Stockbridge Sangria from the Red Lion Inn
You don’t have to be staying at the historic Red Lion Inn to have cocktails beneath an umbrella table in its tranquil pebbled courtyard. The house drink of the summer is “Stockbridge Sangria,” which is the creation of The Red Lion Inn’s Sommelier, Dan Thomas, who likes to mix it in a giant Mason jar.
Stockbridge Sangria
1 oz Sweet Vermouth
1 oz Aperol Aperitivo
1 oz Lillet Blanc
1 oz Triple Sec
1 oz White Rum
12 oz Dry Rose wine
48 oz Dry White wine (no oak high acid)
Chopped fruit (strawberries, apples, grapes, pears, cherries or whatever is in season)
Mix and let sit overnight.
Serve over ice with a splash of club soda and Sprite.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 07/06/10 at 02:16 PM • Permalink
About That Vineyard…
Christopher Matthews, a wine and spirits writer and educator, divides his time between Manhattan and Red Hook, Dutchess County. He has been the wine and spirits columnist for New York Law Journal Magazine since 2004, and has written about food and drink for Epicurious.com and the Culinary Institute of America. A member of the Wine Media Guild of New York, he has judged at the Hudson Valley Wine Competition, and has a keen appreciation for local (spirituous) beverages. He reports:
Fancy a vineyard?
You love wine, and know a thing or two about it. Wine country usually figures into your vacations. The sight of well-ordered, hillside rows of vines sets your heart fluttering.
As it happens, you own some lovely, rolling acreage a couple of hours north of New York City, with similar contours to the handsome, vine-covered ridges of Millbrook Vineyards and Winery nearby (below). Occasional visits to Millbrook’s tasting room with house guests have fed Provençal visions of grape-laden vineyards on your property, set against a colorful, autumnal backdrop.
Ah, the grape bug has bitten.
Wine country?
While the Hudson Valley isn’t Napa in terms of vineyard density (or notoriety), it is one of the oldest wine-growing regions in the US, dating back to the 17th century. Today, some forty wineries—and even more vineyards—are in operation (with more of both in the works). Demand (and prices) for Hudson Valley wine grapes has grown steadily in recent years; local wineries would readily buy more local wine grapes, if available. There are also now three wine-and-beverage “trails” in the area (Dutchess Wine Trail, Hudson Berkshire Beverage Trail, and, across the river, Shawangunk, important pieces of the region’s healthy agri-tourism sector. Sounds like an opportunity, no? You already own available land—a good place to start, and one less expense to consider. Just how hard would it be to put in some vines on your back forty, partner with a nearby winery, and achieve that gorgeously cultivated landscape?
Not as easy as you might imagine.
“You got to have deep pockets, patience, and attention to detail to establish a vineyard in the Hudson Valley,” said Michael Migliore, owner of Whitecliff Vineyards near New Paltz, President of the Hudson Valley Wine and Grape Association, and vineyard consultant. That’s how he kicked off a recent seminar on beginning viticulture in the Hudson Valley (HV) organized by Steven McKay of the Cornell Cooperative Extension, together with the Hudson Valley Wine Grower’s Association, at Cornell’s Hudson Valley lab in Highland, NY.
The room for the full-day seminar was packed, indicating a surprisingly robust interest in the subject. By my reckoning, most participants were already involved in growing fruit, some commercially, and looking to diversify or expand operations. A number had already put in test vines, and were now ready to scale up. Others were in various beginning stages of the process, such as testing soil samples. Some, like me, were oenophiles with land…and grape aspirations.
Chatting before the program began, Migliore asked me how many acres I could devote to a site. He smiled politely when I told him “close to three”. We continued to discuss other relevant topics—soil composition, drainage, slope, sun exposure, etc.—and he seemed encouraging. But one minute into his introduction, he said that a commercial wine grape operation needs at least five planted acres to be economically viable. Anything less is “an expensive hobby”.
Ouch.
Nobody bolted, but more than a few flinched, including yours truly.
Migliore’s next point hit hard: not even counting a good tractor (around $32,000 brand new) and a versatile spray rig ($14,000)—both of which are necessary to work a commercial vineyard—you can expect to pay $15,000 to $17,000 per acre to establish a vineyard in the Hudson Valley. And don’t forget: in this three-to-four year process, there is no revenue, because grapes are first harvested only in year three, assuming all goes well. Financing from local banks? It’s not happening. “You can walk right now,” said Migliore, only half-joking.
