Category Archives: Tasting

Pellegrini Vineyard

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with , ,

June 16, 2012

http://www.pellegrinivineyards.com/site/

We belong to Pellegrini’s wine club (a story I will tell some time), so we are here to pick up our latest shipment.  It is a beautiful warm, sunny day.  Judy, the diminutive doyenne of the tasting room, remembers us and that we prefer their reds. Pellegrini seems to strike a good balance between being a venue for limo crowds and a place for serious tasters, with a nice-sized tasting room with a few tables and chairs, plus a bar, and lots of outdoor space both under the pergola and out on the lawn.  One time when we stopped here with friends and their little boys, the boys played happily on the lawn while we brought our flights to a table where we could watch them.  As wine club members, our tastings are free, but we opt for just 4 tastes to check out the new vintages, with a bit of guidance from Judy, who is always very well-informed and passionate about the wines.  (They have different levels of tastings, including three one-ounce pours for $4.)

1)      2009 Select Chardonnay $14.99

This is an 85% steel, 15% oak aged blend, a pleasant combination which avoids the hazards of over-oaking while still picking up that slight vanilla/woodsy aroma from the oak.  The aroma has notes of mineral and vegetables as well as oak.  This is not a sipping wine, with a tart sour-apple taste, but it would be good with, for example, seafood in a cream sauce.

2)      2010 Gewürztraminer    $19.99

This is not our favorite gewurtz—too sweet, always a hazard with this grape.  The aroma reminds me of the water in a flower vase when you have left the flowers in too long.

3)      2008 Steakhouse Red  $16.99

This is a blend of 71% cabernet sauvignon, 26% merlot, and 3% cabernet franc.  Though this is called Steakhouse, we feel it is too light to stand up to steak, though it would be fine with pork or lamb chops, as it has enough acidity to complement these meats.  The aroma combines blackberry and wood, as does the taste.

4)      2007 Vintner’s Pride Encore      $39.99

Another blend—47% merlot, 32% cab franc, 13% cab sauv, 8% petit verdot—or in other words, a Bordeaux.  The aroma is not assertive, but has some berry in it.  The flavor is delicious, with lots of ripe berry, but not too sweet.  If we wanted to add a somewhat pricey red to our cellar, we would have bought it, but we don’t need any right now.  I bet it will age very nicely.

Reasons to visit:  really good all-around winery that strikes a balance between big and small; good wines, especially the reds (rare for Long Island); good servers; pretty setting.

Shinn Vineyard

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with , , ,

June 30, 2012

http://shinnestatevineyards.com/

I really want to like Shinn’s wines as much as I like the atmosphere of the tasting room and their philosophy. They believe in “sustainable farming practices,” and try to do as much by hand as possible.  They are also off the main roads, on an appealing country lane, and their tasting room is rustic—and often inhabited by a friendly dog. I’ve never encountered a limo group there, though on this warm sunny day it is crowded, with a large party out in the wine cellar area.  However, there is room at the bar for us to stand and do a tasting.  They have about 11 wines available, charged per taste, with 3 costing $8.  We opt to share two flights of 3, 3 whites and then 3 reds.

1)       2011 Sauvignon Blanc, $22

The aroma is like slightly overripe fruit.  The taste is a bit pear-y, with a fair amount of fruit and a tart aftertaste, but too sweet for me.  Very cold, it could be nice for sipping.

2)      2010 Chardonnay $19

Again, that slightly overripe fruit aroma, and this one has tastes of over-ripe pineapple, and maybe mango.  It is steel-fermented, which tends to bring out the fruit, but again, this is a bit too sweet for my taste, though others may like it.

3)      2011 Coalescence  $16

As implied by the name, this is a blend, of sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, and gewürztraminer.  The knowledgeable and friendly server tells us that this is a field pressed wine—in other words, the grapes are pressed together, rather than blending the wines after pressing.  This has a pleasantly flowery aroma—maybe a bit of honeysuckle.  Finally, a white that’s not too sweet!  This has a pleasant citrusy taste, reminiscent of blood oranges (which I’ve had a soft spot for ever since I was in Rome with a terrible cold and ate an entire bag of them).  There’s a slight tingle at the end.  We buy 2 bottles to take home.

4)      09 Estate Merlot $26

Now we start the reds.  The aroma is of berry and dirt (they probably say mineral), the typical smell of the North Fork terroir.  We taste cherry and tobacco (a little), and some mineral.  Good and nicely dry, so the fruit is there but not obtrusive.

5)      Wild Boar Doe $31

Love the name!  This is—duh—a typical Bordeaux blend of merlot, petit verdot, malbec, cabernet franc, and cabernet sauvignon.  If it weren’t $31, we would have bought it.  The aroma is lovely, with lots of cherry/berry, and the flavor also has plenty of fruit, with a nice balance of sweet and dry—not too much of either.

6)      2008 Nine Barrels Reserve Merlot $42

They only made nine barrels of this, hence the name.  This is another we would buy if not for the price.  The aroma is ripe black cherry—just delicious.  The flavor is totally mouth-filling, with again a nice balance and depth of fruit (cherry/blackberry) flavor.

Reasons to visit:  off the beaten track on a pretty country road (take me home…); the vineyard uses good organic practices; ’11 Coalescence for a white and ’08 Nine Barrels Reserve Merlot for a red; they have a bed and breakfast which gets good reviews.