Duck Walk Vineyards: Quack Quack January 12, 2019

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Absenthe, cabernet sauvignon, Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, chardonnay, dogs allowed outside, Duck Walk Vineyards, Malbec, merlot, Merlot Reserve, North Fork, Pinot Meunier, rose, sauvignon blanc, snacks allowed, Southampton White, White Port, wine tasting January 14, 2019

Duck Walk Vineyards: Quack Quack January 12, 2019

https://duckwalk.com/

“We’ll have to stop quacking,” joked my husband, as we finished our tasting at Duck Walk Vineyards’ North Fork tasting room. You see, the last time we went, in 2009, we disliked almost all the wines, including a red that tasted like ashes, and I had an allergic reaction (something I almost never have to Long Island wines, for some mysterious reason). So we vowed never to return, and amused ourselves by quacking derisively as we drove past. No more. Though we didn’t like all the wines, there were plenty we did enjoy, and we had a great tasting experience.

This tasting room is quite spacious, though the last time, when we came in the spring, we were in a different one that was even bigger.

Duck Walk, like Jason’s and Pindar, is owned by the Damianos family, and many of their wines are somewhat sweet for our taste, though numerous people like them. And it is a family affair, with even a third generation possibly getting ready to join the business, according to our chatty and well-informed server. It is always a plus to have a server who is really into the wines of the place where she works, and we appreciated our server’s enthusiasm for the wines and eagerness to share her preferences. She also was happy with our respectful approach to the wines, and gave us some extra tastes to show off the depth of their collection.

The tasting room we went into is to the right of the main entrance, where we had a tasting the last time, and is a smaller—though still quite large and airy—room. A long bar dominates one end, past which are French doors leading out to the vines. When we entered, a large group of young women were enjoying their tasting before heading back out to the limo, and the room became noticeably quiet when they left. In the summer, we have often seen whole fleets of limos and buses parked outside, as Duck Walk is a regular on the limo circuit (another reason we haven’t been back in a long time).

Wine and anacks for sale.

The bar includes Greenport beer on tap.

Aside from feeling it was finally time to go back, I also was intrigued to taste their Absenthe, their new after-dinner “traditional distilled spirit,” whose name echoes that of the famous Czech drink, absinthe.

Their website notes that they have snacks for sale, though we were not offered a menu, and they do allow you to bring in “light snacks.” It also says they are “pet friendly,” which I assume means in the summer, when you can sit outside.

A tasting consists of four tastes for $10, which you pay in advance. You then get four tickets, which the server collects after each drink. Since the menu includes seventeen red, white, and rosé wines, plus seven other drinks in the sparkling and dessert categories, we decided to do two tastings and share as we went along. Though you are free to choose any four, in any order, our server did give us the standard advice to drink whites before reds, and to follow the order of their listings on the menu.

img_6064 (1)

2017 Chardonnay $16.95

Since chardonnay is so ubiquitous on the North Fork, I felt we should include it in our tasting. This is their steel-fermented chard, and at the moment they do not have an oaked chard, though our server says they have had one in the past. We agree that we both prefer steel to oak. This one has a bit of a barnyard smell, and is a touch too sweet for us. It has tastes of pineapple and guava with some minerality. My tasting buddy opines that it is “wine for the skittish,” by which he means it is easy to drink if you’re not a big wine drinker.

2017 Sauvignon Blanc $18.95

Nice. I get a cut grass smell which my husband describes as “woodsy,” plus some rock or mineral. The taste is fairly typical for North Fork sauvignon blancs, lemony and grapefruity, and would be fine with oysters.

When the labels do not feature ducks they feature Gastby-themed art, like this one of what the tasting room workers jokingly named the “Hamptons hooker.”

2017 Rosé $16.95

We admire its pretty pink color and Gatsby-inspired label, which features a young woman in flapper dress standing in front of a mansion and a 1920s car. Her provocative pose has led the winery workers to dub her the “Hamptons hooker.” Made from the pinot meunier grape, this has a slightly funky aroma, plus the expected strawberry. The taste reminds me of a vodka-infused watermelon I once sampled at a party (I was young.), with some sweet strawberry and lemon notes. This would be a fine summer sipper, though it is a bit too sweet for us.

Southampton White $14.95 for 750 ml, $18.95 for 1.5 l

According to the menu, this is made from the cayuga grape, which is often used upstate. As we feared, it is too sweet for us, while also being light and not complex. I contemplate dumping the rest of our taste.

2017 Pinot Meunier $29.95

Since Duck Walk is the only vineyard that grows this grape, we decide we need to start our tasting of the reds with this wine. My tasting pal and I agree that this smells like berries, though I say blueberry and he says raspberry. It is a light, fruity summer red, good with barbequed chicken. It reminds me of a Beaujolais. This label also features an upper-crust Gatsby-esque theme, with formally clad horse riders.

2016 Cabernet Sauvignon $18.95

This cab doesn’t have much aroma or taste. There is a slightly funky smell. The wine itself is light and dry, with some tannin. It would be okay with a burger, though I generally prefer beer with burgers.

Do you see the duck reference in this picture? I got it!

2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve $38.95

Power of the book strikes again! Our server, with whom we have been having enjoyable conversations about the North Fork vs. the South Fork (where she often has to travel to work in the South Fork tasting room in Water Mill), gives us an extra, a taste of the high-end cab sauv. And it is really good! Lots of dark fruit taste, the kind of tannins that make me think it could age even more, and some depth and interest.

2015 Merlot $16.95

Again, the aroma is a bit funky, plus the usual cherry smell. This is a dry, drinkable merlot, not overpowering at all. My husband says there’s “not a lot of stuff going on.” It’s a fairly typical North Fork merlot, with some cherry taste. It would be fine with pasta.

2014 Merlot Reserve $38.95

Once again, we get an extra. This time, a taste of the reserve merlot. The aroma is complex, with notes of plum, cherry, and tobacco (which my husband calls ash). However, the aroma promises more than the taste delivers, though this is a good, dry, drinkable red. Not a lot of tannins.

2015 Malbec $16.95

Although malbec is most often used as part of a mixture of grapes, I tend to enjoy it on its own as well. The color of this is a beautiful dark red, and the aroma is also dark, of dark fruits like plums. We like the taste, which is dry and tannic, with enough fruit that it would be fine to sip or have with steak.

The White Port is so new it wasn’t on the menu.

2010 White Port

I can’t tell you the price of this because it is not yet on the menu. Another extra treat! Duck Walk often features their blueberry port, which is actually made with blueberries, so this is a departure for them. The aroma is nutty, and it would actually taste good with nuts. I taste some gooseberry taste, (and then we decide that next summer when Briermere sells gooseberries we will have to buy them again). Nice after-dinner sipper.

If you like Sambuca you’ll like Absenthe.

Absenthe $29.95, $5 per taste

We happen to have a bottle of absinthe we hand imported from the Czech Republic a while ago, so as I tasted this Duck Walk version, I looked forward to comparing it to the historical drink. Supposedly, absinthe used to be made with wormwood and was highly addictive as well as causing hallucinations. That’s no longer the case, so it is safe to sip. In the Czech Republic there is a whole ceremony to drinking absinthe, involving mixing sugar and a bit of absinthe on a spoon, igniting it, and then, as the sugar liquifies, blowing out the flame (important step!) and pouring it into the glass. No sweetening is necessary with the Duck Walk Absenthe, which is quite sweet, almost syrupy, and tastes very strongly of black licorice. If you like Sambuca, you’ll like this. After I went home—and recovered from all that drinking!—I tried our absinthe. It is not at all sweet or syrupy, though it does have a licorice taste plus a beautiful green color, and is quite strong (70% alcohol).

