Old Westminter Winery's Nouveau (2017)

We are only members of two wine clubs (plus we have a standing order with a third one).  If you were to check the wine reviews on Chef Bolek, you could probably figure out one of the vineyards.  (It's Black Ankle Vineyards.)  The other vineyard is Old Westminster Vineyard, which is located in Westminster, Maryland.

The winemakers at Old Westminster have taken some bold steps when it comes to wine.   The most recent step is to produce their take on the Beaujolais Nouveau.  Of course, the Beaujolais Nouveau -- which I reviewed back in 2012 -- comes from the Beaujolais region of France.  That is nearly four thousand miles away from Westminster.  And, the Beaujolais Nouveau is made with Gamay Noir a Jus Blanc grapes (or Gamay grapes).  The closest region to Westminster where one could find these grapes is the Niagara region (southern Ontario, Canada) or the Willamette Valley in Oregon. 

So, Old Westminster produced the Nouveau.  The boldness of this step is that the winemakers produced a wine in the Beaujolais Nouveau style but a wine that is not a Beaujolais Nouveau.  The style is to produce a young wine.  One that spends weeks, not months, aging in a stainless steel tank or an oak barrel.  The wine then goes straight into the bottle.  

The Old Westminster Nouveau is produced with Cabernet Franc grapes with, according to the wine maker, "a splash of Petit Verdot."  The grapes were grown in northern Maryland, harvested from mid-September through early October, and then fermented in stainless steel.  The wine was then bottled on October 26th. Just 300 cases.  My beautiful Angel and I got to taste it roughly one week later.  This is just another slight departure from the Beaujolais Nouveau, which is not released until 12:01 a.m. on the third Tuesday in November.  Nevertheless, we still bought two bottles, one to enjoy that night and another to put in the wine cage.

The winemakers describe the Nouveau as having an "inky color, tons of red fruit on the nose, bright acidity and grippy, young tannins."  The wine pours a crimson red, much lighter than the typical red wine.  There is a lot of red fruit on the nose.  The typical fruit, like cherries, raspberries and even some strawberry notes.  All of those berries carry themselves into the taste of the wine, although the strawberries lose themselves a little in the tannins of the wine.  The tannins are as advertised, they do not provide much astringency or bitterness to the wine.  That opens the way for the fruit-forwardness of this wine.

The Nouveau is a very good wine, and, like any Nouveau wine, it is meant to be enjoyed sooner rather than later.  A bottle runs for about $30 dollars.  

ENJOY!