I'm NOT drinking any fucking merlot!

OK, so the title of this post is a lie. I will drink Merlot, though it's generally not the first wine varietal I would gravitate toward. The title comes from the fact that I watched Sideways the other night, because I have been on a vineyard kick lately. Unfortunately, since I don't see any trips to California (or France like Julie and Matt) in the near future, I've made do with Connecticut vineyards.

My interest in local wine is as equally rooted in my new-found interest in local farming as it is my interest in the beverage itself.

Since moving to Connecticut, I've found some great farmer's markets and even places like Meadow Stone Farm where I can buy my "luxury items" (i.e. artisan cheese) while supporting the local farmers/economy/etc. My interest in buying local started getting serious when I began reading Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, along with a number of recent news articles (no doubt influenced by the outlandish gas prices and Al Gore making environmental issues hip) concerning how far food travels and how much fuel it takes to ship it.

(FYI - while I am trying to buy local and am growing some vegetables and herbs, I haven't managed to hardcore convert like Barbara does in the book. Unfortunately, I eat a lot of fruit that is not native to Connecticut, amongst other things. But I have gotten pretty good about buying my in-season produce from the farmer's markets, along with things like eggs, the aforementioned artisan cheeses, and even the occasional pieces of meat. I am a work in progress.)

I digress.

So the combined curiosity about wine and local farming has inspired me to check out some of Connecticut's home-grown offerings. I started sort of by accident when we visited Sharpe Hill Vineyard the day we went to Meadow Stone. However, when Jessica was here I took the opportunity of having another non-local wine drinker to try out the vineyards closer to my house.

Unfortunately it was rainy and disgusting the day we went to Stonington Vineyards, so we didn't get to walk around the vineyard itself. We spent the majority of the time in the tasting room. The reds produced at this winery were not currently available, so we worked our way through the whites.

Josh, Jess and I taste at Stonington

We started with the 2006 Sheer Chardonnay, an un-oaked chardonnay aged in stainless steel rather than oak barrels. The result is a crisp, fruitier chard (definitely picked up on some apple flavors) not entirely unlike some American Sauvignon Blancs. This was an easy drinker I could pour for people who don't particularly like wine and that I could enjoy myself.

The 2006 Stonington Chardonnay was more what one would expect from the name - oaky and buttery, sort of heavy on the tongue. There was something at the very end of the taste that kind of put me off, but then again, I have never really loved oaky chardonnays so maybe it was just my own prejudices. The 2004 Vidal Blanc was almost harshly citrus-y on the first sip, but that could be because it followed such an oaky, buttery predecessor. The second sip was better, but this isn't one for people who don't do dry.

I didn't expect to like the Seaport White (Stonington Vineyard's proprietary blend) very much and really, I didn't - too sweet for my personal tastes. The Triad Rose (a blend of Cab Franc, Chard, and Vidal) was spicier than I anticipated but pleasant enough.

The next day - after the Jibboom Club Parade - we tried out Jonathan Edwards Winery. Now, to be fair, although JE does grow grapes and produce wines in Connecticut, they also have a vineyard in Napa and all the wines we were able to try were from the Napa line (the Connecticut wines were not yet available).

One good thing about Jonathan Edwards is they put a lot of thought into the experience of wine tasting. They've modeled their tasting room in the style of Napa Valley - unlike the generic, carpeted room at Stonington with a small counter, this room has gleaming wood floors and shelves, a stone fireplace, and a nice-sized standing bar which two staffers can comfortably stand behind to pour. They take visitors on an extensive and informative tour of the grounds and facilities, which are absolutely beautiful. You can also order a glass of any of their available wines and drink it on a deck overlooking the grounds.

Jess and I enjoy a glass of Chardonnay on the deck

I was disapointed that they were out of the Napa Valley Petite Syrah, as I've heard good things about it. However, we were able to try five wines ( one white, four red) and a Petite Sirah Port, which was a pleasant treat.

As for those wines (and remember, these are all Napa Valley - not Connecticut - wines) - the 2006 Chardonnay was oaky but not as heavy and buttery as the Stonington Chard. The 2005 Merlot was extremely dry with light fruit flavors - it smelled a little bigger than it tasted. The Zin was dry (all the JE wines were bone dry, actually) and spicy with some fruit on the finish. The Cabernet Sauvignon was not quite as dry as the other varietals and had a definite earthy flavor. The 2004 Syrah was my favorite - extremely peppery with yummy berry flavors. I took a bottle of this home and may let it age a bit.

