Lenz Winery: The Older the Better January 11, 2018

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with blanc de noir, cabernet franc, Catapano, Estate Select Merlot, gewurztraminer, Lenz Winery, North Fork, Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon, Old Vines Chardonnay, Old Vines Merlot, Peconic Bay scallops, petit verdot, pinot noir, sauvignon blanc, Tete-a-Tete, wine tasting January 15, 2018

https://lenzwine.com/

Lenz is justifiably proud of being one of the oldest wineries on the North Fork.

“We’re the second oldest winery on Long Island,” our server proudly told us. Most people know that certain wines improve with age, but I’ve also learned that grape vines do, too. As the vines get older, their roots go deeper and get stronger, and the grapes also get better. The first modern winery on the North Fork was Hargraves, now Castello di Borghese, founded in 1973. Lenz started in 1978, but didn’t harvest their grapes for wine until 1988. Now in their fortieth year, they have some really good wines on their list.

Plenty of room at the bar during the week in the winter.

We had been housebound by snow and cold, and it was still rather chilly when we set out to do a tasting. A quick walk around Greenport revealed a very quiet town, with many stores and restaurants closed for the season or open with limited hours or days. However, we were able to stop into the book store to pick up a copy of On Tyranny and into The Weathered Barn to drop off dead light bulbs for recycling.

One side of the tasting room.

Then we headed back west to Lenz. The barn-like Lenz tasting room was quiet as well, as we were the only customers. However, that meant we were able to have some in-depth discussions with our server on wine and the tastes of the ones we chose.

And the other side.

The menu offers two choices: five Estate wines for $14 or five Premium wines for $18. She also offered to customize an all red or all white tasting for a dollar or two more, and described the Estate choices as “lighter.” We decided to share a tasting of the Premium wines, and were quite happy with all six of the wines we tried (Thanks to the power of the book, we got a sixth taste!).

Lenz also has some wine-related items for sale, and a small gallery of art, also for sale. They offer Catapano cheese for a snack, and do allow people to bring their own snacks.

2015 Blanc de Noir Rosé $24

We always compare rosés to Croteaux, and this one can stand up to the comparison. It’s made from pinot noir grapes and has an aroma of strawberry. It’s dry, but mouth-watering, with some nice citrus tastes. I think blood orange, rather than lemon. It’s not really a rosé for sipping on its own, but would be great with food.

Cute label, too.

2014 Tête à Tête $25

As a blend, this changes from year to year. This is a good one. It blends 45% sauvignon blanc, 35% chardonnay, and 20% gewürztraminer for a dry, minerally and lemony white that would be great with lobster or Peconic Bay scallops. We joked about gooseberries and other more obscure fruit comparisons, but I insisted that it did smell like gooseberries.

2013 Old Vines Chardonnay $30

Lenz makes three different chardonnays, so at some point I’ll have to try their others, one of which is steel fermented and the other spends eleven months in oak. This is sort of in the middle of those two, spending three months in neutral oak. You can smell a bit of the oak, and also a light floral aroma. This might be a good wine for someone who finds steel chards too lemony, but doesn’t like that big oaky taste of oaked chards. Although there is a slight note of vanilla, what I mostly taste is green apple, plus some other flavors that make this a relatively complex white. We decide it would be perfect with bluefish, or some other assertive fish.

2010 Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon $50

We get a clean glass as we move on to the reds. Cabernet sauvignon is a grape that takes longer to ripen than, say merlot, so it doesn’t do well every year. However, 2010 had a long warm season, and was a good year for North Fork reds—including this one. Blended with merlot, cabernet franc, and malbec, this is a very dark red with lots of dark fruit flavors including black cherry and a touch of tobacco. It was aged two years in French oak. It has the tannins to stand up to steak or roast lamb. Another good one.

2010 Old Vines Merlot $65

We like this one, too, though not as much as the cab sauv. It is somewhat austere, a bit light for a red at this price point, with a purple plum and cherry flavor. Not much aroma. Our server tells us this could age 20 years, and tells about some of the older Lenz wines she has tasted. We get the last of the bottle, so there’s a bit of sediment at the bottom of the glass. They don’t filter their wines.

The one we took home.

2014 Estate Select Merlot $30

Extra! Having noticed our preferences in the wines we’ve tasted, our server offers us a taste of her favorite of their reds, a new release. Good move, as we buy a bottle and date it to be drunk in a few years. The merlot is blended with cabernet franc and petit verdot and aged in French oak. We like it much better than the Old Vines Merlot, and especially prefer the price. It has more fruit, layers of flavor, and good tannins.

Reasons to visit: lots of good wines; a good compromise between the big commercial wineries and the smaller boutique ones, as it has characteristics of both; in the summer, they have an outdoor courtyard; the Estate Select Merlot, the Tête à Tête, and the Old Vines Chardonnay in particular, but we liked all the wines.

Sometimes the vines in the snow remind me of dancers. In this case, they are hip deep in old snow.

Macari Vineyards: A Quiet Winter Day December 20, 2017

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Backyard Brine pickles, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay estate, Concrete egg, Dos Aguas, Lifeforce Sauvignon Blanc, Long Island wine, Macari Vineyards, Malbec, Merlot Reserve, no outside food, North Fork, rose, sauvignon blanc, syrah, wine tasting December 28, 2017

The vines are bare now.

http://macariwines.com/visit/mattituck/

It’s pretty quiet on the North Fork now. There’s a skim of ice on the shallow parts of the Mattituck Inlet and almost all of the farm stands have closed. A few wineries are closed for the season, while others are only open on weekends. Macari’s tasting room on the Main Road is closed, but its other location, on the corner of Bergen Road and Sound Avenue, is open every day, so that’s where we went on this chilly day.

The large tasting room was decorated for Christmas with lights and pine branches, and if we had wanted to buy gifts of local or other gourmet jams, pickles, etc., we could have found plenty of choices on the shelves near the entrance, where they also have cheeses, charcuterie, and crackers for sale. (No outside food allowed.) There was only one other couple at the bar, and one table of people in the adjoining room, so we had plenty of time to chat with the enthusiastic and well-informed server.

Our favorite local pickles!

No outside food allowed, but they have plenty for sale.

The menu offers three different flights of five tastes each: the Estate Flight for $20, the Cuvée Flight for $25, or the Vintage Flight for $30. There’s also a dessert wine flight, or, the server offered, she could custom build a flight if, for example, you only liked reds. As you might expect, as the flights increased in price, so did the wines in each one. We decided to share the Cuvée Flight, and the pour was generous enough that we felt that was plenty (plus we got a couple of extra tastes, courtesy of my notebook!).

After the tasting we bought one bottle of red wine and a jar of our favorite local pickles, Backyard Brine’s “Dill Death do us Part.”

1. 2016 Sauvignon Blanc $24
As our server poured this first taste, she enthused about what a great summer wine it is. No argument there. It is a steel-fermented, crisp, lemony white, with an aroma of mineral and gooseberry. It would go well with a big plate of chilled oysters.

2. 2016 “Lifeforce” Sauvignon Blanc $28
But now, she added, at this time of year, she prefers this version of the grape, and poured us an “extra” taste. Instead of being fermented in steel or wood, they use a concrete “egg” as a vat, and the result is quite a different wine. Though still somewhat citrusy, it is not nearly as lemony, and has some tropical fruit flavors, like pineapple. The aroma is almost woodsy or yeasty. There is definitely more going on in the taste of this one, and it could be sipped on its own. It is called Lifeforce because the egg shape causes the wine to stir itself. She showed us a whole explanation of the effects of using concrete, some of which is on this page of their web site: http://macariwines.com/wine/2016-sauvignon-blanc-lifeforce/

An explanation of the concrete “egg.”

3. 2015 Chardonnay Estate $24
This is a fairly typical North Fork steel-fermented chardonnay, with a touch of sweetness, some citrus, and a bit of roasted pear taste. Nice finish. It would be good with charcuterie.

