fruit-forward, big taste up front, with an oaky finish at the end. A lot of taste, this is the wine for red wine drinkers. Unless you're into really dry reds, that is... 4 out of 5.
Domaine Wardy
Red Bekaa Valley, Lebanon
We don't normally think of Lebanon when we think of wine, but this was a good surprise. As the blend would suggest, this is a bold, dry red with a pepper flavor and overall good finish. It's definitely a wine that stands up and says hello, defying description in its own way. 3.5 out of 5. (Side note: we loved the bottle's odd shape.)
Hickory Ridge Vineyard & Winery
Ponoma, Illinois
Soft, flavorful, fruity, this was a good all-around blush. Not sweet at all, not watery like some, this was a pleasant drinking wine for the summer. We paired this with chicken, which was a good match. 3 out of 5.
Shannon Ridge
Oakville, Lake County, California
Good oaky flavor, this was a par for the course zinfandel. Good with steak and at a fair price, this is a good choice. It made our mouths a bit wooly, but in the good way that we expect from solid red wines. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Glunz Family Winery & Cellars
Grayslake, Illinois
A grape wine flavored with woodruff, this herb gave what would normally be a sugary-sweet wine a bit of bite at the end. This wine also proves the rule that white wines don't age all that well; this one tasted better last year when we first bought it. Learn from our mistake and drink this one soon after purchase. That said, this wine wasn't bad in the least. It only lost some of its sweetness to the woodruff over time, which made it slightly unbalanced. 3 out of 5, would be a 4 out of 5 had we drunk it sooner. Our bad.
Lawton Ridge Winery
Kalamazoo, Michigan
This traminette bordered on the sweet side, and had everything you'd expect from this variety of wine. We had this at E's parents' house the day of purchase, and it was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone (including E's non-wine drinking parents). Should be served slightly chilled, this deserves 4 out of 5 stars.
Alto Vineyards
Alto Pass, Illinois
Unlike a lot of vidal blancs, this was really dry for a semi-dry wine. It had nice flavor, good nose, and other than being drier than expected, this was a solid vidal blanc. If you're in the mood for something more complex, this is a good wine to choose. 4 out of 5 stars.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Shawnee Hills Wine Trail, part two
After our friend left, we hit the wine trail again, this time starting at the eastern end of the trail. As we'd visited Blue Sky the day before, we headed south of there to Orlandini Vineyard in Makanda. This is a newer winery to the trail, and the owners are currently rehabbing their facilities. The tasting room was sparse (most likely due to the construction upgrades), but with pretty tapestries and frescos on the walls that are reminiscent of Italy. Orlandini offers only a small variety of wines, eight total, so you know they're focusing on their quality and not quantity. Sadly, the wine we enjoyed the most was their Concord, the only wine made from non-local grapes. Oops. E enjoyed their Rosso Gustoso as well, though it's surely their Saluki Red that keeps the locals coming back again and again—the Salukis are the mascot of Southern Illinois University in nearby Carbondale. Smart marketing on Orlandini's part.
We traveled on to StarView Vineyards in rural Cobden. A wedding was taking place at StarView that afternoon and so the place was packed, with wedding guests in a private room and outside on the grounds while regular patrons stayed in the tasting room. The winery has a cafe of sandwiches and salads (in which we did not partake), as well as a gallery featuring local artists. The wines themselves are named with a star motif, such as Supernova and Red Giant. We enjoyed the wines here, though due to the sheer number of people we tore through the tasting rather quickly. We also didn't explore the winery at all, simply because we didn't want to wander in to someone's wedding celebrations.
Next we drove to the exact opposite side of rural Cobden, this time to Inheritance Valley Vineyards. This winery is the smallest on the entire trail, with their entire facility the size of a small barn. While the decor is sparse, the wines are good. The Ruvanesque was a particular favorite, and the Big Deisel Whine and Blackberry Boogie were both tasty. We were hoping to try their Cobden Cream, as this is the only winery on the trail to feature sherry. However, they were sold out at the time with a waitlist of 30+ people hoping to get bottles of the next batch. It must be good!
