Category: South Atlantic

Season 2, Episode 22: “Petit Manseng Deep Dive with Greg Gonnerman”

On By makeamericagrapeagainpodcastIn French varietals, Podcasts, Podcasts with Winery guest stars, South Atlantic, Southwest, Varietal Deep Dives, Vinifera Wines, White WineLeave a comment

Petit Manseng is a grape that is not on the radar of average wine-drinkers. But, perhaps it should be. Coming originally from the Jurançon of France, Petit Manseng has begun to obtain a dedicated cult of followers scattered worldwide. Indeed, some writers such as Jancis Robinson suspect that this obscure little grape may be poised to become the next big white wine to break onto the sales market. No less a writer than the French poet Colette herself wrote of this varietal: “I was a girl when I met this prince; aroused, imperious, treacherous, as all great seducers are,” and with that quote in mind, it is perhaps no wonder that such wines, most of which are dessert wines, were advertised in their homeland with posters that read “Manseng means Jurançon, which means Sex.”

Today, Petit Manseng has now found homes as far afield from its homeland as Virginia, Arizona, Ohio, California, and Uruguay. As mentioned in the podcast, it is also on the shortlist of varietals to begin a wine industry in the Kingdom of Bhutan, also. The reason? The small, widely-spaced clusters make this grape more resistant to rot in humid, wet climates. Indeed, this is the same reason why Greg Gonnerman, our guest in this episode, loves this grape in his vineyard, located in the Willcox AVA. In season 2, Episode 22, Greg and I dive deep into Petit Manseng, drinking two vintages of the Greg’s from Callaghan Vineyards (made from grapes he grows), as well as a bottle from Granite Heights Winery, located in Warrenton, VA. We were tragically unable to find any French vintages to compare our stateside examples to, but since we recorded this episode near the start of Lent, that’s probably a good thing…

Drinking some Petit Manseng in a winter storm is a nice way to dream of summertime.

Season 2, Episode 8: “Everything’s gonna be Viognier.” (Viognier Deep Dive with Michelle Petree)

On By makeamericagrapeagainpodcastIn Mid-Atlantic, Podcasts, South Atlantic, Southwest, Vinifera Wines, White Wine, wine conceptsLeave a comment

First of all, let me apologize for the erratic upload schedule this January. There is a lot of stuff going on in my life right now; a struggle with depression, a struggle with finances, and my mother is on her deathbed. I beg pardon for not following my every 2-week schedule as I planned. Now, onto the blog. (If you want to help, please support the Patreon for this podcast!)

One of our very first episodes of season one focused on the supposed wonder of Virginia Viognier. As you may remember, neither Gary or I were impressed with the 2016 Horton Viognier and were deeply confused as to why Viognier was supposed to be the state grape of Virginia in the first place.  I told this to my friend Michelle Petree, who asked which one I had imbibed, and she proceeded to be horrified by my selection.  “Don’t worry,” she said, probably shaking her head sadly, “I’ll fix that for you. I know the good ones. The 2017 Viognier from King Family Vineyards is especially great.”

In return, I promised her my favorite bottle of Viognier from Arizona, the 2016 Rune Viognier, made by James Callahan. (He will be a guest in later episodes in season 2, so stay tuned!)  At some point, one of us (I can’t rightly remember who, lots of alcohol was involved…) decided we should drink these two wines side by side with a vintage from Viognier’s homeland, Condrieu… and settled on the 2017 De Poncins, from Francois Villard, as a comparison. And so this podcast was born.

Viognier, if you are unaware, has made a huge comeback in the last 60 years from near-extinction (in 1965, there were only 30 acres of this grape remaining) to a worldwide sensation, being grown across the world, from Arizona to New Zealand. Most of the Viognier acreage planted in the United States can be found in California, but it is also grown in 15 other states. One of the main reasons for Viognier’s fall from grace until the 1960s is due to the fact that this varietal is very difficult to grow, being prone to Powdery Mildew, as well as suffering unpredictable yields from one vintage to the next.

