Gift Guide: NH Wines for Everyone on Your List

Wine is a great holiday gift, especially when it comes from a New Hampshire winery and supports local businesses. Here are some suggestions sure to please every wine lover on your list.

Coffin Cellars in Webster makes an Apple Wine that celebrates one of fall’s favorite fruits and utilizes apples that would otherwise only be acceptable for cider or compost. Using fruit from Carter Hill Orchard in Concord, the Austins have created a wine that is crisp and smooth, perfect for white wine drinkers. At only $15 a bottle, it is also a very affordable gift. You can pick up a bottle at the winery, open year round on weekends from 1 to 5 p.m. or at many local retailers, including the Concord Co-Op, Korner Kupboard and River Hill Market, all in Concord.

For the port or dessert wine fan, Hermit Woods Winery recommends their 2012 Deep Blue, an intense after dinner treat loaded with blueberry aromas and flavors. This wine is not only delicious, but contains antioxidants and nearly a pound of low bush blueberries in each bottle. This wine was just released this year
Earlier this year, Bob Manley, Hermit Woods co-owner, described this wine as a “party in the mouth” and suggested trying it drizzled over blueberry pie and ice cream.

At $32 a bottle, this wine is worth the splurge. Hermit Woods Winery is currently closed for the season before they open in their new location in Meredith next year, but this wine is available at Oglethorpe’s in Meredith. There, you can pick up a handcrafted gift to go along with the wine.

Zorvino Vineyard’s number one selling wine, Fragole Z, also makes a great gift for a variety of wine lovers. “Fragole” means strawberry in Italian and this wine is loaded with luscious fruit aromas and flavors without being too sweet. At $14.99, it is affordable and can be found at the winery in Sandown or at many gourmet shops and wine retailers.

In addition to an impressive selection of many grape and fruit wines, Zorvino’s tasting room also includes a variety of gift items, including cork holders, gourmet foods and clothing.

Jewell Towne Vineyards in South Hampton recommends their Seyval, an off-dry, crisp white wine with hints of pear and apple. The grapes are grown right in the on-site vineyards, which span across the border of New Hampshire into Massachusetts.

According to owner and winemaker Peter Oldak, “Seyval is a white grape variety which does very well in the New Hampshire terroir. It makes a wine that is excellent with poultry or fish or as a sipping wine. It would be a nice complement to a Christmas dinner.”

Like Zorvino, the Jewell Towne tasting room also contains a selection of great gifts for wine lovers, including handy branded tote bags perfect for carrying wine to holiday gatherings.

If you know a white wine fan who likes something light and sweet, get them a bottle of Sweet Baby Vineyard’s Niagara. According to owner and winemaker Lewis Eaton, “This wine is perfect for the holidays and pairs with ham, turkey and a wide range of desserts.”

It can be purchased at the Kingston winery or at several other retail locations. Niagara is a cousin of the Concord grape that originated in New York. It produces wines that are slightly more ‘grapey’ but still very drinkable.

This wine is available at the Kingston winery or at several retail locations. They recently redesigned their labels, which are eye-catching yet sweet. Pair a bottle of wine with a set of their stemless glasses as the perfect gift set.

If you are in the southwestern part of the state, pick up a bottle of Barnett Hill Blush from Walpole Mountain View Winery. This semi-sweet blush wine is a blend of eight grapes with aromas of spicy orange and sweet tea and tart kiwi flavors.

According to owner and winemaker Virginia Carter, this wine pairs well with a turkey dinner with all of the fixings, complementing sweet and savory dishes because it isn’t too sweet or dry, with some fruit. As it is a blend, it is also a good choice if you aren’t sure if someone likes red or white.

All of the grapes in this wine are grown right in Walpole Mountain View’s vineyard and is available for $16 at the winery and in area stores. Stemless glasses are also available in the tasting room.

New Hampshire wines make great gifts because they support local businesses, and in many cases, local farmers as well. If you can’t get to one of the wineries, look for these wines at several supermarkets like Shaw’s, Hannaford and Market Basket and in N.H. Liquor and Wine Outlets.

In addition to glassware, these wines can be paired with a variety of accessories, including decanters, wine charms, toppers and chillers.

Barrel Tasting Weekend: A Look at Last Year

Mark your calendar for this year's Lakes Region Wine Barrel Tasting, October 5-6. This year, Newfound Winery is being added to the list. Here is my column from last year on this fabulous event. For more information on this year's event, read on here. Newfound Lake Vineyards is new this year. 

Our 2012 Barrel Tasting Group

Six Lakes Region wineries recently held a Wine Barrel Tasting Weekend, which is like a regular wine tasting with an added bonus: a chance to try wines right out of barrel while they are still aging. I had been waiting for this weekend for months and it definitely lived up to my expectations.

Because I had already visited five out of the six locations in the past, I was really looking forward to trying some different wines and learning more about the process right from the winemakers.

A group of us piled into my friend’s Jeep and headed out on the tasting trail. Our first stop was Coffin Cellars in Webster, where Tim Austin and his mom and helper Lorna had apple and blackberry wines to taste, in addition to their already bottled raspberry, cranberry pomegranate, jalapeno and lime wines.