The good news? Yes, there is a market for locally grown fruit, explained Migliore, and overall, the quality is pretty high, including the best Chardonnay in the State. But it’s up to the growers to market and sell to the wineries—they won’t line-up for it. While HV grapes are generally more expensive than those available from the far larger Finger Lakes region (between $950 to $1700 a ton, depending on variety), but wineries in the Hudson Valley are willing to pay more because of the shorter shipping distances and more opportunities to meet with local growers during the growing season (what winemakers call “the vintage”) keep them competitive. According to Carlo DeVito of Hudson-Chatham Winery, anything short of a ton won’t do when he buys grapes, so scale matters for growers. Typically, an HV vineyard will yield between 2 to 5 tons an acre.
Location, location, location
At 42 ° N, the HV and southwest New England share the same latitude of great wine spots like Rioja and Tuscany (right), but the similarity ends there. Although not far from the ocean, our’s is a cold-temperate region with a continental climate largely unmitigated by either the Great Lakes or the Atlantic. Minimum winter temperatures, we locals know, can plunge well below zero, threatening vines (especially European vinifera varieties) with cold injury…or even death. Late spring frosts and early autumn freezes are not uncommon, potentially shortening the growing season. With such a short season, achieving adequate ripeness can be an issue
According to Cornell’s Senior Extension Associate Stephen Hoying, identifying a site in this marginal climate where vines can grow and mature consistently is the most crucial decision you’ll make, even trumping factors such as soil and grape variety. Given the expense and time involved in establishing a vineyard (and its longevity), you want to make sure your place is suitable for grape production. This entails researching the history of winter low temperatures at the prospective location—and actual field measurement with thermometers. Another critical concern: good “air drainage.” Like water, air flows and pools. Where it pools, hard freezes are more likely. So, some sloping is highly desirable, because it allows the cold air to drain away from the vineyard. Hoying advises avoiding air “dams,” such as stone walls or hedge rows that cause air to pool. Naturally, optimal sun exposure is key, as are sufficient length of season and “growing degree days.” (This site-specific data is available on-line via the Cornell Extension website.) If hail is a common occurrence, “reconsider your site, because it will cause you a world of problems,” said Hoying. Other considerations: proximity to markets, zoning laws, and wildlife (e.g. hungry deer and birds could make expensive deer fencing and bird netting necessary).
“Don’t be afraid to reject a site,” he added.
Terra cognito
Based on Cornell’s computer data, my location has a long enough growing season with an average length of 185 days, and its growing degree days are on par with Bordeaux. So, it’s not Siberia.
Soil is important, for many reasons. “You’ve got to know it thoroughly, and you can’t only rely on soil surveys and computer models, as good as they may be,” stressed Hoying. That means digging a test pit, field observation (in particular, looking for wet spots), and preparing and sending scientific soil samples to the Cornell Extension. The most important soil attribute: good drainage, as “ponding” water or a high water table restricts root growth and respiration, making winter injury much more likely. On paper, my soil is “well-drained” (Dutchess County silt loam and rocky Cardigan), but, to my surprise during the March rains, I observed a few soggy spots on the ridge which could require improved drainage. Adequate depth of soil, at least 36 inches (preferably deeper) before reaching bedrock or fragipan (a layer of super-dense soil) is essential for good root distribution and penetration. A soil test identifies the pH level and nutrient profile of the site, and whether soil amendments to correct its deficiencies are necessary. Often they are. In most wine education courses, the adage you’ll hear is “poor soils make for better wines;” because they force the vines to dig deep and struggle for nutrients. This results is lower yields but more concentrated fruit.
In other words, you shouldn’t grow grapes where you would grow corn. But, Hoying reminds us, vineyards and vines do have nutritional needs, such as adequate phosphorous, additions of which can only be made before vines are planted. From the grower’s perspective, yield is not a dirty word—it’s how one gets paid—but to be salable, grapes must be neither “over-cropped” or “thin.” Overly fertile soil results in high-yielding, excessively vigorous vines that produce flavorless, or “thin,” wines. Better flavor comes from vines that have had to compete for nutrients. It’s a fine balance.
