Friday, December 25, 2009

Chateau Fontaine Cherry Wine (Michigan)

As promised, tonight is was Chinese food and a fruit wine, cherry from near Traverse City (Michigan's home of the cherry). While I was out and about traveling he highways and bi-ways of Michigan wine country I tried a lot of Cherry Wine, that's because cherries are a big thing in Northern Michigan. It seemed that every winery made a cherry wine, some from their own grown cherries and others from ones they purchase in the area. Those that were not good were either a sweet syrupy mess or just never followed through (from start to finish) with enough cherry flavour. Then I came across this one from Chateau Fontaine, I remember that owner and winemaker Dan told we why his was different, and I remember thinking to myself, "sure it's different". But it turned out that it was different enough for us to buy a bottle, and in truth it was the only cherry wine we bought, so we must have been impressed. Tonight with the holidays upon us and me looking for something interesting and special to pour, this seemed like the most likely candidate. Now there is no sense is me telling you what the wine smelled like, (it smelled like cherries: black and sour cherries), it's in the mouth that this wine really hooked us. It was very cherry through the palate, and although it says "semi-sweet" on the label the finish is dry and even has a little bit of a tannic backbone. This wine tasted exactly like biting into a fresh cherry; which is what I remember liking about this paticular cherry wine, it is very true to the fruit, right down to the finish, which is like sucking on the pit after most of the cherry has been chewed up and swallowed ... this wine offered the true cherry experience without the chewing.

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