Hedman Vineyard was next on our list, nearby in Alto Pass. Hedman has a large amount of property for its vineyards, with a large gray barn acting as tasting room and restaurant, and a farmhouse for a B&B. Everything here has a Swedish motif, from the gift shop to the restaurant menu. The actual bar in the tasting room is tiny, though the staff on hand was friendly enough to make up for the close quarters. E particularly liked the chandelier over the bar, made up of wine glasses featuring the logos from every winery on the Shawnee Hills trail. Hedman's wine list consists of just over a dozen wines. The ones we liked the most were their Tucker Hill Red and their Peach wine.
At this point the day was wrapping up, and we had to go back to Carbondale to grab food for dinner. We decided to stop by Rustle Hill once again in the hopes that we'd get to try their wines this time. The winery was still crowded, though not as bad as the evening before. When we did make our way to the bar, we were told that they'd sold out of nearly half of their wine selection. Of the five of eight wines available to taste, one was a "premium" tasting which cost extra money. What we did try was, to put it bluntly, a disappointment. E bought one bottle just to have at least one from each winery, but we left Rustle Hill with a bad taste in our mouths once again.
We spent the rest of the evening back at our cabin, grilling steaks in celebration of M's birthday. Later there was scary movie watching and s'mores over the fire, followed by another dip in the hot tub with glasses of wine in hand.
The next morning we packed up the cabin and headed into Carbondale to kill some time before the wineries opened. We had one last winery to visit: Owl Creek Vineyard in Cobden. We arrived to find the place almost completely empty, which wasn't a surprise on a Sunday morning. The tasting room is upstairs in their facility (so it's a no-go for people unable to climb stairs, unless there's an elevator hiding somewhere). The large bar offers plenty of room for guests, and a large deck on the back of the building offers lots of outdoor seating under the trees. The wines here were flavorful and tasty across the board. We left with a bottle of ChardonOwl and one of their dessert wines, ZenGeist. Also in hand were "complimentary" glasses with the winery's logo, which come free once you pay for a tasting. However, these have come in handy plenty of times since we came home, so we won't complain.
Overall, it was a great trip touring the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail. Almost all of the wineries were a hit. We visited 15 wineries in less than three days and almost all of them were a good experience, so those are good odds. Also, the scenery in the area is gorgeous, all rolling—and sometimes steep—hills, lots of lakes, and thousands upon thousands of trees, thanks in part to the national forests. We'd definitely recommend visiting the trail for a long weekend getaway.
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| Orlandini Vineyard |
We traveled on to StarView Vineyards in rural Cobden. A wedding was taking place at StarView that afternoon and so the place was packed, with wedding guests in a private room and outside on the grounds while regular patrons stayed in the tasting room. The winery has a cafe of sandwiches and salads (in which we did not partake), as well as a gallery featuring local artists. The wines themselves are named with a star motif, such as Supernova and Red Giant. We enjoyed the wines here, though due to the sheer number of people we tore through the tasting rather quickly. We also didn't explore the winery at all, simply because we didn't want to wander in to someone's wedding celebrations.
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| StarView's tasting room |
Next we drove to the exact opposite side of rural Cobden, this time to Inheritance Valley Vineyards. This winery is the smallest on the entire trail, with their entire facility the size of a small barn. While the decor is sparse, the wines are good. The Ruvanesque was a particular favorite, and the Big Deisel Whine and Blackberry Boogie were both tasty. We were hoping to try their Cobden Cream, as this is the only winery on the trail to feature sherry. However, they were sold out at the time with a waitlist of 30+ people hoping to get bottles of the next batch. It must be good!
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| The addition to the barn is the Inheritance Valley tasting room |
Hedman Vineyard was next on our list, nearby in Alto Pass. Hedman has a large amount of property for its vineyards, with a large gray barn acting as tasting room and restaurant, and a farmhouse for a B&B. Everything here has a Swedish motif, from the gift shop to the restaurant menu. The actual bar in the tasting room is tiny, though the staff on hand was friendly enough to make up for the close quarters. E particularly liked the chandelier over the bar, made up of wine glasses featuring the logos from every winery on the Shawnee Hills trail. Hedman's wine list consists of just over a dozen wines. The ones we liked the most were their Tucker Hill Red and their Peach wine.
