Busses actually means kisses, but my guess is they’re referring to the vehicles.
It seems One Woman has been discovered. Last year we basically had the place to ourselves, but this year it was fairly full, including hipsters in straw fedoras stepping up to the bar in the tiny tasting barn. Yet the youthful servers managed everyone with aplomb, including our server, a young man who kept careful track of where we were and managed to share observations on each wine while also taking care of several other groups. (For comments on the one woman whose winery this is, see my entry from last August.)
One Woman has expanded its list of offerings, but they still have the only Grüner Veltliner around, and that alone is worth the trip. Large signs outside warn that buses (spelled busses, which actually means kisses!) and limos are verboten, as well as groups of more than six. They really don’t have the facilities for large groups, but if you are a small group this is a good place to taste some lovely wines. The menu offers two tastes for $6, three for $8, or four for $10, out of a list of eight wines. You can also sample the Reserve wines, a menu of four for $14 (or one for $4). What does Reserve mean? Here it means the grapes have spent about another two weeks on the vines for a fuller flavor and that the grapes have also been hand-picked one by one with a tweezer-like implement by Claudia Purita (the One Woman) herself. We decided to share four from the regular menu plus the four Reserves.
Part of the outside area.
- 2013 Grüner Veltliner $20
“I’ll start you off with the 2013,” says our server, “since it is the lightest of your choices.” And he is right. We scent a bit of honeysuckle, taste some roast pear. Tart and light. Though this is purely steel fermented, we could swear we taste oak. Our server chuckles and says that is common.
- 2012 Grüner Veltliner $20
What a difference a year makes! I love this one! Our server calls it “a white for red wine lovers,” and I can see why. It is deep and full of flavor, with some toasted caramel notes. Again, hard to believe this is all steel fermented. This is also a great pairing to show people why the year and how the wines were handled matters.
- 2012 Gewürztraminer $23
Very floral aromas, including some lavender, introduce a rather tart gewurzt. 0% residual sugar, notes our server, who also suggests this would pair well with Thai food. My husband compares it to sour apple candy, and I get it.
- 2013 Gewürztraminer $23
“Claudia says this is the most typical Gewürztraminer she’s ever made,” says our server. “It has 3% residual sugar.” It is certainly sweeter than the 2012, with an aroma of thyme honey and lavender and some gooseberry tastes. A bit too sweet for us, though not unpleasantly so.
- 2011 Estate Reserve Chardonnay $32
Very oaky, which is not surprising given that it is completely oak-fermented. We smell vanilla and those scented pine cones you can sometimes buy in the fall. We taste a touch of citrus, but then the oak takes over. If you like a California-style oaky chardonnay, this is for you.
The pour is about average in size.
- 2010 Estate Reserve Merlot $48
Our first red of the tasting, the merlot is nice but not all that interesting. A bit of forest scent, blackberry tastes, fairly soft, and the end is a bit too oaky and tart.
Dessert wine
- 2008 Estate Reserve Merlot $48
The smell reminds me of a cabin on a lake—that slightly damp smell of exposed wood. This has more to it than the ’10, with nice legs. The server describes the scent as smoked paprika, but I don’t get that.
- Estate Reserve Dessert Wine $39
Okay, so it’s not as good as Chateau D’Yquem, but it’s pretty nice. I would drink this with paté de foie gras any day! Or even a chocolate mousse. It is quite delicious, made with late harvest Gewürztraminer grapes.
We decide to buy two bottles of the 2012 Grüner Veltliner. Because at the crucial moment of the end of our tasting our server was distracted, and took a little while to get back to us, he doesn’t charge us for the tastings, a nice courtesy.
Reasons to Visit: Long Island’s first, and possibly still only, Grüner Veltliner; tasting some nice wines in a peacefully bucolic setting; the Gewürztraminers; the dessert wine; oh, and you can buy D’Latte gelato from a little freezer case.
We’ve been told in the past that Claudia Purita even arranges the flowers.
NoFo Wineaux 