New York Cork Report

Sheldrake Point 2007 Pinot Gris

Sheldrake Point Vineyard, located on the western short of Cayuga Lake in New York's Finger Lakes region, makes some terrific wines. Over the years I've particularly enjoyed their rieslings and even a couple cabernet francs here and there.

This wine, the Sheldrake Point 2007 Pinot Gris ($12) was underwhelming. The pinot gris (or pinot grigio) grape should do well in the Finger Lakes, and I've had some bottles that were good, if not great. This one just fell a bit flat for me.

In the glass, it's a pale straw color but the nose is surprisingly neutral with only a little citrus and pear aroma, and once the wine had warmed to room temperature some toasted almond. I hesitate to call it flabby, because it's not, but the wine lacks acidity for it's medium body and, again, rather neutral flavors. It almost tastes watered down.

Like much of New York, the Finger Lakes experienced a dry, hot growing season in 2007 and maybe the grapes that went into this wine just lost too much acidity before harvest. It wouldn't shock me to hear that there was some rain just before harvest as well.

Grape(s): 100% pinot gris
Producer: Sheldrake Point Vineyard
AVA: Finger Lakes
Price: $18
Rating:    (1.5 out of 5 | Not Recommended-to-Average) 

(About LENNDEVOURS' Ratings)

Silver Springs Winery 2005 Bold Merlot

John Zuccarino, co-owner of and winemaker for Silver Springs Winery, does things his own way.

His tasting room and vineyard are on Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes region, but he makes his wines down here on Long Island at Premium Wine Group. His winery is in smack dab in the middle of the land of riesling, but he doesn't make any. And, unlike most in the New York wine world, he embraces Web 2.0, using Twitter and a video blog, Wine101.tv, to reach his customers.

He also named his 2005 merlot "Bold Merlot" which sets an expectation in the minds of consumers before they even open the bottle. Of course, that's why I tasted this wine blind like most other samples.

This wine is labeled under the New York State AVA because 60% of the fruit comes from the Finger Lakes and 40% comes from the North Fork of Long Island. According to John Zuccarino, he made this wine by:

"Slow carbonic maceration fermentation with whole clusters over 10 days...then fermented with 1.5% natural berry ferment with natural yeast...then we blast them with our own propriety yeast that ferments at 59-degrees F slow for many weeks...this gives us high alc and great extraction...last we never go for the last press with 2 bars of pressure, as this will ruin the wine. Then 18 months French Med toast...Allier oak."

He's right, this merlot's dark crimson color with a thin brick-red rim hints at that extraction and it's labeled at 13.7% ABV, higher than the 12-12.5% one usually sees from New York merlot. The bright, effusive nose shows red cherry, plum fruit aromas with lots of vanilla faint hints of violets.

It's mouth-filling on the palate with straight-forward, high-toned flavors of red cherries, vanilla and tobacco, with earthy flavors that emerge a bit more with a couple hours of time to breathe. That initial fruit burst is nice, though the flavors are a bit less intense on the mid-palate. The finish is medium-length, extremely dry and shows just a little bit of that alcohol. The tannins are relatively low, meaning that this wine is probably best enjoyed within 5 years.

By blending Long Island and Finger Lakes fruit, I think the terroir of both is lost, but this is a solid effort. Other than the alcoholic heft, I'd not call it "Bold" but it one of the better mostly-Finger Lakes merlots I've tasted, if a bit overpriced.

Producer: Silver Springs Winery
AVA: New York State
Price: $27
Rating: (2.5 out of 5 | Average-to-Recommended) 

(About LENNDEVOURS' Ratings)

Quick Q&A with Lisa Donneson, Proprietor, Bouke Wines

To re-start the Q&A series here on LENNDEVOURS, I asked Lisa Donneson, proprietor of Bouke Wine, our standard set of questions. If you haven't heard of Bouke yet, check them out. Lisa, with veteran winemaker Gilles Martin, is making some interesting, affordable wines meant for everyday consumption.

