BOSTON – Lots of are dreaming of a white Christmas, but many prefer red too! No matter which kind of red wine is at the table this holiday season, the taste of environment change might be at the bottom of your glass. A regional vineyard is noticing the modification in taste over the years.
Wine nation in New England might not look like Napa Valley, but the maritime environment here is ideal for a range of grapes to be grown. A concealed gem in the white wine industry, however mother nature might be messing with the flavor.
” They have actually become drier throughout the years, spicier I believe,” wine maker Trudi Perry states.
Perry is a volunteer at Alfalfa Farm Winery in Topsfield and has actually been harvesting grapes each year.
” We collected nearly 2,000 pounds of grapes,” Perry says, which is much better than last year.
The vines sit on a long skinny acre of land near the highway. Both white and red grapes that are grown here are made into little batches of red wine with huge taste. Their estate grown Maréchal Foch has a rich nontransparent deep purple color with earthy and smoky fragrances including butter and rosemary.
” It’s a spicy, full-bodied wine. Our Leon Millot, which is another red that we grow is a spicy red, a little bit lighter than our Maréchal Foch. Our seyval blanc is a charming dry, really full bodied gewurztraminer. Somewhat acidic, with honey notes, certainly honey on the taste buds,” Perry information.
This family-owned vineyard has actually bottled a number of award-winning red wines for many years, each tasting a little different than years past.
” We can absolutely notice the difference between the years of the harvest,” Perry stated.
Alfalfa Farm Vineyard is one of about 50 vineyards in Massachusetts. The grapes were planted here in the 1990s, and since then growers have noticed the impacts of weather condition and environment change in the taste of their wine.
” It makes the taste of the red wine clearer … the drier it is,” Perry says. “If we have had a particularly hot and dry summertime, like we did this summer, our seyval blanc, our Maréchal Foch are going to taste dramatically different than the grapes we grew in 2015.”
Last year our area had a soaking wet summertime with over 20″ of rain.
” The grapes simulate dry weather by and large, because it focuses the sugar in the grape … They are quite like cherry tomatoes, that if it rains a lot right prior to a harvest, they will take up that water and they will divide like cherry tomatoes will. Naturally, then you have less sugar and less acid … and that sorta thing,” Perry informs WBZ.
The unpredictability in the weather condition pattern has actually challenged growers for many years from rainfall to snowpack, but it is the increase in temperatures that can be noted on the taste buds.
Even a minor distinction in temperatures each season can change the method the grapes and eventually the white wine the list below year may taste. WBZ asked Perry if she discovered the change.
” We have actually seen, and it’s easy for us to notice, due to the fact that we make little batches of grapes,” Perry exclaimed.
Despite the subtle change over the years, the variety of red, white and fruit white wines are still award worthwhile, including a number of estate-grown ranges.
The winery will be open on weekends and for private events through December. You can visit their site here.
Sarah Wroblewski