Wine Tasting:
La Vieille Ferme 2004 Côtes du Ventoux
Winery: La Vieille Ferme
Brand/Type: Rosé
Vintage: 2004
Country: France
Region: Provence, Côtes du Ventoux
Alcohol content: 13%
Closure: Scew cap
Appearance: Medium Ruby
Aroma/Bouquet: Fresh grapes and cinnamon
This Rose (a blend of Cinsaut (50%), Grenache (40%), Syrah (10%)) is quite fruity! It’s a very nice alternative to White Zinfandel. Yes, we know we probably just offended many wine snobs for even mentioning White Zin. Get over it!
It has a slight cherry tangent but with a more cranberry/orange taste. A nice dry and clean finish.
OK, so this is a much drier wine than the aforementioned variety. This wine is probably best chilled but is quite good at slightly less than room temperature. Perfectly acceptable at room temperature too!
This is very reasonably priced. Buy it if you can find it!
Wine Tasting:
Chateau Grand Traverse 2004 Edelzwicker
Winery: Chateau Grand Traverse
Brand/Type: Edelzwicker
Vintage: 2004
Country: USA
Region: Old Mission Peninsula, Michigan
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Closure: Natural Cork
Appearance: Pale straw
Aroma/Bouquet: Apricot, sweet silage
This Edelzwicker is described by Chateau Grand Traverse as being a “Noble Blend†of Pinot Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Muscat, Riesling, and Pinot Gris. Given this complex blend of grapes, you would expect a complex wine. Chateau Grand Traverse delivers precisely that!
Chateau Grand Traverse has proven that they are not just another Northern Michigan Riesling or Cherry wine producer. They do those very well mind you. However their Chardonnays and in this case, Edelzwickers are quite engaging and rewarding.
This wine offers a large mouthful of flavor. That’s not to say that it is overwhelming, it’s not. It offers a sensory adventure that begins with the nose and continues steadily on until the finish. At 12.5 % alcohol you might expect this to have some harsheness; we detected none. We have to credit Chateau Grand Traverse’s expertise in balancing the blend of grapes. Nice job!
Unfortunately their distribution is not very wide. If you are near a Meijer store look for Chateau Grand Traverse wines in their regional section. IGA’s and Tom’s in Northern Michigan are also stocking vendors for Chateau Grand Traverse. Of course if you are in the Traverse City area you can stop by the winery or their outlet store.
Improve the web with Nofollow Reciprocity.