What (and where) was the first bottle of wine you remember drinking?
When I was on the Experiment in International Living as a teenager, my Italian host family poured red wine into my water glass as a natural course of events. They also introduced me to tripe and pigeon, but I didn’t know enough Italian to probe, nor did they want to dig into the dictionary to tell me what was on the plate. All smiles, you know!

 What event/bottle/etc. made you decide that you wanted to be in the wine industry?
The first time I ever walked onto a vineyard was in Val de Pesa, Chianti Classico, where I went grape picking with my husband on our first date. The excitement, romance and memory of the sunlight and views have stayed with me all these years.

Which of your current wines is your favorite and why?
The red is the most serious of the three, and is evolving into a wine on a higher plane. Wine store proprietors and wine educators think the rosé is a killer wine. Bloggers like the white best because it is truly delightful, subtley aromatic, and food-friendly, which is exactly what I wanted to achieve with Bouké. Consumers like them about equally – I know, because I received ratings from Wine Fellows at a 3-day tasting event. I love them all (my babies!), but I’m particularly fond of the rosé. I love its aromas, volume, complexity and finish. It think it’s a seductive wine.

What has surprised you most about being a member of the LI wine community?
The community is supportive of one another and is becoming more cohesive. At the end of a tasting event, I trade wines with other wineries. It’s interesting to see what they created from the same raw materials.

Other than your own wines, what wine/beer/liquor most often fills your glass?
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc in the summer. Côte Rotie, Rioja and Burgundy for special occasions in the winter. Chianti any time.

Is there a 'classic' wine or wine and food pairing that you just can't make yourself enjoy?
Blue cheese with the remaining red wine at the end of a multi-course, formal meal. As long as you’re going the whole nine yards, I would transition into a sweet wine.

Wine enjoyment is about more than just the wine itself. Describe the combination of wine, location, food, company, etc. that would make (or has made) for the ultimate wine-drinking experience.
The memory of aromas and their associations are very powerful. Great wine experiences start with the pleasure of the wine’s aromas and taste of the accompanying food, but also the light surrounding you and the people you share it with. Imagine the salty smell of the ocean at a beach picnic in the Hamptons with a lobster roll and crisp local white wine. Think of a sunset barbecue on the North Fork, with a glass or rosé in your hand and someone incredibly interesting standing right in front of you. Remember the plump tomatoes at the end of the summer, cooking pappa al pomodoro with friends, sipping red wine and simply enjoying each others’ company.

New York Wine News and Notes (12/8/08)

A few New York wine news items from the last several days:

• Shinn Estate Vineyards 2005 Estate Merlot was mentioned over on Eric Asimov's wine blog, The Pour, last week. Eric has long been a proponent for Long Island merlot and I think this wine, year in and year out, is one of his favorites. (Read my review)
• Shinn Estate also received an 89-point score from the Wine Spectator for their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine that I've not tasted.
• Juan Eduardo Micieli-Martinez, winemaker at Martha Clara Vineyards, also let me know that Premium Wine Group, the custom-crush facility where he makes MCV's wines has just received it's first screw-capping equipment and that many of MCV's wines will be bottled under screwcaps going forward. 
• In the next issue of Wine & Spirits Magazine, ten Finger Lakes rieslings will be rated at 90 points or higher, including: Dr. Konstantin Franks 2007 Dry Riesling (93), Hermann J. Wiemer 2007 Dry Riesling (92), Sheldrake Point 2007 Riesling (92), Hermann J. Wiemer Dry HJW Vineyard Riesling (91), Hermann J. Wiemer Dry Magdalena Vineyard Riesling (91), Hosmer 2007 Dry Riesling (91), Rooster Hill 2007 Dry Riesling (91), Sheldrake Point 2007 Dry Riesling (91), Dr. Konstantin Frank 2007 Semi-Dry Riesling (90) and Hosmer 2007 Riesling (90). I think it's time for the Wine Specatator would give up on its silly 89-point ceiling for Finger Lakes rieslings. Every other major publication has.
• Roman Roth, winemaker at Wolffer Estate and also Roanoke Vineyards, will be releasing his 2003 Grapes of Roth Merlot under his own label this week. Roman made the wine with grapes sourced from Sam McCullough's vineyard (Sam is the vineyard manager at Lenz Winery). I'll be tasting it soon.
• Jamesport Vineyards has also announced a barrel tasting of their 2006 and 2007 pinot noirs, and 2007 reserve sauvignon blanc on December 13. Tickets are $10. Visit their site for more details.

