Maui Wines Yield
Pleasant Holiday Surprise!

By George & Ninette Medovoy, Editors

Maui Splash. Sounds like the perfect name for a dream vacation, right?

Well, yes, but with a surprise. Maui Splash is a fun-and-zingy pineapple-and-passion fruit drink produced by Tedeschi Vineyards right here in less-traveled Upcountry Maui, a blissful region of green pastureland high above the island’s fabled beaches…a place where Maui’s legendary "paniolo" cowboys herd cattle in a setting reminiscent of Sonoma County.

A visit to Tedeschi Vineyards was on our agenda for wine tasting, mixed in with scenic Upcountry Maui’s breathtaking vistas and a picnic under the winery’s 150-year-old Norfolk Pines.

On our drive to the winery, which lies about an hour away from Maui’s beaches, my wife and I followed a two-lane road that climbs up the side of mighty Haleakala, which is the largest dormant volcano in the world.

Grandma's Coffee House, Too

On our way, we were pleasantly surprised to see the cattle- and horse-crossing signs, the picturesque, tiny towns, and the occasional roadside curiosities -- like a storybook stop on the side of the road called Grandma’s Coffee House.

As we got closer to the winery, dark, ominous clouds began to fill the mid-morning sky, and we began to worry that it might rain on our visit.

Well, it did rain, but it was only one of those short-lived, light Maui showers that we quickly got used to. In a short time, the rain had spent itself, and the sun began to radiate through the last vestige of clouds, glistening on the grassy hills bordering the road.

Soon we approached a sign above an old oak barrel near the road: Tedeschi Vineyards, and we knew that we had arrived at our destination.

What a wonderful Maui day it turned out to be – sunny and warm, just right for touring and picnicking. It was a day seemingly made especially for us by the Polynesian god Maui, who, legend has it, used his superhuman strength to lasso the sun and slow its progress across the sky, so that humans could enjoy more sunshine.

Memorable Vistas along the Way

From our 2,000-foot elevation, we took in memorable vistas of neighboring Molokini crater, where boats anchor for snorkeling, and Kahoolawe, which for many years was called Hawaii’s "Target Isle," because of its previous use as a practice target by Allied military gunners.

Tedeschi Vineyards sits on spacious grounds leased from the 20,000-acre Ulupalakua Cattle Ranch, whose colorful history is worth noting. In 1856, a retired whaling captain named James Makee purchased an old sugar plantation here with more than 1,000 herd of livestock. He named his new home "Rose Ranch" after his wife Catherine’s favorite (and now official Maui) flower, the Lokelani Rose.

Makee and his wife transformed Rose Ranch into an island showplace famed for its hospitality. Makee himself delighted in welcoming g offshore guests – who required a whole day simply to get up to the high ground from the shoreline.

One of the more colorful guests was Hawaii’s "Merrie Monarch," King Kalakaua, who came with his wife Queen Kapi’olani. During these visits, the king and the captain would spend lazy days in legendary poker games, drinking champagne together in complete abandon!

In 1963, the ranch was re-named "Ulupalakua Ranch," meaning "bread fruit ripened on the back." The winery was established in 1974, a partnership between a Californian, Emil Tedeschi, and C. Purdy Erdman of Ulupalakua Ranch.

When we walked into the small, stone tasting room at the winery, Momi DeMello of Tedeschi’s office staff welcomed us: "Ah, you made it up the mountain. Welcome to Upcountry Maui. We like it here."

That warm greeting was the prelude to a wonderful tour of the winery.

One of the first things we learned during this tour was that the winery’s tasting room was long ago – in the 19th century – a jail for unruly cowboys. "Where the cash register stands," said DeMello, " is the old trap door to the dungeon."

But on to Wine!

Tedeschi Vineyards cultivates 22 acres of Carnelian grapes on the cool, wind-swept slopes of Haleakala, not far from the sunny resort area of Wailea. Experts from the University of California at Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology had a hand in developing the winery’s grape type.

"UC Davis actually helped us develop a hybrid that’s called Carnelian," said DeMello. "We intended to do just champagne, so the grape that is grown is very high in acid because that’s what we wanted for the champagne."

While waiting for the first harvest to mature, Tedeschi turned inventive and playful and experimented with pineapple concentrate, developing Maui Blanc pineapple wine -- a soft, dry wine with a subtle flavor that is also Tedeschi’s most popular product.

"Then, said DeMello, "about two or three years later, our winemaker became very creative. He took our pineapple wine and added some passion fruit to it. It’s wonderful."

We found this vintage – called "Maui Splash" – to be pleasantly fruity, though not overbearingly so. "You serve it nice and cold," DeMello advised. "The colder you can get it, the better."

Two other pineapple products are made here – Pineapple Sparkling Wine, a crisp, fruity drink with a fresh pineapple flavor, and Maui Blush, a pale pink table wine.

The winery also produces two Carnelian wines – Plantation Red, a very full-bodied, dry wine aged in oak, and Ulupalakua Red, a much softer table wine.

There is also a Rose Ranch Cuvee, a light, dry vintage named after the Maui rose.

The winery’s first grape product, Maui Brut-Blanc de Noirs 1980, was served at Ronald Reagan’s inauguration.

We enjoyed Maui Brut-Blanc de Noirs with a lovely fish dish at Raffles Restaurant in the Renaissance Wailea Resort Hotel. Made with a kind of Maui red snapper, the dish was called Wok Fried Opakapaka and was served with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce.

The Small Upcountry Town of Kula

During our drive to the Tedeschi Winery, we liked the small Upcountry town of Kula, where Maui’s famous protea flowers are grown. Then there was Makawao, known as "the biggest little town in Upcountry," where paniolos still ride their horses down the rustic main street. The façade of this street is required by law to have an old-west façade.

We actually didn’t see any cowboys during our stop in Makawao, but we did spot them herding cattle in the fields along the road.

Wherever we went in Upcountry, the Tedeschi Vineyards was the diamond in the center of it all – a pleasant place full of good cheer, reflecting the wonderful flavors of the island!

In California, all of the winery’s products are found at Calistoga Wine Stop. The Maui Splash and Maui Blanc are also featured at Cost Plus Imports.

For other sales locations in the United States and abroad or for tour schedules, call the winery at 1-808-878-6058. The mailing address is: Tedeschi Vineyards, P.O. 953, Ulupalakua, Maui, Hawaii 96790.
If you plan a picnic, you can stop at the Ulupalakua Ranch Store for supplies. Mornings and late afternoons tend to be cool at these elevations, so bring a sweater.

For information about Raffles Restaurant or the Renaissance Wailea Beach Resort, which sits on a prime 15-acre site fronting Maui’s beautiful crescent-shaped beaches, call 1-800-HOTELS-1.

For more information about the winery, visit www.mauiwine.com. For general information about travel on Maui, call the Maui Visitors Bureau, at 1-808-244-3530, or visit www.visitmaui.com.

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