Cheers to our wonderful customers and friends on the email mailing list,

Typing this while I enjoy a half glass of our 2010 Red Chambourcin and Red Chambourcin NV.  I'm thinking that Alan, Joe especially, perhaps Diane, Mike, and a few others, okay maybe a few more than a few others, think that these are really full glasses.  The Chambourcin 10 is going down as one of the finest three chambourcin's ever, rivaling our 2000 and 2007.  Simply put, our chambourcin vines enjoy hot summers and 2010 delivered 81 days over 90 degrees.  Our 2011 looks promising as well as 57 days over the benchmark temperature has ushered in good balance for that vintage as well.  Back to the 2010:  I really love the bright tea, cherry, cranberry and coffee notes in this wine.  The oak is utterly sensuous and well balanced adding a degree of complexity to it.  Laura has now added it to her collection of reds as one she enjoys on a nightly basis, along with her favorites, Max's Small Batch Red #32 and Syrah.  Simply put, the 2010 is a refreshing, medium bodied red, with deep, alluring flavors and enough tannins to satisfy.  Now, I'm enjoying the most audacious wine I have ever assembled, the Chambourcin NV.  To my knowledge, no one, and I mean NO ONE, is making a wine like this.  What is the NV?  A blend of 2006 chambourcin, aged 5, yes FIVE years in oak, chambourcin 08, aged 3, yes, THREE years in oak, and Chambourcin 2010, aged one year in oak.  Five years in oak simply violates all cash flow business sense, however, holy cow, what depth, intensity and complexity the wine developed over all of that time! Caution:  If you are used to daily bonk red at the local Stop-N-Rob, the complexity will simply overwhelm you and place you into a "Bill-the-Cat" catatonic state.  Ten to fifteen years ago, an earthy, somewhat barnyard aroma and flavor was critiqued as one of the premier flavors that a wine could develop and was part of the "terroir" or flavors from the land.  When some crazy scientist discovered that lo and behold, the flavors developed from a microbial yeast, perhaps a spoilage one at that, then suddenly the thought of extraordinary terroir turned rancid, and points went from 98 out of 100 to 2 out of 100.  Customers, who read the wine articles, followed suit, and found these flavors to be a bit, shall we say, "off".  This reminds me of oak and chardonnay back in 1994.  Oaky chard's sold like crazy in 1994, then a wine writer said that's not the way to make chardonnay, and suddenly you couldn't give them away.  A friend of mine loved, loved, and loved oaky chards, then the magazine told her that she shouldn't like them anymore and suddenly any wine with a hint of oak became offensive.  Yes, the 06 had some great "brett" grown in the barrel which delivers superb complexity.  The 08 provided sensuious oaky fruit, and the 10, well, see above.  Together, this wine is simply amazing:  fruit focused zing, with earthy complexity on the back-end.  Intense, but refined from aging.  Simply put, this is a killer wine!  I can't wait for my good friend Ted Huber at Huber Winery tries this wine.  I remember him shaking his head when "brett became no longer cool".  It's cool here and I hope it becomes cool again everywhere! 

Nouveau Weekend!
This weekend marks Nouveau Weekend at all nine Indiana Uplands Wine Trail members.  Starting Thursday, we will debut Traminette 2011, Sweet Tortuga 2011, and Blue My Mind 2011.  The traminette is classic, classic traminette.  Made off dry by leaving behind a little residual sugar (note: at Turtle Run Winery, we never, never, ever never, ever add sugar to wine).  Charla and I bottled it yesterday, and wow, is it good.  Dripping with lychee fruit and bursting with citrus and spice, this wine delivers a nice glass for the end of the day.  Sweet Tortuga, made from traminette, is our dessert wine, and is loaded with excellent citrus and lime notes, along with a great chunk of lychee fruit flavors.  Blue My Mind, need I say more, is gushing with blueberry, grape and gentle spice.  Note: I am going to be drinking chambourcin from here on out while typing these emails.  The hyperbole is flowing effortlessly.  Dan, if you're out there, you had to like that description on Blue My Mind!  Should I add that it's simple, yet sublime?  Anyway, stop by all 9 Indiana Uplands wineries for this fun-filled occasion.  I know Huber's Pop's Reserve will go fast!  Wilbert Best has a really neat red blend too!  I can't quite put my thumb on it, but I enjoyed the entire test tube of it last week.  It's an "abby-normal" blend, trust me!!  But it works!  Great job, "Bert"!

The Turtle Run Fall Wine Appreciation Class:
It's supposed to be this weekend, but Max's football team is having a bonfire out here, so we are going to give it a go on Thanksgiving Week's Saturday evening.  Reservations are required, and we are limiting the number of participants big time!  Drop me an email or call us at 812-952-2650 to make a reservation.  I can't give away the secret to this class, but be prepared.  We'll try 20+ wines, dinner included in 3 hours, starting at 6:30 PM.  Detail is the essence of this class, as is pushing the paradigm of what you thought you knew about wine.  The cost is $40 per person and is well, well worth it.

Upcoming wines:
None...that's the chambourcin 10 talking as it wants no competition.  Catherine's Blend 2011 and Vignoles 2011 are in cold stabilization and will make their debut before the year's up.  I'm really jazzed about both as we arrested fermentation to leave behind just the right amount of residual sugar.  Catherine's reminds me of a pure German Spatlese, so I am soo...like gag me with a spoon valley girl excited.  Vignoles is a dose of abundant tropical and citrus fruit with deeply nuanced balance and lingering intensity that should pair very, very well with linguini and clam sauce.  Cham 10 talking again.
Pop's Port #8 will be bottled the Saturday morning of the Wine Appreciation Class, and I cannot, cannot wait.  I have far too many ports in the mix for blending, so I anxiously await to taste what the crew wants to blend that day.

Wines released in November:
Traminette 2011
Sweet Tortuga 2011
Blue My Mind 2011
Chambourcin 2010
Chambourcin NV

Wines Released in October:
Chardonel 2010
White Chambourcin 2010
Joe's Jammin Red 2010
Blackberry Wine 2010
Syrah 2010
Merlot 2010
Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

As always, if you have an event or want to bring a group out here, please call Laura at 812-952-2650.  If you want Christmas, New Year's or any other Holiday label on your wine, please let us know.

Like, Sirius Satellite Radio just played that Valley Girl song on the 80's on 8.  Like, I'm so Rad over this Chambourcin.  Like, ohhh...far out....tuh!  I mean, come onnnnuh...it's like really freakin' groovy wild, especially that NV, I mean like how cool is that?

Sorry, I need to stop.

Like really, if you want your head just bouncing with new smashing vino cool like knowledge you need to, you know, check out that wine class.  It's on fire!  The rage!!!  Zoweee!!!!  Such the bomb!!

New warning label while drinking chambourcin:  Do not, I repeat, do not hop on Facebook.

Cheers,

Jim