Monthly Archives: August 2015

August 22, 2015 · 9:04 pm

Little-known Lemburger is a big winner for a Finger Lakes wine producer

Lemberger, growing in popularity, garners top honor for Ventosa Vineyards in New York State’s 2015 competition.

By Alan J. Wax

Winner of the 2015 New York Governor's Cup

Winner of the 2015 New York Governor’s Cup

When was the last time you sipped a Lemberger? Likely, not lately.

But that could change as this little-known grape variety, originally from Germany and also grown in other parts of central Europe, finds new popularity.

Lemberger, a hardy, dark-skinned red wine grape that produces full-bodied, fruit-forward, peppery wines, has found a home in parts of Washington State and in New York’s Finger Lakes. Lemberger also is known as Blaufränkisch and several other names as well.

And it was a 2011 Lemberger from Ventosa Vineyards, on the northeast shore of Seneca Lake in Geneva, New York, that recently was crowned the top wine in the annual New York Governor’s Cup competition. This year, the competition’s 30th, attracted 858 entries from throughout the state, including Long Island, Hudson Valley, Finger Lakes, Niagara Escarpment and Lake Erie

You won’t find many Lembergers in your local wine shop. Astor Wines, among the largest wine merchants in New York City, sells but one, from Fox Run Vineyards, also on Seneca Lake. Wine.com lists 14 offerings, mostly from Washington, but all are as sold out. (Channing Daughter’s Winery in Bridgehampton, Long Island, produces a Blaufränkisch.)

In Germany, the Lemberger grape has enjoyed increasing popularity in recent years, according to the Wines of Germany web site, which noted that plantings have grown from about 400-500 hectacres in the 1980s to more than 1,750 hectacres.

Many Finger Lakes wineries produce Lemberger wines, in large measure due to the grape’s winter heartiness. A 1996 study by a group of Northeast researchers, including the well-respected Dr. Joseph A. Fiola of the University of Maryland, reported that vines can be hardy at 0°F to -10°F and that vines have survived temperatures as low as -13° F. Finger Lakes winters can be harsh. This past winter, the mercury dropped to as low as -10°F, which can kill half the buds on a grapevine.

The Ventosa Lambeger 2011 is estate grown — as are all the winery’s wines. But production is small, just 256, 12-bottle cases. The wine, aged in new Hungarian oak barrels, retails for $23.95 at the winery.

Wines at this 10-year-old producer, owned by Lenny and Meg Cecere, are made by Jenna LaVita, who honed her craft working under Peter Bell at Fox Run Vineyards; Eric Shatt, formerly head wine maker and vineyard manager at Ventosa, and Rob Thomas of Shalestone Vineyards.

Grapes for this year’s winning wine were planted in June 2004, after more than half of the vineyard’s red grape vines were destroyed by frost. The vineyard is just 23 acres and produces about 4,200 cases of wine annually, all made without the aid of herbicide sparys. Ventosa also produces Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Sangiovese.  Ventosa is also one of only two New York to grow and produce Tocai Friulano, a white Italian varietal (Millbrook Winery in the Hudson Valley is the other).

Ventosa’s online tasting notes describe its award winner as having “a powerful spicy oak nose, botanical notes of juniper and eucalyptus on the immediate palate. Sharp tannins, under-ripe blackberries, fiery pepper lingering on the finish.”

I can’t say I picked up the pepper, but it is a terrific wine, nonetheless. My notes: Almost inky. Spicy oak nose. Intense brambly character with juicy black fruits and oak notes. I found the tannins to be moderate. Lengthy finish. Enough here to convince me to try other Limburgers.

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August 16, 2015 · 4:08 pm

Drink a peach: beers with summer fruit

peach-image-free-1The pleasure of summer peaches savored in a glass.

By Alan J. Wax

Now is the time to sip some of summer in a bottle: beer made with peaches, the season’s best fruit.

That’s quite a range of peach beers to choose from, ranging from light,but slightly tart Belgian Lambics to monster strong ales.