However, this grape is increasing in popularity as an attractive alternative to Chardonnay, so I feel we can only expect more Viognier to appear as time goes on. Watch this space!

viognier deep dive
So much Viognier to drink, so little time…

Episode 49: South Carolina

On By makeamericagrapeagainpodcastIn Muscadine Wines, Podcasts, Porchpounder-style wines, Red Wines, South Atlantic, Southeast2 Comments

Welcome to Episode 49 of the Make America Grape Again Podcast, where we explore The Palmetto State, South Carolina.  Our wine focus for this episode is the Lowcountry Red from Deep Water Vineyard, located on Wadmalaw Island.  The Lowcountry Red is made from 100% Ison grapes; a red muscadine varietal, grown in Charleston County, South Carolina. In this episode, featuring Peter and Sophia Gardner, we focus not only on the history of wine in South Carolina, but upon the use and theology of wine within the Eastern Orthodox Church which the three of us have in common. You see, Ison–the grape varietal used in this vintage–shares the same name as a major feature of Byzantine Chant… We also talk about synesthesia and wine tasting, which is a fascinating examination of just how subjective wine description can be-complete with how this wine tastes in song form.

The modern wine industry of South Carolina begins in 1953, with the establishment of Tenner Brothers, which focused on muscadine varietals.  Next to open was Truluck vineyards in 1978.  The owner, Jim Truluck, was instrumental in getting a farm winery bill passed in 1980, which allowed tastings and sales of wine on estate premises.  Despite this, he closed his winery in December of 1990. Most ambitious was the attempt made by Oakview Plantation in Woodruff; to make a 600,000-gallon winery.  Sadly, as this was prior to the farm winery bill, wholesalers opposed the winery.  Montmorenci vineyards opened in Aiken in July 1990, and as of the writing of Wines of Eastern North America, by Hudson Cattell, was the oldest still-operating winery in the state.  Deep Water Vineyard, formerly Irvin-House Vineyard, opened in 2012, and is situated on 48 acres of muscadine varietals.

Wine in South Carolina, like most of the deep south, is a difficult proposition. Hot and humid summers require growers to adapt their forms of canopy management so as to minimize direct sunlight on the grapes,  Furthermore, these grapes are often harvested earlier in the summer, to avoid possible risk from Hurricanes which can strike later in the season. This humid climate in the lowlands of South Carolina means that most grapes grown in the state are muscadine varietals (such as in this particular case). There are also many fruit wines being made in the state. A few vineyards located in the mountains are growing vinifera varietals.  Currently, the state has approximately 21 wineries, and there are no American Viticultural Areas in South Carolina.

This bottle was kindly donated for use in the podcast by Deep Water Vineyard themselves after I reached out to them. Thank you for providing this fantastic vintage!

deep water vineyards
The Lowcountry Red from Deep Water Vineyards is made from 100% Ison, sourced from their estate vineyard on Wadmalaw Island.

Episode 30: North Carolina

On By makeamericagrapeagainpodcastIn Muscadine Wines, South Atlantic, Southeast, White Wine3 Comments

Welcome to Episode 30 of the Make America Grape Again Podcast, where we explore North Carolina through the lens of one of the most unique indigenous grape species in the US: Muscadine!  Specifically, we drink the Hinnant Family Vineyards Scuppernong, made and grown near Pine Level, North Carolina.  The Scuppernong grape, as it turns out, is also the state fruit of North Carolina.

Muscadine grapes consist of various varietals within a unique genus of grape known as Muscadinia rotundifolia (although some botanists disagree that it should be a separate genus… but I’m going to trust whatever Gary, our resident botanist says on the subject.)  Native to the American Southeast, Muscadines have been cultivated extensively for fruit, juice, and wine production for hundreds of years.  Indeed, the oldest cultivated grapevine in the world is a Scuppernong vine in Roanoke, Virginia, known as the Mother Vine. It should also be noted that Scuppernong is one of the most abundant Muscadine varietals used for winemaking.

North Carolina has a vibrant winemaking history.  In the mid-19th Century, there were some 25 wineries in North Carolina, with extensive independent vineyards, to such an extent that North Carolina dominated the national market for American wines at the time. The American Civil War ended that market dominance, via damage to the industry through the loss of manpower and scarce capital, alongside various revocation of winemaking licenses due to regulatory retribution following the war.  Prohibition killed the final bits of the wine industry in North Carolina until the industry was born again in the 1950’s.

This revitalization began with the Scuppernong grape itself; when ten farmers in Onslow County planted twenty-five acres of this historic grape as the result of a promise made by an out-of-state winery.  This winery canceled the agreement when the grapevines started to produce, and so Raymond A. Harsfield opened a winery, called Onslow Wine Cellars, located at Holly Ridge. Scuppernong lead the charge in the rebirth of the wine industry in North Carolina, with French-American hybrid varietals following in their wake.  The first Vinifera grapevines were planted in North Carolina in 1980. Today, the North Carolina wine industry is booming, with four American Viticultural Areas (Haw River Valley AVA, Swan Creek AVA, Upper Hiwassee Highlands AVA, and the Yadkin Valley AVA), over 400 vineyards, and around 200 separate wineries.  Indeed, today North Carolina ranks tenth in both grape and wine production in the United States.