An array of whites.

4. 2016 Rosé $20
Made from cabernet franc and merlot grapes, this is a very light, dry, almost white, rosé. The aroma does not have the expected strawberry scent, but is almost chemical, like a band-aid. However, it tastes fine, less fruity than some of Croteaux’s rosés, with plenty of citrus. I could see having it with lobster bisque or some other creamy, buttery seafood dish.

The rose is a very light pink.

5. 2013 Merlot Reserve $40
Now we move on to the reds, and she rinses our glass with a bit of red wine. We decide this is better than the average North Fork merlot. Aged sixteen months in new French oak, it has a delicious aroma of dark fruits and complex tastes of black cherry and cherry pie, dry, with good tannins. It could probably age well.

Our favorite of the reds, the Dos Aguas.

6. 2013 Dos Aguas $32
The name of this one is a nod to the two waters of the North Fork—the Long Island Sound and Peconic Bay. A blend of 50% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc, and 8% Malbec, it is only made in good years, which 2013 clearly was. We really like it! We smell cherry, tobacco, and other dark fruits, and taste them as well. Lots of tannins. Dry, it would go well with steak or lamb chops, and we decide to buy a bottle and keep (or try to keep!) it for a couple of years.

If you are serious and thoughtful about your tasting, sometimes you get extras!

7. 2014 Syrah $45
We are so enthusiastic about the Dos Aguas that our server wonders if we would like to try their syrah. Sure, I reply, I often really like syrahs. I like this one, too, with its spicy aromas of cinnamon and nutmeg and soft tannins. I see that I have written good twice in my notes.

Plenty of room at the bar in the winter, but it is often crowded in the summer.

There are many tables in the next room, plus more outside.

Reasons to visit: A good all-around winery, with a long bar and ample tables; a good selection of cheeses, etc., so you can put together a snack, plus some local gourmet items; the Lifeforce Sauvignon Blanc, the Merlot Reserve, the Dos Aguas—actually, we liked all the wines, but those were especially interesting; two locations, so in the summer, if one is overcrowded you can try the other.

When you stand at the bar, you can look into the wine cellar.

Osprey’s Dominion: And It’s Quite an Extensive Dominion November 11, 2017

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Adam Suprenant, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, Carmenere, Fume Blanc, Long Island, Malbec, Meritage Flight, merlot, North Fork, Osprey's Dominion, Petite Verdot, Pinot Noit, Regina Maris Chardonnay, Reserve Pinot Gris, Richmond Creek Red Blend, sauvignon blanc, wine tasting November 13, 2017

http://ospreysdominion.com/

The entrance

We decided it would be fun to go to Osprey’s Dominion this week, having gone to Coffee Pot Cellars last week. Why? Because Adam Suprenant is the winemaker for both wineries, with Coffee Pot his own label. Would there be differences between his personal wines and those he made for a larger entity? We did find some differences, but both places have some really good wines.

Just one side of the expansive tasting room.

In contrast to the cozy quarters of Coffee Pot, Osprey’s tasting room is quite large, and was fairly crowded for November, with a serpentine bar along one side and plenty of tables both inside and outside. Despite the chilly weather, there were quite a few people sitting on the sunny terrace, enjoying some live music, a food truck, and a fire pit. (They ask that you not bring food into the tasting room, and sell wine cupcakes, among other snacks.)

Despite the chilly weather, plenty of people opted to be outside. Note the wind vane!

The tasting menu is quite extensive, reflecting their 90 acres of grapes. A tasting is either three choices for $8 or five choices for $12, and you have the freedom to pick any you like from their menu. With eight whites (including one sparkling wine), one rosé, nine reds, plus five reserve wines and four dessert options, we actually needed some guidance! Our server kept good track of where we were in our tasting, providing a clean glass for each taste, and helped us choose when we asked. We decided to share two tastings of five, starting with the whites. Glasses of wine range in price from $6-$10, and if you’re heading outside with a glass, they give it to you in a plastic cup.

Lots of options on the white wine menu.

2016 Sauvignon Blanc $17

We started at the top of the whites menu with the steel-fermented sauvignon blanc, a dry wine with more acid than fruit. My husband said it was “strong.” Although the menu opined that it tasted of melon, I tasted more grapefruit than melon, or maybe even sour apple candy. That said, though it is not a sipper, it would probably pair well with chicken or fish in a creamy sauce, or with New England clam chowder. We liked Coffee Pot’s sauvignon blanc better, but then, it is from a different year.

2014 Fumé Blanc $17

Fumé blanc is basically sauvignon blanc that has been fermented in oak. I described this one as mouth-watering, with the acid balanced by some sweetness. It didn’t have much aroma, though we detected a trace of vanilla from the oak. I think it would pair well with escargots in garlic sauce, the thought possibly inspired by the French name of the wine.

Regina Maris Chardonnay $13

Why the name, and why the ship under sail on the label? Our server wasn’t sure, but did opine that the name had belonged to a ship that sailed out of Greenport. In any event, this is a chardonnay that combines steel and oak fermented juice half and half. The aroma is grassy, with a hint of wood. Though it is not overly oaky we did find it too sweet for our tastes, comparing the tastes to apple sauce and honeydew melon. My tasting buddy found it “cloyingly sweet.” As a result, we asked for some guidance as to where to go next on the menu, and she suggested we look at the reserve menu.

We liked the label more than the wine, though if you like a sweeter chardonnay you might disagree.

The reserve menu

2016 Reserve Pinot Gris $24

Good choice! Though it was served a tad too cold, as we warmed it in our hands we smelled a faint aroma of orange peel plus a touch of funk. It is aged “sur lies” for six months, which may account for the layers of flavor we noted. It has a nice balance of tart and fruit, with some tastes of tangerine. It would be good with charcuterie. I used to think you needed red wine with cured meats, but now I think certain whites work better.

Richmond Creek Red Blend $12

Rather than continue with the whites, which we were concerned might be too sweet for us, we decided to flip to the red side of the menu for the rest of our tastes. We were particularly eager to try this one, since it was on special at $75 for a case, and we’re always looking for inexpensive reds for daily consumption. This is a Bordeaux-style blend of 42% cabernet sauvignon, 11% pinot noir, 26% cabernet franc, and 23% merlot. We could definitely smell the cherry from the merlot, plus a touch of something chemical—they suggest eucalyptus. The taste is quite nice, combining cherry and other dark fruit with some spice, perhaps nutmeg, and maybe a bit of chocolate. Good pasta/pizza wine, like with the pizza my husband made the other day, topped with eggplant and black olives. Yum. Definitely buyable.

Go soon if you want to take advantage of the sale!

2013 Petite Verdot $28

We went back to the reserve menu for our next taste, guided as to its position in our tasting by our server. Another good choice. The aroma is of wood and dried fruit. The wine is very dry, with lots of tannins, which made me think it could age well. Though it does not have much fruit, it is very tasty, with enough acidity to cut through the fat of a steak or lamb chops.

2012 Meritage “Flight” $28

Another Bordeaux-style blend, of 39% merlot, 36% cabernet franc, 17% carménère, 4% cabernet sauvignon, and 4% petit verdot, this is also a really good red. Apparently, Wine Enthusiast agrees, giving it a grade of 90, we were told. I never actually know what to make of those grades. My husband felt the tannins “stick out,” so maybe it needs more aging. It tastes of cherry and purple plum and spice. We liked both this one and the Coffee Pot Meritage, which has a different composition and which we liked a little more.

My husband’s home-made pizza, which tastes as good as it looks, and would go well with the Richmond Creek Red Blend.

2014 Carménère $28

I was eager to taste this one, since Osprey is the only vineyard on Long Island that grows this grape, and it is more usually used in blends. The aroma is funky—basement, I say. Fortunately, it doesn’t taste like a basement! It is good—interesting, say my notes—very tannic, with spicy tastes of blackberry and pepper. Not a big fruity wine, but with a nice amount of fruit.

