New York Cork Report

WTNs: Jamesport Vineyards New Releases (North Fork of Long Island)

"Our wines are made in the vineyard."

It's a wine industry cliché that you'll hear at molst any winery these days. It's so overused and appears on so many boilerplates that much of its meaning has been watered down and lost.

Like many clichés however, it is firmly rooted in fact. Even the world's greatest winemaker won't be able to make outstanding wine from un-ripe, low-quality fruit.

Winemakers may be the celebrities of the wine world -- even here on Long Island -- but the good ones know how important a top vineyard manager is. It's a symbiotic relationship unlike any other.

Les Howard, winemaker at Jamesport Vineyards, gets to work with one of North Fork's best, Ron Goerler Jr, who also happens to own Jamesport Vineyards.

Goerler has been growing grapes for much of his life. His father, Ron Goerler Sr., planted Jamepsort's first vines in 1981, making him only the fourth person to plant vines on Long Island. Almost from the beginning, the Goerler family earned a reputation for growing some of the best fruit around -- and deservedly so.

Howard, who joined Jamesport Vineyards in 2005 after stints at Pindar Vineyards, Wolffer Estate and Bedell Cellars, is taking that quality fruit and turning it into quality wines.

Howard's sauvignon blanc (look for the 2007 release this spring) is a terrific example of the grape's local potential and his deft, judicious use of oak in his chardonnay program leads to wines that express their vineyard's terroir well. The fruit's quality is always front and center here, not buried under piles of oak.

Four recent releases show off not only Goerler's vineyard skills, but also Howard's emerging style.

Pindar Gettin' in on the 'Post Movement

By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Publisher

Nice story in Newsday this week about sustainable grape-growing Long Island, particularly the use of compost in place of chemical fertilizers.

Macari Vineyards, as noted in the piece, has pioneered many of of Long Island's 'green' vineyard practices, but did you know that Pindar Vineyards has spent almost three years making compost for application this year?

We read a lot about organic/biodynamic/sustainable farming and the benefits to the land, groundwater, etc...but this piece raises an advantage for the wineries:

They can save hundreds of thousands of dollars if they aren't buying chemical applicaitons. Maybe the almighty dollar isn't the romantic, 'green' motivator for sustainable farming, but it's a much more effective one. Remember, no matter what, wineries are in this to make money.

Surprising that Shinn Estate and Lieb Family Cellars weren't mentioned in the story, as I know they play in this field a lot.

Diploma Dispatches: Central Italy

By Sasha Smith, NYC Correspondent

So it came to me on Tuesday night as I was chewing on a mouthful of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and trying to decide if I could call the tannins both “firm” and “drying”: the Diploma is to wine what dressage is to horseback riding – arcane, academic and interesting to an extremely small, and extremely passionate, group of people.

This point is not lost on Mary Ewing Mulligan, (from now on, MEM for short) who reminded us that we are “operating in some never-never land” at arm’s length from the average drinker’s experience. I appreciate the discipline and critical distance, of course – otherwise I wouldn’t be in the class – but it borders on the obsessive. At some point, can’t we just drink the wine and shut up about it?

That being said, this week was one of our best lectures yet. Central Italy, particularly Tuscany, is clearly near and dear to MEM’s heart. This is a woman who has spent a lot of time in Chianti, and has a lot to say about it. I particularly liked the observation she shared about Brunello di Montalcino, which she picked up from a Tuscan wine merchant: with the best ones, you can feel the tannins consistently from start to finish as you taste the wine – not just at the back of the mouth. (I’m not sure how this works, physiologically, as I think the sensors for tannins are near the middle/back of your mouth, but I’ll take her word on it). Chianti and Sangiovese-based wines in general don’t rank among my top ten, or even top twenty, reds, but Mary’s enthusiasm and knowledge made me wonder if I need to re-evaluate my rankings.

Unfortunately, the wines we tasted kinda sucked. The Verdicchio was either oxidized and/or over the hill. The Vino Nobile of the firm and drying tannins was a 2003 and had some unappealing overcooked fruit aromas going on. Ditto for the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo of the same year. We had a Brunello that Mary liked quite a bit – a 2001 La Fornace – and that I recognized as a good wine, but didn’t fall in love with. (Although I
did get the tannin from start-to-finish thing.) Which brings me to another tricky part of the class: leaving your subjectivity at home. If a Pinotage shows up in the tasting exam, I’ll have to put aside my intense dislike of the grape and assess it on its own terms. And vice-versa for Rioja, a wine that I might evaluate too generously because I like it so much.