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| Hedman Vineyards knows how to advertise |
At this point the day was wrapping up, and we had to go back to Carbondale to grab food for dinner. We decided to stop by Rustle Hill once again in the hopes that we'd get to try their wines this time. The winery was still crowded, though not as bad as the evening before. When we did make our way to the bar, we were told that they'd sold out of nearly half of their wine selection. Of the five of eight wines available to taste, one was a "premium" tasting which cost extra money. What we did try was, to put it bluntly, a disappointment. E bought one bottle just to have at least one from each winery, but we left Rustle Hill with a bad taste in our mouths once again.
We spent the rest of the evening back at our cabin, grilling steaks in celebration of M's birthday. Later there was scary movie watching and s'mores over the fire, followed by another dip in the hot tub with glasses of wine in hand.
The next morning we packed up the cabin and headed into Carbondale to kill some time before the wineries opened. We had one last winery to visit: Owl Creek Vineyard in Cobden. We arrived to find the place almost completely empty, which wasn't a surprise on a Sunday morning. The tasting room is upstairs in their facility (so it's a no-go for people unable to climb stairs, unless there's an elevator hiding somewhere). The large bar offers plenty of room for guests, and a large deck on the back of the building offers lots of outdoor seating under the trees. The wines here were flavorful and tasty across the board. We left with a bottle of ChardonOwl and one of their dessert wines, ZenGeist. Also in hand were "complimentary" glasses with the winery's logo, which come free once you pay for a tasting. However, these have come in handy plenty of times since we came home, so we won't complain.
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| Owl Creek had each row of vines labeled by grape type |
Overall, it was a great trip touring the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail. Almost all of the wineries were a hit. We visited 15 wineries in less than three days and almost all of them were a good experience, so those are good odds. Also, the scenery in the area is gorgeous, all rolling—and sometimes steep—hills, lots of lakes, and thousands upon thousands of trees, thanks in part to the national forests. We'd definitely recommend visiting the trail for a long weekend getaway.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Shawnee Hills Wine Trail, part one
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| Our home base for the weekend |
Evening was on its way, so we headed towards one of the few wineries that we knew would be open late on a Friday night — Blue Sky Vineyard in nearby Makanda. Blue Sky is the most grandiose of all the wineries on trail. It was built to resemble a Tuscan villa, and you can tell the owners put a lot of work into making it feel as if it's in Italy and not southern Illinois. The building is gorgeous, complete with frescos on the walls of the tasting room, antique doors from old churches, and huge chandeliers. Outside, a large patio offers seating for guests, as well as chairs on the immense lawn overlooking both the vineyards and a pond with a waterfall feature. As for the wines themselves, Blue Sky offers a large variety across the board. Our personal favorite is the Misterioso, a fruity rose with great flavor, as well as the Rocky Comfort Red. If you happen to visit Blue Sky, I'd highly recommend you follow our lead: get a pitcher of their sangria to split amongst friends, and then take it outside and relax while the sun sets. We were lucky in that a nearby group had to leave and offered us their half-full pitcher as well. We definitely got our money's worth that evening.
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| Looking across the lawn to Blue Sky |
From here, we decided to head over to the other winery that was open late in the evening, Rustle Hill Winery in Cobden. After winding our way through the country roads and back onto one of the local highways, we arrived to find Rustle Hill packed with people. There may or may not have been a wedding reception taking place on one side of their immense lawn; either that or there was a free buffet that wasn't advertised. Upon entering the tasting room, we were quickly shushed, as a string quartet was playing in the small space. People were jammed shoulder-to-shoulder, and we were informed that no tastings would occur during the concert. (We surmised that the quartet was playing indoors and not on the ampitheater stage outside because the humidity would interfere with their instruments, but that's unconfirmed.) We made our way outside and to a lower patio, where we hoped a waiter would take drink orders instead. However, not even these orders could be placed—there was no food or drink service until the concert ended, and upon asking we discovered that the concert would continue until the winery closed that evening. My biggest complaint with Rustle Hill is that their "no service during the concert" rule wasn't public knowledge; not on the website, not posted anywhere on the premesis (that we saw). As people who drove over 200 miles to visit their winery, we were a frustrated that we couldn't taste any of their wines during the last two and a half hours that they were open on a Friday night.