Apparently, my pH is on the low side (5.3), at least for vinifera grapes, such as Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay. This would probably require working some lime into the soil before planting to raise the pH level. I have yet to do the tactile soil test, but I’m sure, when I do, I’ll find other problems. And I don’t need a soil test to know that my ridge is full of rocks, shale and pudding stones, courtesy the a glacier, which would make plowing, planting, fencing and setting posts much more difficult and expensive.
The Cornell folks advocate two years of site preparation—soil testing and amendment, plowing, and cover crops (to adjust nitrogen levels)—before planting vines and putting up expensive and indispensible trellising. Migliore called this 2-years-of-prep scenario “ideal,” but pointed out that many don’t have the luxury of waiting an additional year before commencing a project, especially when the return on investment (ROI) for a Hudson Valley vineyard, even under optimal conditions, is 9 to 13 years!
The panel agreed that, if you aren’t in a hurry, test plots are a sound idea, but they should be at least half an acre to be worthwhile.
Grape Contenders
There are many choices of grapes to ponder, but the overriding concern for the region is winter hardiness. Another is the vine’s resistance to disease, especially the many rots, mildews and fungi that abound in the HV’s humid spring/summer climate. Though sustainable and organic viticulture in the HV (a topic for another feature) is an appealing idea, a disease called black rot makes some spraying virtually unavoidable. “If you don’t spray for black rot, you don’t get a crop,” said Ray Tousey, of Tousey Winery in Germantown.
The heartiest, least sexy grapes are native American varieties, like Concord or Delaware, though given the lack of a market for them, not many are grown and vinified in the Hudson Valley these days. Least hearty, and most susceptible to indigenous diseases are vinifera grapes. These, however, are well known and marketable—it’s what we know and drink—and some varieties are grown quite successfully here. Again, choice of site is critical, as well as which clones and rootstocks are employed. In terms of whites, nearly all wineries work with Chardonnay, a proven, stalwart performer in the Hudson Valley. Riesling, the most cold-tolerant of vinifera grapes, has tremendous potential here—and attractively high yields—but the site must have good air drainage, because the Riesling grape is susceptible to bunch rot. The “hot” white vinifera grape of the moment is the early-ripening Pinot Gris. For reds, late-ripening varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon are not well suited to this region, but its parent grape, Cabernet Franc, has exhibited consistent excellence and gets my vote as the HV’s best all-around red vinifera grape. In warm, dry vintagge, Pinot Noir, the “heartbreak grape,” has won HV accolades—including last year’s Cornell Cup winner at the Hudson Valley Wine Competition (Millbrook’s 2007 Block 5 East)—but it is prone to fungal diseases, such as botrytis. Gamay Noir, the fruity grape of Beaujolais, has shown encouraging results.
Most suitable for this challenging climate, however, are the French-American hybrids—crosses between American and vinifera species that offer native-like winter hardiness and disease resistance (thus lower spraying costs), but with more vinifera-like flavor profiles. Traditionally these have been hard sells outside of local tasting rooms, but in the right hands, they make interesting wines on their own, or valuable additions to blends. Accumulated experience with the best of these varieties has led to improved wines, and an embrace from newcomers, such as Hudson-Chatham. Seyval Blanc is the white workhorse of the region; some three-quarters of HV vineyards plant this versatile, apple-scented variety that produces drier wines, according to Migliore. Vidal Blanc is also common and extremely versatile, with a range from bone dry to dessert wine. Cayuga is most often used as a fruity blending partner, while, in warm years, Vignoles yields vibrant, tropical fruit-flavored dessert wines. Up and coming is Traminette, a hardier version of Gewurztraminer (one of its parents) that retains that grape’s attractive rose petal, lychee and spice qualities. Baco Noir is easier to grow than any of the vinifera reds, and gives some nice tannin and peppery, briary fruit. Similarly, Noiret, a newish hybrid created and released by Cornell, is getting some play. There’s also excitement with test results from a yet-to-be-named Cornell hybrid, Red Wine No. 95.301.01, which is highly disease-and-insect resistant, suitable for organic viticulture, and exhibits a lovely blueberry character.
How to make a small fortune…?
Invest a large one in a vineyard!
That was certainly part of the session’s takeaway.
