The owners of Wine Trail Traveler have just released their first Quarterly ezine. Readers can find the fall Quarterly as a pdf.

This first addition includes articles about drinking local wines, a sommeliers conference in Texas, a love of wine, and wine and religion. In addition four new recipes and a listing of a number of large food and wine events are included.

Enjoy!

Cheers! Kathy

There are wine events scheduled for October 10^th weekend. If you have time, check out the following events.

On the east coast, consider attending the New York City Wine & Food Festival with events scheduled from October 8-11, 2009.

In California consider one of these festivals to attend.

Auburn Wine and Food Festival October 10, 2009

La Jolla Art and Wine Festival October 10 and 11, 2009

If you  attend a festival, write and let others know about it.

Cheers!

Kathy

Last Friday  Joseph and Dorinda Wynimko opened a winery in Bloomer, Wisconsin. Joseph began winemaking as a hobby from a kit. He went on to making wines that are a bit on the unusual side, as he prefers making wine that does not have grapes in it.

As I read an article about the winery, it brought back memories of my husband’s uncle who made wine at home and gave it all away to friends and family. We visited Uncle’s cellar many years ago where he proudly showed us his carboys filled with a variety of fruit wines. Uncle exclaimed, “I can make wine with anything that has a seed in it.”

If you have the opportunity, check out the O’Neil Creek Winery. Wines include wines made from rhubarb, cranberry, strawberry, elderberry, strawberry-rhubarb and pumpkin. Be sure to ask about the onion wine. If you have always heard of dandelion wine then now is our chance to try it. For more information, check out the article in the Bloomer Advance.

As we drove back from visiting wineries in Kentucky, we noticed that the leaves are beginning to change. They were particularly striking in West Virginia. I imagine that the fall colors will abound in Pennsylvania in the coming weeks.

If you are looking for a day trip that may include beautiful foliage views and also wineries to visit, consider a visit to the Brandywine Valley in southeastern Pennsylvania where there are a good number of wineries. By next weekend, October 3 and 4, travelers should be able to view picturesque landscapes and taste wines along the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail. The first weekend of October is also the wine trail’s Harvest Festival. Events are held at each winery and with eight wineries to choose from, there is something for everyone. When visiting Paradocx Vineyard, be sure to ask about the unique wine bottle – a plastic gallon paint can of red or white wine!

Cheers! Kathy

What do wineries and distilleries have in common?

Located near Lexington, Kentucky is the world’s only Bourbon Trail. Known as the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, the trail has eight distilleries on it. Visitors are welcome to visit any of the distilleries.

While wine enthusiasts will enjoy learning about the bourbon industry from a historical perspective to the technology used today, they should be sure to visit wineries intermixed with these distilleries. Wineries in this area of Kentucky are new compared to the long history of distilleries. These wineries are focused on using Kentucky fruit for their wines although when necessary some of them will source fruit from other states.

Compare and contrast the process of producing bourbon and wine. Bourbon tastings and wine tasting are very similar. Looking for the color, aroma, taste and finish are part of the tasting experience for both wine and bourbon.

Lexington, Kentucky is an ideal place to visit for both wine and bourbon enthusiasts.

Cheers! Kathy

Weather can make a big difference in the quality of wine produced each particular year. For the wineries around Lexington, Kentucky, the 2008 harvest was excellent. The summer of 2008 was hot and perhaps too dry but the resulting grapes have produced quality wines.

The summer of 2009 has been cooler than usual and this week when the vineyards are waiting for the grapes to reach ripeness, it has been raining on and off. Out of visiting eight wineries, except for one, all were determined not to harvest yet. These determined Kentuckians are waiting on Mother Nature to continue the ripening process before cold weather sets in.

May Kentucky wineries have a successful harvest in 2009!

Cheers! Kathy

Visiting wineries around Lexington, Kentucky is a great experience. Visualize driving through the countryside with luscious green fields and beautiful blue skies. Enjoy meeting people where a handshake is a word of honor and as powerful as a contract. Last but not least meet the winemakers who want to create their wines from Kentucky fruit. Yes, Kentucky does have enough vineyards to meet the needs of the 55 licensed wineries, according to one winemaker we met.

Wine enthusiasts will discover a large variety of wines from vinifera, Native American, French hybrid and fruit wines. After visiting several wineries in the Lexington area, we have been pleased with quality of many of the wines we have tasted. Kentucky winemakers and wine growers are doing their part in adding to the quality of the wine industry and in keeping with the terroir of their area.

When you have the opportunity, taste Kentucky wines and discover what these wineries have to offer.

Cheers! Kathy

Terry wrote a great article about terroir in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. The article, “In search of terroir: Finger Lakes Riesling” can be viewed on the Examiner website. Check it out before you visit the wineries in the Finger Lakes region.

Below are a couple of links to festivals for the weekend of October 3 and/or 4, 2009. Both festivals sound like a lot of fun to participate in. Always check the event website for more updated information.

Great Grapes Wine, Arts and Food Festival

North Carolina

October 3, 2009 11am – 7pm

http://www.uncorkthefun.com/charlotte-north-carolina/site-info

27^th American Wine & Food Festival

California

http://www.awff.org/

Cheers! Kathy

Last night we enjoyed the evening with one of our daughters, who purchased a bottle of Italian wine to go with the dinner. She created a delicious dinner of homemade lasagna, fresh green salad and homemade apple pie. Our daughter knows we enjoy wine with food, so she had purchased the Italian wine at one of the local markets.

She chose a wine that paired nicely with the lasagna. The wine was an Amano Chianti 2006 DOCG. The wine was an opaque, dark purple. It offered nuances of dark cherries. The wine was smooth. It had a nice crisp finish that matched well with the food – all this for a bottle of wine that was only ten dollars. What a great deal!

In the future when I am looking for an Italian wine, I will be sure to consider this one.

Cheers, Kathy

For a while now, I keep reading how good the California harvest is for 2009. It has been suggested that 2009 may be one of those years that will be talked about and read about for years. That’s good news for wine enthusiasts.

The bad news is that due to the economy high priced wines have not been selling as well and some wineries are unwilling to produce more high-end wines that will require more storage. Further, some producers of high-end wines may cut back on production. For instance Wilson Creek Winery & Vineyards in Temecula Valley is considering not purchasing grapes from offsite growers in 2009.

I hope before the growers have allowed the grapes to rot on the vine, that they will think outside-of-the-box and come up with a way to use their grapes. Wineries would do well to look at Texas wineries. In the fifth largest wine producing state, some wineries began to cut back on production last year and this summer were already wishing they had not cut back.

Also, do wine grapes have to be used only for wine? Are there any chefs out there that might have an answer?

Cheers, Kathy