Amateur winemaker Terry Turner spent a busy week, taking care of last-minute details for the two-day Kansas Grape Growers & Winemakers Association annual meeting here and trying to decide which of his grape wines to enter in the conference’s tasting and judging event Friday night.
“I think one’s going to be a pinot and the other one’s not known for its wine; it’s more known for its jellies and jams,” Turner said earlier this week.
The wine he’d made from that grape — a “Beta” grape normally used in foods — was an experiment that he’d undertaken simply to see what would result.
About 400 pounds of Betas were left over from the grape stomp at the Hutchinson State Fair, and a friend who had provided those grapes called Turner.
“He said, ‘Hey, come up here and get those grapes,’” Turner recalled. “I think he gave me like 400 pounds. ... We brought it home and we put it in a vat and it’s absolutely wonderful, I think. The nose on it’s just terrific.”
The “nose” is the consumer’s first introduction to the potential of the wine.
“It’s the first thing you do. Smell it, to get what it’s got to offer there,” Turner said, mentioning a list of possible scents released from the wine. “That’s what’s neat about grapes. They will bring out things that you wouldn’t ever think would be in a grape. You can get citrus flavors. You can get melon flavors, black pepper, green pepper, you can get oak out of it, you can get leather.”
The leather scent was unexpected when Turner and his wife, Delores, caught a whiff of the fragrance as they and others tasted from bottles of donated Kansas-made wines that would be served with meals at the conference.
“The first thing that hit you was a brand-new pair of shoes,” he said, describing the odor. “Now, that’s not unpleasant.”
“But to think that a grape can come out with that kind of flavor. Vanilla. Coffee. And you’re not adding any of that. It’s just there. It changes chemically and brings it out in it,” Turner said.
Some scents are unpleasant, though, when a winemaker makes an error and the nose and taste go “off” into metallics or ammonia tastes or odors.
Wine connoisseurs swish the wine in their glasses, then take a sip, passing the wine over the sweet taste buds at the end of the tongue, then fully over the salty and bitter taste buds on the rest of the tongue, to test the wine’s “finish.”
“You want to swish it around and let all of your taste buds taste it; then swallow and just exhale through your nose,” Turner said. “What that does, whatever’s in your mouth, it takes it out through your nose. ... That’s going to tell you whether you like it or not.”
A long finish on a good wine is desirable.
“That’s because after you swallow it, you can still taste it. It stays with you,” he said.
And he cautioned to decline offers by sommeliers who pull out a wine cork and offer it for the buyer to sniff.
“Just say ‘No, thank you,’ because you can’t tell anything, except it’s an old smelly cork,” Turner said. “That’s the truth. That’s all it is.”
It’s the pleasant-tasting and clean-scented results that Turner and the other winemakers are aiming for, and more and more they are hitting the mark.
The winemaking industry in Kansas is growing, as are the ranks of grape-growers who, like Turner, often combine both. As an amateur, Turner cannot sell any of his wines, although he can produce up to 200 gallons per year for his household and guests to enjoy.
Statewide, there are 20 winemakers licensed to produce wine for retail consumption, he said. Some of them are too new to actually be in operation and selling, but those who are offer bottles of Kansas wines at their wineries and in some retail liquor stores.
“There’s more and more and more, and we’re working toward increasing acreage in the state,” Turner said. “We’re working to get our share of the market. Right now it’s only at one percent — less than one percent.”
Some of the wines are made from grape juice shipped in to producers from out-of-state, and are not considered “Kansas” wines. Many Kansas wines are made from grapes grown by Lyon County producers like Turner and at numerous Kansas vineyards, including the Kuhlmann family’s Eagle Creek Winery near Olpe.
The state has a prime climate for growing some types of grapes and, before Prohibition, was second only to Missouri in its grape crop, he said.
The abundance of sunshine in Kansas is conducive to grape-growing, though certain varieties fare better in California and other areas than they do here.
French-style grapes, like the chardonnays and merlots, can cross over to the Kansas climate and still produce a tasty product. Reislings also grow well here, but growth is where Reislings’ feasibility stops.
“Reisling grows extremely well in the state of Kansas,” he said. “The problem is, we’re too hot. We have enough days to produce a grape but we’re too hot. It won’t produce a good wine.”
Cynthiana Norton, a grape native to America, is a favorite in this area “which is becoming very, very well known for the type of wine it produces. It’s been in national competitions and winning awards right and left,” Turner said. He named Catawba, Niagara, American, and Vidal as among the grapes compatible with the state’s weather for both growing and producing.
The first vintage of a new Noiret (nwahr-ay) grape was produced by a Kansas winery last year and will be served at the association’s banquet tonight.
The grape’s developer, Bruce Reisch, professor of horticultural science Cornell University, was to be here today to be the keynote speaker for the annual meeting.
Doug Moorhead, owner of Presque Isle Wine Cellars in North East, Pa., was scheduled for a presentation after Reisch to talk about crafting Noiret wine.
The Kansas grapegrowers and winemakers are not only serious about their craft, they are being taken seriously by recognized professionals in the industry. For now, they are making their own history by rejuvenating an industry that once had flourished in Kansas and, because of circumstances, has left little or no evidence of its existence.
Members of the association are eager to learn more about Kansas’ former status as a grape state, and have been frustrated at every turn in their efforts to find information.
“There’s not any history on all that, honestly, because they destroyed the history,” Turner said, referring to Prohibition and the bans that came with it. “Anything that had to do with wine, they destroyed it in the library — who grew it, what they grew. Nobody can find it. We’ve looked and looked all over the place. If somebody knows where it’s at, we’d sure like to get hold of it.”
spuds4all (anonymous) says...
I don't belive nobody jumped on this one I mean come on is this a winer story or what.
January 10, 2009 at 5:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
spuds,
Did you mean ,"is this a winer story or what," or did you mean is this a "whiner" story? Because, yes, this is, in fact a "winer" or rather, vinter story. Maybe you were going for a pun. And if you mean "whiner", then okay, I can't believe Kansas is too hot for that Reisling variety--that sucks!!!!!
January 10, 2009 at 6:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
imgone (anonymous) says...
You are in a restaurant.....you order a bottle of wine.......the waiter removes the cork......please, DONT BE A DORK AND SMELL THE CORK! The waiter should show you the stamp on the cork which should match the winery as labeled. This is to show you have what you ordered and they haven't refilled the bottle with a cheaper wine.
January 10, 2009 at 8:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )