We are barreling full-force into the warmer months. But before the agonizing days of bare skin sticking to the sofa, we've got Spring. So, a toast: To that nebulous period between scalding hot steering wheels and air so cold your boogers freeze. To Spring!
2013 Late Harvest Vignoles, 375ml
Notes on this vintage by winemaker Jonathan Hunt:
After an average summer in 2013, we experienced a beautiful warm and dry laste September, nicely ripening our Vignoles grapes. By mid-October, one block had developed beautiful botrytis, and at 31 degrees Brix, the grapes were in great shape for Late Harvest Vignoles. We fermented with CEG (Epernay II) yeast at our usual 50°F to preserve the most delicate flavors. The finished wine exhibits a perfect balance of lively citrus notes (many tasters say “Grapefruit!”), sweetness, and alcohol, with a lovely round mouthfeel and long finish.
Notes by Hunt Country Vineyards owner and founder Art Hunt:
In the 1980s, Governor Mario Cuomo tasted this wine and exclaimed, “It’s seductively sweet!”. In ideal ripening years we gamble by delaying harvest of selected blocks of our Vignoles grapes, hoping for healthy development of the fungus botrytis cinerea, what French vineyardists refer to as the “noble rot”. Botrytis shrivels and desiccates the grapes on the vine, intensifying their natural sugars and flavors. After carefully controlled cold fermentation, the result is a seductively sweet white wine in the Sauternes and Beerenauslese traditions with hints of fresh citrus and exotic fruits.
Accolades: Our Late Harvest Vignoles wines have won 15 Gold medals in prestigious competitions since 2004, have been featured in FOOD&WINE magazine, and on IntoWineTV. They pair beautifully with apple or cherry pies and tarts, and with bleu cheeses.
2013 Vidal Blanc Ice Wine, 375ml
A little history. In 1988, we released our Vidal Blanc Ice Wine 1987, the first genuine ice wine produced in the United States and broadly available. It remains our marquee wine today. This delectable wine has been served at top restaurants in New York City, and was ordered by the White House for the lighting of the National Christmas Tree. It was chosen for a United Nations gala dinner, where it was paired with a stupendous maple bread pudding (recipe available on our website). Our ice wine harvest and Vidal Blanc Ice Wine have also been featured on NBC’s Today Show. - Hunt Country Vineyards founder Art Hunt
Grape: Vidal Blanc is a French-American grape developed by J. L. Vidal in Bordeaux. It is a hardy variety that produces large compact clusters of straw-colored berries with tough skins that resist cracking through successive frosts, thaws and freezing. They hang tenaciously onto the vine well into the winter.
Vineyard management: A crop of moderate size yielding clean ripe grapes is ideal to save for ice wine. The grapes hang on the vine two months or more past normal harvest and endure several cycles of frosts and Indian Summer. These cycles bring out the honey and raisin flavors that add complexity to the wine.
Ruby Port, 500ml
Among the wines I have most enjoyed making since assuming responsibility for winemaking in 2009 is our Ruby Port. We began with a hearty blend of DeChaunac, Corot Noir and Chambourcin, three French-American grape varieties that produce beautiful plum and berry flavors that are particularly enhanced by a port wine’s sweetness. We then fortified the blend with 100% grape brandy (distilled spirits), a practice adopted by the Portuguese centuries ago to help preserve wine for long ocean voyages.
