Wine Forum ~ Wineweb.com

Visiting Maine wineries?

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:19:01 -0600

Wholly Moley!

Visiting Maine wineries?

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:45:19 -0600

Ridiculous! Just when I thought some states were finally starting to part ways from the puritanical tyranny of outdated prohibition laws...

Visiting Maine wineries?

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:03:29 -0600

The new rule of law in Maine (already passed; effective shortly) is that no wine tastings may be conducted in the sight of children.

I certainly have seen plenty of families visiting wineries, particularly at the harvest. Will no one think of the children?

http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/6729883.html

The Garden State

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:31:26 -0600

I think the Cab Franc should probably be a focus for the mid atlantic states. If we're going to be honest about it they probably don't have the perfect growing season weather to compete with California for Cab Sauv....so why try? Do what works for you

The Garden State

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 06:43:59 -0600

Even in New Jersey, most folks don't realize the Garden State is home to dozens of vineyards and wineries. Renault Winery is in fact one of the oldest in the nation.

Recently, I visited one of our wineries for the first time in quite a while.

New Egypt, NJ, was formerly best known for its Flea Market and Auction and the short-track raceway located there. Now, it is also the home of Laurita Winery.

The winery has been around only a few years, less than five, and I was unfamiliar with it and its wines. It is part of a larger complex including a bed and breakfast and an equestrian center. (Thus suitable as a travel destination, n'cest pas ?)

Entering the property for its first "Concert on the Lawn", featuring a local blues band, I thought to myself "This explains why they ask $30 for a bottle of New Jersey Cabernet. The place is magnificent with beautiful landscaping, hardscaping that is just as extensive and impressive, and a restaurant/retail space constructed from two converted barns. Spectacular views of close to 46 acres of vineyard are afforded the visitor.

I didn't like it.

I realize that commercial wine-making is a rich man's game. Vineyard acreage alone is prohibitively expensive. This place didn't drip maoney, it was built of it. I felt as if I could see dollar bills laminating the walkways, fluttering from the stone walls, and mulching the manicured lawns.

The owners have to get that money back in some way and they are attempting to do so by charging $9 a glass for what is no more than pedestrian New Jersey wine.

Even though this was billed as a 'festival' they seemed to actively discourage the tasting of their wines by offering tasting portions at only one of their four or six wine bars/counters. Only two were in fact open, and the one which had more than a single person pouring was only selling wine.

Imagine - a winery festival with thousands of invitees attending and one person offering tastes of the wines.

I was able to taste only 3 of their wines: the aforementioned $30 Cabernet Sauvignon (identifiably Cabernet, which is actually success with that vinifera in NJ), an earlier vintage of that wine, selling at $23 (idenitfiable as red wine) and an off-dry light blend, identified as "Tailgate", presumably intended for consumption in parking lots and selling for $15.

Some few years ago, I spoke with the owner of another relatively new winery and noted that his leading wine, a Cabernet Franc (which I think is the most successful red vinifera in the Mid-Atlantic states) was a nice enough wine but priced well over comparable CA and French wines.

He responded "You have a nice place to drink it, some music playing..."

I want my wine priced by the quality of the wine, not by the quality of the setting of the winery.

Napa Trip

Tue, 19 May 2009 21:25:03 -0600

That makes three! Go promote your junk somewhere else.

Napa Trip

Fri, 15 May 2009 07:28:47 -0600

I agree, I'm sick of it too. We get about a dozen new forum users each day, most of them just wanting to promote the websites of their clients. We've put in restrictions so new users can't add URL links, and we'll continue to monitor the posts and edit out any references to websites that are merely promotion tactics.

Napa Trip

Thu, 14 May 2009 09:56:31 -0600

Wine Web, please feel free to moderate my reply right out of here, but sometimes I get sick of people lying to me and treating me like an idiot.

Soneill, you lying rat. You treat us as if we have no common sense in your failed attempt to garner any good will at all for your site.

You say: "I'm part way through my wine holiday (for which I took off 3 months!) and next on the radar is the Napa. Can you recomend which wineries I should visit"

Who takes off three months to visit wineries throughout the world without knowing what wineries they are going to visit?

You "should be there in mid July" as you are in Oz now - what does one have to do with the other? And only "should be"? Are you spending the next two months visiting wineries someone told you to visit in Australia? You're on a three month wine "holiday"and you don't know where or when you are going? You are either a liar or stupid - I feel the omens are portentous for a combination of the two.

Are you sure that the place you are advertising is a "great site for finding a wine tour"? Because it sounds like you don't have a tour at all.

Napa Trip

Thu, 14 May 2009 01:39:58 -0600

I'm part way through my wine holiday (for which I took off 3 months!) and next on the radar is the Napa. Can you reccomend which wineries I should visit? I should be there in mid July as I'm in the Barossa Valley (Australia) currently. Used this great site for finding a wine tour. [deleted reference to website]

Napa Trip

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:14:42 -0600

It sounds like you went to both Napa and Sonoma Wineries! I am also in the industry working for a large distributor in California and receive the same discounts and perks! It is great to be in the industry. My friends and I used [deleted reference to website] and went to Chimney Rock, Rutherford Hill, Stags Leap Wine Cellars & Pine ridge. We were treated like kings at all the wineries. Having the limousine also made it extra special.