Random Restaurant Notes

Posted by nofowineaux in Restaurant visit, Uncategorized and tagged with A Lure, aMano, Crazy Fork, Founders, Hellenic Snack Bar, Legends, Love Lane Kitchen, Michelangelo's, Noah's, North Fork, North Fork Table and Inn, O'Mally's, Old Mill Inn, restaurants, Tweeds Buffalo Bar October 2, 2013

“You will never know hunger,” believe it or not, was the message I got in a fortune cookie just as I embarked on a series of restaurant reviews for a newspaper in Pittsburgh. The reviews were based on the premise that it was useful to point out at least one good dish in each place, regardless of the rest of the menu. That fortune became the logo of the column, and would not be a bad slogan for this post as well.

No winery this week, so instead I thought it would be fun to write about some of the restaurants on the North Fork. This is, like my post on the farm stands, totally idiosyncratic, and not really reviews, but just some notes on places we like. A few weeks ago a friend asked for restaurant recommendations on the North Fork, and after going on for about half an hour on the phone I thought it would have been so much more convenient if I could have sent her to my blog—as I did for wineries! I’ve organized them by town. Oh, and though I usually use my own iPhone snaps for the photos, here I’ve borrowed pictures from the websites.

Riverhead:

Tweeds Restaurant and Buffalo Bar

http://www.tweedsrestaurantriverhead.com/

Since it is right in the middle of Riverhead, on East Main Street, the easiest way to access this restaurant is to go to the municipal parking lot (free) off Peconic Avenue. When you pull into the lot, head to the left corner, where you will see the back entrance to Tweeds. In an old hotel that has been there since 1896, Tweeds’ narrow room has lots of charm, and is particularly cozy on cold winter nights when there is a fire in the fireplace. We love all the bison dishes, made from bison raised nearby on a farm owned by the restaurant’s owner, and I’m a big fan of the bison burger. The first time I had it, I had one portion for dinner…and lunch…and dinner. Thank goodness for “doggy bags.” The bison hangar steak is also delicious, but be sure to get it rare or medium rare. With very little fat, bison well-done is not a good idea. As you dine, you can contemplate a huge shaggy bison head, allegedly the last one shot by Teddy Roosevelt. There are plenty of other menu items (in case looking at an animal’s head while you eat its relative creeps you out), including local seafood and fish, and the salads are very good. A bit pricey, but worth it.

Greenport:

Hellenic Snack Bar

http://www.thehellenic.com/

On the North Fork, “snack bar” actually translates as diner, or informal restaurant. I love that the Modern Snack Bar has décor that immerses you in the 1950s. The Hellenic, out past Greenport, is worth the trip. In the summer they have lots of outdoor seating, though the dining room is quite plain. The food is great, and served in such generous portions that we invariably take home enough for one or two more meals. Anything Greek is worth getting, from the various spreads—hummus, taramasalata, etc.—to the grilled fish to the Greek salad. If you want to get the spreads, I suggest you go with a party of at least four, because your meal will seem somewhat superfluous by the time you devour them. Everything comes with piles of toasted pita. Nofowineaux is happy to report that the wine list features quite a few local wines. Reasonably priced.

Noah’s

http://www.chefnoahschwartz.com/

It’s fun to sit at one of the sidewalk tables and watch the passing parade on Greenport’s Front Street. The small plates here could easily add up to a meal. We don’t care as much for the inside, which feels somewhat cold and can be noisy.

Mattituck:

aMano Osteria and Wine Bar

http://www.amanorestaurant.com/

Upscale Italian food is their specialty. I particularly love the carbonara with local smoked duck and the roasted beet and Catapano Farms goat cheese salad. My husband is a fan of the lasagna. They have a lovely menu that is worth reading just for the salivary factor, and feature local wines as well as many local ingredients. They also make very nice thin-crust pizzas. They can get quite crowded, especially on weekends in the summer, and during the summer they don’t take reservations for small parties, so if you go then you may have to wait in the crowded bar area.

Crazy Fork

http://crazyforkny.com/

This is the newest place we’ve tried. The restaurant itself, across the street from the Mattituck shopping center, is very plain, so you might prefer to get take-out. They specialize in seafood, much of it fried, but very well done. We have fallen for the Rhode Island-style calamari, fried, mixed with hot pepperoncini peppers, and served with a marinara dipping sauce.

Love Lane Kitchen

http://lovelanekitchen.com/

Love Lane Kitchen

This is a popular spot, and you’ll see crowds there for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (dinner on weekends). It is particularly nice in the summer to sit outside and have lunch while you watch people pass by on Love Lane. They feature all sorts of local produce and products, and everything I’ve had there has been good. Inside, the restaurant can get a bit noisy, so I prefer to go there in the winter, when it is less crowded.

Michelangelo’s Pizza (also spelled Michael Angelo)

No web page of their own!

A local chain, with several places on the North Fork, this is one of those typical storefronts with a brightly-lit pizza eatery and take-out place in front, and a more formal restaurant in the back. The one in Mattituck, in the Waldbaum’s shopping center, is particularly nice, especially since they expanded the back part. We generally get the pasta dishes, and don’t bother with an appetizer since the house salad that comes with the entrees provides that for us. This is a place where one dinner often produces enough leftovers for a second dinner, so the reasonable prices become even more reasonable. There’s nothing refined or fancy about the food, but it’s always good.

