Eat, Drink and Learn

On Saturday night the Northern New England Chapter of the American Wine Society held their semi-annual spring meeting at Jewell Towne Vineyards.  There were some amateur Cabernets to taste made by one of the members and the usual potluck dinner that included everything from venison meatballs to couscous salad with lemon ginger dressing. 

Unfortunately there weren't enough amateur wines to taste for the usual judging, but Peter led a talk about hybrid wines that gave a comprehensive history of the French, Minnesota and Cornell hybrids with slides and a sampling of Jewell Towne's vintage wines.  We tasted Marechal Foch,  Leon Millot and Valvin Muscat— all made from hybrids grapes that are grown at our winery.    

For those who don’t know him, Dr. Peter Oldak is the owner of Jewell Towne Vineyards and an authority on these hybrids.  So if anyone has any questions about growing grapes (that make palatable wine) in New Hampshire, he is the man to ask.   He has mentored many New England winemakers and is the President of the New Hampshire Winery Association. 

As an employee at the vineyard, I always learn something new about these grapes.  For example, the reason they don’t benefit from oak aging— their strength is in their fruit character, not their structure, according to Peter. 

I recommend joining the American Wine Society. It’s an unintimidating format to learn about wine as a substantive topic, not a stylish one (and did I mention that there’s lots of wine to drink?!).   I did miss the wine judging component this go ‘round since it’s a great way to refine your palate.  Typically you rate each amateur wine on a scale of 1 to 10 based on color, nose, flavor and varietal consistency. 

If you want to join, contact Peter at jewelvin@rcn.com, Jim Barnard at jimwynmkr@aol.com or go to their website at www.americanwinesociety.org/.