Other than CA-WA-OR-NY from which US States have you tried wine?

Randy, as an avid stamp collector, I've tried to taste wines from as many states as possible -- It would be easier to list the seven I haven't succeeded in finding.

Regards, Bob

PS: some of these were only marginally wine, I must say, although I've excluded all non-grape wines from my "life list". B.

Callaghan is the one from Arizona that I consider to be pretty darned good. I think there are a couple others who are pretty serious about what they're making. And then there are the rest.....

%^)

Other than Callaghan, might the other two be Dos Cabezas (winemaker Todd Bostock became the sole proprietor in the Fall of 2006) and Echo Canyon ? Callaghan makes a cabernet/petit verdot blend that has been served at a couple White House dinner functions ... Dos Cabezas excels on his GSM blend ... Echo Canyon is the Arizona favorite of the Wall Street Journal with his red blends ...

Clink !

%^)

Love to hear any tasting notes on North Dakota wines, as I heard they were the last U.S. state in which a winery was established, circa 2002. There are now a handful of wineries there.

cheers,
al

Aside from the obvious West Coast and NY State, from which other states have you tasted wine, and was it any good?

Here is my list:

North Carolina
Flint Hill Cabernet Sauvignon
Flint Hill Viognier
RayLen South Mountain Chardonnay
Biltmore Estates Chardonnay Sur Lies
RayLen Category 5 (red blend)
Raffaldini Vermentino
Westbend Riesling

As I live a stone's throw from RayLen, Childress, Westbend and Flint Hill, I've tasted many of their wines as well as others from around the state at local tastings. Those listed above are the ones I would buy again. We may not be quite there yet, but we're on our way.

Tennessee
Stonehaus Homestead White

Texas
Comfort Cellars - Tasted about a dozen wines at the winery. All fair to decent, but not majorly impressed with any of them.

Callaghan is the one from Arizona that I consider to be pretty darned good. I think there are a couple others who are pretty serious about what they're making. And then there are the rest.....

%^)

Other than Callaghan, might the other two be Dos Cabezas (winemaker Todd Bostock became the sole proprietor in the Fall of 2006) and Echo Canyon ? Callaghan makes a cabernet/petit verdot blend that has been served at a couple White House dinner functions ... Dos Cabezas excels on his GSM blend ... Echo Canyon is the Arizona favorite of the Wall Street Journal with his red blends ...

Clink !

%^)

Dos Cabezas is indeed one of the others, Bill. I'm not familiar with Echo Canyon, though. Do you know what part of the state they're in?

I have tasted many wines from Missouri and New York and a smattering from Michigan and Virginia. Just a few from Texas, Vermont, Connecticut, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

In general, I find Missouri Seyval Blanc, Vidal, Traminette and Chardonnel to be quite decent simple but well-balanced white wines, competitive with many $8-15 whites from France, Italy and Washington. A few of the Sevyals and Chardonnels have been better than that and I have had at least 10 Missouri Vignoles whites that I would call excellent and one or two world class. There are some well made reds, primarily from Norton, but they are something of an acquired taste.

I have had a number of very good Michigan whites from Vignoles, Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Grigio. They tend to be on the austere side, but fans of leaner French and Austrian wines should be on the lookout for them.

New York,s Finger Lakes makes the best Riesling in the U.S. IMHO. I like the few Traminettes I've had as well. Some pretty good but less exciting Gewurz, Chardonnay, Cayuga and Seyval. Long Island Merlot and Cab Franc has a good reputation, but I'm not really familiar with them.

Michigan and NY late harvest wines can be stunning.

Virginia strikes me as much more varied and variable. Some of the Viogniers are among the better ones in the U.S. I have had some good Cab Francs, Nortons, Barbera, Tannat and Mourvedre but not enough samples to really offer any generalizations. There are some really bad ones too.

Every year we have a large dinner party featuring wines from "other" states, and we've had bottles from many many states over the past several years.

I'm surprised there has not been more mention of Colorado wines here. We've had a few very nice ones. Other standouts include Virginia and Idaho. I recall a very nice chardonnay from Vermont. Nice dessert wines from Rhode Island. The single worst was from Hawaii.

These wines are almost never the equal of good wine from other parts of the world in the same price range, but I find it fun to explore and consider it important to support small winemakers.