Illinois Wineries: Grafton Winery

So on Friday my brother and I decided to try some Illinois wineries.  I'm in the area and we had some time to do this.  The first one we went to was Grafton Winery in Grafton, IL.

It was a beautiful scenic drive and we even caught a glimpse of the Piasa Bird.  Caw caw!  Caw caw!  (Inserting some whimsy there!)

Also located here is their brewhouse and restaurant.  They have a very nice deck for you to hang out on if you are so inclined.  I can imagine on a nice fall day looking out over the river that it's a wonderful time.  The area is big on eagle watching.  In fact we saw a couple on our drive there.

The tasting was complimentary, but you don't get to keep the glass.  You are only supposed to sample 6, but we were lucky enough to get to try 9.

Sadly they were out of the Pinot Gris (Which was a disappointment.  I like Pinots) and the Cabernet Sauvignon (Yet again another I like and would love to have tried.).

The first one we tried was the Harbor Red.  It's "a blend of Cabernet, Red Zinfandel and Syrah." sic  I just copied that directly from their tasting sheet.  So please don't correct me on how the varietals are listed.  All we tasted was the Syrah.  I like Syrah, but I found this to be dry and harsh.

Second wine.  Captains Blush, which is made from the Catawaba grape.  This is a varietal I'm not familiar with.  It's slightly pink with a sweet finish.  I got a strawberry taste from it.

Third wine.  Riverbend Red is a sweet red blend.  I got no information on this.  Sadly, our 'server' didn't seem to know much about the wine or care.  It was kind of nice though.  This is one we took with us because we felt our family would like it.

Fourth wine.  Harbor White, not even on their tasting menu.  So I'm guessing it was new.  Again no information, but it was a semi-dry white that would have gone nicely with risotto.  That's all I got for you.

Fifth wine.  Apple Crisp, had a nice soft acidity and was sweet but not overpowering.  One of their best sellers and I can see why.  This was one we really wanted to try.  And we did get a bottle of it.

Sixth wine.  Springberry, they had seasonal wines there.  You can only get them during certain times of the year.  This was a blueberry/blackberry mix.  The blackberry overpowered it.  I got no blueberry what so ever.  It was sweet, but not something I was overly thrilled with.

The one we wanted to try was Winterberry which is made with cranberry, but it's out of season.  Luckily they had a few bottles left and we snagged one to take with us.  I'll be trying that tonight.

Seventh wine.  Blackberry.  While we were sampling the Springberry we commented how the blackberry was SO overpowering and the girl slightly overheard and assumed we wanted to try this one.  Not one I was impressed with.

Eighth wine.  Strawberry, wasn't even on the list.  So I guess it's new and we thought we'd try it.  This was WAY too sweet!  And had a sort of had an artificial flavor to it.  I had a strong and instant dislike to it.  Different strokes for different folks.

Ninth and final wine.  Chardonnay.  I don't like heavily oaked Chardonnays.  As I tell friends I don't want to feel like I'm chewing on a wood chip, but this one said just enough oak.  Hm.  It wasn't objectionable.  The oak was light which did make me happy.

I feel this is more geared to your sweet wine drinkers, which is fine.  I just wish they had a few for those who liked something else.  I also noticed that they put what medal had been won, but no year on it.  Hm...