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Posted: 2025-04-23 15:40
"Regenerative organic agriculture is a collection of practices that focus on regenerating soil health and the full farm ecosystem. In practice, regenerative organic agriculture can look like cover cropping, crop rotation, low- to no-till, compost, and zero use of persistent chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Layered into these practices, depending on a farm’s needs, could be the addition of perennials, development of pollinator and wildlife habitats, incorporation of agroforestry systems, vegetative barriers, and other regenerative practices that are shown to contribute to the development of soil organic matter."
Regenerative Farming is a contemporary topic where and increasing number of agriculture entities are following these practices. Domaine Bousquet was the first wine estate out of the United States (4th overall) to achieve Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC)™ status. Their vineyards (first planted in 1997-98) are situated high above the clouds at 4,000 feet in Gualtallary in Mendoza’s Uco Valley. This dry environment definitely helped achieve many aspects of this status, but they also had to implicitly institute policies and procedures to "rehabilitate soil, respect animal welfare, and improve the lives of farmers and farm workers". The first tenant of regenerative farming is No-Till Farming. This method offers a range of benefits that can improve soil health, increase crop yields, reduce environmental impacts, and save farmers money. No-till farming educes soil erosion, preserves soil structure, increases soil organic matter, and reduces soil compaction, leading to better soil biological activity and improved soil health. Fields managed using no-till farming for multiple years have a higher water-holding capacity. And farmers benefit from reduces fuel and labor costs. Grapes for the GAIA label have always been grown organically and the "Greek goddess of the earth, has been the Bousquet family’s inspiration since founding our winery 1997". The grapes for this brand come from the estate vineyards in Tupungato, Alto Gualtallary -- located at the foothills of the Andes at 4,000 ft. altitude. This location provides intense sun exposure and huge shifts in day-to-night temperatures combine to both mature the grapes and retain acidity. The Gaia Organic Pinot Noir Rosé exudes red berries both on the nose and its creamy palate. Expect racy acidity for a refreshing pale rosé. The next tenant of regenerative farming is Biodiversity through at least four plant groups. This process increases pollinator populations by providing diverse flower-rich habitats and reduced pesticide use support pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. It enhances ecosystem services so that soil biota, decomposers, and predators work together to regulate pests and diseases, reducing the need for chemical controls. Biodiversity improves habitat connectivity as regenerative farms with diverse habitats and corridors can support wider species distributions and population growth. And is sequesters carbon as healthy soils and diverse ecosystems help sequester carbon, mitigating climate change and its impacts on biodiversity. The Gaia Organic Malbec 2022 spends between eight and ten months in French oak providing complimentary vanilla tannins to the juicy ripe blackberry notes. This is an extremely approachable wine with a touch of spice to liven the glass. The third tenant of regenerative farming is planting Cover Crops that become layers of armor by protecting the soil from sunlight and maintains moisture. Regenerative farming and cover crops are intertwined concepts that promote soil health, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Regenerative agriculture focuses on enhancing natural processes to improve soil fertility, structure, and overall ecosystem function. Cover crops play a vital role in this approach, serving as a bridge between cash crops and soil regeneration.' The fourth tenant of regenerative farming is incorporating Animals as a key component to achieve the regenerative goals. This includes grazing management emphasizing rotational grazing, where animals are moved to different pastures to mimic natural grazing patterns. This approach promotes soil health, increases biodiversity, and sequesters carbon. Manure is used as a natural fertilizer, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers and minimizing carbon emissions associated with their production and transportation. Animals like chickens, ducks, and geese can be used as natural pest managers, reducing the need for pesticides and promoting soil health. Holistic approach: Regenerative farming recognizes the interconnectedness of soil, plants, animals, and ecosystem services. By incorporating animals into the farming system, farmers can create a more resilient and diverse ecosystem. Like the Malbec, the Gaia Organic Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 ages between eight and ten months in French oak. In contrast, there is more intense dark cherry notes with saline flowing through the soft finish. The fifth and final tenant of regenerative farming is instituting Labor Practices that ensure sufficient wages and worker safety. Regenerative farmers prioritize fair labor practices, ensuring decent working conditions, safe working environments, and equitable compensation for farmworkers. Regenerative agriculture values the dignity and well-being of farmers and farmworkers, recognizing their importance in maintaining healthy ecosystems and producing nutritious food. Regenerative farms strive to provide comfortable and safe working conditions, including adequate shade, ventilation, and access to clean water and sanitation facilities. Regenerative farmers avoid using synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, reducing exposure risks for farmworkers and promoting a healthier environment. Regenerative agriculture often involves community-based approaches, fostering relationships between farmers, farmworkers, and local communities to promote social and environmental sustainability. Regenerative farmers invest in training and capacity-building programs for farmworkers, enhancing their skills and knowledge in sustainable agriculture practices. Regenerative practices like agroforestry, cover cropping, and crop rotation can reduce labor requirements, improving working conditions and reducing the risk of labor exploitation. Regenerative farmers prioritize continuous learning and improvement, adapting to changing environmental and social conditions while refining their labor practices to ensure long-term sustainability.