Old Mill Inn

http://www.theoldmillinn.net/

We’ve been here for dinner, which is fine, though the service tends to be slow, but what we generally come here for is oysters. From 3-5 p.m., the bar serves fresh local oysters for $1 each. We each get a dozen and a glass or two of wine. Lovely way to while away an afternoon. They’re closed in the winter, so if you’re going you need to go soon—or wait for the spring. If you come for dinner, try to sit near the windows so you can look out on the water of Mattituck Inlet. I don’t recommend the outside tables once the mosquitoes have hatched…

Southold:

A Lure Restaurant and Oyster-ia

http://www.alurenorthfork.com/

As you might guess from the name, this is owned by the same people as aMano, but concentrates on seafood. What is nice here is that you can sit at dinner and look out at the water, as it is located in Port of Egypt Marina. Recently they had a special of a whole grilled sea bass that was delicious. You can also get that roasted beet salad here!

Founder’s Tavern

http://www.founderstavern.com/

With one side a popular Irish-style pub, and the other side a nice family restaurant, Founder’s is great for many reasons. I’ve had specials there that were really good (I’m thinking of the tuna steak with wasabi mashed potatoes, for example.), but we often just get the same dishes each time: a shared order of Buffalo wings, the Tavern Burger topped with Monterey Jack cheese and jalapenos, the home-made potato chips (themselves worth a detour, as the Michelin Guides say), and beer on tap. Reasonably priced, too.

North Fork Table and Inn

http://www.nofoti.com/

The best—and priced accordingly. With Manhattan-level prices and food quality, the best bet here is to get the tasting menu, especially since it includes dessert, which is spectacular. We’ve gone here a few times for special occasions and thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the service.

O’Mally’s

http://www.omallysisopen.com/

O’Mally’s main claim to fame is that when other places close, they are still open (note their URL), with a kitchen open until midnight, unusual on the early-to-bed North Fork. They have a huge burger menu, and though theirs are not as good as Founder’s, they’re not bad. Plenty of other options, plus a nice list of local wines by the glass or beers on tap, make this a good casual place.

New Suffolk:

Legends

http://www.legends-restaurant.com/

Legends has a split personality. To the right of the entry foyer is an informal sports bar, with a menu of burgers, salads, and other snack-type foods, while to the left is a lovely little restaurant with fusion dishes they call New American, such as shrimp and vegetable spring rolls with ginger pineapple dipping sauce. When I recently made a reservation for eight, they asked somewhat anxiously if the party included children, so I would guess they prefer that children dine on the right side. All eight of us, by the way, were happy with our entrees (except for one that came out cold—twice—and was eventually comped). If you check out the on-line menu you’ll see that they have interesting dishes, plus there are specials. We’ve been happy eating on either side! The sports bar side does have one advantage—the big windows give you a nice view of the somewhat scruffy waterfront of New Suffolk.

Corey Creek September 15, 2013

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting, Uncategorized and tagged with bedell, cabernet franc, chardonnay, Corey Creek, First Crush Red, gewurztraminer, Malbec, merlot, NoFo, North Fork, sauvignon blanc, Sparkling Rose, syrah, Taste Rose, Taste White, viognier September 18, 2013

http://www.bedellcellars.com/cc_tastingroom.php

The tasting room sits on a rise overlooking the vineyard.

Bedell has, in effect, two tasting rooms, since all Corey Creek serves are Bedell wines, except for their own Gewürztraminer. Corey Creek’s room is somewhat more rustic looking than Bedell’s, and there are nice picnic tables on the pretty grounds. However, since we last tasted Bedell a year ago in August, it was time for a new tasting anyway. (That’s what makes this such a challenging project—just when you think you’ve tasted every winery, you realize that another year has begun and they have new vintages. As they say, it’s a tough job, but…)

We had the room to ourselves on a bright and sunny but slightly chilly September afternoon, except for some children whose parents were picnicking outside, and who came running in to use the rest room. The two servers were friendly and chatty and quite well-informed, and we spent a pleasant time with them.

Corey Creek offers two tastings, plus wines by the glass or bottle. The Estate tasting includes 5 wines for $12, and the Premium has 5 wines for $15. Somewhat disappointingly for those looking to try a variety of wines, several of the wines are the same on each list. However, our server had a good idea, and, since she had a bottle open anyway, gave us a taste of a different wine instead of one of the overlapping ones. I’ve marked the wines which were only on the Premium tasting with an * so you can decide whether you want to invest the extra $3 to try them or not. I would stick to the Estate tasting next time.

Corey Creek 2012 Gewürztraminer $40

Both tastings include this wine, Corey Creek’s only offering of its own wine, as I noted above. This has a bit of that cat pee smell Gewürztraminers sometimes have. The taste is quite bracing, with lots of lime and tangelo, and is rather acid at the end. Not a sweet Gewürztraminer! It is good, though I like One Woman’s version better.

Note the snazzy bottle on the right.

2. 2012 Bedell Chardonnay $30

This is, our server informs us, a blend of Chardonnay grapes from six separate plots, and is fermented half in oak and half in steel, so it avoids being either overly oaky or overly simple. This has some nice tropical fruit flavors and the usual vanilla scent of oaked chards, but is not very complex.

3. *2011 Taste White $35

I really like the label of this one, as it has an interesting image which reminds me of Marilyn Monroe. This is a blend of 40% Sauvignon Blanc, 32% Viognier, 22% Chardonnay, 5% Gewürztraminer and 1% Riesling, and I enjoy sipping it. It is nice and light, and would make a great summer aperitif, with some lemon-lime flavors that would complement seafood very nicely.

4. 2011 Taste Rosé $20

Again, both tastings get this wine, a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah. With that information, you would expect this to be a rather complex rosé, but in fact it is just okay, and once again does not measure up to the Croteaux rosés, our gold standard for the North Fork. It is, however, a perfectly fine rosé, with the typical strawberry aroma and tastes of papaya and peach.