Reasons to visit: it is winter, and you want to check out a winery that is too crowded in the summer; the Sauvignon Blanc, the Rosé, the Pinot Meunier, and the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve; they allow dogs (outside) and snacks; pretty labels; reasonable prices; beer on tap in case you’re with someone who doesn’t want wine (why?).

Clovis Point: First of the New Year January 4, 2019

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Barrel Fermented Chardonnay, Black Label Chardonnay, cabernet franc, Cabernet Sauvingnon, chardonnay, Clovis Point Winery, gewurztraminer, Leonardo Vatkin, Malbec, merlot, music on weekends, no dogs allowed, no outside food, North Fork, petit verdot, rose, sauvignon blanc, syrah, wine tasting January 6, 2019

Clovis Point: First of the New Year January 4, 2019

Even the bare vines have a stark beauty.

http://www.clovispointwines.com/

All the leaves are gone from the vines, leaving the rows looking like lines of bent-legged dancers. For our first winery of the year, we decided to return to Clovis Point on a Friday afternoon. The tasting room was empty the entire time we were there, but on weekends, when they feature live music and artist talks, it is livelier.

Artist talks? Yes, every six weeks the winery invites an artist to come in and hang their works, setting aside one day when the artist can come in and talk to the people assembled there about the art. (Check their web site for times and performers.) We admired this week’s art, large photographs of natural scenery by Leonardo Vatkin, as we perused the menu.

The current art exhibit, which changes every six weeks, consists of photographs by Leonardo Vatkin.

The menu offers four options: Cold, $18 for four whites and a rosé; Red, $12 for three reds; Complete, $28 for all of Cold and Red combined; and Premium, three of their best reds (one is actually a port) for $5 per taste. We decided to share one Complete, which was plenty of wine for us both.

As we sipped and chatted, we also admired the roomy tasting room, still decorated with lights and poinsettias for the holidays. There’s also a large porch area off to one side, which is enclosed with plastic windows for the winter. They have a menu of snacks, which we only realized when our tasting was almost over and I happened to turn over the wine menu. Had our server pointed it out, we might have bought something. I was also surprised that she didn’t try to promote their wine club, which often happens when we reveal that we are locals.

2017 Sauvignon Blanc $29

This is a somewhat typical North Fork sauvignon blanc, which is not a bad thing. They say you should drink local wines with local foods, and this would go perfectly with a plate of Peconic Bay oysters. With aromas of minerals and rocks and tastes of green apple, lemon/lime, and minerals, this is a pleasantly refreshing white.

2015 Chardonnay $25

Although this is simply called chardonnay, it has 3% gewürztraminer, which adds a note of complexity. Steel fermented, it has a lemon drop candy aroma with a touch of funkiness. The taste also has some citrus, plus lots of pineapple and a bit of nutmeg. They recommend pairing it with melted brie. Sounds good to me. A popular party snack used to be melted brie coated with sliced almonds. Hmmm…

The image on the labels is of a clovis point.

This explains the clovis point.

2016 Black Label Chardonnay $28

Although this is partially oaked, it is only 30% French oak fermented, so it is not too oaky. It smells like thyme honey, with a touch of something vegetal, plus some butterscotch. I think it would taste better with food, but my tasting buddy comments on its “freshness.” We like its combination of lemon zest and just a touch of butter. By the way, in a classy touch, our server rinses our glass with a bit of each new wine, so as not to contaminate the taste with the previous one.

Our line-up so far.

2017 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay $35

Oh, guess what, this is barrel fermented (I miss one closed winery’s creative nomenclature.). Although the aroma is VERY butterscotchy, the taste is not as buttery as I had feared. Instead, it is a comparatively light oaked chard, with tastes of honey and pineapple, balanced with citrus. Roast chicken with gravy, is what I’m thinking.

2017 Rosé $22.50

Made from 100% cabernet franc, this has a strong aroma of strawberry shortcake. My husband jokes that the smell is “presumptuous.” However, the taste is not super fruity. In fact, we agree that blindfolded, not seeing the pretty light pink color, you might not guess this is a rosé. It does finish with that characteristic strawberry taste, after initial impressions of minerality and citrus. I often like to pair rosés with Chinese food, but I think this would go better with charcuterie.

2014 Merlot $29

Now we get a fresh glass for the reds, starting with a wine listed simply as merlot, but which is 85% merlot, plus 8% cabernet franc, 2% syrah, 2% malbec, 2% petit verdot, and 1% cabernet sauvignon. The first thing that strikes me about this wine is the aroma, which is so strongly perfumed that I might be tempted to dab it behind my ears. Instead, we sip, and discover, in addition to the expected cherry taste, lots of tannins. Although this is already four years old, I think it might need more aging. The tasting notes assert it has an “unforgettable velvety finish.” We agree that “velvety” is not a word we would choose.

2015 Cabernet Franc $35

Again, this is a bit of a blend, 96% cabernet franc, 3% cabernet sauvignon, and 1% petit verdot. We sniff and get blueberries and a funky forest floor, mossy smell. The taste is pleasant, with, in contrast to the merlot, not a lot of tannins, and tastes of purple plums and other fruit. Though it is not complex or deep, it is good, and could go with a steak or lamb chops.

Note the small battle, which makes this a rather expensive wine.

2015 Syrah $34 for 500 ML (a small bottle)

88% syrah, 10% merlot, and 2% cabernet sauvignon. Our server explains that this comes in a small bottle because they “don’t grow much” syrah. My tasting pal jokes that it “tastes like wine,” but I get what he means. It has sort of a generic red wine taste, with some tannins and a hint of pepper at the end. The aroma is a bit funky, with some pine. Though again not deep, it is good, and would go well with short ribs or other fatty meats. After this, the server asks if we want to buy a taste of any of the premium wines, but we decline, and decide, though we liked everything, not to buy any. Like many small wineries (they only have ten acres, and buy some grapes from other North Fork vineyards), they lack economy of scale, so their prices are a bit high for what you get. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the future, more consolidation of wineries happens.

Reasons to visit: pleasant tasting room; live music many weekends plus art shows; good wines, especially the sauvignon blanc, the Black Label Chardonnay, the merlot; if I were to get a glass to sip during a performance, I would get the cabernet franc, which is very drinkable on its own.

Peconic Cellar Door: Good Things Come in Small Packages December 7, 2018

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Alie Shaper, As If, BOE Broken Land, Brooklyn Oenology, cabernet sauvignon, Catapano, chardonnay, Courage Rose, gewurztraminer, Gratiitude, GRatitude, Haywater Cove, merlot, North Fork, Peconic Cellar Door, Persistance, Petillant Naturel, Robin Epperson-McCarthy, Saltbird Cellars, Saltbird Cellars Harbinger Red Blend, Saltbird Chardonnay, Serendipity, wine tasting December 9, 2018

Peconic Cellar Door: Good Things Come in Small Packages December 7, 2018

https://www.peconiccellardoor.com/

This sign shows the way to Peconic Cellar Door.

