Grand River wineries schedule tasting event

Staff report

Madison

The Winegrowers of the Grand River Valley will have their premiere tasting event, Cask 1012, from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. Participating in this drive-yourself tour are Debonne Vineyards, Ferrante Winery & Ristorante, Grand River Cellars Winery & Restaurant, Laurello Vineyards and St. Joseph Vineyards.

The wine tasting, which includes the limited release of the Cask 1012 red wine, will be paired with food samples.

The cask project was a joint effort of the five wineries. Each purchased a 500-gallon cask barrel, using oak from different countries, and then put only regional red wines from their winery into the barrel. The resulting wines are smooth, dry and full of flavors.

The first vintage in the barrel was in 2010 and a second vintage was added in 2011, and the blend was bottled in 2012. These factors give it its name — Cask 1012 — because they take the year the project started (“10”) and the year the wine was bottled (“12”). Each year, 100 gallons will be bottled from these barrels, making room for the next year’s harvest.

All five participating wineries are within 10 minutes of each other. Each will feature their cask wine and another regional wine paired with an appetizer. The cost is $6 per person at each winery.

“This is a perfect opportunity for us to showcase our dry red wines from this region,” said Cindy Lindberg, owner of Grand River Cellars winery and event coordinator. “We have been talking about this project for years, and now it is finally time to release it to the public. If you appreciate good red wines, this is the perfect event for you.”

The group decided to host the event in mid-September, which is the middle of harvest season. Patrons are likely to also see grape pickers in the fields and grapes being pressed at some of the wineries.

For information, call 440-466-3485 or go to grcinfo@grandrivercellars.com.