Loren Sonkin
Loren Sonkin
The middle of November is rivalry time in the world of college football. It is also the time of year when the retailers and restaurant start blaring Le Beaujolais est Arriv. For many, there is no connection between the two, but not for my friend and wine lover Andrew Hall. You see Andrew lives in Columbus, Ohio. There may not be a city in the country more crazed over its college football team, in his case, the Ohio State Buckeyes. And, there may not be a more storied or bitter college rivalry than Ohio State vs. Michigan. So bitter is the rivalry, that the word Michigan is rarely uttered by the denizens of Columbus, euphemistically referring to them, as did former OSU coach Woodrow Hayes, as that school up north. The last game of the Big Ten football season always features these two teams.
I am not sure why or how, but the idea came to Andrew that during the madness that ensues in the week before the big game, this would be a great time to focus on the wine industries of these two states. Andrew, being the gourmand and wine lover that he is, also observed that this would be a great time to take the focus away from Beaujolais Nouveau. Neither I nor Andrew wants to give the impression that we dont like wines from this often maligned region near Burgundy. Far from it, there are some hard working producers making great wines capable of ageing that are absolutely worth buying. It is the Beaujolais Nouveau wines, made from grapes that were hanging on the vines just two short months before and now flood our grocery stores every November, that were the target for this assault. Wouldnt it be great, Andrew thought, if instead of these banana and cherry juice flavored wines, the restaurant and grocery store communities of Columbus and Ann Arbor, and even the whole state of Ohio and Michigan capitalized on the excitement of the game and used that week to promote the local wine industries?
So, on a cold and snowy day in November, I found myself driving down Interstate-71 to attend the first of what hopefully will become an annual battle of the Ohio versus Michigan wines. Andrew had accumulated the wines and in fact, been up in Ann Arbor a few nights before where he had assembled a group of Michigan wine lovers to go thru the same tasting. It must be noted that Andrew did this out of his love for wine and purchased most, if not all of these wines, himself. Hopefully, as this event grows in stature, more wineries will participate by submitting their wines to him for the tasting.
The first flight consisted of Sparkling wines. Before you laugh, let me tell you that some of the best domestic sparkling wines I have had came from the L. Mawby winery in northern Michigan. We tasted three wines from Shady Lane, L. Mawby and Ravenhurst. All three were good wines. The group preferred the Shady Lane and at $24 an excellent value. My favorite was the Ravenhurst from, surprisingly enough, north central Ohio. At $38, however, I doubt I am a buyer. As a group, these were nice crisp wines with lots of bubbles.
The next grouping was labeled simply aromatic whitesAll of the wines in the flight cost between $10 and $20 a bottle. The groups clear and overwhelming winner was the Ferrante Golden Bunches Riesling. In fact, this was the highest scoring wine of the tasting! At $15, this is a clear winner and a wine worth buying.
The next category was described to us simply as Whites. The wines in this category ranged from $10 to $50 per bottle. Personally, I found the Bel Lago Auxerrois more enjoyable than the group but I am not a fan of most Chardonnay. My favorite of the Chardonnays was the Wyncroft.
There were also two flights of red wines. There were no dessert wines in this inaugural event. That is too bad as some of the best wines in this area are the late harvest and ice wines. The grapes take advantage of the warm lake air and can mature until late in the season. These dessert wines have a similar climate to the famous Niagara dessert wines. I often take these wines when visiting winemakers in other parts of the world. They are, in my opinion, some of the best Ohio and Michigan have to offer.
For a more comprehensive review of all the wines tasted please see my article here: http://www.intowine.com/ohio-state-vs-michigan-’s-right-i’m-talking-wine
Disclaimer: I write about Italian and French Wine Regions for www.intowine.com
I am not sure why or how, but the idea came to Andrew that during the madness that ensues in the week before the big game, this would be a great time to focus on the wine industries of these two states. Andrew, being the gourmand and wine lover that he is, also observed that this would be a great time to take the focus away from Beaujolais Nouveau. Neither I nor Andrew wants to give the impression that we dont like wines from this often maligned region near Burgundy. Far from it, there are some hard working producers making great wines capable of ageing that are absolutely worth buying. It is the Beaujolais Nouveau wines, made from grapes that were hanging on the vines just two short months before and now flood our grocery stores every November, that were the target for this assault. Wouldnt it be great, Andrew thought, if instead of these banana and cherry juice flavored wines, the restaurant and grocery store communities of Columbus and Ann Arbor, and even the whole state of Ohio and Michigan capitalized on the excitement of the game and used that week to promote the local wine industries?
So, on a cold and snowy day in November, I found myself driving down Interstate-71 to attend the first of what hopefully will become an annual battle of the Ohio versus Michigan wines. Andrew had accumulated the wines and in fact, been up in Ann Arbor a few nights before where he had assembled a group of Michigan wine lovers to go thru the same tasting. It must be noted that Andrew did this out of his love for wine and purchased most, if not all of these wines, himself. Hopefully, as this event grows in stature, more wineries will participate by submitting their wines to him for the tasting.
The first flight consisted of Sparkling wines. Before you laugh, let me tell you that some of the best domestic sparkling wines I have had came from the L. Mawby winery in northern Michigan. We tasted three wines from Shady Lane, L. Mawby and Ravenhurst. All three were good wines. The group preferred the Shady Lane and at $24 an excellent value. My favorite was the Ravenhurst from, surprisingly enough, north central Ohio. At $38, however, I doubt I am a buyer. As a group, these were nice crisp wines with lots of bubbles.
The next grouping was labeled simply aromatic whitesAll of the wines in the flight cost between $10 and $20 a bottle. The groups clear and overwhelming winner was the Ferrante Golden Bunches Riesling. In fact, this was the highest scoring wine of the tasting! At $15, this is a clear winner and a wine worth buying.
The next category was described to us simply as Whites. The wines in this category ranged from $10 to $50 per bottle. Personally, I found the Bel Lago Auxerrois more enjoyable than the group but I am not a fan of most Chardonnay. My favorite of the Chardonnays was the Wyncroft.
There were also two flights of red wines. There were no dessert wines in this inaugural event. That is too bad as some of the best wines in this area are the late harvest and ice wines. The grapes take advantage of the warm lake air and can mature until late in the season. These dessert wines have a similar climate to the famous Niagara dessert wines. I often take these wines when visiting winemakers in other parts of the world. They are, in my opinion, some of the best Ohio and Michigan have to offer.
For a more comprehensive review of all the wines tasted please see my article here: http://www.intowine.com/ohio-state-vs-michigan-’s-right-i’m-talking-wine
Disclaimer: I write about Italian and French Wine Regions for www.intowine.com