5. Bedell Sparkling Rosé $45

You won’t find this on the menu, but noting our seriousness of demeanor and my careful note-taking, our server offers us this addition to our tasting. As she says, this would make a great aperitif, and, as my husband notes, you could easily quaff a lot of this “and then fall over.” It would be lovely with a strawberry floated in it, as it is relatively dry. This is a “tank fermented” sparkler, but they also make a Méthode Champenoise sparkling wine, using the facilities at Sparkling Point.

6. First Crush Red $20

Now we switch to reds. I’m thinking of picnics and roast chicken and a slightly chilled Beaujolais Nouveau as we discuss this wine. It is fairly mellow, soft, and not very assertive, and would be good with a simple dinner. Quite buyable.

7. 2012 Cabernet Franc $40

Both tastings include this, my favorite so far, with lots of layers of taste, including blackberry. Again, it is dry, but not too dry, and very pleasant to drink.

8. 2010 Merlot

Rather than give both of us the Cab Franc, the server cleverly gives my husband this Merlot instead so we can try a different wine. This is a fairly typical NoFo Merlot, with nice black cherry tastes and a short finish.

9. *2011 Malbec $50

Lighter than I expect for a Malbec, this has lovely tastes of boysenberry, with some hints of cocoa. Very good, though a bit pricey for how I would rate it.

A view inside the tasting room.

Reasons to visit: Quiet rustic tasting room (buses, etc., by appointment); Bedell wines plus their own, so a good place to come if Bedell is crowded; the First Crush Red and the Taste White.

We could have had our tasting on this pretty porch.

Pellegrini Vineyards September 7, 2013

Posted by nofowineaux in Uncategorized and tagged with cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, Catapano Farms goat cheese, chardonnay, gewurztraminer, Medley White, merlot, North Fork, pellegrini, petit verdot, rose, Vintner's Pride September 11, 2013

http://www.pellegrinivineyards.com/

Friends often ask me, “What’s the best vineyard on the North Fork?” My general answer is, “It depends on what you like.” However, probably the best all-around vineyard is Pellegrini, for several reasons. It is large enough so that if you go with a group you will be able to find a table where you can all sit together. It is small enough so that you can stand at the bar and have a good conversation about the wines with the servers. Both the whites and the reds are good, though we tend to prefer their reds, which we feel are better than the general run of reds. It does lack the somewhat frenetic party atmosphere of some places, however, and they tend to focus on the wines rather than agritainment. Oh, and many of the wines are reasonably priced for the North Fork.

Pellegrini is also good for a group because if you like you can mark your selections on a clearly laid out menu that is also a map telling you in what order to drink the wines (top to bottom, left to right) and take the tray to a table outside overlooking the vineyards, which we did. One of the friends in our group of eight had brought along bread and cheese and hummus, so we had a lovely afternoon tasting, laughing, and snacking.

The tasting menu has a variety of options. The Bar Tasting is $6 and gives you three one-ounce pours which you can choose from a menu of ten wines to be drunk at the bar. The Flight Tasting is $12, and gives you three two-ounce pours, plus a one-ounce “complimentary” pour of their rosé, chosen from 13 options, which you then take to a table. There’s also a Vintner’s Flight for $14, four one-ounce pours of higher-priced wines, and a Wine and Chocolate Flight for $16 for four reds plus chocolates.

As wine club members, we were entitled to four free Flight tastings, which worked perfectly, since all the couples were happy to share. Since we belong to the only-red-wine category of the club, we decided to taste some of their whites. Amongst the group, we tried quite a few wines, so I’ll be adding in some notes from other people as well.

A tray of whites, with one rose.

East End Select Rosé $14.99

This is the “complimentary” taste, a steel-fermented blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon. As usual, we compared it to Croteaux’s rosés, and it is good, but not as good. It has lots of the strawberry aroma and taste one expects in a rosé, but not much else. Our friend characterized it as a “meet and greet” wine, nice to have at a barbeque on a sunny day.

2. 2012 Pellegrini Vineyards Gewürztraminer $19.99

I detect some of that cat pee smell which Gewürztraminer often has. We taste honey, but it is not too sweet, with some nice fruity notes.

3, 2012 Pellegrini Vineyards Stainless Steel Chardonnay $19.99

Nice crisp apple taste, but a bit too sweet is the word on this one. We still prefer the Channing Daughters Scuttlehole Chardonnay.

4. 2012 Pellegrini Vineyards Medley White $21.99

Another steel-fermented wine, this one is a blend of 59% Sauvignon Blanc and 41% Chardonnay. I get a mineral aroma, perhaps of wet rock. It tastes fine, however, with a balance of sweet and acid, with perhaps too much sourness at the end.

I have a few notes on other wines from my friends. Meanwhile, the non-drinker in the group had this to say, as he watched us carefully sip and discuss each taste, “If people chose their mates as carefully as they taste wine, there would be fewer divorces.”

Some red tastings plus a view of the vineyard.

5. 2007 Pellegrini Vineyards Petit Verdot $39.99

As I’ve said, we like their reds, and this, as Rod Serling used to say, is a case in point. A blend of 93% Petit Verdot, 6$ Merlot, and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged in French oak for 20 months, this is a lovely wine, and the favorite of the group. It is somewhat earthy and leathery, but quite richly fruited.

6. 2007 Pellegrini Vineyards Cabernet Franc $23.99

My friend sniffs and says, “Coffee, chocolate, pepper!” Those elements are in the taste as well, plus lots of cherry. She’d like it with pizza which, since she makes her own, is high praise.

7. 2007 Pellegrini Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon $24.99

This one, according to the group, is a bit too acidic to drink on its own, but would be good with food. Nice berry flavors with some peppery notes at the end.

8. 2010 Vintner’s Pride Encore $49.99

Another blend, this one is 60% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 15% Petit Verdot. Light and fruity, everyone says, and dry, with basically no finish.