After Migliore’s painstaking presentation of actual cost spreadsheets for a 10-year vineyard project, including things like the cost of triple-galvanized wire for trellising, my head was spinning. For now, I would have to defer my vineyard dreams.
If money is no object, for a hefty fee you can hire an outfit to come in and establish a vineyard. Unless you intend to be hands on, there are also the costs of a vineyard manager and workers. Why not throw in wine-making equipment and a tasting room, too? Still, no matter how deep the pockets or great the ambition, if the vineyard site isn’t right, you’ll be courting expensive failure.
In the end, the tough love from Cornell was eye-opening and useful—there is no room for romantic illusions about HV viticulture, and I’m the better for it.
Nevertheless, on a beautiful May afternoon, my sun-drenched ridge freshly cut for hay, I visualize those green rows of vines hugging the undulating contours. Grape dreams do die hard. Maybe I’ll just start with that soil test… —Christopher Matthews
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 06/06/10 at 04:28 PM • Permalink
Happy Trail: Hudson-Berkshire Beverage Trail to Launch in April
Christopher Matthews, a wine and spirits writer and educator, divides his time between Manhattan and Red Hook, Dutchess County. He has been the wine and spirits columnist for New York Law Journal Magazine since 2004, and has written about food and drink for Epicurious.com and the Culinary Institute of America. A member of the Wine Media Guild of New York, he has judged at the Hudson Valley Wine Competition, and has a keen appreciation for local (spirituous) beverages. He reports:
In a clear boost to local tourism and our region’s artisanal food and beverage scene, six partners—four wineries, a brewery and a distillery—have joined forces to establish the Hudson-Berkshire Beverage Trail (HBBT). It will formally launch on April 10th with a Pasta and Sauce event, featuring beverage flights paired with pasta dishes at each stop along the trail.
Spanning three counties and two states, the HBBT has two main axes: one running south from Rensselaer County, southeast of Albany, down through Columbia County to Germantown, near Hudson; the other heading east from Chatham into Berkshire County, ending in New Marlborough, MA. Discussions with the Department of Transportation and the New York State Agriculture and Markets Department on road signage for the trail are underway.
The founding partners include: Brookview Station Winery (top photo),Castleton-on-Hudson, NY, a bemedaled producer of fruit wines, cider and baked goods; Harvest Spirits,Valatie, NY, a micro-distillery that produces “Core,” an award-winning vodka made from local apples; Chatham Brewing (right), Chatham, NY, an all-natural “nano-brewer” of craft beers; Hudson-Chatham Winery, Ghent, NY, a producer of small batch wines from local and regional grapes, as well as cheeses and desserts; Tousey Winery, whose Germantown-based owner, beekeeper-farmer Ray Tousey is a mainstay at local farmers’ markets with his displays of bees, honey, small fruits and wines; Furnace Brook Winery, located at Hilltop Orchards, a scenic 100-year old farm in Richmond, MA; and Les Trois Emme Vineyard and Winery (below), nestled in New Marlborough, MA, east of Great Barrington.
It’s no secret that tourists flock to wine trails. New York State alone has eleven existing wine trails across its five major wine regions, including two in the Hudson Valley, the Dutchess and Shawangunk Wine Trails. Until now only one of the NY trails, the Lake Erie Wine Trail, has been interstate, encompassing New York and Pennsylvania wineries. And heretofore, there has only been one multiple beverage trail in New York, the Cooperstown Beverage Trail, anchored by Brewery Ommegang, the acclaimed Belgium-style ale producer. The HBBT’s innovation: it’s New York’s first ever interstate beverage trail, featuring wine, beer, spirits and cider.
HBBT co-founders Carlo De Vito (Hudson-Chatham Winery, left) and Sue Goold (Brookview Station Winery) came to the wine trail idea around the same time. Both were aware of how important such trails are for small wineries. Both had considered the number of new local wineries slated to come on line soon. And both understood that the region’s prime location between New York City, Albany and Boston was a huge asset. Columbia-County-based DeVito had been exploring joining an existing trail, such as Dutchess, while Goold, whose vineyard is one county north in Renssalaer, had been aiming to create a new one for the area, incorporating the successful Harvest Spirits distillery and Chatham Brewing as well. Once each heard of the other’s plan, they decided to combine efforts. But DeVito pushed the beverage trail concept a step further, extending it to the Berkshires, because he and Furnace Brook Winery were already sending each other customers. In fact, said De Vito, “the Upper Hudson Valley and the Berkshires are inextricably linked. In the summer, we have customers in the summer who are coming out of Tanglewood and the Berkshires all the time. And it’s nothing for folks up here to go out to dinner in Pittsfield or Great Barrington.”