My final discovery of the week is that my current study method, filling out mega Excel spreadsheets on every region, is worthless. I tried to use some of them to study for our first practice exam question, “Explain the diversity in Burgundy’s white wines, when there is only one key grape variety” and they’ve been incredibly unhelpful. Instead I’ve had to reread everything on white Burgundy in Jancis (we’re now on a
first name basis.)

I have to email my essay off by tomorrow to an anonymous grader in the UK who will then rip it apart and send it back with all kinds of merciless comments, or at least that’s what I’ve been told. If they’re anything like the exam graders, I’m in for a treat. As I wrote in my first post, WSET makes old exams available, along with comments from the examiners. Here’s one of my favorites:

“This [tasting note] is a classic example of someone who is seriously underperforming in this examination. Whilst this candidate is clearly not English speaking, it was not their lack of fluency that was the problem (in tasting questions we are looking for accuracy rather than literary skills), it is their failure to use the Systematic Approach to Tasting. This has resulted in vague, imprecise tasting notes with limited potential for awarding marks.”

Or how about this classic:

“Questions on Eastern Europe are seldom popular, but quite often those who do attempt them do well because it is their area of expertise. Sadly this was not the case here with no candidates achieving distinction and only two with merit. This question clearly divided those who knew about these regions and those who knew a few basic facts about a couple of wines. In the case of the latter, many scripts covered barely half a
side of A4 paper. This is seriously inadequate for this level of qualification.”

I’m picturing the examiners as a combination between John Houseman in The Paper Chase and the panel of judges at the end of Flashdance.

What a feeling, indeed.

Thank you, Myron.

Warning: No food for wine content here.

Today, we'll be observing a moment of blog silence in honor of Myron Cope, long-time color commentator for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who passed away yesterday at the age of 79.

As a native Pittsburgher who grew up a huge sports fan, I listened to Myron almost from the womb just like so many Steelers fans. His distinctive, Pittsburgh-accented voice and unique dialect (aka made-up words) were such a part of the overall Pittsburgh Steelers experience that I know many people (myself included) who would turn the sound off on nationally televised games and tune in the radio...just to hear Myron.

He was the voice of the Steelers for 35 years, but he is best known nationally for inventing the Terrible Towel. One hangs in my cubicle at work, so today I'll hang it at half mast for Myron. Thanks for the memories Myron Cope.

Wine Chick Wednesday: I'm in a New York State of Disconnect

We New Yorkers are a weird bunch.

To start, we can’t even agree on what being a New Yorker means. A former NYC resident myself, I always found it beyond comical that NY1 would devote an entire 60 seconds to the “World Beyond New York” – be it Long Island, Louisiana or Lithuania, it was all the same upon exit from the five boroughs. Is that, then, the true New York?

Not likely. Despite the heavy tax-base and votership in that small speck of real estate, the rest of the state ends up feeling neglected and overlooked. For example, when I first moved to New YorkCity, I was astounded to see how few wine shops and restaurants carried Long Island wines.

Not much had changed when I found myself working in such a shop five years later; the owners swore the wines would never sell because no one knew them or trusted them. Sadly, such proclamations were more often true than not and it was only the daring customer who would take my Long Island recommendations. I found it surreal that consumers would trust wines hailing from entirely different hemispheres over those from their geographical backyard.

This question of New York viniferal loyalty was further compounded by my move to Buffalo.

Sure, I’m from Long Island, but I’ve lived in both NYC and the Hudson Valley (I skipped the Finger Lakes, but give me time...). I almost innately found myself turning my nose up at local wines without ever having tried them. “They’re from Lockport..." I'd sigh. "How good can they be?"

While I’m certainly not writing this to boast one area over another, I’ve come to find it quite curious that we don’t band together more as an entire state. We’ve got an uphill battle here, folks. California is out-fruit-bombing us, France is out-prestiging us, South American is under-pricing us, and Italy is out-experimenting us.

New York, my fellow/femellow (which, by the way, is the new moniker attached to cool chicks like myself) bloggers can testify, produces fantastic wines when the winemakers do not attempt to coerce them into being something they’re not. It damn near breaks my heart every time I taste an overly oaked NY Chardonnay. Why is this happening?!

Bernard Cannac Out as Winemaker at Duck Walk Vineyards

The winemaking landscape on Long Island is changing quite a bit in recent weeks.

The latest bit of news, again involving Bernard Cannac, is that he has been laid off as the winemaker at Duck Walk Vineyards.

Emails to Duck Walk Vineyards have not been returned. When/if they are, hopefully we'll learn who the new winemaker will be. My guess is that Jason Damianos, winemaker at sister winery Pindar and CEO of the parent company will take the reins.