After the tastes, one friend buys a bottle of the Petit Verdot, which we happily share as we munch on Catapano Farms goat cheese and enjoy the cool and sunny late summer afternoon.

Inside the tasting room.

Reasons to visit: good all-around winery, good reds, pleasant atmosphere, good for a group or for just a couple, the Petit Verdot.

McCall’s Wines 8/31/13

Posted by nofowineaux in Uncategorized and tagged with Ben's Blend, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, McCall's, merlot, North Fork wines, petit verdot, pinot noir, sauvignon blanc, Westhampton Beach September 2, 2013

http://www.mccallwines.com/

After an excursion to Westhampton Beach for an art show, and a visit to a friend’s house for a smaller art show, it was time for a different type of art, so off we went to McCall’s Winery. Mr. McCall does treat wine-making as an art, concentrating for the most part on producing some of the best reds around, with only a few whites. He and Mrs. McCall were both on hand, which was fortunate, as there was quite a crowd, including at least one bachelorette party (we could tell by the white veil on her head…). As Mr. McCall had told us on an earlier (much less crowded) visit, he used to be a Coca-Cola distributor, but then became interested in wine making. In addition to his vines, he also tends a herd of grass-fed cattle one can see munching said grass in a field next to the winery, and whose meat can sometimes be bought at Love Lane Market. I described the tasting room, in a repurposed stable, in an earlier entry, and most people are out on the grass at picnic tables.

The tasting menu now offers four levels of flights: Vintner, at three two-ounce tastes for $8; Cellar Master, with three for $10; Premium, at three tastes for $10; and Estate, at four for $16. We decide to share two flights, the Premium and the Estate. Mrs. McCall is serving us, and she carefully monitors the order of our wines, interspersing the two flights for the best path through the tastings. As a result, I have marked the wines from the Estate flight with *.

2012 Sauvignon Blanc $24

We start with the only white we’ve tasted at this winery, and it is quite pleasant, with aromas of honeysuckle and citrus, and a taste that combines wildflower honey and kumquat, with some minerality. It is somewhat tart. Mrs. M. admits she’s never tasted a kumquat, and we decide this does not taste like the candied ones one gets, but rather like a fresh one.

2. *2010 Pinot Noir $45

We thought we’d be moving on to the Cab Franc, but Mrs. M. suggests we have this instead, as it is fruitier. And indeed it is. “Mmmm,” we both say. The day before we had bought some lovely purple plums at Briermere (along with the obligatory pie), and there is a flavor here that reminds me of them, plus a hint of cinnamon. Robust, they call it. Yes, indeed.

3. *2010 Pinot Noir Reserve $60

I love doing this—tasting two wines from the same varietal in succession. So interesting. This one was aged an additional six months in French oak, and we overhear Mr. McCall saying that 2010 was the best year for his wines so far. This is really good, and right up there with other high-priced wines in its taste and complexity. It has much more depth than the other Pinot Noir, with aromas of coffee and chocolate and lots of dark fruit. I bet you could cellar this one.

4. 2011 Cabernet Franc $28

Now we get the Cab Franc, which is our least favorite of the day. We smell a brambley aroma, and some tastes of blackberry, but also a bit of an olive taste, which is somewhat off-putting.

5. *2007 Merlot $30

Poetically, my husband compares the aroma to the woods at dawn, evoking memories of when we used to go camping, and I would step out of the tent and inhale that dewy scent. As we agreed the last time we were here, this is definitely better than most North Fork Merlots, with very cherry tastes and good tannins and structure. Buyable, though we don’t buy any this time.

6. 2008 Merlot Reserve $28

We can see why McCall’s began their wine-making with the ’07 vintage, since it is certainly better than the ’08. This one has a bit of the barnyard smell and taste one often finds out East, and is a light wine with some pepper at the end. Perhaps with more time…

7. *2007 Ben’s Blend $54

This Bordeaux blend is named in honor of their winemaker, who sadly passed away. However, this is quite a legacy. The blend is 60% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, 10% Petit Verdot, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. We detect scents of cedar and forest, with lots of tastes of berries and plums, plus some chocolate. I could definitely see cellaring this one.

Mr. McCall chats with his guests.

Reasons to visit: some of the best reds on Long Island, the chance to chat with Mr. McCall, who is quite enthusiastic about his wines; Ben’s Blend and the 07 Merlot; a pleasantly rustic setting.

Grapes protected from the birds with netting

Croteaux Vineyards July 27, 2013

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting, Uncategorized and tagged with 181 clone, 3, 314, boutique, croteaux vineyard, Herbes de Provence, Jolie, merlot, North Fork, Pomerol, Provence, rose, Sauvage, St. Emilion, Violet July 29, 2013

This gallery contains 5 photos.

http://www.croteaux.com/ It pays to join the club, even if you didn’t intend to! Croteaux has their own charming take on the wine club concept. In most, you sign up for regular deliveries or pick-ups of two or more bottles, and in return you get free tastings and reduced prices. At Croteaux, you automatically become a … Continue reading →

Jason’s Vineyard June 30, 2013

Posted by nofowineaux in Uncategorized July 2, 2013

http://www.jasonsvineyard.com/

With all the rain we’ve had recently it may turn out to be really useful that the bar in Jason’s Vineyard is shaped like a ship. To be exact, it is supposed to resemble the Argo, that mythical ship built by the goddess Athena and crewed by all the great warriors of Greece, the Argonauts, led by the hero Jason, on a quest to win the Golden Fleece. It was a heroic quest, and Jason did win the Golden Fleece—with the help of Medea, the king’s daughter—but his story did not end happily, and I’m afraid the same mixture of good and bad applies to Jason’s wines as well.

