Eidolón (pronounced “eye-DOLE-on”) is a red wine blend of the vinifera grapes Merlot (45%), Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot (5% each) and the hybrid grape Chambourcin (45%).
Merlot grapes grow well in our soil type of sand and clay which is very similar to the soils of its original home on the right bank of the Gironde River in the Bordeaux region of France. Since Merlot ripens mid-September it consistently does well in our climate. The grapes produce intense cherry flavors in the wine and velvet phenolics (mouthfeel).
Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon are both red wine grapes used in classic Bordeaux blends. Petit Verdot ripens more reliably in the New World adding tannin, color, and flavor, in small amounts, to this blend. Cabernet Sauvignon a smooth wine creating cohesiveness.
Chambourcin is cold hardy and extremely disease resistant. It reaches high sugar levels every year and has intense forest berry flavors (think black fruits – blackberry, black currant, plum, black fig). As a result, it is a favorite on the East Coast. The resulting wine is purple in color and acidic in taste.
All grapes are grown at our Auburn Road and Woodfield vineyard locations.
The grapes are fermented in small 1 ton bins. When fermentation is done, the Chambourcin grapes stay in the bins for another 2-3 weeks. Called an extended maceration – this technique is used to extract phenolic compounds from the grapes – creating more structure, mouth-feel, and palate length.
All the different grapes are pressed and the wine is moved to barrel to age for 30 months. Some of the wine is aged in new American oak barrels. The new oak barrels will also add more tannin to the young Chambourcin wine.
The wines are kept separate by variety for almost two years then evaluated and blended together.
After blending, the wine is evaluated again and may go through a fining process to integrate the harsher tannins obtained in the winemaking process. “Fining” means to clarify wine or remove something from the wine. We use a traditional fining agent of natural egg whites, a technique discovered by French winemakers. We will put actual farm fresh egg whites into the barrels and stir the wine.
The goal is to integrate the tannins and soften the acidity in the wine.
The wine is bottled and further aged in bottle another 6-12 months before it is sold.
The resulting wine is deep in color and complex in flavor. The front begins with bright acidity, the mid-palate bursts with blackberry and currant and the finish is smooth and velvety from the vinifera grapes with vanilla undertones from the American oak barrels.
When serving this wine, aeration is suggested to open the flavors contained in this wine. Decanting into another vessel, splashing, and using commercial aerators all help open the wine. It should be served at room temperature of 65-70 degrees.
Enjoy this wine with steak and beef dishes, lamb, veal, rich pasta dishes, and spicy foods.
It is about 13.5-14% alcohol.
“Eidólon” (pronounced “eye-DOLE-on”) is the title of a poem from Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass”. In the poem he explains that what we experience in the world are essentially images or “ediólons” of our own creation. We can create the image, we can change it. Positive thought projects positive images, negative thought projects negatives … Everything matters!
This wine is our creation of the ideal wine as interpreted through the soils and climate of the Garden State’s Outer Coastal Plain using grape varieties that are ideal for this region.