Some interesting information on the label.

2013 Malbec $28

The menu says this is a “tribute to the great wines of Cahors.” To me it seems more like a Long Island merlot—which is not a bad thing. Another good, tannic, dry red with some cherry flavors.

2014 Pinot Noir $40

Since this is the most expensive wine on the menu, we expected it to be something special, especially since we were informed that it won “Best Pinot Noir in New York State in 2016.” To me, it seems comparable to a Beaujolais, a light, pleasant red. Easy to drink, it would be okay with roast chicken, but I doubt I’d give it a medal (though I’d have to see how it compared with the competition).

Reasons to visit: big, social winery with entertainment and good wines; the Fumé Blanc, the Reserve Pinot Gris, the Richmond Creek Red Blend, the Meritage Flight, the Carménère; very reasonable prices, especially for Long Island reds, especially when they’re on sale. We bought a case of the Richmond Creek Red Blend.

We heard there was also beer on offer outside.

Hudson Valley Visit: Nofowineaux Takes a Trip October 7-13

Posted by nofowineaux in Hudson Valley tastings, Uncategorized and tagged with Amulet, Baco Noir, Beacon, beer tasting, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, DIA Beacon, Feel No Way, Flying Colors, Hudson Valley, Hudson Valley Brewery, Hunt Country Red, Hunt Country White, Innisfree, IPA, Little Memory, Marlboro, merlot, Merlot Proprietor's Special Reserve, Millbrook, Millbrook Vineyards and Winery, North Fork, pellegrini, Phase Delay, Pillow Hat, Pilsner, pinot grigio, Plateaux, Proprietor's Reserve, riesling, Sangiovese, sauvignon blanc, Silhouette, Slate Hill Red, Sour Farmhouse, Stainless Steel Chardonnay, Storm King, syrah, Thacher, Tocai Friulano, Tocai Friulano Proprietor's Special Reserve, Traminette, Villa Pillo Borgoforte, wine tasting October 17, 2017

We decided to take a trip north to see art museums and galleries, visit relatives, and take some hikes in the beautiful Hudson Valley countryside. No surprise, we also made time for some tastings, visiting one brewery and two wineries.

Storm King and DIA Beacon have both been on my bucket list for a while, so now I can cross them off. Both are well worth the visit, Storm King in particular (but be sure to go when the weather is nice, and try to arrive early in the day). We also enjoyed sauntering up and down Beacon’s main street, popping in and out of little galleries and antique/gift shops. The Roundhouse Hotel is pricey for the area, but comfortable and well run.

One view from Storm King.

Another place worth traveling to is Innisfree Garden in Millbrook, New York, where we hiked around the lake with my brother and sister-in-law. It’s a beautiful place, with the garden aspects integrated into the natural landscape, providing scenic views at every turn. And if you’re in Kingston, you should make time for the Maritime Museum, with its emphasis on the history of the boats and industries along the Hudson River.

Innisfree Garden, an amazingly beautiful place.

Our final hike of the week was in the John Boyd Thacher State Park outside Albany, where the scenery reminded us very much of the movie Last of the Mohicans starring Daniel Day-Lewis. Alas, we did not see him running bare-chested through the trees. If you go, be sure to stop into the new visitor center.

So, now on to our tastings…

Hudson Valley Brewery, October 8, 2017

Beacon, New York

http://hudsonvalleybrewery.com/about-us

Before they put out the tables, we had trouble spotting the brewery.

Finding the brewery was a bit of a challenge, as it is located in the midst of a huge parking lot behind an apartment building, and only a small sign on the door indicates that you have arrived. We walked past before they opened, and then when we returned there were picnic tables set up outside and the garage-style door had been swung open. Inside, it is very industrial chic, reminding us that Beacon is sometimes referred to as “Brooklyn north.” The bar is not very long, so we decided to take our tastes to a picnic table across from it. We would have sat outside, but all those tables were filled, primarily with a young crowd.

Industrial chic room

They offer eight different beers, a four-ounce pour in attractive stemmed glasses at $2-$3 per taste. The chipper server informed us that they only give two tastes per person per time at the bar, so we each took two and then returned for the final four. We left our credit card to run a tab, thinking we would get a whole glass of whichever beer we liked best, but as it happened there were none we liked enough to get a glass of. Their beers generally have a sour, fruity flavor profile, which is not a taste I like.

Pillow Hat IPA

The aroma is very grapefruity, with a touch of something funky. The taste is super citrusy, and it is the kind of beer I could see downing on a hot day after working in the garden.

Our second group of tastes

Feel No Way Pilsner

Cement basement aroma, with a touch of sauerkraut. The taste is sour, oaty and grainy, and reminds my husband of Kix cereal!

Little Memory IPA

This one also smells like grapefruit juice, plus pineapple juice. I dislike it so much that we don’t finish the taste. It is sour but also fruity.

Plateaux IPA

Okay, this one we decide is like a beery orange juice or an over the hill cider that has gone sour. If you don’t actually like beer, you might drink this with a burger.

Our first group of tastes

Amulet Sour Farmhouse

Blueberry pie aroma? Certainly fruity. The taste reminds me of very sour candy. I say bleh; my husband says maybe after a run. I’d rather drink water in that case!

Flying Colors Sour Farmhouse

By this time, we have invested $2 in a bag of cracked pepper and sea salt chips, which helps us get through the tasting. This is another fruity-tooty beer, and rather sweet. As we discuss the tastes, my tasting buddy comments that we are treating this more like a wine tasting in terms of all the aromas and flavors we are finding, which is true.

Phase Delay Sour Farmhouse

This one smells like an IPA, very citrusy, and tastes rather like sucking on a lemon. Super sour, say my notes. At least this one is not objectionably sweet, and is drinkable if what you want is a beer-like lemonade.

Silhouette Brunch Style Sour Beer

Their own tasting notes compare this to a Tropicana juice box, though I again think it resembles a sweet and sour lemonade. I find it barely potable, and, as with several of the other beers, we don’t finish our taste.

There are snacks one can buy. Our little bag of chips cost $2.

Reasons to visit: you’re in Beacon and you want to go to a beer tasting (but I wish we had tried the other brewery in town); you don’t actually like beer that tastes like beer. That evening we had dinner at a nice Thai restaurant on Main Street which had Singha beer on tap, and much preferred that to any of the beers we had at Hudson Valley.

Benmarl Winery October 9, 2017

Marlboro, New York

Entrance to Benmarl winery

http://benmarl.com/

Finding Benmarl Winery would also have been a challenge, if not for Google maps, which easily directed us to this mountain-top site, about twenty minutes outside of Beacon. They are part of the Shawangunk Wine Trail (who knew?), which includes about fifteen wineries along the Shawangunk Mountains. We considered visiting one or two more, but many of them were closed on Monday, and others were a bit further than we wanted to venture on this rainy, foggy afternoon.

Resident kitty

Benmarl has a pleasantly rustic tasting room, and the servers were enthusiastic and chatty. Outside we noted a large tent set-up, and learned that the day before they had had a special grape-stomping event. Oh my. Our server informed us that “Benmarl” means “Hill of Slate,” and the farm is allegedly the “oldest vineyard in America.” On their 37 acres they grow Baco Noir, Cabernet Franc, and Muscat, then get the rest of their grapes from the Finger Lakes and…Long Island! The North Fork, to be exact. Ha. I had said as we were on our way there that I was interested in comparing their wines to Long Island wines, but, no surprise, they tasted rather familiar.

For $10 you get to try six (out of 17 or more—they were out of some) of their wines, and since the pour was rather small for a shared tasting and I was curious to try it, we paid an additional couple of dollars to try the Baco Noir. If you want to keep your glass, your tasting is $12.

There were lots of options on the menu.

