Our next stop on the Lake Erie Wine Trail was Courtyard Winery, conveniently located right on U.S. 20, known in the area as West Main Road. The first thing you notice as you walk into the spacious tasting room is the wine cellar room.
It turns out that Randy's (the winemaker) dad was a carpenter and their skills are reflected in the gorgeous space. It has a rack for dozens of bottles, a nice long table and oak barrels and is available for private parties.
The tasting room features two bar areas, one for dry wines and one for sweeter wines, plus wine-related merchandise and wine displays. We headed right for the dry wine tasting bar, especially since it was right in front of the beautiful wine cellar room. Their standard dry red menu has 6 selections, including a port. Madam and I shared this tasting in order to pace ourselves.
First up was their Chambourcin, a smooth red with both a dark cherry nose and taste that is barrel-aged, as many of their reds are. I am partial to this varietal as it has only been around as long as I have (1963). The Captain's Red blends Cabernet Franc and Corot Noir into a nice dry blend with notes of cranberry and a nice pepper finish.
The Cabernet Sauvignon had a cherry oak nose and delivered a full mouth feel with a smooth finish. The Merlot is aged 26 months in French Oak barrels so it also had a nose rich in oak and berries. The Noiret, another young varietal, kept the characteristics of the soil where it grows with a slight mineral taste but full pepper finish.
And we finished with a port, appropriately named Uneven Keel and bottled in a unique skull-shaped bottle, a nice blend of red wines fortified with grape brandy.
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