08
Sep
2012
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
Now here’s a novel idea: own a restaurant outside of Detroit and have your vineyard a few hours north (not on your winery property). On the first day of September I find myself at Brengman’s Inn Land Restaurant in Richmond, Michigan, having a burger and brew for $4.50 (yes there’s a decimal point between the four and the five), their regular Saturday special, with my in-laws, when my father-in-law announces that Brengman’s owns a winery up near Traverse City and proceeds to tell the waitress who I am. Soon after a few tasters appear on the table … as I taste through the wines my brother-in-law says with a smirk, “can we hurry this along, I have to get to work.” I return the facial express and say, “I am at work.” Touché.
The Brengman Brothers winery is located on Lake Leelanau, part of the Leelanau Peninsula of Michigan wine country neat Traverse City … it is the left arm of the U that encompasses the Old Mission Peninsula – both areas I visited a few years ago. The winery “just” opened so I must have just missed it on our journey through the two peninsulas. Brengman Brothers is a 45-acre vineyard growing vitis vinifera grapes, mostly of the white variety (something I garnered from the ‘literature’ on the table).
As for the wines, five were offered to me for tasting, 3 whites, a fruit wine and a red (Syrah) … three of these wines I thought rather good – the others were passable, but not my cup of vino (so to speak) – three others around the table also agreed.
To read about the wines I tasted click here.
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
22
Aug
2012
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
The folks at Rosewood could not have asked for a more beautiful day when they hosted their first (annual?) All-Stars in the Vineyard event. The premise is fairly simple: 4 chefs make 2 dishes each paired with their "favourite" Rosewood wines ... each station is in a different part of the vineyard, so you get to eat, get some exercise and see how the grapes are growing first hand (because at two of the stations you were actually standing right beside them as you accepted your food and wine).
You could take your pick as to where you started your vineyard munch and sip journey - down near the Rosewood Pond, the furthest point from the winery; or at the Crush-pad, just outside the winery's back door. I arrived early to take a few pictures so it only made sense to begin at the winery itself.
Our evening began with a glass of Mima's Block Riesling - a wine I have had before, but it's nice to re-visit, especially one like this that'll help whet the appetite. The restaurant at the Crush-pad was Ortolan, out of Toronto, they had three dishes: some kind of peach and honey thing started it off - it wasn't listed anywhere and caused a little confusion as to which wine it was suppose to pair with. But thank goodness for the peaches, because the other two dishes were not up to snuff. The grilled lamb was way too fatty with lots of grisly bits and was served cold (on-purpose?) - and we weren't alone in our assessment of it either, a few people around us had the same problem - and the Seafood Medley Escabeche was no better, it had an off-putting sweetness ... this was unfortunately the worst station, a bad one to begin with and I have to feel sorry for those who ended here - unless they stepped up their game by the end - we didn't stick around to find out. As for the wines paired at Station One, they were both pre-release wines. Natalie (winemaker for Rosewood) seems to have found a niche making Semillon and her 2011 version did not disappoint, and she once again massaged a beauty from her nemesis Cabernet Franc - this time the 2010 - both wines really outshone their food pairing.
Thankfully Station One was the fly in the ointment (so to speak) because the rest of the evening went without a hitch and saw beautiful and inventive/innovative food paired with some of Rosewood's finest wines. Station Two was Spanish inspired fare ... to read further and see the pictures from the event, click here
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
