Wine Fest 2012 Kentucky Derby

Hello Fellow vino lovers!  I am sorry this is so late.  My summer has been so busy getting acquainted with Kentucky.  One of the activities that I went to, and that kicked off my summer was the Kentucky Derby Wine Festival.  Now I know what you are thinking "I thought the Kentucky Derby was just about the horse race."  Not true the Kentucky derby is a multi-week celebration that offers a lot of different festivities, ranging from steamboat races, hot air balloon races, to marathons.  Other festivities include Bar-BQ festival, music festival, wine festival and the famous Thunder Over Louisville fireworks display.

My husband showing off the items given to us.

The Wine Festival was held on May 1st and 2nd from 5pm - 9pm, and include a fancy pin, wine glass, wine shopping bag, a wine fest book that contains all wineries that were participating, hand passed hors d'oeuvres, and twenty tickets to try wine from the different vendors.  This was an outdoor event and it is rain or shine.  Thank goodness that the day we choose was a beautiful day, a little on the warm side but still very beautiful.

There was some strategic planning on our part to maximize our tastings.  The wineries we visited were: Best Vineyards, Broad Run Vineyards, Chrisman Mill Vineyards, Inc., Elk Creek Vineyards, Equus Run Vineyards, Huber's Orchard, Winery & Vineyards, Indian Creek Winery, Prodigy Vineyards & Winery, LLC., Purple Toad Winery, River Bend Winery, Rose Hill Farm Winery,Stonebrook Winery, and Wight - Meyer Vineyards.  During the winefest they had a wine competition.  The wines that I will be reviewing are the wines that I tried and won an award.

Prodigy Vineyards took home gold in the 101 Class White Native American for their Diamond 2010 sweet white.  This wine was smooth and sweet, with a mixed taste of they Cayuga grape and the Niagara grape, which is what I was tasting.  I did not note any hints of pineapple, peach or apricot.  This wine was smooth and crisp with a long lingering flavor.  Prodigy also took home the silver for their non-grape wine which is their blackberry wine.  This wine is more of a desert wine and will pair nicely with cheesecake,dark chocolate truffles, or a nice vanilla ice cream (which I would put on the top).  This wine is very sweet, almost too sweet as a stand alone, I would most pair it with something that is not as sweet.

At Best Vineyards (located in Elizabeth, IN ) we tried their non-grape wines Mango and Plum which also won silver.  However,  I would not recommend the plum wine.  I found this wine to be very dry with a strong oak taste.  Best Vineyards lists this wine as a sweet wine; pairing well with Chinese food and Thai.  I did not find the plum wine something to be desired.  Their mango wine won silver in the non grape wines.  This wine was sweet and had a nice finish to it.  I would recommend it with vanilla ice cream or fruit.

Elk Creek Vineyards took home silver for their Riesling.  I found their Riesling to be a little different than what I have had in Upstate New York.  It has a different flavor.  I am not sure if it has to do with their growing season, the different minerals in the ground or the tobacco that may have been growing in the fields in the past.  However, once you put aside what type of Riesling you are used to you will find this to be a very nice wine.  It has a crisp flavor with a lingering flavor of honey and apple, it is a semi dry wine that will pair will with chicken, ham, or cheese.  One person at the festival had stated that they liked it with chili.   I don't know about the chili, but I will most certainly try it this winter.

Huber's Orchard Winery & Vineyard (located in Starlight IN) took home gold in the 301white hybrid division for their Traminette. This wine is a semi dry wine, and reminiscent of a Gewurztraminer.  While this was a great Traminette that is crisp and refreshing with a slight hint of spice, it was not one of my favorites.

Purple Toad Winery located in Kentucky featured many different fruit wines; however, they also have a few grape wines.  One of their grape wines took home silver in the 501 white vinifera.  The Sauvignon Blanc is a dry white wine that was not aged in oak.  This wine was smoky, very smooth, clean and crisp in in flavor.  I highly recommend this wine.  I was surprised that this took home silver.  In the non-grape division they took home gold for their peach, which was very nice and very peachy tasting.  The peach was a little overwhelming but it was still very tasty and I wish I had some ice cream for it.

River Bend Winery located in Kentucky won silver in the 501 white vinifera with their Chardonnay, which is an unoaked Chardonnay.  This Chardonnay is semi dry and had a light bouquet of citrus flavors.  You can taste undertones of pear which gives it a refreshing flavor.

Stone Brook Winery located in Kentucky won silver in the 701 non grape division for their strawberry wine. I was surprised by this because I found this wine to be awkward.  While you can taste the strawberry it had the favor of vitamin water.  I am not sure if the heat got to this wine but this wine was not one that I would hurry back for.

Wight-Meyer Vineyard located in Kentucky took home gold in the 801 Dessert for their apple wine.  I am not shocked by this at all.  Their apple wine was so great we went back for this wine a few times.  This wine taste exactly like an apple pie.  The Apple wine was good alone, with or on vanilla ice cream.  The blackberry wine won silver in the 801 non-grape division. This wine is a nice forward fruit wine, that is sweet with a flavor of oak.  The blackberry wine was aged in oak; however, it has a smooth, sweet taste.

I had a great time getting to try just some of the wines that are around Kentucky and Indiana.  I look forward to trying some of the other wine of Kentucky and visiting their wineries.