During the research phase for the trail, Carlo DeVito and his wife, Dominique, visited the Cooperstown Beverage Trail. Impressed, they used Cooperstown as a model for the HBBT. But Hudson-Berkshire plans to go its own, ambitious way. “We have a number of farms, creameries and CSAs around here, and we really want to form a trail that calls on the culinary firepower of the region,” said De Vito. Accordingly, associate and friend-of-trail memberships are available to compatible businesses. Twin Maple Farm, “a pampered cow creamery” that has already signed on as a “friend” of the HBBT.
“We feel like this can become the ultimate culinary destination in the northeast,” DeVito says. Here! Here! —Christopher Matthews
Hudson Berkshire Beverage Trail Pasta and Sauce Event
Saturday, April 10; noon - 5:30 p.m.
Tickets may be purchased on day of tour at all participating trail locations
Trail passport/$15, includes tasting flights of wine, beer or spirits plus free pasta
Designated Driver Passport/$5, includes complimentary pasta
Individual locations/normal tasting fees apply
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 03/30/10 at 04:56 PM • Permalink
RI Selects: “Living with Wine” Book Signing
Every oenophile who doesn’t already have a wine cellar dreams of having one—the bigger the better. Whether you’re ready to build or just a voyeur, there are dozens of juicy, jaw-dropping photos in Living with Wine, the new book by design editor Samantha Nestor and award-winning wine writer Alice Feiring, which includes a magnificent cellar by Fred Tregaskis of New England Wine Cellars in Falls Village. The authors will be signing books on Saturday afternoon at Little Gates & Co., which will offer a tasting of Viennese wines at the same time.
Living with Wine book signing and wine tasting
Saturday, November 21, 2 - 5 p.m.
Little Gates & Co. Wine Merchants
Millerton, NY
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 11/20/09 at 01:23 PM • Permalink
Spirits: At a Recent Tasting, A Local Cider Ruled!
In England, the word “cider” (and, in France, “cidre”) describes a carbonated beverage containing alcohol—as little as 3% in France, as much as 8.5% in England (wine is usually between 11% and 14%). On this side of the Atlantic, a fermented cider is referred to as “hard cider,” to distinguish it from the unfermented, non-alcholic beverage children enjoy. But who wants anything that’s “hard”? Perhaps to skirt this subtle marketing concern, Hudson-Chatham Winery has given its cider a French name, Pomme Bullé—literally, apple bubble.
“Usually in France, it’s an aperitif,” says Dominique DeVito, who, with her husband Carlo, owns and operates Hudson-Chatham Winery. “They drink it when they come in from working in the fields. In both France and England, it’s a working man’s drink—meant to be refreshing, like a beer, just not as filling.”
Because their winery does not have the capacity to bottle carbonated beverages, the DeVitos have their Pomme Bullé made for them from Northern Spy apples and bottled to their specifications at Warwick Valley Winery, an hour south of here in the lower Hudson Valley.
At a recent tasting of three ciders at Little Gates & Company, wine merchants in Millerton, participants compared Pomme Bullé to two other ciders, an apple and a pear, both from a French producer. Hudson-Chatham Winery’s was the favorite, hands down. “That’s what they told me, anyhow,” says Dominique.
“We have always offered cider,” she continues. “It’s been part of our selection from the beginning. We wanted it because we love it ourselves, and because the Hudson Valley has so many apple growers.”
Like ordinary apple cider, Pomme Bullé tastes autumnal but is much less sweet. “There’s no question, it’s more popular at this time of year,” says Dominique. “It compliments fall foods— stews with root vegetables—and seasonal desserts, especially apple pie.” It also is an ideal foil for the savory-with-a-touch-of-sweet traditional Thanksgiving menu.
