TRAVESSIA Winery Blog

Red Oak winery closes

Red Oak winery in Middleton, MA, is no longer in business.

I became aware that the winery was up for auction via Richard Auffrey’s “The Passionate Foodie” blog just a couple of weeks ago.  I spoke with the auctioneer this morning who told me that the winery was actually doing quite well business wise.  The closing is due to an unfortunate legal situation.

I visited this winery about a year ago, tasted several of its wines and bought a few bottles.  I didn’t really like their Chardonnay but thought that the reds were good.  In fact one of their Cabernet Sauvignon was quite good, BUT...

I feel sorry that this winery is closing and wish the best to the owner and everyone involved.  However, I have to be honest and say that I just don’t get excited about wineries like Red Oak.  Red Oak’s brand was built on “Bringing the best of the West to the East”.  West being California grapes, East being the Massachusetts winery that turned those grapes into wine.  The wine may even be great but what are you drinking?  A California wine or a Massachusetts wine?  If you believe, like I do, that what determines the origin of a wine is the place where the grapes are grown and not the hand of the winemaker in the winery, then you are drinking a California wine.  If I want a California wine, I buy it primarily at the local wine shop, not at a Massachusetts winery.  I don’t care what sort of spin you put on it… that California wine is not transported appropriately and that it’s better to transport the grapes in a refrigerated truck than to transport the finished wine, etc.… that’s just not going to fly for me.

One thing I will give to Red Oak… at least they were very clear about the origin of their grapes, unlike several Massachusetts wineries who blend California grapes with their own locally grown/sourced grapes and do not clearly disclose this to the public.  Wineries do this under a law which allows them to blend a percentage of "foreign" grapes with the grapes they grow themselves and not have to clearly state this on the label. Sure it’s legal, but this practice leads the wine drinker to develop the wrong impression and incorrect expectation for what Massachusetts wine tastes like. I find this “blending” practice damaging to the Massachusetts wine industry.  But I’m off topic now… this really deserves its own post.

Travessia UnOaked Chardonnay at the Rose Alley Ale House

Inner Bay Restaurant, owned by my good friends Tony and Judy Soares, has been selling all of my currently released wines by the glass and by the bottle since early February.  They were the first establishment to invest in my wines so they’ll forever hold a special place in my heart.

This past weekend, Travessia wine was picked up by a second restaurant.  The brand new Rose Alley Ale House decided to have Travessia’s 2007 UnOaked Chardonnay as one of their wines.

I am very thankful to the Rose Alley Ale House.  They came to me and showed interest even before I had opened the winery to the public.  Some of the Ale House’s five partners were Travessia customers early on and I’m very happy and thankful that they decided to carry my wine at their brand new establishment.

The Rose Alley Ale House opened to the public this March 4th after many months of work which included rebuilding the infrastructure of what may be one of New Bedford’s oldest buildings.  The bar is located at the bottom of Rose Alley facing route 18.  They serve a wide selection of local micro brews along with a menu which features salads, burgers and many different flavors of buffalo wings.

I spoke for several minutes with manager Bryon Giordano.  He told me that they would be selling Travessia’s UnOaked Chardoonay for $6 a glass which is comparable to most of the other white wines they carry.  Not sure I convinced Bryon to work the Fish & Chips into their menu.... After all, you can easily see the masts of America’s top commercial fishing fleet right across the street from the Rose Alley.

If you happen to be out and about in downtown New Bedford, please stop by the Rose Alley Ale House.  They are located at 94 Front Street.  They open Monday through Thursday at 4:30PM; Friday through Sunday at Noon. Close at last call.

The Culture of Wine Talks: White, Pink, Red - How wine is made

  

Come visit us at the winery this Thursday evening, March 12th, 2009, for our second AHA! Night.  AHA! celebrates art, history and architecture in downtown New Bedford. In March, AHA's theme is "Exploring how fundamental elements are used to create art."  What elements?... Air, fire, earth, water, wood and metal.

Travessia participates by hosting a series of talks on different wine related topics.  This month's topic is "White, Pink, Red - How wine is made".  20 minutes is barely enough to scratch the surface on some very basic aspects of winemaking, such us:

• What is the impact of vineyard growing practices on the quality of wine?
• Is Rose a blend of Red and White wines?
• Why are barrels used in the winemaking process?

Attendance is free and talks begin at every hour, i.e. 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).

Where in the world is Travessia?

Inspired by one of my favorite wine blogs – Dr.Vino – who once in a while runs a post titled “Where in the wine world are we?” requesting readers to identify a vineyard site, this month I start a new feature here on the Travessia winery blog titled “Where in the World is Travessia?”

For this to actually work, I need your participation in two ways:

1. Send me a picture of a bottle of one of Travessia’s wines.  Besides the wine, the picture should also display a view of the town/city you live in or a place that you visited.  It's fine if the bottle has been emptied.

I will then post your picture here on the blog and that's when the second part of everyone's participation comes in.

2. Identify (guessing is fine) the location shown in the picture.  Just simply leave your answer in the comments.

The first reader to accurately and more precisely identify the location shown on the picture will be the winner of a bottle of wine or wine related gift.  I will give everyone 2 or 3 days to send in their “guess” before calling a winner.

I strongly encourage you to include your beautiful self in the picture along with the bottle and the view of the location.  Why?  Well, it’s much more interesting and believable.  Not required, but you'll make me happier :-)

First up…  my friend Ryan took a bottle of Travessia’s 2007 Vidal Blanc along with him on a weekend trip to a fairly distant place.  He sent me this picture:

So... Where in the World is Travessia?

I will give everyone a clue since this is the first time we do this… it’s somewhere in Europe.  Leave your guess in the comments section below.

UPDATE - 3/8/09
This wasn't really much of a contest since Robert Dwyer hit the target dead center right off the bat.  The picture was indeed taken in Zermatt, Switzerland.  Congrats to Robert and thank you to Richard and Bela for participating.  I'll need more pictures to do this again, so please send them in.  Thanks! Marco.