Pompous Ass Winery Revisited

By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent

At a recent wine event in the Finger Lakes, a few individuals approached me to express disapproval over my previous post about the upcoming opening of Pompous Ass Winery on Seneca Lake.

Their chief complaint? Some felt that I came down too hard on Pompouss Ass before it had a chance to prove itself. I was told that the owners seemed like nice people.

I'm sure they are nice people, but that's not really the point.

Now that the winery has a liquor license and is open for business, I re-visited the website to see some new content. I found this bit of text: "And for those of you who enjoy fruit-forward sweeter wines, our Red, White, and Blush will be coming soon. R.S. 7%"

Yes, 7%! At 2%, the winery's more "serious" wines are certainly not bone dry either.

I won't rehash my entire critical argument about why I think the Pompous Ass concept misses the mark as a truly funny or appropriate Finger Lakes name, but this follow-up simply stresses the obvious now that the winery is finally showing what it will produce.

A good joke thrives on contrast. A cartoon donkey with a naughty name might work if the wines themselves were quite serious, or were surrounded by other serious wineries (like in Napa, for instance). Instead, what we have here is a cartoon promoting sweet wines, which actually makes sense. That's certainly nothing new.

But, unlike other wineries that have specific sweet wines with fun names, here we have a winery that is only the fun name. It's like if the famous Red Cat became a winery instead of just a label from Hazlitt, a winery that also makes some delicious, more serious wines.

Pompous Ass will probably make a boat load of money on the wine trail and will reward the owners handsomely. I wish them well, but in light of this news I still stand by my original opinion about the name.

Bedell Cellars Library Tasting on December 19

On Friday, December 19 at 6:30 p.m., Bedell Cellars and founding winemaker Kip Bedell will library tasting featuring reds from the mid-1990s. The tasting will include nine red wines from the 1993, 1994 and 1995 vintages, including cabernet sauvignon, reserve merlot and Cupola (red blends) bottlings.

The evening will open with sparkling wine, feature commentary by Kip Bedell, and continue for approximately 90 minutes. 

Tickets are by reservation only, and will be limited to 30 seats. Wine club members (and their spouses) are admitted free of charge. The public is welcome for $25 each. The wines tasted will be available for sale that evening as well. I should have the final price list soon.

I've already RSVPed and I'm really looking forward to the tasting. I tasted 17 years of Kip's merlot back in 2004 and one from 1993 was among my favorite wines.

To RSVP, call Bedell Cellars at (631) 734-7537.

Finger Lakes Winemakers Announce the Release of TIERCE 2006 Riesling

Anthony Road Wine Company, Fox Run Vineyards and Red Newt Wine Cellars have announced the release of the third vintage of their co-produced riesling TIERCE, a 2006 Dry Riesling. I thought it had been released over the summer, but apparently not.

Peter Bell, winemaker at Fox Run also let me know this morning that there will not be a 2007 edition because 2007 rieslings from the region "just aren't all that racy." I don't think that is true across the board, maybe the group learned a lesson with their 2005 TIERCE, which I thought lacked acidity the last time I tasted it.

Bell also let me know that the winemaking trio behind TIERCE will be making a 2007 TIERCE red, a blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and lemberger.

The Lenz Winery: Great Values and Splurges Too

My dad, sister, mom and Nena inside the Lenz Winery tasting room.

As I mentioned on Sunday, Nena, Jackson and I took my parents and sister to visit a couple wineries on Saturday, including The Lenz Winery. Lenz is one of the North Fork’s most respected producers and employs one of the regions most gifted and charismatic winemakers – Eric Fry.

If you ever find yourself in the Lenz tasting room and see a guy in overalls with a long ponytail and beard, that’s Eric. Say hello and he just might stop what he's doing to taste with you. One day a few years ago, he spent a couple hours with me and Nena, taking us into the sparkling wine cellar to taste several vintages of bubbly pre-dosage.