2016 Sauvignon Blanc $20

The grapes for this wine are from the North Fork, and it has the characteristic honeysuckle aroma and a taste that combines citrus and minerality. Good, though a tad sweeter than I like.

2016 Stainless Steel Chardonnay $15

Our server told us about how she likes to recommend this wine to anyone who insists they don’t like chardonnay, since what they don’t like is probably the oak-aged buttery California style of chard. We agree, and like this citrusy light white, with flavors of gooseberry and mineral. Quite pleasant. We buy a bottle, which matches well with a pasta and salmon dish my sister-in-law makes for us when we arrive at their house. These grapes are from Seneca Lake.

2016 Traminette $18

This is one of their sweeter wines, but not cloyingly so, with a candy aroma and some tropical fruit tastes. I could see having it with spicy food. Finger Lakes grapes.

2016 Merlot $20

As we switch to the reds, she gives the glass a quick rinse with some of the wine. This, I observe, tastes very like a North Fork merlot. Not surprisingly, since that is where the grapes come from. You can smell the oak (aged 16 months in French oak) and cherry, and it also has lots of cherry taste, plus maybe a bit of tobacco.

2015 Slate Hill Red $20

A Bordeaux blend, this is 48% North Fork merlot, 42% Finger Lakes cabernet franc, and 10% North Fork cabernet sauvignon, aged 12 months in French oak. The aroma is fruity, but also mushroomy, with a hint of something chemical—but that may be due to the cellar, the door to which was opened behind us as we stood there, and from which emanated a basement/chemical smell. In any event, we didn’t much care for this wine, which had a sour aftertaste and not a lot of fruit.

2014 Proprietor’s Reserve $33

Another blend, this is 30% North Fork merlot, 20% Finger Lakes cabernet franc, and 50% North Fork cabernet sauvignon, aged 24 months. We like it much better than the Slate Hill. It has lots of fruit—dark plums, cherry, blackberry, coffee—and is pleasantly tannic and dry.

2015 Baco Noir $35

I really wanted to try a wine made from estate-grown grapes, and this is all theirs, from vines first planted in 1958. The aroma is great, with lots of fruit, very plummy, but the taste does not have as much fruit as the smell promised. It is dry and tannic, but not particularly complex.

Reasons to visit: you are traveling up the Hudson Valley and want to do a wine tasting; the sauvignon blanc, stainless steel chardonnay, merlot, and Proprietor’s Reserve; pretty reasonable prices for a small winery; beautiful mountain setting; you want to support a winery that practices “sustainable” agriculture, with no spraying.

Millbrook Vineyards and Winery October 11, 2017

Millbrook, New York

http://www.millbrookwine.com/

After the flatness of Long Island, it was refreshing to be in the Catskill Mountains. We enjoyed the various vistas as we traveled the back roads with my brother and sister-in-law to this winery with its spectacular views over the hills. Although we felt we had gone rather far off the “beaten path,” a busload of tourists who arrived shortly after we did showed us that we were not as isolated as it had seemed. Fortunately, Millbrook is well set up to handle a crowd, and we enjoyed our tasting.

This is only one small part of the winery’s space.

Our bright and well-informed server informed us that John S. Dyson, the founder of the vineyard, was responsible for the “I (heart) NY” logo, which also appears on their glasses (which you get to keep after your tasting). In addition to the property in Millbrook, the winery also owns vineyards in California (fortunately so far not affected by the fires) and Italy, which expands the varieties of wine they can offer. One challenge of growing wines this far north is the winter. They can get temperatures as low as minus fourteen, and anything lower than minus five can give certain grape vines trouble.

A couple of the wines we did not get to try.

The shop has a few items, many from Italy.

The Millbrook building is large and attractive, with various areas, including an upstairs lounge and balcony, where one can (and we did) take a bottle or glasses and look out over the scenery while sipping. Not all of their wines are available for tasting every day, and on this week day our only option was the Portfolio Tasting, of six wines for $12.50. You pay the cashier when you enter, and then are assigned a spot at one of the bars.

2016 Hunt Country White $16

This is their white blend, a mixture of riesling, tocai friulano, traminette, and pinot grigio, some of which comes from California. The aroma is of apricots and minerals, and it tastes quite good, of peaches and melon, with a nice long finish. My brother characterizes it as a “backyard wine,” and my sister-in-law says she has “no complaints.”

2016 Tocai Friulano Proprietor’s Special Reserve $18

According to our server, Millbrook was the first winery in the United States to grow this particular grape, which is related to sauvignon blanc. We like it very much, with its aroma of roasted pears and soft tastes of pears and red grapefruit. I think it is softer than an Italian tocai, which is flintier, but we like it enough to buy a bottle to take home.

I peeked into a room where they store wine.

2015 Chardonnay $18

Just when I think I’ll finally get to compare an upstate chard with a North Fork chard, we are told that one third of the grapes for this wine come from Pellegrini Vineyard on the North Fork! Other grapes come from the Finger Lakes and from Millbrook’s estate. In any event, it is a typical not-too-oaky oaked chardonnay.

2014 Villa Pillo Borgoforte $19

In case you’re wondering about the Italian name, it comes from Millbrook’s Italian vineyard near San Gimignano, a fascinating town not far from Florence. This, we are told, is a “Super Tuscan,” (whenever I hear that term I picture a wine bottle with a heroic cape flying out behind it), a blend of sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon, and merlot grapes. In any event, it is delicious, with lovely fruit aromas and complex tastes including dark fruits, tobacco, and more. It is dry and tannic, and we buy two bottles, one to give to my other brother and another to bring to our daughter’s house when we go there for dinner.

Italian wine in a New York State winery? Yes, when the owner of the winery also owns property in Tuscany.

Hunt Country Red $18

Since this is their blend, it changes year to year, and the current iteration is a mix of 55% cabernet franc, 40% merlot, and 5% syrah, with again some grapes coming from California. The server says he defines this wine as a wine to have on “any day that ends with a y.” Ha. It is their top selling red, and we can see why, as it is an easy to drink, fruity red, with lots of cabernet franc flavors like blueberry and plums. I say a good pizza wine, and my brother says “good with stuff.”

Looks like a hunt on the label…

2013 Merlot Proprietor’s Special Reserve $25

Pellegrini strikes again—all the grapes for this wine are from there. We decide this is a wine that needs to be served with food, and just then our server brings out a little plate of bread cubes and olive oil (which they just happen to sell there). Definitely better with food, but still rather earthy, with a chemical basement smell. Not our favorite.

We had the upstairs lounge to ourselves.

The view from the upstairs balcony

Reasons to visit: you are in the Catskills and you’d like to find a nice winery for a tasting; the Tocai Friulano, the Villa Pillo Borgoforte, the Hunt Country Red; a pleasant outdoor upstairs balcony where you can sip a glass of wine while looking at beautiful scenery.

Paumanok Vineyards: Poetry and the Vines September 29, 2017

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Barrel Fermented Chardonnay, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, Chenin Blanc, dog allowed, Dry Riesling, Festival Chardonnay, Festival Red, Lombardi Cheese and Salami, merlot, North Fork, Paumanok Vineyard, Walt Whitman, wine tasting October 3, 2017

https://www.paumanok.com/history.html

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As a lover of poetry, I can’t help but be attracted to a winery that not only uses the Native American name Walt Whitman adopted for Long Island, but also quotes his poetry on their labels. Their pleasant outdoor deck overlooking the vines is another reason to go there, and some of the wines are not bad, either!

It was a perfect day to sit on the outdoor deck.

We went there with my brother and sister-in-law and their large well-behaved dog on a warm sunny day in September, and were happy to discover that they allow leashed dogs on the deck. Our table was next to a bush full of Monarch butterflies, and my sister-in-law informed me it was a butterfly bush. Aha. We did have to walk inside for each new taste, but that also gave us a chance to chat with the servers, who were all quite pleasant, including one young woman from France, who informed us that Paumanok has an internship program with her school in Toulouse. So that explains why the last time I was there I also had a French server.

