Let's, for a second, not say that this is shameless marketing, but is instead a bit of history as we prepare our country's 250th Anniversary on July 4th! For many, you may believe that Madroña Vineyards existed when our country started in 1776. True, our estate vineyards are older and registered with the Historic Vineyard Society (warning--shameless marketing), but our winery is not quite as old as our nation.
But what we really wanted to talk about was which wines you should be choosing to enjoy at our country's celebration. As a nation, we are lucky to have had several enophiles (those would be "wine lovers") amongst our Founding Fathers...most notably are Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. So in honor of these two gentlemen, we thought we might look at what each preferred in the area of wine.
First with Mr. Jefferson, there was no doubt that he loved Sauternes, especially Chateau d'Yquem. These are very intense, sweet and expensive wines made with grapes infected with the bunch rot Botrytis, just like Madroña has made with its Select Harvest Rieslings in the past (warning--shameless marketing). But when it came to still (table) wines, Jefferson was a lover of Haut-Brion from Bordeaux (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc), great Burgundies (Chardonnay), and Nebbiolo from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. But amongst his favorites were the White Rhones of Hermitage, as he called it the "first wine in the world without exception." As a cheerleader of these Marsannes, Roussannes and Viogniers, he was a trendsetter for the United States.
As for Benjamin Franklin, he did love his wine and beer. With the wine, his favorite was Madeira, a fortified wine from Portuguese island of Madeira. This, of course, makes me think of Madroña's New-World Port, (warning--shameless marketing) our fortified blend of seven Portuguese varieties grown right here. And although Franklin is attributed with saying, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy," it is now known that he actually referred to wine instead when writing to his friend.
So, looking at the wines you should have in your selection if you want to pay your respects to our Founding Fathers, then you need a fortified blend of Portuguese varieties, a blend of white Rhone varieties, a Chardonnay, a , Bordeaux varietal blend, a Nebbiolo and a botrysized dessert wine. (Warning--shameless marketing) And I only know of one winery making all those wines here in California...that would and could only be Madroña Vineyards! So be prepared and come get a bottle each of 2014 New-World Port, the 2023 Hillside Melange (white Rhone blend), the 2025 Hillside Chardonnay, the 2019 Signature Quintet (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec), the 2013 Hillside Nebbiolo and an older vintage with our 2003 Select Harvest Riesling! (And warning--shameless marketing...all these wines are available in our tasting room this weekend!)
Happy Birthday to the United States! It's been an amazing run on this experiment in Democracy. (Although, actually I think we're a Federal Republic, but that's for next year's birthday!)
(P.S. As for us, we are also celebrating with truly American delicacies this 4th of July. That would be Ranch dressing and Brownies...but not together!)