South Carolina - Wadmalaw Island (Charleston) - Firefly Distllery

Firefly Distillery -(July 2017) We had to walk in the back door, so to speak. All the products are made from local grown, on St Johns Island, sugar cane.

My wife started with the Firefly Southern Lemonade (vodka), with mild lemon flavor, was smooth tasting exactly like Country Time lemonade without the sour pucker. The fresh lemons are added at the end of the process so this has a short shelf life if not refrigerated or frozen; it is not a keeper so to speak. The Firefly Sweet Tea vodka smelled of mild fresh-brewed tea and tasted as a glass of iced tea, but not as sweet as sweet tea. Maybe adding the two together would be equivalent to a Long Island Iced Tea. The Firefly peach moonshine was served from a mason jar and the aroma was as if sniffing the peach itself, fuzz too. It was balanced with yellow peach flavor.

She then went to the whisky’s starting with the Firefly Sweet Tea Whiskey. Aged three years in the barrel, the whiskey flavor came first followed by a mild tea finish. The Whiskey Jam started as whiskey with a mild strawberry flavor finish. but we would not call it jam; missing a sense of sweetness. She ended her tasting with Southern Accents Banana Pudding Liqueur, with the right amount of banana and a creamy finish. It was immediately thought of being used for an adult milkshake.

I started with the Firefly Classic vodka, clean, smooth, and dangerous. Distilled six times, it did not have the sting some vodkas have. I then tried the Firefly Blackberry moonshine. I'd compared it to Chambourd; smooth, starting with the berry aroma and the berry finish. The Firefly Apple Pie moonshine name said it all. A nice mild spicy apple aroma followed by the taste of baked apple pie filling. After tasting this one, we agreed this could be one of the versatile spirits.

I continued with the Southern Accents Coconut Cake liqueur. The initial aroma reminded me of a candle. The flavors brought out the coconut taste, including the crème icing, with the coconut texture. The Sea Island Spice rum had the same aroma as the coconut cake liqueur, but not spicy. The Sea Island Java liqueur had a mild coffee aroma, but tasted more like brewed coffee that was allowed to cool.

Virginia - Shenandoah Valley - North Mountain

North Mountain Vineyard - (July 2017) We started off with the 2015 vidal blanc, with a light taste and hints of tropical fruits. The 2015 chardonnay, a 50/50 blend of neutral oak aged and stainless steel aged, finished as if you were actually making caramel, the process, from the buttery start to the sweet finish. The 2016 riesling has a nice crisp, sweet beginning with a green apple finish. The Oktoberfest is a 60% traminette, 35% vidal blanc, 5% Riesling blend with a honeysuckle beginning and a spun candy finish.

The Mountain Sunset, a blush of apples with some cabernet franc to give color had some spice from the grapes to a nicely apple finish. It reminded you of baked apple pie. The Virginia Apple wine was as if drinking apple juice.

The claret, their version of a Meritage, is an equal blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and petit verdot. Aged in French and American oak, the blend was well balanced with all the characteristics of a Bordeaux blend. The 2015 cabernet franc reserve had nice mild red and white pepper spice notes with nice tannic ending. The 2015 cabernet sauvignon had nice cherry notes.

The surprise was the 2015 chambourcin. Served after all other dry reds, this was deep in color, which I had not seen before, and had been aged in neutral bourbon barrels. The spiced plum flavors were offset by the nice char from the bourbon barrel. Tom’s Brook Red is a sweetened blend of cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon. It had more spice quality to it compared to the individual variety.

We were treated to a 2007 vidal blanc. It had aged well with notes of apricot and tangerine.

Texas - Ivanhoe - Homestead Winery

Homestead Winery - A friend went to Texas and visited the tasting room in Grapevine and brought back a Tempranillo for me. The wine was well balanced with initial aromas of fresh tobacco, plum flavors and a black pepper and charred oak finish. I will have to admit, I liked it as it aged over the four days I drank the bottle

South Carolina - Wadmalaw Island (Charleston) - Deep Water Vineyards

Deep Water Vineyard - (July 2017) All the wines are made from the muscadine grape variety

We started with the whites, the first of which, called Low Tide, made from the scuppernong variety Tara, was dry like a pinot Grigio with a nice grape aroma, similar to a Riesling with a mild fresh-brewed tea taste. The Magnolia, made from the scuppernong variety Carlos, was supposed to be the sweetest of all the wines. It is Jesse’s, the new winemaker and owner, first wine to be bottled (all others are from the previous winery owners). It started off with a nice peach aroma and tasted liked it was fortified with brandy. As it warmed up, I got notes of apricot, but I think the alcohol amount is higher than expected.