If you look closely, you’ll see the butterflies all over this butterfly bush.

The menu offers a flight of four whites or four reds, each for $12, so we decided each couple would share a flight of the whites and then the reds. Because my brother bought at least four bottles of wine, the tastings were free. The menu includes other options, which let you taste their sweet wines, their rosés, and their “Grand Vintage,” or premium wines. Almost all of their wines have screw tops, so if you are cork-averse, these are a good option.

The servers were all quite pleasant and helpful.

We also decided to get the Lombardi cheese and salami board for $20, which included a small loaf of bread, olives, dried apricots, and fig cake. They have a small menu of other snacks, and don’t allow outside food.

Our snack tray, moment before we decimated it. No outside food is allowed.

2016 Chenin Blanc $28

Our server proudly pointed out that this is their signature wine, and that theirs is the only completely estate-grown chenin blanc in New York State. They have reason to be excited about this wine, which we all really liked. The aroma is grassy and herbal, and the taste starts fruity with citrus at the end, plus notes of minerality. My brother said it was “like a mountain stream running over granite.” We decided it would be good with food, and found that to be true that evening when we had it with scallop ceviche and grilled striped bass. We bought the fish at Braun’s, of course.

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2015 Festival Chardonnay $18.99

As I surmised, given its position in the flight, this is their steel-fermented chard. My sister-in-law found the aroma sweet, and I thought maybe like orange blossoms. My brother agreed, but added steel pipes. It’s quite dry and light, and evanesces quickly. I said like putting your tongue on a flagpole. We had some disagreement as to how much we liked it, though we thought it would be good with food. My husband suggested mac and cheese, I mentioned carbonara, and my brother said it reminded him of an Italian wine. My sister-in-law didn’t like the after-taste.

The menu says the pour is a half to one ounce, but it seemed more generous than that to me.

2015 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay $24

Because they use neutral French oak barrels for the eight months of fermentation, this is lighter and not as strongly butter-scotchy as some oaked chards. We found if quite pleasant, with aromas of vanilla and butterscotch and a taste that we compared to caramel cone ice cream with a lemony finish. Of course, it would go well with roast chicken.

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2016 Dry Riesling $22

One of the servers was particularly well-informed, and she let us know that this riesling has no residual sugars. The shorter the fermentation time, she told us, the drier the riesling. We liked this white, too. The aroma combines honeysuckle with a touch of something chemical, perhaps camphor. It hits the tongue with tart fruit, including greengage plums and some apricot. You wouldn’t necessarily identify it as a riesling from taste alone, we decided, and you wouldn’t want it with spicy food. But it might be very good with charcuterie.

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2015 Festival Red $19.99

Now we switched to the reds, which they poured into the same glasses we had used for the whites. This is a blend of 52% cabernet sauvignon and 48% merlot, with aromas of cherry and black current, plus spice. Nutmeg? It’s very dry and light, and our comments included “not much there,” “not enough fruit,” and “no complexity.” My sister-in-law detected something “chalky” at the end. We were not excited, though it is drinkable.

2015 Cabernet Franc $28

Ooh, we liked this one much better. Aromas of plums, leather, tobacco, and dark chocolate and tastes of complex fruits made this our favorite of the reds. It has some tannins, and is elegant, not earthy. We thought it would go well with venison, and my brother bought some bottles of it.

2013 Merlot $28

As usual, the merlot smells like black cherry and tastes like cherries and other dark stone fruits. First my brother said it would be a good burger wine, but then he said, “The more I drink it the less I like it.” My husband joked, “That doesn’t sound like a good business plan.” The wine is light and rather monochromatic.

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2014 Cabernet Sauvignon $28

The aroma is similar to the cabernet franc, but the taste is not as good. No depth, we agree, and though it has dark fruit tastes there is no complexity. My sister-in-law says it has a “watery” finish. Meh.

The tasting room is nice, but rather small.

Reasons to visit: lovely outdoor deck with views over the vineyards; pleasant servers; the Chenin Blanc and, to a lesser extent, the other whites; the Cabernet Franc; you can bring your dog if you sit outside.

The prettily rustic entrance

Do the surroundings influence how a wine tastes? We couldn’t have asked for a nicer day.

We enjoyed the view across the vines.

She’s much too polite to ask for any, but my sister-in-law and brother’s dog thought the cheese tray smelled pretty good.

Lieb Cellars: A Beautiful Setting September 12, 2017

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with 8 Hands, Bridge Lane, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, Lieb Cellars, Lieb Reserve, Long Island, Malbec, Meritage, merlot, North Fork, petit verdot, Pinot Blanc, Red Blend, sauvignon blanc, Unoaked Chardonnay, white merlot, wine tasting September 14, 2017

http://liebcellars.com/history/

The Lieb Cellars tasting room is located on bucolic Oregon Road.

In many ways, September is the best month on the North Fork, and our guests agreed. We had gone for a walk to Love Lane and a swim in the Peconic Bay, and now we were seated on the attractive patio of Lieb Cellars on Oregon Road, gazing out at beautiful farm fields. Later we planned to barbeque chicken from 8 Hands, plus eggplant and zucchini and corn from a farm stand. Perhaps we could cap off that menu with a bottle of wine from Lieb. However, we didn’t find any wine that we wanted to take home for that meal.

It was a warm day, so we appreciated the bottle of cool water we were given.

On the other hand, we enjoyed our tasting, if not so much the wines themselves, which was brought to us on trays so we could sit and sip and discuss and enjoy the lovely setting. The very enthusiastic and well-informed server, a young man who is really studying wine, gave us a quick (maybe too quick!) rundown on the wines we had ordered, and then left us to ourselves, just checking back periodically to see if we had any questions.

The menu includes snacks, plus drinks for your designated driver.

The menu offers three options: four whites plus the rosé for $16, five reds for $18, or six Reserve wines for $20. You can also get cheese and charcuterie plates, but we knew we had a lovely selection of cheeses from the Love Lane Cheese Shop waiting for us at home, so we opted not to get anything. They don’t allow you to bring your own food, but they do permit dogs on the outside patio. We decided to share one white flight and one red flight. The good-sized servings came out in attractive round-bottomed glasses, and we also were given a bottle of chilled water plus glasses for the water. Some of the wines are labeled Bridge Lane and others Lieb Reserve, which I abbreviate BL and LR.

The whites and the rose. Each glass sits on a coaster which identifies the wine and the order in which to drink them.

2016 BL White Merlot $18

This is a white wine made from merlot grapes by not giving them any time on the skins. The aroma was nice—sweet, spicy, a bit minerally—but we found the wine itself lacked character.

2015 LR Pinot Blanc $22

They are very proud of their Pinot Blanc, but we were underwhelmed. It is very citrusy and tart, with not much fruit and a slightly chemical aroma.

We liked the patio, which we had to ourselves on this mid-week day. One time we arrived on a weekend and had to leave, as it was full.

2016 BL Unoaked Chardonnay $16

We like this the best of the whites, finding it had a better balance than the others, with some richness. I liked it. It has a honeysuckle aroma and nice lemony notes. It would go well with food, though we felt it would not stand up to the spicy barbeque sauce we planned.

2016 BL Sauvignon Blanc $18

Our server cautioned us that this was not like a New Zealand sauvignon blanc. It was not at all floral, and my brother pronounced it “tame.” It smells almost like candy, with some minerality, and the taste is very light, almost evanescent.

2016 BL Rosé $18

Pink? Not so much. Another very light wine, this had no strawberry aroma. It is available in an eight gallon box.

