Hybrid Wines Online

I found this site using [url=http://google.com]goo...

2009-11-08T05:27:21.108-05:00

I found this site using [url=http://google.com]google.com[/url] And i want to thank you for your work. You have done really very good site. Great work, great site! Thank you!

Sorry for offtopic

Hi Leigh, Thanks very much for your feedback! It'...

2009-09-26T14:23:36.813-04:00

Hi Leigh,

Thanks very much for your feedback! It's nice to have a marketing person back up what I've suspected for so long.

As for success with labruscas, I look at it this way: it's all about observing and understanding how they differ from viniferas and other hybrids. They can make aromatic, interesting wines all of their own kind, and I look at them more as a resource that's native to this part of the world and that, therefore, should receive some due recognition!

Thanks again for the feedback and feel free to write any time you have any questions in the future.

Hi Paul; My husband and I have been home kit wine...

2009-09-19T13:08:59.550-04:00

Hi Paul;

My husband and I have been home kit wine making for the last couple of years and are moving from California back east to NY state after a decade of being West Coast transplants.

And, in a completely illogical move, we're leaving wine country to try and create a small vineyard in an area of NY that has not traditionally been a big wine producing area. (Logic? Who needs logic!) :-)

As a result, I've been looking a lot at cold climate/regional grape thoughts and innovations, and I just wanted to tell you that I have thoroughly been enjoying your blog.

I think your points of letting the "genius loci," the terroir, of North American wines emerge from the place and native/heirloom vines make absolute sense. I'm excited to read about your experiments and successes with labrusca grapes.

When I'm not indulging in wine making fantasies these days, I work in marketing -- and I think you are dead on about how marketing can dictate tastes. I think it's an exciting challenge to think about how to present regionally appropriate wines to wine lovers -- this could be a really fascinating process!

Looking forward to reading more from you,

All the best,

Leigh Melander

The 2008 was great too.

2009-08-05T18:41:26.603-04:00

The 2008 was great too.

Hi Neil, I found out about the original event thr...

2009-06-05T15:43:39.590-04:00

Hi Neil,

I found out about the original event through Larry Paterson's Growwine list. Though I haven't heard about a repeat event recently, it's true. If I hear anything I'll post something here on my blog.

Cheers!

Paul, Happy to have discovered your blog. It sound...

2009-06-05T15:17:58.989-04:00

Paul,
Happy to have discovered your blog. It sounds like I am at the stage that you started at. I am, with every available minute, trying to self educate myself to our local wine region and winemaking. I am driven by my own epiphany which occured with my exposure to the growing wine region in Nova Scotia. However, the Thornbury Meaford area excites me as an emerging region and a little closer to home. Your previous post from 07 re: the Outer limits Ontario wine event is what initial attracted me to your blog. Does this event still go on? When and where would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to reading more of your previous entries.

Best,
Neil

I would point that is just a matter of taste to sa...

2009-04-27T15:40:00.000-04:00

I would point that is just a matter of taste to say that good wine cannot be made from labrusca.

Labrusca type Isabela is used in east-europe to make excellent wines by local people. Isabela is well adapted as a patio-shading vine and the people are using the grapes for making wine.

And as they say, that home-made wine is better than the store bought one.

Tempranillo is most definitely a Vitis vinifera, n...

2009-03-22T11:21:00.000-04:00

Tempranillo is most definitely a Vitis vinifera, not a hybrid. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempranillo

I've heard that Tempranillo is a hybrid grape, can...

2009-03-19T20:50:00.000-04:00

I've heard that Tempranillo is a hybrid grape, can you confirm? find a parentage?

Paul,Great blog, Would you mind if I add you to th...

2008-12-23T16:18:00.000-05:00

Paul,

Great blog, Would you mind if I add you to the "links" portion of my blog? www.backyardvineyardandwinery.com

Thanks,
-Dave

You write very well.

2008-11-10T23:57:00.000-05:00

You write very well.

Your final point nails it on the head for me .. I ...

2008-10-30T22:18:00.000-04:00

Your final point nails it on the head for me .. I had this wine for the first time in a while at a dinner party a few weeks back and something was missing in my words it seemed to lack depth .. not that it was bad but something was missing .. great point

Dor
http://www.okvine.com

Matt,If by German (or Austrian even) varieties you...