Peach beers have long been made in Belgium, but American craft brewers are interpreting the notion of peaches and beers in a wide range of styles, from sweet to sour, from low gravity to high.

To be sure, not every variation works. Peaches typically have both sweetness and a touch of acidity. Some brewers can be right on target, while others make you sit back and scratch your heading wondering, “What was this brewer thinking?”

To me, a good beach beer should taste like fresh peaches, not the syrupy stuff that comes from a can. And you’ve got to taste the peaches. Otherwise, they’re wasted.

Recently, I sampled a number of peach-based beers with a tasting group. I found, without a doubt, that the Belgian’s have this nailed down.

i-lindemans-peche-lambicMy hand’s down favorite was Lindemans Pêche, a peach Lambic from Lindemans Brewery, Vlezenbeek, Flanders, Belgium. Just 2.5 percent ABV, this brew was made with water, barley malt, wheat, peach juice, sugar, natural peach flavor from peaches, hops, stevia and yeast. Charles Finkel, founder of beer importer Merchant du Vin suggested in the early 1980s that Lindeman should produce a peach Lambic.   This golden brew offered a big peach nose that was matched by ripe, peach flavors on the palate with a hint of acidity. I gave it 5*.

Moody Tongue NectarineSliced Nectarine IPA by Moody Tongue Brewing Co., of Chicago is a cloudy, deep golden brew with a huge head, nectarine and hop nose. (Nectarine is a variety of peach). Bitter notes slightly dominate the palate as you might expect in an IPA. It’s an IPA with nuance and a dry finish. 4*

St. Louis Premium Pêche from Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck in Inglemunster, Belgian was a bit of an oddity. Given to me by David Schultzer, owner of Bellport Cold Beer & Soda, this bottle was produced in 2006— nine years ago. Lambics are not really meant to be aged this long and this bottled showed it age. Sherry hued, it totally lacked carbonation. It was sweet and syrupy with a suggestion of peach cider. Still, not the worst of the lot, although far from the best. 3*

label_peach_berliner_weissePeach Berliner Weisse by Perennial Artisan Ales, of St. Louis, Missouri, is a cloudy pale gold brew with only mildly tart with hint of peach. 3*

Peach Grand Cru by Great Divide Brewing Company, Denver, Colorado is a copper-hued brew in the style of a Belgian strong ale. There’s just a hint of peach on nose and great lacing on the glass. There appears to be tons of candi sugar in here, but it struck me as pancake syrup with some alcoholic heat and sweet finish. I wondered, where’s the peach? 2.75*

Festina Pêche from Dogfish Head Brewing, Milton, Delaware, is a 4.5 percent ABV brew in the Berliner Weisse style. Lightly hopped and pale straw in color, the peach, the brewer says, is used to offset the tartness of the style, in the manner that a Berliner would use woodruff of raspberry syrup. It’s soft and mild brew with just a hint of peach. A disappointment. 2*

Son of a Peach by RJ Rockers Brewing Company, Spartanburg, South Carolina,is cloudy gold, unfiltered American wheat ale. There’s a hint of peach on the nose, but the palate suggests bitter peach pits. Real dry finish. 2*

Unity VibrationI wasn’t quote sure what to make of Bourbon Peach American Wild from Unity Vibration Living Kombucha Tea Co. of Ypsilanti, Michigan. This 7 percent ABV brew Is described by its producer as “a whimsical re-imagination of an American wild ale blurs the lines between kombucha tea and Belgian Lambic.” It’s fermented with a kombucha SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, including lactobacillus and Brettanomyces) and aged in oak bourbon casks with peaches. A cloudy, light hay-hued beer, it was tart and dry with the nose and palate of nail polish remover. Downright nasty, to be honest. ½*

Go ahead, sip the orchard-grown essence of the summer, but choose carefully if you want to have pleasant memories of these hazy, lazy days.

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August 8, 2015 · 10:30 pm

Getting Goosed at a craft beer festival

 A trio of beers from Goose Island prove to be among the best of the fest

Barry McLaughlin (1)

Goose Island rep Barry McLaughlin shows a bottle of Halia

By Alan J. Wax

Time to eat my words after drinking against my principals.