I recommend serving our Ruby Port at cool room temperature to maximize the depth of flavor. Enjoy a glass all by itself, or with chocolates, blue-veined cheeses and fine cigars. It puts the perfect signature on a great meal. Cheers! -Winemaker Jonathan Hunt
Cream Sherry, 500ml
Cream Sherry has been a favorite of our family for generations, a perfect drink for relaxation after a great meal. The foundation of our Cream Sherry is a blend of Riesling, Cayuga White and Cabernet Franc wines. We fortify the wine with pure grape distilled spirits to achieve the perfect balance between the flavors, sweetness and alcohol. We then heat and bubble oxygen through the blend for a month or more to produce the beautiful "darker" flavors of raisin, nut and caramel. Crucial to this step is our condenser coil that traps evaporating alcohol and returns it to the wine. Serve at cool room temperature or lightly chilled. Enjoy a glass by itself, with sharp cheeses and desserts, or as an ingredient in soups, stews and sauces. Cheers! - Winemaker Jonathan Hunt
2013 Late Harvest Vignoles, 375ml
2013 Vidal Blanc Ice Wine, 375ml
Pressing: We first force the frozen grapes into a special grinder. The ground grapes are then loaded into our special horizontal basket press, which crushes them to yield a trickle of juice of high sugar content. At the start of pressing, the sweetness of the grapes is about 42º Brix. We continue pressing until it declines to about 35º Brix, yielding an average of 38 to 40º Brix. Pressing takes several hours.
Fermentation: With a vigorous, cold-hardy yeast for 2 to 6 months in stainless steel at low temp. (50ºF).
Aging: In stainless steel, then in the bottle.
Cellaring: Delicious to drink soon after bottling, but can also age in the bottle for 5 years or more.
Food pairing. This lusciously sweet wine fills the mouth with flavors of apricot, raisin and honey, with a crisp finish of pineapple. Vidal Blanc Ice Wine pairs beautifully with fine appetizers like pâté de foie gras and a wide array of desserts -- fruit and nut tarts, cheesecake, ice cream, fresh fruit, crème caramel and chocolate mousse are just a few examples. Served well chilled, if possible in cordial glasses.
Ruby Port, 500ml
Cream Sherry, 500ml
2013 Late Harvest Vignoles, 375ml
2013 Vidal Blanc Ice Wine, 375ml
Pressing: We first force the frozen grapes into a special grinder. The ground grapes are then loaded into our special horizontal basket press, which crushes them to yield a trickle of juice of high sugar content. At the start of pressing, the sweetness of the grapes is about 42º Brix. We continue pressing until it declines to about 35º Brix, yielding an average of 38 to 40º Brix. Pressing takes several hours.
Fermentation: With a vigorous, cold-hardy yeast for 2 to 6 months in stainless steel at low temp. (50ºF).
Aging: In stainless steel, then in the bottle.
Cellaring: Delicious to drink soon after bottling, but can also age in the bottle for 5 years or more.
Food pairing. This lusciously sweet wine fills the mouth with flavors of apricot, raisin and honey, with a crisp finish of pineapple. Vidal Blanc Ice Wine pairs beautifully with fine appetizers like pâté de foie gras and a wide array of desserts -- fruit and nut tarts, cheesecake, ice cream, fresh fruit, crème caramel and chocolate mousse are just a few examples. Served well chilled, if possible in cordial glasses.
Ruby Port, 500ml
Cream Sherry, 500ml
Hunt Country Vineyards is a family farm and winery in the heart of New York’s celebrated Finger Lakes wine region. The farm's 172 acres have been home to the Hunt family for six generations.
Hunt Country Vineyards first achieved national attention in the 1990s as a pioneering producer of Vidal Blanc Ice Wine. This delectable wine has been served at the United Nations, ordered by the White House and featured on NBC's Today Show.
On our 50 acres of vineyards overlooking the Keuka valley, we now grow 13 varieties of cool-climate grapes using sustainable agricultural practices. We produce over 20 rare and distinctive wine varieties, from traditional dry vinifera (European) and French-American varietals, to complex and intense late harvest, sherry and port wines.
We employ ten people full-time and about 30 more on a seasonal or part-time basis. Our friendly staff greets about 50,000 visitors annually.
Hunt Country Vineyards has garnered over 60 major awards in prestigious competitions since 2006. In 2011, the winery will celebrate its 30th Anniversary with new wines, tastings and events. Please join the celebration!
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