Kronick Wino

What’s TANNAT Love About Chateau O’Brien?

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 | Wine Tasting Notes | 1 Comment

In a little, slightly overlooked, corner of the Mid-Atlantic states lies Virginia. Ok, fine. It’s not little. But what you might not know is within that state hides a wine region that is vastly up and coming. It’s been up and coming for some time, but until recently I had only heard about it from very close friends with family in the region. But, this summer at Hopkins, it was one customer after another telling me how they had been to the Virginia wine trail. My area of interest today: Fauquier County Wine Trail.

One winery, specifically, stands out amongst the many. Chateau O’Brien at Northpoint.

This winery began producing pretty recently, about 2005, and currently holds about 15 acres. The name, synonymous with a French Bordeaux-esque sound, has an Irish background! Go figure! It is owned and operated by Howard O’Brien (lovely man; very intelligent and sociable). The wines coming out of O’Brien are just sensational! There are only a handful of other wines in my tasting life that I’ve found to be so deliciously silky, well-balanced and easily drinkable as his Northpoint Red (a Blend) and Virigina Limited Release Reserve Tannat.

Tasting Notes - Northpoint Red

This superb blend of Tannot, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot creates a rich, but surprisingly light everyday wine.  At first sniff one inhales a delicate nose of floral aromas, like sweet rose petals and a sweetly spicy background of cinnamon and a touch of oak. The taste is out of this world! Very silky tannins, a bright fruity mouthfeel - so light, but a finish that lingers on the palate for at least a good 20 seconds between sips, making this a lovely sipping treat. I get some strawberry, blackberry, plum, mellow oak, and delicate chocolate nuances on the finish.

(Kind of reminds me of a local Connecticut Red Blend recently sampled at Sunset Meadows in Goshen, CT.)

A bottle of the Northpoint Red will run you around $24/bottle, and worth EVERY sip & penny.

Plus, if you purchase a case in October, you may be one of the lucky winners to spend an entire week in the Outter Banks at one of Buddy’s favorite hang-outs, I’m sure. (Buddy is the little guy on the labels….so cute!). Good luck!

Tags: Limited Reserve, Northpoint Red, O'Brian, O'Brien, Shanandoah Valley, Tannat, Virigina Wine Trail

The Unusual Trio - Foch, DeChaunac & Baco Noir

Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 | Hopkins, Wine Tasting Notes | No Comments

The past few months that I’ve been at the winery, every time I engage some customers in a tasting, I pour them the elusive blend of wine we call ‘Red Barn Red‘. It’s a non-vintage, red table wine, and it sounds so simple, but it’s a blend of grapes that almost no one has ever heard of.  Clearly, I had to take it upon myself to do some investigating. That way I’d be ready for the rapid fire of questions that are due to come. So far I’ve been lucky….

The juice is brought in from other vineyards near the NY Finger Lakes, and may change from year-to-year based on availability. The grapes in the wine at hand involve 4 types: Cabernet Franc (which is widely known), but also Marechal Foch, Baco Noir and DeChaunac.

What, pretell, are those?? Well to start, let me just help you pronounce these crazy grape varietals. Please don’t think it trite of me to help you with this, as these get butchered so horribly all the time, kind of like our Sachem’s Picnic is never pronounced on the first try correctly. (But I digress….we’ll save that one for another time.)

Marechal Foch: Mare - esh - all Fosh (as in the ‘o’ in ‘boat’)
Baco Noir: BA-koh NWAHR ( a french type of pronunciation)
DeChaunac: De - show- nack (a softer fluidity, however)

MARECHAL FOSH

• Early-ripening variety, with good winter hardiness.
• French-American hybrid developed by Eugene Kuhlmann.
• Considered to possess Burgundian characteristics, having a vibrant, deep purple color, with a light-medium structure and dark berry fruit characteristics.
• Hard-Cold Tolerance up to -20 degrees Fahrenheit.

BACO NOIR

• Baco noir was first created by French wine hybridizer, Maurice Baco
• Also known as Baco 1
• Produces rich, highly pigmented red wines with pronounced acidity.
• Aromas of the wine are pleasantly rustic and smoky.
• Medium body, deeply tinted, acidic red wine which is fruit forward and often carries aromas of black fruits and caramel.
• Used as a replacement for Cabernet Sauvignon in Northern growing regions, such as Canada / NY Finger Lake regions.
• Interesting to note: This variety does not have tannins like those of the Cabernets or Merlot.

DECHAUNAC

Developed by Albert Seibel circa 1860. It is also known as Seibel 9549.

Hardy to -15 Fahrenheit.

Yields a balanced and fruity wine of good quality, with generally low to mild tannin levels.

Makes a good Rose.

TASTING NOTES FOR RED BARN RED:

Very light, fruity, slightly tannic / spritzy red wine. The first sniff lends itself to lots of sour bing cherry fruit with a very light strawberry aroma lingering in the background. First sip is punchy, lots of tart red berry fruit, with a touch of pepper from the cab franc. Some tastes remind me of a young, bright pinot noir, or a beaujolais-style wine. Dark currant and blackberry fruit sit in the finish. Enjoy with some earthy goat-cheese, like Cana de Cabra, or penne ala vodka.

Ready to drink now.

Tags: Baco Noir, Connecticut Vineyards, DeChaunac, Finger Lakes, Foch, french-american hybrid grapes, Litchfield hills wine, Red Barn Red