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Versatile Chambourcin grapes are growing on Missouri winemakers
• by Glenn Bardgett - Photo courtesy of Tony Kooyumjian
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First, let me congratulate the Dressel family’s Mount Pleasant Winery in Augusta for the outstanding achievement of winning its first Governor’s Cup at the 2005 Missouri Wine Competition for the gorgeous 2003 Norton.
If you have read this column recently, you will know that I put high esteem on the difficulty of winning any award at a major competition. Having their wines judged is one of the most difficult challenges for wineries to face, but it’s also a huge opportunity. To become the best wine in the state of Missouri for 2005, Mount Pleasant’s 2003 Norton had to outshine nearly 200 other entries. In the last five years, the Governor’s Cup has been won by Norton three times and by port twice. Because most Missouri ports are Norton-based, it is safe to conclude that the Norton grape variety tends to dominate our judging, our media and maybe even our image of what our wineries do best.
Although Norton (aka Cynthiana) seems to be the thousand-pound gorilla in these parts, the major red variety for most of Eastern winegrowing is actually Chambourcin. Norton is a native American grape variety, and Chambourcin is a French-American hybrid. Norton is grown in about 10 states, and Chambourcin thrives in at least 20 states and in Canada and is even considered a major variety in Australia, where it is used in the country’s complex and popular sparkling dry red wines.
Most U.S. plantings are in Eastern states, where cooler climates are more common. In Pennsylvania, it is ubiquitous enough to be called “Pennsylvania Zinfandel” by some. That is not a description that I particularly like, because both grapes are major favorites of mine. Like many of the varieties grown in Missouri, Chambourcin was a numbered variety developed in France more than 40 years ago by the famed hybridist Joannes Seyve; it was known simply as 26205. It was only later, around 1963, that the variety was given its name. Like much of Seyve’s work, it is almost certainly a hybrid of two or more of the enormous number of varieties developed in France in the 19th century.
When it was first introduced, Chambourcin garnered a great deal of interest from the Loire Valley region of central France. Nowadays the French make both dry red and rosé wines from it. The grape has very little of the typical wild and earthy flavors that many other French hybrids have. It has deep purple color, is greatly aromatic and boasts great disease resistance. Tannins are generally higher than in other red hybrids, though hybrids are not considered to be high-tannin wines. The wines made from it will generally be medium- to full-bodied. A lovely Nouveau-style light, fruity drinking red can also be made from Chambourcin. It’s nearly a winemaker’s dream.
Although still not a major varietal in Missouri in terms of acres planted (well behind Chardonel and Norton), Cambourcin has many talented and devoted members in its fan club. It has less than one-fourth the number of vines as Norton, but that number is increasing.
Most of us in the industry would put Tony Kooyumjian at, or certainly near, the top of the list in Chambourcin winemaking talent at Missouri’s 56 wineries. While Kooyumjian was still a pilot for TWA, he opened the Winery of the Little Hills in St. Charles, which still exists primarily as a restaurant and great place for outdoor summer dining. He then opened the Augusta Winery in 1988. After years of success at Augusta, he purchased the Montelle Winery, a couple of miles east of Augusta, in 1998.
Montelle has always made a large number of different products, including many fruit wines. Kooyumjian edited the enormous list of wines, often called the Montelle Wall, referring to the selection of dozens of wines listed on the wall behind the tasting bar. One of the beneficiaries of this selection process was the Chambourcin. Although Kooyumjian still makes a formidable Cynthiana (he still sticks to the traditional Augusta name rather than the Norton designation normally found in Hermann), he has achieved great success and recognition with his Chambourcin. Since 2001, Kooyumjian has been awarded either a gold or silver medal every year in the Missouri Wine Competition – truly a stellar
achievement considering the dominance of Norton in our state’s wine judging. Kooyumjian is also leading the pack in his change to screw-top closures on many of his Montelle and Augusta wines.
Awards are nice, but the true test of whether Chambourcin has arrived lies with Missouri wine lovers. I don’t have statistics to back up its growing popularity, but a recent experience I had illustrates the increased recognition the grape is receiving. I had the pleasure of staying at the Hermann Hill Vineyard and Inn in Hermann, where the name of our magnificent accommodation was very a propos: the Chambourcin Room.
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