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Posted: 2025-04-18 09:34
Part of the Effervescence Unleashed program is to highlight the various sparkling wine regions and methods used throughout the world. Prosecco is a popular but commonly misunderstood word. Is it a region, a wine, or a grape variety? Before 2009 this term described all three. Pretty confusing, right? Thus, in 2009 several changes were made. First, the Prosecco DOC was created which covers a vast area spanning two regions, nine provinces, and 556 townships. It is geographically located north of Venice in parts of Veneto and Friuli. At the same time the historical birthplaces of Prosecco, Conegliano Valdobbiadene and Colli Asolani were granted DOCG status. ConVal is a region of steep hillsides located between the villages of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene. The Colli Asolani is a hilly area of northern central Veneto where a neatly defined ridge passes from northeast to southwest between the towns of Cornuda and Asolo. Every DOCG wine is subject to official tasting procedures. To prevent counterfeiting, the bottles have a numbered government seal across the neck. And finally, the name of the primary grape variety used in making Prosecco wine was changed from Prosecco to Glera - the grape's historical synonym. The word Prosecco is most likely Slovenian in origin "derived from prosek, a dialectic term for 'path cut through the woods'". In Croatia a sweet passito wine called Prošek has been made for thousands of years - although the EU has now banned that usage. I guess it's name is too similar to the subject of this post which was named after the village Prosecco located near Trieste. The first known mention of Prosecco occurred in 1593 when an English traveler named Fynes Moryson wrote "[In] Histria (Trieste) proper grows the wine Pucinum, now called Prosecho, much celebrated by Pliny". Pucinum refers an ancient wine drunk by the Romans.  The modern history of Prosecco began in 1876 when enologist Giovanni Battista Cerletti founded the Scuola Enologico in Conegliano. However the wine's popularity accelerated with improved production techniques for secondary fermentation starting with Federico Martinotti patenting a method using large pressurized temperature-controlled receptacles. And Eugène Charmat's adoption of the autoclave in secondary fermentation soon followed. Post WWII this autoclave became "widely adopted throughout the area of Conegliano Valdobbiadene and the modern sparkling wine industry was born". Over time this historical region lost focus as more producers outside the region began producing Prosecco sparkling wine. Thus the 2009 reforms. Today the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG comprises 15 hillside towns with thousands of small growers supplying 183 wineries. The Dolomite Mountains protect the area on the north while the Piave River valley and a flat plain to the Adriatic Sea bring sea breezes and a semi-marine climate. The vines are planted on south facing sloops and receive abundant rain which drains quickly through the loose soil or dry from the maritime breezes. Wine-searcher.com notes that "the Colli Asolani (the hilly area of northern central Veneto in which Asolo Prosecco is made) run in a neatly defined ridge from northeast to southwest between the towns of Cornuda and Asolo itself. Along this 8-kilometer (5-mile) spine, the hills undulate gently, their peaks rising to a maximum of about 450 meters (1500ft). The finest vineyard sites lie on the southern side of the hills, on sunny south-facing slopes, whose gentle gradient and loose soils offer excellent drainage. They are interspersed with orchards, vegetable crops and the wooded areas that reach up in finger-like valleys to the ridge summit.". There are three styles of wine made in the two DOCGs: Spumante (95% of production), Frizzante, and Tranquillo (Still). And there are three categories of residual sugar: Dry (17-32 grams of residual sugar), Extra-Dry (12-17 grams), and Brut (0-12 grams). A fourth category, Extra Brut, was just adopted and will incorporate wines from 0-6 grams. Other requirements include that the grapes in a Prosecco wine must be at least 85% Glera with the remaining 15% from other authorized grape varieties. Secondary fermentation can be achieved via the autoclave method or in the bottle ("Rifermentato in Bottiglia"). And finally labeling. Superiore refers to only Spumante wines made within the two DOCGs. Millesimato indicates a wine made from a single vintage (85% minimum). And Rive indicates a Prosecco Superiore made entirely of grapes from one of the designated Rive (villages). As part of our $12.99 Challenge for the Effervescence Unleashed campaign, we stumbled upon this Villa Antica Asolo Prosecco Superiore DOCG for $8.99. From what we've learned the Glera grapes were grown in north central Veneto in the Asolo DOCG and the extra-dry designation means that there is 12-17 grams residual sugar. It comes across off-dry with tight bubbles with some almond mixed with creamy lemons. A nice value for a DOCG Prosecco. Pair with Will There By Wine, a novel written by Whitney Cubbison and featured during the BevFluence book series held at the Chicago Speakeasy.