Hudson-Chatham Winery
1900 Route 66
Ghent, NY 518.392.WINE (9463)
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 11/04/09 at 11:23 AM • Permalink
Think Pink: Now Is The Time To Drink Rosé
Whether he is selling a $10 bottle of wine or a $1 million house, Andrew Gates wants to see people fall in love. As both a real-estate broker at Sotheby’s in Lakeville, CT, and a shopkeeper in Millerton, NY, he cultivates clients by paying attention to their specific tastes and needs. At Little Gates & Co. Wine Merchants, the two year-old shop he co-owns with Will Little (chairman of the Lakeville Journal Company), customers are encouraged to schmooze, ask questions, and hang out. In the front of the store, there’s a round table with a chess board and piles of books surrounded by four comfortable chairs. “We talk as much about books here as we talk about wine,” says Gates. He attributes the shop’s literary bent to writer Melissa Davis, who works at the store, and her husband, the author and raconteur Peter Richmond (The Glory Game: How the 1958 NFL Championship Changed Football Forever; Fever: The Life and Music of Miss Peggy Lee), who’s a familiar presence there.
Nevertheless, the number one topic of conversation right now is rosé, and a large table in the middle of the shop holds more than a dozen different gem-colored bottles with a small sign that proclaims THINK PINK. “Rosé is a visual wine,” says Gates. “It’s a beautiful wine to have when the sun is shining.”
With rosé, you can judge the wine by its color. “If it’s pale pink, then it’s going to be light and crisp,” says Gates. “If it’s darker, it’s going to be fleshy—you’ll have a sense of biting the grape.” He doesn’t sell the sweet Italian rosés that gave pink wines a bad reputation. “I am biased toward the Provençal rosés,” says Gates, who believes they pretty much go with anything you are going to eat this summer. “I am not a traditionalist when it comes to food pairings. I think you can drink rosé with lamb, and I would love to drink rosé with the fish tacos at the Harney tea room.” He’s high on Vin Gris de Cigare ($17), a California rosé, from Bonny Doon, which has an alien seduction scene on the label and an alien avatar on the cap. “This is a beautiful wine,” he says, noting that the most expensive rosé in the shop is a $30 Vin Gris of Pinot Noir from the Napa Valley’s Robert Sinskey. “It’s probably too expensive, but it’s a special wine with a limited allocation,” he says. “And the focus of our shop is grower-producer wines with a small level of production.”
You often see the crew at Little Gates with glasses in their hands. “We are not shy about tasting wines and opening bottles with our customers,” says Gates. “I can’t imagine selling wines any other way.” He prides himself on having an attentive sales staff and laments that many restaurants and retail businesses have indifferent customer service. “I think it’s not only bad business,” he says, “it’s bad humanity.”
He opens a bottle of Col di Luna ($17), a sparkling rosé from northern Italy. “It’s heavenly stuff,” he says as Davis emerges from the backroom with a platter of cheese and crackers. She describes sparkling rosé “as grown-up soda pop—it’s yummy.” Gates takes another sip and smiles broadly as if he’d swallowed pure joy. “Sparkling rosés are so delicious I can’t stand it!”
Little Gates Wine Merchants
56A South Center Street, Millerton, NY; 518.789.3899
Monday - Saturday 11 AM - 7 PM; Sunday 12 - 5 PM
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 06/17/09 at 03:00 PM • Permalink
It’s Beneficial To Indulge at the Berkshire Museum Wine Auction
These aren’t times for hedonism—unless your self indulgence can be construed as philanthropic, too. If you’re an oenophile or sybarite, the Berkshire Museum’s Biennial Wine Auction on Saturday, May 30, in Pittsfield offers many ways to splurge on yourself while also supporting the museum’s educational programs that bring arts and enrichment opportunities to a diverse group of public school students. It’s a crucial fundraiser for the museum, which raised $242,000 at its 2007 wine auction.
There will be both silent and live auctions with James Ritchie who runs Sotheby’s wine department in North America overseeing the bidding. He will offer up 40 lots that include the “Great Guigals,” which are three different bottles of 1989 Cote Roties of Rhone from E. Guigal (value: $3,000); a red-and-white duo of Ch. Lafite Rosthschild, Pauillac, 2000, an extraordinary Bordeaux, and Ch. d’Yquem, Lur Saluces 1990, the premier Sauternes (value: $2,250); membership in the Les Trois Emme Barrel Club, which entitles you to help produce a Bordeaux Size barrel of wine at the vineyard in New Marlborough, MA, and which will result in 25 cases of wine that are yours (value: $7,000+); a six-course dinner party for six at Wheatleigh with wine pairings and grappa tastings (value: $1,850). Even if you are a teetotaler, there are other temptations on the auction block, including four lower box-seat tickets to a Red Sox game, roundtrip limousine from the Berkshires to Fenway Park and dinner at Fenway’s EMC Club, or a week in a two-bedroom townhouse at the Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club in Brewster on Cape Cod.
