Serious Grape: The Next Big Wine Region Is in Your Backyard
On Fridays, Deb Harkness of Good Wine Under $20 drops by with Serious Grape. This week, your local wine scene.
Last week I ran an informal poll on Twitter, the social networking site. I asked those who followed me—wine bloggers, wine professionals, and consumers—about their picks for up-and-coming wine regions in the United States.
I was stunned by the range of responses. Every part of North America has an emerging wine region—and their wine often represents excellent value, too.
Everybody had a different pick. And the Canadians popped up to point out that Canada, too, has its up-and-coming regions. The pattern that emerged made it clear that the next big wine region just may be the one outside your own front door.
Nearly every state produces wine. Most wine is produced in California, Oregon, and Washington. But these heavy producers can overshadow the wines made in places like Idaho, Virginia, Missouri, Arizona, and New York.
What complicates this picture further for consumers are sales, distribution, and shipping regulations. I live in California and it is impossible for me to find New York wine on the shelves. Shipping small quantities of wine across the country can be expensive, not to mention nerve-wracking given the temperatures wine are subjected to and the distance. I was thrilled, therefore, to receive a sample of the excellent 2004 Wölffer Chardonnay Le Ferme Martin made from grapes grown in the Hamptons on Long Island.
The Hamptons are definitely an emerging American wine region. It had creamy yellow delicious apple aromas and juicy, fresh flavors of honeysuckle and apple and was a wine I would be eager to buy near me—but I can't. If you are on the East Coast, however, you may be more lucky in locating the wine at one of your local stores for just $10-$16.
Another excellent New York wine I had a chance to try thanks to another sample bottle was the 2007 Bouké White Table Wine from Long Island's North Fork AVA. This tangy, refreshing white was made from a blend of Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer, and was just crying out for sushi or Asian cuisine with its orchard fruit flavors and aromas. It's available for under $20—but only on the East Coast.
If you're looking to jump on a wine trend this year, why not make it this one? Drink wines from emerging regions that are local (or localish) and help to support farmers and businesses in your own backyard. From the Okanagan region in Canada to Arizona, and from Lodi in Calfiornia to the Hamptons, North America is full of wine regions waiting to be discovered and enjoyed.
Don't know where to start? Look through the amazing resources on Appellation America, an online portal to help educate and promote the diversity of American wines. And if you're reading this from New York, check out Lenndevours, a superb wine blog dedicated to New York wines and the food that goes with them.
What up-and-coming North American wine regions would you recommend?
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6 Comments:
I have to admit- I prefer my local Canadian wines over imported fancy shmancy wines. And the fact that I can visit the wineries in the summer without making my wallet cry is a huge advantage!
canaderican at 12:00PM on 01/30/09
Oh and I meant to add that the BC Okanagan region is where I'm taking about. lol
canaderican at 12:01PM on 01/30/09
With wineries in every state, people have lots of places to explore new wines. But I agree with you that sales, distribution, and shipping regulations can make it very difficult to find some of these new wines. Even though I live in MA, it can still find hard to find NY wines in local stores. It can even be hard to find MA wines in many local stores. It takes effort to find these wines.
At the recent Boston Wine Expo, I was lucky to find a new MA wine, an apple ice wine that I really liked (and will review on my blog on Sunday). I also got to try a number of NY Finger Lake wines and found some impressive ones (which I will also post about in the near future).
I fully agree with your sentiment about seeking out and supporting local wineries.
RichardA at 12:13PM on 01/30/09
I live in Rochester, NY, just north of the Finger Lakes and an hour east of the Niagara-on-the-Lake region. I've been to a lot of wineries in the area, and of course there are a lot of great rieslings here, not just sweet, but good dry ones too. There's some good late harvest and ice wines from the Finger Lakes, but the really great (and expensive) ones are from Niagara-on-the-Lake.
I've also been to several in the central Virginia region (my sister lives in the Shenandoah valley). Obviously there's better red wines there, but Horton Vineyards has a ton of great fruit wines and is one of four wineries in the US that makes rkatsiteli wine.
Some wineries in NY have some wines from other states and countries, but of course not as much as your could find in the state or country itself, due to shipping costs and how much is produced. So definitely by local to support your backyard wineries!
jmartin235 at 1:17PM on 01/30/09
Missouri was the second-largest producer of wine before Prohibition. We have everything from really serious stuff with a matching price tag to what you'd expect from beginners. There's nothing wrong with that; every winery had to start up and go through a learning process. But it's good for our economy, with plenty of B&Bs in wine country, and the related traffic. Me, I'm more of a serious wine drinker than some. But even the un-serious stuff is important for the industry, and I won't sneer at it.
As I always say about white zinfandel, I may not like it, but it paid winemakers' salaries and kept those zin vines in the ground.
lemons at 3:39PM on 01/30/09
One of the most up and coming wine regions, is also one of the oldest in the US: New Mexico. One of the best champagnes in this country is made here: Gruet.
Suprisingly, this state which is generally well above sea level, has a vigorous vincultural heritage, and is producing some good wines.
artisan02 at 11:38AM on 01/31/09