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| A view of Rustle Hill from the lower patio |
At this point it was too late to visit anywhere else, so we headed back to the cabin for dinner, a movie, the hot tub, and a bottle of Black & Blue from Pheasant Hollow.
The next morning we hit the wine trail before eleven, hoping to hit as many wineries as possible. We started at the northwest corner of the trail, first visiting Kite Hill Vineyards in Carbondale. This winery was nestled in the middle of farmland, and it looked as if they were constructing a new building on their property. A small lake sat in the middle of the vineyards, around which were the bed and breakfast as well as an outbuilding which serves as the winery. Inside, a very nice college kid served up our tastings, including a slushy drink made from their chardonnel and their port. We purchased a bottle of the chardonnel and headed on to our next location.
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| The vineyards, pond, and B&B at Kite Hill |
The next winery was one of the highlights of our trip: Pomona Winery. This was a favorite of one friend making the trip with us, and she couldn't wait to buy more wine from them. Pomona focuses solely on fruit wines, and all of their wines come from locally-grown fruit. We've had a lot of fruit wine, but much of it has a grape base to it. The flavor that comes from Pomona's full-fruit wines is exceptional. All of their wines are good, but we especially liked their Orchard Spice and Peach Dessert wines. Our friend mentioned that the Kir (a black currant and apple wine) tasted different than she remembered, and the woman at the tasting bar informed us that depending on the growing season, the flavor of the fruits will change, altering the taste of the wines from year to year. As for the winery itself, it's a huge building nestled into a hillside in the middle of the woods. Trees tower over the winery on all sides, and you can go out onto the decks and stand eye-to-eye with the branches. Inside, a huge square bar seats plenty, while the pillars in the center are covered in all the awards Pomona Winery has won over the years.
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| Pomona's awards, including two Governor's Cups from the state fair |
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| The hillside at Hickory Ridge, overlooking the Shawnee National Forest |
From this point we weren't exactly sure how to get to the next winery on the trail. Thankfully, Von Jakob Vineyards has two locations, so no matter which road we took we were in luck. We visited the Pomona location, which was the original location where the vineyard started. (The second location in Alto Pass, which we did not visit, features orchards as well as vineyards and a bigger tasting room.) Von Jakob has over twenty varieties of wine for tasting, so we had a lot of options here. Wines we enjoyed were Cave Creek, Little Grand Canyon Gold, Kroshenfeler, and their port selections. The fact that the port was served in little chocolate cups made us like it even more. Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time here, as our friend had to leave and wanted to hit up on last winery before she departed. We'll have to make another trip someday and visit their other location.
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| Von Jakob's tasting room and a fraction of their vineyards |
Our final stop with our friend was to Alto Vineyards in Alto Pass, Illinois. Alto is the oldest of the wineries in the area, opening in 1984. The owners of this winery, along with the owners of Pomona and Owl Creek, spearheaded the movement to create the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail. (As an aside, this area has now been designated as an official American Viticultural Area by the ATF, the only one in the state of Illinois.) Needless to say, Alto Vineyards has the longest tradition of winemaking, and it shows in their product. The wines we enjoyed from them were the Weiner Dog White—one of our first reviews on this website, Rosso Classico, Rocko Red, and Shawnee Gold.
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| Grape-themed stained glass at Alto Vineyards |
We drove back to our cabin on the opposite side of Carbondale so that our friend could head home. After a brief rest, we hopped back in the car and ventured out to see the second half of the trail. Up next, more wine...