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2016 BL Red Blend $20

Our server was very proud that he could inform us this was like a right bank Bordeaux, a blend of 44% merlot, 22% cabernet franc, 13% petit verdot, 12% malbec, and 9% cabernet sauvignon. You can sense in the taste that this spent a little time in oak—six months. It’s very soft, with a taste in which cherry predominates. I said it was okay for casual drinking, but my brother opined it was “completely uninteresting, like a person without a face.” Ouch.

Note the dogs in the background.

2015 LR Merlot $24

As we sipped this somewhat classic merlot, we got into a humorous discussion of the movie Sideways, and the damage it did to merlot sales. Nothing wrong with a good merlot, I said, but my brother felt this was a “Kool-Aid version of merlot.” Well, it would be fine with a burger.

2015 LR Cabernet Franc $30

I thought this cabernet franc was not bad, with dark fruit tastes of blackberry and plum, dry, with some tannins though overall rather soft. But I had to agree with my brother that it had no depth.

The Petit Verdot looks as good as it tastes.

2014 LR Petit Verdot $35

Finally, a wine we could agree on. We all liked the petit verdot, made of 98% petit verdot and 2% “mystery grapes,” according to our server. 2014 was a hot season, so it was a good year for ripe red grapes. This wine is interesting, with a distinctive earthy, piney aroma and layers of flavor. We speculated that another brother would like it, since he favors “odd duck” wines. Long finish. If I were to sit and have a glass of wine here, this is the one I would get.

2015 LR Meritage $35

And here is their left bank Bordeaux style: 47% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot, 17% cabernet franc, 4% petit verdot, and 2% malbec. We made our server check the math! It worked out. The aroma is fruity, the taste less so. Given the tannins, it may age into something better, but for the moment it is a bit disappointing for the price. It would be okay as a $12 wine, opined my brother. Well, that’s a problem with North Fork wineries in general—because of the small size of their production, they can’t achieve the economies of scale from other places. Nevertheless, we like to support the local wineries.

The inside room is attractive and comfortable.

Reasons to visit: beautiful setting on a back road, surrounded by farm fields; the Unoaked Chardonnay, the Lieb Reserve Petit Verdot; you can bring your dog.

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Clovis Point: Good Things Come in Small Packages September 3, 2017

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Black Label Chardonnay, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, Clovis Point, Gewurtraminer, Long Island, Malbec, merlot, North Fork, petit verdot, Robert Parker, rose, sauvignon blanc, Spanish cheese, syrah, wine tasting September 6, 2017

http://www.clovispointwines.com/

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“We’re small,” said our very well-informed multi-tasking server, “only 3,500 cases per year.” She added that they have just eight acres of vines, and we discussed the issues Croteaux is having with Southold town over how many acres you need to have in order to do a tasting room. But Clovis Point is in the town of Riverhead, so no problem. Small also describes the one-ounce pour (which she warned us about in advance), but not the reputation of this boutique winery, which has garnered a number of high ratings from wine judges.

One view of the pleasant tasting room

The tasting room, a former potato barn, is a nice size, and there is also a covered porch to one side. The walls are adorned with a display of art for sale, so the space functions as a gallery as well. The flower garden leading to the door is also esthetically pleasing!

The art on the walls is for sale.

Some of the pretty flowers by the entrance

The menu offers two flights: a Cold Flight of four wines for $13 and a Red Flight of four reds for $15, plus a few premium wines at $5 per taste. We were with friends, and decided each couple would do all eight wines, given that the pour is so small. We also bought a generous tray of Spanish cheeses and baguette slices for $12, plus an eight-dollar jar of delicious fig spread, much of which we took home. While we often don’t order food with our tastings, it is true that having wine with food enhances the experience.

We had pretty much decimated the cheese plate before I thought to take a picture. It was very good.

Some nice options on the snack menu

2016 Sauvignon Blanc $28

“This is a seasonal wine,” our server informed us, “and we usually sell out of it by winter.” I can see why, as it is a light, easy to drink summery wine, with a floral and mineral aroma and peach taste. Steel fermented, it is tart and dry.

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2015 Chardonnay $25

Another steel-fermented wine, this chardonnay is mixed with 3% gewürztraminer, which might account for a touch of pineapple taste. The aroma is mineral, earth, and pine, and our friend says it tastes like a Granny Smith apple to her. We agree. Our server explains that because it is steel fermented it does not undergo malolactic fermentation, and therefore gives you the “pure expression” of the grape.

The arrowhead on the label is a Clovis point, a type of prehistoric arrowhead.

2015 Black Label Chardonnay $28

A nice touch—before each new taste, the server rinses the glass with a bit of the next wine. This is better than when they rinse the glasses with water, as a little water always is left behind and can influence the taste of the wine. And when they don’t rinse the glasses at all, you may get a bit of the previous wine mixing with your next taste. In any event, this chardonnay is a mixture of steel and oak fermented wine, so it is not heavily oaked. Not being fans of oaky chards, we are pleased with this one, which has lots of citrus taste and only a touch of vanilla. It’s not fruity.

You can see how small the pour is.

Rosé $22.50

Also seasonal, according to our server, the rosé tends to sell out by the end of summer. It is composed of 100% cabernet franc, and is made by the saignée method, where the grapes sit on the skins for three days. This is such a light rosé that we agree one might, if tasting it with eyes closed, not know it was a rosé. It’s steel fermented and quite dry, with only a faint strawberry aroma and a taste more like raspberry than strawberry.

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2014 Merlot $29

All the reds are aged in either French or Hungarian oak, we are told, as our server puts out fresh glasses for the red tasting. A blend of 85% merlot, 8% cabernet franc, 2% syrah, 2% malbec, 2% petit verdot, and 1% cabernet sauvignon, this is not as complex or deep as one would think given all the ingredients. However, it is a good merlot, dry and pleasant to drink. “It’s my after work wine,” notes our server. Yes, it would be relaxing to sit and sip a glass of this, perhaps with some cheese.

They have two bars for when the room gets busy.

2014 Cabernet Franc $35

Yum. This time I agree with Robert Parker, who has given this wine a score of 90%. A blend of 96% cabernet franc with 3% cabernet sauvignon and 1% petit verdot, this has fascinating aromas of mushroom, forest, and smoke, plus what our friend describes as “really ripe plums.” It is delicious, dry at the end with some nice tannins, tasting of over-ripe cherries. Nicely complex. If I were here for a music event, this is the wine I would get by the glass.

You can see how small the bottle is for the Syrah and the Malbec.

2014 Syrah $34

Syrah is usually blended with other wines, but Clovis Point decided to try bottling it by itself. Since they didn’t have that much of it, they also decided to use 500 ml. bottles, so that price is quite high. I insist that it smells like black olives, and my friend adds that it actually smells meaty. It is dry, tannic, and spicy. I like it.

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2014 Malbec $34

Meh. Another 500ml. bottle, this is a blend of 94% malbec, plus 4% merlot, 1% cabernet sauvignon, and 1% syrah. It has a nice fruity aroma, but the wine itself is rather light, with no depth. “Flat,” says my friend. I add that it lacks body.

A view of the porch

Reasons to visit: small winery with a nice room and some good choices; the 2015 chardonnay, the Black Label chardonnay, the 2014 Cabernet Franc; you are the designated driver but you want to taste the wines where the pour is small.

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The grapes are starting to ripen.

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Old Field Vineyards: Counting their Chickens August 11, 2017

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Barrel Fermented Chardonnay, Blush de Noir, cabernet franc, Cacklin Rose, Commodore Perry, Little Creek Oyster Farm, Long Island, merlot, Mostly Steel Chardonnay, North Fork wine tasting, Old Field Vineyards, rooster tail, sauvignon blanc August 14, 2017

http://www.theoldfield.com/

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If you want to feel as though you are really out in the country, head almost all the way to Greenport and stop into the Old Field Vineyards, through the gate, past the barn and the Port-a-Pottie, to the rustic tasting room and open porch. Old Field is one of our favorite wineries to bring guests when the summer weather cooperates, since their porch is a charming place to sit and have a tasting as you look out onto the capacious lawn and watch children and chickens running around. Yes, chickens—and also roosters and a rather charismatic duck—have free rein of the place during the week (on weekends, when it is more crowded, they tend to be kept in the coop), and they sometimes will wander up onto the porch, where they thought my cousin’s hat straw might have been edible.

