Badin Spirit Olympics
SWBL wrestling championships
Wittenberg 2011-2012 Men's Basketball
Home > Blogs > Uncorked > Archives > 2009 > November > 06 > Entry
Rival Michigan trumps Ohio in the vineyards — this time
Woody Hayes might just be rolling in his grave.
Even though it’s been a glorious 2,176-plus days since the University of Michigan Wolverines beat the Ohio State Buckeyes on the football field, it’s a whole ‘nother story in the vineyards.
Michigan handily defeated Ohio in the 2009 Ohio vs. Michigan Wine Clash held last month in Columbus and Ann Arbor.
Eleven top wines were chosen from each state and judged in both Columbus and Ann Arbor by panels of wine lovers, writers and professionals. (I was one of the writers who served as a judge in Columbus.) Michigan reigned supreme by having the top-scoring wine of the 22 — Longview Estate Bottled “Winter Ice” 2007 — and four of the top five wines based on the aggregated judges’ scores. The wines were tasted “blind” — judges didn’t know the identities or the origins of the wines.
Ohioans can take consolation in the fact that its top 5 finisher — 2007 Kinkead Ridge Cabernet Franc from our friends Ron and Nancy down near Ripley — was half the price (or less) of any of the four top Michigan wines. The third-ranked Kinkead Ridge costs $17.95, while the Michigan-produced cab franc that finished second, 2 Lads Reserve Cabernet Franc 2007, retails for $40, and the first-place ice wine costs $60 — for a half bottle.
So let’s declare Ohio the winner on value.
The Ohio-Michigan wine clash is organized by Andrew Hall, a Columbus-area wine enthusiast and member of the Columbus chapter of Slow Food Nation, an organization formed in response to the negative effects of fast food on people’s lives. Slow Food Columbus is the primary sponsor of the “wine clash” as part of its Taste Education program and support of local agriculture and artisanal food industries, Hall said.
Hall also wanted to bring some exposure to the excellent wines being produced from homegrown grapes in both states, and timed it not-so-coincidentally just before The Game between OSU and UM. This year’s was the second clash (click here for 2008 results.)
“The take home message from this tasting is that both states produce quality wines which deserve a place on the table, especially if you are interested in local ingredients and foods,” Hall said. “There are dedicated winemakers in both states who have really raised the bar and shown what can be done, despite the challenges.
“I think the results show that restaurants with a local focus should make an effort to offer local wines and consumers should give them an honest try.”
Hall’s right. The red wines, in particular, were a revelation to taste — collectively the best red wines I’ve ever sampled from Ohio and Michigan, thanks in part to a long, warm growing season in 2007 that allowed red grapes to ripen fully in the upper midwest.
“2007 was a remarkable vintage in both states,” Hall said. “When conditions are right, we can produce really great wines here. And from all I hear and taste from barrel samples, 2008 looks to quite strong as well.”
Hall chose the “starting team” of 11 wines from each state after tasting extensively across Ohio and Michigan earlier this year. He also used other wine competitions such as the Ohio Quality Wine program, the Ohio Wine Competition and Michigan Wine and Spirits Competition to help nominate potential finalists. And he assembled tasting panels to help him narrow down the final lists of 11. Price was not a consideration.
“The selection process was very hard and rigorous this year with so many quality wines from both states,” Hall said. “Any of the entrants would be welcome on my table.”
My scorecard nearly mirrored the overall tasting panel’s: I placed the Michigan ice wine first, although I had the Kinkead Ridge second in my rankings rather than third. (For a bit of the Michigan perspective, click here to read Ann Arbor Chronicle wine writer Joel Goldberg’s column on the clash.)
Here are the results, in order of the full panels’ aggregate ranking, with number of first place votes in parentheses:
Longview Winter Ice 2007 (Dessert Wine) Leelanau Peninsula MI, $60 (4)
2 Lads Reserve Cabernet Franc 2007 (Dry Red) Old Mission Peninsula MI, $40 (2)
Kinkead Ridge Cabernet Franc 2007 (Dry Red) Ohio River Valley OH, $17.95 (2)
Gill’s Pier Cabernet Franc-Merlot 2007 (Dry Red) Leelanau Peninsula MI 2007, $35 (1)
Wyncroft Avonlea Pinot Noir 2007 (Dry Red) Lake Michigan Shore MI, $45 (1)
The Ohio-born-and-bred Raven’s Glenn White October 2008, made in Ohio from Chardonel grapes, placed sixth, by the way, and also cost just under $18.
Before anyone goes out to Dayton-area wine retailers searching for the Michigan winners, be forewarned: you’ll likely strike out. Hall said he doesn’t believe any of the top-scoring Michigan wines are available at Ohio retail wine shops, and he took a few shots at the Ohio laws that he said are “stacked against consumers” because they create barriers for small wineries.
“The distributors in Ohio have shown little interest in carrying small-production, high-quality wines from the neighboring states,” Hall said. “Many of the wines sell out directly from the winery’s cellar door as well, so the producers don’t have an incentive to deal with the bureaucracy and mandated cut to the distributor that selling across state lines would involve.”
Andrew Hall pours brown-bagged samples at the Columbus-area judging for the 2009 Ohio vs. Michigan Wine Clash, held at the Twisted Vine wine shop in Grandview.Tweet
Go to my facebook page and click Like to comment.
Comments
By Nancy
November 10, 2009 1:10 PM | Link to this
The 2007 Cabernet Franc, which was judged at the American Wine Society competition last October when it was extremely young, won a Silver Medal. 1 Gold, 6 Silver and 8 Bronzes were awarded to Cabernet Francs from around the U.S. and Canada.
By Tommy
November 9, 2009 10:54 AM | Link to this
I’ve got to add that declaring Ohio to tbe the value winner is pretty darn subjective as well. That ice wine I’d agree is painful at $60 for the half-bottle, but I’ve socked away a 6-pack of the 2Lads CF Reserve and at $40 - it drinks like many of the $50 to $70 bottles I buy from France and Cali. I’d say that’s a value!
By Denise
November 6, 2009 5:48 PM | Link to this
I’m not surprised. We stayed on the Old Mission Peninsula and visited many wineries there and on the Leelanau Peninsula, including 2 Lads. The 2007 Cab Francs were spectacular across the board, which surprised us because of the many unripe cab francs we tasted in the Amador California area last year. 2 Lads also makes a fab rose of cab franc, which they can’t keep in stock. The Traverse City area is a great destination for wine lovers, once you’ve visited Ohio’s finest and can’t afford the time to travel to the West coast.