Black Star Farms Cherry Wine

Maker: Black Star Farms, Traverse City, Michigan, USA

ABV: 10%

Appearance: dark burgundy with broad, slow legs.

Nose: tart cherry, wild blackberry, walnut.

On the palate: Full-bodied, with a sumptuous mouthfeel. Mildly sweet and mildly tart. Bold, robust cherry flavors with a little clove and allspice.

Finish: slightly sweet, tart and tingly.

Parting words: Cherry wine and other fruit wines are looked down upon by many connoisseurs as pop wine or a representative of the bad old days of American wine. There are plenty of bad, sickly and cloying fruit wines on the market, granted. In the right hands, though, fruit wines and especially cherry wine (a northern Michigan staple) can be fine dessert wine. A cherry wine will probably never reach the heights of complexity of a decades old vintage Port, but a good one like this can give a ruby a run for its money. Black Star Farms takes what could be little more than a sop to the fudgies and transforms it into something worth drinking. Recommended.

Now Drinking

Black Star Farms Carbonated Apple Hard Cider

Maker: Black Star Farms Winery (Traverse City, Michigan)

ABV: 7%

Is there anything Black Star Farms doesn’t do well?  One may well ask.  At the most recent Michigan Wine & Spirits competition they did fairly well: Best of Class Dry White: Black Star Farms - 2009 Arcturos Pinot Gris, Best of Class Semi-Dry White: Black Star Farms - 2009 Arcturos Riesling, Best of Class Sparkling Wine: Black Star Farms - 2008 Sparkling Wine, Double Gold: 2007 A Capella Pinot Noir.  Not too shabby.  They also have an aged apple brandy and numerous eaux de vie.  Rumor has it that a 10 year old apple brandy will be hitting the shelves of their Traverse City tasting room soon.  I’ve put my best dusty-hunting friends on the case.

Anyway, this apple cider, presumably the younger cousin to their brandies, is not exception.  It is in the dry-ish British style (of the mass-produced ones we get here, anyway) but doesn’t go off the edge like the one I reviewed from Motor City.

The nose is light, almost like a Riesling, sweet apple blossoms and a bit of citrus.  In the mouth, it’s all crisp, early season golden skinned “eating” apples, like Golden Delicious or Ginger Gold.  The sweetness then comes in, but fades away quickly.  The finish is light and sweet.  This is one of the best ciders I’ve had since I’ve started this blog.

Now Drinking

Round Barn Apple Demi Sec

Region: Lake Michigan Shore AVA

Maker: Round Barn Winery, Baroda, MI

ABV: 12%

Round Barn is a jack-of-all-trades winery.  Located in the heart of the SW Michigan Lake Michigan Shore AVA (American Viticultural Area), they cut their teeth on the white wines and fruit wines that are the lifeblood of the Michigan wine industry.  They have branched out into brewing and distilling, producing (or at least bottling) a vodka made from their own grapes.

The concept of an apple wine still seems odd to me.  Why not drop the prentense and call it a cider?  But after a few drinks, I understand why they call it an apple wine.  First of all, as you may have noticed, the alcohol content is much closer to a wine than a typical cider, which frankly is a little dangerous, I can already tell you.  It is also more acidic than typical ciders and has a delicate dryness that is as close to a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc as it is to a glass of Woodpecker, for instance.

Still, the apples are leading the charge.  It is in the lighter, dry style of most British ciders.  The smell reminds me of working my way through grad school in the childcare industry and the hordes of apple juice guzzling children I shepherded through their single digits.  It lacks the robust body of my favorite ciders, but has a lightness that makes a good change of pace on a summer afternoon.