Brimstone Vineyards, Hudson Valley
Brimstone Hill Vineyard bills itself as "The Local Wine with the French Touch", and the winery is indeed tucked into a residential area, with the vines surrounding the ranch house amongst children playing and dogs protecting their yards.
We met with one of the winemakers, Valiere Eldridge, in the lovely tasting area overlooking the vines. Pictures of French wine areas adorned the walls, and Valiere was busy creating decorations for the upcoming Shawangunk Wine Trail "Wreath Fineries at Nine Wineries". This event runs throughout each December and allows visitors to move from winery to winery, sampling wines, tasting food, and gathering holiday ornaments.
We were just a week too early for these festivities, but we moved to the bar to sample some of the wines. Brimstone Hill has 12 acres of vine, in vineyards begun in 1969. They now have over 20 varities growing and work to make wines with styles of the Loire Valley and Burgundy.
We began with the 1999 Seyval Blanc. This is very nice, with a crisp flavor that is fruity and tart. This was served by President Reagan at a state dinner in 1986!
The 1998 Chardonnay is aged in French oak and is done in the Burgundian style. It is only lightly fruity, with tart, sharp, dry flavors. A light wine. Quite a nice change from the heavy, over-oaked Chardonnays you get out of California. It's recently won awards in NY state. They served this with shrimp scampi at a dinner and found it very popular.
The 1999 Country Red is a blend of Marechal Foch and Baco Noir. Aged in American Oak, this is a light, fruity, spicy red. It is one of the few wines they make where they bought the grapes - these come from the Finger Lakes. We asked if they had thought about making a straight Baco Noir, but apparently they don't grow enough Baco Noir for that.
The 1999 Vin Rouge is a blend of Baco Noir, Marechal Foch, Chancellor, and Chambourcin. A great, full red, this is rich and fruity, with peppery aspects. Very nice flavors. This would go wonderfully with a rich Italian meal.
The Cabernet Franc was not available for tasting, and the Riesling was sold out, so we went on to the Cayuga White semi-sweet dessert wine. This was light and fruity, and would be a great compliment to an apple pie or tart, or other fruity desserts.
The winery is open year round, and is very near to the other wineries in this area. Almost all of the 2000 gallons of wine they create each year is sold right at the winery. If you're visiting north of New York City, be sure to swing by and see what they have to offer!
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All content on the WineIntro website is personally written by author and wine enthusiast Lisa Shea. WineIntro explores the delicious variety and beautiful history which makes up our world of wine! Lisa loves supporting local wineries and encouraging people to drink whatever they like. We all have different taste buds, and that makes our world wonderful. Always drink responsibly.