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Cellardoor Winery DeChaunac - Printable Version

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- Innkeeper - 03-31-2003

The most remarkable thing about this wine is that it is an estate bottled grape wine from Maine. You may not realize it, but the last sentance is both remarkable and historic. Cellardoor Winery in Lincolnville, ME is right here in Waldo County were we live. For those of who for whom DeChaunac is not an everyday name, it is a French-American Hybrid that is grown primarily in the Northeast, and is usually used as a blender. Up here we have to go with what we got. It gives the impression of being a tangy Beaujolais. Matched just fine with grillpanned smoked pork chops, baked sweet potato, and spinach.

My biggest hope for Cellardoor is riesling. They are struggling to bring in a crop. This past winter did not help them very much. The micoclimate that they are in is not very dissimilar from the Finger Lakes region, and we all know how well they are doing with rielsing. Inclidentally Cellardoor gets most of their non-estate grapes from the Finger Lakes. Check them out at www.MaineWine.com


[This message has been edited by Innkeeper (edited 03-31-2003).]


- dananne - 03-31-2003

This brings up a question I've been thinking about recently. That is, how many folks on this board have recently tried local wines (and I'm not talking about those of you fortunate enough to classify California, Oregon, Washington, NY, etc. as local)? Or, if those of you in those areas have picked up stuff from other regions while traveling. Now that all 50 states have grape wineries, and WS gave some space to "Other US" wines in tasting reports last year, I've been interested in finding out what the take is from those of you on the board. For me, I've tried over a dozen local GA and NC wineries (and even have bought a rose from Perdito Vineyards in Alabama that I'll admit I've been hesitant to try). I've been blown away by the quality of some (Tiger Mountain and Three Sisters in GA seem to be the best around here). Others have been disappointing, possibly due to planting some grapes that may not be best suited to this climate (merlot, chard, and cab), but may have been planted due only to popularity. I've heard good things are happening in several places (whites and cabs in some places in TX, sparkling wines in NM and Mich, ice wine in MN, norton in Missouri, viognier in VA, etc.

Anyone care to comment?


- hotwine - 03-31-2003

Have tried a few products of only two Texas wineries in the last year, Messina Hof and Fall Creek. The Zinfandel and stickie from MH are decent enough, as is the Sauvignon Blanc from Fall Creek. However, I buy very little Texas wines simply because there are better products available from other areas for less money. In many cases, our producers are playing at winemaking as their second or third careers, and are trying to turn large fortunes made elsewhere into smaller ones in the wine business. If we had direct shipment, I might be more inclined to buy from them; but since we don't, the three-tier system prices their products out of the competition IMO.


- zenda2 - 03-31-2003

I can report on some of the Missouri wineries, our family farm is ~ 15 miles from one Missouri AVA, ~ 35 miles from another.

I usually ignore the 'tourist' wineries along the interstate highways & ignore almost every wineries sweet, inexpensive generic red & white wines. They're made to sell to winery tourists/visitors whose good manners make them want to 'buy something' even if they don't like dry wines.

You're left with some very nice French Hybrid red (Norton/Cynthiana) & white (Vidal, Vignoles and Seyval) wines being made here. A few surprisingly nice 'ports' and late-harvest wines as well. Here are 3 of my favorite Missouri wineries/wines.

Near St. Louis, I like the vintage port from:

http://www.augustawinery.com/

Near our middle-of-nowhere farm and a family favorite, I enjoy the Cynthiana made by Swiss-born Heinrich of:

http://www.heinrichshaus.com/List/list.html

I also recommend a stop in the nice old German rivertown, Hermann, MO and a visit to:

http://www.stonehillwinery.com/

More info on MO wines here:

http://missouriwine.org/frame_wineries.html


- wondersofwine - 03-31-2003

Their are probably a dozen or two dozen wineries in North Carolina. The three I encounter most often on grocery shelves are Biltmore Estate, Shelton and Duplin (from Duplin County). I liked the Cardinal's Crest red table wine from Biltmore Estate when I tried it on site, but have not had any Biltmore wines recently. Have not been too impressed with the Duplin or Shelton wines. I think it's Duplin that makes a special "Christmas" wine and some of their wines may be from labrusco (native) grapes.


- Thomas - 04-01-2003

As a freelance wine writer, I have been trying to interest a magazine or book publisher in a story about the wine industries of our fifty states. So far, no interest--well, interest in the story, but unwillingness to pay for the trip around the country, which I think would take about two years to do it justice, with another year for putting together the information into a book, it would be a great story.

So many people think the commerical wine industry began on the West Coast--Wrong.

So many people think the phylloxera fix in Europe came from California--Wrong.

So many people think you can't grow Vitis vinifera in the cool Northeast and Midwest--Wrong.

So many people think there is something inherently bad about local grape varieties--Wrong.

And on and on...

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 04-01-2003).]


- winoweenie - 04-01-2003

And so many people giggle when you talk about the wineries in Arizona!


- Thomas - 04-02-2003

...is that one of the fifty states?