I recently picked up a postcard with a map of North Fork wineries which labeled them as either “petit” or “grand” wine houses. Peconic Cellar Door is definitely one of the most petit of the petit places, a sliver of a storefront with room for a couple of tables and a narrow bar with four stools. A sign on the door warns that they will not accept groups of more than six, adding, “Sorry, arriving in more than one car doesn’t count as separate groups.” I suppose what you could do is have one part of your group go to the Winemaker Studio, which is right next door, connected to Cellar Door by an open doorway.

That’s not a bad idea, actually, since both tasting rooms offer similarly intimate experiences, and the ability to taste some interesting boutique wines. Peconic Cellar Door is something different on the North Fork, as it is one of the few wineries owned and run by women (One Woman is the only other one I can think of, since Comtesse Therese closed a few years ago.). In fact, if you go on their web page and click on “Meet the Cru,” you might notice that the entire crew is female.

When we entered on a chilly Friday afternoon, we were warmly greeted by Robin Epperson-McCarthy, who remembered that we’d been there before (a year ago), and introduced us to her charming three-year-old daughter, who soon left in the arms of her baby-sitter. No one else was there, so we had a lovely time chatting with Robin and exchanging bits of wine country gossip as well as in-depth discussions of the wines.

This is literally half the room.

She and her partner, Alie Shaper, have four different labels between them: Saltbird Cellars, Brooklyn Oenology, As If, and Haywater Cove. Alie is gradually transitioning her label to almost all Haywater Cove, a reference to a place on the North Fork, though she will continue to make a couple of her most popular Brooklyn Oenology (BOE) wines. Robin explained that they don’t have a reserve label, so the As If line functions somewhat like that. And Saltbird is Robin’s label, named for the sea birds she loves.

There are twenty-five (!) wines on the menu, plus a new sparkling wine that isn’t even there yet, but they offer a “Winemaker’s Flight” of five wines for $18, highlighted on the menu in blue ink, so we decided to go with those choices. However, the first item on the menu, a keg wine called Fizzi Rosé, was not available, so Robin instead gave us a taste of the newest As If wine, Gratitude, which is also a sparkler.

The name of this wine is, among other things, an homage to Alie’s mother, who died last year.

2018 As If Gratitude $28

This is a petillant naturel, which goes through some of its fermentation in the bottle and is sealed with a bottle cap. Interestingly, it is made from gewürztraminer grapes, which I don’t recall ever seeing before, which are fermented into an orange wine before it becomes a bubbly. The color is a cloudy yellow with a slight orange tint. It has a sweetish aroma, like flowers, but also something like pickle juice. It’s a light, refreshing, sparkler, which, we agree with Robin, would go well with charcuterie.

Saltbird Chardonnay and its creator.

2017 Saltbird Chardonnay $20

I discuss with Robin my—and her—preference for steel-fermented chardonnays, and she tells how she has served this wine to people who think they don’t like chardonnay, not realizing that what they don’t like is an oaked chard. They like her Saltbird chard. I smell gooseberries and lots of minerality, plus some citrus. She explains that part of the fermentation happens “sur lies,” which means on the dead yeast or bits of grape particles, which adds some depth to the taste. It is very dry, and has plenty of mineral taste. I think it needs food, like something in a cream sauce.

2016 As If Courage Rosé $28

Alie named her wines Serendipity, Courage, Persistence, and Gratitude to chart her progression in the wine business—the way serendipity led her into winemaking as a career, the courage it took to continue, the persistence it took to stick with it, and the gratitude she feels for being able to do this. It takes no courage to drink this French-style rosé, a dry pink wine with tastes and aromas of strawberries and minerals. Like most North Fork rosés, this is a good summer wine, and would go well with a salade niçoise or some nice Catapano goat cheese.

Now that’s orange!

This is the art on the BOE label. Can’t tell what it is? Neither could we. Apparently, it’s a box.

BOE 2014 Broken Land $30

As we learned the last time we were there, broken land is a reference to the original Dutch meaning of Brooklyn. This is an orange wine, made with gewürztraminer grapes from the Finger Lakes region. It sits on the skins for ten days, Robin tells us, which gives it that lovely orange color. I wonder whether it is the color that makes me think it tastes like blood oranges, but Robin assures me that she tastes orange too, though she thinks of tangerines. The label, like all BOE wines, features a work of art by a Brooklyn artist. This one is a representation of a box.

For the red we switched to this elegant glass.

Saltbird Cellars 2016 Harbinger Red Blend $36

A blend of 80% merlot and 20% cabernet sauvignon, this has the cherry aroma and flavor we have come to expect of North Fork merlots, somewhat ameliorated by the cabernet sauvignon. It’s a light, bright red which Robin says benefits from a bit of aeration.

Reasons to visit: an intimate setting in which to taste some nice wines and chat with the winemakers; the Broken Land orange wine (we buy a bottle), the Gratitude sparkling wine; it’s right next door to the Winemaker Studio, so you can do two tasting in one stop. The tasting room is on Peconic Lane, so you could do a winery walking tour by adding on Sannino Bella Vita (which may be moving in the future), ending in the Greenport Brewing Company restaurant on the corner for lunch or a snack and a sampling of excellent brews.

Coffee Pot Cellars: Puppy Love December 1, 2018

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Adam Suprenant, Beasley, Beasley's Blend, bees, black twig apples, Blossom Meadow, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, Coffee Pot Cellars, crisp golden, Cyser, gewurztraminer, granny smith, honey, Laura Klahre, liberty apples, Meritage, merlot, milkweed, monarch butterflies, North Fork, petit verdot, riesling, sauvignon blanc, wine tasting December 3, 2018

Coffee Pot Cellars: Puppy Love December 1, 2018

What you can’t quite see is the “winasaur” made from used corks.

http://www.coffeepotcellars.com/

As you enter Coffee Pot Cellars’ cozy tasting room, you will be greeted by Beasley, Laura Klahre’s adorable, friendly, and tiny black pug dog. The day we went, Beasley was sporting a set of monarch butterfly wings, to help promote their merlot to monarch campaign. For every bottle of merlot they sell, they will, with the cooperation of the Girl Scouts of America, plant a milkweed seed. Milkweed, though deemed a weed by most people, is crucial for the survival of the monarch butterfly, whose caterpillars will only feed on it in their early lives. So of course before we left we had to buy a couple of bottles of merlot, bringing the running tally on the blackboard to 731 bottles sold.

Beasley sporting his monarch butterfly wings.

Laura, who is also a beekeeper and lover of nature, was pleased. She and her husband Adam Suprenant own Coffee Pot Cellars, a tiny winery named for the distinctive lighthouse out near Orient Point. She also runs Blossom Meadow Farm, where she not only makes honey, but also makes various beeswax products, such as candles, and promotes the usefulness to pollination of carpenter bees. If you would like to host some carpenter bees on your property, you can buy bee houses for them from Laura. We bought a little jar of her newest product, a raspberry jam.

In addition to a line-up of very good wines, Coffee Pot has an asset in the person of Laura, who is friendly and talkative, full of stories about bees and wine and Beasley. If you happen to go there the weekend of December 8-9, you will be in time for the celebration of Beasley’s twelfth birthday, which will be marked by the release of their 2015 Beasley’s Blend—of which we had a preview. And if you have ever been there before, Laura will remember you and greet you like an old friend.

