by Patrick Ogle
Chaumette Vineyards (Ste. Genevieve, Missouri) Chambourcin Dry Rosé is a lovely wine with a little more body than some rosés. The wine is, as noted, dry and also dark in color. You get the strawberry tastes you often find in rosés and a tiny hint of bitterness at the finish. There are other red fruits here, cherry and other berries as well. It calls to mind some Cabernet Franc rosés. This wine has something of a big mouthfeel (for a rosé ) and perhaps a tiny bit of VA (a hint of vinegar).
This wine is nothing bizarre or off putting even though most folks haven't heard of the grape.
The grape is a hybrid. It isn't just a crossing of two European varietals but a crossing of a European grape and an American grape. Actually it is the crossing of another hybrid and an American grape. No one seems to know the exact parentage. Multiple sources state Chambourcin is probably a Seibel hybrid and some North American vine. This isn't terribly specific but it does seem to be the consensus.
When I mentioned Missouri wine to a number of people they recoiled but, once upon a time, before Napa was wine country? Missouri was the USA's predominant wine producing area. The produced the most wine of any state in the late 1800s and were never lower than the second largest wine producing states until prohibition. It also won a number of international awards.
Some sources suggest Prohibition destroyed the industry but there is evidence that there were other factors (poor business decisions being one). Not all the wine in the area is great but you can say that about Bordeaux too.
That said? There is no reason Missouri wine should be "poo pooed" based on the land and climate. This is just one of a number of solid wines from the area in general and this winery specifically. There are a couple of Chardonel wines, as well as Norton, that are also wines worth trying.
Chaumette Vineyards (Ste. Genevieve, Missouri) Chambourcin Dry Rosé is a lovely wine with a little more body than some rosés. The wine is, as noted, dry and also dark in color. You get the strawberry tastes you often find in rosés and a tiny hint of bitterness at the finish. There are other red fruits here, cherry and other berries as well. It calls to mind some Cabernet Franc rosés. This wine has something of a big mouthfeel (for a rosé ) and perhaps a tiny bit of VA (a hint of vinegar).
This wine is nothing bizarre or off putting even though most folks haven't heard of the grape.
The grape is a hybrid. It isn't just a crossing of two European varietals but a crossing of a European grape and an American grape. Actually it is the crossing of another hybrid and an American grape. No one seems to know the exact parentage. Multiple sources state Chambourcin is probably a Seibel hybrid and some North American vine. This isn't terribly specific but it does seem to be the consensus.
When I mentioned Missouri wine to a number of people they recoiled but, once upon a time, before Napa was wine country? Missouri was the USA's predominant wine producing area. The produced the most wine of any state in the late 1800s and were never lower than the second largest wine producing states until prohibition. It also won a number of international awards.
Some sources suggest Prohibition destroyed the industry but there is evidence that there were other factors (poor business decisions being one). Not all the wine in the area is great but you can say that about Bordeaux too.
That said? There is no reason Missouri wine should be "poo pooed" based on the land and climate. This is just one of a number of solid wines from the area in general and this winery specifically. There are a couple of Chardonel wines, as well as Norton, that are also wines worth trying.
RSS Feed