The 2005 Petite Sirah Port was actually delicious, although I never have been much of a port drinker so I didn't have a lot to go on as far as comparison (note to Michiganders: as much as I make fun of St. Julian's, they make a pretty decent tawny port - pick it up if you can find it). You definitely got some of that caramely oaky taste at the end.

In front of the grapevines at Jonathan Edwards

So I have now tried out three Connecticut wineries (although I drank California wines at one of them) and have been in some cases pleasantly surprised. I am looking forward to summer when I can (hopefully) get out to Long Island and see what it has to offer in the wine tasting arena. Until then, CT will have to do.

A little wine and cheese adventure

I have to say that as far as boyfriends are concerned, Noe is a pretty great one. His greatness is especially evident when I ask him to humor some weird idea I have, such as going to the goat farm.

Yes, I asked Noe to take me to a goat farm. The idea came to me at work one day when I was bored and surfing websites that have not yet been blocked but probably will be soon due to my excessive surfing of them. Obviously, all the usual suspects - Facebook, MySpace, YouTube - have been blocked for awhile, and around Christmas time all the shopping sites - Amazon, Ebay, any store you can think of - started dropping like flies. (Believe it or not, they have not blocked Blogger - of course, that could be because one of our IT guys enjoys reading my blog and then calling my extension to discuss.)

Luckily for me, restaurant sites have not been put on the chopping block. Nor have chamber of commerce or downtown development-oriented sites, such as New London Main Street. Most people probably wouldn't care, but I occasionally go to these types of sites in my desperate attempts to find things like teams, lessons, events, etc (still looking for that soccer team, by the way). Anyway, somehow I ended up on the Fiddleheads food co-op site, I think maybe because I was trying to find the hours for the farmer's market. From there, I ended up on the "links" page, and from there I ended up at the (virtual) goat farm.

Meadow Stone Farm is in Brooklyn, Connecticut. According to MapQuest, it should have taken us 56 minutes to get there but it took more like 45. I wanted to go because Meadow Stone Farm makes and sells artisan cheeses on their premises. They sell both cow and goats milk cheeses. It was a little early in the season for the goat cheeses, but the website said they had two varieties of cow's milk cheeses (they also sell all kinds of soaps and lotions, most made with a goat's milk base, in addition to honey, occasionally eggs, and some other good stuff).


A very nice woman at the farm told us all about the cheeses and the different products and let us sample the two cheeses available, the brie and the abbey (kind of like cheddar).

The brie, while not as creamy as one might expect (it had a little bit more of a crumbly texture, although definitely not as crumbly as, say, chevre) had great flavor and was especially good when spread on some rosemary crackers I had in the cupboard (thanks, Judy!) The abbey was delicious as well and I'll probably eat it sliced up alongside some apples (maybe Granny Smith?)

As you've probably guessed, I purchased both cheeses and am very much looking forward to going back in May or June to get some goat cheese and - wait for it - milk and dark chocolate goat cheese truffles. (Chocolate and goat cheese may sound disgusting to some, but please trust me when I say it works. It works beyond belief.)

Part of the fun of buying our cheese at a goat farm was obviously seeing the goats. Although we were informed that Elsa, the goat who appears on the website and many of the product labels, had passed away, there were plenty of other goats around (including Elsa's daughter, GiGi). We even saw some tiny babies (only a couple weeks old) and were told that there was actually a litter of goats born that morning before we got there.

By the way, Michigan readers - Meadow Stone Farm ships, so if you're interested check out their website: http://www.meadowstonefarm.com/

You might think our foodie adventure ends here, but since Noe was being so accommodating, we also got to visit the winery down the road. Sharpe Hill Vineyard is sort of hidden - it's way back on a twisty-turny, very narrow country road - we thought for a few minutes we might be going the wrong way. However, we eventually located the vineyard and headed in to the tasting room.

Now, wine is not really Noe's thing, but he tried a few varieties anyway. I tried more than a few. Most were drinkable and some were pretty enjoyable. I think I made my selections based completely on the nice weather we've been having - I left with a Dry Riesling and the Dry Summer Rose. Both will be enjoyable chilled while sitting in the backyard, perhaps after we put in the patio. I did not pick up any of the Select Late Harvest (a dessert wine made entirely of estate-grown Vingnole grapes) on this visit, but we did try it and it was a mouthful of sweet fruity deliciousness. Actually, Noe said he "kind of liked it", which coming from Noe is pretty high praise for a wine. (Noe only likes the sweet stuff.)

All in all, this was a pretty enjoyable way to pass a warm and sunny afternoon. Cute baby animals, cheese and wine...does it get any better than that?