I actually learned last week that that the Lenz tasting room opens at 10 a.m. (rather than the usual 11 a.m. in these parts), which is great for those of us with young children who still need a nap after lunch but still want to visit a couple of tasting rooms on a weekend morning.

We arrived around 10:20 a.m. and had the tasting room to ourselves for much of our visit, with only a few wine club members stopping in to pick up shipments and taste new wines. It had been a while since we visited the tasting room, so we decided to taste the entire portfolio. Each wine had its merits, although I didn't love the blatantly West Coast-styled 2006 Gold Label Chardonnay ($20). It wasn't flabby like a lot of California wines, but the butterscotch and vanilla flavors overwhelm the fruit.

As most of you know, I don't write full reviews (or score) wines based on at-winery tastings, but here are some notes I wrote as we tasted:

Lenz Winery 2005 Gewurztraminer ($20): Nice varietal aromas and flavors. Rose petal, pineapple and spice. Great acid balance. Very Alsatian.

Lenz Winery 2005 White Lable Chardonnay ($12): All steel. Pineapple, apple and lemon. Great acid. Mouth-filling and broad for a steel ferm. Steal at $12.

Lenz Winery 2005 Old Vines Chardonnay ($25): Great balance of fruit vs. oak. Pear and apples. Nice toast and vanilla notes. Good value.

Lenz Winery 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon ($15): Lighter, every day style. Soft. Cherry and cranberry. Nice fruit from cooler year. Understated toasty oak. Hints of briar and strawberry on finish.

Lenz Winery 2002 Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon ($40). Cherry, raspberry. Lush and broad. Oak in background here. Fine, well-integrated tannins. Great sweet fruit with nice structure. LI's best?

Lenz Winery 2003 Merlot ($15): Plum and cherry. Thin and a little underripe. Just okay.

Lenz Winery 2001 Estate Merlot ($23): Bordeaux with a bit more fruit and softer tannins. Great balance of fruit, oak and earth-spice. Really nice value.

Lenz Winery 2001 Old Vines Merlot ($55): Even better than the last time I had it. Plenty of time left. Plenty of plum/cherry left. Earthy funk in a good way. Tannins still grippy, but integrated. Plenty of life left. Outstanding.

Miceli Vineyards 2001 Merlot

Even if you're a big Long Island wine fan, you may not know Miceli Vineyards. And you probably won't either.

I hadn't heard of them either until I ran into Chris Miceli at a wine shop where he was pouring some wines a couple years ago. For years, he grew merlot, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc in his vineyard in Mattituck and sold the fruit to local wineries, including Pellegrini Vineyards.

In 2001, presumably because it was such a good year, he decided to make some wine of his own.

He has since sold the vineyard, but there are a few bottles of his wines floating around at shops. I received this bottle a gift from Anthony Sannino of Sannino Vineyard.

Medium crimson red in the glass with a thin, slightly lighter, aged rim, the nose shows a nice amount of fruit, mostly blackberry and black raspberry, with earthy background aromas and just a little leather.

On the lighter side of medium bodied, there is some sweet black raspberry and cherry fruit on the palate, especially on the finish, with secondary earthy and black pepper flavors. It's a bit hollow however, with nice flavors on the fore palate and finish, but a surprisingly thin mid-palate.

Still, there's a little bit of tannin left here, so it might last another year or two before truly going down hill.

Producer: Miceli Vineyards
AVA: North Fork of Long Island
Price: N/A
Rating: (2.5 out of 5 | Average-to-Recommended) 

(About LENNDEVOURS' Ratings)

A Taste of the Old(er) Finger Lakes

Morgen McLaughlin and Leign Triner. Photo Courtsey of Morgen McClaughlin

Editor's Note: The following is a guest post by Shannon Brock, wine coordinator at the New York Wine & Culinary Center.

Those in the know are well aware that Finger Lakes wines, particularly rieslings, are capable of ageing ten years or more. A couple weeks ago, a group of Finger Lakes wine community members gathered at Red Newt Cellars prove it.