The red wines started with the Deepwater Blend, a blend of the Noble and Ison varieties of muscadine. The initial aroma reminded me of church wine, but it changed to bing cherry as in aerated. It also started with a mild fruit flavor and changed to bing cherry flavors over time. I also thought this one had more alcohol than expected. The Lowcountry Red, made from the Ison variety, was the drier of the red wines. It was balanced with a nice mild color and plum flavors. High Tide, made from the Noble variety, was darker in color and tasted more like church wine though not as sweet with plum and dark fruit flavors.

After tasting the wine, we were able to taste the juice that starts the entire process. We were able to try Tara for the white, which also had the fresh-brewed tea flavor, and Noble for the red.

New York - Seneca Lake (east) - Bloomer Creek Vineyard

Bloomer Creek Vineyard - Feb 2017 - We saw the Kimberton Inn had wine and food pairing dinners and decided to try this one with US wines. The first course was linguini with clam sauce and guanciale, cured pork cheek served with Bloomer Creek (NY) Pet Nat Chardonnay. Ah, what memories of the Finger Lakes - with honeysuckle and pineapple flavors.

August 2016 - This must be a good place if a you meet a former colleague here.There were two types of tasting - regular and reserve. We decided to split one of each. The winemaker suggested they do regular tasting first, then the reserve.

We started with the 2013 Tanzen Dame Edelzwicker, a blend of Riesling, gewürztraminer, and Cayuga. This German‐style wine had just the right hint of Cayuga sweetness, followed by the 2014 Tanzen Dame dry Riesling, with the right amount of tartness. The 2013 Tanzen Dame dry Gewürztraminer, with its two‐day skin contact was floral and hoppy. My wife thought of having gruyere cheese with it and the winemaker agreed. They finished the first tasting with the Café Red, a blend of cabernet franc, merlot and two hybrids, Corot noir and noiret. It had a fruity, berry forward, but high in tannins.

We started the second tasting with the 2014 Tanzen Dame Auten Vineyard dry Riesling. I picked up on the tart lime flavor. we were able to compare it to the 2013 Tanzen Dame dry Riesling, from the
second harvest; it was better than the first Riesling we tried. The 2012 pinot noir followed; it was light‐bodied with high tannins. We finished this tasting, with the 2012 White Horse, a cabernet franc and merlot blend. It was kept on the lees for over a year without stirring and its aroma, flavor and tannins were well‐balanced.

New York - Seneca Lake (east) - Hazlitt Vineyards

Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards - (August 2016)

My wife chose the sweet wines: Cabin Fever, a blend of Cayuga and Catawba grapes, was as blush as a white zinfandel. The White Cat, pure Niagara grape wine was adult Welch’s grape juice, while the White Cat Sangria, did not do the wine justice; it was too sweet. The Red Cat Sangria, a blend of concord and Catawba grapes was better suited for the sangria, but as Red Cat, it did not have the concord tartness. The Bramble Berry was made with Catawba infused with berry flavors. She got to try it with chocolate and it reminded her of a dessert wine.

I chose the 2013 Gewürztraminer, was floral on the palate and its flavor was reminiscent of a
traminette. The 2013 barrel fermented chardonnay, fermented in French oak, had a subtle oak start and a buttery oak finish. The Schooner White, a blend of Riesling, sauvignon blanc and gewürztraminer, was all over the place from aromas, palate and finish, but this is what made it an interesting wine.; my wife liked it. I was able to try the 2013 Riesling and the 2014 Riesling side by side, as a treat. The 2013 had orange undertones and the 2014 had a crispier finish. I then moved to their only reds: the 2012 pinot noir was high in tannins and the 2012 cabernet franc lost its aroma and palate to the heavy tannins. Tasting it with chocolate did not alter my opinion.

New York - Seneca Lake (east) - Shalestone Vineyards

Shalestone Vineyards - (August 2016) I wanted to stop here because of the zweigelt wine. All dry wines.

We walked to the tasting room and were served by the owner and winemaker. He explained that he only did dry reds, which he likes, and that was the reason for his winery.

I started with the 2014 zweigelt, a medium‐bodied Austrian grape wine that was fruit forward and
a mellow tannic structure. It was different and I didn’t know what to expect. The Harmony, a blend
of cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and merlot, was fruit forward, more mellow than the zweigelt,
but higher in tannins. The 2014 cabernet franc was fruity and full‐bodied with a black pepper aroma;
heavy tannins, while the 2013 Cross‐Rows, a blend of merlot, syrah and lemberger, which are
interplanted in the vineyard, lost its forward fruit flavors to the heavy tannic finish.I finished with Red Legend, a blend of cabernet franc, lemberger and merlot, which again, lost the fruit forward with the heaviest tannic finish.