No word on what Cannac's plans are either.

LENNDEVOURS/canvas Magazine "Drink Local" Wine Event is Saturday Night

There are still tickets available for  the wine event I'm co-hosting with canvas Magazine this Saturday night at Footprint Art Gallery in Huntington, NY.

Join us for terrific local wines from Raphael, Lieb Family Cellars and Macari Vineyards and food pairings provided by Whole Foods Market. It promises to be a lot of fun. 

In addition to great wine and food, there will be live music and a raffle that benefits the Coalition Against Child Abuse and Neglect.

Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

Buy tickets today and I hope to see you there. Please make sure that you stop by and say hello.

Correction: Matt Berenz is Still at Vineyard 48

By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Publisher

A few weeks ago I received an official press release from Wine Connection Consulting and Vineyard 48 announcing that Bernard Cannac had replaced Matthew Berenz as winemaker at Vineyard 48. It was surprising at the time given the strides Berenz had been making there.

It has come to my attention over the 24 hours that the press release was erroneous and that Berenz is still the winemaker at Vineyard 48.

In the interest of fairness and truth, I've removed the original post from the site. I have contacted all of the parties involved and will only comment on the situation further once I have all of the details.

I guess press releases aren't as reliable as I expected. Lesson learned.

Letting the Grapes Speak: An Interview with Anthony Road's Johannes Reinhardt

By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent

Johannes Reinhardt came to the Finger Lakes from Germany, yet it is his varied work experience which sets him most apart from many other winemakers. 

He has honed his craft in the ancient family wine business, at an organic winery, at a large-scale commercial winery, and now finds himself the sole winemaker at Anthony Road Wine Company on Seneca Lake. Johannes brings a European perspective to a winemaking region in which he sees a great deal of potential.

The Reinhardt family, from the tiny village of Neuses Am Berg in northern Bavaria, was awarded a royal crest in 1438 and given dominion over grape growing and the wine trade in part of what was then called Franconia. Despite this close involvement in the wine business, the Reinhardt family did not officially produce its own wine label until the 1950s. Johannes, after learning the craft from his father, seemed destined to inherit the expanding family business.

Johannes earned his Master's in Viticulture from the Bavarian Institute at Veitshoechheim in 1991. He worked for the family winery from 1992-1995 and then abruptly decided to leave to expand his horizons. From 1996-1999 he worked at an organic winery near Stuttgart.

In 1999, Johannes saw an ad in a German wine journal for a winemaking position at Dr. Frank's in the Finger Lakes. Although Johannes had never heard of the Finger Lakes and had only basic English skills, he decided to take a chance and applied. He arrived at Dr. Frank's at the same time as Morten Hallgren of Ravines, where the two spoke more German than English in the cellar.

Viewing his year-long experience at Dr. Frank's as educational in nature, Johannes returned to Germany where he took a prestigious job at a large commercial winery. Disillusioned with the money-focused nature of that business, Johannes welcomed an unexpected phone call in the summer of 2000 from John Martini, owner of Anthony Road, who wanted to hire a winemaker of Johannes' caliber.

Johannes Reinhardt, with a limited command of the English language and few connections here, decided to bring his career back to the Finger Lakes.

Wine Country Lunch: Love Lane Kitchen

By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Publisher

The North Fork restaurant scene has improved greatly over the last several years. Restaurants like North Fork Table, Jedediah's and Jamesport Manor have really upped the proverbial ante...but mainly for dinner.

There is still a dire lack of quality, affordable lunch options for people visiting wine country.

Even before Jadckson came along, Nena and I usually ended up at the Village Cheese Shop, located on Love Lane in the cute little village of Mattituck. We'd pick out a few cheeses, get a baguette and maybe some cured meat and olives, and take it to a winery to nibble on. But, just up the street is a relatively new lunch destination that gives us another good option: Love Lane Kitchen.

When making those cheese-focused trips to Love Lane, we'd seen Love Lane Kitchen several times, but hadn't stopped in. How was the food? Would it be family friendly? Well, LENNDEVOURS reader and fellow father of a 1-year old Dan, clued me in that it's extremely family friendly and tasty, so we stopped in last weekend to check it out.

Vineyard Visuals: Wolffer Estate Through the Seasons (February 22)

Finally!