We had been here in 2009, shortly after it opened, and so we were interested to see how the wines had developed since then. Jason Damianos is the son of the owner of Pindar Winery. A tasting costs $7 for 4 tastes, from a menu of twelve, so we opt for two tastings to be shared, enabling us to try 8 of the wines. Jason’s has an interesting system. When you enter you go to the cashier and pre-pay for your tastings, and she then gives you tokens which you turn over to your server one by one as you try each wine. I would guess it helps everyone keep track of what is happening, as I am sometimes amazed at the ability of servers to remember which wine each of five or six customers is up to. The tasting room is a good size, and there is a large roofed porch to one side, where we saw at least one group sharing snacks and glasses of wine. In addition to wine, they sell some wine-related tchotchkes, t-shirts, nuts and other snacks, and we notice Greenport beer on tap. We left before the live entertainment started.

2011 Sauvignon Blanc $22.95

Although this is not the first wine on the tasting menu, our server recommends we start with it, as it is their driest white. Aromas of citrus, asparagus, and minerals greet our noses, followed by a sour grapefruit taste. Though this is dryer than any of the whites we tried in 09, the dryness is not balanced by sufficient fruit, and we differ on how unpleasant we think this is. I would drink it, but my husband says he would prefer not to.

2. 2008 Chardonnay $29.95

We could have chosen the 07 Chardonnay, which is also on the menu, and the server says there is really no difference between the two. Both are aged for 9 months in new French oak, and of course have the typical vanilla/woody aroma of an oaked chard. Though the wine is too cold, we warm it in our palms and sip. Not bad. Strongly vanilla, with some flavors of almonds and toast, it would be nice with a creamy double cream cheese.

3. 2010 White Riesling $24.95

There’s that cat pee aroma. The server describes it as off-dry, but we say sweet. Apricot. Apricot fruit leather!

4. Golden Fleece $16.95

Finally, our quest to taste the first wine on the list is fulfilled! This is a blend of 41% Chardonnay, 24% Seyval Blanc, 20% Cayuga, 9% Vidal Blanc, and 5% Riesling, which we find intriguing, since three of these grapes are not usually grown on Long Island, but instead are found Upstate. After some conferring between the servers, we are told that indeed, all the grapes are grown on Long Island. Well, quests don’t always end happily. The aroma of the wine reminds us of rotted fruit with some wet rock thrown in (like the rock Jason used to make the seed-grown warriors battle each other, perhaps). This is less sweet than the Riesling, with some mid-palate honey tastes, though the finish is a bit tarter. We taste some cantaloupe. Though we like it better than in 09, we find it still too sweet for us.

5. 2001 Merlot $16.95

By the way, here they rinse your glass between each taste, not just at the transition from white to red. I used to think this was a good idea, but I’m coming to wonder if the residual water affects the taste of the wine at all! This Merlot and the 06 both spend 24 months in new French oak. We smell the typical earthy aroma of many Long Island reds, with some notes of fig jam. Some ripe fruit flavors, but all in all we’ve had better Merlots.

6. 2006 Merlot $24.95

Again, local earth smell, but this one is better. It’s dry, with some nice berry/cherry flavors, ending with a tobacco flavor that reminds me of a dessert we once had in Bologna which was sprinkled with tobacco. Really! There are lots of tannins, and we think this could age well.

7. 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon $16.95

Our server informs us that this wine generally tastes best if you open it well before you want to drink it and let it aerate. I guess that would dissipate the phenol/chemical aroma we find so unpleasant, but I’m not sure it would improve the taste, which reminds us of sour sucking candy. I NEVER want to drink this, says my husband.

8. 2010 Malbec $26.95

Finally, a red we like! Though the aroma reminds us of clothes which have sat too long in the closet, with perhaps some trace of cedar, it tastes pretty good. The first taste is of cherry coke, but it ends nicely dry. This is a sippable red and would also pair well with lamb chops.

We skipped the Meritage, which is a blend we’ve tried at other places, and their dessert wine, which is served with a piece of chocolate, and also their lone rosé.

Reasons to visit: You like sweet wines; you want to see a bar shaped like a Greek sailing ship (complete with a furled sail!); the 08 Chardonnay and the 2010 Malbec.

Kontokosta Winery June 23, 2013

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting, Uncategorized and tagged with Anemometer Red, Anemometer White, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, Greenport, Hellenic, Kontokosta Winery, merlot, North Fork, olive oil, Orient Chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, viognier, windmill June 25, 2013

http://www.kontokostawines.com/

One great aspect of choosing to write about North Fork wineries for a blog is that there is not much risk of running out of material. Not only do wineries change their offerings with each new harvest—necessitating return visits—but new wineries are constantly springing up. Case in point, as Rod Serling liked to say, Kontokosta Winery in Greenport, which opened its very attractive doors on June 12^th. As you head east towards Orient Point on Sound Avenue you pass a flashing light, where you could turn to head into Greenport. Instead, stay straight and you’ll come to a gate on your left, which leads to a long gravel drive and then to a parking lot next to a large imposing building, bracketed by vines, a view of Long Island Sound, and a tall windmill, about which more later.

Inside, the spacious tasting room is sleekly modern in style, with a serene black and white color scheme. We note several tables where a happy party is taking photos of themselves and a long tasting bar. We find a space at the bar, where a lovely young woman explains the choices to us. All the servers are clad in black shirts with the Kontokostas logo on the chest, a discreet three red bars. One of the servers is a gentleman we recognize from several other venues, including the Tasting Room and Empire Cellars, and he assures us we are about to experience some terrific wines. A tasting consists of four one ounce pours for $10, chosen from a menu of ten wines, five white and five red. There’s also a three-pour tasting and wines by the glass. We opt for two four-wine flights, one of white and then one of red, both of which we share, skipping the rosé and the Blum Merlot.