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Posted: 2025-04-15 18:54
 This past Saturday April 12th, I attended the Maryland Apple Blossom Cider & Mead Festival held at Linganore Winecellars. Please pay attention to the Mead in that title as there were many expressions available. There were also several whiskies available to sample courtesy of Pathfinder Farm Distillery. Plus dozens of ciders. Apologizes to Silver Wheel Cellars for not traying their meads and ciders because there was a persistent line in front of this producer. Starting with the meads we found a familiar options with Loew Vineyards and their assortment of cysers and pyments. Cysers are meads made with apple cider, whereas pyments (a subset of melomels - mead made with fruit) are meads made with grapes. My favorite was the Abba a blend of Polish style mead that was barrel aged for 18 months and a Vidal Blanc pyment that was barrel aged for 11 months. The Mechel is the cyser - a pleasant dry blend of local apple cider, wildflower and clover honey. I have a bottle of Honey & Grape (a semi-sweet pyment blend of Vidal Blanc, local clover and wildflower honey) cellaring for another year or two investigating if meads change over time.  Clear Skies Meadery's urban location entices it to create meads with multiple flavor profiles to encapsulate a cocktail culture. This starts with their flagship dry cider, Friending Fenrir, made from Orange Blossom honey. This base is then translated into multiple melomel expressions like the Twisted Oliver (blackberries) and Hades' Trick (pomegranate). They also produce Hydromel or "session" meads such as the Mojave Rose or Guava Mama. They also poured a popular cyser in the Adam's Fall (apple pie). I definitely preferred the Friending Fenrir plus their Fenrir's Reserve aged in oaken stout barrels. At the Pathfinder Farm Distillery table I learned about their portfolio based upon Bloody Butcher Red Corn -- an heirloom variety of corn that has been grown in Appalachia since at least the mid-1800s. The corn is the base for the surprisingly smooth (at 100 proof) Bloody Butcher 100% Red Corn Whiskey. They then saturate this moonshine into a plethora of fruits with an Apple Pie, Blueberry, and Orange Cranberry expressions. They also produce two aged whiskies starting with the Daily Driver Whiskey with a mash bill of 15% malted barley and 85% Bloody Butcher non-GMO red corn. Then there's the Bloody Butcher Bourbon made from 100% red corn. A very unique whiskey to add to the collection. Now to the ciders. Willow Oaks Craft Cider is based in a 38-year-old family farm and orchard located in the Middletown Valley at the foothills of the Catoctin Mountain. They were the first organic orchard on the East Coast and their farmhouse styles ciders date back to the cider preferences of some of America's Founding Fathers. The Gloaming, a delicious blend of organic apples and organic black currants, is a favorite - tart for sure, but also dry, fruity, and refreshing. They also offer the Integritas RGB series - ciders aged in rye, bourbon, or gin barrels. The Bourbon offers plenty of vanilla and creaminess. Doc Waters Cidery produces one of our favorite Maryland pomme and perry products, the Lady Kay Perry. Although they weren't pouring this perry at the festival, there will be plenty available in the tasting room very soon. On a sour note, last week's freeze most likely destroyed their pear crop for 2025. The challenges of farming. I did savor their flagship Orchard Blend Carbonated Cider. This is a consistent crowd pleaser. Brothers Ridge Cider is located practically due north of Linganore and poured their core set of expressions: Pippin, Wildling, and Sapling plus a barrel aged Granny Smith (aged for 6 months in Sagamore Rye Whiskey barrels) -- all fermented naturally. I'm always surprised how well the Granny Smith works in cider apples - particularly when pairing with spicy foods. I had also assumed that the Pippin was a single varietal but it is a blend with plenty of complexity for a dry cider. The off-dry Wildling was also very nice - a touch of sweetness to balance the tartness and acidity. The Proper Dry from Two Story Chimney Ciderworks is one of my favorite English-Style ciders and I love the Over the Falls Barrel Aged Cider as well. Unfortunately these weren't available at the festival where they were pouring the semi-sweet Crabtree and the dry Cherry Cider. I only tried the later and savored the dry tartness while waiting for my Peruvian Chicken from the Maytas food truck. Plan a visit to the ciderworks to try their entire portfolio as well