Blend, baby, Blend

This week we released a new wine: Field Cuvee 2007. This is a red blend that until now used to be called Estate Red.  Field Cuvee 2007 is dominated by Cabernet Franc and Merlot, followed by Lemberger, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir. Hermann originally planted some of these varieties for the nursery business to provide bud material for grafting. We vinify Cab Franc and Pinot Noir as single varietals. Depending on the vintage we'll also do a Merlot. But we'll always have a blend with these 5 grapes, and from now on it will be known as Field Cuvee. It's a medium-bodied red with a lot of bright fruit that is easy to drink and will go well with many foods from BBQ to pizza.

The Cuvee line of wines is our blended line, with a different label to distinguish it from the rest of our wines - which are single varietals that are named on the label. It was first unveiled last summer with Frost Cuvee 2008, a white blend of Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Chardonnay.

Blends are nice because they can bring out the best of each variety. If you can't decide on one grape, blend, baby, blend!

Unrelated: Apparently John Travolta has bought a house on Keuka Lake, which is west of Seneca. I've called dibs on his tasting if he comes to the winery!