Niagara Escarpment

Niagara USA's first Ice Wine is here!

Last week, the Niagara Wine Trail saw the first release of Ice Wine from naturally frozen vidal grapes grown right here in a Niagara County vineyard. As I mentioned this past winter, Schulze Vineyards and Winery in Burt, NY harvested its vidal on a frozen January morning. Well, after a long fermentation process -- and an equally long winter -- the winery hosted a six-course wine pairing dinner which included the Vidal Ice Wine with dessert.

Dominic Carisetti, winemaker and outspoken ambassador of several local wineries, hosted the two-night event, prepping guests before each dish with detailed background info on the wines. The wine list was entirely white wines, ranging from dry to decadently sweet, offering vidal in its various incarnations and a couple examples of Niagara-grape-based wines. After the ice wine was poured, he took the time to get opinions and notes on everyone's descriptions and impressions. After the last course Martin and Ann invited their guests to taste several other wines on the tasting menu, including reds and sparkling wines.

The star of the night was obviously the Vidal Ice Wine. I've had the luxury of tasting it from grape to glass this year and I was still blown away by the richness, complexity, and laser-focused flavors. The aroma alone is worth pondering for hours as it boasts apricot, fig, honey and mango with each sniff. This wine is meant to be savored, either by itself, with desserts, cheeses, or, if you roll this way, with foie gras. And with a price tag under $40, it comes in at about half of what you'd pay across the border in Ontario. Cheers to that!

An Icy Return to Blogging

The past few months of long work days and hotel living haven't made for many inspired entries here. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I realized it may be interfering with my wine consumption as well. The fact is that it took a good arse-kicking from Lenn over at Lenndevours to get my fingers typing. Well that and a divine act from above which put me back in the Niagara Region for just a few days, one of which just happened to be the day when Niagara Landing and Schulze Vineyards & Winery harvested vidal grapes for ice wine. Check out my story at Lenndevours for the details.

You might also want to read the recent story in the Lockport Union and Sun talked about the ice wine harvest at Niagara Landing.

Niagara Wineries Win at NY Food & Wine Classic in Napa, CA

The New York Food and Wine Classic was held in Napa Valley last week and the results to this prestigious competition are in. The Niagara Wine Trail represented well as Schulze Vineyards and Winery and Honeymoon Trail Winery both took home three medals. The Governors Cup which can be considered the "best of show" award went to Thirsty Owl Company 2006 Dry Riesling and Red Barn Winery took home the "Winery of the Year" honor.

Schulze Vineyards and Winery which is still in its first summer since opening last spring took home bronze medals for their Dry Vidal, Semi-dry Vidal, and their Cabernet Sauvignon Rose. Honeymoon Trail Winery came away with a silver for their 2006 Pink Catawba and 2005 Baco Noir. They also won a bronze medal for their Honeymoon's Over wine. The results are posted here at the Uncork New York website. Congratulations to both wineries as they are extremely young and each has a bright future ahead of them.

Schulze Vineyards and Winery Sparkling Release Party

Did someone say champagne? Well... sparkling wine done in the methode champaniose is what I meant. The more you drink sparkling wine the more you realize that it must be the most versatile wine in existence. Whether it's before, during, or after a meal the bubbly just always hits the spot. What does that mean to a winery that just released four sparkling wines from there own grapes, that were grown and bottled on their own property? A hell of a lot in my opinion.

Schulze Vineyards and Winery in Burt, NY celebrated their sparkling wine release last wednesday with a sold out dinner that paired food and sparkling wine in a casual and informative atmosphere. The night started off with winemaker Domenic Carisetti giving a short speech on crafting these wines and an explanation of what makes them so special. We all salivated as he popped the first cork with Martin Schulze himself eagerly waiting with a champagne glass. After a celebratory round of applause the food tables opened up to the guests. Each dish had a complimentary sparkler to pair with.

The two first sparklers were made from the Vidal grape including a brut and a semi dry. Another brut sparkler was made with the Riesling crossed Siegfried grape. Each of these are elegant wines you wouldn't help but guess were from the Champagne region of France. I do have to mention that no one is making that comparison, and rightly so, because each of these wines have there own distinct charm that not many other wines could match anyway, whether from France, Spain or anywhere for that matter. The last wine served was a semi-sweet Cuvee Rose made from the Catawba grape. It reminds me of Rosa Regale from the Piedmont region of Italy. This wine was paired with a wild berry sorbet and I think another perfect match would be chocolate of any kind, especially German chocolate cake.

All in all it was a successful event that was a good barometer for food and wine dinners in our Niagara Wine Region. Bring good wine and food together in a friendly atmosphere and they will come, eat, and buy wine. There's something to say for the magic of a bottle of sparkling wine. I can't imagine a round of applause for an uncorking of Merlot anytime soon. Ok, sorry Merlot. You've been kicked while you have been down for too long, especially since Sideways. Let me rephrase that... I can't imagine a round of applause for Cabernet anytime soon. Cheers!

Schulze Vineyards Vidal Blanc

Schulze Vineyards Vidal Blanc Dry 2006
Niagara County, New York ($14)

In the game of baseball there are some players that you can just always count on. They might be starters but more likely they are substitutes who can play several positions. Sometimes they're called utility players, filling any gaps a team might have on defense. They are usually consistent at the plate and can always be counted on to have a good at bat when called upon to pinch hit. In many ways I think the Vidal grape is just like one of those utility players. This grape may not have the superstar recognition of a Napa Cabernet or a Barolo, but don't sell it short, it can hold its own with the big guys.

Vidal, a grape created by Frenchman Albert Seibel, is a cross of Ugni Blanc, or Trebbiano, and Rayon d'Or. It's very cold hardy, meaning it is suited to growing in cold climates and it can be found mainly in Canada, the Finger Lakes and other cold climate viticultural areas. Vidal really shines when it is used as an ice wine grape as they do on the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario, Canada, where you can also find several dry and semi dry versions. Vidal is a grape you can count on in the vineyard and it gives the winemaker several options.

Schulze Vineyards and Winery in Burt, NY makes the most of this grape's potential in many ways. This one I am tasting is a dry still wine version, but they also make a semi-dry and a champagne-style sparkler with Vidal. This wine is a pale straw color with aromas of melon, peach, and a bit of fresh cut grass scent thrown in as well. Medium body texture with a zesty quality reminiscent of a first-rate Sauvignon Blanc. This crispness combined with and the fact that it's bone dry and refreshing makes it a summer go-to wine in my book. This wine stands out as one of the best white wines I've tasted from the region. It pairs well with seafood, chicken, pork and lighter summer eats. Cheers to that!