Wiederkehr Wine Cellars

Some amateur winemakers go to the grocery store, buy a few cans of frozen white grape juice, and try to make a fine wine out of it. They do this because of thrift and year-round availability. Frozen, concentrated white grape juice is typically from the Niagara grape, and the results are typically bad to mediocre wine.

Wiederkehr Wine Cellars (locally pronounced “Whitaker”) makes a fine Niagara varietal wine without denying thrift. It is an interesting wine with aromas that do not necessarily forecast taste. A muted labrusca “foxy” bouquet is evident, along with citrus tones. The labrusca signature grapey flavor is teamed with a steely minerality, settling the wine into a smooth earthiness. The finish does not linger, but such crispness with just 11% alcohol is welcome when friends come over for a porch party on a sultry summer evening.

Amateur winemakers around North-West Arkansas can go to Wiederkehr and buy fresh Niagara grapes during harvest. The berries are green to yellow-green and taste great straight off the bunch, popped into the mouth. They can try their hand at vintning Niagara grapes, but why bother when a 750 mL bottle sells for just $5.75, a magnum for $10.35, and a 3 L bottle (with a built-in handle) for just over $17? Buy a lot and cool the bottles in a creek or a washtub filled with ice.

Reviewed August 29, 2007 by Tim Pingelton.