The apple wine is made from a sweet blend press of fruit from a local orchard. It is my favorite Coffin Cellars wine to date, with a great balance of tartness and sweetness.
Blackberry is not a new wine for Coffin Cellars, as winemakers Austin, his brother Jamie and father Peter get the berries from their family fields. It is always very popular, as it captures the essence of blackberries in a well-balanced wine that is semi-sweet and delicious.

Our next stop was Haunting Whisper Vineyards in Danbury where husband and wife team Eric and Erin craft an great selection of wines. Erin greeted us downstairs, where we tried carmenere, DeChaunac and syrah right from stainless steel tanks. She reminded us that these wines still have some aging to do and will further develop over time, with some reaching their full potential in another year.

Many of my friends enjoyed the carmenere and syrah, which where both a little bit too dry for my taste, while I really enjoyed the DeChaunac. Even at this step in the process, it was fruit-forward and had a nice berry aroma.

I am never disappointed by Haunting Whispers’ wines and ended up purchasing a bottle of Sunapee Red, a new offering this year. A blend of leon millot and marechal foch grapes, it has an earthy aroma but a tasty, surprising candy apple flavor and smooth finish.

Ken Hardcastle, Hermit Woods Winery

Our third stop was Hermit Woods Winery in Sanbornton, where we had the chance to taste two Chilean wines directly out of French oak barrels. Ken Hardcastle, one of the Hermit Woods winemakers, was in the downstairs area of the winery giving tastings of the four-month old syrah and carmenere, which will not reach their peak for some years. The wines are barrel aged for four to 20 months, Hardcastle explained, which helps the tannins develop and “marries together nicely” the fruit and oak. Both wines were slightly dry and the syrah had notes of pepper and spice. It will be interesting to try their finished products in the future.

Our last stop on the group tour was Stone Gate Vineyard in Gilford, where Peter Ellis greeted us in the lower level of his winery with samples of young vignoles and frontenac. The vignoles was dry while the frontenac displayed some of its fruit character found in the finished product. Upstairs, when we tried the bottled vignoles, it was fruit forward, with notes of honey and pear.

Kelly & I at Stone Gate Vineyard

I had to purchase a bottle of apple wine, made from a blend of macintosh, macoun and cortland apples from an orchard down the street. It is light and tart, much like the apple wine at Coffin Cellars.

Because our group ran out of time on the first day, my mom and I visited the two remaining wineries on the second day of the event, stopping first at Gilmanton Winery. Here we met winemaker John Jude, a former chemistry teacher originally from California, who works with owner Marshall Bishop to craft the array of Gilmanton wines. He explained the winemaking process, including the different steps red and white wines take from the beginning of production. He also showed us a refractometer and hygrometer, two key winemaking measurement tools that measure the sugar level and the right time to bottle, respectively.

We tried young carmenere and merlot, bottled recently at the winery and varietals that will get better with age. The carmenere was peppery and spicy, with notes of tobacco. The winery’s current carmenere, and the wine Jude said he is very proud of due to its depth and overall character, sold out over the weekend due to its popularity.

I brought home a bottle of Blue Berry Surprise, a wine recently made at the winery from local blueberries. 

Our last stop on the tour was Sap House Meadery in Center Ossipee where young entrepreneurs Ash Fischbein and Matt Trahan make a variety of meads, or honey wines. I had never been to Sap House before, but it was definitely worth the trip. The building is beautifully decorated, warm and cozy, and their offerings are unique.

I entered the Meadery thinking I wasn’t going to like anything, but I left with a bottle of their Vanilla Bean Mead, which is sweet and smooth with the finish of cream soda. Trahan also let us try it with hot apple cider and it was a great combination. He said it is probably his favorite Sap House Meadery offering. My mind has definitely been changed.

We tried a traditional honey mead and the sugar maple mead, still going through the barrel aging process. They were stronger than the bottled meads but still very tasty.

This event, which I called ‘Christmas for wine lovers’, was a great experience. Not only did we get to meet all of the winemakers, but we got a better glimpse into all of the hard work it takes to make the finished product we all appreciate so much. 

Hermit Woods Wine Dinner

This text will appear in the Hippo on Thursday, May 30 in my wine column. But this wine dinner was so good I wanted to share additional links and photos. 

What happens when a local winery, restaurant and bed and breakfast come together? In short, there’s great wine, delicious food and excellent hospitality. This was my experience at Hermit Woods Winery’s second annual Wine Release Dinner, the event that marks the beginning of the winery’s season and introduces members of the media to their offerings.

A group of us met at Hermit Woods Winery, located in Sanbornton near Steele Hill Resort. The boutique winery opened in 2011, offering wines made from grapes, fruit and honey (meads). Co-owners Bob Manley and Ken Hardcastle greeted us, noting Chuck Lawrence, a commercial pilot, was in Portugal. Hardcastle, a geologist by trade and the winery’s chief winemaker, said their goal is to use local fruits and products to create classical style, dry wines.

