Saturday, October 30, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Ours Grapes got Awards
Stonefield Cellars enter the 2008 Gato Merlot and 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon into the 2010 Mid-Atlantic Southeastern Wine Competition and these are two wines that have some of our grapes in them and here is what they received.
2008 Gato Merlot-Silver
2008 Cabernet Sauvignon-Bronze
Great job Robert and the Stonefield Cellars team for making great wine.
2008 Gato Merlot-Silver
2008 Cabernet Sauvignon-Bronze
Great job Robert and the Stonefield Cellars team for making great wine.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Wine Making Class
Well I am now two weeks into the well needed winemaking class at Stonefield Cellars. In this class we are taking Cab Franc and making 4 different types of wine with it; Rose, Aged Oak, Sweet Red and Beaujolais. My group has selected to make Beaujolais. Tell you the truth when I picked this wine I had no idea what Beaujolais wine was but now I understand it is a wine that is fermented for only a few weeks before fermenting is stopped and it bottled to drink.
Description of Beuajolais Wine from Wikipedia
Beaujolais Nouveau is a purple-pink wine that is particularly lightweight, even by the standards of Beaujolais. The method of production means that there is very little tannin, and the wine can be dominated by fruity, ester flavours of bananas, figs and pear drops. These are enhanced by the frequent recommendation to serve the wine lightly chilled, at approximately 13°C (55°F).
Many wine critics criticize the wines marketed as Beaujolais Nouveau as simple or immature. Wine critic Karen MacNeil has compared drinking Beaujolais Nouveau to eating cookie dough.[1]
Beaujolais Nouveau is intended for immediate drinking, and in general should not be kept for more than a year. On the other hand, it usually benefits from being left a few weeks to recover from the effects of bottle-shock - and in the Northern Hemisphere the weather is more suited to Beaujolais drinking in Spring than in the chill of November. However, this rather misses the point of Beaujolais Nouveau's "immediacy", and patient drinkers can buy standard Beaujolais AOC wines released the following year at lower prices without the Nouveau hype. The wines show definite variation between vintages, at worst the wines start to decline after Christmas; wines from a very good year might still be drinking well 12 months later.
Description of Beuajolais Wine from Wikipedia
Beaujolais Nouveau is a purple-pink wine that is particularly lightweight, even by the standards of Beaujolais. The method of production means that there is very little tannin, and the wine can be dominated by fruity, ester flavours of bananas, figs and pear drops. These are enhanced by the frequent recommendation to serve the wine lightly chilled, at approximately 13°C (55°F).
Many wine critics criticize the wines marketed as Beaujolais Nouveau as simple or immature. Wine critic Karen MacNeil has compared drinking Beaujolais Nouveau to eating cookie dough.[1]
Beaujolais Nouveau is intended for immediate drinking, and in general should not be kept for more than a year. On the other hand, it usually benefits from being left a few weeks to recover from the effects of bottle-shock - and in the Northern Hemisphere the weather is more suited to Beaujolais drinking in Spring than in the chill of November. However, this rather misses the point of Beaujolais Nouveau's "immediacy", and patient drinkers can buy standard Beaujolais AOC wines released the following year at lower prices without the Nouveau hype. The wines show definite variation between vintages, at worst the wines start to decline after Christmas; wines from a very good year might still be drinking well 12 months later.
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