Glorie Farm Cabernet Franc and Black Currant Wine

So, first off, I'm going to mention I'm about six months late with this review. My first mea culpas go out the folks at Glorie Winery. I did a tasting there some time ago, and the photos were lost and I forgot. I'm a schmuck. There's no question about it. I am sorry.

Secondly, I had a great tasting of wines at Glorie Farm Winery in October of 2011, and I meant to write a review right after. And what did I do....huh, I fumbled. I lost the photos, and while cleaning up my hard drive came across them. Shame on me!!! But I am here to make amends...or at least a good recommendation on some wines.



I had gone down to Glorie Farm Winery, and I did a tasting with Mary Ellen, who is the other half (and more attractive half) of the Doug and Mary Ellen Glorie of the Glorie Farm Winery.

Doug and I had been chatting outside and I had cut him short to make sure I could get in my tasting in the tasting room before Mary Ellen barred the doors and called the dog, Sullivan, to diner. At the time they had some other canine company, but Sullivan is their pride and joy - a big, friendly chocolate lab.




Glorie Farm is in Marlboro, NY. They grow peaches, pears, and other stone fruit, as well as grapes. They are a vineyard that makes their own estate bottled wine but also supplies a number of other vineyards around the state. Doug was employed for a lifetime at IBM. MaryEllen works as a free-lance sign language interpreter for the Deaf, when she's not manning the tastingroom.



Doug is a ubiquitous presence here in the valley. You'll see him at the grape growing sessions sponsored by the HVWGA and Cornell. You'll see him at the Hudson Valley Bounty and the Hudson Valley Wine Festival. He is affable and can be quite chatty. He's a genuine good guy.



There's a great photo of Mary Ellen from their wedding.



So one of the first things I tried was the Cabernet Franc. If you ever do anything, you need to taste the Cabernet Franc from Glorie Farm Winery. The wine is not a big, overpowering wine, but a medium-bodied red. Translucent in hue, it's got a lovely bright garnet color. Raspberry and vanilla are the first notes that will come to you, with hints of slightly darker berries, and a hint of cedar. The fruit is bold and upfront, accompanied by a bright acidity and firm but not overpowering tannins. This is a fine Burgundian-styled Cabernet Franc. refreshing, dazzling, delicious. A very big surprise.


The other wine to make sure you visit Glorie winery for is their black currant wine. Black currant wine (or cassis) is one of the signature artisanal wines of the Hudson Valley. Glorie's wine is a dark, unctuous wine, with dark, almost opaque purple hue, and rich deep flavors of cassis, dark tart raspberry, and hints of vanilla or honey. This is an exquisite black currant dessert wine (also know in the Valley by is much more traditional name - cassis), with just enough tartness to balance out the sweet, and make an absolutely exquisite wine. Fantatstic!

So the first people I want to apologize to are Doug and Mary Ellen, but the second group of people I want to apologize to is everyone else! I cheated you out of drinking this wine. Run, don't walk. This is truly great stuff!!