My Favorite Local Winery of 2009 was Travessia Urban Winery, located in downtown New Bedford. The owner Marco is a passionate man, truly interested in producing the best wines that he can. Plus, he only uses locally grown grapes. I have previously raved about his wines, and had an opportunity at the Boston Wine Expo to taste two of his newest wines.
What was most interesting was to see the variation of these two wines due to the vintage. I had tasted the 2007 vintage of both of these wines, and now was getting to taste the 2008 vintage. Each wine had significant differences from the previous vintage.
The 2008 Semi-Sweet Vidal Blanc, which will be released in the spring, was off-dry, with only hints of sweetness. It was drier than the 2007 vintage. It had nice citrus flavors with a touch of floral. Marco feels that this vintage is more varietally correct, the way the Vidal Blanc should show itself. For myself, I enjoyed this wine better than the 2007, as I generally prefer a drier wine. The light sweetness though would still help if this wine were paired with some spicy Asian food.
I should note that the 2007 Unoaked Chardonnay was one of my favorite Travessia wines. So I was hopeful when I tasted the 2008 Unoaked Chardonnay that it would reach the same heights. The 2008 was good, with nice fruit flavors of green apple, melon and lemon, but it was not as vibrant and complex as the 2007. It still is a good wine, an easy drinking wine which would also pair well with food, but it just didn't rise to the excellence of the previous vintage.
Check out the wines of Travessia Urban Winery and support an excellent local winery.
Given Marco’s hands-off winemaking philosophy, I’d expect pronounced seasonal variations. I haven’t had any of the 2008’s yet. I thought 2007 was supposed to be a year for dry wine, so it’s interesting that the Vidal Blanc 2008 is even drier. My favorite thing about the ’07 unoaked Chardonnay was its steely backbone of acidity. I recently had a fantastic Chardonnay from Westport Rivers as well – this is definitely Chardonnay country!
ReplyDeleteI think Travassia also has Pinot Grigio and Riesling in the pipeline.
I have enjoyed all of the Travessia wines I have tasted and look forward to trying the new releases. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Couves:
ReplyDeleteIt is always cool to see how vintages can change some wines. Though I am sure it can be sometimes frustrating for the winemaker. Marco is certainly doing a good job.
Thanks Travel Eat Love! Hope you enjoy the new releases as I have.