December 2009

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World Famous Christmas Dessert, Click here

Annual Barrel Tasting a huge success! We anticipate all the 2007 reds and 2008 white wine will be sold out by Christmas. Click any photo to enlarge it.

The Wine Enthusiast rates the 2008 Viognier/Roussanne 87points!

First reviews of 2008 reds from Dan McGrew, http://www.dogswine.blogspot.com

"The 2007 wines are big, full flavored, young and delicious. The 2008 wines have many of the same characteristics but seem to add a dimension of elegance to that mix. Both are very, very good vintages in this area. Sadly, the 2009 vintage is very poor - the price one pays in this area.

At Kinkead Ridge we tasted, in order, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. The Syrah was the most closed of the wines, the Cab Franc the most open and instantly appealing, the Petit Verdot the darkest and most flavorful, but the Cabernet Sauvignon was my favorite. Flavor, body, acid, tannin, oak were all first class. Time to put away some $ between now and September of 2010 when the bottled wines will be released.

This past September I purchased a mixed case of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc from the 2007 vintage, and it was good to taste those wines again to see how they were developing. I have yet to open any of mine. I was more than pleased with the progress the two wines showed in the bottle. Again, the Cabernet Sauvignon was my favorite."

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Review by Aaron Fetters, Cincinnati of the Annual Barrel Tasting.

"Let's start with our first stop of the day, Kinkead Ridge in Ripley. Kinkead was sampling 4 varieties from their 2008 vintage all still aging in the barrels - Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petite Verdot. I'll start by noting, 2008 was an amazing growing year for grapes here in Southern Ohio - hot and dry with a late harvest. With that fact in mind, it's no wonder all 4 of the wines Ron at Kinkead was sampling were absolute BOMBS. I tend to talk up Ohio wines probably more than I should, but for once I think it's no exaggeration to say no one would ever believe these wines come from Ohio - they taste way more like huge reds from northern California. My personal favorite at this point was the Syrah which will be the first Kinkead has put its primary label on since 2005. Each of these wines will be released around Labor Day 2010 so be sure to make a note of it for future reference."

For the full report, see http://enjoyingthefirstmiracle.blogspot.com/

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Kinkead Ridge 2007 Cabernet Franc and 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon garner Silver Medals at the American Wine Society competition. These wines were judged only one month after release. The few gold medals that were awarded went to wines with at least a year of bottle age, so we feel confident that if we could have entered these next year, they would have been gold. But they will be sold out long before the next competition.

Another outstanding wine auction and dinner, "Taste in the Valley" to benefit Hocking College students in Nelsonville OH. Auction donations from Kinkead Ridge and Hocking College consisted of three cases and five bottles of wine. These 41 bottles generated an astonishing $2580 in bids. The highest bid was $200 for an autographed bottle of 2005 Petit Verdot, only 76 cases produced. Cheers to all the bidders! Click any picture to enlarge it.

Here's a review of the Petit Verdot from dogswine.blogspot.com last July:

"I've been sitting on half a dozen bottles of the Kinkead Ridge 2005 Petit Verdot for almost two years since its release, tasting it only at the winery on two occasions. Yesterday evening I was moving some wine from one location to another and decided it was time to see if the wait paid off. Dinner was two small lamb chops and some rosemary roasted potatoes and the weather was cool for this time of year. Out came the cork from the bottle.

The wine was intensely dark purple, almost black in the glass. After five or ten minutes it began to open up and offer dark, ripe plums and cassis and a few super dark cherries thrown in the mix. The nose was earthy and there were a few herbs and flowers coming out of the glass as well. The taste was equally about dark fruit, plums and blackberries mostly. The wine was very tannic, but the tannin never interfered with the fruit. During the course of the evening the tannin finally began to settle a little though it still had a wonderful grip. There was good acid and with the tannins softening the finish was smooth, clean and long.

I've had numerous bottles of Kinkead Ridge's wine, both red and white over the last few years and have appreciated all of them. Some are obviously better than others and bottle for bottle my favorite is still their Riesling. This wine, however, is the best I've had from them. It's hard to imagine that it could get any better. Total production was only 76 cases and the wine checked in at an almost perfect 13.4% alcohol. I'm very happy there are five more bottles in the cellar. "

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The Hocking College Annual Wine Auction. Two bottles autographed, 2005 Petit Verdot, were auctioned for an astonishing $400!

The "goody bag"... Kinkead Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon	Lucky bidders win homemade Syrah jelly.. for reviews and accolades of the wines, see the Wine Page and it's Archive link.	A beautiful spun sugar centerpiece
Tom and Nancy Lambrecht, who have supported Kinkead Ridge at this event for multiple years	Wine rack ice sculpture	Nancy at work
Silent auction item	What do you think of my hat!

Kinkead Ridge 2007 Cabernet Franc rated top Ohio wine in the 2nd annual Ohio Michigan wine clash. It was the only Ohio wine in the top five, and the least expensive wine in the group... at $17.95, besting the other retail prices of $60.00, $45.00, $40.00 and $35.00. For details see http://www.ohiovsmichiganwineclash.com

The 2008 Riesling was in the top 11, and was the least expensive wine on the list at $11.95.

Here's what Joel Goldberg, one of the Michigan judges said about our Cabernet Franc:

"The only repeat-winner winery in either state from last year’s Clash, Kinkead Ridge makes its home southeast of Cincinnati, near the Ohio River.

They scored this time with the lone under-$30 wine among the top five. It provides the yang to 2 Lads’ yin; instead of a hulking bottle to lay down for years, you’ll be hard-pressed to keep your hands off this, with a berry nose that jumps from the glass and silky, fruit-driven palate that seduces your taste buds with a serious “yum” factor.
Top 5 Wine Clash bottles.

Top 5 Wine Clash bottles. (Photo by Andrew Hall)

Co-owner and winemaker Ron Barrett – who formerly owned a winery in Oregon – explains his pricing as “part of our philosophy. Our whole objective is to show we can be competitive in the marketplace. If we priced higher, we’d still sell out – but at the same time we’d turn off some people to our wine.”

Unfortunately, you can’t find Kinkead Ridge in Michigan – and the winery doesn’t have a shipping license, since it sells almost exclusively through Ohio retailers. But the other co-owner, managing partner Nancy Bentley, says that if you email her she’ll try to get you a few bottles from the mere 40 cases that remain. At the price, it’s a steal."

For the whole write-up, see:

http://annarborchronicle.com/2009/11/07/column-arbor-vinous-13/

For Mark Fisher's write-up, Dayton Daily News, see

http://www.daytondailynews.com/o/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/wine/entries/2009/11/06/the_ohiomichiga.html

"Ohioans can take consolation in the fact that its top 5 finisher — 2007 Kinkead Ridge Cabernet Franc from our friends Ron and Nancy down near Ripley — was half the price (or less) of any of the four top Michigan wines. The third-ranked Kinkead Ridge costs $17.95, while the Michigan-produced cab franc that finished second, 2 Lads Reserve Cabernet Franc 2007, retails for $40, and the first-place ice wine costs $60 — for a half bottle.

So let’s declare Ohio the winner on value."

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Results are in from the 2009 American Wine Society, Commercial Competition. 86 wineries entered 476 wines. All results are posted at http://www.americanwinesociety.org.

CABERNET SAUVIGNON: 2 Gold Medals, 9 Silver Medals, and 12 Bronze Medals. Kinkead Ridge 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon garnered a Silver. Our wines were judged very young, just one month after release. The two gold medals for Cabernet Sauvignon went to a 2004 and 2006 vintage, wines that had the benefit of bottle age. In 2007, our 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon won a silver at AWS, and several months later with some bottle age, it got a gold at the Finger Lakes competition. Due to short supplies, the 2007 wine will be sold out before Finger Lakes occurs this year.

SILVER MEDALS: Kinkead Ridge 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernets from Clarbec 2005 (CA), Harmony Cellars (CA), KE Cellars (TX), Kiepersol Estates (TX), Kiona Vineyards 2003 (WA), Loma Prieta, (CA), Magnotta (Ontario), McWilliams-Hanwood (Australia),

BRONZE MEDALS: Barefoot Cellars (CA), Callaway Vineyard (CA), Copperidge (CA), Dr. Konstantin Franc (NY), Gray Ghost (VA), Magnotta 2005 (Ontario), Magnotta 2007 (Ontario), Perigeaux (MD), Rotta (CA), Sidejob (CA), Turning Leaf (CA), Vineyards at Southpoint (NC).

GOLD MEDALS: Clarbec (CA) for a 2006 vintage, and a 2004 Kiona Vineyards (WA)

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CABERNET FRANC: 1 Gold Medal, 6 Silver Medals, 8 Bronze Medals. 2007 Kinkead Ridge Cabernet Franc blended with Petit Verdot garnered a Silver.

