Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery Celebrate the Chambourcin Grape

Have you ever heard of the Chambourcin grape?  If you are local to the Lehigh Valley and visit the local wineries you probably have.  The Chambourcin grape is a relatively young grape, in that it has only been available since 1963, but it is making a big impression in our area.  Chambourcin is a French-American hybrid that grows very nicely in the humidity of our area and is very vigorous and disease-resistant.  The Pinot Noir grape is one of its parents and the other parent is unknown.  Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery grows Chambourcin in our Breinigsville, Robesonia and Point Vineyards with a total of 8 acres in production.  We just love our Chambourcin grapes; so much that we produce two different styles of wine from these grapes. 

First we produce a dry oak aged Chambourcin.  This wine is aged in American Oak barrels; which omits earthy and spicy flavors as the tannins of the wine soften in the oak barrels.  This wine also displays berry and nice ripe cherry flavors.  The Chambourcin grape is deeply pigmented and therefore produces great color of dark purple and is full of aromatic flavors.  Chambourcin is a wonderful wine to pair with roasted vegetables, grilled meats, including venison (for the hunter in your family) and smoked cheeses.

Second is our Turtle Rock Red, made from 100% Chambourcin grapes, it is made strictly in stainless steel, meaning it never goes into oak barrels.  Turtle Rock Red is also made as an off-dry, giving it a pleasant but not overbearing sweetness.  Also because the Turtle Rock does have some sweetness to it Clover Hill recommends it to be served slightly chilled.  Since the Turtle Rock Red is made only in stainless steel the fruit flavors of the berries and ripe cherry flavors really pop.  Turtle Rock Red is a nice pairing to your bar-b-que ribs or chicken, and it is also a wonderful pairing to your favorite dark chocolate candy or desserts made with dark chocolate.  The flavors of the wine and chocolate intermingle exceptionally well.

On Saturday, October 19th and Sunday, October 20th Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery will be celebrating the Chambourcin grape with free cooking demonstrations.  Chef Mark from the American Café, 7450 Tilghman Street, Allentown, will be on site preparing Chambourcin Marinated London Broil with a Black Raspberry Chambourcin Reduction and Ratatouille made with Turtle Rock Red.  Our cooking demonstrations will take place at 1, 2, 3 and 4pm both days.  During this event we will also be selling fresh pressed Chambourcin Juice by the half gallon or gallon.  This will be a great time to sample and compare the natural juice to the two different styles of wine produced from the grape.  You will be amazed by its natural sweetness.  Cheers to the Chambourcin Grape!