During the cocktail hour, as guests sample wines and Taittinger Champagne, they can view a special exhibition, “Vintage Time,” which features 18th and 19th century vintage clocks and pocket watches and a selection of shelf clocks from the collection of William I. Milham, who was a professor of astronomy at Williams from 1901-1942. After the live auction, there will be dinners in the Ellen Crane Memorial Room (tickets: $350) and on the stage of the Colonial Theater down the block ($150.) To be sure, there will be plenty of wine to drink at both dinners.
Berkshire Museum Biennial Wine Auction
May 30, 2009
Cocktails at 5:30 PM; auction at 6:30 PM; dinner at 8 PM
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 05/24/09 at 04:17 PM • Permalink
A New Pear Brandy from Harvest Spirits
Update: Harvest Spirits Pear Takes The Bronze
In April, Harvest Spirits Pear brandy was awarded a bronze medal by the American Distilling Institute at the sixth annual ADI Brandy conference and competition in Alameda, California. The pear brandy/eau de vie category was the most competitive, drawing dozens of entries.
The Swedish call it “aquavit,” the French “eau-de-vie,” and the Germans “schnapps.” But since there is little tradition in this country for drinking spirits made from fruit, most Americans don’t know what to call it. The direct translation from Swedish and French, “water of life,” sounds a little over the top, at least hereabouts, so Harvest Spirits settled on “brandy” to describe the latest addition to its line.
“We had no intention of doing pear brandy but Fix Brothers Farm in Hudson had a bunch of pears that had been hit with hail,” says Derek Grout co-owner of the Valatie distillery that makes Core Vodka, recently awarded a Gold Medal by the Beverage Testing Institute, with a 92— the highest score of any domestic vodka in a tasting of more than 80. “They asked me if we could do anything with them. I could have turned them into vodka. But we decided to try a brandy instead.”
First fruit, then cider, then the alcoholic beverage: It was the middle step, the fruit-to-cider part of the cycle, that was troubling to Grout and his partner Tom Crowell. Golden Harvest Farms, the parent company of Harvest Spirits, uses a rather slow, old-fashioned, rack-and-cloth cider press. So Bob and Linda Fix proposed that they involve yet another farm, Eger Brothers, in the scheme. Fix delivered his fruit to the Egers who made it into cider in their more modern press, then the Egers delivered the cider to Harvest Spirits who turned it into brandy. “I didn’t even know Mark and Jim Eger until the Fixes introduced us,” says Grout.
The net result of this collaboration between three Columbia County farms is 500 slender bottles of a beverage simply called “Pear,” 100 of which have already been spoken for. Not to be confused with the syrupy schnapps sold in liquor stores and bars, this clear liquid isn’t sweet. It is quite similar, in fact, to the French brandy Poire William. It is designed to be drunk chilled and neat, as the Swedish do their aquavit when their host raises his glass and proclaims, “Skal!” Or it may be mixed with lemon juice plus something sweet, such as triple sec, to make a delicious cocktail.
“Once it’s gone that’s it until next year’s harvest,” says Grout. And what if there is no hale next summer, hence no bruised fruit? Grout shrugs, clearly untroubled by such an unlikely prospect. “I’m lucky that I can take an ingredient that was just going to fall on the ground and rot and be able to make something valuable out of it. But it took a lot of ‘cooperation-ship,’ as our current President would say, to make Pear.”
For a pitcher of Pear cocktails, mix together:
2 cups Harvest Spirit’s Pear brandy
1 cup Meyer lemon juice
1/3 cup triple sec
ice
Strain into 6 martini glasses.