This bottle was acquired from Total Wine in Phoenix by yours truly, and there is an amusing anecdote associated with this bottle–find out more in the podcast!  The podcast also now has a Patreon: check it out here if you wish to support our habit of talking about what we drink.

north carolina
Gary is in his happy place with our North Carolina wine of choice for season one: the Hinnant Family Vineyards Scuppernong brings back fond memories.

 

Episode 18: Georgia

On By makeamericagrapeagainpodcastIn Podcasts, South Atlantic, Southeast, Vinifera Wines2 Comments

It is said that Georgia is a state of mind, but perhaps in actuality, wine in Georgia can be considered a state of confusion! The reason for this, is, of course, the American state of Georgia shares a name with the Republic of Georgia in the Caucasus Mountains, which has a very long history of winemaking going back an absolute minimum of 6,000 years.

The history of winemaking in the State of Georgia, on the other hand, is decidedly recent by this timescale.  While Georgia was an important winegrowing region of the United States in the 19th century (ranked sixth in production among U.S. states by 1900) this state suffered very early on from Prohibition.  The prohibition movement in Georgia took hold in 1907, derailing the industry here until, like so many states, the early 1980’s.

Today, Georgia is the leading producer of wines made from the various Muscadine grape varietals–a type of grape we will eventually meet on this podcast, I promise.  Georgia is also home to two AVAs, the Upper Hiwassee Highlands AVA, a bi-state appellation which covers parts of Cherokee and Clay counties in the southwestern North Carolina; along with Towns, Union and Fannin Counties in northwestern Georgia, and the Dahlonega Plateau AVA, (established in 2018) which covers most of Lumpkin, Dawson, White, Pickens, and Cherokee Counties. This AVA is about 133 square miles in size and includes (at last count) 7 wineries and 8 commercial vineyards totaling just over 110 acres of planted vines.

The wine we are looking at today, the 2011 Propaganda from Frogtown Cellars, comes from the Dahlonega Plateau AVA itself.  This wine is a blend of 57% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Petit Verdot, and 13% Malbec.  This, as we discussed in the Idaho episode, makes this wine a Bordeaux-style blend, which are often called Meritage blends in the USA–though that’s a subject for a later episode.

(As a tangent, I found myself rather impressed with the list of varietals they’re growing as a whole, incidentally: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese, Tannat, Touriga National, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Nebbiolo, Chambourcin, Teroldego, Norton, Chardonnay, Viognier, Marsanne, Roussanne, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris, Seyval Blanc, Petit Manseng, Vidal Blanc, Greco di Tufo and Muscato.  Dang.  Some of these are grapes we will visit in future podcasts, but I digress.)

This bottle of the 2011 Propaganda was kindly provided by friends Aileen and John, who also form my drinking cohorts for this episode, alongside an appearance from Mark Beres, the CEO of Flying Leap Vineyards.

It’s time for some Pro-Georgian wine Propaganda. Specifically, the 2011 Vintage.

Episode Four: Virginia

On By makeamericagrapeagainpodcastIn South Atlantic, Southeast1 Comment

Viognier is a grape with an intriguing history. This white grape, originally from the Northern Rhone Valley of France, and was almost extinct in the 1960’s, has now made a home here in America. For some reason, the State of Virginia has chosen this grape as its State Grape.

The Monticello AVA, where this particular wine we examine today is from, happens to be associated with Thomas Jefferson, one of the earliest American Vinophiles.  One of the earliest attempts at American viticulture was sponsored by this founding father.

In this episode, drinking the 2016 Viognier from Horton Vineyards, Gary and I honestly wonder why the heck this particular grape has become the State Grape of Virginia… because to be honest, this wine was disappointing for both of us. Why? Take a listen. (You can’t win them all, especially if you’re going in blind.)

This bottle was acquired by yours truly on a vacation trip to Washington DC, not from the tasting room, but from Wegman’s Grocery store… which has a surprisingly decent wine selection.

Horton 2016 Viognier
The 2016 Viognier from Horton Vineyards in Orange County, Virginia, is the center-point of Episode Four.