2008-10-08T13:11:00.000-04:00

Matt,

If by German (or Austrian even) varieties you mean Riesling, Zweigelt, Blaufränkisch and such, then these can be successfully grown, and indeed are grown to some extent, in southern Ontario, New York state, etc. But being viniferas, the usual precautions still apply: grafting onto rootstock, spraying as required, and the potential for winter damage in really cold years. Just speaking from my experience with the Southern Ontario examples, these grapes - especially Riesling and Zweigelt - do make very good wines here.

What are your opinions on some of the more norther...

2008-10-08T08:51:00.000-04:00

What are your opinions on some of the more norther European grape varieties (German varieties?) for growing in North America? I suppose they still would have issues with disease?

There are a lot of wild grapes growing around where I live. I even have one vine growing in my back yard but I know nothing about how to prune it so that it will yield a good amount of fruit. I hacked it back last winter and this year I have maybe 25 grapes from what seems to be an enormous vine.

This is a comment on your definition of heirloom, ...

2008-09-28T11:52:00.000-04:00

This is a comment on your definition of heirloom, heirlooms are open pollinated non-manmade hybrids only natural crosses occurring incidently

Thanks for this post Paul (and for the link from g...

2008-09-25T20:24:00.000-04:00

Thanks for this post Paul (and for the link from growwine list). I'm going to try this process. I've got about 15# hanging on a neglected vine. Even the wasps won't touch them. But they look so nice in their clusters, it seems a shame to let them go to waste. May try to make a few bottles as sparkling too.

Ron O

Thanks for dropping by http://red-icculus.com . T...

2008-09-21T21:05:00.000-04:00

Thanks for dropping by http://red-icculus.com . This oaked concord sounds delicious.

I love your blog. I am going to stick around!

So how did the oaking go? I am going to try a dry...

2008-09-11T18:52:00.000-04:00

So how did the oaking go? I am going to try a dry concord and was thinking about oaking as well. I will also be making a black raspberry that I may split off a gallon and oak as well. What do you think about that?

I agree that perhaps vinifera may not always be th...

2008-08-24T21:59:00.000-04:00

I agree that perhaps vinifera may not always be the yardstick in the future. I didn't care for wine until I tasted a Norton that was grown in Hermann, Mo a few miles away from where I live.

Peter, I think it's a question of catering to newe...

2008-05-29T15:25:00.000-04:00

Peter, I think it's a question of catering to newer tastes; of introducing a new style of wine to the public. Markets do change in terms of preference. I think that rather than produce indifferent tour-bus wines (as noted in the article), wineries should do the daring thing and put that modern, crisp and clean Catawba or Delaware in an elegant bottle with a chic or stately label and market it as they would their Chardonnay or Riesling. The image and marketing need to be reformed to catch the attention of the new demographic - which is, of course, not to say that the new style might not gain converts from those used to the plonkish wines of old.

Interesting point. Its a vicious circle, hybrids a...

2008-05-29T14:59:00.000-04:00

Interesting point. Its a vicious circle, hybrids are made in an oldfashioned style because thats what their customers expect, but if they were made in a modern style would other customers give them a second try?

I really think that we should try to have the best...

2008-05-29T14:06:00.000-04:00

I really think that we should try to have the best vine for our site. Not the most popular, because it may be out of fashion in few year. But if you have a really good grape, that is doing so great on your site that you have almost nothing to do to keep them beautifull, you will always have good grape, and good wine.

I have 25 hybrid at home, 2 or 3 of each, and they are so different and beautifull, it's great.

just found your blog.Great stuff. Keep it coming.

2008-05-19T10:24:00.000-04:00

just found your blog.
Great stuff. Keep it coming.

Eric,If you ask me, most hybrids have something go...

2008-05-09T13:25:00.000-04:00

Eric,

If you ask me, most hybrids have something good about them. A hybrid that would make a wine like Zinfandel in the Eastern U.S. ... I don't know of any. Most of the red hybrids make wine that's frankly more Northern Italian in style than something big and glycerolic, like a Primitivo or Zin. Not sure I can suggest something along those lines. Good luck!

Thanks to everyone for their comments.The last com...

2008-05-09T13:21:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone for their comments.

The last comment - very, very well put. Specialization has created something of a tunnel vision among people, and many of us probably don't discover talents we may have for various things because we buy most of what we need and use, rather than having to think of how to produce it ourselves.

I do think that with something as critical as food, or as enjoyable as wine, some self-reliance is certainly honorable.

Cheers.