as the gluten-free beers from co-located Silly Yak Beer Company. Pub Dog operates three brewpubs in Maryland and unbeknownst to me they also offer a couple ciders at each location. I went with the Pub Dog Hard Cider and this is a refreshing cider leaning on the sweeter side I finally get to our host, Red Shedman Farm Brewery, which tragically burned to the ground last September. They have been operating steps away at Linganore Winecellars in temporary housing. I've always enjoyed their beer portfolio over the cider because they do lean very heavily on the sweet scale. That being said the Classic Apple Sweet Hard Cider is well made and proportioned. I think adding some dry Vermouth would click. Or wash down with the Cool Kidz Kolsch.
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Posted: 2025-04-10 07:13
Castilla y León is located in northwestern Spain between Galicia & Portugal and Rioja and is that country's largest wine-producing region -- encompassing 6% of Spain's total production. It is also the 4th largest Spanish grape growing region and home to over 500 wineries. The region contains 14 Designations of Origin (D.O.), four Protected Designations of Origin, and the Vino de la Terra de Castilla y León Protected Geographical Indication (I.G.P.). Castilla y León came into administrative existence in 1983, when the two historical provinces of León and Castilla la Vieja were unified. According to wine-searcher.com, "Castilla y León's rich cultural history dates back more than two thousand years, as evidenced by its six Unesco world heritage sites. These include the medieval city walls of Avila, the Roman Aqueduct in Segovia, and Atapuerca, an archaeological site rich in Bronze Age and Stone Age artifacts. It may be that wine production in the region pre-dates even the Roman occupation, which began in the 1st Century BC.  In terms of climate, Castilla y León has a remarkably strong continental feel, given how close it comes to the Atlantic Ocean. Hot, dry summers here are followed by sharp, cold winters, when temperatures regularly drop well below freezing. Diurnal temperature shifts are equally pronounced, and play a vital part in the local wine styles. Cool nights refresh the vineyards after long, hot days. The area is completely shielded from the maritime influence of the Bay of Biscay by the Cordillera Cantábrica mountain range. On the other side of these mountains lie the Asturias, Cantabria and Pais Vasco regions. Their cool, fresh climates and fertile hills are in stark contrast to the warm, dry tablelands of Castilla y León. Wedged between the Cordillera Cantábrica and the Sistema Central mountains, the region occupies a vast plateau about 200km (125 miles) across and between 700 and 1000 meters (2,300ft - 3,300ft) above sea level. Given this location and the low rainfall, soils here are typically thin and poor. They do become richer in minerals and clays, however, near the region's rivers, of which there are many. León (known until 2019 as Tierra de León) is a comparatively new D.O .wine region in northwestern Spain. The D.O. title covers over 3,000 square kilometers of gently undulating, fertile plateau just south of the eponymous city of León, below the Asturian mountains that line the northern border of the Castilla y León province."  | | Prieto Picudo Cluster |
Red wines rule in Castilla y León and the Tempranillo grape variety is unquestionably the king. Yet Prieto Picudo is a red grape variety primarily grown in D.O. León, In fact, this grape accounts for nearly 70 percent of all plantings in the León, which represents the transition between the hot, continent vineyards of Castile and the cool, maritime climates of north and western Spain. As such Prieto Picudo vines are grown in both modern, trellised format, as well as the low, sprawling bush vines "en vase" as found with Tempranillo in Toro and Tierra del Vino de Zamora around 100km (60 miles) to the south. The grape is known for its tight clusters and oval-shaped berries that taper at the end, giving it its name, which translates to "dark beaked cluster". This grape produces deeply colored red wines with a clean acidity and high levels of sugar and tannin, giving the wines a unique character and taste. Prieto Picudo wines often exhibit flavors of redcurrant, blackberry, and licorice, and may have mineral notes, as well as vanilla and toast where oak has been used in the winemaking process. At a recent Castilla y León Roadshow event, I was able to sample two D.O. León Prieto Picudo wines from Bodegas Belote and three I.G.P. Castilla y León from Leyenda Del Páramo.
