Wine Sediments

Sounds like an interesting project, I’ll be very curious to see your reviews of New England states as I’m from Boston.

Please be sure to include Westport Rivers Vineyards in Westport MA.

http://www.westportrivers.com/

I suggest a bottle of the 2001 Brut Cuve RJR. You may even want to put this into a blind tasting with a few other sparklers.

It is a great winery, with a great story and a fine family at the helm.

We are proud to serve this Massachusetts wine whenever out-of-state friends come to visit.

Penny

Well of course there are many wines in California. I’ll mention two from my area that are waaaaaay off the beaten track:

Gypsy Canyon Angelica, made from Mission grapes,

and Huber Dornfelder, made from grapes of the same name.

As you can tell, I love this idea!

Another of our favorite sparklers is from New Mexico.

http://www.gruetwinery.com

Here I would recommend the
Methode Champenoise, Blanc de Noirs, non-Vintage.

We live in the heart of Boston and in summer, we love to have good value sparklers on hand for impromptu roof deck entertaining. This one has often surprised our guests with it’s lovely salmon color and Pinot Noir depth.

Penny

I don’t know from bacco noir, but I can suggest a great Wisconsin winery: Cedar Creek has the winningest whites in the region. I’m particularly fond of their Vidal, though the Settlement Gold is a nice sweet dessert wine. I’d be interested to read your take on this place… although if you can find better wine in Wisconsin, I want to hear about it!

I have to agree with Penny…..Gruet is a GREAT winery out of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico….yup, that’s the town! It not only makes phenomenal sparlkers, but their pinot is also outstanding.

Well I actually had several Idaho wines in jan when we skied there and stayed at the historic Sun Valley Inn. The reislings were relatively inexpensive and really quite enjoyable. I also had some good syrahs. Sorry I don’t remember the winerys except I believe one was Sawtooth winery. None of it is available in OHIO but one distributer was bringing in one wine don’t know if he sold any since I haven’t seen it on the shelves

Have to agree about Gruet - lovely sparklers….
But - as for Illinois - be sure to check out Alto Vineyards in the southern part of the state. A fine little family-run winery - www.altovineyards.net
(no relation, just like their wine!) Check their Chambourcin and Rosso Classico.
And oh, what a tough, grueling project you’ve set forth for yourself….. I hope it’s not too much for you to endure…..

Speaking of Baco Noir - I’ve enjoyed the BN from La Casa Narcisi, located Northeast of Pittsburgh. It would be interesting to see how it compares. A family-run winery, at the time of our last visit they were bringing most of their grapes in from other vineyards.
http://www.narcisiwinery.com/
They also have a tasty Chancellor and Chambourcin.
Enjoyed the first installment - Westport is now bookmarked, ready for a visit to New England.

With all due respect to New York, after California, Washington State is the largest producer of wine among the other 49 states. I strongly recommend Washington State Syrah such as DeLille, Dunham, Terra Blanca and many others. Check out the Seattle Wine Blog for more recommendations.

From Arizona, check out Callaghan Cochise County Syrah and Sonoita Mourvedre.

For your own private Idaho experience, check out St. Chapelle.

In Oregon, Penner Ash may have made the first ever Pinot Noir/ Syrah blend. Syrah seems to get mixed up with everything in the Pacific Northwest.

How about including Canadian wine growing regions, too, such as the Okanagan in British Columbia and the Niagara escarpment in Ontario.

My neighboring state of Indiana has a bunch of wineries, but our favorite so far is on the Ohio/Ky/Indiana border. It’s called Chateau Pomije. If you can catch their late-harvest Riesling, it’s fantastic, but hard to come by. They’ve got some other good ones in there, and we used their champagne & the late harvest Riesling for our wedding & wedding party.
http://www.cpwinery.com/

When you get to Michigan see about sipping at Fenn Valley. Their 2004 Cabernet Franc should be just right by then, and if you appreciate a sweeter, after-dinner wine, the Late Harvest Vignoles is expectional.

Missouri has a long German wine tradition, and below I put a link to a site that will give a little more background. Quite often our wines are sweet table wine, but we also have our share of quality wines. While there are wineries throughout the state, there are many located on the eastern side of the state along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. As was explained to me by an amatuer tour guide once, “The German immigrants stopped here because the region reminded them of the Rhein Valley where many grapes are grown”. Having been to the Rhein Valley, I commented that no, in fact it was no where near as hilly and did not have such a dramatic geography” to which my guide (my college choir director) replied “Well, they had been away from Germany for a long time.”

All humor aside, you will have many good options to chose from in Missouri, and I wish you luck on this most enviable quest of 50 in 50 that you have undertaken!

http://www.hermannwinetrail.com/index.htm

Jonathan Edwards Winery in North Stonington, Connecticut. Divine wines, perfect setting.

At last count there were seven wineries in Maine. Several make fruit wines including Maine blueberry. Others make wine from grapes or juice imported from other countries and Washington State!Gene Stein, Seattle Wine Blog.