Tag Archives: chardonnay

Lenz Winery 8/25/12

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with , , , , , , ,

The first round at Lenz

http://www.lenzwine.com/

After a 28-mile morning bike ride, we are ready for some refreshment, and so we head to the Lenz Winery, on the main road, one of a row of wineries.  They have an attractive barn-like tasting room, as well as some outside tables, and they sell some of the art that is on their walls as well as a small selection of wine-related tchatchkas.  A chalk board suggests one ask about their cheese tray, but we don’t.  There are two tasting menus, the Estate wines, 6 for $10, and the Premium wines, 5 for $14.  Being good at sharing, we order one of each, and our well-informed and bright server asks if we would like him to coordinate them so we can taste the wines in groups.  We do!

The first round consists of three wines, the 2010 Blanc de Noir ($15), the 2006 Cuvee ($30) and the 2008 Gewurztraminer ($20).

1)  The Blanc de Noir is a rose, with a sweet beginning and a tart finish, and a taste of green tomatoes.  It would work with oysters.

2) Champagne!  The 06 Cuvee is a methode champagnoise sparking wine that is quite good.  They use pinot noir grapes.  Although the aroma reminds us of cut grass that has been left in a pile for too long, the flavor is dry and good, with notes of green apple.  This wine, the server tells us, is aged for 6 months.

3) In the past we have liked their gewurz, but this one does not thrill us.  Neither here nor there, is one comment.  Some sweetness, some spice, a bit of ginger.

The second grouping lets us compare three chardonnays.  I love this type of tasting, since it is always so fascinating to see how the same grape can be so different depending on how it is treated.

4) 08 White Label Chardonnay          $12

This mostly steel fermented chard has a honeysuckle aroma, and though it is a bit sweet is is nicely balanced and not too citrusy.  Very buyable!

5) Gold Label Chardonnay         $20

This is an oak-aged chard, and has the expected vanilla/caramel notes with a roast pear aroma.  It starts tart and ends a bit acidic.  Though it has a bit too much flavor for simple foods, it might be really good with a seafood in cream sauce dish.

6) Old Vines Chardonnay          $25

“Old vines” because the vines are 25 years old, this variety is “only made when we have good grapes,” we are told.  This is in the tradition of a white Burgundy, with flavors of spice, pears, and some vanilla.  Excellent!

Now we move on to the reds, with a grouping of two cabernet sauvignons and a merlot/cab sauv blend, again facilitating fascinating comparisons.

7) 08 Cabernet Sauvignon          $23

The aroma reminds us of one of our favorite NoFo treats:  Briermere blackberry pie!  Soft, simple, and uncomplicated, this would make a pleasant sipping wine.  Good!

8)  08 Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot (plus other grapes) blend     $17

Another right bank Bordeaux.  We feel this could use more time to age, as it is very soft and dry, with no aroma.  Not bad for an everyday Bordeaux, however.

9)  2002 Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon          $40

Yum!  The server tells us this wine has had 10 years in the bottle to “calm down,” an interesting way to put it.  He also says it could sit another 10-15 years, but we doubt that.  We go on to have a discussion of the cabernet sauvignon grape, which, he says, has thicker skins than other grapes, and so needs more time to ripen, meaning that it is also more subject to the vagaries of weather and thus more difficult to work with.  They’ve done a good job with this one, which has lots of fruit, an interestingly complicated aroma, but not much tannin.  Though expensive, this could be worth the price.

The last grouping pairs two merlots.

10)  07 Estate Select Merlot          $23

How can a wine smell like coconut suntan lotion?  I don’t know, but this one does!  Though it is dry, we taste lots of fruit and sense plenty of tannins.  We like this one, and buy two bottles, one for a friend and one for us.

11)  02 Old Vines Merlot          $55

We sense some of the earthy terroir aroma of the Long Island merlot, but only a little.  Again, this is dry, with tastes of black cherry and chocolate.  Though good, we don’t think it is worth the price.

Reasons to visit:  some good reds, especially the Old Vines Cab and the Estate Select Merlot; the chance to do some comparative tastings across grape types; the Old Vines Chard.