Resident photographer, Ellen Watson, and I have been complaining about Long Island's lack of snow for some time now...because we wanted some snowy shots of our little spot in Wolffer Estate's vineyard. This morning, she got the first snow shot:

"Blowing, blustery, wet and cold. Big trucks racing by behind me, throwing slush onto my vulnerable Subaru parked on the side of the road......finally some snow and our beloved Wolffer Estate as it looked blanketed in it....9:15 a.m." -- Ellen Watson

Fresh-Pressed: John Levenberg Out as Winemaker at Bedell Cellars

I have emails in to my contacts at Bedell Cellars/Corey Creek Vineyards, but the latest rumor on the North Fork is that John Levenberg has been fired from his winemaking duties there.

His name (thought not his picture) have been removed from the website, so I'm inclined to think that this one is true.

This is a surprising development given his resume and the recent success he's had at Bedell, but it takes more than good wine to keep your job, right?

For the short term, it would seem that Bedell will move forward with assistant winemaker, Kelly Urbanik,  consultant Pascal Marty and founding winemaker Kip Bedell at the helm.

I'll share more information as I can dig it up.

 

I have emails in to my contacts at Bedell Cellars/Corey Creek Vineyards, but the latest rumor on the North Fork is that John Levenberg has been fired from his winemaking duties there.

His name (thought not his picture) have been removed from the website, so I'm inclined to think that this one is true.

This is a surprising development given his resume and the recent success he's had at Bedell, but it takes more than good wine to keep your job, right?

For the short term, it would seem that Bedell will move forward with assistant winemaker, Kelly Urbanik,  consultant Pascal Marty and founding winemaker Kip Bedell at the helm.

I'll share more information as I can dig it up.

 

WTN: Osprey's Dominion Vineyards 2006 Sauvignon Blanc (North Fork)

Today's review is going to be a quick one.

Are you sick of over-the-top grassy sauvignon blancs from New Zealand? If so, let me suggest that you try Osprey's Dominion Vineyards' 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, a steal at $13. I've enjoyed many local sauvignons over the past couple years, but many are at or around $20, making them a little beyond the "summer sipper" price.

Right out of the fridge, this one was a little tight and a bit neutral, but once it warmed just a bit, nice lemon, melon and grapefruit aromas appeared with just the most subtle hints of herbs and a salty-minerally note.

The palate is fresh and clean with subtle flavors that won't knock you over. Instead, the understated zesty citrus flavors with herb and mineral nuances entice the palate, inviting sip after sip.

With terrific acid backbone and a crisp green apple finish, this wine is one of the best value whites on the North Fork.

Grape(s): 100% sauvignon blanc
Producer: Osprey's Dominion Vineyards
AVA: North Fork of Long Island
Price: $13
Rating:  (3 out of 5 | Recommended)

(About LENNDEVOURS Ratings)  

Diploma Dispatches: Northern Italy

By Sasha Smith, NYC Correspondent

OK, I admit it. I’ve been feeling a little smug lately. Maybe it was the fact that I did pretty well on my study group’s blind tasting exercise. Or that I devoted a good part of my President’s Day to researching the slopes and soils of Burgundy. Or perhaps it’s just that many of the wines we’ve looked at to date, from Alsatian Rieslings to Southern Rhône reds, happen to be wines I drink frequently. Whatever the reason, up until yesterday I thought I would have no serious problem passing this test.

But yesterday’s class on Northern Italy left me wondering if I am not totally and completely screwed.

Italy has 1,000 different varietals, and I felt like we talked about at least half of them last night. Verduzzo, Croatina, Ribolla Gialla, Pignolo… at a certain point I just gave up, and my notes trailed off in a series of question marks. The tasting was even worse. I thought that a Gewurztraminer from Alto Adige was intense on the nose and palate, while our instructor Mary Ewing Mulligan, who quite literally wrote the book on Italian wine, said it was delicate. The Barbera that to me tasted mostly of tar and herbs, she praised for its juicy, fresh fruit
characteristics. At certain points, I was wondering if we were tasting the same wines. Not a good sign. 

I am definitely going to have to step it up, particularly as several of my classmates seem to know a lot about some very obscure Italian wines. (Granted, some of them are in the trade, including one who is a
sommelier at an Italian restaurant, but still.)

There were a few positives: first, I found out how delicious Soave can be. We tried a 2005 Soave Classico from Monte Carbonare and it was complex and surprisingly full-bodied. At $26, a much better value, and much more interesting, than I would have thought.

The other exciting discovery is that I’m not a fan of Amarone, or at least the 2000 Bertani we tasted. I love finding out that there’s an expensive wine I don’t like. More money to spend on aged Barolos, or even some Brunellos to get a jump on next week’s class on Central Italy.

Wine Chick Wednesday: Sour Grapes

By Jamie Gabrini, Special Columnist

I’m sick of wine.