Bodegas Belote's goal is to restore rural heritage and preserve cultural memory which includes restoring winemaking in underground cellars with minimal intervention. According to the winery, "Caves are an inherent part of traditional architecture in Roales de Campos. Wineries dug in the slopes with a small slope where for more than 500 years the wines were made in a stable environment and at temperature constant throughout the year". The Belote Timba D.O. León 2020 Red (100% Prieto Picudo) was crafted from vines planted between 2002 and 2006 in clay loam soil at 900 meters (2,953 ft.) above sea level. They used natural fermentation in concrete tanks and then blend wine aging three months in French oak barrels (500 liters) with wine aging three months in amphora. The Belote Prieto Picudo D.O. León 2019 Red is derived from the same vineyard and starts with natural fermentation but is aged 16 months in French oak barrels (500 liters). Not unexpectedly, this wine has a greater mouthfeel and more tannic structure, but both have delicious blackberry fruit and an almost cream soda character. Leyenda del Páramo was launched in 2010 to focus specifically on Prieto Picudo and a future Grape Spotlight topic, Albarin. One of the founding partners, Pedro González Mittelbrunn, is a defender of the Prieto Picudo within the appellation of origin. The Paramo region is located in southern León and a pertinent feature is the cave system and underground cellars mentioned above. "Inside these caves, with the low temperatures of the subsoil, an ideal micro-climate is formed for the production of the famous Prieto Picudo wines." Their vineyards are located in a landscape called "El Páramo", located in the northern section of the Duero river basin and, like Belote, at 900 meters. They are flat, poor soils with a large amount of boulders, old fluvial terraces of the Esla and Bernesga rivers. At the Roadshow, I started with the Flor del Páramo I.G.P. Castilla y León 2023 Red -- 100% Prieto Picudo and a pure expression of the fruit. No oak, just juicy fruit. This is their best international seller and I can see why. Easy drinking and maybe serve slightly chilled. Second, was the El Aprendiz I.G.P. Castilla y León 2021 Red -- 100% Prieto Picudo aged for a minimum of 6 months in fourth and fifth use American and French oak barrels. Plenty of approachable tannins and abundant acidity with dark cherries throughout. I concluded with the El Médico I.G.P. Castilla y León 2016 Red is made from 100% Prieto Picudo grapes from vineyards over 60 years old. It is aged for a minimum of nine months in French (75%) and American (25%) oak barrels. Almost a decade old and as fresh as a more recent vintage with lively acidity and velvety fruit. Cheers.
