Friday, August 24, 2012
2012 Vintage
2012 has been a very interesting vintage. Starting with a our spring frost and moving into a dry summer. Gene, had a small interview on a national news show regarding the weather and its effects on the grapes.http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/1803013993001/"
South River Vineyard Run
We will be hosting our 2nd annual "Vineyard Run". Last year we raised almost $4,000 for Alzheimers programs. The money was given to our local Geneva hospital. They used the money to research into resveratrol, and a one day seminar on recognising and treating Alzheimers. (held at Spire Institute)Facebook Run Page
www.icewinefest.com
www.icewinefest.com
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
ICE WINE 2012 - QUEEN - Geneva, Oh 44041, OH
Now accepting "QUEEN" applications.ICE WINE 2012 - QUEEN - Geneva, Oh 44041, OH
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Cognac vs. Whiskey
One thing that whisky and cognac have in common is that they are aged in barrels: As they age, they get more and more smooth. The spirits pick up quite a lot from the wooden barrels: Color and some flavors of course. And Whiskey and Cognac share the method of distillation in pot stills.
Cognac must age at least 2 1/2 years. Most of the brandies are below six years, but can also be a hundred years old.
Cognac and brandy uses age terms such as VOP, VS, VSOP or XO. To designate age. In a modern world a simple cheat sheet for how to consume Cognac may look like this:VS = blending (mixed drinks) VSOP = blending or sipping XO = sipping, you would never mix. Big spendor factor.
If the aging of whiskey reaches two years or beyond, the whiskey is then additionally designated as "straight" e.g., "straight rye whiskey". A whiskey that fulfills all these above requirements except that it is derived from less than 51% of any one specific type of grain can be called simply a "straight whiskey" without naming a grain.
Terms you may see alone or together on a Cognac bottle.
The United States is the single biggest market for Cognac in the world, especially since the hip-hop industry embraced Cognac as its drink of choice.
Winston Churchill. Kim Jong-Il. Jay-Z. Segolene Royal....... What’s probably the one thing they have in common? Cognac.
U.S. imports more than 50 millions bottles of cognac each year.
Between 60-85% of the Cognac sales are to African Amercians. The rest usually gets sold to creepy old white guys. Side note - (my middle child happens to be named Rémy.-named after a famous Cognac or if you like a well known grape growing region.)
Friday, April 1, 2011
Why wouldn't a winery in a church love SPIRITS?
Recently I had the chance to taste a simply delicious gin, Greenbrier Gin produced by Smooth Ambler Spirits. As many of you know we have been doing a lot of Spirit tasting these past few years, and I would not recommend a product unless I felt it to be outstanding.
The original thought behind the visit was to taste their whiskey.
However, when offered a taste of gin ...I never refuse. I do like gin although,I rarely get excited by it. For the past few years my standard gin and tonic has been made with Hendricks. Hendricks has a distinctly different flavor profile than other "dry gins". Most distillers will not reveal their recipes so often you have to guess. Hendricks boasts rose petal nuances and cucumber with the back bone being Juniper of course.
This brings me back to the Greenbreir Gin- the product description on their website reads "With serious citrus, a bit of black-pepper spice, and light and pleasant Juniper notes, Smooth Ambler Greenbrier Gin exudes the cool smoothness our brand-name implies. Our gin is designed to have a rich and luxurious mouth-feel, without being overly “piney” like a lot of typical, by-the-book Dry, British gins."
I would agree with these statements and I would go a bit further. For me the predominate flavor profile would be a light orange with juniper undertones.
I am planing on reintroducing the Gin and Tonic to my husband. He has always disliked the medicinal taste of gin. I will garnish the drink with a slice of orange instead of a lime.
Side note: When I entered the distillery there were actual live human beings working. I always hate when you go to a winery, distillery or brewery and there is no one working. (it is just my personal pet peeve)
The original thought behind the visit was to taste their whiskey.
However, when offered a taste of gin ...I never refuse. I do like gin although,I rarely get excited by it. For the past few years my standard gin and tonic has been made with Hendricks. Hendricks has a distinctly different flavor profile than other "dry gins". Most distillers will not reveal their recipes so often you have to guess. Hendricks boasts rose petal nuances and cucumber with the back bone being Juniper of course.