I don’t quite know how this happened, but it’s true. At some point during the past year, I lost interest in wine and – quite frankly – don’t give a fig anymore. Or at least at the moment.

I certainly have not been in wine all that long. I think it’s been five years now since I decided that Chateauneuf-du-Pape was heaven in a glass and that I simply could not live another day unless I worked in wine.

In hindsight, I don’t know what I was thinking. Maybe my ego would not permit me to linger in the ‘wine lover’ margins; I’d grown to lament feeling like an ignorant git when I’d go into a local wine shop and not know what 80% of the wines were. French wines – despite my linguistic background – remained a complete mystery beyond knowing what ‘rouge’ and ‘blanc’ meant. Germans were thankfully not a concern as I never was a fan of riesling, even though I didn’t even know what that meant at the time. Chiantis were easy enough to know, as were Riojas, but beyond that, I didn’t even attempt to remember all of the intricacies of European wines. Like many before and since, I determined that the best and most serious wines were BIG REDS and wanted to learn more from there.

Enter my tenure at Chambers Street. I distinctly remember nearly spitting out my five-dollar-Tribeca-bought chai tea in horror when a colleague professed her love of Beaujolais. This moment should’ve been immediately followed by a healthy serving of humble pie (which, if bought in the neighborhood, would have no doubt been handcrafted with artisanal humility and set me back a ten spot) as it dawned on me that she was not alone. At Chambers Street, I was able to enter the hallowed halls of wine knowledge, and now, I’m not so sure if that’s a good thing.

Picture, if you will, a wine store. Most people have an idea of what they like in general – merlot or pinot grigio, for example – and they’re content to buy within their comfort zone, or to work with a wine-savvy worker to discover something new. I go in and I’ll know just about every wine on the racks or – in better shops – I’ll at least have a good handle on the region/grape and can take a stab at how the vintage was and how it’s holding up. I’ve even gotten to the point where I’ve tasted at a vertical at an unknown Canadian winery and plucked out the rainy vintages without hesitation. Sure, it’s a cool parlor trick, but does anyone really need to be able to do this?

I suppose the major reason I’m feeling so jaded is that the mystery has gone out of wine for me. I miss sipping one of those big reds and enjoying the rich sensuality filling my mouth and the tinges of heady intoxication setting in. Instead, I’ll scan a wine list, knowing damn well that I’ll be underwhelmed by just about anything on there, but I’ll order a glass anyway and search like hell to find anything other than toasty vanilla/cherry cola/smoky chocolate notes in there. And those notes won’t be there. And it’ll be too warm anyway. But I’ll drink it anyway since I’m paying far more than it cost and call it a night. It’s worse when I’m out with non-wine people because it’ll be assumed that I can get the best wine in the world for them. Not having created the wine list, I don’t want the responsibility of having to find that unicorn, nor do I want to pretend to really like something that is crap just so that I don’t appear to be the jaded snob that I am.

Give me a bourbon. And let’s hope this bitchy bout of bitter passes before I find myself unemployed. (But make it a Hudson Baby Bourbon… because apparently, this snobbishness is deeply engrained…)

Reminder: LENNDEVOURS/canvas Magazine Wine Event, March 1

I know that several of you have already signed up, but I wanted to remind all of you that on Saturday, March 1 at 5 p.m., I'll be co-hosting a wine event at at canvas' Footprint Art Gallery in Huntington, NY.

Three North Fork wineries will be pouring local wines with food from Whole Foods Market.

The three participating wineries are Raphael, Lieb Family Cellars and Macari Vineyards. I'm still working with Whole Foods on the final pairings, but I'll post them once they are finalized.
 

In addition to great wine and food, there will be live music and a raffle that benefits the Coalition Against Child Abuse and Neglect.

Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

Buy tickets today and I hope to see you there. Please make sure that you stop by and say hello.

Pindar Vineyards Doesn't Want Your Stroller in Their Tasting Room

Jackson, our one year old son, has been visiting winery tasting rooms with us since he was six weeks old.

Since his first visit to Roanoke Vineyards as a wee little lad, we've visited several tasting rooms as a family, including Martha Clara Vineyards, Waters Crest Winery, Wolffer Estate, Lieb Family Cellars and Corey Creek Vineyards.

He's always well behaved. We're always careful to make sure that he's not disturbing other tasting room patrons. And, most importantly, one of us always spits/dumps our wine.

Until yesterday, Long Island wine country was not only tolerant of young families, it was welcoming.

