The Eagles’ Landing Wine Club - November 2020
With Thanksgiving approaching, we wanted to provide wines that pair well with all the fixings at your socially distanced feast: Lake Trip White and Norton 2017. The 2020 harvest has wrapped, and all of our wines are being loved and nurtured carefully within the climate controlled storage in the winery. We are working on some fun and funky new styles with familiar varietals, and we hope to share them with you soon. Until then, enjoy some spectacular bottles from previous vintages!
Eagles’ Landing Winery Lake Trip White
Winemakers: Casey Stuck and Eric Taylor (Owners- Just A Taste and Eagles Landing Wine)
Region: Missouri, Ozark Mountain
Grape Varietal(s): 66% Vignoles, 33% Traminette
Method: Stainless steel fermentation
Age: Drink now or hold to 2023
On the nose: Notes of peach, rose petal, and honeysuckle
How it looks: Golden yellow with syrupy viscosity and weight
How it tastes: Drinks slightly sweet, yet balanced with tangy acidity, and notes of stone fruit and green apple candy
About: Lake Trip White saw its first vintage in 2016 as Eric and Casey set out to produce a sweeter style of wine. With a predominant backbone of Vignoles, ripe tropical fruit flavors are at the forefront. The aroma of ripe fruits hint at a slightly sweeter style, and the nose is not deceived upon tasting. Traminette provides a floral, spicy, and juicy lychee. Together, the wine has a balance of flavor, complexity, and deliciousness.
WHY WE’RE EXCITED ABOUT THIS WINE
Lake Trip White is a passion project to make a wine that is just as quaffable as it is complex. On the nose, there is a plethora of aromas and flavors. The balance between sweetness and acidity lingers, yet charges the palate for the next sip. We find ourselves unable to put down the glass, only stopping to notice when the bottle is no longer full. At 10.5% ABV, and less sugar than you’d expect from such a ripe and flavorful wine, Lake Trip White is guilt free for the waist (and for tomorrow morning). It makes for the ultimate pairing with curry, Asian food, and it will help break up all the heaviness from Thanksgiving dinner!
Eagles’ Landing Winery Norton 2017
Winemakers: Casey Stuck and Eric Taylor (Owners- Just A Taste and Eagles Landing Wine)
Region: Missouri, Ozark Highlands
Grape Varietal(s): 100% Norton
Method: Aged 14 months with 20% new French oak
Age: Drink now or hold until 2025
On the nose: Black cherry, raspberry, wisps of vanilla, and baking spice
How it looks: Red plum with purples hues in the glass
How it tastes: Red berries on the palette with medium plus body and acidity. Lingering earthiness and tannin.
About: Norton was first noted in 1823 by Dr. Daniel Norton in Virginia. Norton is of the Vitis aestivalis family, which is native to North America. You may have also heard of Cynthiana, which is a mutation of Norton. Usually, Cynthiana is made in a lighter style and can be found unoaked. Thus, it is very common to find Norton aged for greater lengths of time in predominantly new French oak.
The natural high acidity of the Norton grape is balanced by extensive aging, and most winemakers prefer the finished wine with “oaky” aromas and bold flavors in an attempt to create sophisticated, firm wines. Eric combines the two techniques, utilizing 20% new French oak to impart benefits of oak aging and flavor, but always with an emphasis to highlight the quality of the grapes. Accounting for 1/5th of all grapes grown in Missouri, Norton plantings make up over 350 acres across the state, earning its right as the Missouri State Grape! We pridefully source our Norton grapes from our friends at 4M Vineyards, Oak Crest Vineyards, and Beckmeyer Vineyards.
WHY WE’RE EXCITED ABOUT THIS WINE
Norton is often touted as the “Cabernet Sauvignon of Missouri”, but in our personal tasting experience …it always falls a little flat. Thus, we are firm believers that the thing holding Missouri wine back is the preconceived idea of what Missouri wine needs to deliver.
Well cultivated and vinfied Norton can be ripe, rich, bold, and complex, without a need for oak manipulation. The Norton from 2017 represents quality grown fruit during a near perfect vintage, and highlights a great deal of its characteristic flavors. To each their own, but we’re excited about this wine because we feel like we get to drink Norton as it ought to be, not what others expect it to be. (If we wanted Cabernet, we would seek out Cabernet!) When pairing with traditional Thanksgiving dishes, the berry and baking spice notes play well with cranberry sauce, and make a great match with turkey!