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Illinois Wine Trail
Earlier this summer, we took a mini-vacation to downstate Illinois to visit the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail. After several months of planning, we had our game plan in place and started the drive from the Chicago suburbs down to the Carbondale area. The drive down I-57 was surprisingly easy, but this was surely due to the several stops we took along the way.
Our first detour off the highway was to the town of Stewardson, home of Vahling Vineyards. Vahling is part of the Heartland Rivers Wine Trail, which is in the south central portion of the state. We've tasted wine from Vahling at several different festivals, and we've alrways been pleased with their variety. Their wines are crisp, flavorful, and pleasing. Best of all, they're well-priced, which makes it even easier for us to support this winery. We had a good time sampling the different wines and chatting with the owner. So many of their wines are good: River Fizz, Leon Millot, Prairie Mist, Friar's Favorite, and Moonlight Bliss are all great. After purchasing several bottles, we headed back towards the road.
We met back up with the highway in Effingham and went south to the town of Mt. Vernon. Even before leaving the highway, we could spot GenKota Winery from the road. The winery's huge wraparound porch is stunning; several rocking chairs and hammocks were put to test while we ate cheese and crackers. Inside, GenKota has a small tasting bar, and less than a dozen wines on the tasting list. One of their best sellers in their Three Dog Night, though we were all amused by the name of their apple wine: Thunder Chicken.
Approximately 20 miles north of Carbondale, we made another pitstop. This time, it was Pheasant Hollow Winery in Whittington, Illinois. This winery is located relatively close to the highway, but due to the dense forest surrounding it, we couldn't hear any cars at all. The dense canopy of leaves kept the huge building well-shaded, as did the large porch on the front of the building. Off to one side was a platform where they stomp grapes, presumably during festivals at the winery. Inside, a large tasting bar lined the wall, and a stone fireplace loomed over the seating area. The woman staffing the bar was quite nice, offering us tips on which wines were the best to try. Their Black & Blue is a fruit wine created from blueberries and blackberries, and is one of their best sellers. We also enjoyed their Gunn Creek White. We purchased a few bottles, and then headed on to our destination...
Next up, the wineries of the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail!
Our first detour off the highway was to the town of Stewardson, home of Vahling Vineyards. Vahling is part of the Heartland Rivers Wine Trail, which is in the south central portion of the state. We've tasted wine from Vahling at several different festivals, and we've alrways been pleased with their variety. Their wines are crisp, flavorful, and pleasing. Best of all, they're well-priced, which makes it even easier for us to support this winery. We had a good time sampling the different wines and chatting with the owner. So many of their wines are good: River Fizz, Leon Millot, Prairie Mist, Friar's Favorite, and Moonlight Bliss are all great. After purchasing several bottles, we headed back towards the road.
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| Vahling Vineyards |
We met back up with the highway in Effingham and went south to the town of Mt. Vernon. Even before leaving the highway, we could spot GenKota Winery from the road. The winery's huge wraparound porch is stunning; several rocking chairs and hammocks were put to test while we ate cheese and crackers. Inside, GenKota has a small tasting bar, and less than a dozen wines on the tasting list. One of their best sellers in their Three Dog Night, though we were all amused by the name of their apple wine: Thunder Chicken.
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| GenKota Winery and its huge porch |
Approximately 20 miles north of Carbondale, we made another pitstop. This time, it was Pheasant Hollow Winery in Whittington, Illinois. This winery is located relatively close to the highway, but due to the dense forest surrounding it, we couldn't hear any cars at all. The dense canopy of leaves kept the huge building well-shaded, as did the large porch on the front of the building. Off to one side was a platform where they stomp grapes, presumably during festivals at the winery. Inside, a large tasting bar lined the wall, and a stone fireplace loomed over the seating area. The woman staffing the bar was quite nice, offering us tips on which wines were the best to try. Their Black & Blue is a fruit wine created from blueberries and blackberries, and is one of their best sellers. We also enjoyed their Gunn Creek White. We purchased a few bottles, and then headed on to our destination...
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| Pheasant Hollow amongst the trees |
Next up, the wineries of the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail!
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