And then we stopped at Pindar Vineyards yesterday.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Long Island wine community, Pindar Vineyards is our version of Sutter Home Vineyards. They are great popularizers of wine who bring new wine drinkers into the fold perhaps better than anyone else. But, with their sweetish blends and high-yield vineyards, they aren't going to make lovers of fine wine take notice. It is also worth noting that they are a family owned and operated, and from what I hear, Dan Damianos, the owner is very family oriented.

So, you can imagine my shock when we were greeted with a sign on their tasting room door that said "No Strollers Please."

My first reaction was shock, then a little anger, but now it's 100% amusement. I mean, there are more than enough wineries for us to visit, almost all with far better wines.

Still, I've had a little time to think about it from their perspective now... and it's still baffling.

Maybe it's a matter of space. On a summer or fall weekend, their tasting room is often packed two and three deep at the bar, so a stroller might be clumsy and difficult to manage, but isn't that my problem, not theirs? We were there on a winter Monday...and it was dead on the North Fork. The stroller wouldn't have gotten in the way.

I guess I could have taken Jackson out of the stroller. He is walking now, after all. But I think it far safer to have him contained than wandering all over the room where he could break something, running into other people, etc. Not to mention the fact that one of us would have to chase him around. Real fun tasting room experience, right?

So, we left without incident, visited two other tasting rooms and had a great time.

I'm still baffled that any winery, but especially a winery of this ilk, would turn us away for having a stroller. 

But, you know what? If Pindar doesn't want my money, that's their choice. I don't really want their wine that badly anyway.

WTN: Shinn Estate Vineyards 'Red' (North Fork)

Long Island, admittedly, doesn't offer many red wine values under $20. So when I tasted Shinn Estate Vineyards' latest non-vintage labeled 'Red' table wine, which is $15, I had high hopes. Would this be a wine I could tell people about when they want an every day-priced red?

Yes...and no. I really liked the Red from a couple years ago, but this one, which is actually made from grapes grown in 2006, isn't quite as good despite its redeeming qualities. The previous bottling was 75% merlot and 25% cabernet sauvignon, so this is quite different, made with 99% merlot and 1% petit verdot.

A medium-light cherry red in the glass, it offers cherry and red raspberry fruit aromas on the nose with subtle black pepper—from that petit verdot no doubt—and just a little earthiness.

No where near as flavorful as it is aromatic, it is light bodied, juicy and a little limp with simple red fruit flavors and just a little pepperiness. A little more body would really help here I think.

Probably best over the next year or so, it features low tannins and just might take slight chill well. Served that way, it might be terrific with burgers or barbecued chicken.

Grape(s): 99% merlot, 1% petit verdo
Producer: Shinn Estate Vineyards
AVA: North Fork of Long Island
Price: $15
Rating:    (2 out of 5 | Average) 
(About LENNDEVOURS Ratings)  

Sunday Baby Blogging: Jackson as Sous Chef

Jackson, taking after his parents, likes to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. We've had latches on the cabinets for months now. But, now that he's walking (and doing it so well) we can't leave the fridge open without our little sous chef poking his head in to see what's good.

You can't quite see the "Jackson Shelf" in this picture, but he has his own area where all his organic yogurt and food resides. He also has his own gallon of milk now as well (organic whole milk).

So far (knock on wood) he hasn't had much interest in yanking the bottled from the door out. I'm sure that will change soon enough though.

A Morning at Sannino Vineyard...Racking, Cleaning and Tasting

Last Saturday, I stood in a large, barely-heated garage-turned-winery just off of Alvah's Lane in Cutchogue. The thermometer had crept just above freezing, so I could I barely feel my hands. That's the bad news.

The good news is that I got my first taste of the wine that my group and I are making at Sannino Bella Vita Vineyard, sipping a barrel sample of 2007 cabernet franc, made from fruit grown on vines just at the end of the driveway behind me.

Sannino Bella Vita Vineyard, the East End's only home winemaker's center, is a welcome and exciting new addition to the local wine world. Most importantly, it's just plain fun.

There are several places where you can taste and learn about wine on the North Fork -- from winery tasting rooms to my friends' education center, Grand Cru Classes, all just up the road in Mattituck -- but no one offers such a comprehensive, hands-on wine education as Lisa and Anthony Sannino.

Has Gary Vaynerchuk Gone "New World" on Us? Or Just Crazy?

I love my readers. You guys are the best.

Within minutes of Gary's latest episode of Wine Library TV going live, I had a half dozen emails in my in box about it. As you can see above, he tasted Grapes of Roth 2002 Merlot on todays show and...well...he didn't come away impressed.

