Harpersfield Winery Taste

On the second installation of our Winemaker Wednesday series we featured the wine of Harpersfield Winery presented by the owner Patty Ribic. Chef Tim King and Pete Evanovich put out a spread of cold dishes that accompanied the wine perfectly with the Burgundy and Alsatian style wines the winery produces.

The two cold dishes offered was a lovely traditional Peruvian seafood Ceviche with scallops, shark, and whitefish; followed by a roasted vegetable gazpacho. Of course both of these were offered with handmade bread sticks, a cheese platter, and marscapone and chocolate sauce drizzled over crustini.

Before we get to the tasting notes, I'd like to mention a precursor. There was a bit of confusion on the supply of the wine we offered that day and only ended up featuring five of the six wines I promised. For those of you that showed up for this event, I am truly sorry for the confusion. I did however try to make up for it by opening a few bottles of unrelated Riesling to sample out to those who were willing to try. But enough about my downfalls and lets get on to the wine.

Harpersfield Winery is a unique winery located just outside of Geneva, Ohio. While Harpersfield has been around for decades, it only recently was bought and transformed the winemaking into into a French-based wine concept. The winery concentrates most of its 18 acre vineyard on the Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir varietals giving it that extra Burgundian/Alsatian flair. The wine itself isn't excluded from the old world style offered by the wineries French farmhouse decor. For more about Harpersfield please visit: www.harpersfield.com

Our first offering from this great winery was a Alsatian favorite Gewürztraminer. Gewürztraminer is slowly gaining popularity among American Riesling drinkers. The often mispronounced (ga-VERTZ-trah-mee-ner) and greatly misunderstood varietal offers a fantastic floral nose that other white varietals can't live up to. The Harpersfield 2005 Gewürztraminer "St. Fiacre" (retail $18) is deep gold in color with heavy honeysuckle and floral perfume reminiscent of the great Gewürztraminers coming from the Alsace. This great summer varietal is lightly effervescent upfront with a long fruity semi-dry finish. The strong floral tones and lightly semi-dry finish in this wine allow it to compliment any spicy dish. I suggest pairing this with pan seared scallops and Thai fried bananas.

The next wine we featured in the taste is a must have for any Chablis drinkers. While the Harperfield 2005 Chardonnay "Fut de Chene" (retailing at $24) tends to be on the pricier side for an Ohio Chardonnay, it still exhibits great value for its quality. "Fut de Chene" loosely translates to aged in oak barrels in French. John is responsible for introducing me to the elegance of French Chardonnay. Harpersfield does a fantastic job at retaining the minerality and elegance of Chablis Chardonnay but still shows the depth that Chardonnay offers in parts of Napa Valley. This Burgundian beauty offers an earthy nose with slight suggestions of tropical fruit. Full crisp fruit leads to a nice mellow lightly buttery finish. Try pairing this beauty with lobster in a Champagne butter sauce, spinach parpadelle noodles and salmon roe caviar.

For our next selection we offered a varietal that does well in the Great Lakes climate. The Harpersfield 2004 Vin Gris de Chambourcin retails for $18 and is another great summer wine offered by the winery. Chambourcin is a French hybrid varietal that was widely popular in the 1970's. While most wineries offer this full aromatic varietal as a red selection, Harpersfield offers their Chambourcin as a rosé. This light pink wine offers strawberry, watermelon, and pear on the nose. Luscious fruit flavors lead to a long balanced finish. This was my favorite wine of the night and perfect for the patio on warm summer nights. John suggested serving this wine lightly chilled and after tasting I agree with the suggestion. Try pairing this wine with grilled tuna salad sandwiches with lemon-habanero mayonnaise and watercress.

Our first red selection for the evening was the Harpersfield 2005 Pinot Noir "Clos Mes Amis" (retail $25). Harpersfield does a fantastic job crafting cool climate Pinot Noir into an elegant wine that would stand up to many of its Burgundian counterparts. The 2001 vintage of this wine won a bronze medal in a state wine competition. Much like the "Fut de Chene" this wine exhibited a nice balance between old world and new world styles. "Clos mes Amis" offers nice cherry, cocoa, and dark fruit essences on the nose. The palate offers full fruit flavors leading to a long smooth rounded finish. Try pairing this fantastic red with crepes fruits de mer.

We ended the evening with an Ohio offering of a Bordeaux varietal. Cabernet Franc is a tough little black grape that tends to do well in the Northern cooler climates. Thanks to DNA fingerprinting it has been established that this varietal is one of the parent varietals to Cabernet Sauvignon. The Harpersfield 2005 Cabernet Franc (retail $25) is deep ruby in color and has elements of black cherry, strawberry, and spice on the nose. Full and fruity upfront leading to a nice subtle plumy finish this wine is a very elegant example of this varietal. Try pairing this wine with grilled pork burgers indochine and potato frittes.

Thanks again for your ongoing support of events like this and I look forward to seeing you at another one in the near future. All the recipes on this weeks blog were sourced from www.foodnetwork.com. Until next time remember to to keep an open mind and an open mind.