This brings me back to the Greenbreir Gin- the product description on their website reads "With serious citrus, a bit of black-pepper spice, and light and pleasant Juniper notes, Smooth Ambler Greenbrier Gin exudes the cool smoothness our brand-name implies. Our gin is designed to have a rich and luxurious mouth-feel, without being overly “piney” like a lot of typical, by-the-book Dry, British gins."
I would agree with these statements and I would go a bit further. For me the predominate flavor profile would be a light orange with juniper undertones.
I am planing on reintroducing the Gin and Tonic to my husband. He has always disliked the medicinal taste of gin. I will garnish the drink with a slice of orange instead of a lime.
Side note: When I entered the distillery there were actual live human beings working. I always hate when you go to a winery, distillery or brewery and there is no one working. (it is just my personal pet peeve)
Smooth Ambler Spirits is located in WV.
They are about 5 minutes away from the Greenbrier resort.
You can find their products locally at
| Chardon Giant Eagle # 4098 | (440) 286-4949 | 351 Center Street | Chardon, OH |
| Generations Beverage & Liquor | (440) 255-1311 | 8760 Menotr Ave. | Mentor, OH |
| Downtown Liquor | (216) 579-1313 | 1335 West 10th Street | Cleveland, OH |
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Grand River Valley : Vintage 2010
I have been tasting the wines from 2010 (they are still in barrels) and they are wonderful.
Ashtabula, Ohio really saw ideal weather conditions for our vineyards. We experienced some periods of very dry weather over the summer and near record heat. Harvest started way earlier than normal. We finished with over 3000 growing degree days, one of the warmest on record. Growing degrees (GDs) is defined as the number of temperature degrees above a certain threshold base temperature, which varies among crop species. The base temperature is that temperature below which plant growth is zero. GDs are calculated each day as maximum temperature plus the minimum temperature divided by 2 (or the mean temperature), minus the base temperature. GDUs are accumulated by adding each day’s GDs contribution as the season progresses.
California makes more wine than all other U.S. states combined, all that production reflects a big demand for California wine. Two out of every three times that someone in the U.S. grabs a bottle of wine to take home, points to a wine name on a restaurant wine list, or clicks on the computer screen to buy wine, that wine comes from California.
In 2010, California endured record-breaking low temperatures throughout the spring, which led to a late budbreak. Summer wasn’t much better. It was the second coldest July in 50 years in Napa, Sonoma and other regions. Rainfall in May was twice the historic average in Northern California. Some vineyards were going through bloom when the rains hit, stunting the size of the crop and creating loose and uneven clusters that matured unevenly.
I hope that the 2010 vintage will encourage people to reach for a bottle of Grand River Valley wines.
I have been tasting the wines from 2010 (they are still in barrels) and they are wonderful.
Ashtabula, Ohio really saw ideal weather conditions for our vineyards. We experienced some periods of very dry weather over the summer and near record heat. Harvest started way earlier than normal. We finished with over 3000 growing degree days, one of the warmest on record. Growing degrees (GDs) is defined as the number of temperature degrees above a certain threshold base temperature, which varies among crop species. The base temperature is that temperature below which plant growth is zero. GDs are calculated each day as maximum temperature plus the minimum temperature divided by 2 (or the mean temperature), minus the base temperature. GDUs are accumulated by adding each day’s GDs contribution as the season progresses.
California makes more wine than all other U.S. states combined, all that production reflects a big demand for California wine. Two out of every three times that someone in the U.S. grabs a bottle of wine to take home, points to a wine name on a restaurant wine list, or clicks on the computer screen to buy wine, that wine comes from California.
In 2010, California endured record-breaking low temperatures throughout the spring, which led to a late budbreak. Summer wasn’t much better. It was the second coldest July in 50 years in Napa, Sonoma and other regions. Rainfall in May was twice the historic average in Northern California. Some vineyards were going through bloom when the rains hit, stunting the size of the crop and creating loose and uneven clusters that matured unevenly.
I hope that the 2010 vintage will encourage people to reach for a bottle of Grand River Valley wines.
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