“Every year Ken achieves more unique combinations, bringing out the qualities in the wines,” said Manley. “This is our second annual wine release dinner and we want to make this a tradition.” 

Our group tried seven different wines, beginning with the 2012 Whiteface, a new fruit wine made with whole quince, rhubarb, peaches and rosehips. While this combination may not sound like something you expect in a wine, it has lovely aromas of peaches and a light hue. I found this wine to be very unique but pleasant with a nice smooth finish. A limited quantity will be available at the winery.

The 2012 Kiwi Wine is something I was really looking forward to trying, as past batches have sold out before I had the chance. The 2012 wine was made with two local organic kiwi varieties, chosen for their tartness. This wine has great aromas and flavors of honeydew melon. It is off dry and could be compared to a Riesling, but has its own uniqueness and isn’t overly sweet. 

As Hermit Woods has been open for a couple of years now, they are able to age some of their wines. One example of that is their 2011 Blue Mead, a blend of two separate wines: blueberry wine and honey mead. This wine is off dry and should be served slightly chilled. The 2011 Elderberry Oak is another example of an aged fruit wine, similar to the elderberry wine but this one is fermented warmer and aged in an oak barrel. 

One wine made from grapes at Hermit Woods is the 2011 Ermitano, a cabernet sauvignon made from Chilean grapes. “Ermitano” means hermit in Spanish, and this wine is big, bold and deep red in color. Big red wine drinkers will enjoy this one, as it was aged in oak for seven months. 

One of my favorite wines of the night was the 2012 Deep Blue, an intense, port style wine made with low bush blueberries. The aroma of this wine is great and the finish is very smooth despite noticeable tannins and strong alcoholic heat. 

Following this tasting, the group of us headed to the Lake House at Ferry Point, a Sanbornton bed and breakfast on Lake Winnisquam where John and Cindy Becker are the innkeepers. There, Chef Kevin Halligan from Local Eatery in Laconia and his wife, Gillian, were busy preparing a fabulous seven course menu, each course paired with a different Hermit Woods wine. First, we sampled a blueberry Bellini, made with Hermit Woods’ Hermitage wine. 

“It’s so exciting to share our wines with everyone. You are the first through the door to try them,” Hardcastle said as dinner began.

I have worked with Halligan in the past and eaten at Local Eatery restaurant, so I knew dinner was going to be amazing because he is such a great chef. He uses as many locally sourced products in his restaurant as he can, which supports local farms and businesses and equals a very high-quality product. He did an exceptional job pairing Hermit Woods’ wines with an exquisite menu and explaining his choice for each. 

We enjoyed pan-seared scallops paired with Lake House White; a lobster cocktail paired with Harvest Apple, a mixed greens salad paired with Three Honey Wine, braised rabbit paired with Knot Mead, pork medallions paired with Petite Blue Reserve and three cheese blintzes paired with Mélange. The last time I had such a wonderful meal was at Local Eatery earlier this year, but the wine pairing made it that much better. 

During the meal, I thought about what made Hardcastle and Halligan so good at what they do: they both respect their ingredients and celebrate the best qualities in their products. Hardcastle allows the grapes and fruit awaken the palate in his wine, while Halligan showcases each item on a plate, put there for a reason. 

One of my favorite pairings was the third course. The complex flavors in the award-winning Three Honey Wine went really well with the mixed greens, apples, honey glazed almonds, fresh goat cheese and honey ramp vinaigrette in the salad. 

“These were outstanding food and wine pairings,” Manley said, praising Halligan for his choices. “We are looking forward to continuing this tradition.”

Following dinner, some of us stayed at the Lake House, where we had a classic New England inn experience. I was lucky enough to be able to stay in the Sunrise Room, which has the inn’s best view of the lake. The Becker’s served an excellent breakfast in the morning of pancakes, sautéed strawberries and a local egg omelet. 

This experience was truly amazing and I was very thankful to be able to experience the wine, food and hospitality offered by these three local businesses. I was also very impressed with the wine and I highly recommend trying it. 

Hermit Woods Winery is now open for the season. Visit them weekends from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. until July and August, when they will also be open Wednesday through Friday from 1-5 p.m. 

Where's the Wine?

Lime wine from Coffin Cellars for Cinco de Mayo 

Anyone who knows me knows that wine is one of my favorite things, but not just to drink. For me, wine is an experience. It's learning about the winemaker and the grapes, how and why it was made, figuring out its "story." It's the reason I write a column in the Hippo every week. I enjoying learning something new and helping others learn too. I am definitely not an expert; there is so much to learn, but it's been a very fun process.

I have a very special place in my heart for New Hampshire wineries and I really enjoy visiting them. For a small state, New Hampshire has a good amount (I think the last count was 33?). I hope to visit all of them in the state at some point. I am making great progress but there are new ones opening up each year. 

So why aren't there any wine posts yet, you may ask?

There are plenty of wineries that stay open year-round and then there are some that open after Memorial Day. That is when I will really start to make my rounds. For now, visit the NH Winery Association's website for listings and locations.