Wine of the Month

Big Creek Vineyard

Labrusca

Big Creek Vineyard

Keller Road

Kresgeville, PA

610-681-3959
 

Comment:

This past week we were on vacation in the Poconos and stopped to see Big Creek.  We had a fun time chatting with a nice lady there, and when we said we were looking for a wine to have with pizza, she tapped a bottle of Labrusca, a red, and said this was the pizza wine.

We took her advice.  We are very happy to say that she was right.  We were also a little surprised.  Here's why.

The Labrusca grape (vitis labrusca if you want to be exact) is a native American grape, usually seen only in the eastern US and Canada.  It is not a European vitis vinifera (like Merlot, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon).  Some people look down their noses at it, and like other native American varieties it is often described as having a musky, "foxy" quality.

When we opened it with the pizza that night, I didn't notice that.  Mainly I thought the wine tasted a little like a sweet Italian wine with that pizza.  We had a little left when the pie was gone, and I did notice the "foxy" quality then, so you might not like it alone.  But I'd have to say the lady was right, and that wine made our quiet night with the pizza and the Olympics very nice.