NV Anemometer White $16

Why Anemometer, we ask, noticing the representation of a spinning anemometer on the bottle? The winery is very proud of its use of wind power, our server notes, and in fact everything on the property is powered by wind. Our friend from other venues notes that on a very windy day you can see the electric meter spin backward, so that LIPA ends up owing them money. On to the wine, which is a blend, though primarily sauvignon blanc. Refreshing, we agree, with an aroma of Meyer lemon and mineral, with tastes of citrus and honeysuckle at the end. This would be good for summer sipping, and also would go well with turkey dishes. Very buyable!

2. 2009 Orient Chardonnay $17

The grapes for this wine come from a vineyard in Orient, hence the name. A lightly oaked chard, this is just okay, and a bit sour. There’s plenty of orangey-lemon tastes, and some oak at the end, but we don’t find it particularly pleasant.

3. 2012 Sauvignon Blanc $25

Not surprisingly, we find this wine reminds us of the Anemometer White, though with some different tastes. Overall it is a bit sweet for us, with aromas of honeysuckle and green plum and tastes of wildflower honey with a vegetal note at the end. My husband says green beans…not sure I agree. This is the first wine they made here.

4. 2010 Viognier $25

Bedell is the only other North Fork winery to use this grape, so we are interested to see how it compares. At Bedell we had their 2011 Viognier, which we found very pleasing, with complex spicy fruit and citrus flavors. This one has aromas of blood orange and peach, with peachy tastes and some tannins, but not so complex.

5. Anemometer Red 2006 $19

I would expect this to be a blend, but it is 100% syrah, we are told. The aroma has some of that East End barnyard smell, plus red berry, and the taste reminds us of red sucking candy. While not for sipping, this would be okay with food, such as pork chops.

6. 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon $22

We smell ripe berries and plums, and not much earth, and taste lots of fruit, with a nice dry finish. I’d love this with a nice medium-rare duck breast, and it could stand up to steak as well.

7. 2007 Merlot $29

Again we smell that earthy barnyard aroma, plus some mineral. This is just okay—dry, with decent fruit, but a bit of a chemical acetone taste at the end. You could have this with a rich pork dish and it would be fine, but it is overpriced for what it is.

8. 2007 Cabernet Franc $29

“This is one of my favorites,” enthuses our server, and we can see why, as it is definitely the best of the reds, with lots of fruit and a lovely aroma of ripe berries, not too sweet but not too dry, either. Oh, she adds, all the reds are aged in new French oak.

After we finish the wines, we are offered tastes of three olive oils they are selling—all for $28—an extra virgin, a Minneola tangelo and a jalapeῆo lime. They’re nice, but we’ll stick with Vines and Branches. We also learn that the winery is proud of its use of recycled materials in its construction, which is partly reflected in their slogan, “Sound Life, Sound Wine,” or as they say on their FaceBook page, “Registered with the USGBC under the LEED New Construction 2009 rating system, our winery has been designed to meet the gold certification level. To meet these high standards, the building is constructed of 100% recycled steel and reclaimed wood siding, and will be powered by wind energy.”

The windmill!

We enjoy the view out the large window to the Long Island Sound on this lovely June day as we wrap up our visit with the purchase of a bottle of the Anemometer White.

Reasons to visit: You’re in Greenport without a car and you’d like to go to a winery; you’ve tried all the others and are looking for a new winery; Anemometer White and 07 Cabernet Franc; the chance to appreciate a lovely view while doing a tasting; you’re on your way to the Hellenic and have some time to kill before dinner.

Coffee Pot Cellars June 2, 2013

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting, Uncategorized and tagged with bees, chardonnay, Coffee Pot Cellars, honey, Meritage, merlot, North Fork, Osprey's Dominion, sauvignon blanc June 3, 2013

http://www.coffeepotcellars.com/

“I have to put out the wine tasting flag,” said Adam Suprenant, the owner and winemaker for Coffee Pot Cellars, “because people keep coming in wanting a cup of coffee!” He grinned affably and looked around his spare but pleasant tasting room, which just opened a week ago on Main Road in a building formerly occupied by a real estate office. Mr. Suprenant is the winemaker for Osprey’s Dominion, but he also decided to express himself with his own label, named, not for a pot of coffee, but for the lighthouse in Orient which supposedly looks like a coffee pot. He makes just four wines, so, he noted, “They’d better be good!” That they are; not a clunker in the bunch.

The tasting room features a very attractive bar made from reclaimed poplar wood, a small selection of wine-related items, and honey and beeswax products made by Blossom Meadow, a venture of his fiancée, who manages about 100 bee hives around the North Fork. Over on a shelf sits a demonstration hive, with a glass front so you can watch the busy bees at work.

We each had our own tasting, $7.00 for all four wines, or $2.00 per taste, and also enjoyed Mr. Suprenant’s comments on how he made each wine.

1. 2011 Sauvignon Blanc $17.99

Because not many vineyards grow sauvignon blanc grapes, Coffee Pot Cellars buys these grapes from Osprey’s Dominion, but Mr. S. makes the wine his own way. A slightly mineral aroma precedes tastes of citrus and honeydew, with a nicely long and interesting finish. Definitely a good raw seafood wine!

2. 2011 Chardonnay $15.99

“This is my Hurricane Irene wine,” Mr. S. notes, remembering how the intense rain and wind of the hurricane was followed two days later by heavy rain, forcing the early harvesting of the grapes. “The wine was very lean,” he adds, so he allowed some malolactic fermentation, but aged the wine in older oak barrels, avoiding the over-oakiness and butteriness of some chardonnays. We like this wine quite a bit, with its honey-vanilla aroma and just a hint of butterscotch amid the citrus flavors. Buyable!

