More Wine Tasting with Murphy Moore

By Daniel Hoey

I met Murphy Moore at Shelton Vineyards during our tour of the Yadkin Valley – we began with a simple wine-tasting but what followed was a fascinating discussion about winemaking and specifically the challenges and opportunities in the Yadkin Valley AVA that lasted through an outstanding meal at the Harvest Grille, the restaurant on the grounds of Shelton, paired with some outstanding Shelton wines.

Murphy began her career in wine nearly fifteen years ago in the Willamette Valley of Oregon – she corrected my pronunciation of “WILL-a-mette” and told me the correct way to say it was “will-AM-ette.”  Seven years into her wine career she attained her first position as a winemaker, and ultimately worked at eight wineries in four different states with very different conditions before coming to the Yadkin Valley where, in 2005, she was appointed winemaker at Shelton Vineyards.

Wines crafted by Murphy have received numerous awards and critical acclaim by top wine publications including a top 30 ranking by The Wine Enthusiast.  Regarding her move to Shelton, Murphy has said, “I was looking for my next challenge and found it in the up and coming industry of North Carolina. I believe we have the potential to produce wines that can compete with those of any region in the world!”

 

Wine Tasting at Shelton Vineyards

 


Tasting in the Fermentation Cellar at Shelton Vineyards

 

The basics of decanting old and young red wines.

Decanting has two purposes: The first is to remove the sediment from a wine, and the second is allowing the wine to breathe. This typically applies to red wines as white wines do not usually need to be decanted.

Learn About the Grape with winemaker Matthew Loso

We were in Walla Walla, Washington right after a harvest that was sped along dramatically by a frost the previous week. I met with Matthew Loso, award-winning Washington state winemaker, and talked with him about harvest – the “crush”.

Top Ten Wine Destinations for 2012

Where people are planning to wine tour and taste in the coming year

A recent survey of U.S. respondents found 48 percent planned to visit a U.S. vineyard in 2012. The top ten planned destinations were:

How to Pair Wine with Chicken

When pairing wine with food, it is much more critical that you think about the sauce than the particular kind of meat. For example, because chicken is a light white meat...