A few years ago for Moscato Day, we sampled a wine from Indiana with quite a bit of trepidation. But to our surprise this fruit wine from Oliver was mighty fine!

So when the Wine Pairing Weekend theme for midwestern wines came up this month, and the winery in Ohio which was going to send us samples didn’t because of concerns with the heat, I knew I had a back up of a Oliver Blueberry Moscato in the cellar.

Then, you can imagine my surprise, to find not one not two, but FOUR bottles of Indiana wine for sale at Cost Plus World Market! So I purchased a Cherry Moscato to sample along with the Blueberry.

Beautiful labels, unexpectedly lovely wines.

Often wines made in the midwestern part of the United States are fruit wines. As fruit wines can be extremely sweet and even cloying, it was a pleasure to find these fruit moscato wines from Oliver that take the delicate flavors of fruit and blend it with the light in body moscato wine to develop a low alcohol sweet and tangy beverage that can be enjoyed as a light and lovely pool sipper, to a perfect accompaniment to either dessert or a cheese plate in a full course meal.

MENU

• Deviled Eggs with fried pancetta
• Roasted peach with burrata mozzarella cheese on field greens with spiced pecans and fried pancetta
• Raspberry and Elderberry Galette with homemade whipped cream

WINES

• Oliver Winery and Vineyard Cherry Moscato
  
• Oliver Winery and Vineyard  Blueberry Moscato
  

Indiana’s oldest and largest winery, Oliver Winery, was rated among the top 25 wineries to visit in the U.S. by Travel + Leisure. You’ll be able to find it in about half of states in the US, online at oliverwinery.com or at Oliver Winery in Indiana.

Oliver Winery and Vineyard Cherry Moscato
ABV 6.6%
SRP $12
purchased at World Market

Color: Very pretty. Light pink, millennium pink,

Nose: Freshia blossom, cherry blossom,

Palate: Sweet yet tart and tangy. Better in a big breathable glass, It is like a sweet tart candy. The sweet is there, but the tart counteracts the sweet.

Pairing: Both Sue and I found this wine to be a bit too sweet to go with our wonderful salad and deviled eggs. Sue felt the tart dessert was nice with the wine. I felt both were mouthwatering and that it could have handled a sweeter dessert, except that after the wine the tartness in the dessert were nicely mellowed. it appreciates the whip cream in the dish with the tart fruit of the dessert.

Oliver Winery and Vineyard  Blueberry Moscato
ABV 6.8%
SRP $12
sample

Color: Light watermelon

Nose: Sue found lemons and honey with green tea. I agreed it was green gunpowder tea. Sue said there was mint there as well and I found an herbal something like spearmint double mint gum.

Palate: Spearmint, sweet tart

Pairing: The buratta salad was perfect with the wine. It loved the salty pancetta and spicy arugula with the creamy burrata. After that taste I wanted a BLT. Pair this wine with something peppery, spicy, and salty. Great with the deviled eggs, salty, creamy and sweet; I was surprised when Sue suggested this but they really worked well. The blueberry is very evident with this pairing. With the tart fruit the effervescence is apparent.

All midwestern wines aren’t fruit wines!

A few years ago, I enjoyed a Los Angeles wine writers lunch at Napa Valley Grill with wines from Röbller Vineyard from Missouri; they’ve been making wine there for 30 years after 150 years of growing more regionally typical produce.

The lunch menu really showcased how well these more traditional tasting wines using American grapes like Norton as well as French grapes like ugni can pair with a multi-course meal.

 Check out these articles about wines from the Midwest:

• • A Taste of Michigan: Pasties, Black Star Farms, and a Generous Foodie Friend by Culinary Adventures
  • Exploring Vitis Vinifera at Vermilion Valley Vineyards by Food Wine Click!
  • Get Over Your Skepticism about Illinois Wines at August Hill Winery by What’s in that Bottle?
  • Indiana’s Oliver’s Surprising Fruit Wines Paired with Roasted Peach Salad, Berry Galette by Wine Predator
  • Missouri’s Traminette Wine and Crab Rangoon Burgers for #WinePW by Our Good Life
  • Scottish Smoked Salmon Pate Paired with Midwestern Wines by A Day in the Life on the Farm
  • Set Up Summer with Illinois Signature Rosé by L’Occasion

Here are the topics for our 8am Pacific twitter chat:

• 11:00 am ET Q1 Welcome to the heart of the United States as we experience Midwestern Wine with #WinePW. Who is joining us today? 
• 11:05 am ET Q2 The Midwest is a huge part of a huge country. Anyone here from the Midwest? #WinePW
• 11:10am ET Q3 Hopefully you found some wine. Tell us a bit about the bottles you tasted. What state are they from and where did you buy them? #WinePW
• 11:15am ET Q4 Did you try any food with your wine? Is it considered to be Midwestern fare? #WinePW
• 11:20 am ET Q5 Have you visited any Midwestern wine regions in your travels? It’s a perfect spot for road tripping! #WinePW
• 11:25 am ET Q6 Were you actually clear on what constitutes the Midwest of the US? How familiar are you with this part of the world? #WinePW
• 11:30 am ET Q7 The Midwest = Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. How many have you visited? #WinePW
• 11:35am ET Q8 All of them have a wine industry! Are you surprised to learn about the diversity of wine in the Midwest? #WinePW
• 11:40am ET Q9 Augusta, Missouri is actually the first AVA in the US. Did you learn anything about American wine history from this #WinePW exploration?
• 11:45am Q10 What are your thoughts or suggestions for introducing this region to your audience? What is one thing you think wine enthusiasts should know about Midwestern Wine? #WinePW
• 11:50am Q11 Open comment time! What did we miss in this chat? #WinePW
• 11:55am Thanks for joining our #WinePW chat. Join us on August 14th for Amphora wines hosted by Gwendolyn Alley @artpredator at http://winepredator.com