Westport Rivers Vineyard & Winery Tour

I just got back from spending a very rainy day visiting the Westport Rivers Vineyard & Winery in Westport, MA with ~20 other friends from my social club. Thanks to Tropical Storm Danny, we did not get to wander through the vineyards or taste on the lawn, but we did get a very nice in-depth tour of the winemaking facilities. Our tour guide, Craig, also gave us a very detailed walk-through of the winemaking process.

Those of you in New England (and other sparkling wine fanatics) may have heard of Westport Rivers. They are probably the best quality winery in Massachusetts, and are well known and regarded for their sparkling wines made from 100% estate grown grapes. I can hear the outcry--"It's too cold to grow grapes in MA!" Well, yes, the growing season for MA is short and is not well suited for the ripening of red vinifera grapes, but is actually quite similar to the climate of northern European grape growing regions like Champagne, Alsace, Chablis, and the Mosel & Rhine valleys. So just as those regions specialize in wines from white grapes that ripen faster, Westport Rivers grows only colder climate vinifera grapes, such as chardonnay, pinot gris, pinot noir, & meunier. Ah ha, you're sharp eyes correctly identified that pinot noir is a red grape, but Westport Rivers uses it to make sparkling wine and róses, not red wine.

Their sparkling wines are made in the "Traditional Method", or "fermented in this bottle." Since they ain't in Champagne, they can't legally say that the wine is made in the "Méthode Champenoise", but it's the same thing. A still base wine is made and bottled, along with a shot of sugar and yeast. The wine bottles are then tiraged, or allowed to rest for 3-14 years while the wine undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle. Once the winemaker determines that the flavors are what he's looking for, then the bottles are riddled (slowly turned) to allow the yeast solids to fall into the neck of the bottle. That solid plug is then disgorged and the champagne is ready for consumption.

After our tour, we tasted 6 wines. Unfortunately, 4 of their sparkling wines were sold out, so we only got to taste the 2003 Westport Brut made from 73% pinot noir & meunier and 27% chardonnay. A delightful crisp, drier sparkling wine with a lot of apple & pear aromas. We then moved on to the still wines and tasted the 2006 Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, 2007 Rosé of Pinot Noir, 2007 Rkatsiteli, and the Pineau de Pinot. All were quite good, but the Pinot Gris was my favorite. It's a blend of the 2006 & 2007 vintages with a big full body, wonderful aromas of pear, honey, and citrus, and a long fruity finish.

This was the first time that I've ever tried a Rkatsiteli wine. It's a white vinifera grape that was originally native to the Georgian region of Asia. Similar to a reisling or gewurztraminer, but not quite as floral. Big aromas of lemon and kiwi that ends on the tongue with a crisp citrus note.

The Pineau de Pinot was also an interesting wine. It's fortified wine of about 18% ABV almost like a sherry that's made by distilling a pinot noir wine. The distillate is then mixed with fresh pinot noir juice and aged in old French oak. Definitely a sipper along side a créme brulée.

I've wanted to get down to Westport for awhile and I'm very glad that I had the chance today. Fortunately, we were indoors during the worst of Tropical Storm Danny while we enjoyed some very nice wine. I like the wines so much that 6 bottles followed me out to the truck! I'll report on each of them in turn.

Salute!
a Wine Student

VJB Vineyards & Cellars 2007 Gabriella Ranch Chardonnay

I had an opportunity to stop at the VJB Vineyards & Cellars winery on a business trip this past February 2009. Hey--there's only so many hours in the day for work! I was glad I did because 6 bottles of their wine followed me home. I popped in on a fairly slow Saturday morning and had a chance to talk with the pourer. This is a fairly new winery, having been started in 1999. The Belmonte family had been running a restaurant in the Kenwood area, and the sons, Victor & Henry, decided to start making their own wine to serve in the restaurant. Victor passed away shortly after the winery was started, so it was renamed as VJB in his honor. Ten years later, it is still a smallish operation with only 4000 cases of annual production. When I was there, they had just gotten the permits to start construction of a new larger wine production & tasting facility next door.

VJB Vineyards & Cellars 2007 Chardonnay
Country of origin: USA
Region: California
Appellation: Sonoma County
Stats: 13.5% ABV, dry, stainless steel fermentation.
Cost: $18 at the winery

Appearance: Crystal clear, light straw yellow, good leg structure
Aroma: Initial aromas of pears and white peaches, with a light pineapple finish at the end.
Taste: Clean & crisp. Muted fruit flavors of pears, melons, white peaches, & apricots. Slight butteriness & minerality on the finish.

Since summer has finally hit the Boston area, I thought this would be a good summer wine for dinner last night--and I was correct. The grapes from this wine were sourced Sonoma County and fermented in 100% stainless steel to produce a European style wine with clean, crisp fruit flavors. I've been trying to decide if a malo-lactic fermentation was performed, and I think so (rounded mouthfeel & slight buttery notes), but this is not your massive over-oaked, buttery chardonnay that used to dominate the California chardonnay scene. Very delightful wine that paired well with grilled BBQ chicken & brocolli last night.

Salute,
a Wine Student