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Thinking Outside the Bordeaux
Charles Dodge of Putney Winery
Folks have been fermenting things for as long as there have been reasons to get drunk. Okay, crop preservation was probably more of a reason for fermentation, but I’m sure that inebriation was an added perk for many early consumers. Before refrigeration was an option, people needed to either dry, ferment, or culture foods to carry them through the lean months. When Vermont was more rural, each farm needed to produce food for their own winter larders, so fermented fruit, honey, and maple drinks were common.
As skills are wont to do, the production of fermented drinks fell away with the growth of cities and electricity, but the process is now making a comeback. The high sugar content of grapes, and their suitability for European growing conditions, made them de rigueur for wines around the world, but just about anything with enough sugar and water can be fermented and preserved. While grapes are finally being grown with success in Vermont, our lush soils and short growing season have long been better suited to fruits like apples, blueberries, rhubarb and raspberries, so it is no surprise that Vermont wineries started out with fruit.
Boyden Valley Winery in Cambridge is Vermont’s oldest existing winery, with a registration year of 1996. David and Linda Boyden launched their winery using apples grown on their farm. Since then, they have branched out to create a wide variety of grape, maple, and fruit wines. They continue to use their own apples—and blend in other Vermont apples—to make wines like their Vermont Maple (a light apple and maple wine), Gold Leaf (a barrel-aged dessert apple and maple wine), Vermont Ice Cider (a barrel-aged apple dessert wine), and Vermont Ice Apple Crème (a blend of Vermont Ice Apple Cider, apple brandy, and Vermont cream). They use Vermont-grown cranberries for their light, semi-dry Cranberry Wine, Boyden Farm rhubarb for their medium-body Rhubarb Wine, Vermont blueberries for port-like Blueberry Wine, and Vermont currants for their sweet Cassis dessert wine. Any of these delicious varietals, when seasonally available, can be sampled in their wine-tasting room in Cambridge.
Charles Dodge of Putney Mountain Winery in Putney was a professor of music at Dartmouth College when he kept hearing about the beers his students were making. He thought about making some himself, but on a drive home past an apple orchard, he decided that wine made from local apples seemed like a much more fruitful idea. After years of making apple wine for his friends and family, he opened Putney Mountain Winery in 1998 with his wife, Kate. Their focus is entirely on fruit wines made from fruits grown in Vermont; the only fruit they buy from out of state are cranberries grown on a small family farm on Cape Cod. They have a sparkling apple wine—Heirloom Cuvee—an Apple Maple wine, and Vermont Cassis, all of which are available year round. Their seasonally available wines include two other sparkling apple wines, their Rhubarb wine, Cranberry wine, and Pear wine, as well as a Strawberry Rhubarb wine and a Blueberry Apple wine. All of their wines can be sampled in their tasting room at the Basketville store in Putney.
Vermont may have a short wine-producing history, but the state, and the Vermont Grape and Wine Council, have been working to make up for lost time. (According to their website, the Council has 30 members, 6 of which produce fruit wines.) Because federal law allows each state to regulate alcohol in its own way, there is a patchwork of alcohol regulations across the country that can help or hinder local wine production. Only in 2007 did Vermont law change to allow wineries to sample and sell their wares at farmers’ markets. The law now sees a farmers’ market as a tasting room and allows each winery to sell at up to 10 farmers’ markets or tasting rooms. David Boyden says customers today are much more educated about wine and that global wine production has opened people up to thinking outside the Bordeaux. Vermont, long known for its quality food production, has been able to use this vast wine landscape to bring attention to quality Vermont wines.
Many Vermont wineries use similar fruits, but as with grapes, there are many different ways to yeast a fruit. Choosing different yeasts allows a winery to pull out different flavors from a berry or an apple. In recent years, yeast strain cultivation has helped Vermont producers develop unique flavors for our burgeoning wine market. Two different cranberry wines from two different wineries are going to taste wonderful in two entirely different ways. You might expect a fruit wine to be sweet and syrupy, which they can be, but they also can be dry and spicy, light and crisp, or assertive and bold. You can pair different fruit wines with dinner or dessert (or breakfast, if you prefer to get your morning fruit juice the boozy way). And you can experiment with cooking with fruit wines, as well.
Kir Royale is a classic French drink of cassis mixed with champagne (or you can drop the “Royale” and mix in white wine instead of champagne). Putney Mountain Winery recommends cooking their Apple Maple wine with cinnamon, cloves, and maple syrup, then topping it off with a little gently heated wine. Boyden Valley Winery recently had a contest for mixed drinks using their Vermont Ice Apple Crème. (Check out the winning entry on their website.) A delicious favorite is a Maple Cranberry Wine Limeade with salt. Mix together lime juice, maple syrup, water (or seltzer), cranberry wine of your choice, and kosher salt to taste (a generous pinch or more if you’re a salty type). Serve that yummy concoction over ice. The pork chop recipe at right could be made with a simple red grape wine, but the cassis wine brings it to a whole new level. And the jelly recipe? Divine. Eat it with apples and blue cheese. Or local bread. Or on a spoon. Oh yum….
Claire Fitts is the owner of Butterfly Bakery of Vermont, as well as an avid food writer, professional recipe developer, and tasty food consumer.
Photo of Charles Dodge by Barbi Schreiber
Maple Lime Cranberry Wine Jelly
Recipe by Claire Fitts
3 cups cranberry wine, divided
3 tbs. lime juice
2 tsp. Pomona’s Universal Pectin calcium water*
2 tsp. Pomona’s Universal Pectin*
1 cup Vermont maple syrup
In a small saucepan, mix together 2 cups of cranberry wine, lime juice and calcium water. Bring to a boil. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the remaining cup of cranberry wine and the pectin. While whisking the boiling mixture in the pan, pour pectin mixture into the pan and whisk vigorously for 1–2 minutes, or until the pectin is dissolved. Whisk in the maple syrup and return the mixture to a boil. Remove from heat, let cool, and enjoy! Makes 4 cups.
*Pomona’s Universal Pectin is a low-sugar pectin that comes with the calcium water and can be purchased at most natural foods stores.
Pork Tenderloin
with a Cassis & Soy Sauce Reduction
Recipe by Claire Fitts
1 tbs. olive oil
1 medium fennel bulb, sliced
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup cassis
1 lb. pork tenderloin
Cut the pork tenderloin into 4 equal pieces and set aside. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil, fennel, and red pepper flakes over medium heat for 3–5 minutes, until fennel starts to soften. Add the soy sauce, maple syrup, and cassis and mix to combine. Cook for an additional 2 minutes, until the mixture begins to boil. Add the pork tenderloin to the pan and cook for 7–10 minutes per side, until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 155 °F or your preferred temperature. Remove the pork from the pan, cover, and let rest. Continue to cook the reduction for 1–2 minutes longer or until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Serve the pork and sauce over brown rice or with potatoes. Serves 4.