Pear is available at:
Fairview Wines & Spirits
160 Fairview Ave, Hudson; 518.828.0934
Hudson Wine Merchants
341½ Warren Street, Hudson; 518.828.6411
Kinderhook Wines & Spirits
2967 Route 9 (Hannaford Shopping Plaza), Valatie; 518.758.8463
Little Gates & Company Wine Merchants
58 South Center Street, Millerton; 518.789.3899
On weekends, it also may be purchased directly from the distillery, which is open for tours:
Harvest Spirits at Golden Harvest Farms
3074 U.S. Route 9, Valatie; 518.758.7683
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 04/15/09 at 05:25 PM • Permalink
Allium and the Mahaiwe: Their Funny Valentine Special
Local restaurateurs and chefs are letting their imaginations run wild for Valentine’s Day. Take, for example, Halle Heyman, manager at Allium in Great Barrington. As if free chocolate petit fours at the end of the meal aren’t enough to seal the deal, she has created a cocktail to get the ball rolling. “What She’s Having…,” is an amalgam of vodka, chocolate liqueur, Frangelico, and a touch of cinnamon. The name, of course, alludes to Meg Ryan’s famous deli scene in When Harry Met Sally, which just happens to be screening around the corner at the Mahaiwe that night. (Trivia: Ryan’s star turn wasn’t in the original script; it was her own contribution. And the “actress” who uttered the immortal deadpan reposte, “I’ll have what she’s having,” was the director Rob Reiner’s mother.)
“What’ She’s Having…”
1 1/2 oz Zynthia Polish vodka
1/4 ounce Frangelico
3/4 ounce of Maletti chocolate liquer
Pour ingredients over ice, shake, and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
When Harry Met Sally
Mahaiwe
14 Castle Street, Great Barrington; 413.528.0100
Saturday, February 14; 8 p.m.
Admission: $8
Valentine Dinner Specials for Two
Allium Restaurant & Bar
42/44 Railroad Street, Great Barrington; 413.528.2118
5 - 9 p.m.
Reservations recommended.
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 02/10/09 at 07:49 AM • Permalink
The Wine ‘Snob’ Next Door
David Kamp, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and author of The United States of Arugula, will be signing his latest book, The Wine Snob’s Dictionary at Little Gates & Co in Millerton on Saturday, November 29, from 2 to 5 PM. It’s the fourth in the series of Snob guides (the others are devoted to Film, Rock, and Food) that are intelligent yet ironic, educational but entertaining.
RI: How long have you been a weekender in northwestern Connecticut?
We (my wife and two children) have been Lakeville people for eleven years. Before that, we rented/mooched in the Berkshires, but this beautiful little town always beckoned us as we passed through it. And we’re too shabby for Millbrook or Kent.
RI: Does a wine snob ever order the house red?
It is the way of the Wine Snob to lament that people are too status-obsessed, and that not enough of them have come to enjoy the simple pleasure of a rustic bistro’s vin du table. Having articulated this lament, the Wine Snob will then order the $200 Rauzan-Ségla Margaux.
RI: What local restaurants have a great wine list?
Robert Peters’s list at the Woodland in Lakeville is huge and shockingly adventurous. He has things on there that you seldom see on the East Coast, like the cabernet sauvignon and merlot from A. Rafanelli Winery of Sonoma County. This winery doesn’t distribute to stores—if you want its wines, you usually have to drive up Mr. Rafanelli’s driveway in California’s Dry Creek Valley and buy them straight from the man. Or you can order a bottle at the Woodland.
RI: Have you ever found a local restaurant with a sommelier?
Like I said, we’re too shabby for Kent; I think we live north of Connecticut’s sommelier belt.
RI: When does a wine snob drink beer?
Even Hugh Johnson, the venerable English oeno-expert who writes those pocket wine guides, will tell you that beer complements spicy foods (e.g., Mexican, Szechuan) better than any wine ever will. That said, Beer Snobbery is a whole separate pathology quite apart from Wine Snobbery, and I can’t profess to understand it. A while back, I was listening to some home-brewing show on public radio while driving through Sullivan County, and they were talking impenetrably about “porters,” “doppelbocks,” and “dunkel weiss.” Whaaat?
RI: Why should people buy your book?
Its a recession-friendly stocking stuffer, priced at $12.95. And if I may shed the Snob persona for a moment, let me state that Little Gates’s staff is expert at recommending really good affordable wines, meaning bottles that are priced at under twenty bucks. We’re all getting slammed by the economic downturn, but now more than ever, it’s important, when we do spend, to patronize the local businesses.
RI: We’ll drink to that.
