Winemaker Notes
Apart from the classics, we find many regional gems of different styles.
Late harvest wines are probably the easiest to understand. Grapes are picked so late that the sugars build up and residual sugar remains after the fermentation process. Ice wine, a style founded in Germany and there referred to as eiswein, is an extreme late harvest wine, produced from grapes frozen on the vine, and pressed while still frozen, resulting in a higher concentration of sugar. It is becoming a specialty of Canada as well, where it takes on the English name of ice wine.
Vin Santo, literally “holy wine,” is a Tuscan sweet wine made from drying the local white grapes Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia in the winery and not pressing until somewhere between November and March.
Rutherglen is an historic wine region in northeast Victoria, Australia, famous for its fortified Topaque and Muscat with complex tawny characteristics.
Among its rugged and diverse landscape, North Carolina’s exciting wine trails boast well over 100 unique wineries. Already abundant in regional food, festivals, art and music, the North Carolina wine experience merges seamlessly with its local culture.
Vineyards appear in three distinct regions: Mountains, Piedmont and the Coast. The Mountains region includes the rugged Blue Ridge Mountains, while the Piedmont region’s art and food culture offers the perfect setting for any wine tour. The Coast remains unsurpassed in beauty and charm. All three regions include official AVAs (American Viticultural Areas).