He even went so far as to call it a "pedestrian effort" and he says he's had several bottles of $25 Bordeaux that compare. Of course he also said that it's built to age. Why would you want to age a pedestrian wine, Gary?

We all have our own tastes, but I have to say that his 86 score for this wine surprises me, mostly because Gary and I have similar palates. He digs the funky, the nuanced, and usually eschews fruit bombs and simple, sweet-tasting fruit. You guys know that that is how I roll too. But, I also happen to love this wine. Is it Long Island's best? I can't pick any single wine, but it's a top 10 wine to be sure.

But, has Gary V gone "New World" on us? I think maybe he has. Oh, and Gary, you can buy that wine direct from Roman Roth himself for $50 a bottle. Something tells me that some weird New Jersey direct shipping law is to blame for WL's price.

Let's keep an eye on Gary. If he goes "New World" let's call him on it. Who needs yet another popular 'critic' who is in love with one-dimensional adult koolaid?

We'll know that he's gone New World when he says he prefers Napa cab franc to Loire Valley renditions. Luckily, that hasn't happened yet.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #42: 7 Words -- Carlo Massimiliano Gritti 2003 Il Doge

Wine Blogging Wednesday is back today with one of its old-time participants, Andy of Spittoon.biz playing host. Andy is one of the founding fathers of wine blogging, and he's challenged WBW participants in a whole new way this time 'round.

The wine itself this month is easy enough. We had only to choose something red from Italy.

Where the challenge comes in is the tasting note, where we're only allowed to use 7 words.

In the spirit of the theme, I'm not going to go on and on with Carlo Massimiliano Gritti 2003 Il Doge's background either. You can read that where I got it, Bottlenotes. No, I'm going to get right into my 7 words.

Earth, flowers entice. Thin, dirty cherries. Underwhelming. 

Thanks for hosting, Andy. You're a tough editor.

WTN: Osprey's Dominion 2005 Pinot Noir (North Fork)

I know several pinot noir lovers, who are almost always disappointed by the local renditions they taste. Many are thin, water, terribly simple, and just not elegantly textured. This is a wine that I think will give them what they are looking for.

While sipping (and spitting) my way through my weekly tasting lineup the other night, this wine stopped me in my tracks. It stood out among the other wines because of its texture, its complexity and it's overall deliciousness.

It's the one wine that I swallowed during the tasting and it's the only wine I reached for once I was done "working." Nena and I don't always have the same taste in wine, but this was one wine that we both loved. In fact, I haven't seen her react to a wine like she did this one for some time.

Coming from the 2005 vintage, a hot dry one, I wasn't surprised by the color, which is much darker than many local pinots. The nose, even in this wine's youth, is expressive and layered with aromas of earthy mushrooms, raspberries, cherries and spice.

On the medium-light bodied palate, that mushroomy earth flavor leads with cherry and crushed raspberry behind. Cinnamon, cloves and faint cocoa powder spice bring complexity and there is a minerally note towards the end of a medium-long finish.

I see on their website that the 2006 vintage is out, but I'm hoping I can still get my hands on some more of this 2005.

Grape(s): Pinot Noir
Producer: Osprey's Dominion Vineyards
AVA: North Fork of Long Island
Price: $35
Rating: (4 out of 5 | Delicious, Distinctive)  

(About LENNDEVOURS Ratings)  

Arrowhead Spring Vineyards Joins the Trail

By Niagara Escarpment Correspondent Bryan Calandrelli

The Niagara Escarpment AVA added another winery this weekend as Arrowhead Spring Vineyards opened it doors to hundreds of chocolate-eating, wine-drinking visitors during the "Be Mine with Wine" trail event.

The Niagara Escarpment itself provides a spectacular backdrop for vineyards in this area which is quickly making Cambria, NY a wine destination thanks to the six wineries located within a few miles of one another. Temperatures in the single digits and wind chills flirting with minus twenty below didn't stop the hordes of tasters, myself included, from checking out the view from the newest winery and more importantly, tasting the wines.

After winding down an ice-covered driveway that makes you appreciate an AWD vehicle, I popped in with my fiancee. We were greeted by the husband and wife team of Duncan and Robin Ross, who stood proudly behind a tasting table and in front of several large windows that offer a spectacular view that stretches all the way to Lake Ontario: several miles of rural farmland, vineyards, and farm houses. The ambience at Arrowhead Spring is friendly but serious, with Duncan and Robin's wines on full display - several of which were flanked with medals they've won since they started making wine at home many few years ago.

The first wine we tried was a 2006 Riesling with grapes sourced from the Finger Lakes Region. True to form with shale-stone influenced flavors, this wine could have easily been mistaken for one of the established and acclaimed wineries of the Finger Lakes. With a slight effervescence, this crisp, clean young white wine is quite pleasing.