Off in the distance you can see the picnic tables and kids running around.

It wasn’t, but the wines were quite potable. The menu offers several options: Sample our Rosés (2) for $4.00, Sample our Chardonnays (2) for $6.00, Sample our Reds (4) for $12.00, or Sample our Everyday Mixed Flight (4) for $10.00. We had just eaten many oysters in Greenport at the Little Creek Oyster Farm, so we didn’t need snacks, but this is one place where you may bring a snack, or even a picnic. One cousin, S., wanted to try one rosé and one chardonnay, and the friendly and accommodating server told her that was no problem. The other cousin, R., opted for the red tasting, and we chose the mixed one, so we were able to try all the wines—plus one extra which was not included!

I hope people heed this sign.

One rooster.

Another rooster.

We chatted with our server about the fowl, and he noted that they actually serve a purpose, providing both pest control, as they gobble up bugs, and fertilizer for the vines. If you go on their web site, you will see that this is not the only part of their dedication to all things natural. The vineyard also has an interesting family history, so it is worthwhile to ask about it. We were busy chatting amongst ourselves this time, so we didn’t get into those stories. Also note that the following descriptions of the wines are not exactly in the order in which they appear on the menu, but are rather in the order in which we tasted them.

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2014 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay $28

This was one cousin’s first taste, and she liked it. The aroma is butterscotch-y, but the taste is not too buttery, since it is a blend of oak and steel fermented chards. It has some light citrus notes as well.

Blush de Noir $18

Our tasting began with this rosé made from pinot noir grapes. We all agreed it was very light, with lots of grapefruit aroma and not a lot of fruit taste, and surprisingly lemony for a rosé. My cousin thought it could go with the pesto I had made a couple of nights ago, or seafood in a rich sauce, like scallops Alfredo.

This chicken was quite sure my cousin’s hat was edible.

2014 Rooster Tail $20

My other cousin’s tasting started with this red, a blend of mostly merlot with a little cabernet franc. “Nice, potable, everyday wine,” was his judgment, and we all concurred. The aroma combines cherry and tobacco with a bit of funkiness and the taste is dry, with cherry and not a lot of fruit. We got this one in our tasting as well.

2014 Mostly Steel Chardonnay $23

Comparing this chardonnay with the other one led to lots of conversations about oak vs. steel, and their various virtues and shortcomings. Overall, we thought this was the preferable chard here, clean and refreshing, with some green apple taste and lots of citrus. R commented on its “up front flavor.” S laughed that she had said the other chard smelled “woody” and this one smelled “metallic.”

The Cacklin’ Rose is quite dark, compared to their other rose.

2014 Cacklin’ Rosé $16

Venturing on her second taste, S commented that this smelled pleasantly like “old library.” It spends 24 hours on the skins, so is a more flavorful rosé than the other one. We all liked it, and I noted that it tastes like macerated strawberries.

2013 Merlot $26

The server mentioned that this was made from two clones of merlot, so we asked him to explain what that meant. They used to have two different clones of merlot, each grown in a separate field, but they discovered that one grew better than the other, so the weaker one was ripped out. As a result, this particular mixture ends as of 2015. Too bad, because it was quite yummy. In fact, we bought two bottles of it. It has lots of fruit, and S said she tasted cranberry, and we added yes, and also ripe cherries.

I love the mis-matched table clothes on the bar.

2013 Cabernet Franc $38

We all agreed that this, from R’s tasting, was the weakest of the reds, described by R as “watery.” It evanesces, I added, making use of my favorite word this summer. It has an aroma of red fruits and forest floor.

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2010 Commodore Perry $38

Named for the illustrious ancestor of the current owners of the vineyard, this is a wine they only make in good years. Cherry, tobacco, chocolate, thyme, juniper or bay leaf were some of the taste descriptors we used for this merlot. Also, “serious legs” and “very good.” We also learned that it was quite appropriate to name a wine for Commodore Perry, since he was known to carry wine with him on his voyages to give as gifts.

2015 Sauvignon Blanc

Speaking of gifts, after we paid for our tastings and the two bottles we bought, our cousin gave our server a very nice tip, at which point he offered did we want to taste anything else? We looked over the menu and realized that we had tasted every wine on it (nine in all, counting Rooster Tail twice). Ah, he said, but how about this one that is not on the tasting menu, producing a bottle of Charging Goose Sauvignon Blanc. S, noting that she had grown up on a farm, said it smelled like straw. We all liked this, too, and decided its lemon flavor would have gone well with those oysters we had eaten earlier.

Charging Goose? Maybe that’s why they have chickens and ducks, but no more geese.

Reasons to visit: you want to really feel as though you are out in the country; you want a place where you can bring a picnic and let children run around; you like chickens; the Rooster Tail, the Mostly Steel Chardonnay, the Cacklin’ Rosé, the 2013 Merlot, the Commodore Perry.

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The netting on the grapes prevents the birds from eating them.

Baiting Hollow Farm Vineyard: Wine (and Beer) on Tap July 19, 2017

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Baiting Hollow Farm Vineyard, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, Mirage, North Fork, Pink Satin, Riesing, White Satin, wine tasting July 21, 2017

http://www.baitinghollowfarmvineyard.com/

Though it looks like a Nineteenth Century farmhouse, most of the building is quite new.

Yes, a number of the wines here flow from a tap, and so does a selection of local beers. And if that doesn’t sound to you like a winery that is serious about its wines…it certainly felt that way to us. On the other hand, if you read the tasting notes on the reverse of the menu, it certainly seems as though someone cares about the juice of the grape. Then again, the youthful servers, while perfectly pleasant—and one of them was engagingly chatty—didn’t have much to say about the wines, needing to check some notes, for example, to tell us what percentages of various grapes went into a blend. And that seemed to suit the customers we saw just fine. Most of them appeared to be visiting Baiting Hollow as you would a convenient bar, ordering a couple of tastes or glasses to take to a table to have, perhaps, with a cheese tray.

The server is filling a beer or wine glass from the taps.

The tasting room, situated inside what looks like an old farm house (but is mostly not, as we remember passing by as it was being built), has a small bar but quite a few tables and seating areas, and there is also an extensive outdoor patio which looks like it can accommodate a large crowd. There’s also a barn on the property where they care for rescue horses. A portion of the proceeds from certain bottles of wine helps to fund this endeavor. The place also features an array of objets for sale.

Objets for sale.

The tasting menu offers one taste for $4, three for $9, four for $11, or six for $16. There are also three more expensive wines available for $5 per taste. We decided to share one tasting of six wines, as that would enable us to sample most of their offerings. It was a wise choice, for the pour was often quite generous. We took our time, happy to be in air conditioning and out of the July heat and humidity.

One view of the bar.

2015 White Satin $27.99

“I love this wine,” enthused our server. “It is very like a pinot grigio.” She was right, we decided, as we sipped this dry, minerally, and refreshing white blend (of what, we don’t know). The aroma was both floral and mineral. The wine also had a trace of a salty taste. It would be fine with raw oysters or clams.

2013 Riesling $26.99

Though both the menu and our server described this as “off dry,” we found it a bit too sweet. Though the aroma had the honeysuckle smell riesling often has—and no cat pee!—the taste was so light that, blindfolded, I’m not sure I would identify it as a riesling. I did detect some peach flavor. The mouth feel was interesting, however, as it was rather unctuous. (We decided to skip the chardonnay, as it is oaked.)

The Pink Satin looks very pretty on the zinc-topped bar.

