My First Cold-Hardy Wine Festival

My wife, our children and I attended the Cannon Falls Wine & Art Festival last Sunday. We saw some art, Donna and I tasted some wine and we all enjoyed the amazing mini-donuts from Chef Shack. (Seriously, those were awesome.)

This was the inaugural run of this festival which drew numerous artists and nine wineries from around Minnesota. Next year, we'll leave the kids at home. They had an okay time and went home with pan-flutes and jewelry. It would have been easier to spend more time talking with winery reps without them there.

The festival looked fairly well attended. I heard some interesting comments as other attendees fawned over the rhubarb and berry wines (not my thing), and talked to the good people of the Minnesota Grape Growers Association.

I pursued the dry reds from nearly every winery there and wound up having wine made from St. Croix or Marquette grapes primarily. I wrapped it up with a beautiful cool glass of Saint Croix Vineyards Frontenac Gris.

So here's the list of what I tasted. This also will serve as a shopping list of wines to taste and write about later in greater detail. Stay tuned!

Woodland Hill Winery (Delano) - Northwoods, St Croix
Northern Vineyards (Stillwater) - Downtown Red, Marquette
Carlos Creek Winery (Alexandria)- Marquette
Fieldstone Vineyards (Redwood Falls) - Marquette
Cannon River Winery (Cannon Falls) - Cannon River Red, a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, Syrah, and Marquette
Falconer Vineyards (Red Wing) - Frontenac
Goose Lake Farm & Winery (Elk River) - Dry Red, St Croix
Saint Croix Vineyards (Stillwater) - Frontenac Gris
Indian Island Winery (Janesville) - St Croix

Tasting #5 - Saint Croix Vineyards Marechal Foch

From the Saint Croix Vineyards website (www.scvwines.com) "Our Marechal Foch Reserve is a dry, medium bodied red wine with a black cherry nose and an intense color. It is aged in American oak barrels and is the perfect choice for those who prefer a classic red wine."

The other characteristic of this wine that we picked up right away is that, typical for Marechal Foch, it is somewhat acidic. We drank this with grilled lamb loin chops and herbed vegetables. Our meal didn't bring out the dark fruit we were hoping for, but we drank a little more anyway, and saved the remaining wine. (Thanks again VacuVin).

The next day I made the family chicken and grilled a ribeye liberally seasoned with pepper and coarse salt for myself. I poured the last glass from the bottle and had a completely different experience. My seasoned beef and the somewhat salty rice dish we had changed the character of this wine completely. It was very good, and the two separate pairings were a really interesting experience for a novice like me. In subsequent research I learned that acidic wines pair well with salty food. This is proof. We'll buy some more of this and will look for it blended with other wines as well.

Tasting #4 - Alexis Bailly Seyval Blanc

From the AB website (www.abvwines.com): "The Seyval Blanc is our premium white wine. Named for the French Horticulturist who developed the variety during WWI, the Seyval came to the United States in the 1960's when pioneers, like David Bailly, were looking for wine grapes that could be grown outside of the norms of Califonia. With its balance of clean bright fruit and a dry crisp finish, the Seyval is a wine that is both elegant and appealing."

I couldn't agree more. I would choose this over more traditional dry whites. It's lighter in body than chardonnay and, to me, instantly more pleasant tasting. It's fruity and crisp, period. There is great reward in this simplicity. We drank it with pork tenderloin and it worked beautifully. More research is necessary (dang!), as this is a delicious white wine that I'm anxious to pair with Alexis Bailly's recommendations as well.

Tasting #3 - Wollersheim Winery Port

Wisconsin's Wollersheim Winery, a favorite of my parents, makes a really interesting port. They describe it this way: Our Port is made from Foch grapes and fortified with grape brandy. The brandy is added to stop the fermentation, which leaves the natural sweetness of the grapes. Aged in American oak barrels for thirteen months. This is a smooth sipping wine to be enjoyed with loved ones and friends.

My dad joined us for this tasting as well. We all enjoyed it. It isn't as rich tasting as other ports I've tried. Clearly, more research is needed in this area so a side by side comparison can be made.

Overall this has more of a wine flavor than I expected but still served its role as a very nice after dinner drink. This port was less sweet than I expected. Other ports I recall have almost a raisiny sweetness. That ripeness is present, but not as strong. This is made with 100% Marechal Foch grapes from New York.

We drank this while eating some very decadent fudge brownies and had a very pleasant experience. I have a standing order with my parents to bring home more when they visit Wollersheim again.

Tasting #2 - Saint Croix Vineyards Frontenac

Saint Croix Vineyards describes their Frontenac as a dry, medium-bodied red wine aged in American oak barrels with cherry aromas and pleasant tannins in the finish, and recommends pairing it with beef, steak, flavorful cheeses, or a hearty pasta dish.

My dad joined my wife and me in this tasting. He's a guy who doesn't normally like red wine but found this to be very approachable. The three of us liked it immediately. I should have purchased two bottles! There was a surprising crispness to this, similar to dry whites, that made it stand out. It has just-ripe fruitiness up front balanced with a perfectly dry finish.

We drank this with a BBQ'd pork rib dinner. The fruit in it played well against the pork. Next time we drink this, we'll try it with steak as recommended.

Our bottle was an '07, no longer available on the SCV website. If anyone's tried the '08, let me know. We're definately going to drink more of this one.