For how I got started trying wines from outside California, check out my previous article. Today the very nice UPS man came and delivered my bottles of Lautenbach's Orchard Country Winery's Audrey Grace. Just popped one open and here are my instant impressions: wow, this is really good. I'll try not to sound too much like the Silly Tasting Notes Generator while talking about this.The color is a nice dark raisin; a little too brown to be called red but too red to be called brown. The nose - smell - is warm (actually, it had me a little worried at first), with cherries, olives, and honey. The taste is fruity, but not to a fault, as it has enough acid to balance it out very nicely. More olives here! Some tannins to round it out and give it some nice oomph. The finish is like a dream! A little lingering tannin to make me think it could age a little. And of course, these are just my impressions; YMMV.
But most importantly... its a great wine to drink. As soon as I tasted it I wanted a big, thick, juicy steak to go with it.. it might be a "lighter" red but the flavors here just BEG for it.
So, after all that, does it have what I hoped for, a Wisconsin/Door County terroir? Well, I can't answer for the second half, but I think I can for the first. There's a flavor here.. the olive-y flavor maybe? I'm not 100% sure, its hard to pin down, but the only other place I've tasted it is in my parents homemade wines. So I'd venture to say that yes, my experiment was successful. Of course, even if this was a generic, terroir-less wine.. its still really tasty, and in the end that's what counts, right?
Great wine, great price, and I'm definitely going to buy it again.
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