3. 2008 Merlot $17.99

This is the wine Coffee Pot started with, and merlot is of course Long Island’s most-grown red wine grape. The fruit for this and the chardonnay all came from one vineyard in Aquebogue, from a vineyard where the grower only grows grapes for others, rather than making his own wine. That allows the wine to express its terroir, but not, we are pleased to note, with the earthy or dirt barnyard smells of some local reds. “People ask me if Long Island wines will age well,” our new friend says, “and I say depends on the wine. This one is doing quite well, and many will age for 6-8 years and just get better.” We smell a pleasantly brambly aroma and taste pleasant berry and good tannins, though not a lot of depth. Pretty color, too.

4. 2008 Meritage $21.99

After making just merlot, Mr. S. decided to try a blend, so he went to some winemakers at Premium Wine Group (at Lieb Cellars) to see if they had any wine they were not interested in using. After some mixing and tasting, he came up with this very lovely wine, mostly merlot, 19% cabernet sauvignon and 6% each petit verdot and cabernet franc. Smells like a Briermere berry pie to me! The petit verdot adds a bit of black pepper to the delicious fruit flavor, so it is sweet but not too sweet. “I’ll only make this in the best years,” he explains, and also describes how he puts the wine through an oxidative process to eliminate that earth flavor, and also filters out the yeasts so they will stay the way he wants them to be. Buyable.

We buy a bottle each of the Chardonnay and the Meritage, plus some honey and a box of cat-shaped beeswax candles.

Reasons to visit: A chance to talk to the winemaker and learn all about how he makes his wines; four quite tasty wines; honey and beeswax products; a nice quiet tasting room.

Macari Vineyards May 18, 2013

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting, Uncategorized and tagged with chardonnay, Collina, Cutchogue, Dos Aguas, Early Wine, Macari, merlot, North Fork, riesling, sauvignon blanc, Sette May 20, 2013

http://w ww.macariwines.com/

This weekend we went to what we call the “Irish” winery—not because it is Irish, but because a friend, hearing the name but not seeing it, thought it was McCary! In fact, so Italian (not Irish) are they that the Macari family has given several of their wines Italian names, including Collina, for the hills on which their vineyard is located, and Sette, for Settefrati, the town in Italy from which their family emigrated.

Macari has two tasting rooms, a commodious building just off Sound Avenue and another, formerly the Gallucio Family Winery, on Main Road in Cutchogue. We’ve been to both, but this time we went to the one on Main Road. As you enter, you see the road forks both up the hill and down. Both ways lead to parking lots, so you can pick either way, but the uphill one enables you to drop off passengers at the door. Both rooms have outdoor areas far enough from the road to feel pleasantly rustic.

We had an irrational prejudice against Macari because early in our winery-visiting days we walked in right behind a group of bachelorettes who stumbled out of their limo, beer cans in hand, plastic flowers in their hair, and proceeded to be quite raucous. Not Macari’s fault!

The Main Road tasting room is a pleasant space, with a curving copper-topped bar and a nice selection of gift items, including hand painted wine glasses and tea towels with the word Wineaux on them. A white flight of four tastes is $8 and a red flight is $12. They also offer artisanal cheeses and salumi for $7-10.00, including crackers. The servers are pleasant and well-informed, though it is a bit disconcerting to hear the same spiel delivered word for word to your neighbors at the bar. By the way, if you want to go you should go soon, as they are celebrating their 15^th anniversary with a very nice sale on many of their wines.

We opted to do one tasting of whites and one of reds, sharing as we went.

2012 Sauvignon Blanc $23

This bears the subtitle “Katherine’s Field,” and our server noted it is their “signature wine.” This steel-fermented white has aromas of herbs and baked pear (they say), and we think thyme and unripe cantaloupe. We also taste unripe cantaloupe, along with a tart acidity and not much fruit. Not really for sipping, but it would be a good oyster wine.

2. 2010 Riesling $27

Though this uses grapes from upstate, it escapes the sometimes over-sweetness one finds with that fruit. A flowery aroma precedes tastes of grapefruit and dried apricot which unfolds quite pleasantly on the palate. Good finish and, we conclude, a really lovely well-made Riesling.

3. Collina Chardonnay $13

The server describes this as their “house white,” and notes that it is a combination of oak and steel-fermented wine, which should make it quite pleasant but does not. I think of the taste and smell as reminding me of a vacation house that has been closed up too long, with a sensation of damp and slightly moldy wood. We dump the remainder in the spit bucket, something we rarely do. Even on sale for $10, I can’t see buying this!

4. 2012 Early Wine $17

This is a special production of their Austrian winemaker, and is called early wine because…it is picked early. In late August, they harvest these mostly chardonnay grapes, and age the wine not at all, yielding an almost clear liquid. We think it will be tart, but instead it is rather sweet, with aromas of grass or hay and tastes of pear with a slight edge of lemon. Not bad, but not for us.

5. Collina 48 Merlot $13

New glass for the reds, always a nice touch. Mostly Merlot, with 5% each of cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon, this is a simple table-type wine that would be better with food than just sipping. We smell tobacco and bay leaf and taste some berry, but the taste leaves the tongue quickly and is quite dry and tart.

6. Sette Red Blend $19

Named for Settefrati (seven brothers), the village from which the Macaris emigrated, this is our favorite of the wines so far. A 50/50 blend of merlot and cabernet franc, this wine smells to us like a combination of cocoa mulch (try it on your garden some time, but I warn you, every time you weed you’ll crave a chocolate bar) and green olives, with nice plum flavors. Very buyable.