Their mission: to select about 40 library wines to send to James Molesworth of Wine Spectator.

The hope is that if Molesworth finds the wines to be holding up well over time, or even improving, he may begin using phrases other than “drink now” when rating Finger Lakes wines. The tasting also may lead to Finger Lakes being listed on the magazine's vintage chart.

Organized by Morgen McLaughlin of Finger Lakes Wine Country, and officiated by Richard Leahy, organizer of the International Eastern Wine Competition, the tasting included about 75 wines dating back to 1988. Wines were organized by varietal and style, with the oldest vintages tasted first within each flight. Wines were brown-bagged and numbered. Approximately 20 tasters, myself included, were asked to eliminate wines that had noticeable faults or were distinctly different from the rest of the group.

Tasters included Dave Whiting, owner and winemaker at Red Newt, Steve DiFrancesco, winemaker at Glenora Vineyards, Mark Veraguth, winemaker at Dr. Konstantin Frank’s Vinifera Wine Cellars, Chris Stamp, winemaker at Lakewood Vineyards, Ted Marks, owner of Atwater Vineyards, Morten Hallgren, owner and winemaker at Ravines Wine Cellars, John and Stacy McGregor, owners of McGregor Vineyards, Paul Brock, winemaker at Lamoreaux Landing, Bob Madill, owner of Sheldrake Point Vineyards, Marti Macinski, owner and winemaker at Standing Stone Vineyards, and Leigh Triner, owner of Hazlitt.

We were split into two groups: one group tasted riesling, chardonnary, gewurztraminer, and sparkling wines. The other group tasted pinot noir, merlot, cabernet franc, Bordeaux-style blends and dessert wines.

At the end of the official tasting, we were allowed to taste the other wines, but our scores for those did not count. Bottles were set up on counters around the perimeter of the room and we tasted standing up. Some conversation ensued during the tasting, mostly about possible faults or indicators of excellence.

By the end, tasters were energized and proud of what they found in their glasses.

Welcome VisitFingerLakes.com to LENNDEVOURS

Please join me in welcoming VisitFingerLakes.com as LENNDEVOURS' newest sponsor.

It's a great resource for anyone looking to visit the Finger Lakes for the first time, be it to tour wineries or to enjoy the area's natural beauty (which I fell in love with last spring).

The site is filled with information on where you can stay and eat in the Finger Lakes and also lists attractions and "things to do."

I'm happy to have them sign on as a new site sponsor for 2009. Check them out.

Long Island Wine in the New York Post

Photo courtesy of Wolffer Estate

In case you missed it, there was a nice piece in this weekend's Page 6 section of the New York Post about Long Island wine country. Written by Cynthia Sin-Yi Cheng, someone I've emailed with a bit over the years, it provides a solid "Long Island Wine 101" overview of the region, even if the three wine picks are a bit under-inspiring. The fact that Sparkling Pointe is focused on a bit in the story isn't surprising -- Cynthia's loves sparkling wine.

I'm not sure how you can write this story and not pick a merlot, cab franc or even sauvignon blanc as a top bottle, but hey, we all have different palates, right? That's not to say that the wines listed are bad, but there certainly better wines to mention. I do love that Tocai though.

This story, in general, just shows how strong PR activities can have an impact in the media.

Regarding the story's headline though, shouldn't it be "on Long Island"? A place can be "in" a valley but not "in" and island... unless the wineries are underground, which they aren't.

Sips and Slurps (December 1)

Here are a couple news items from the past week or so:

• There's an interesting guest editorial in the Troy Record about the New York State Liquor Authority and how long delays in licensing approvals are hurting new businesses. I know several people who are playing this waiting game right now, and it's beyond frustrating. Some of them have lost a lot of money as they wait and wait. Apparently, it's much easier to get through the Federal licensing process.
• Arrowhead Spring Vineyards, up in the Niagara Escarpment, just received an 86-point score from the Wine Spectator (actually James Molesworth) for it's 2006 Chardonnay. Personally, I thought it was over-oaked, but owner/winemaker Duncan Ross is someone worth watching in that region.