2016 Pink Satin $22.99

Given the current rage for rosé, we thought we should try one of Baiting Hollow’s three rosés, and so asked our server which was the driest. She suggested Pink Satin, and it was a good choice. This could certainly be a summer sipper, “not too sweet and not too tart,” opined my husband. We then had a discussion of the aroma, which I insisted had notes of gasoline, as well as fruit and mineral. The taste made me think of macerated strawberries, and also of Croteaux 3. Good.

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2007 Merlot $26.99

With each taste, our server offered us a clean glass if we desired, so when we switched to reds we accepted her offer. This was one of the wines with extensive notes in the tasting menu, so we were particularly interested to try it. The aroma was nice, mostly cherry and chocolate. The wine itself, however, was very simple, with slight tannins and something unpleasant at the end. Maybe a woody taste? “It might be okay with food,” opined my tasting buddy, “but nothing too overpowering.” I agreed. The menu notes that this could “bottle age for countless years.” I would say, don’t count on it.

The horse which provided the name for the wine.

Mirage $27.99

This Bordeaux-style blend of 26% cabernet franc, 44% cabernet sauvignon, and 30% merlot is one of the wines the profit from which supports their horse rescue operation. As we admired it in the glass, we felt it had nice legs and a pretty color. The aroma was less promising, with only faint whiffs of cherry and tobacco. The taste was also unexceptional, though it is nicely dry, with some fruit tastes.

2013 Cabernet Franc $28.99

One thing we noticed was that the prices are all quite reasonable, with only a few of their premium wines over $30. This was our favorite red of the day, dry, with good tannins, and tastes of dark fruit. It would pair well with lamb chops. It also smells really good, like plums and other dark fruits. But we did feel as though it had a very short finish. “It evanesces,” I declared.

One part of the tasting house.

Reasons to visit: it’s the first winery you come to on Sound Avenue after you leave the Expressway, so it’s a convenient place to start or end a tasting tour; they have lots of entertainment (check the web site) and food options; beer on tap in case you’re traveling with a non-wine-drinker; reasonably priced wines; the White Satin, the Pink Satin, the Cabernet Franc; you can contribute to their horse rescue operation and possibly visit the horses. However, this is not a place to come if you are interested in serious conversations about wine!

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Just one part of the extensive outdoor patio area.

Just a few rules…

Castello di Borghese: A Perfect Pairing July 8, 2017

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with cabernet franc, Cabernet Franc Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, Castello di Borghese, chardonnay, Founder's Field Sauvignon Blanc, Harvest Moon Shellfish Co., Merlot Reserve, Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon, North Fork, oysters, Pinot Noir Select, riesling, Rose Pinot Noir, wine tasting July 12, 2017

https://castellodiborghese.com/

The Harvest Moon Shellfish Company truck is a sign that you should stop by Castello di Borghese for some oysters and wine.

I headlined this entry “A Perfect Pairing,” thinking about the Harvest Moon oysters we had with the Borghese 2016 Sauvignon Blanc, but it could also apply to the couple we went there with—our son and daughter-in-law. We all enjoyed the oysters, which are on offer every weekend until October 1, for $28 a dozen, and the wine, which went perfectly with them. The oysters were small, but sweet and briny and creamy, and the lemon in the wine complemented them beautifully. It was a perfect July day, and we were happy to sit outside near the vines and enjoy our bottle of wine and plates of oysters. Unfortunately, they don’t do tastings outside, so we had to go in when we decided we wanted to do a tasting as well. (I also would urge the winery to install an attractive fence to screen the hose, etc., along the wall of the building.)

A view of the outside seating area.

When we went in to examine the tasting menu, we found two options: five Estate wines for $15, or five Reserve wines for $25. We decided each couple would share one of each, so we could taste most of their wines, though we did miss a few. Our server was enthusiastic and knowledgeable, happy to share both what he knew and what he liked about each wine. The tasting room is about medium in size, with a bar along one wall and barrels with tops one can stand around on the other, so if you want to sit for a tasting this is not your place. Also, they don’t allow outside food (at least at the moment, when they are featuring the oysters). This is a winery which takes its wine very seriously, and is happy when visitors do the same. After all, the Borgheses bought the vineyard from the Hargraves, who were the first to plant a vineyard on the North Fork, back in 1973. The Estate wines are marked with an *.

The expert shucker from Harvest Moon.

.* 2015 Chardonnay $18

A good place to begin a tasting is this steel fermented chardonnay which is so light and lemony you might mistake it for a sauvignon blanc. We smelled mineral and peach and toast aromas and one of us suggested it tasted like star fruit. Our daughter-in-law, who is thoughtful about food and wine pairings, thought it would go well with Greek food or a corn salad. We agreed.

2016 Founder’s Field Sauvignon Blanc $29

This is not the Sauvignon Blanc we had with our oysters—that one is cheaper and we actually liked it better. This one is fermented half in oak and half in steel. It is light and dry, with some citrus and melon tastes and a long finish. “Blue cheese,” we agreed, would go well with it.

.*2014 Riesling $26

Not unexpectedly, this smells like flowers and cat pee. Though our server described it as “off dry,” we all found it too sweet for our taste. Our son and daughter-in-law said it tasted just like “sweet lime,” which I’ve never had, but I trust their taste buds, and thought it could pair well with watermelon juice and tequila in a margarita-type cocktail.

2014 Pinot Noir Select $50

We switched to the reds on the Reserve list, as there were no other whites we wanted to try and they have quite a few reds. The aroma is nice, of dark fruits, and the taste is also pleasant, with some notes of black pepper as well as plums. It reminded us a bit of a Chianti, and so we thought it would go well with pasta.

.*Rosé Pinot Noir $20

At the urging of our server, our tasting companions sampled this rosé (we had been given a sip of another one as we were trying to choose a wine to go with our oysters). However, they were “not excited” about it. Steel fermented, this is an uncomplicated dry rosé, with a taste of macerated strawberry that, I said, “evanesces.” We then began to apply that word to all sorts of things.

2015 Merlot Reserve $36

We found lots of aromas in this one—spice, pomegranate, charred wood, prunes, and, believe it or not, barbequed chicken were some of our comments. So then of course we decided it would pair well with barbequed chicken, one with a fruity sauce. Nice finish.

.*2014 Cabernet Franc $35

Good one! With aromas of prune plum and cedar, and tastes of blueberry and spice, this one got us thinking of food pairings again. We thought lamb chops, and then our daughter-in-law offered flank steak with chimichurri sauce or spiced chick peas (for vegetarians). Also good ideas.

.*2015 Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon $25

A Bordeaux-style blend of 53% merlot, 44% cabernet sauvignon, and 3% pinot noir, this is, according to our server, a very popular wine. We can see why. The aroma is earthy and herbal, with scents of chestnuts and fruit, and the taste is equally appealing, with lots of fruit, and just the right amount of dryness. Food pairing? How about spaghetti with mussels in a tomato sauce.

2014 Cabernet Franc Reserve $44

You can definitely smell that this was aged in oak, with its cedar/oak aroma, plus fruit, spice, and something funky like mushrooms. I decide it is mouth-watering. It has lots of flavor, with dark fruits, and would go well with duck.

2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve $44

Our server now gets into the whole food pairing thing we’ve been doing, and suggests this would go well with “a porterhouse on the grill.” We talk it over, and once again our daughter-in-law has the perfect pairing idea—hamburger with truffle fries. One of us compares the aroma to “dusty closet.” Not sure about that. However, this is another pleasant red, with nice fruit, though not very complex.

The winery also has an art gallery.

The art in the gallery.

Reasons to visit: a place to get serious about wine; oysters from Harvest moon until October 1; the winery also has an art gallery where you can view and buy local art; the Sauvignon Blanc, the Pinot Noir Select, the Cabernet Franc, the Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon blend, the Cabernet Franc Reserve.

NoFo Wineaux

Wine notes from Long Island's North Fork

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