The menu features six tastes for $12, but as long as they still have the Cyser (about which more in a moment), Laura will pour you seven tastes, so you don’t have to make any decisions.

The Cyser is a sparkling hard cider made with honey, and it’s quite yummy.

Cyser $19.99

Hard cider is made with sugar, and is often too sweet for me. Mead is made with fermented honey, and can be sweet as well, but this cyser is hard cider made with Blossom Meadow honey, and the Coffee Pot version is delicious—dry and sparkling, made with the méthode champenoise, hand disgorged by Adam. Laura informed us and another couple at the bar that it was made with 50% Liberty apples, 25% Black Twig, 10% Granny Smith, and 15% Crisp Golden, all from the local Breeze Hill Farm. It tastes like a slightly apple-flavored champagne, and would be lovely with charcuterie.

2014 Sauvignon Blanc $21.99

We already miss summer, so perhaps that’s why we envisioned sipping this wine with a summery salad dinner, perhaps salade niçoise. It is fruitier than many North Fork sauvignon blancs, with an aroma of minerals and honeysuckle. Good.

Though the chardonnay is oaked, it is so lightly done so that I like it.

2014 Chardonnay $19.99

As she rinses our glass with a bit of the next taste, Laura informs us that this wine was fermented in thirteen-year-old oak barrels. I’m happy, because I don’t generally care for oaked chardonnays, but when they are fermented in old—called neutral—oak, the taste is different from a steel-fermented chard, but not buttery. There is s slight taste of the oak, but I mostly taste and smell apples and tropical fruits, with some nice acidity. It would go well with fish tacos, which I am making for dinner tonight with locally caught cod.

2014 Gewürztraminer $21.99

Although this is just called gewürztraminer, it is also 12% riesling. The aroma is quite flowery. I taste lychees and pineapple, but it is a bit too sweet for me. However, it would go well with spicy food.

If you buy a bottle of merlot, you will also be helping the monarch butterflies!

2012 Merlot $19.99

Now we get a new glass for the reds. The famous merlot-for-monarchs merlot is aged eighteen months in French oak, and we smell cherries and spice and smoke. It’s a light, dry red, a Friday-night-hamburger wine, suggests Laura. We agree, liking the hint of spiciness which balances the cherry taste.

Note the portrait of Beasley, standing guard on the lighthouse. Watch out, he might lick you to death!

2015 Beasley’s Blend $23.99

All the labels show the Coffee Pot lighthouse, but this one also shows Beasley standing guard on the upper level of the lighthouse. Though it will be officially released next weekend for Beasley’s birthday, Laura gave us a preview taste. It’s a blend of 60% cabernet franc and 40% merlot, and we can smell the cherry of the merlot when we take a whiff. We taste dark fruit—cherries, plums—and nutmeg. A soft, dry red with nice tannins, this would be drinkable on its own. Good work, Beasley!

2014 Meritage $27.99

Another blend, this one is a Bordeaux-style 56% merlot, 23% petit verdot, 14% cabernet franc, and 7% cabernet sauvignon, and it’s also really good, though given the tannins I think it would be better in a few years. It is fairly complex, with layers of flavor, including that merlot cherry flavor plus blackberries and spices, and would stand up to steak or lamb chops.

They have some little tables for two on the porch, in case you come in the summer.

Reasons to visit: Laura and Beasley; the chance to taste some lovely wines, especially the Cyser, the sauvignon blanc, the Beasley’s Blend, and the Meritage; all sorts of interesting gift items you won’t find other places, like the carpenter bee houses, beeswax candles and other products; the opportunity to support monarch butterflies by buying the merlot; and I haven’t even mention the “winasaur” they’re building from used corks on the front lawn (Laura says when it’s done she’s going to make herself a dress from corks!).

After spending an afternoon with Beasley, it seemed appropriate that on the way home we saw the solar phenomenon known as a sun dog!

Martha Clara Vineyards: Change Is Coming November 8, 2018

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Aromatic, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, dogs allowed outside only, Entenmann's, Estate Reserve Chardonnay, Estate Reserve Riesling, Gilgo Beach, Malbec-Merlot, Martha Clara Vineyard, Mattituck Motel, Netflix movie, no outside food, North Fork, Northern Solstice Blanc, Northville, Northville Red, Pinot Blanc, Rivero-González, Semillon, Vinter's Choice, wine tasting November 10, 2018

Martha Clara Vineyards: Change Is Coming November 8, 2018

https://www.www.marthaclaravineyards.com/

Until recently, Martha Clara Vineyards, named for the matriarch of the family, was owned by the Entenmanns. Now it has been sold to the Rivero-González family, so changes will be coming. A year from now the wines could be quite different, because right now the wines have been overseen by the Entenmanns’ winemaker, but the next vintage will be the product of a new one. Our chatty and knowledgeable server is hopeful that the changes will all be good. Meanwhile, the tasting room already looks different, with most of the décor stripped away, and the shop objects also seems to have been winnowed down, with many fewer items for sale. Should be interesting to come back next year.

One side of the frequently bustling tasting room.

The other room for tastings, where they used to serve food.

On this warm November day, the tasting room was practically empty, with only a few people stopping by, some to pick up wine club packages and others to do a tasting. During the summer Martha Clara can be mobbed, so it was nice to taste in a quiet setting. It’s not that I don’t like people—I’m just not fond of crowds.

The menu offers three options, the Aromatic tasting, of four whites for $15; the Northville tasting, of four reds for $15; and the Vintner’s Reserve, of two whites and two reds from their estate selections, for $17. We decided to share an Aromatic and then a Northville, thus giving us the greatest variety of tastes. We weren’t hungry, but there was no menu of food on offer, though the shop has a refrigerated case of cheeses, etc., and packages of crackers and other snacks.

Cheeses in the shop.

Decorated wine glasses.

various local foods. We like “Dill Death do we Part” from Backyard Brine.

2014 Northern Solstice Blanc $19

Generally, when a local wine has a name other than a variety of grape, that means it is a blend, and so this is—a blend of chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, and semillon. It has a pretty golden color, and an aroma of honeysuckle and tropical fruit. Though it is slightly sweet, we like it. The wine is nicely balanced, with some complexity, and flavors of pineapple and minerals. I think it would be fine to sip on its own, but my husband disagrees. However, we both think it would go nicely with seafood in a cream sauce. Hmm…Peconic Bay scallops are in season.

2015 Pinot Blanc $22

The aroma is metallic and vegetal. My tasting buddy thinks it smells like his favorite fall vegetable, Brussels sprouts. Maybe. The wine is dry, tart, and very light, tasting of lemon peel. It is so light that if you drank it with food that had lots of flavor it would disappear. Maybe oysters.

2014 Chardonnay $20

This chardonnay is steel-fermented, like all the other whites in our tasting, and we like it. I smell slate or rock and gooseberry, and taste citrus and tropical fruit. It is nicely tart and dry. We also notice that it is on sale, 30% off if you buy two bottles, so we do.

The steel-fermented chardonnay is currently on sale.

2013 Estate Reserve Chardonnay $27

Hang on a second, you might say, I thought all the whites in your tasting were steel fermented, but this one is oaked. Yes, I say, power of the book. We get a little side-by-side sample of the oaked chard, courtesy of our server, with whom we have been having a nice chat. Unfortunately, we don’t care for it. The aroma is rather funky, with lots of woody smells. Though it is not too buttery, there is something about the taste I find off-putting. Cedar? Pencil shavings?

