The Experience
On November 2, I visited the Canadian River Vineyard &
Winery in Slaughterville, Oklahoma.
This 15 total acre-holding vineyard opened in 1999, and
received its license in 2000. The vines are 18 years old. The owner/founder of
the winery was born in McAlester, OK but grew up most of his life surrounded by
wineries in California. He even attended Napa Valley High School! When I asked
why he pursued wine making, he mentioned that he needed a way to fill his time
after retirement. Additionally, his brother owns a vineyard in California and
he had grown up around it.
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| Here is the winery owner, who also facilitates the tours. |
This winery grows various vitis vinifera grapes, such as
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, Sangiovese and Sauvignon Blanc. The owner
mentioned that they used to grow Chardonnay too that was amazing, but now the
Chardonnay grapes can’t survive through the Oklahoma winters.
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| Tasting a red zinfandel while watching the video. |
I came to the winery shortly before the scheduled tour at
2pm. Right at 2, we were led to watch a video about the grape production here,
and how the wine season works. Harvesting and picking of the grapes takes place
twice here: once at the end of July, and once at the end of September. After
learning more, we were walked through the facility that holds the bottling
machines, crushers, pressers, stainless steel fermentation vessels, a large
freezer and several oak barrels.
All wine made at the Canadian River Valley Vineyard is
bottled and labeled within the facility. Grape clusters are put in containers
and brought to the large freezer overnight to “slow down the process.” The next
day, whites are sent through the crushers/pressers and the red wine must is
placed in the stainless steel fermentation vessels until all sugar has been
turned to alcohol. The tour guide mentioned that 90% of the wines made here are
sweet, and a majority are white – because there’s such a high demand for sweet
white wine in Oklahoma. They still produce many reds, too.
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| A view at the inside facility for wine production. |
After the red wine is placed in the stainless steel vessels
with all their must, the guide said he waits until his lab tests say there is
0% sugar left in the must, and then they are pressed. Many of the reds then go
into oak barrels for two years. Here, barrels are American oak. The man said they
purchase oak barrels from Missouri, although there is a long waitlist to get
new barrels due to the growing whiskey industry. He got 16 new barrels this
year, but he purchased them two years ago and just now received them! After
four uses, the oak barrels are given away or sold as they’re no longer as
useful for the wine.
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| A few of the many rows of vines. |
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| A cluster infected by black rot. |
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| A grape cluster that was not harvested. |
After the tour, we were led to the tasting room, where we
got to try six wines for $6. If you purchased a bottle, then this $6 fee was
waived. We were told by the woman inside that they enter numerous awards in an
effort to show people Oklahoma can produce good wine. Specifically, she
mentioned winning awards from Texome, San Francisco Chronicle, New York
Fingerlicks and the Oklahoma State Fair awards. They have one artificially
flavored wine called the Chocolate Drop, which they enter to many awards
because it’s so different (tasting of it explained below!)
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| From this list, we chose six wines to try. |
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| Here is the ready-to-be-sold bottles inside the tasting room. |
Tasting Notes: 6 wines
I sampled all of the dry wines they had, one semi-sweet wine
and one sweet wine.
Red Zinfandel (dry)
This wine looked orange-ish/red and smelled very smokey. It
tasted acidic and woody, but had a light mouthfeel. There wasn’t an
overwhelming fruit taste or taste that stood out to me. This wine was made in
2015.
Merlot (dry, oaked)
This wine tasted of red fruit and had a crisp taste, almost
citrusy. The mouthfeel of tis wine was more structured than the one above, and
it felt rounder. This one was good because it tasted more complex than the
others.
Classic red (dry)
This wine is a mix of red zinfandel, merlot and cabernet
sauvignon. The tasting woman mentioned that sometimes she feels like this wine
has “too much going on,” which I would agree with. There are many complex
flavors that I wouldn’t say complement each other perfectly.
Cabernet Sauvignon
(dry)
This wine was my favorite of them all. It is light, not too
bold, but definitely has a great taste with woody hints. It kind of tastes
sweet although it was made as a dry wine, and I’d say it almost had a lemon/lime
hint. I ended up purchasing a bottle of this wine from here!
White Riesling (dry)
This wine was bright, acidic and perfect for hot weather.
The waitress said this wine is a “summer white wine for red wine drinkers.” I
loved this one, and was surprised because I normally don’t love white wines!
Oklahoma Riesling
(semi-sweet)
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| Enjoying the weather with our bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. |
This wine was their best seller, but it was way too sweet
for my liking. As I was trying to take tasting notes, I wasn’t sure how to
because the sweetness was overwhelming. I’d say it has a grape taste for sure,
but not much more than that. Not really my style.
Chocolate Drop
(sweet)
Wow – this wine is heavy on the mouth with extreme sugar!
This wine smells identical to a tootsie roll – and has hints of cherry as well.
Huge mouthfeel, but definitely artificial feeling. This wine is merlot with
added chocolate flavoring, and has won several awards for its uniqueness.
Couldn’t drink a whole glass of this, but the tasting was good to try!
Conclusion
This winery was adorable, and I definitely plan to come back
in the spring. After the tasting/tour was over, my boyfriend and I borrowed a
wine opener and two glasses to sit outside with the bottle of Cab we bought and enjoy one last glass of wine. Everyone was so friendly and helpful, and it was
so cool getting to see the machinery that goes into wine production!
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