The two red wines that are available to taste are made with grapes sourced from California and elsewhere New York State. The "Apogee" is made in a Super Tuscan style with sangiovese,  cabernet franc and merlot. The Arrowhead Red is a familiar Bordeaux-inspired, multi-state blend. Both reds are full bodied, well balanced and extremely smooth with 22 months in French oak. I picked up the Apogee blend as it seemed to have a bigger punch, with more character and complexity.

In what I think is a compliment,  you'd never guess that these red are partly made from California grapes, as they don't have any one overpowering quality that dumbs them down to fruit bomb status. Also mentioned as "coming soon" on the menu was a Vidal Ice wine and a chardonnay.

Later that night, when I had a few hours to contemplate another weekend where the success of the wine trail here is getting more and more tangible, I was trying to remember what I thought of the newest winery on the trail's offerings. While I don't have any one big specific tasting note on these wines, I feel that both reds had a seamlessness that points to meticulous sorting of grapes and blending of wines in the cellar. In a region that doesn't really have one big red grape, like merlot on Long Island for example, the careful blending of varietals is going to be the only way to compete with warmer regions that can consistently ripen grapes like cabernet sauvignon to where they resemble what people are used to drinking. From what I tasted this weekend, Arrowhead Spring Vineyards seems like they have the right idea. E

Even though their vines were barely old enough to walk this past summer, they did produce a fair amount of fruit due to the hot and dry growing season of 2007. So hopefully it won't be too long before we get to try some estate grown samples from the new winery on the block, and by block I mean that huge limestone shelf we call the Niagara Escarpment.

And for all you other wine geeks out there, you might want to know that they planted syrah (in addition to merlot, cab sauv, cab franc, chardonnay, and an experimental row of malbec). I know, I know. Syrah is a warm weather grape... but don't mention that to a handful of wineries in Ontario, or the few wineries in the Finger Lakes that are gambling on it.

And please don't bother Duncan and Robin with your questions as to whether they can ripen the star of the Cote-Rotie. It may just make one hell of a spicy sexy fruity red here in the future. That is, if we keep having these growing seasons a la 2007. And you thought pinot noir was a stretch up here.

Diploma Dispatches: Rhône Wines

By New York City Correspondent Sasha Smith

Writing about this week’s class is hard, simply because I have no critical distance. I really, really love Rhône wines. If I were the kind of person who went in for florid wine clichés, I would deploy many of them here. My affection for them borders on the irrational, to the point where I have been known to station myself in front of the (always too small) Northern Rhône section in wine stores and stare longingly at the bottles of Guigal La Landonne, La Turque and La Mouline (inevitably protected behind glass, as they should be at $250 and up — way up — a pop.)

Our instructor this week was Mollie Battenhouse DWS, a former chef who is currently a sommelier at Tribeca Grill. Enthusiastic and high-energy, she zipped through each of the appellations, her talk enhanced by pictures from a recent trip to the region. My favorite was a photo of vines from adjoining vineyards owned by Chapoutier and Jaboulet, two big names in the region. The Jaboulet vines were neat and tidy as could be, while the Chapoutier ones were positively shaggy — a result of their biodynamic approach to viticulture.

It’s easy to forget how small some of these appellations are, particularly those in the Northern Rhône. Hermitage, for example, is roughly 130 hectares, the equivalent of 320 acres, or three times the size of the Central Park reservoir. Our excellent recommended reading for this session, The Wines of the Northern Rhône, by Jonathan Livingstone-Learmonth, lists 32 producers who are working this steep, granite-laden and terraced hillside — and turning out some of the finest, most age-worthy red wines in the world. As a native New Yorker, I have a real appreciation for so much ambition crammed into such a tiny space.

And, of course, I really appreciate what’s in the bottle. My favorite red varietal is Syrah, and no one does it better. We tasted two iconic wines, Guigal’s Côte Rôtie “Brune et Blonde” 2003 and Jaboulet Hermitage “La Chapelle” 1996, both of which I had a very hard time spitting out.  Drinking the first was akin to eating the best berry pie I’ve ever had between sips of coffee and a few quick drags of a cigarette. The second was basically grilled lamb and tapenade in a glass. (Trust me when I tell you that it’s much, much better than it sounds.) 

At its best, Syrah doesn’t just go well with my favorite foods — it actually tastes like them.

Now if only I could use phrases like “roadside diner jumbleberry pie and coffee” and “leg of lamb with olives and rosemary” on the exam…