Saturday, November 19, marks the release of Lincoln Peak Vineyard’s Marquette Nouveau — a dry, young and supremely fresh wine. Fittingly, says vineyard owner Chris Granstrom, it “goes great with a turkey dinner.”
“Nouveau wine is bottled the same year the grapes are harvested,” Granstrom continues. “Using an unusual fermentation technique called carbonic maceration, whole grape clusters are sealed in a tank, which is filled with carbon dioxide — no crushing, no yeast.”
The result is a low-acid, zesty wine with ripe-fruit flavor. The nouveau wine tradition is made famous by the Beaujolais region of France, which annually releases a crush of young Gamay reds, “Beaujolais Nouveau,” in the third week of November. This year, Lincoln Peak brings the centuries-old custom to the Green Mountains.
“This is the first year we made a nouveau wine, and I’m happy with the results,” says Granstrom. “We had such a big crop of beautiful grapes after a perfect growing season — the bountiful yield gave me some extra Marquette grapes to ‘play’ with. I played, and the results are really fun. And good.”
A release party on Saturday at the New Haven winery promises Marquette Nouveau bottles and growler fills, plus local cheese, crackers and sausages for snacking.
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