SILVER MEDALS: Kinkead Ridge (OH), Gadina (VA), Monte de Oro 2006 (CA), Sugar Loaf (MD), Vineland (Ontario), Wedge Mountain (WA)

BRONZE MEDALS: Fox Run (NY), Nissley (PA), Old House (VA), Pindar (NY), Presque Isle (PA), Rotta (CA), Three Fox (VA), Tiger Mountain (GA),

GOLD: Sugar Loaf (MD)

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Read what others are saying about Kinkead Ridge in their blogs... http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=kinkead+ridge&btnG=Search+Blogs

Click below for access to six regional tours of Ohio wineries. Visitors can download turn-by-turn directions to their : Garmin, TomTom, Smartphone, PDA, iPod or any MP3 player. Also included is a brief description of each winery, along with contact information and hours of operation.

Two Kinkead Ridge wines win Gold and Double Gold at Appellation America's Best of Appellation... Group evaluation by great palates (Clark Smith, Dan Berger, Alan Goldfarb), lots of discussion about how it’s crafted (Clark’s a UCD trained enologist), and then they come up with their medals. AppellationAmerica.com is now subscriber only ($4.95/month).

2008 Revelation: Gold Medal
2008 Riesling: Double Gold Medal

Here are the tasting notes:

2008 Revelation Ohio River Valley GOLD
Distinctive, subtle florals with earthy accents, perhaps indicating some hybrid wine in the blend. Lemongrass, red pear, watercress, pear, and banana aromas. Rich, clean full and intriguing. Outdoorsy odors of wild flowers, lush summer meadows and fertile soil after rain.

2008 Riesling Ohio River Valley DOUBLE GOLD
Intense pear, pear, pear. Lilac, apple and wet stone petrichor**. Off-dry with bracing acidity, suitable for shellfish or fatty sausages. Wonderfully mouthwatering, lean, long and palate cleansing with lingering flavors of cucumber and well water.

**Petrichor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Smell of rain" redirects here. For the Mortiis album, see The Smell of Rain.

Petrichor (pronounced /ˈpɛtrɨkər/; from Greek petros "stone" + ichor "the fluid that is supposed to flow in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology") is the name of the scent of rain on dry earth.

The term was coined in 1964 by two Australian researchers, Bear and Thomas, for an article in the journal Nature.[1] In the article, the authors describe how the smell derives from an oil exuded by certain plants during dry periods, whereupon it is adsorbed by clay-based soils and rocks. During rain, the oil is released into the air along with another compound, geosmin, producing the distinctive scent. In a follow-up paper, Bear and Thomas (1965) showed that the oil retards seed germination and early plant growth.[2]

The scent is generally regarded as pleasant and refreshing, and is one of the most frequently cited "favorite smells".[citation needed] In desert regions, the smell is especially strong during the first rain after a long dry spell.[citation needed] The oil yielding the scent can be collected from rocks and concentrated to produce perfume; however, it has yet to be synthesized, perhaps due to its complexity. It is composed of more than fifty distinct chemical substances."

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Click here for a one page summary of our 2009 releases

Our award winning wines are available in fine wine stores and restaurants throughout Ohio. Contact us for a list and for information about shipping out of state.

We are often asked about food and wine pairings. This is a great site to browse, Natalie MacLean's Food Matcher.

"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.
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You are riding on a beautiful white horse.
On your left side is a drop off.
On your right side are several ostriches being chased by a lion.
In front of you are four large gazelles that won't get out of your way
and you can't seem to overtake them.
Behind you is a stampede of horses.
What must you do to get out of this highly dangerous situation?

* Get your drunk ass off the merry-go-round. *

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Bottle of Merlot

A man asked a waiter to take a bottle of Merlot to an unusually attractive woman sitting alone at a table in a cozy little restaurant.
So the waiter took the Merlot to the woman and said, 'This is from the gentleman who is seated over there.'.... and indicated the sender with a nod of his head.
She stared at the wine coolly for a few seconds, not looking at the man, then decided to send a reply to him by a note..
The waiter, who was lingering nearby for a response, took the note from her and conveyed it to the gentleman.

The note read: 'For me to accept this bottle, you need to have a Mercedes in your garage, a million dollars in the bank and '7' inches in your pants'.

After reading the note, the man decided to compose one of his own in return. He folded the note, handed it to the waiter and instructed him to deliver it to the lady.

It read:
'Just to let you know things aren't always what they appear to be, I have a Ferrari Maranello, BMW Z8, Mercedes CL600, and a Porsche Turbo in my several garages; I have beautiful homes in Aspen and Miami , and a 10,000 acre ranch in Louisiana . There is over twenty million dollars in my bank account and portfolio. But, not even for a woman as beautiful as you, would I cut off three inches. Just send the bottle back'

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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