7. 2007 Merlot Reserve $36

After 16 months in French oak, this merlot is then aged for four years, so it was just recently released. We detect a bit of menthol in the aroma, and also berry pie (a smell you’ll recognize if you’ve ever been to Briermere while they are baking). The taste starts sweet, then becomes quite nice, with black cherry and enough tannins that our tongues tingle. Interesting, and quite good.

8. 2008 Dos Aguas $27

Two waters, we ask? For the Peconic Bay and Long Island Sound, the two bodies of water that frame the North Fork, she replies. A Bordeaux blend, Dos Aguas combines 70% merlot with 17% cabernet sauvignon, 8% malbec, 4% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot. Strongly spicy aromas of nutmeg and berries, maybe some plum, make us anticipate a delicious wine, but it is not to be. Really not much to this one at all.

They also have, available by the glass but not included in the tasting, a couple of rosés and some dessert wines as well as a few additional wines. We buy two bottles of Sette and two Wineaux tea towels (how could we not?).

Reasons to visit: pleasant tasting room and outside seating area in a rustic setting; 2010 Riesling and Sette Red Blend; some nice gift items; choice of two tasting rooms so if you want to go there you can be flexible as to your route.

Diliberto Winery April 13, 2013

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting, Uncategorized and tagged with cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, Cantina, chardonnay, Diliberto Winery, merlot, syrah, Tre April 15, 2013

The trompe l’oeil murals make you feel like you’re in Italy.

http://www.dilibertowinery.com/

“April is the cruelest month,” according to T.S. Eliot, and the weather has certainly borne that out, with a couple of warm days followed by cold and rain. Today is at least sunny, though a bit on the cool side, as we head over to Diliberto’s Winery, one of the places we’ve been to fairly frequently, though not recently. We look forward to sitting in his cozy tasting room with its trompe l’oeil mural of an Italian street scene, listening to Italian opera, and pretending we’ve gone to warm sunny Italy for a day.

The room is presided over by Sal Diliberto himself and his wife Maryann, though Sal is in and out of the room as he ducks into his big kitchen to prepare his homemade pizza and other treats. A table of wine club members is getting wines by the glass and two pizzas for a late lunch or early cocktail hour treat, and we know from past tastes that the pizza is good, with a crisp thin crust and fresh ingredients ($15, and there’s also a cheese platter available). Sometimes, especially in the winter, Sal (also a lawyer, with a practice in Queens) has held cooking classes, showing a room full of tasters how to make pizza, pasta, or gnocchi. He calls this “Sunday with Grandma,” though HE is “grandma”!

In the past we’ve also liked his wines, especially his reds, which tend to complement Italian food very well (no surprise). However, this time our response is rather mixed. Perhaps he’s had an off year or two, since we were last here in 2011—though he does recognize us. The drill here is to order at the small bar, then sit at one of the ten or so tables—more in the summer, when the patio is open—and wait while the server brings each glass. The menu lists four wines for $12, and/or two premium wines for $9, and we opt for one of each, and I’ve marked the premium wines with *. As we sip, we listen to Sal visit with the customers, many of whom are clearly regulars, and to recorded opera (sometimes Sal himself sings, or has a performer in) and watch “Visions of Italy,” a public television show that features aerial views of the cities and countryside of Italy. One could be in a sidewalk café in an Italian village, especially when he emerges from the kitchen with freshly made pizzelles, a little free treat.

2008 Chardonnay $19

An aroma of wet cardboard and acetone greets our nostrils, but we hope the wine tastes better than it smells. This is a very tart, lemony chardonnay, with some notes of unripe pineapple, making it a tough chardonnay to like, though it would probably be okay with oysters or with seafood in a rich white sauce.

Wines are served in good glasses.

2. *2007 Tre $39

A blend of three wines—hence the name—including 65% merlot, 20% cabernet sauvignon and 15% cabernet franc, this should be similar to a Bordeaux. We had really enjoyed the 03 Tre, so we had high hopes for this one. Eh. Brambly aroma, some earthiness, a taste of prunes, some tannin.

3. 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon $25

Hmmm…is wet laundry a wine word? Because that’s what this wine smells like! It is dry, with some blackberry, but would not enter the pantheon of great cabernets, especially as the finish is somewhat sour.

4. 2009 Cantina $18

We’ve liked Cantina in the past, as it is a good Italian table wine, a blend of half merlot and half cabernet franc. A few years ago we signed up for a barrel tasting with Sal and found ourselves and our guests—my brother and sister-in-law—as the only customers. We got into such intense and interesting conversations about wine that my notes stop after the first barrel, the 07 cabernet franc, but we really liked that. However, we find this Cantina somewhat on the thin side, with some earthiness, some tartness, and some fruit. It would be better with pasta than as a sipping wine.

5. *2002 Merlot $31

The tasting menu proudly proclaims that this is a New York State Gold Medal winner, and indeed it is our favorite of the wines we’ve tasted so far, despite a definite aroma of acetone again. We note a good berry taste, nice legs, and not much tannin. It also seems to get better as it sits in the glass, and we like the second taste better than the first.

6. 2009 Syrah $20

This wine would also, we decide, be better with food than as a sipping wine, as it lacks some of the richness and depth one expects from a syrah. The aroma is metallic, and I taste pomegranate. However, we opt to buy a bottle of this and one of the Cantina, as buying two bottles means the tasting is free, and we often need reds to go with Italian food.

Reasons to visit: Sal’s cooking and the chance to chat with him about his wines or food or any other subject; a pretty tasting room; opera instead of the usual folk/rock/jazz music; the 2002 Merlot. An apple orchard is right down the street, and we highly recommend both their apples and their warm cider. One note: prominent signs indicate No Children and No One Under 21 Allowed, so be forewarned.

The piano is not just for show, but gets used by performers.

NoFo Wineaux

Wine notes from Long Island's North Fork

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