Since AB-InBev’s acquisition of Chicago’s Goose Island Beer Co. —and subsequently, Blue Point Brewing on Long Island and Elysian Brewing in Washington—I had made my mind up to pass up on their offerings and not support this industry giant.

I’d been loath to indulge in these AB crafty beers, particularly after the Budweiser commercial launched earlier this year that mocks craft brewers.

That changed today at the North Fork Craft Beer Festival on Long Island’s East End.

As I strolled through a dried patch of grass that was once a fairway at the Calverton Links Golf Club, I came upon the Goose Island Brewery booth staffed by Barry McLaughlin, a friend who is now the brewery’s representative for Long Island.

As it turns out, he was pouring the best beer I tasted at the event and two others that came darn close, all Goose Island products.

McLaughlin, who until recently marketed craft beers for AB distributor Clare Rose, poured me a few ounces of Halia, a sour elixir based on Goose Island’s popular farmhouse ale Sofie. Halia is Sofie aged on whole peaches in neutral wood barrels. It’s name means “remembrance of a loved one” in Hawaiian; Halia was brewed in memory of a friend of one of its brewers who loved peaches. It also sells for nearly $40 for a 765ml bottle.

Wow! What a delight this hazy golden 7.5 percent ABV brew proved to be. Brettanomyces dominated the nose and on the palate I puckered up for a hit of sharp lacto tartness. It’s juicy brew that offers up definite peach character. Not much oak there, but that was just fine. No distraction from the other flavors. 5 stars.

The beer is part of Goose Island’s barrel program, which encompasses thousands of wine and spirits barrels (Bourbon barrels, of course, are used for Goose Island’s much-sought-after Bourbon County Barrel Stout), filled with brew.

Next, McLaughlin poured me Gillian, another brew based on Sofie, but one with honey added. Goose Island’s web site describes it as inspired by an amuse bouche often prepared by the wife of one of its brewers. Gillian also is aged in part in wine barrels and made with Michigan strawberries and Michigan organic honey. This orange-hued beer boasts 9.5 percent ABV. It’s got a honeyed nose, rounded mouth feel and offers up fruity notes leading to a dry, tart finish. 4.5 stars.

Last in the Goose Island line up was the brewer’s 25th anniversary beer, an American wild ale from Goose Island’s Clybourn facility brewed in 2013 and also known as Brettanomite. The 6.3% ABV golden sour ale was tart and flavorful with an in-your-face brett character, it was juicy and a bit cidery. 3.5 stars.

So glad I was willing to keep an open mind about these beers. I’ll be happy to open my fridge door for Goose Island beers like these going forward.

 

 

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August 1, 2015 · 3:02 pm

Start-up beer exporter shipping East Coast craft beers to the UK

Bringing coals to New Castle? Not exactly, says the founder of newly launched Crafted Exports, which is shipping kegged craft beer to London pubs.

Bartender at London's Hop & Berry pub pours a glass of American craft beer

Bartender at London’s Hop & Berry pub pours a glass of American craft beer, Haproon UFO

By Alan J. Wax

A Brooklyn, New York, entrepreneur and his partners are attempting to capitalize on surging UK interest in American craft beer with a start-up business that is exporting U.S. craft beers and ciders to England.

Crafted Export's Peter Schneider

Crafted Export’s Peter Schneider

Peter Schneider, a former sales rep for Brooklyn-based Union Beer, and his partners in Crafted Exports Inc.   have sent their first shipment to London, where the beers are being distributed by UK importer Euroboozer Ltd.

Schneider’s partners in Crafted are Qurban Singh Walia, Schneider’s former colleague in a consulting business and an executive at a brewery in India, and Peter McNulty, a manager at a New York City marketing firm and former operations manager at Brooklyn’s Sixpoint Brewing Co.

Now four years out of George Washington University, where he received a BA in economics, Schneider began formulating plans for the beer export business some 18 months ago.