Our “extra”–a taste of the oaked chardonnay. When you take tasting seriously, servers like to see what you think of various wines.

2014 Estate Reserve Riesling $26

She warns us that this will be semi-sweet, and she’s right to warn us. Though it’s very aromatic it is much too sweet for us, and we dump the rest of our taste. Maybe with Thai food…

Northville Tasting

2014 Cabernet Franc $27

Now we switch to the reds, and get a clean glass. Our server describes this as a bit smoky, and says it goes with red meat. I’d say this is a roast chicken red, as it is rather thin. It has a red fruit aroma but the taste is not very fruity. I get nutmeg and some tannins. No finish. By the way, all their wines come in screw top bottles.

2014 Malbec-Merlot $27

51%-49% (sort of like many of the vote percentages in the recent elections), this has the cherry aroma and taste of the merlot, but not much else. No depth. Dry. We decide this is a burger red.

2013 Northville Red $27

A blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, and petit verdot, this is, unusually for a red, steel fermented. I tell our server that I have a catchphrase for her to use with this wine—It’s a white-wine-drinker’s red wine. It is pleasantly fresh-tasting, with some red plum and cherry flavors, very light. A ten-minute wine—not to be discussed, just to be drunk. It is also on sale, but we decide not to get any.

2014 Cabernet Sauvignon $29

We like this the best of the reds. It has aromas of spice and red candy. Dry, with some nice tannins, though it has no depth it has some nice plummy flavors. I could see having it with lamb chops.

I found this little guide to wine tasting quite interesting, in that it seems to indicate that many of their customers are new to wine tasting.

Reasons to visit: last chance to taste the Martha Clara style wines before the new winemaker takes over; you can bring your dog to the outside tasting area; the Northern Solstice Blanc, the Chardonnay, and the Cabernet Sauvignon; reasonably priced wines.

Lagniappe: As we were driving home, we passed a movie crew outside the Mattituck Motel, which will be one of the North Fork sites used in the Netflix movie of the Gilgo Beach murders.

Mattituck Motel as movie set.

Sherwood House: One Stop, Two Labels October 25, 2018

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Blanc de Blancs, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, cheese tray, Cornus Reserve, Gilles Martin, Hound's Tree, Malbec, merlot, no outside food, North Fork, Oregon Road, petit verdot, rose, Sherwood House, Sherwood Manor, William Riis, wine tasting October 30, 2018

Sherwood House: One Stop, Two Labels October 25, 2018

The tasting room used to be a farm house, and it still has a homey feel.

https://www.sherwoodhousevineyards.com/

https://www.hounds-tree.com/

What happens when a vineyard is bought by new owners, who want to make their own style of wine, but the previous owners still use the same grapes for their wines? You get Sherwood House and Hound’s Tree wines, made from the same grapes but in different styles. Sherwood’s winemaker, Gilles Martin, likes the French style, while Hound’s Tree’s owners, who are from Oregon, use a West Coast style. Confusingly, the vineyard is located on the North Fork on Oregon Road.

The last time we were here, the server set us up with parallel tastings, but this time, in the absence of her suggestions, we did a tasting of the Sherwood Classic wines, and then the Hound’s Tree ones. There are actually four tasting options, but the two we did had no overlap. In addition to the set tastings, they will also craft an all white or all red tasting on request.

A fire in the fireplace was perfect on this chilly afternoon.

That’s quite an array of wines.

Since the room is so pleasant, and we realized we’d be there a while, we decided to get a small cheese tray, put together by Lombardi’s Market. $15. Did we want crackers with that? As opposed to what, eating the cheese by hand? That will be an additional $3 for a small sleeve of Carr’s Water Crackers. That seems a bit chintzy to us, especially since the cheese tray is rather meager.

The cheese tray is adequate for two, if neither of them is very hungry.

We settled at a table, in sight of the fire in the fireplace, and brought our tastings and our cheese to the table ourselves. Two other couples came in and took glasses of wine to sit on the couches by the fireplace. Through an open doorway we could see into the William Riis gallery, where art, sculpture, and antiques are for sale. Not a bad way to while away an afternoon.

The first five wines are the Sherwood Classics Flight, $30 for a fairly generous pour.

The sparkler and the chard

2016 Blanc de Blancs $45

This is only the second time they have released a sparkling wine, so it is new to us. Made from chardonnay grapes, it has a slightly vegetal aroma and is a pleasant dry sparkler. It has a slightly yeasty taste, and is light. You could definitely have this with a meal or some charcuterie.

2016 Chardonnay $3

Our server describes this as “lightly oaked,” and I agree that it is not overly oaky or buttery or butterscotchy. On the other hand, it is fairly nondescript, I say. Undistinguished, adds my tasting buddy. Bittersweet, with just a trace of butterscotch, even with the cheese it is just okay.

2010 Merlot $38

Better than the average North Fork merlot is our assessment of this dry and elegant red. It has aromas and tastes of cherry, as expected, but also some interesting layers of flavor.

2014 Cabernet Franc $40

Although this has a nice aroma of brambles and blackberries, there’s not much taste. It’s a soft red, with no tannins, and some minerality. Not a sipping wine, it would be okay with a burger.

2010 Sherwood Manor $45

The tasting ends with their Bordeaux blend, of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and petit verdot. The menu describes it as “preciously aged”—whatever that means—in French oak. I smell plums and other red fruit, but it is too cold to taste much, so I warm it in my palm. Ah, now I can taste it. This is quite good, a wine for steak, dry, with various fruit flavors. It’s also nice with the Marcona almonds on the cheese plate.

The view into the gallery

Interesting decor in the tasting room

Each taste comes in its own glass, by the way. Now we move on to the Hound’s Tree Flight, $25 for five tastes. We snack on our crackers and cheese a bit to clear our palates.

2016 Rosé $22

The aroma is slightly funky, and smells like fermented berries. Yum. This has more taste than the average rosé, though it is served too cold, of course. It is a blend of 70% merlot, 15% cabernet franc, and 15% cabernet sauvignon. We taste fruit and minerality, but it’s not overly fruity. This would be a good summer sipper.

When wine is too cold, try warming it with your palms.

2016 Chardonnay $26

What is acacia aged? The server has told us that this is aged in steel and acacia, but she can’t answer what that means. We sniff and get minerals and just a touch of citrus. My husband sips and says, “Watery.” It is very light. I say it is “not unpleasant,” which is not exactly high praise.

Pretty labels.

2016 Cabernet Sauvignon $29

By the way, we find the labels for the Hound’s Tree wines quite attractive. Although this has almost no aroma, it has, says my husband, “a distinctive taste which lingers in your mouth.” It’s dry, almost tart, with not much fruit at all and some tannins. Perhaps it needs to age longer.

2015 Merlot $29

Unlike the Sherwood merlot, which had lots of cherry aroma, this has almost no aroma. It is quite dry, with some tannins but no depth, and is drinkable but not at all complex. Innocuous, is a word we agree on.

2015 Cornus Reserve $45

Why “Cornus”? She doesn’t know, and the web site doesn’t even list this wine. In any event, it is their Bordeaux blend, of 62% cabernet sauvignon, 19% merlot, 12% cabernet franc, 4% petit verdot, and 3% malbec. Of all the wines we tried today, this is our favorite. It has red plum aromas, and a somewhat complex taste with red fruits and tobacco. The tannins make me think it could improve with age. It would pair well with lamb or mutton chops.

Reasons to visit: pleasant, cozy tasting room with a fireplace and comfy couches; the chance to compare two different styles of winemaking using the same grapes (with very different results); the Sherwood Merlot and Manor; the Hound’s Tree Rosé and Cornus Reserve; you can shop the interesting items in the next-door gallery. If I came there to sit by the fire and sip a glass of wine while listening the

music, I would get a glass of the Cornus.

Bridge Lane Wine: Cans and Boxes and Kegs, Oh My! September 23, 2018

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Bridge Lane wine, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, dogs allowed, Lieb Cellars Reserve Petit Verdot, merlot, petit verdot, picnics allowed, Red Blend, rose, Russell Hearn, sauvignon blanc, SuHru, white merlot September 25, 2018

Bridge Lane Winery: Cans and Boxes and Kegs, Oh My!

http://bridgelanewine.com/

If you ever want to have a wine kegger, Bridge Lane is the winery for you. Or let’s say you want to take a can of wine to the beach. Yes, they have those. And boxes of wine. Oh yes, bottles, too. Bridge Lane is the less-expensive, more populist line of wines made by Lieb Cellars. Their wine maker, Russell Hearn, also has his own line-up of wines which you can sample at his tasting room in Cutchogue, Suhru Cellars. (https://www.suhruwines.com/ ) He must be a busy man!

Yes, wine in a can.

Also bottles and boxes.

Last September we went with friends to Lieb Cellars’ tasting room on Oregon Road, and tasted both the Lieb label wines and the Bridge Lane wines. We much preferred the Lieb wines. In June we went to the newly opened Suhru Cellars and liked their wines even better. However, there is nothing wrong with the Bridge Lane wines, if you want simple, light inexpensive wines. All of Bridge Lane’s wines cost $20 per bottle. (A keg holds 130 glasses for $240 and each can provides two glasses for $9.)

Fittingly, not only do all the wines cost the same, the taste profile is remarkably similar. In fact, my husband observed that he would be hard pressed to tell one white from another. They are all citrusy and minerally and light.

The differences among the wines of the three venues extend to the tasting rooms, as well. Bridge Lane’s is a simple square, with a bar along one wall and banquettes along two others, with brightly painted picnic tables outside. Lieb Cellars’ tasting room is more elegant, with table service and a deck overlooking rural Oregon Road. Suhru’s newly opened “tasting house” is in what had been a house, and is homey and beachy. Bridge Lane allows picnics and dogs, while the other two do not (except at Lieb on the outside patio). Suhru offers snacks from Touch of Venice restaurant across the street, and Lieb has an extensive menu of snacks, while Bridge Lane offers only a few snacks.

We arrived at Bridge Lane on a September Sunday afternoon, when many of the wineries were crowded and traffic clogged the approach to Harbes Orchard. At Bridge Lane we encountered a large party of women—not sure if it was a group of friends or a bachelorette celebration—and one other couple who decided to brave the September chill to take their tastes outside. After the large group left, it was quite quiet.

Like many wineries, Bridge Lane has limited winter hours.

A tasting consists of five tastes for $15. You can also taste a few of the Lieb Reserve wines at $4 per taste, or opt for a glass or bottle. They serve you three and then two of your tastes at once, on a clearly labeled round tray in nice rounded-bottom glasses. There’s a self-serve container of water at one end of the bar.

White Merlot

We get a very faint citrus aroma from this white wine made from red merlot grapes. The taste is of grapefruit and minerals, and is pleasant and light. It would be fine with some Peconic Bay scallops.

Wine on tap.

Chardonnay

A steel-fermented chard, this actually smells a bit metallic. I taste pineapple, though the tasting notes say stone fruit and green apple. Maybe a little green apple…but if by stone fruit they mean peaches and apricots, I don’t get it. My tasting buddy asserts that “ten seconds in, it gets sweet.”

Sauvignon Blanc

Another light, tart, citrusy, easy-to-drink white, this one would go well with oysters. Maybe barbequed oysters?

Rosé

As one would expect, the rosé has an aroma of strawberry, but sweeter, more like strawberry jam. There’s also a touch of smokiness. Again, this is light, with the citrus this time reminiscent of pink grapefruit. I could see having it with an herbed goat cheese from Catapano.

Red Blend

This is their Bordeaux blend, of 65% merlot, 25% cabernet franc, 6% cabernet sauvignon, and 4% petit verdot, aged six months in Hungarian oak. It smells like a combination of cherries, smoke, and wood. When we sip, we decide we can taste the wood as well, plus a fair amount of tannins which make us wonder if this would be better after a couple of years. We also taste black cherry. My husband describes it as “sour.” Not a great red, but easy to drink, it could go with lamb chops.

Lieb Cellars Reserve 2015 Petit Verdot $35

I want to end with something better, so we order a taste of the Lieb Petit Verdot. As the server opens the bottle, I notice that it has a screw cap. The Bridge Lane wines had been on tap, so I ask her if all the wines have screw tops. Yes, they do. The Petit Verdot is aged ten months in Hungarian oak, and has an aroma of blackberries and dark fruit. It tastes of black cherry with a greater depth of flavor than the Red Blend. There’s a pleasant softness to it, and enough tannins that I think it could be aged. My husband and I simultaneously decide it would go well with barbequed ribs.

The outdoor picnic area is somewhat screened from the traffic on Sound Avenue. The multicolored stripes are part of the whole light-hearted ethos of the spot.

Reasons to visit: You want somewhere to take your picnic lunch where you can sit outside and drink some inexpensive wines; you are having a big party and need a keg of wine, or maybe a couple of boxes; you want to take a four-pack of cans of wine on your boat; the chardonnay, or any of the wines if you want something light and uncomplicated.

Bridge Lane shares its location with Premium wine Group, a wine-making facility shared by many of the smaller wineries which lack their own wine-making equipment.

As I watched crushed grapes being loaded here, I solved a mystery. All along Cox Neck Road I had seen a line of grapes by the side of the road. Where did they come from? Aha, I realized, they have fallen off those open carts which bring the grapes to Premium Wine Group!

Channing Daughters: SoFo, So Good September 14, 2018

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with cabernet franc, channing daughters, chardonnay, Croteaux, dornfelder, gewurztraminer, L'Enfant Sauvage, lagrein, Mattebella, Meditazione, merlot, muscat, no dogs allowed, One Woman, pellegrini, Petillant Natural Rosato, pinot grigio, pinot noir, Rosato di Sculpture Garden, Rosso Fresco, sauvignon blanc, Sherwood House, South Fork, syrah, teroldego, Tocai Friulano, VerVino Vermouth, Vino Bianco, wine tasting September 16, 2018

https://www.channingdaughters.com/

Friends often ask me, “What’s your favorite winery?” I have various answers—rosés at Croteaux, whites at One Woman, reds at Pellegrini, Mattebella for sitting outside, Sherwood for the fireplace in the winter, etc.—but really, Channing Daughters is my favorite. Unfortunately, it is on the South Fork, so we don’t get there as often as we like. However, we had an errand that could only be done in Southampton, so off we went. The errand finished, we took a walk around Sag Harbor, got a bite of lunch at the Golden Pear (really good sandwich), and headed to Channing Daughters.

This line-up of bottles shows just some of the wines Channing Daughters makes.

So why do we like this winery so much? It is the most creative, interesting winery on Long Island, growing about two dozen different grapes and mixing and matching them in unusual ways. And we like almost all their wines. That’s why we joined their wine club, despite the inconvenience of having to be home to sign for the UPS delivery.

Part of the outside area.

The tasting room is small, with a bar along one side and a few barrels on which to rest your tastes, plus some outside tables in the summer. They carry a small selection of wine-related gifts, and offer some plain crackers as palate cleansers. However, we’ve never been there without having interesting conversations with both the people at the bar and the servers, who are very well versed in the wines and eager to share what they know. For really complete analyses of the wines, check out their web site.

A tasting consists of six wines for $18, and though the wines in the tasting are listed on a chalkboard, we overheard the servers customize tastings for people based on what they like or don’t like. As wine club members, we could have tasted any wines, but I wanted to taste the two wines which had just come in our shipment. So we did the standard tasting plus those two. Although we each could have had our own tasting, we decided to share in the interests of sobriety.

The upside down tree is their logo, and references one of Walter Channing”s skills, which is carving.

2015 Vino Bianco $20

A blend of 36% Pinot Grigio, 26% Sauvignon Blanc, 15% Tocai Friulano and 23% Chardonnay, this is a basic good white wine. Dry and refreshing, it has, observed my husband, “lots of taste.” Citrus, flowers, spice, fruit—I agree. They age some of the wine in steel, some in old oak, some in new oak, then blend it all together. As I said, they are creative! We buy two bottles, and think about having some the next time we buy oysters.

2016 Rosato di Sculpture Garden $25

This is one of the rosés they make. A number of years ago, they had seven, the result of late heavy rains which made them reluctant to use the red wine grapes for reds, as the flavor would be too diluted. So instead they made rosé. Good move. The rosés were so popular, they now make a bunch every year. This one is a field blend, of 91% merlot, 6% teroldego, and 3% blaufrankisch. Really nice. The aroma is somewhat earthy and minerally, and it has the strawberry taste you expect plus a really nice minerality and maybe some nutmeg. Good.

Orange wine!

2014 Meditazione $40

Pronouncing the name with Italian verve, our server explained all about orange wine. This is a white wine made using the red wine method of fermenting the juice with the skins, hence the orange color. A blend of 36% Pinot Grigio, 21% Muscat Ottonel, 14% Chardonnay, 13% Tocai Friulano, 7% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Pinot Bianco and 4% Gewurztraminer, this is not an easy wine to drink on its own. We have it with a couple of crackers, which improves the experience. It smells like baked oranges and tastes like apples and spices. They suggest pairing it with game birds or sausages, and that makes sense to me.

2017 Rosso Fresco $22

Fresh red? Yes, because this is a light, bright red, more along the lines of a Beaujolais. I could see serving on the deck with hot dogs. It’s another blend, of 76% Merlot, 11% Syrah, 8% Blaufrankisch, 4% Cabernet Franc, 1% Teroldego, and is barely aged. They even suggest serving it slightly chilled. It would make a great summer red.

2017 Petillant Naturel Rosato $28

I usually eschew sparkling pink wines. Fortunately, I did not skip this one. Wow, is it good! Mouthwatering, bubbly, dry, with some strawberry aroma and flavor, this wines makes a good case for never dismissing any type of wine before you taste the iteration in front of you. The servers were going into great detail on the methods used to create this wine, which included freezing the tank at one point and fermenting it in the bottle. Just another Channing Daughter original.

VerVino Vermouth (500 ml) $28

Yes, the tasting ends with one of the vermouths they make. This is a somewhat sweet one, and would make a fine aperitif or dessert wine. There’s a somewhat chemical aroma—maybe petroleum? —but fortunately the vermouth doesn’t taste like gasoline. I get sweet apples, pears, and other fruit flavors. Vermouth is made by adding various herbs and other ingredients to wine, and at Channing they vary them by season. This one includes such fall produce as apples, Asian pears, pumpkin, butternut squash, calendula, sage, borage etc.

The “wild child” name references the use of wild yeast.

2015 L’Enfant Sauvage $38

This is one of the wines in our current shipment, so I added it to the tasting. A chardonnay made with wild yeasts, this wine has varied over the years. Sometimes it’s my favorite, and other times…not so much. This iteration is yummy. Although it spends fifteen months in French oak, it doesn’t have that buttery taste I dislike in oaked chards. I do detect a bit of that woody flavor, which reminds me of when I was a kid and I would sometimes bite my pencils, but I also get lime and baked pear. You could have it with very assertive dishes, like spicy Chinese food, or even as an aperitif. We buy a bottle to add to the one we already have, aging in our cellar.

2016 Dornfelder

I wonder if this is a wine which would improve with age, since of all the wines we tried today this is my least favorite. But they do suggest aging it in the bottle, so we will see. A blend of 85% dornfelder and 15% pinot noir, it has red fruit aromas and flavors, but is not a really deep big red.

Lots of choices!

Reasons to visit: some of the best and most creative wines on Long Island; the Vino Bianco, the Rosato, the Petillant Naturel Rosato, L’Enfant Sauvage, and more; there’s always something new to try; one of the few wineries on the South Fork, so well worth a visit if you find yourself in Sag Harbor.

Mr. Channing’s sculptures decorate the tasting room and the grounds.

Bedell Cellars: Price/Quality Question September 8, 2018

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Albarino, Bedell Cellars, cabernet franc, chardonnay, Corey Creek Tap Room, Croteaux, dogs allowed, Malbec, no outside food, sauvignon blanc, snacks, Sparkling Rose, syrah, Taste White, viognier September 10, 2018

Bedell Cellars: Price/Quality Question September 8, 2018

https://www.bedellcellars.com/

I’ve read a number of articles about the price of a bottle in relation to the quality of the wine inside it, with many opining that it is not a simple relationship. Often, what you are paying for with an expensive bottle is some measure of prestige or canny marketing, not necessarily the experience of drinking the wine. My husband and I have had the good fortune and pleasure to go to events which included very expensive wines—vintage Dom Perignon, premium Bordeaux—which we certainly enjoyed. But the question is, were they that much better than the $20 bottles of wine we often have with dinner. Better, yes, but exponentially better? Not so sure. I was thinking about this because the wines at Bedell, while mostly pleasant and drinkable, are overall fairly expensive for what you get.

On a surprisingly chilly day (It’s been too hot to sit outside most of the summer, and then today it was too cold!), we headed to Bedell Cellars, knowing they have a pleasant tasting room, and not planning to sit on the porch—which was good, since the outdoor area was closed in preparation for a wedding. We stood at the bar in the elegant black and white room and studied the menu, which didn’t take long since they only have one flight option, of five wines for $20, though you can add tastes of any other wines for $5-$7 each. They are already sold out of two of their wines.

Our server was enthusiastic and chatty, though somewhat self-conscious about my notebook, even though I assured her that our main interest was in the wines. She informed us at the end of our tasting that we could take our receipt and go over to Corey Creek, now owned by Bedell, for two free tastes of the wines on tap there, about which more later.

1. 2017 Sparkling Rosé $45

Just as I said, “This would make a perfect bachelorette party drink,” as if on cue, a group of women surrounding one who wore a headband that proudly proclaimed “Bride” entered. Pink, bubbly, fruity, with a touch of minerality, this blend of 60% cabernet sauvignon and 40% merlot seems like it would be pleasant to drink. However, we felt that ultimately it did not cohere and was a bit too sweet for us. We still would prefer Croteaux.