Waters Crest 8/11/12

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

http://www.waterscrestwinery.com/

Waters Crest has probably the worst-located winery on the North Fork, in a strip mall around the corner from the Southold town dump, which is too bad, because their wines are generally quite good.  The tasting room is small but pleasant, with a selection of gift items including some cute t-shirts and a cheese tray for $9.99. Jim Waters makes all his own wines, but buys his grapes from local growers, not having his own vineyard.  He started as a home winemaker, and, as we’ve learned from talking to other winemakers, that’s often the first step to becoming a professional wine-maker. (The server, Jenny, also tells another couple how Jim was a volunteer at Ground Zero, and after that decided to follow his dream.)  We bonded with Jim and his wife on our first visit, when we discovered they had looked at and contemplated buying the house we eventually bought in Mattituck!

The tasting menu now includes all seven of their wines, for $15, or you can buy individual tastes of whites for $2 each or reds for $3 each.  We opt to share one tasting.

1)  2011 Rose          $24.99

This is a simple and refreshing rose, with a fresh strawberry aroma and taste, fairly tart.

2)  2011 Chardonnay          $18.99

Although it is steel fermented, it has some interesting notes of vanilla and caramel which makes us wonder if it spent any time in oak, though Jenny says no.  It has a pleasantly lemony finish.

3)  2010 Reserve Chardonnay          $25.99

Delicious.   A somewhat smoky, mineral aroma makes us wonder how this will taste, but the wine has a nice balance of fruit and is not too oaky.  Jenny says it spent 10 months in new French oak barrels.

4)  2008 Merlot          $39.99

We get new glasses for the reds, always a nice touch.  This is a lovely soft Merlot, with a berry aroma and dark plum flavor, without too much of the North Fork dirt flavor.  Not much in the way of tannins.

5)  Due Sorelle          $34.99

Two sisters–named for the Waters’ daughters Michelle and Lauren–combines two wines, Merlot and Cabernet Franc to good effect, with lots of yummy pepper and fruit flavors including cherry.  Mild and mellow, this is dry despite the good fruit flavors.

6)  2008 Campagnia Rosso          $49.99

This is a right bank Bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot.  The aroma is somewhat funky and off-putting (earthworm?) though the taste is better than the aroma. However, it is not our favorite of the wines.

7)  2007 Cabernet Franc Grand Vin          $39.99

Though the aroma of this is also somewhat earthy, the flavor is excellent, lots of ripe fruit with some mineral on the finish.  We buy a bottle!

Reasons to visit:  some nice wines, especially the 07 Cab Franc Grand Vin and 10 Reserve Chard; intimate setting, with the frequent chance to chat with the owner.

Bedell Cellars 8/7/12

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting, Uncategorized and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

http://www.bedellcellars.com/

If someone ever gives an award to a winery for attention to design, Bedell should get it.  From the pretty flower-surrounded parking lot to the attractive type-face of their signs to the arty labels on their wines, it is clear that someone is paying attention to appearance, and doing it very well.  The tasting room is well-designed, and the outside veranda lovely.  Even the servers wear a “uniform”–checked shirts with the Bedell logo.  Happily, the wines are equally well-designed!  We are here on a warm late summer afternoon with our daughter, son-in-law, and a now 14-month-old distraction, so not all of my notes are as comprehensive as they could be.  However, many of the technical details of their wines are readily available on their web page.

There are two tasting options (as well as the usual ability to buy wines by the glass or the bottle):   The Estate tasting includes 5 wines from their lower priced line for $10, while the Premium tasting gives you 5 tastes of their higher priced wines for $15.  We opt for one flight per couple, with one pair trying the premium and the other the estate so we can taste all ten wines.  The pour is small, but since we are there at the end of the day (4:30), a couple of times we get the benefit of a little extra to empty a bottle!  The servers are very knowledgeable and pleasant, and we also enjoy chatting with another young couple with a baby in tow, and our granddaughter enjoys meeting the calm and very friendly golden lab who is allowed into the room just to say hello.

Estate Tasting:

1)  2010 First Crush White          $18

This is a mostly steel-fermented blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling that is light and tart and refreshing.  The aroma is of mineral and chalk, and the fruit is subtle but there, with a pleasant dryness.

2)  2011 Chardonnay          $25

The server explains that this wine spends some time in neutral oak barrels (in other words, in barrels that have already been used for previous fermentations, and so have lost much of their oaky taste) in order to give the wine a better texture, and indeed, it does have a pleasant mouth feel.  The tasting notes also point out that beach stones are used in the casks, which we learn help to keep the cask full.  How much, if anything, they do for the flavor is debatable.  The flavor is pleasantly citrusy.

