The creation of wine is a natural process that begins when fruit ferments. When apples fall off the tree in the backyard, and lie there for a while, there’s a change. When you pick one up and smell it, the aroma of alcohol is easy to spot. As the fruit ferments further, watch the rabbits and squirrels stagger; the more they eat the more they stagger.
Most commercial wines are made from grapes, but any fruit or vegetable, allowed to ferment, will eventually develop an alcoholic content
We were having coffee and dessert in the lounge of a Norwegian cruise ship one evening, many years ago, and a group of Londoners, at the next table, began discussing their wine-making club. Each member brought a bottle of homemade wine to the monthly meeting for tasting and discussion.
"I make good wine from carrots," said one man. "Tastes a bit like sherry, y’know." The men talked of their wines, from carrots and apples and dandelions, but every time there was a pause, a woman broke in.
"I understand," she said, "and it sounds good, but when do you add the alcohol?"
She received four explanations about fruit and natural fermentation, showed absolutely no comprehension and was ignored from then on.
The conversation provided us with almost an hour of having to choke down laughter that got closer to the surface each time the alcohol question was repeated, but it also prevented us from delving into fruit wines for many years.
And then we received an invitation to a tasting of Tedeschi wines, including some made from pineapple, at Wines of Wildwood, in the far west county.
We had visited Tedeschi many years ago during a trip to Maui, one of the loveliest of the Hawaiian islands. The winery and vineyard is on the 20,000-acre Ulupalakua Ranch, owned by King Kamehameha III in the mid-19th century when it was a sugar cane plantation and cattle ranch. Sugar was phased out in the 1880s and many, many cattle were the primary occupants until 1974, when the Tedeschi family moved in and took over some of the land for grapes, pineapple and winemaking.
Today, the folks at Tedeschi make a half-dozen wines, including two whites, a blush, a red and two sparklers, and one of the latter was the most interesting. Hula O Maui, a pineapple sparkling wine, is crisp and approachable, with the pineapple flavor and sweetness showing through in a most fascinating way, just enough to highlight the acidity and flavor of the wine, not enough to become cloying. It’s extremely well constructed and nice for summer quaffing on the back porch – or the front porch, for that matter. Retail price is about $22.
A still white from pineapples is dubbed Maui Blanc, at about $13. It’s semi-dry, with good fruit presence, and might work with a fiery curry, or as an aperitif. Maui Splash, at about $11.50, blends passion fruit with the pineapple, but its even sweeter and I noted the presence of additional, artificial flavors that made it flunk my personal taste test.
The Tedeschi red varietal is named Ulupalakua Red, blending Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah for a pleasant, almost-dry wine with nice fruit but insufficient body and a short finish. About $16. The winemakers use the same grapes, but shorter skin contact, for the Upcountry Blush, at $13, but like most blush wines, it’s too sweet for me and without real character. Step up a notch from blush to rose; it provides plenty of reward for the effort.
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NEWS FROM LES BOURGEOIS: The Rocheport, Mo., winery, just east of Boonville, won three medals at the recent Los Angeles County Fair, gold for its Jeunette Rouge red, primarily a blend of Missouri Chambourcin and California Cabernet Franc, with additional minuscule amounts of Chardonel and Syrah; silver for its 2005 Collector’s Series Chardonel; and bronze for its 2005 Norton. A total of 3789 wines from 17 countries were judged.
And speaking of Les Bourgeois, new quarters for the winery’s office, sales and tasting area will be constructed at the intersection of I-70 and State Highway BB, close to the winery’s present location. Winemaker Cory Bomgaars said he hoped for an autumn ground-breaking.
The location brings back memories. For many years, it was home to Pete’s Café, whose diamond-shaped road signs were familiar to generations of Highway 40 drivers between St. Louis and Kansas City. In the 1930s, 40s and 50s, however, Pete’s was in downtown Boonville. Then I-70 came along, bypassing downtown, and Pete’s moved, adding a motel along the way. I thought the downtown location had a lot more charm, but Pete’s, like so many small business all over the nation, fell victim to "new highway-progress," an oxymoron if I ever heard one.
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RECENT TASTINGS: Some of the best values in tasty wines from the Pacific Northwest come from Columbia Winery, a Washington State pioneer that displays a simpler, attractive new label for 2007. Its 2005 Pinot Gris from the Columbia Valley is a dandy pre-dinner aperitif, with good crispness and a smoothness that is attractive. Splendid for summer quaffing and a good value at about $10. Another white, old war-horse Chardonnay of the ‘04 vintage, is full-bodied, almost creamy, in the rich, buttery American style. Not as bright as a French Chablis, but it is designed differently by the winemaker, and that’s what we get. In a similar price range.
I’m fond of the Columbia reds, the ‘04 Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah all proving to be first-rate values at about $14 each. Winemaker David Lake, assisted by young Robert Takahashi, keeps the reds on the lighter side so that they will complement a dish without overpowering it. They are well-balanced, with fruit that is forward and a finish that is solid, but a little on the short side. Both the Cab and the Merlot are 100 percent of the varietal fruit, with the former showing a hint of oak along with the fruit. There are nice cherry overtones to the Merlot. The Syrah, with just a touch of Viognier and Mourvedre (1 percent each), is the richest of the three, with dark fruits and a plummy aroma. Extremely tasty.