TRAVESSIA Winery Blog

Travessia Winery joins Coastal Wine Trail of Southeastern New England

This week Travessia winery was accepted into the Coastal Wine Trail of Southeastern New England. This is very significant for us.  The Coastal wine trail encompasses a group of wineries within the Southeastern New England AVA.  The term AVA is short for American Viticultural Area and can only be used by a region that has been recognized by the federal government for a distinctive combination of soil, climate and topography.  The idea is that these characteristics contribute to identifiable regional wine character.  Some would call this terroir, though this French word is a beast of its own that I will tackle some other day.

Technicalities aside, I feel like we’ve just joined the big boys/girls.  If one is serious about becoming a well-known wine grower in this region, being associated with this group of wineries is an absolute must.  Some of the people who own and run these wineries are pioneers in the growing of wine grapes in New England.  I’m very thankful that they’ve allowed me into their group.

My entrance into the trail was not a given from the start because one of the requirements is that members must be engaged in the growing of vinifera grapes within this AVA.  As most of you know, I do not own my own vineyard.  However, I explained that as part of my work at Running Brook Vineyards, I follow and often provide input into the growing of the grapes that end up as wine in my bottles.  When buds break (God… can’t wait, when is this winter going to be over?!), I start walking the vineyard at Running Brook on a weekly basis to follow the growing cycle and monitor the vineyard’s progress.  My involvement is even more direct as we get closer to harvest and picking decisions are made, with almost daily tasting and testing of the grapes for ripeness, sugar content and pH levels.  So though I do not own a vineyard, I’m most certainly engaged in the growing of grapes here in Southeastern New England.

Soon I will explain how the trail works.  For now, what I want you to know is that sometime in the Spring there will be a kick-off party for the 2009 wine trail at Sakonnet Vineyards in Little Compton, Rhode Island.  The eight wineries in the trail will be at Sakonnet pouring their wines.  I will tell you the exact date once we have one and yes… I want to see you all there.

What did I drink in 2008?

This post is in the category of “why would anyone care?”  But I’m still writing it. Posts like this serve the purpose of letting you into my personal life's habits and decisions.  I also need to justify to myself that it was worth noting down each bottle of wine I consumed at home during 2008.  Yes I did.

At times I accumulated as much as a dozen empty bottles on the kitchen counter waiting to be added into the database. I was threaten multiple times by my wife that if I did not remove these empty bottles, that she…. blah blah blah :-)  I was able to sustain these threats and this past weekend, equipped with one of the best pieces of software ever created (MS Excel), I finally cleaned out the kitchen counter of all the empty bottles. 

I’ll save you from graphs and charts, here’s just some basic data on my wine consumption for 2008:

Bottles consumed: 94 (46 Whites, 42 Reds, 6 Rose)
Top countries: USA, Portugal and France
Top regions: Alentejo and Verde (Portugal), Burgundy (France), and Paso Robles (California)
Top varietals: Pinot Noir, Alvarinho, Chardonnay, Petite Sirah.  Many wines were blends.
Average bottle cost: $16
Most expensive: $36 (2006 Orin Swift’s Napa Valley The Prisoner)
Least expensive: $6 (Quinta do Cabriz Colheita Selecionada)
Closure type: 96% cork, 4% screwcap
Bottles corked: 2 bottles (2.1%)

My own wines are not included in this data, otherwise these numbers would be dramatically skewed. 

My goal for this year is to venture into new regions and varietals but do so while favoring wines which directly or indirectly compete with my own wines, i.e. wines from cool climate regions in the $13-$19 range.

*Picture:  My recycling bin taken with the incredible Motorola Razr phone.

The Culture of Wine Talks - Myth vs. Reality

Come visit us at the winery this Thursday evening, February 12th, 2009, for what will be our first official AHA! Night.  Every second Thursday of each month, AHA! Celebrates Art History and Architecture in downtown New Bedford.  We’ll be doing our part in the celebration with what we are calling the “Culture of Wine” talks.  What is this?  Basically for about 15-20 minutes I will be standing on my soapbox and tell you more than you probably want to know about different topics, all related to wine… wine making, wine drinking, wine history, wine politics, etc.  You’ll get to taste our wine and if you want even take advantage of a special 10% AHA! Night discount on all of our wines.

Attendance is free and talks begin at every hour, i.e. 6PM, 7PM, 8PM and 9PM.  For those who haven’t yet visited us, we are at 760 Purchase Street, New Bedford, MA 02740 (click through for Google Maps).

This month’s “Culture of Wine” talk is titled “Myth vs. Reality”.  Here is a quick preview of some of the myths (or not) that we’ll be talking about…

• Uncorking a bottle for a few hours before drinking to “let it breathe” will improve and soften the wine.  Myth or Reality?
• Aged wine is better than young wine.  Myth or Reality?
• Wines labeled as “Reserve” and “Old Vine” are of guaranteed or special quality.  Myth or Reality?
• Red Wine Should Never Be Chilled.  Myth or Reality?

Hope to see you this Thursday evening… it should be a lot of fun.

Travessia Winery in the press

This has been a very good week for Travessia.  An article published in the Standard Times of New Bedford and Cape Cod Times based in Hyannis resulted in major promotion.  Many people have contacted us and expressed their excitement for trying our wines.  Many joined our mailing list already.  If you haven’t read the article yet, you can find it here (Standard T.) and here (Cape Cod T.).  Hopefully all this promotion will lead to new and long-lasting customers.

The reaction to my previous post (the first in video format) was incredible.  Chances are that it won’t be long before my next video blog post and I will for sure use many of the suggestions and comments I received to make it even better.

I feel humbled by all of this.  It raises the bar for Travessia and I certainly will do all I can to produce wines that people can enjoy while staying true to my own believe of what a good wine should be.

The website is coming along even though you won’t see any changes for a few more weeks.  That’s because we won’t “lift the cover” of the site’s upgrade until it’s all completed.  Stay tuned.

I debated not sharing the following, but this has been on my mind pretty much all the time this week, so I can’t help it but to be honest and sincere…
Unfortunately, in the middle of all this excitement for me personally, I received very sad news early this week of the unexpected departure of a long time friend.  Though over the last few years I would see him only occasionally I feel a bit empty with his departure.  So easy to just take someone’s existence for granted.  Sometimes we fail to reach out and connect with those friends who aren’t physically in our presence every day or every week.  My thoughts are with Eddie and my heart with his family.

Live from my basement

My first shot at video blogging...  "Live" from the basement late Saturday night.

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