3)  2011 Taste Rose          $18

This is a light, fairly nondescript blend of Merlot, Cab Franc and Cab Sauv.   Can’t compete with Croteaux’s roses.

4)  2010 First Crush Red          $18

This is a Beaujolais Nouveau style of light red, and would be nice slightly chilled with a roast chicken.  The aroma has some of that North Fork earthiness, but it tastes better than it smells.

5)  2009 Merlot          $20

Nice berry aroma, and a typical Long Island Merlot, though without the earth flavor that is sometimes too prevalent.

Premium Tasting

1)  2011 Sparkling Rose          $35

This is NOT a champagne-style sparkling wine, but rather one made by injecting CO2 into the tanks.  It is a refreshing blend of Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, and Merlot, but tastes a bit too much like a pink soda to me.

2)  2011 Viognier          $35

Winner!  This is a delicious white with lots of citrus and pleasing amount of complexity, despite a somewhat funky aroma.  Since I have no earlier notes on this wine, my guess is it is a new one for Bedell.

3)  2010 Gallery         $40

The Viognier grape also appears in this blend, which adds Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc to the mix.  The aroma reminds me of lemon candy, and the taste has a sweetness of ripe fruit to it, but it is a pleasant wine.

4)  2010 Taste Red          $35

Yum.  The server notes that this was aged for 12 months, and is a Bordeaux-style blend of Merlot, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Cab Franc, and Malbec.  The aroma is intensely berry berry, and the taste is lovely, with lots of fruit but dry.  Good tannins.

5)  Musee          $75  (!)

This rather pricey wine is also a Bordeaux blend, with an aroma of coffee and plum.  It spends 14 months in a combination of oak and old oak, and is a blend of Merlot, Cab Sauv, and Petit Verdot.  Though it is a good wine, with some complexity and good fruit flavor and a nice finish, we feel it is not worth the price.

Our son-in-law buys the First Crush Red, a good choice, we all agree.

Reasons to visit:  beautiful room and attractive labels; good though expensive wines; First Crush Red.

Mattebella Vineyards

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

http://www.mattebellavineyards.com/

May 19, 2012

I’m catching up on past entries, made before I started this blog.  We visited Mattebella on a beautiful sunny day, our second visit.  This is a fairly new winery, and when we came last year we were almost the only ones there, but now it is more crowded.  Chris, who with her husband owns and operates the winery, remembers us.  She’s lovely–very friendly and outgoing, happy to chat about her wines.  The vineyard is named for their children–Matt and Bella!  Although the tasting room is a tiny shack, they have plenty of chairs and tables on a rustic patio, close to the vines.  They have six wines, at $2-4 per taste, served in lovely round-bottomed glasses.  We opt to share a full flight.  Although Chris is being helped by John, who is very knowledgeable, service is slow.  We actually see one couple get up and leave, having not been served, but it is a lovely warm day and we are in no hurry.

1)  08 Chardonnay          $16

An aroma of honey and, surprisingly, spinach.  We taste apricot and red grapefruit, but it is a bit sweet.  Maybe too sweet to have with a meal…but it would make a good aperitif wine, as it is nice for sipping, with a pleasant finish.

2) 09 Chardonnay          $17

A little plate of creamy brie and sliced baguette comes with this wine, and Chris urges us to taste it both before and after we have the brie. Good move.  The aroma is grassy, and a bit like white grape juice (I know, shocking, a drink made from grapes that smells like grape juice!).  The wine is tart with a light oak taste and some zingy acid at the finish.  After the brie, it is definitely less acid, with nice fruit as the flavors blend in the back of my mouth.  This wine is light, and good cold, and clearly good with brie.

Chris tells us that all their grapes are hand-picked, and they use all organic growing methods.

3) 2010 Rose          $16

This rose is 90% Merlot, with aroma and taste that reminds us of watermelon.  Actually, it reminds me of a watermelon infused with vodka I once had (and I’m not going to say anything more about that).  There’s a slight tingle, and it is a simple, nice wine, but not as good as Croteaux’s roses.

4)  Famiglia           $15

This is a good basic red table wine, which would be fine with pizza.  There’s an aroma of tobacco and dark fruits, and the taste is dry with some minerality.

