Wining with the 'Chowskis

I read a news article recently (attached below) that said that more Riesling is consumed at Thanksgiving than any other time of the year and it is the #1 choice of wines for Thanksgiving in the U.S. I thought this was interesting since Riesling is a German style wine and most people think France when they think wine. The article turned into a news clip from a local news show that was discussing wine that was produced in Nebraska. In a blind tasting, Nebraska wines did, for the most part, better than some of the Goliaths from Napa... something I chalk up to the fact that Nebraskans seem to enjoy sweeter wines more than tart or dry.

Thanksgiving... well any holiday, come to think of it, with my family revolves around food and alcohol (now that we are all over 21), games and laughter. My sister, Betsy and her husband Walt, had brought a few bottles of wine with them from Denver, slightly dry reds that I think were from... Argentina or somewhere else in South America. They had an interesting bite to them and I would be willing to try them again.

I brought a bottle of Catawba from Miletta Vista to share, but we never got to open it before I had to leave. I told my family to enjoy it without me, but I have to admit, I kind of hope they didn't so I can help them enjoy it.

But the highlight of my visit was when my sister, Wendy, arrived from Nebraska City toting a cooler that held a jug of Arbor Day Farms cherry cider, a 2 liter of sprite, and a bottle of apple wine. I quickly went to work making the sangria we enjoyed during our visit to the vineyards of Nebraska City.

Oh! I've been meaning to share the recipe for that sangria:
2 Bottles Apple Wine (that's a lot, but go big or go home!)
1/2 gallon cherry cider
1 liter sprite
sliced oranges, lemons, and limes

The sangria was a huge hit with the family and glasses were refilled throughout the afternoon and into the evening. When it started running low, I added a bottle of Moscato we had lying around (can't let wine go to waste) and a bit more of the sprite and cherry cider. A recent conversation with my mother reveled that the sangria lasted through the weekend… they just kept adding to it.

I do miss having a few bottles of sparkling cider and grape juice around for the holidays, the treat that my mom got my sisters and I so we could drink something wine-like out of fancy glasses while she and my dad enjoyed a glass of wine with dinner, but I would not give up the fun we have trying new drinks and sharing our favorites as a family.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Years!

Nebraska's Wines Put to the Test

X plus 4: October 1, 2011

When we set out to visit 5 Trails Winery, we planned to get there shortly after they opened so we could do our tasting and get back on the road to get to our next stop on the tour… unfortunately, we forgot about the time change. We actually arrived to Paxton an hour too early so we decided to take Jenna out to Lake McConahay since she had never been there before. She was duly impressed by Nebraska’s largest man-made lake (although not too impressed since she grew up near the ocean). When we had killed enough time, we headed back to Paxton to check out what kind of wines the sandhills produced.

The tasting room was located on the main street in Paxton with the actual vineyard located a few miles outside of town. It was a nice open space full of tables and large windows. We were told to pick out a table and the owner brought us glasses while we made our first choices from the wine list written on large black boards hanging on the wall. Jessi and I explained our usual procedure to my mom and Jenna and shared some stories about our other wine stops. We all traded glasses when our wine arrived so we all got to try a lot of different options.

Looking back at my notes, I see that I liked the majority of the wines I tried. I rated their Brianna (no surprise) and Passenger blush, highest but Jessi and I were both rather disappointed with their Edelweiss. For a wine that we generally love, it was a sad discovery. Both Jessi and I agreed that if they had called it anything else, we probably would have enjoyed the light, bubbly wine, but as an Edelweiss, it left more to be desired.

5 Trails Winery was the first place that I was introduced to the Zork. It is cork/cap combo made out of a plastic/rubber type material. To open it, you peel back the tab (like old-style milk jugs) and simply pull it out of the bottle. No corkscrew needed. My corkscrew just shed a tear or two.

Once we had finished our tastings, Jessi and I purchased our glasses, mom and Jenna got a bottle or two, and we tipsily wandered our way across the street to visit Ole’s Steak House for lunch (it’s never a good idea to do a wine tasting on an empty stomach).

Our stop at 5 Trails Winery was a lot of fun. Usually, it’s just Jessi and I but it was fun to have a couple extra people along to offer new perspectives on the wine and new stories to share over a glass or two.

5 Trails Winery Specs:

5 tastings for $5

Food available to enjoy with the wine

Souvenir wine glass for $5

Lucky #13: September 30, 2011

Mac’c Creek Vineyard in Lexington has been a favorite vineyard of ours since my sister, Laura, introduced it to us a couple of years ago. One of her professors in college actually owns Mac’s Creek so she usually had a bottle around. I had been there once or twice already but it was one of the stops I was looking forward to the most on the wine tour. I was excited about the prospect of getting to talk to them about some of my favorite wines and about their operations.

Well… it didn’t quite work out like that.

Jessi, fabulous planner-a-header that she is, found out that they were having a harvest festival to introduce their fall wines: Pinky's, Frapple, and Manzanas Dulces. They were going to have food, music, and of course, wine tastings of their three fall wines. Soon after Jessi found out about the festival, my friend Jenna heard about it and said we should go. So we all set out together to enjoy what Mac’s Creek had to offer.

We arrived to Lexington much more quickly that we anticipated (we nearly missed the exit) and jumped in line to purchase our tickets and find out what was going on. We were given glasses, tickets, and told to head outside for wine tasting, hors d'oeuvres, and music. Jessi and I were able to persuade them to stamp our passports before we went outside to enjoy the vineyard, music by Once Were Three, and the beautiful weather.

We got to enjoy a bunch of their wines, including two of their three fall wines. Unfortunately, the labels for Manzanas Dulces did not come in on time so we could not try it that night.

Five tastings, a bunch of hors d’oeuvres, and a bottle of wine later, our evening at Mac’s Creek was over and we set our sights on North Platte, our layover before the rest of our quest west could begin.

Wines to check out from Mac’s Creek are numerous so here is a list of some of my favorite ones (in no particular order): River Valley Red, Buzzard’s Roost, Frapple, Buffalo Wallow, Brianna, and Spring Mist.