Plainview Winery

Well, today I went to the Plainview Winery in southern Illinois. It's everything you would imagine. The reason I went is because one of the guys who was in my class owns it and since there's very little to do here.....why not.

The place was very quaint with a nice midwest lake in the front and a ranch-style house for him, his wife, and his mother-in-law. They are in the process of finishing up their tasting room. It is a nice expanded tuff shed building. They have 4 acres of vineyard, and 6 different grapes varietals. Everything from very sweet to semi-dry grapes. None of the grapes, except the Concord grapes, had I ever heard of.

His wife was very gracious and took me around the whole facility. I think one of the best things I learned is that it doesn't take too much money too make your own wine. She showed me around the wine making things in the basement, right next to the packed away Christmas decorations, and I thought "Hmmm, we could do this." Of course we don't HAVE a basement that is cool so that might be a problem, but one step at a time. I was just impressed you didn't have to take out a loan for the wine making equipment.

Then we compared vineyard woes. Everybody does that. It's not so much my woes are bigger than your woes, but more like "Whoa, are we equally stupid to do this, or what?" They don't have to water. We water every 3 weeks. They have to spray insecticide every week? (wow! really?) We spray about every 2 months. They have the Japanese beetle. We have leaf hoppers (we have the better deal on that one). They mow once a week. We mow every 3 weeks. They get root rot. We get powdery mildew.

Because they have so many different kinds of grapes, they end up harvesting for about a month and half. Of course, this season we don't have any grapes, but when we do, we'll look at harvesting all in one day. We all have our crosses to bear, us whiney vinters.


So now after an acceptable length of time for the whine exchange, it was time to drink wine. This is what the Illinois Grape Growers Association had to say about the grapes in their area:

"Five of these grapes—Chambourcin, Seyval, Vignoles, Chardonel and Vidal Blanc—are “French Hybrids,” developed by crossing French grapes, such as the Chardonnay often grown in France and California, with native American vines. This cross-pollination results in grapes that produce excellent wine, but that are less susceptible to the effects of extreme cold—making them ideal for the Midwest’s unpredictable weather. The other grape in the top six, Norton, originates from native American vines."


The Norton was definitely nothing to write home about. And the Concord they grew was all what anyone can expect of wine made from Concord grapes.

There was one varietal, Chambourcin, that held some promise. It was a rose color, which seemed a little odd, but it had a Sangiovese nose and flavor to it. Here's what the Illinois group had to say about Chambourcin.

"Chambourcin - A late-ripening, dark blue-black grape that can produce a highly rated red wine with a reasonably full, slightly herbaceous flavor and aroma. Chambourcin grapes are usually used to produce claret or Bordeaux-style wines, but can also be used to make rosé."

Thus, the rose color I guess. A little rough, but worth more than one sip. I bought a couple of bottles. First, to make her feel good and thank her with something for her time. Second, I'd open it up and drink it with nachos any day.

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!