5)  07 Old World Blend          $30

This is a Bordeaux blend–Merlot, Cab Franc, Cab Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot–and we bought a couple of bottles last time we were here.  The aroma includes tobacco and the earthy terroir typical of the North Fork.  The flavor is interesting, with some cherry, and a good balance of dry and sweet.

6)  08 Old World Blend          $30

Another blend–Merlot, Cab Sauvignon, and Cab Franc.  We are served a little plate of bread, cheese, and fig jam with this wine, and find that there is a fig taste in the wine that is enhanced by the fig jam.  Fascinating.  Other than that, we taste black cherry, and sense again a slight earth aroma.

We buy 2 bottles of Famiglia, one 09 Chardonnay, and one 08 Old World.  Now I just have to get some fig jam.  I wonder if Briermere carries it?

Reasons to visit:  personal service; the chance to see how some of the wines taste with food; support for a mostly-organic vineyard; Famiglia, 08 Old World Blend, 09 Chard.

The Old Field Vineyards

Posted by nofowineaux in Uncategorized and tagged with , , , ,

7/8/12

http://www.theoldfield.com/

Old Field is a really charming place, with a rustic feel.  In the summer, you can stand on the deck outside the tasting room or sit at a picnic table surrounded by trees and look at the chickens running around (they sometimes have eggs for sale) and the old barn buildings.  The tables are covered with calico tablecloths, decorated with pretty wildflower bouquets. In the winter we have had fascinating conversations with the owner about the history of the farm and the ghosts that sometimes haunt it!  This time we are here with our son after an afternoon on the water.  They offer three tastings:  3 whites for $4, 4 reds for $6, or a mixed tasting of 5 for $7.  The servers know a lot about the wines and are fun to talk with.  Actually, almost every time we come here we end up in interesting conversations, one time with two women who were bicycling from the South Fork, across Shelter Island, and through some of the wineries. The North Fork is great for bicycling, by the way, with good bike routes and mostly level ground.

1) 2009 Chardonnay           $20

This is a mostly steel fermented chard, but some of it spends a short time in oak.  The aroma is lemon and apricot, and the flavor is pleasant, typically chardonnay.

2)  2009 Barrel Chardonnay    $25

This one has been through malolactic fermentation, and is definitely more assertive than the first white.  It is creamy but not too buttery.

3)  Rooster Tail                    $18

We’ve often bought this red by the case, as it is a good table wine and goes well with lots of meats, especially with lamb.  The aroma is berry, and the flavor black cherry/plum.

4)  Cacklin Rose 2009          $18

Chickens–cacklin–Rosey–rose–You should be humming a tune right now if you’re of a certain age.  Anyway, this is a good rose, with aromas of strawberry and watermelon and some melony sweetness, though the finish is rather sharp.

5)  Cabernet Franc 2007       $32

This one is similar to a Pinot, with an aroma of mixed berries and some mineral.  Not a sipping wine, but would be good with food, with enough tannins to stand up to steak.  Good!

6)  2005 Merlot                    $25

The Merlot was aged 24 months in French oak, and does have the typical earthy aroma of North Fork Merlots, though not unpleasantly so.  The flavor is also somewhat earthy, and we decide it would be great with roasted portobello mushrooms for some reason.  The finish is dry.

7)  2004 Merlot                  $22

This one spent 30 months in oak, and the aroma strangely reminds us of hot pepper jelly!  The flavor also has some sweet pepper notes and a bit of mustiness.

Reasons to visit:  really rustic setting–barns!  ducks!  chickens!; Rooster Tail red wine, worth buying by the case for an everyday red; laid-back feeling; sometimes you can buy eggs, too.

Pellegrini Vineyard

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with , ,

June 16, 2012

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

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

1)      2009 Select Chardonnay $14.99

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

2)      2010 Gewürztraminer    $19.99

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

3)      2008 Steakhouse Red  $16.99

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

4)      2007 Vintner’s Pride Encore      $39.99

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

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

Shinn Vineyard

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with , , ,

June 30, 2012

http://shinnestatevineyards.com/

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

1)       2011 Sauvignon Blanc, $22

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

2)      2010 Chardonnay $19

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

3)      2011 Coalescence  $16

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

4)      09 Estate Merlot $26

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

5)      Wild Boar Doe $31

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

6)      2008 Nine Barrels Reserve Merlot $42

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

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