Author: vermontnews

Celebrate Vermont Cider! During Vermont Cider Week, February 24th – March 5th, Vermonters and visitors can find tastings, pairing dinners and cider festivities happening throughout the state. Check out the following events and visit Vermont Cider Week’s website for more information about events.

2/24   Specialty Tasting and Music @ Nectar’s Restaurant (Burlington)

            Cider Demo @ City Market (Burlington)

2/25   Ice Skating with Stowe Cider @ the Spruce Peak Pavilion (Stowe)

            Cider Samples and Bottles @ King Arthur Flour (Norwich)

            Stowe Cider Presents “The Talking Dreads” @ the Rusty Nail (Stowe)

2/26   Celebrate Cider @ Burke Mountain

2/28   Cider Week Supper Club @Citizen Cider (Burlington)

3/1   Toast with the Cider Makers @ Farmhouse Tap & Grill (Burlington)

3/2   Sip the Cellar @ Citizen Cider (Burlington)

3/3   Art, Tunes & Tacos @ Stowe Cider Tasting Room (Stowe)

3/4   Cider Tastings @ Mount Snow

          Cider Tap Takeover @ Bar 802 (Stratton)

Featured Vermont craft cider makers include:

Boyden Valley Winery & Spirits, Boyer;s Hard Ciders & Wines, Champlain Orchards Cidery, Citizen Cider, Eden Vermont Ice Cider, Fable Farm Cider, Flag Hill Farm, Forbidden Orchards, Hall Home Place, Harpoon, Newhall Farm Ice Cider, Farnum Hill Ciders, Shacksbury, Stowe Cider, Woodchuck Hard Cider, Whetstone Ciderworks, Windfall Orchard, and Vermont Cider Company

Source: Dig in VT Trails

The Vermont Wine & Chocolate Weekend is back for its 6th year – happening February 11th & 12th throughout Vermont. Here we’re republishing a blog post from its 3rd year. You can check out this year’s line up from DigInVT partner the Wine & Grape Council on their event page.

What do you expect from your weekend? Sparkling cranberry mead with chocolate toffee cupcakes? Ice cider with chocolate covered cider caramels? How about a Rose Red Wine whoopie pie? The Vermont Grape and Wine Council thinks you should have all this and more – they’re bringing back their popular Wine and Chocolate Weekend this weekend!

During the Wine and Chocolate Weekend, 15 wineries will invite visitors to come sample wines and chocolate pairings developed with help from local sweets makers (cupcakes, whoopie pies, wine jellies, and caramels are some of the items joining the chocolates). Samples are free; wines and sweets will also be available to purchase for Valentine’s Day gifts or just a treat.

Sara Granstrom, of Lincoln Peak Vineyard, first got the idea for this weekend from colleagues in Pennsylvania, who organized a similar event along their regional wine trail. “It’s fun to have a wintertime event,” she says, “And also a chance to work with local chocolate makers and local businesses.”

Lincoln Peak is working with three local chocolatiers from across Addison County to develop their pairings: Middlebury Chocolates, Daily Chocolate, and Farmhouse Truffles. Sara is particularly excited about the twists on traditional flavor pairings that are appearing this weekend. With Farmhouse Truffles, for example, she discovered that a dark chocolate grapefruit truffle pairs well with their Late Harvest white wine – she’d never expected to pair dark chocolate and white wine, but the citrus zing of the grapefruit reflects the citrus notes in the wine, making it a perfect match.

Other creative takes on the Wine and Chocolate theme this weekend include: Rhapsody Ice Wine from Shelburne Vineyard paired with Middlebury Chocolate’s spicy, habanero-laced Chupacabra dark chocolate; chocolates made using local wine such as ice cider truffles from Champlain Orchards and Eden Ice Cider or cassis-filled chocolates from Neshobe River Winery; the debut of a new chocolatier, Cacao Matteo, at Boyden Valley Winery; an entire Latin-themed weekend, with dance party, at Fresh Tracks Winery. New twists aside, there’s also the basic rule that whenever you get chocolate and wine in a room together, it is a good thing. And that good thing will be happening all across the state.

Sara says that attendance has been great in the last two years and people are beginning to plan ahead for their annual Vermont wine and chocolate tours. As a self described choco-holic, she’s looking forward to many years of this sweet combination.

A full list of participating wineries and what they will be sampling is available on the Vermont Grape and Wine Council’s website. The wineries will be open from noon until 5:00 pm, and all tastings are free. Can’t make it this weekend? Check out the place profiles linked from this post or browse the Wineries & Distilleries section of our Places page.  Want to see these places on a map?  Check out the Wine & Chocolate Weekend Trail.

Source: Dig in VT Trails

Winemaker Ethan Joseph will celebrate his tenth year with Shelburne Vineyard in 2017 – he has been working with the winery since his days at UVM. Winemaking wasn’t specifically his passion back then, but a love of growing and fermentation led Ethan to his livelihood and continue to fuel his creativity on the vineyard and in the tank room. Ethan’s growth as a winemaker and wine lover has been mostly self-taught – reading, tasting and experimenting to perfect his craft. Lately, he’s been learning and working on making wines in a ‘natural’ style, releasing two Wild Wines to the public – Wild Louise and Untamed Marquette.

What is a ‘natural’ wine? The blanket term describes wines made with minimal intervention in both the vineyard and the tank room. The goal with a natural wine is for it to make itself so it can be the truest expression of terroir (taste of place).  There is nothing new about ‘natural’ winemaking – the tradition is old, even ancient. However, this style of wine is making a comeback and you can now find entire wine lists and wine shops dedicated to the movement.

Making a spontaneous fermentation using yeast found naturally on the grapes without adding a commercial strain is a risk — if something goes wrong, you are wasting a limited and precious resource. That’s why Ethan’s launch into the wild wines has been careful and thoughtful. To start his fermentation for the wild wines, Ethan handpicks the most perfect and ripe fruit from vineyard – free of bruises and blemishes. He gathers blossoms and even wild grapes growing in the vineyard to diversify the yeast he’s adding to the mix. “Each yeast assists the fermentation in different stages,” Ethan explained. The starter fermentations are made in small batches so he can watch them and choose his cleanest, most successful variation to start the fermentation of the larger batch of wine that is eventually bottled and released.

“There’s a big risk to making these wines, but the reward can be worth it,” Ethan explained. The reward he’s looking for is that enhanced expression of terroir. “These wines are essentially made in the field, you bring them in and let them showcase your location.” You can try these wild wines right next to the traditionally made wines of the same grapes in the tasting room at Shelburne Vineyard. Later this year, alongside the 2016 Wild Louise and Untamed Marquette we can look forward to trying a natural sparkling wine, rosè, and skin-on fermented white wine (like an orange wine).

Source: Dig in VT Trails