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Posted: 2025-04-08 07:22
As Eastern viticulture reemerged after Prohibition in the late 1960s, Norton and Cynthiana were mixed in vineyards and officially deemed as synonymous. -- Lucie Morton
 With the return of the Norton and Cynthiana grapes post-prohibition in Missouri, Virginia, Arkansas (courtesy of Stone Hill Winery in Missouri, Horton Vineyards in Virginia, and Post Familie Vineyards in Arkansas) the common perception was that the two grapes were either clones or synonyms. Modern genetic data based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP’s) could not distinguish Norton from Cynthiana as a phylogenetic tree constructed based on 1.2 million SNP’s could not differentiate Norton from Cynthiana.  Yet, independent viticulturist Lucie Morton strongly disagrees that they are the same cultivar and by using Ampelography -- the study of a grape in terms of its historical record and physical characteristics in terms of leaf, cluster, berry and seed shape -- she asserts that the two grape varieties are completely different cultivars. At the 2025 Eastern Winery Exposition she presented this hypothesis through an analysis she conducted with Dean Volenberg (viticulture and winery operations specialist at the University of Missouri) and Diego Berrios Galaz - winemaker at Virginia's Casanel Vineyards. The results are also available in the March 2025 edition of Wine Business Monthly. I sure wish this presentation or the companion article were available before my Norton seminar at the February BevFluence Chicago Speakeasy. The rest of this post merges information from the presentation and the Grape Sleuthing Through History WBM article.  The Norton grape was born in the vineyard of Dr. Daniel Norton around 1820 when he tried to pollinate the Bland grape with Pinot Meunier. Instead a free-living V. aestivalis replaced the Burgundian grape as the pollinator. Since the Bland and the V. aestivalis gapes had some labrusca and vinifera in their DNA, the Norton grape is comprised of various percentages of V. labrusca, V. vinifera, and V. aestivalis. Cynthiana was long thought to have originated in Arkansas, but Morton researched historical records that pinpoint the grapes origination in Red River, Ohio in the 1840s. At that time, Ohio was the leading grape growing region in the United States. The famed Prince Nursery in Flushing Long Island listed a variety called Red River in 1844 and in its 1858 catalogue changed the name to Cynthiana (Syn Red River). The Arkansas wine industry did not really take off until the 1870s. (Norton had been included in the Prince Nursery catalogue since 1822). In Missouri, George Hussmann (considered a father of the Missouri wine industry) received cuttings of both Norton and Cynthiana and in 1859 wrote, "The Cynthiana (Red River) originated in Ohio; in appearance it is very much like the former (Norton); makes, however a wine of a lighter color..." And "U.P. Hedrick opined in The Grapes of New York (1908) that Norton and Cynthiana must be considered as distinct varieties." Thus, up until prohibition they were considered two separate grape varieties".  After Prohibition, both Norton and Cynthiana survived thanks to a single vineyard outside of Hermann, Missouri. While searching to bring Norton back to Stone Hill Winery, Jim Held heard of the Rauch Vineyard which had been planted with Norton before the Civil War. While visiting this vineyard a couple years ago and using ampelographic methodology, Morton and Volenberg determined that the vines were a mixture of both Norton and Cynthiana. Morton has also used this approach to determine that the apparent Norton grown at Virginia's Burnley Vineyards is actually Cynthiana. Detailed records showed that they had purchased the vines from Post Familie Vineyards in Arkansas. Morton repeated this exercise at Casanel Vineyards and with their team designated rows of both Norton and Cynthiana - which the winery had assumed was only Norton. And the Norton vines at both Horton Vineyards and Chrysalis Vineyards contains a mix of the Cynthiana vines that were found in the source vines from Horton via Hermann, Missouri.  What are the ampelographic differences between Norton and Cynthiana? The Norton leaf can resemble a "bat wing" through its lateral lobes and is longer than wider, thinner leaf veins, with triangular teeth. The Cynthiana leaf resembles a "spade-bit" through its lateral lobes and is wider than long, thicker leaf veins and round-based arches with tips for teeth. Its clusters contain larger and longer berries than Norton's and its smaller greener seeds cling to the pulp. Whereas with Norton, the seeds are larger and redder and do not cling to the pulp. See the companion image, but the last notable difference is that the dormant buds for Cynthiana are little triangles pointed to conical, whereas for Norton, they have a rounder base often compressed, obtuse to conical. See images below. Images courtesy of Wine Business Monthly
 Back to the EWE25 presentation, Lucie Morton, Diego Berrios Galaz & Dean Volenberg provided a fascinating presentation on this topic along with a first time historic opportunity to taste distinct and proven samples of Norton and Cynthiana. In 2023 Volenberg had separated and vinified Norton and Cynthiana wines from Stone Hill's Rauch Vineyard while Berrios Galaz distinctly vinified the Norton and Cynthiana grapes tagged by Morton and the Casanel team as described above for the 2024 vintage. We tasted these wines blind and I preferred the 2023 Stone Hill Cynthiana followed by the 2023 Stone Hill Norton and 2024 Casanel Norton. Perhaps the extra year helped mature the wine. But in general the Cynthiana is considered to be lighter, less astringent with more raspberry than Norton's blackberry. In addition, the mocha flavors in "teenage" Nortons are not noticeable in Cynthiana. I hope to be able to report in the future whether more vineyards are using ampelographic methods to analysis their Norton vines and whether the labelling of Cynthiana increases if the evidence suggests. And look out for the upcoming film, Odyssey of Forbidden Wines, which follows Morton on her journey to repatriate the Cunningham grape back to its birthplace in Tidewater Virginia.
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