Mastropietro Wine Taste, Feb 15th

This week's Thursday Night Flight Night was a unique experience. John and I decided that as local wine represenatives we should promote local wineries and wine makers. The first in our series of Ohio Wine Makers is our good friend Dan Mastropietro. Dan, being a long time hobbiest, recently realized his dreams and created an new cutting edge wine making facility in Berlin Center, Ohio. While still young in his wine making Dan has proven to create some very elegant representations of California classics. Because Dan currently buys all his fruit (he expects his first yeild on his newly planted vines next year) all of his bottles are labeled without vintage. As he begins to create more wine from his own grapes that should change. But anyway, with good wine comes good food. Chef Tim King put out a roasted red pepper bruchetta and a cheese platter to accompany the wine for the evening.

We started the taste with the sweetest and most popular white the winery has to offer. Dolce Bianco (retailing at $12) is 100% Niagara grape with a 12% ABV & a pale yellow gold complexion. The nose has fresh pineapple, grapefruit, and carnation with a hint of mushroom in the finish. Dolce Bianco is off-dry upfront but not cloying, leading to a subtle acidic tang in the mid-palate and finishing balanced with a slight citrus tone of navel and cranberry. This was definitely a crowd pleaser on Thursday, and as one patron mentioned led to a sense of nostalgia of early wine of the North East States (his grandmother grew Niagara grapes). Try this wine with a grilled chicken breast topped with a pineapple chutney or a deep fried calamari tossed in a Thai vinaigrette and topped with roasted corn and tomato relish.

Next we moved to the Chardonnay (retailing at $14). At 14% ABV this golden hay colored wine had a creamy & floral essence with a slight nutty tone. Mellow and light fruit lead to a smooth effortless buttery finish. The overall simplicity to this wine was refreshing proving that this nicely balenced and quite easy drinking wine could hold up to many of the American Chardonnays in the same price point. Pair this wine with a warm goat cheese and artichoke salad with asparagus and fresh greens tossed with a lemon vinaigrette or an apricot glazed barbeque half chicken with rice.

The people's choice for the taste was the Chambourcin (retailing for $12) at 12% ABV. Chamboucin is a fungus resistant hybrid varietal that was popular in the seventies as a table wine in Bordeaux and the Loire Valley. The late ripening quality of the grape makes it a great candidate for growth in the cooler Ohio climate. This light ruby wine has elements of cherry, black raspberry, and a hint of brussel spout on the nose. Light and fruity in style with a slightly tart semi-dry finish this wine proves to be an excellent representation of the Chambourcin grape. Try this wine with a ricotta and asiago stuffed hungarian pepper in a tomato and red pepper pommodoro sauce.

The fourth wine of the evening was Dan's Merlot (retail $16) with a 13% ABV. His cloudy pale red wine had a unique take on the Merlot grape. The nose led to nutty tones with ripe berry and a slight kick of petrol in the back end. This medium-bodied Merlot is fruity in the mid-palate with a long dry semi-oaked & slightly spicy finish. I could only assume that Dan Mastropeitro takes French approach at this varietal which may be the reasoning in the subtleness of this wine. This Merlot specifically would make a great addition to any blend. Try drinking this wine with orange glazed pork tenderloin served with roasted potato wedges & steamed garlic broccoli.

We ended the taste with my favorite wine (of course). Mastropietro's Zinfindel (retailing at $16) is a modest 12.5% ABV and deep ruby in color, although not opaque. The nose offers light cherry & raspberry with slightly creamy tones. A Fruit-forward Zinfindel with off-dry plum flavors in the mid-palate and a bitter-sweet chocolate oaked finish that leads to a short burst of black pepper in its' grand finale. This is a very elegant example of a light, balanced Zinfindel without overpowering fruit. This wine would go great with a pan seared duck breast finished with a Zinfindel port wine cranberry reduction.

Thanks again, for reading this blog and I hope it's helping you keep your wines organized. This Thursday we will be featuring an all French taste with the wines from European Imports. I hope to see you all there and remember to keep an open eye and an open mind.

Please check out the Mastropeitro website at: www.mastropietrowinery.com
or check out the Ohio Wine Producers Association at: www.ohiowines.org