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July 03. 2012 11:26PM
Candia Vineyard garners plaudits in competitions
CANDIA – One local vineyard’s recent international award reflect the changing landscape of the winemaking industry in New Hampshire.
Candia Vineyard’s Ice Storm dessert wine was named best limited production, late-harvest wine at the Los Angeles International Wine and Spirits Competition in May. The same wine was recently announced as silver medal winner in an international competition put on by Amenti del Vino, a Connecticut-based wine society.
Candia Vineyard’s owner and winemaker, Bob Dabrowsk,i said he was thrilled with the honor.
“This wine is ruling the world right now.”
The winery has won other awards as well. At the Los Angeles competition, Candia Vineyards’ Black Ice dessert wine took a bronze medal.
The Black Ice wine also won a gold medal in the Amenti del Vino awards, and a third Candia Vineyards variety, the Noriet, earned a silver.
Awards like this help raise the profile of local vineyards and the industry throughout the state, said Peter Oldak, president of the New Hampshire Winery Association, a trade group representing more than 20 commercial winemakers in the state.
In the past, Oldak said, wine drinkers didn’t believe New Hampshire vineyards could produce products comparable in quality to those put out by big-name wineries in regions like California’s Napa Valley.
“There was tremendous resistance to having local wines, just because of the perceptions,” he said.
“There was a while there where we weren’t able to get into restaurants. Up to this point, so far as restaurants were concerned, buying local meant lettuce, not wine.”
Oldak, whose South Hampton-based Jewell Towne Vineyards opened in 1994, said the industry had a slow start here, but began to flourish around 2003.
“After we showed that it was possible, people who were getting disenfranchised with corporate America started growing their own grapes and opening wineries,” he said.
Oldak said the association now receives daily phone calls from area residents wanting advice on how to set up their own wine production operations.
“It’s evolving,” he said of the attitude toward locally produced wines. “For a long time, winemaking in New Hampshire was an oxymoron.”
Dabrowski said he doesn’t see a reason for consumer skepticism toward New Hampshire wineries.
“Most of winemaking is literal,” he said. “It’s the making of the wine. It’s not the grape, it’s not the location, it’s not the tank, and it’s not the alignment of the stars or the moon. It’s the person toiling in the winery, selecting the correct yeast and the right methods and taking his time.”
A winemaker for 31 years, Dabrowski first began commercial production at Candia Vineyards five years ago. From his High Street property, he grows 14 different types of American grapes, including a variety developed in Minnesota to withstand harsh winters.
His wines are sold only within the state at a selection of local retailers, including branches of the state liquor outlet.
Dabrowski said that although he would make the same wine regardless of where he lived, the fact that it’s made in the Granite State does appeal to some customers.
“A lot of people root for the home team, especially when you give them something to root for,” he said. “I think people are looking for something memorable, something exciting, and something different.”
Candia Vineyard’s Ice Storm dessert wine was named best limited production, late-harvest wine at the Los Angeles International Wine and Spirits Competition in May. The same wine was recently announced as silver medal winner in an international competition put on by Amenti del Vino, a Connecticut-based wine society.
Candia Vineyard’s owner and winemaker, Bob Dabrowsk,i said he was thrilled with the honor.
“This wine is ruling the world right now.”
The winery has won other awards as well. At the Los Angeles competition, Candia Vineyards’ Black Ice dessert wine took a bronze medal.
The Black Ice wine also won a gold medal in the Amenti del Vino awards, and a third Candia Vineyards variety, the Noriet, earned a silver.
Awards like this help raise the profile of local vineyards and the industry throughout the state, said Peter Oldak, president of the New Hampshire Winery Association, a trade group representing more than 20 commercial winemakers in the state.
In the past, Oldak said, wine drinkers didn’t believe New Hampshire vineyards could produce products comparable in quality to those put out by big-name wineries in regions like California’s Napa Valley.
“There was tremendous resistance to having local wines, just because of the perceptions,” he said.
“There was a while there where we weren’t able to get into restaurants. Up to this point, so far as restaurants were concerned, buying local meant lettuce, not wine.”
Oldak, whose South Hampton-based Jewell Towne Vineyards opened in 1994, said the industry had a slow start here, but began to flourish around 2003.
“After we showed that it was possible, people who were getting disenfranchised with corporate America started growing their own grapes and opening wineries,” he said.
Oldak said the association now receives daily phone calls from area residents wanting advice on how to set up their own wine production operations.
“It’s evolving,” he said of the attitude toward locally produced wines. “For a long time, winemaking in New Hampshire was an oxymoron.”
Dabrowski said he doesn’t see a reason for consumer skepticism toward New Hampshire wineries.
“Most of winemaking is literal,” he said. “It’s the making of the wine. It’s not the grape, it’s not the location, it’s not the tank, and it’s not the alignment of the stars or the moon. It’s the person toiling in the winery, selecting the correct yeast and the right methods and taking his time.”
A winemaker for 31 years, Dabrowski first began commercial production at Candia Vineyards five years ago. From his High Street property, he grows 14 different types of American grapes, including a variety developed in Minnesota to withstand harsh winters.
His wines are sold only within the state at a selection of local retailers, including branches of the state liquor outlet.
Dabrowski said that although he would make the same wine regardless of where he lived, the fact that it’s made in the Granite State does appeal to some customers.
“A lot of people root for the home team, especially when you give them something to root for,” he said. “I think people are looking for something memorable, something exciting, and something different.”