September 2006

Thanks to Mark Fisher, Dayton Daily News for blogging about "The letter that Wine Spectator did not publish" about mid-west and Kinkead Ridge wine.  Click here. Feedback to NBentley@kinkeadridge.com.

Thursday September 22. First harvest, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc. Sadly, the rain came in four hours early, and we were picking in the rain. We will have a vivid weather memory of this vintage!

A HUGE thank you to everyone who visited us on Labor Day weekend, it was our biggest day ever! Many of you travelled long distances for the red wine release, from Dayton, Columbus, Indiana, Kentucky, and Chillicothe, as well as Cincinnati. And thanks to Chuck Martin and the Cincinnati Enquirer for rating our vineyard opening as one of the Top Ten things to do on Labor Day weekend! If anyone has photos from the vineyard tour, we'd love to see them!

For those of you lucky enough to get the artisan bread from Mark and Chef Sara: you can contact them at 859-992-8181 to order. They live in Williamsburg.

	New releases on the left. These will be entered in the November American Wine Society competition. Last year's medals on the right.

Kinkead Ridge bests Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
The 2004 Kinkead Ridge Ohio River Valley Viognier/Roussanne ($15) just topped the 2003 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, France ($25) in the first-ever Ohio Wine Challenge, in which wine experts from North America judged Ohio wines against wines from Europe and California. Click here for the press release.

September 7: Kinkead Ridge poured our two just released Cabernets at Gourmet Sensation, the annual benefit for Hospice of Cincinnati.  Our thanks to Mark Maher, Cutting Edge, and Robin Lippelman, Bethesda Foundation.

Nancy and Ron	The tent	Jens Rosencrantz, Cincinnati Wine Warehouse, helps us pour

Harvest is around the corner! 

September 2006 Kinkead Ridge featured in Our Ohio, "Ohio River Valley's Wine Resurgence". If anyone has a spare copy, we would LOVE to have it. Our address is Kinkead Ridge Winery, 904 Hamburg Street, Ripley OH 45167. Click here for this wonderful story.

August 2006 Kinkead Ridge featured in TheWineBuzz, available at fine wine stores and restaurants throughout Ohio.     See this wonderful full page advertisement in October Ohio and Cincinnati Magazine.

For the first time, Kinkead Ridge had a float in the Ripley Festival Parade! Thanks to Alexandra, Judy, Travis and Nicole for a great job! In New Orleans, they throw beads; Alexandra threw grape flavored candy. 

Our farm was a tobacco farm for at least 30 years, maybe more. Someday, we hope wine grapes will replace tobacco (no longer subsidized by the federal government) as the crop of choice in Brown County. When tobacco became profitable, it replaced wine grapes, which were widespread for a long time in the 1800s before Prohibition.  So we've come full circle. For those of you who  are not familiar with the process, this is the time of year when tobacco is cut, speared, put on tobacco sticks and hung in the many tobacco barns that dot the area. The tobacco is "in case" which means the humidity is perfect so the leaves won't crumble when you hang them up. It's hard work. The siding out the tobacco barn has slits so that air can get to the leaves; and there are also doors that swing out to allow more air. These guys are way way up off the ground when they are hanging the tobacco on the top rails. If you come to Ripley, the Tobacco Museum is a very interesting place. Here are some photos:

The wagon on the way to the back tobacco barn	Continuing to the back barn	Deb and her daughter unload the trailer	Deb transfers some sticks to the guys who are up in mid-air on the rails.	Deb's daughter.	Tobacco hanging.	Straddling the rails, way above the ground, hanging the tobacco.

We celebrated Ron's 59th birthday with friends at Nectar, Chef Julie Frances' new restaurant in Mt. Lookout. Every course was fabulous!

The 2005 Bordeaux blend white Revelation (84 cases produced), 2005 Riesling and the 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon are now sold out at the winery. We still have the lovely 2005 Viognier/Roussanne blend and the 2005 Traminette.

Kinkead Ridge bests Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
The 2004 Kinkead Ridge Ohio River Valley Viognier/Roussanne ($15) just topped the 2003 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, France ($25) in the first-ever Ohio Wine Challenge, in which wine experts from North America judged Ohio wines against wines from Europe and California.

Bernard Portet, the founding winemaker of Clos Du Val in the Napa Valley and of Domaine Nizas in France says this about the 2004 Viognier/Roussanne:

"Finally did I find the opportunity to open up your bottle of Viognier-Roussanne with a couple of friends and then with John Clews, the VP, Director of Vineyard and Winery Operations of Clos Du Val. I did like it very much. I did find it very fragrant but not shouting “Viognier” all over the place, elegant, with plenty of charm. Balanced and equally elegant and charming palate. Much of the character of its aroma could be found in its taste. There was a great balance of fullness, freshness, and good complexity, along with a good finish. Definitely a very enjoyable wine. John did concur with the above. Congratulations!"

 1290 WHIO radio interview with the winegrower, Dayton, noon. Click here and select the Kinkead Ridge show to listen to the audio.  MANY thanks to Dorothy Lane Markets for giving us the opportunity to share our story.

"Why  go for those long distance relationships when you can find love in your own back yard." 

 

Words on Wine: 
Famous quotes throughout history about wine. Click here.

Funny drinking quotes:

"Sometimes when I reflect back on all the wine I drink I feel shame. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the vineyards and all of their hopes and dreams If I didn't drink this wine, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this wine and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."
~ Jack Handy    

Click here for more funny drinking quotes.

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