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Cascade Mountain Vineyards NV Coeur de Lion

Thursday, April 10th, 2008 | Hudson Valley, New York, Red Wine

As I mentioned before, April is New York wine month. (It’s also Michigan wine month, apparently, but I’ve never seen a Michigan wine around here.) I have a line-up of wines from most of New York’s wine-growing regions and I thought I’d start with the Hudson Valley, since this is where I live. Believe it or not, even within New York it’s not easy to find wines produced here. Last week I decided to stop by Astor Square Wine & Liquor in Rhinebeck. It had been a long time since I’d last shopped there and I was curious what they’d have for local wines. Their New York section was rather small. They had a few wines from Bully Hill, a few wines from Cascade Mountain Vineyards, and I think they had something from Alison, too.

I quickly decided on a bottle of Coeur de Lion  from Cascade Mountain ($13.99). Drew and I visited Cascade Mountain Vineyards in Amenia, NY a few years ago and tasted many of their wines, including this one. I wasn’t keeping tasting notes at the time, so I looked forward to revisited the wine. It is a light-bodied red, often described as a “country wine.” The grapes are not listed on the label, but the wine is a blend of Marechal Foch and Cabernet Sauvignon.

In the glass, the wine was a lovely shade of burgundy. When I smelled the wine, the first thing that came to mind was banana, followed by dark fruit, and lots of oak. I found the wine to be incredibly dry. It sucked the moisture off your tongue. Personally, I thought it was a bit too dry for such a light-bodied wine. There is a great deal of oak on this wine, but I was able to discern some tart berry flavors. The wine did open up a bit when I tried it again a few hours later and it had softened. Still, I wasn’t crazy about it. I might have liked it better if I’d paid under $10 for it, but that is my frugal nature rearing its head. Drew liked it slightly more than I did and thought it might appeal to people who enjoy wines from Burgundy.

I’m starting to realize that no matter what region, I tend to enjoy New York white wines and dessert wines more than the reds produced here. That’s not to say that New York doesn’t produce decent red wines; I’m realizing that they just don’t suit my tastes. And in the end it does come down to personal preferance. No wine is everything to all people, you know? Next time I’ll pick up a bottle of Summertide ($11.99), which is a semi-dry white made with Seyval and Vidal grapes and see I enjoy that a little bit more.

1 Comment to Cascade Mountain Vineyards NV Coeur de Lion

farlane
April 10, 2008

You should definitely try a Michigan wine some day soon.

If you’d like to, send me an email and I’ll have someone send you a bottle or three.

Thanks for linking over to Absolute Michigan!

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