Connecticut Farm Winery

When I looked into the U.S. Appellation System, it made me wonder about the rules and regulations concerning wineries in Connecticut.

The History of Connecticut Wine written by Eric D. Lehman and Amy Nawrocki details the early days of winemaking in Connecticut. In fact, the Connecticut State Seal, harks back to Colonial times, when Colonel George Fenwick brought over the seal from England in 1639 for the Saybrook Colony. ¹
Fast forward to 1978, when the Connecticut legislature and then Governor Ella T. Grasso passed the Farm Wine Act that permits winery owners to sell their products wholesale and to the public.²
In order to find the exact references to the current law regarding the Farm Wine Act, I received help from Jean Kincaid-Ross³ at the Connecticut State Library who provided these references for me:

• Chapter 545 Liquor Control Act, especially Sec. 30-16. Manufacturer permit (e)
• House Bill No. 5453, Public Act No. 04-111, AN ACT CONCERNING FARM WINERIES. This is the 2004 act that created the 25% provision for Connecticut wine designation.
• A plain language summary of the above Public Act no. 04-111

What does this all mean? In order to be considered a Farm Winery, 25% of the grapes must come from the Farm Winery. In order for the wine label to say "Connecticut", Federal law requires that 75% of the grapes must be grown in Connecticut and in order for the label to read estate grown and bottled, 100% of the grapes have to be planted on the Farm Winery property. In addition, Federal law stipulates that when using "Estate" on the label, the farm must be in a designated AVA. ⁴
1. CT.gov The Official Website of the State of Connecticut, The Original Seal.
2. Amy Gagnon, Raise a Glass to Winemaking in Connecticut .
3. Thank you to: Jean Kincaid-Ross, Personal communication, Connecticut State Library.
4. Lehman, Eric D, and Amy Nawrocki. A History of Connecticut Wine: Vineyard in Your Backyard. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2011, pg. 86.

Exultet Estates---Our Second Visit This Year

We went to visit our favorite winery on Prince Edward Country (PEC) on our way home from seeing the EuroSelect in action. Our first visit to Exultet was in April where Gerry treated us to barrel tastings. Even though it was only our second time at Exultet, when we stepped into their tasting room, Gerry immediately recognized us. Joseph went to call his mother, Lia and we spent time catching up on what has been happening. The 2012 harvest at Exultet was already safely in barrels fermenting away.

The Chardonnay at Exultet has been winning GOLD for two years in a row. When we came in April, their 2009 Chardonnay "The Blessed" took Gold at the Ontario Wine Awards and was sold out and during this visit, we learned that their 2010 Chardonnay also took Gold. We know how delicious it was because we purchased a bottle during our April visit. Lucky for us that we did so because we learned that it too was now sold out. I'm sure the accolade is because Gerry makes his wine from fruit grown in their vineyard and because if the label says "Chardonnay" what is in the bottle is 100% Chardonnay.
We got a chance to try Gerry's Pinot Noir from the barrel. It was interesting to taste the differences in the samples, one had cherry characters while another had spicy characters. Barrel tasting is certainly an education for the palate!
In an earlier blogpost, I wrote about Our Wall of Fame and Our Rarest Wine. This wine is called Knucklehead Red and comes from Exultet. When we were there, Mario excused himself to check on the sugar content of the Pinot Noir grapes that were still hanging on the vines. Gerry is imparting a lot of good knowledge to his sons. We're looking forward to seeing a second vintage of Knucklehead Red!
If you find yourself on PEC, don't forget to go to Exultet and see for yourself what a gem of a place this is!

October Trip to Prince Edward County---Visiting Norman Hardie

This is the second time this year that we've visited Prince Edward County (PEC). This time, we were given a short list of "must see" places from Isaac and Laurie. Since we were approaching PEC from the west, it made sense to stop at Norman Hardie first, a winery that we read about the last time we were here but didn't get a chance to stop at.

Although the weather was a little blustery, the pizzas were baking in the outdoor oven and the place was bustling with people. As we made our way to the back entrance, we ran into Norman Hardie himself with his son Theo. He welcomed us to his winery and said that we should just go up the stairs to the tasting room. There, we were given tastings of his Niagara and County Chardonnay and his Niagara and County Pinot. What is it about County fruit? Those wines were steely minerality and agreed with our palate. As we left the winery, we saw Norman again, he was racking his Pinot Gris. It was that time of year when the grapes were being harvested and must was being fermented.

The U.S. Appellation System

The first time I learned about the U.S. Appellation System was when I took the Introduction to Winemaking, the online UC Davis Course that is open to anyone desiring to learn more about winemaking. It is also the prerequisite for the online Certification program.
In the United States, grape growing regions can be designated as an American Viticultural Area or AVA. The Wine Institute is host to the AVA database where all of the recognized American grape growing regions can be found. It is a handy database that lists the AVA by name, size, state, and effective date.This designation is modeled after the European regional system, however, unlike France, the AVA is only indicative of the geographic origin of the fruit and is not necessarily viticulturally or enologically distinct. The name proposed for the formation of a new AVA is one that is (or was at one time) known for the area locally or nationally and has recognized boundaries.¹
Here is a link to a really good introduction to the BATF regulations written so that anyone can understand it: The BATF, Wine Labels, Vintages and Wine Regions
U.S. Appellation Rules for Wine Labels:

• Political area                          --->75%
• AVA                                        --->85%
• Vineyard designation             --->95% from named vineyard                                                      requires AVA
• Estate bottled                         --->100% from vineyards owned or                                                       controlled by the winery                                                      (both must be in an AVA also named)
• Grape Variety                          --->75%
• Vintage                                    --->95% if year stated                                                      (since June 2006, 85% if county or                                                      multi-county AVA or state)
• Produced/Made and bottled by--->75% must be fermented, aged and                                                      bottled at indicated location)
• Cellared/Vinted and bottled by--->Not necessarily fermented at                                                      indicated location
• Reserve                                  --->no legal meaning in the U.S.
• California and Oregon have more stringent rules

The appellation that can be used on the wine is governed by the source of the fruit, not the location of the winery. But the winery location will also be shown, usually at the bottom of the label (“Produced and bottled by…”). For example in California, wines that are made from fruit from several different places are often given a “California” geographic indication (which by law would require only 75% California fruit, but by the stricter California law must contain 100% California fruit).
1. From Introduction to Winemaking (092VID251), U.C. Davis Online Course, 2009.