With a name like Autumn Frost, you expect something crisp and lean, perhaps with whispers of a late harvest. And the 2019 blend from Hummingbird Vineyard & Winery does hint at pressed cider on nose and stewed apple as it lingers on the palate.

Yet the wine is keen to take you to warmer climes. Impressions – at times elusive – of crushed pineapple, juicy summer berries, ripe apricot and the zesty bite of lemon are like a slideshow of summer travels. There’s a sweet smile and a bright gleam that becomes friendly and welcoming as acidity and sugars sway in balance. It finishes with a dusting of spice and fresh, bracing citrus.

“The Cayuga is what you taste on the back end,” said Hummingbird owner and winemaker David Runge, referring to one of the varietals in his blend.

Swirl the glass and Autumn Frost reveals more intrigue. The fruits are there in abundance, but richer notes of honey, bitter grapefruit peel and dry herbs sift in.

It’s a wine at once compelling and easy to sip – and all from a blend of maligned grapes.

You see, Runge composes Autumn Frost from Chambourcin, Vignole and Cayuga – hybrids often scorned by aficionados. The first is a red with tinted juice first marketed in 1963, the second a thick-skinned white of suspicious origins and then there’s Cayuga, a steely varietal bred for New York’s Finger Lakes region (and the most accepted of the three among wine snobs).

Between stainless fermentation and a secret recipe – he won’t divulge the percentages of each that go into the blend – Runge coaxes something remarkable from the grapes. One of his tricks is to get the developing wine off its lees quickly, allowing the fruits to stand out.

Given all of that, the name Runge selected – Autumn Frost – remains perplexing. He explains that the goal, at least initially, was to produce a novelty wine. Inspired by Goldschlager, a liqueur flecked by slivers of gold, he at first tried to introduce bits of texture to the juice.

The experiment did not go well.

“But,” he added, “we liked the name so we kept it.”

And he came up with a winning blend, as well. In fact, after coming away from a national wine competition with medals for a couple of Hummingbird’s other bottles, Runge realized an omission.

“I should enter this one,” he said, pointing to his Autumn Frost.