Today marks the seventh anniversary of the Wine Century Club. To celebrate, the members, over 1,000 worldwide, are challenged to taste as many different varietal grapes as they can. A previous anniversary challenge netted over 300 different grape varieties. We have two wines we will add to the list, a 2009 Kerner by Lemon Creek Winery in Michigan and a 2009 Chardonel by Founders Wine Cellars also in Michigan. Our June travels took us to wineries in the Lake Michigan Shore AVA.

The 2009 Kerner resembled Riesling. The grape is a cross between Riesling and Trollinger. The wine was a light straw color and had a floral and yellow stone fruit aroma. There was yellow stone fruit on the taste and the crisp finish saw fruit yielding to roses.

The 2009 Lake Michigan Shore Mary Anna Chardonel, Oaked (Non-Filtered), was made from the Chardonel grape, the hybrid grape is a result of a cross of the hybrid Seyval and Chardonnay. This wine was also a light straw color. It had apple on the aroma and the taste was apple and a hint of caramel. The finish was crisp and fruity.

Not to totally disregard the nobel grapes, we plan on having the Illuminatus 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon that we made at Vint Hill Craft Winery in Virginia for dinner. This wine is nearing the moment that it should be released, that is if we were selling it. This is one of the wines we are planning to take to our daughter’s wedding in August. Meghan helped with the bottling last August and it will be interesting to see what she thinks of the wine ten months later.

Cheers,
Terry