Tag Archives: Ferrante Winery

My Own Private Ice Wine Festival 🌬🍷😄

 

snapseed-4If I can’t make it to the Niagara Ice Wine Festival, I’ll make the Ice Wine Festival come to me!

And as luck would have it, I happened to have bottles from two great wine regions; Niagara and North East Ohio. While it won’t be on a grand scale, it’ll be sweet. Literally.

For the occasion, and completely ripping off their idea, I got creative and made my own marshmallows to toast. So there goes my new year’s resolution to limit sugar, at least for today.

Today’s featured wines are a 2010 Colaneri Profundo Aumento Chenin Blanc from Niagara and 2010 Ferrante Cab Franc from Geneva, Ohio. The  2010 vintage led me to wonder if maybe they were past their prime. Like many wines, ice wine can be cellared for many years, and because of the high residual sugars and acidity it would store well. But you won’t really know until it’s opened: if it smells like vinegar or sherry, it’s spoiled.
Being the brave student that I am, I’ll push on and try them. All in the pursuit of knowledge.

According to the Canadian Vintners Association, Canada is the world’s largest producer of ice wine. In 2015, Icewine made up 25% of the total export value ($18,623,057) and 0.3% of export volume ~ 234,604 litres). Ontario is Canada’s largest exporter valued at $15.6 million.
With similar weather patterns and temperatures to Ontario, Ohio is gaining steady ground with ice wine production. Its upcoming Ice Wine Festival in March will prove to be a great celebration of their hard work.

Ice wine is a sweet dessert wine produced from grapes that are left out on the vine to freeze. Hand harvested in sub-zero temperatures (usually before sunrise when temperatures remain consistent and its coldest~ brrrrrrrrr!) the grapes are pressed outside to maintain the consistent temperature and high sugar content of the grapes. You can read more detail about it here.
The homemade mallows were ready, and I thought I’d add to the pairing some Ghirardelli snapseed-5chocolate, fruit, and a little Brie as a savory contrast. And as an added treat, our friend, Shelly brought a bottle she’d bought back on our trip to Niagara a couple of years ago, a 2010 Pilliteri Estates Cab Franc Icewine. More yum! It tasted

like the most decadent honey, with a kick. Curiously, neither HubbyDoug nor Shelly shared my enthusiasm for sampling outside. Wah. So the kitchen served as a warmer venue.

It was great to sample ice wines from both sides of the border. Each one had its own unique vibe that made them very special.

I know I’ll get to the Niagara Ice Wine Festival again, and I’m looking forward to the Ohio Ice Wine Festival in March.  Both are a great celebration of not only the wine itself but of the winemakers who struggle against all odds to create and perfect this wonderful wine.

Cheers!

©TheWineStudent, 2017

My homemade marshmallows!

My homemade marshmallows!

2012 Cleveland Wine Festival ~ Sun, fun and wine

I didn’t think we’d make it downtown. The forecast was shaping up to be rain with a chance of more rain. But the thing about Cleveland weather is what might be happening in one ‘burb might not be happening in another. On the other hand, there’s nothing worse than trying to quaff when your glass is filling with rain instead of wine. As luck would have it, when we arrived at the Giant Eagle Cleveland Wine Festival at Voinovich Park, the clouds parted and we were treated to great sunshine, a warm lake breeze and some interesting wine to sample.

Cheers!

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Ice Wine in the Grand River Valley

The nasty weather held off here in Cleveland, and I was able to check out the WineGrower’s of the Grand River Valley 9th Annual Ice Wine Festival. It proved to be a good afternoon to sample some of their award winning offerings. My friends and I narrowed our trip to two participating wineries: Debonne and Ferrante. Click on any thumbnail to view the entire gallery.

At Debonne, we were treated to some ice carving demonstrations and a taste of their Vidal Blanc ice wine with home made cheese. The pairing was nice and brought out the ‘velvet-y’ qualities of both. My friend, Kell, was quick to point out this term, one he had picked up from our discussions about the wine aroma wheel. Learning can be fun! We moved inside to the tasting room and sampled an off-dry to sweet varietal wine selection. It ranged from a blend (Jazz White) to Razzberry Riesling. My pick from this grouping was the Jazz White; a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Riesling. It was a clear, light straw color, very minimal on the nose, but was lightly nuanced on the palate; refreshing with a subtle honey finish. I thought it could be a great sipping wine on a hot summer day and would be particularly good with a mild, white fish. The Riesling Reserve lot 907 was also light and sweet but didn’t have the same complexity as the Jazz White. The Razzberry Riesling, to me, tasted a lot like a Jell-o shot; very sweet and fun.

Ferrante treated us to their Vidal Blanc as well as a delicious Cabernet Franc. I have a soft spot for Cab Franc because it’s fruit forward with a rich, warm vibe (yes, even for an ice wine). And it has a buttery finish that can cuddle you up like a favorite blanket. Ferrante’s 2010 Cab Franc was no exception; it had a rich cherry top note and, true to form, ended with that beautiful butter kiss. You might say it was almost … velvet-y.

The Grand River Valley Ice Wine Festival continues March 10 and again March 17.

Cheers!