"Beaker" > wrote in message
...
> On 12 Sep 2004 11:03:57 GMT, RobertsonChai quoth:
> >
> > Norton is an American original. There's nothing in the world like it.

Funny you should mention Norton! I just opened a bottle of 1998 Hermannhof
Norton a couple of days ago. I bought it at the winery when I was on
company travel in St. Louis a few years ago and had a free weekend to tour
the wine country. Yes, folks, Missouri _does_ have wine country.

As for the wine, at the time of purchase it was pretty young and tannic -
somewhat on the rustic side. This week it didn't even seem like the same
wine. It had softened so much that it seemed quite sweet in the mouth, and
the rim was showing a bit of brick. I have a couple more bottles, and will
not hold them too much longer. It's rather nice drinking now, but certainly
no match for a good California Cabernet IMO.

I don't know if it was clear to others, but Norton is an unusual grape,
being neither vinifera, labrusca nor a hybrid of those. It's indigenous to
North America and produces a pretty nice, full bodied red wine. It appears
to not be worthy of very extended aging though, based on my limited
experience.

Tom S