Swedish Hill

​The heavy rain continued until we were nicely ensconced in the car.  Of course it did.  Anyway, our small team left Three Brothers to head out for lunch – the Three Brothers Café was not open – and then on to other wineries in the same region as Three Brothers, the area between the two largest Finger Lakes, Lake Cayuga to the east and Lake Seneca to the west.  This brought us to Swedish Hill.
Unfortunately, Swedish Hill had just been sold.  Fortunately, it was sold to Martin Family Wineries, which owns and operates several other wineries in the area with the intent of continuing the wineries label and products.

​Two wines stood out.  One, Marechal Foch (accent over the e), is a hybrid of a hybrid.  Created in the early twentieth century, it is perfect for cooler climate zones, ripening early, cold hardy, and resistant to fungus.  For most grapes, the pulp has no color.  Marechal Foch is one of the few whose pulp is reddish, something the wine maker really needs to know.  Long story there….   Very nice wine, though it was served at room temperature, somewhere around 72 F.  Hopefully, the Martin Family Wineries will realize that red wines should not be served at room temperature, but chilled to around 60 F.

​The second wine we liked is, well, really different.  I mean, really, really different.  You see, in making this sweet red wine they add a few seasonings – cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and ginger.  Warm it up a bit, add orange slices, almonds and raisins and you have a perfect mulled wine!  Actually tastes good at room temperature without the orange slices, et al.  So bring on the Glogg!

​The University of Minnesota has produced a hybrid grape named Marquette that can be used to make a very nice wine.  As with Marechal Foch, it was developed for cool, damp climates.  Unfortunately, Swedish Hill has a version aged in bourbon barrels that really sucks!  So, as a last note to the Martin Family Wineries, free the Marquette!