And now for something completely different: wines of Hawai'i

WINE TALK
1

Since I was visiting friends last month on Maui and on the Big Island, I figured I would stop in to taste at the winery on each island. You definitely need to adjust your frame of reference with these wines. Still, there were more misses than hits, which was not unexpected. But there were a few interesting if oddball wines. The full report, with photos, is on Grape-Nutz.com:
Wineries of Hawai’i – April 2011

Tedeschi Vineyards, Maui
“Maui Splash!”: Made mainly from pineapple, along with passionfruit. Light straw color, with sweet pineapple and other tropical fruit aromas, this reminded me of canned pineapple rather than the fresh fruit. Very sweet and somewhat syrupy in the mouth, it was just too sugary for my liking. It was surprising to me to start out with (by far) the sweetest wine of the bunch, but I figured I’d go with the flow.
“Maui Blanc”: A 100% pineapple wine. Very light color, the aromas were much closer to fresh pineapple than the first wine. Medium-light bodied on the palate, it had a fairly clean and refreshing finish. The wine was off-dry but nowhere near as overwhelmingly sweet as the “Maui Splash!” A pretty one-dimensional wine – pineapple and more pineapple – but that said, it was rather pleasant. You’d have to pick the right occasion for this wine, but for sitting under a beach umbrella on a warm day, it wouldn’t be bad at all.
“Upcountry Gold”: 70% Chardonnay, 30% French Colombard, unoaked. Light color, with some citrus aromas but also some odd, green notes. Medium-bodied with decent acidity, the flavors echoed the aromatics, and it finished with that same greenness that was apparent in the nose. I was hoping for more from this wine.
“Ulupalakua Red”: 73% Merlot, 25% Syrah, 2% Petite Sirah. Medium-dark color, showing bright cherry, raspberry, and earth. Medium-bodied with a bright and lively mouthfeel, the finish was smooth and not too tannic. This was a pretty good red blend that would go well with burgers or pizza. At $15, it’s not especially a bargain for a “pizza wine,” but factor in the novelty of coming from a Maui winery and it’s not unreasonable.

Volcano Winery, Hawai’i (Big Island)
Pinot Grigio: Sourced from Sonoma Valley, this is Volcano’s first Pinot Grigio bottling. Very light color, showing tart green apple and mildly spicy aromas. Medium-light weight in the mouth, with upfront fruit but a somewhat tart and harsh finish.
Pinot Noir: Sourced from Sonoma Valley. Light garnet color, tart cranberry and red fruits on the nose. Fairly light-bodied, the flavors were rather sharp and acidic, and the whole package was just not very Pinot-like. Maybe given some time for the acidity to mellow, this might turn into something better, but it was not very enjoyable when I tried it.
“Volcano Red”: A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, and jaboticaba berries. Light garnet color, with ripe strawberry, bing cherry, and some intriguing spices (from the berries?). Medium-light bodied, this was fruit-forward and tasty, with the spice component really carrying through on the finish. Distinctive, and probably a pretty good burger wine, although at $17 it may be a little pricey for what it is.
“Symphony Mele”: This is an off-dry version (2.5% RS) of Symphony (which is a cross between Grenache Gris and Muscat of Alexandria). Light straw color, featuring perfumed Muscat-like aromas, peach and apricot fruit, and a touch of spice. Medium-light weight with a pleasant but not overbearing sweetness, this would be a tasty summer sipping wine.
“Volcano Blush”: A blend of Palomino, Sauvignon Blanc, French Colombard, and jaboticaba berries. Very light peach/salmon color – the berries give this wine its color. Displaying cranberry and cherry fruit, this was a bit sweeter than the “Symphony Mele” but not overly sweet. The residual sugar clashed somewhat with tart cherry flavors on the finish.
“Hawaiian Guava-Grape Wine”: Made from about 30-40% yellow guava with the rest being a blend of white grape varieties. Light straw color, with intense fresh ripe guava aromas, quite floral. Sweeter and more viscous than the previous two wines, this tasted like fresh guava juice with a kick. Like the pineapple wine at Tedeschi, this was rather one-dimensional, but if you like guavas, you’ll probably find this wine quite pleasant. I could see this working on its own as a dessert wine or possibly with spicy foods.
“Macadamia Nut Honey Wine”: This is actually a mead rather than a wine, made form macadamia nut blossom honey. Extremely light appearance, almost colorless. Aromas of honey, flowers, with a hint of cocoa and a nutty note. Sweet and rich on the palate, with the honey and nut components continuing on the finish. All the parts sound good, but somehow they didn’t seem to blend together well and ultimately I didn’t find this as enjoyable as I’d hoped it would be.
“Infusion”: This is the “Macadamia Nut Honey Wine” infused with black tea. Light-medium gold color, this had an intense black tea aroma – the tea overwhelmed the character of the previous wine. Fairly viscous, the flavors are all sweet black tea, and there’s some typical black tea bitterness on the finish. Seems like an interesting idea that didn’t work as well as it might have – perhaps cutting back on the black tea infusion would have produced a more harmonious result. The winery suggests this as an apéritif, and it does contain some caffeine from the tea.

2

I give you credit for perseverance. I’m pretty sure I would not have made it through both of those lineups.

We sell those wines as special order items (i.e. we don’t inventory them on our shelves) and we get orders every once in a while, but none of them are repeat buyers. It is all about the novelty of the wines. Unfortunate because I would really like it if we had viable wineries in Hawaii.

3

Speaking as an amateur it would seem you could go part way up the mtn on the Big Island and find the right climate in the volcanic soil to grow wine grapes, but I don’t know about land availability and cost.

4

You’re very brave. I’m sure the view was fantastic but I would come home empty-handed.

5

heh,
I ship wine out ahead of me when I head to hawaii

6

I don’t know what it is with these wines, but people enjoy them. We brought home a couple of bottles and my adult kids enjoyed them, as did we when we were poolside in Maui. What’s not to like. Cool, refreshing, tasty (come on, admit it), and cheap.

7

My Teseschi experience was after about 6 hours of “the road to Hana”… Who doesn’t need a drink?

8

I think you’ve found your calling – extreme vineyards! [cheers.gif]

9

I have been to volcano winery, and I have hd the wines from the Kauai winery as well (I forget the name). No, the wines are nto very good, but it is fun to try them out anyway.

10

Might want to think about this thread in conjunction with the one about visiting a winemaker.

11

Utah last year, Hawai’i this year…where to next?

12

As a sweet wine lover, I have to say that I’d love to try the Maui Splash, Maui Blanc and Hawaiian Guava grape wines. They do sound very appealing for fruit wines.

Sure they’re a bit gimmicky and lack complexity but honestly I find that practically all fruit wines are, to the point where I’m laughing out loud when I’m either reading or writing fruit notes that always say [x fruit] wine has a nose of [x fruit] and tastes of [x fruit] in the mouth. If anything, I’d be worried if they tasted like something else other than the fruit they’re made out of!

This said, they are always very enjoyable as a change of pace and if you take them for what they are. They’ll never be comparable to a Gewurztraminer from Chile or Riesling from Austria, but they are tasty and fun every once in a while. [cheers.gif]

13

OK, this CANNOT have been a coincidence…

I read this and other threads yesterday morning and then went out to do errands, shopping etc. I dropped by a friend’s wine shop which is fairly well known among wine geeks in town… and while I’m there, someone calls and asks for Hawaiian wines.

see what you’ve done!??!!