Randy Ching of La Mer at the Halekulani tastes a selection of wines from Maui.
Maui’s sparkling wines
get high marks
Wine made in Hawaii -- sounds great, but does it taste good? We put some bottles to the test.
Our objective was to evaluate these wines not as novelties, but in comparison to what you'd pay for a bottle to drink at home or in a restaurant. With decent, everyday wines such as Yellowtail selling for as little as $5 in local stores, are these Hawaii wines good values at their $10 to $20 price tags?
Sip them yourself
Find Hawaii-made wines at select liquor stores, some Longs Drug Stores and ABC stores. Maui sparkling and Volcano Symphony wines, however, can be found only at the wineries:
Maui's Winery: Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at Ulupalakua Ranch; (877) 878-6058. Online sales: www.mauiwine.com
Volcano Winery: Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at 35 Pii Mauna Drive, three miles south of Volcano Village; (808) 967-7772. Online sales: www.volcanowinery.com
Our tasting panel was overseen by master sommelier Chuck Furuya and included three restaurant sommeliers: Randy Ching from La Mer at the Halekulani, Joel Labrador from Roy's Ko Olina and Mark Shishido from Alan Wong's Pineapple Room.
They brought not only educated palates, but an understanding of what appeals to local wine drinkers. Their restaurants place a high emphasis on the use of local foods, but none currently pours a Hawaii-made wine.
Along with a selection from Maui's Winery, they tried a few bottles from the Big Island's Volcano Winery.
Highest marks went to two sparkling wines from Maui -- Maui Brut and Rose Ranch Cuvee.
"I think this is the perfect wine to begin a meal with -- so pretty and effervescent," Furuya said of the Rose Ranch Cuvee. "It's a great mood-setting wine. It makes you happy, makes you smile."
Both sparklers were found to be refreshing, lively and crisp, well-suited to a number of seafood dishes. Furuya suggested fried shrimp with the Maui Brut; Labrabor thought he'd pair it with raw oysters in a light vinaigrette.
Ching thought both would be quick-drinking wines, with the bubbles unlikely to last very long. "Because everything's so forward, so lively, you really have to pour them fast. You gotta pop, you gotta gulp."
Maui Blanc, a pineapple wine without fizz, was also well-received. "Nice, refreshing, not bitter or alcoholic," Shishido said. He took the leftovers back to work, along with what was left of Hula O Maui, a pineapple sparkling wine, for his boss, Alan Wong, to taste as a possibility for the Pineapple Room.
Shishido said the pineapple sparkler especially would appeal to a wide range of customers. Furuya already pours the Rose Ranch Cuvee at his Vino and Little Vino wine bars.Volcano winery's Macadamia Nut Honey Wine was judged as light and well-balanced, a good match, Ching said, for spicy Asian food, especially a Thai preparation with coconut milk.
The tasters were less enamored of the remaining wines.
Volcano's Symphony Dry and Symphony Mele (semi-dry) won medals at the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition in Finger Lakes, N.Y., but our tasters found them lacking in balance and depth.
Maui Winery's newest wine, Upcountry Gold, a chenin blanc, did not fare well, either, the most complimentary note being, "I could possibly finish a glass."
Shishido noted its potential, however. "Although it won't be what we'd see in other areas of the world, it'll come into its own. It'll just take some time."
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Volcano wines
The Big Island's Volcano Winery is known for its sweet, tropical fruit wines, but a dry red could be on the way.The winery has planted a half-dozen new French-American hybrid grapes, hoping to develop a dry red wine, marketing manager Suzy Bothof said.
Volcano now produces two whites, Symphony Dry and Symphony Mele, from the symphony grape, a cross of muscat and grenache gris developed in California.
Volcano Winery has an advantage over Maui in that at 4,000 feet, temperatures do drop to freezing in winter, which means the vines have a chance to go dormant and rest.
Conditions are good for the new vines. "It'll be a couple of years obviously, before we can make any wines," Bothof said. "It's a work in progress."
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