• About
  • Indiana Wineries
  • Michigan Wineries
  • Wisconsin Wineries

Howard W. Hewitt

~ … The "W" stands for wine!

Howard W. Hewitt

Tag Archives: Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s Wollersheim Winery Gets National Acclaim

20 Tuesday Mar 2012

Posted by Howard in Midwestern States, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Philippe Coquard, Wisconsin, Wollersheim

Philippe Coquard, owner and winemaker at Wollersheim Winery

Any time a Midwestern winery can gain any top honor at a major, national wine competition it really should be big news. After visiting Wisconsin’s Wollersheim Winery early last year, I”m not surprised.

While the San Diego International Wine Competition is not a head turner, it is an international affair with 12 countries and nearly 2000 wines. Wollersheim was named winery of the year and won six awards. Read about it here.

Wollersheim Winery

Check out my blog entry from the day I visited Wollersheim with this link. And this link for the story I wrote and was published on Plate Press – The National Online Wine Magazine about Wisconsin wine. That story includes a short video clip and several comments from Philippe Coquard, owner and winemaker at Wollersheim.

UPDATE: Just found a story from the Sauk Prairie Eagle, Wollersheim’s hometown newspaper, about the honors. Read it here.

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • More
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Quick Takes on Four Recent Wines

24 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by Howard in California, France

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Chateau Lamothe de Haux 2010 White Bordeaux, Frontenac, Mas Janiny, Tim Abel, Unusual Suspects, Wisconsin

When I review a wine on my blog site I always try to make sure it’s one readers can usually find. Or, it’s a new wine varietal or something special worth reading about.

That’s the case with this post with one unusual variety, a great white and two darn good reds.

Ledgestone Vineyards 2008 Frontenac – I discovered Frontenac during a spring 2011 trip to Northern Wisconsin. The grape varietal was pioneered by former University of Minnesota icon Elmer Swenson. Tim Abel makes one of the few 100 percent bottling I found in Wisconsin.

The big red wine features very pronounced sour cherry flavor that’s just wonderful. This is a big tannic wine. It not only needs some age in the bottle but a healthy decant before drinking.

Here is a blog entry I wrote the day I visited Ledgestone and met Tim. You may or may not find Ledgestone, probably quite difficult to find outside of Wisconsin. But if you come accross a 100 percent bottling of the cold climate Frontenac it’s definitely worth the investment.

Ledgestone Vineyards 2008 Frontenac, $28, Very Highly Recommended.

Chateau Lamothe de Haux 2010 White Bordeaux – I write a lot about red wines which taste at a quality level far above their price points. Here is a white French wine that does the same thing. This beautifully drinkable white is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. It’s smooth yet crisp with a tart lemon flavor.

I had the wine with a shrimp and pasta dish – a perfect pairing. If you can’t find this particular label, just seek out a White Bordeaux. It’s one of the great value wines coming from the world’s most prestigious wine region.

Chateau Lamothe de Haux White Bordeaux, $12.99, Highly Recommended.

The other two wines are quicky recommendations. Mas Janiny Cabernet Sauvignon is a light bodied Cab from the Launguedoc from organic grapes. This a smooth drinking Cab that is excellent for new wine drinkers or those who just don’t want to be clobbered by the King of Grapes. $24,99, Recommended, available from The Organic Wine Company.

Unusual Suspects 2007 Red Blend – This Lodi Californa wine is a great value buy. I have written about it before but liked it even more on the second bottle. Think dark cherries and spice and a delightfully easy-to-drink red for under $25. The wine is made from  55 percent Carignan, 35 percent Tempranillo and 10 percent Grenache. It’s a real tasty, spicy value wine.

Send questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • More
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Recent Posts

  • Huber’s – Not just about wine anymore
  • Where have the all the biscuits gone?
  • Just what is a ‘bad wine?’

Grape Sense on Instagram

Have you met Karen? She works mid week mornings at the shop and is reminding everyone to join us for Saturday Sipps this weekend. We will be pouring the popular Auntsfield Sauv Blanc, another new Rose, and a Pinot noir from the Loire Valley! It all begins at 11 AM through the afternoon
Very mixed thoughts about an unplanned visit to Nonna’s Italian Italian in Plainfield just off I 70 from last night. Unexpectedly stuck in town for a couple of hours thought I would try it out it’s an odd set up where you have to order at the register. Calamari was great my salad was great the lasagna was good except for some odd white sauce top of the marinara which was delicious the white sauce was congealed and tasted bitter… The home-baked roll was delicious… The glass of Gabbiano Chianti was OK well I paid 1150 for a glass that sells for eight bucks … total bill $36 for those items which I thought was a little high mostly the wine cost. Service seem confused and disjointed but they were all very pleasant I’d probably give it a second chance not sure
Join Curt and I Saturday at the Wine Shop for Saturday Sipps. We will be pouring an unusual and delicious Austrian Rose, Italian Vermentino, and Sicilian red! Of course, all three 20 percent off Saturday only!
New coffee shop in Greenwood! Paul Jacquin, in photo, owner of Vino Villa has opened up Cafe Euclid in small house behind the wine shop and restaurant! Lovely patio for outdoor seating and good coffee!

Categories

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 3,651 other followers

Howard’s Wine Ratings

"Very Highly Recommended" - Drop everything and rush out to buy this wine!

"Highly Recommended" - Wine is varietally correct, well made, great balance, a must buy!

"Recommended" - Good wine and a good value. Not spectacular but a solid choice.

"Not Recommended" - Run the other direction.

Wine Travel Photos

My Magazine Stories

Friend Me On …

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Archives

My Summer With Lymphoma: Lymphoma, My Stem Cell Transplant

Good news on cancer and eyes

I have failed miserably at keeping ‘the cancer blog’ updated – and that’s a good thing, I suppose. I have now been “clean” since my April autologous stem cell transplant. I had a PET scan in June and a CT scan this week (Sept. 11) and both showed negative results. My oncologist was very pleased […]

Decisions, Decisions – Job & Health issues

  It’s been two weeks since my last update, one week-plus since I dropped one of my three antibiotics, and 97 days since my stem cell transplant for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.   So there are a few things to update and a few thoughts to share. Let’s start with the cancer. My team of oncologists at […]

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Howard W. Hewitt
    • Join 3,651 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Howard W. Hewitt
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d bloggers like this: