Winery Visit--Canadian River Vineyard and Winery

September 01, 2019

Winery Visit--Canadian River Vineyard and Winery

"Canadian River Vineyard and Winery"

(Left to Right) Rojo Blanc, Chocolate Drop, Moscato

"The Whites Vineyard"

For my first winery visit, I visited Canadian River Vineyard and Winery. This small, but beautiful, 10 acre vineyard is located in Lexington, Oklahoma. We walked in and talked to Shelia, one of the owners, about our options while visiting the winery. We decided on sampling first with her and then taking a tour of the winery with the original owner Gene.

During our tasting, she demonstrated the importance of swirling the glass and sniffing before we actually tasted the wine. Then she poured our first glass to sample! We tried 8 different wines in total and all of them were amazing!
1) Moscato --The sweetest
2) Rio Blanc--Sweet but a stronger after taste of pear
3)Strawberry Moscato--Sweet like the first moscato but strong scents and taste of fresh strawberries
4) Pink Moscato (Rosé)--Semi-sweet
5) Riesling--Dry but amazingly smooth
6) Rio Rojo (My Favorite)-- Made with Merlot grapes, this sweet red wine was amazing in every way!
7) Chocolate Drop (Dessert)-- Made with Merlot grapes, this sweet red wine was infused with chocolate, which made you think you were eating a tootsie roll!

After the tasting we met up with Gene for our tour! Gene started growing grapes when he was 14 years old while living in the valleys of California. He opened Canadian River Winery and has called it home for the last 21 years.

Our first stop on the tour was a walk through of "The Whites Vineyard" where gene told us about the white grapes. These grapes are what is used for mostly sweet wines and harvested 2 times a year. The 32 rolls of vines stretched back to all 10 acres of his land. Needless to say, this vineyard was GORGEOUS!

Reagan and I

Merlot

1 Ton Pallet in Cooler

After seeing where the white grapes were grown we walked over and saw the smaller vineyard of the reds! Only 10 rolls deep, this much smaller area did not fall short in beauty! Gene allowed us to pick off a few grapes to taste and see the difference in normal table grapes. These small grapes were full of juice and flavor !

The many different shades and colors of the grapes were really pretty to see. Gene talked about how he looks specifically at color when picking so the color finish of the wine is perfect to use.

Once the grapes are harvested, they must go directly in the cooler for 2 days to take the heat off of them. Gene explained that if the grapes don't sit for the full 2 days, then they will actually start to ferment within the grapes themselves.

The grapes are put into 5 gallon buckets to store and then placed on a pallet to be transported. Gene said that one pallet is weighed to mach 1 ton for wine crafting.

After sitting and cooling, the grapes are then sent through a de-stemmer. The machine spins the grapes through a smaller hole which will only leave a grape. The remains of leaves, stems and dirt are sent to be used for fertilizer for next years crop.

The grapes are moved to a different machine that fills the walls with air like a balloon and pushes up against the grapes to squeeze all the juice out! In one batch of grapes Gene will get 400 gallons of juice out of the grapes. That's enough to fill 20,000 bottles of wine!!! (Yum!)

De-stemmer

For Red Gapes:
The juice of the grapes comes out through a tube and into a stainless steel barrel. It will rest in the stainless steel barrel for 4-6 months. The skins are placed into the stainless steel barrels with the juice so Gene can get the perfect color for his wine! Then the colored juice is placed in a oak barrel for a minimum 2 years! This allows the red wines to age and settle because of its strong flavors and dryness.

For White Grapes (or Sweet Reds):

The Balloon

The grapes come out through a tube and into a stainless steal barrel to rest for a 2-4 months. After fermenting, the wine is ready to be bottled!

All of Gene's wines are hand bottled 5 at a time and he puts a cork in the bottles by using a lever to squeeze it into them! At this point the bottles are ready to be sold by Sheila in the main office!

Gene has won many awards for his wine through the years and he doesn't plan on giving up anytime soon! He says that with the new laws, many people are buying more of the cheap wines in stores and are missing out on truly handcraft wine! GOOD wine I must add!

We learned a lot by visiting the Canadian River Vineyard and Winery! I think everyone should visit a winery to see the beauty of the land and to see what is happening in the state around them! Go visit a winery near you and drink local! You won't be let down! I Promise!