Scuppernong!
Believe it or not, but there is a winery in Vermont that is making some very nice sparkling wine, with Vermont grapes.
The folks only listing CA, WA and OR have some serious snob issues. Not listing VT or NM, etc. is at least understandable, but states such as NY and VA make objectively (or as objective as this hobby can get) good wines.
I think CA, OR , WA go without saying. NY is a definite. On trips to visit my daughter at school I have had some OK VA wines.
I’ve had
good wine from CA, OR, NY, WA, NM (older Gruet, they’ve been disappointing for the last decade)
passable wine from VA
only horrible wine from NJ, MN
Having lived in Virginia for the last three years I’ve had a chance to try wines from a lot of wineries. Some people really don’t realize how far the local wine industry has come in the last 10-20 years. Sure, there’s still a lot of mediocre wine, but that’s true everywhere. You can’t really judge a region that way. My main objection to Virginia wine is that, pound for pound, the good stuff is still a bit more expensive. Many reasons for that, of course, but there is a lot of good stuff in the $30-45 range.
Virginia wineries that produce wine good enough that I have bought or would buy at least one bottle:
Stone Tower (estate bottlings only - good bdx blends and overpriced but tasty Petit verdot, plus a nice rose; their Wild Boar label uses out-of-state grapes)
Veritas (Viognier, Petit Verdot)
The Barns at Hamilton Station (Petit Manseng, Petit Verdot)
Linden (chard)
Paradise Springs (Meritage, Cab Franc)
Early Mountain (chard)
Ox Eye (Pinot Noir)
Jake Busching
Michael Shaps (Petit Verdot, Petit Manseng)
Barboursville, Valley Road, Delaplane, and a handful of others also make some very good wine amidst some duds. And quality across the board is rising all the time. RdV is too expensive but people tell me it’s great.
Bingo, Craig. When Gruet was purchased by PreceptBrands, they intended to triple the production of sparklers.
Though the wine is made (at least the sparkling part) in Albq, the primary grape source is WashState.
They still have (and tout) their NM vnyds, that’s the money-loser part of the operation. It’s all lost
in the blend. The labels all say “Proudly Produced in NM”, but on the back label, it’s labeled “American”.
A bit of false advertising.
Tom
Thanks for the information. Gruet used to be great value, not it’s DNPIM
Yes, I tried Gruet several times because so many people recommended it, and I always thought I could do better with most any $8 Cava. I must have missed the original window where it was good.
Jay - I think you posted in the wrong thread. I know you are the OP of this thread, but it looks like you meant to post this in: The, “Get off my lawn!” curmudgeon complaint thread…
https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=160332
Mods - please fix.
Other than the obvious, I’ve had good wine from Arizona (Caduceus), Virginia (I forget the producer), New Mexico (Gruet before they sold), and Massachusetts (Westport Rivers sparkling wines). Of those, I’ve probably been most impressed with Westport Rivers in Massachusetts (specifically the Blanc de Blancs, and especially, but not limited to, the 2001). Of course, if we’re to include fruit wine, I have to emphatically throw Maine into the mix (Bartlett). I’ve had a lot of crap wine from a lot of other states, and from some of the ones I listed.
Many good wines:
CA
OR
WA
A few good wines, many “drinkable if that’s all there is” wines:
NY
MD
VA
Tried one or two, would rather have a beer. But didn’t try enough to say they’re all bad:
AZ
NM - including Gruet, which I never cared for
MI
CO
CA, OR, WA, MI, NY, AZ, VA.
Michigan is in Tier 2, you just haven’t tried the right wineries.
Anyone who has not tasted a range of Wyncroft wine from Michigan should not be qualified to rank tiers.
Bookcliff, Carlson, and Infinite Monkey Theorem might change opinions about Colorado.
H. Wiemer, Red Newt , and other NY Rieslings should at least push then into tier 1B. Better than 90
% of CA and WA.
Ok, I’ll ask since no one else has … name some decent Pennsylvanian wineries please.
Bill
Went to one near Three Mile Island. Don’t remember the name but the venue was spectacular and the wines were decent.
I’ve seen Maryland mentioned a few times. Even thought I live there I’ve only been to a few.
Black Ankle - decent
Sugarloaf Mountain - passable
Elk Run - horrendous
Beyond the West Coast states, I’ve had pretty decent cab francs from Virginia (I think Barboursville Vineyards - felt more Loire than St Em to me) and some good rieslings from New York. We visited Paumonok (sp?) out in LI once, which was a nice jaunt from the city.
Some of our crazy villages in Vermont were making pear wine or cider or something, which tourists seemed to enjoy.
CA, WA, and OP.
A few Gruet bubblies from NM.