Carpenter Creek Cellars Traminette with Mexican Chicken & Spanish Rice & Beans
Linda took the remaining meat from a roasted whole chicken and prepared a Mexican Chicken with Spanish Rice and Beans and Cheese crust for dinner. I pulled from the cellar a rare Traminette wine, known for pairing with robust vibrant spicy foods.
We tasted and acquired this wine at the winery, Carpenter Creek Cellars and Indiana Produced Wines in a previous blogpost about the producer, the grape and the wine, excerpted here.
Carpenter Creek Cellars is a family-run Indiana winery with a focus on producing high-quality local wines that capture and showcase Indiana and Midwest terroir.
I wrote at that time about the importance of selecting the right grapes to grow in an area based on terroir - all the elements that affect the grapes in that location such as but not limited to climate, sun exposure, soil, drainage and so on. The imperative is, of course, to determine and cultivate grapes most tolerant of or best suited to the terroir.
Great wine producers and regions around the world are all noted for the specific wine grape varietals symbolic for their region and its distinctive terroir - Bordeaux varietals for example which are also suited for Napa Valley in the US.
Traminette is the one popular grape selected for Indiana and Illinois wines, a white hybrid grape that has become Indiana’s signature wine grape, selected for its versatility and suitability in the state’s climate, soil and growing conditions. It is one of the most popular of the eighteen different varieties of grapes grown in Indiana on a total of 600 acres of vineyard lands.
Indeed, the whole concept of AVA's, American Viticultural Areas, is based on federally-recognized regions defined either by political boundaries, such as the name of a county, state or country, or by a designated area for that AVA. All the criteria for an AVA come down to terroir so that all wines from that AVA can be presumed to have the same characteristics, or from grapes grown under the same conditions. This is the same as in the old world wine producing countries, where they have rigorous grape growing and wine producing regulations subject to AOC - Appellation d'origine contrôlée regulations in France, and DOC and DOCG in Italy ((Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG) is the superior classification to DOC).
Notably, there are 57 official appellations in Bordeaux, and seventeen in Napa Valley. Indiana has two designated AVAs, the Indiana Uplands AVA in the center of the state at the southern border along the Ohio River, and the Ohio River Valley AVA straddling the Ohio River along the southern border of the state.
Carpenter Creek Cellars produces this Traminette wine made from Traminette grapes grown in Indiana and neighboring states, known for its floral aromas, fruity flavors, and a spicy finish reminiscent of its parent, Gewürztraminer.
This wine is described by the producer as pairing well with spicy dishes like Thai, Chinese, or Mexican cuisine, as well as heavier white meats such as turkey or ham.
Traminette is a cross between Gewürztraminer and the Joannes Seyve 23.416 grapoe, initially bred at the University of Illinois in 1965 and further developed at Cornell University.
Traminette was officially chosen by the Indiana Wine Grape Council as the state’s signature wine grape, representing the region’s identity. Traminette’s cold hardiness allows it to thrive across Indiana, surviving harsh winters with minimal bud damage and regrowing after freeze events.
Notably, Carpenter Creek lost much of their vineyard varietal plantings due to severe winter freeze conditions and rely largely on importing grapes from neighboring states as well as California.
According to Purdue University agricultural Extension office, the Traminette grape was designed to retain Gewürztraminer’s floral and spicy intensity while offering cold hardiness and resistance to fungal diseases, making it well-suited for Indiana’s variable climate. Traminette ripens mid- to late-season and is more tolerant to spring frosts due to its later bud break.
Traminette wines offer a broad spectrum of sweetness levels, from crisp dry to lusciously sweet, making them versatile and suitable for various tastes. The sweetness levels among Traminette wines vary widely, ranging from dry to sweet, depending on the winemaker’s choices and style preferences. The level of sweetness is determined by winemaker decisions about fermentation and finishing (backsweetening, skin contact, pH adjustment, etc.).
This is crafted from vineyard sources across the Midwest, hence it is labeled ‘American (White) Wine’, as opposed to Indiana wine specifically. As noted above, Carpenter Creek source grapes from Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and California.
The Carpenter Creek rear label shows this wine as being moderately dry on the spectrum of dryness to sweetness. I would move the dial from left to right and characterize this as moderately sweet.
Carpenter Creek Cellars Traminette NV
The Carpenter Creek packaging for this label is as unique as the grape, distributed in a blue glass bottle.
This was an appropriate pairing, the sweetness and spiciness of the wine harmonizing and enhancing the tangy spiciness of the Mexican dish flavoring.
Golden straw colored, medium bodied, rich unctuous and sweet, similar to a Riesling, ripe pear and green apple fruits with notes of clove and cinnamon spice, floral and hint of honeysuckle and apricot on a moderate acidic finish.
RM 87 points.
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