Craft beer, he said, “has always been an interest of ours. We like the way that craft beer … helps people become more thoughtful about what they’re consuming.”

The company’s initial shipment, which reached pubs last month, included such brands as Harpoon from Boston and Bronx Brewery, Captain Lawrence, Butternuts Beer & Ale, and Doc’s Cider, which are all from New York. “We wanted to bring over beers we liked and were geographically together,” he said, “We wanted to keep a reliable, fresh supply chain. We wanted a portfolio that cut across boundaries a little bit.”

A second shipment already is at sea. “We’ve been getting a lot of great feedback,” Schneider noted.

Crafted Exports' current beer export portfolio

Crafted Exports’ current beer export portfolio

Crafted’s East Coast-oriented portfolio made it possible to ship beers more quickly to the UK, Schneider said. “Our main focus to get beer to the consumer as fast as possible.” That meant, he said, “changing the supply chain. “

Crafted leases 30-gallon steel kegs from a third-party logistical provider, which delivers them to the breweries and then recovers them in the UK, where they are cleaned, refilled with different product and shipped back to the U.S. Crafted buys the beer from each brewery, aggregates the kegs at a New Jersey warehouse before shipping them in temperature-controlled containers to the UK, where importer Euroboozers takes over.

The beers are being poured strictly at bars and restaurants. The brews were launched on July 22 at the Hop & Berry, a pub that hitherto offered only beers brewed in London. Pints of the American beers at the Hop & Berry sell from £5.20 (about $8) to £6 (about $9.35). Other pubs offering the beers include the well-known White Horse at Parson’s Green and the Draft House mini-chain.

The American brewers are excited to enter these new markets, Schneider said, noting that brewers often receive requests to export their products, but ignore them due to logistical issues. Schneider said Crafted’s platform got the brewers’ attention to ship to such markets such as London, which offer new growth.

“For a couple of young enterprising guys it was quite refreshing to see the level of drive and effort they put in prior to pitching their proposal,” said Chuck Williamson, owner/operator at Butternuts in Garrattsville, New York.

As for having his beer in the UK, Williamson said, “I think it is a great thing for Butternuts Beer & Ale. I have for years had requests from UK consumers that have come to New York City and had the Pork Slap in particular and wanted to know if they can get it when they get home.” Williamson said “It was good timing really for me,” he added, noting that he’d talked exporting with other firms, “We will see where the next few years takes us, but I think in general U.S. export of beers, done right, will be a great thing for our industry.”

And while bringing beer to the UK, where in 2014 there were 1,285 breweries—more breweries per person than anywhere in the world, may seem like shipping coals to Newcastle, Schneider says there’s keen interest among British drinkers in American craft beer. “This is an exciting new opportunity.”

Added Euroboozer founder Martyn Railton, who already imports Rogue Ales: “America has some of the most unique craft beers, breweries and beer characters in the world so it’s great to be working with some of the best of them. Our American range has been seeing double digit year-over-year growth and with the trend for American food booming within the pub, restaurant, casual dining, street food and wider foodservice sectors, to use an American saying – I expect all these beers will knock it out of the park!”

The beers being marketed in the UK include:

Harpoon IPA, a 5.9% ABV New England-style brew.

Harpoon UFO, a 4.8% Belgian-style wit.

Bronx Session IPA, a 5.0% ABV brew.

Bronx Rye Pale Ale, a 6.3% brew produced with malted and flaked rye.

Captain Lawrence Freshchester Pale Ale, a 5.5% ABV West Coast-style brew.

Captain Lawrence IPA, a 6.5% brew.

Butternuts Pork Slap Pale Ale, a 4.3% beer brewed with a touch of fresh ginger.

Butternuts Moo Thunder Stout, a 4.9% ABV milk stout that pays tribute to the Butternuts Brewery’s former life as a dairy.

Doc’s Draft Hard Apple Cider, a 5% ABV semi-dry, effervescent cider.

Doc’s Draft Dry Hopped Hard Cider, a 5.5% ABV dry-hopped cider.

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