The label is certainly pretty.

2. 2017 Viognier $30

Although only a few wineries on the North Fork grow viognier, we just happen to have visited both Palmer and Kontokosta recently, and their bottles of viognier are $25, while at Bedell it costs $30. We liked all three of the viogniers, and Bedell’s is no better than the others. This one has an orange blossom aroma with a slight metallic tang. It has some nice fruitiness, and while I found it a bit too sweet my husband felt it had a nice balance between sweetness and minerality. While we were discussing the wine, several people stopped in for glasses of wine, and two of them got the viognier, so clearly it is a wine people like. My tasting buddy said it was a good summer wine, and I theorized that it could stand up to an assertive dish like bouillabaisse.

Artistic label.

3. 2016 Taste White $40

Both the wine and the image on the bottle are blends. The wine mixes 64% albariño, 18% chardonnay,10% sauvignon blanc, and 8% viognier. How is the image a blend? According to our server, the artist did a composite portrait of five people to end with a face that looks like Marilyn Monroe. (The owner of the winery sits on the board of MOMA, as we are always informed.) The aroma and taste are both relatively complex and interesting, with smells of honeysuckle, baked pear, and something vegetal, maybe asparagus or grass. I laugh and say it tastes like white grapes, because it seems funny to think that a drink made from grapes rarely tastes like grapes. We also detect a hint of pineapple, and other fruits, plus pleasant acidity. It’s not a white for sipping, nor would you want it with something very delicate.

4. 2016 Cabernet Franc $45

The tasting menu describes this light red as juicy and ripe. I say meh. It is barely aged—six to nine months in neutral French oak—and has no depth and a very short finish. It evanesces, as we say. The aroma is of dark fruit, but the wine mostly tastes of minerals and a little fruit. If you want a robust red, don’t pick this nothing burger!

It is a fairly generous pour.

5. 2016 Malbec $50

I’m not too crazy about this red either, though I think people would find it easy to drink. It’s a very simple, slightly cherry-flavored red, with no tannins. It does develop a bit more flavor as it sits, and we think it might be better with something like lamb chops.

On to Corey Creek!

https://www.bedellcellars.com/the-tap-room/

Just a little further east from Bedell is Corey Creek, which used to be a separate winery until Bedell took it over. There they offer wine from a tap, like beer, and you can bring a bottle to be filled. The building is pleasantly rustic, with a pretty back porch overlooking pinot gris vines. The atmosphere is more informal than Bedell, and we saw families whose children were running around outside, plus several dogs on leashes. The bachelorette party was here, too.

Many of the wines here are aged in clay vessels, an ancient method being revived, so we were interested to see if the cabernet franc here tasted any different than the one we’d just had. They also offer Frosé, a frozen concoction of rosé, sugar, and water. No, thank you.

That’s the Frose in the containers.

1. Syrah

For a syrah, this is a very light wine, with not much in the way of aroma or taste. My husband says it has “forward tongue tingle.”

Our Corey Creek tastes

2. Cabernet Franc

This is another not-much-there wine, though if you found reds challenging you might like it. Our conclusion? “Free is the right price” for these tastes.

Reasons to visit: elegant tasting room, artistic labels, the Viognier and the Taste White; Corey Creek has a pleasantly rustic setting and the novelty of wine on tap, plus a taste is free if you’ve been to Bedell.

Look how big those grapes are getting!

Roanoke: A Highlight of Love Lane July 25, 2018

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Broken Down Valise, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, Greater Than, Infinite Possibility, Lombardi's Market, Love Lane, malvasia, Mattituck, merlot, muscat, Pinot Blanc, Roanoke Vineyards Wine Bar, sauvignon blanc, Site Specific Chardonnay The Wild!, Village Cheese Shop, viognier July 27, 2018

Roanoke: A Highlight of Love Lane July 25, 2018

https://www.roanokevineyards.net/

We had some visitors who had never experienced the delights of Love Lane, so we gave them a little guided tour, from the funky Broken Down Valise bar across from the train station to the excellent Village Cheese Shop, with stops along the way to admire the Sweet Shop and Lombardi’s Market and the wall murals. Then we settled down on the shaded back patio (which would be a nicer setting if it didn’t look out on the parking lot) for a tasting at the Roanoke Vineyards Wine Bar.

One view of the back patio area

You used to be able to go to the Roanoke winery itself (on Sound Avenue just off Roanoke Avenue), but now the only way to taste their wines is in their wine bar on Love Lane, as the winery itself is only open to members of their wine club and their guests. I particularly remember one chilly winter evening when we were the only people at the winery and had a tasting of red wines and chocolates. Yum. However, the wine bar is conveniently located in the middle of the North Fork.

The room itself is rather small, with a bar along one side and a few tables and some comfortable chairs, and so is the back patio. But even in July, Wednesdays are rather quiet on the North Fork, and for much of our time there we were the only customers. As has been the rule this week, the weather alternated between rainy and steamy, but we were comfortable on the patio and enjoyed sipping and chatting with our friends.

The tasting menu used to be more extensive, but at the moment there is only one option: four tastes for $14. We decided each couple would share one taste, which the server brought out to us one at a time, quickly adapting to our slow and thoughtful pace. You can also buy bottles of wine from a few other wineries, including our favorite, Channing Daughters, and also Wölffer Estates, Red Hook, and Grapes of Roth.

2016 Roanoke Vineyards Pinot Blanc $24

Our friend’s initial reaction to the aroma of this wine was “pungent!” And yes, it has a rather sharp aroma of pineapple, with a whiff of some sort of chemical. A blend of 95% pinot blanc and 5% viognier, this is a light, dry summery wine with tastes of pineapple and citrus. It would be good with clams or oysters.

Pretty labels

2017 Infinite Possibility $22

Just consider all the possibilities of taste and aroma you can get from a blend, in this case of 60% sauvignon blanc, 39.5% chardonnay, and .5% muscat and malvasia. Our server describes this wine as smelling sweeter than it tastes, and she’s not wrong. It smells like honeysuckle and tropical fruits, but the taste is dry and lemony, with hints of guava and spice. Tasty.

We liked the concept and the label better than the wine for this one.

2017 Site Specific Chardonnay The Wild! $22

Yes, that is the exact name of this wine, including the italics and the exclamation point. Made from a muscat clone and steel-tank fermented with wild yeasts, you would never think this was a chardonnay if not for the name. A year ago we liked it, and the friend we were with bought a bottle. This year, not so much. There’s something verging on the unpleasant in the taste, which our friend describes as “yeasty.” We also get minerals and a touch of the nuttiness we liked last year, though this time it is more like bitter almond. And that’s why we have to go back every year!

2016 ≥ (Greater Than) $22

The only red in the tasting, this is a Bordeaux-style blend of 53% merlot, 30% cabernet sauvignon, and 17% cabernet franc. It has a pleasant aroma of cherry and other fruit and also tastes of the cherry one would expect with a merlot. It is very dry, with some nice tannins, and would be good with a juicy hamburger (It is getting close to supper time!) We are intrigued by the name, and discover that it has a dual meaning. One is that, as a blend, it is greater than the sum of its parts. The other involves a dispute over the previous name of the wine, which was Bond. It turned out a California winery had a prior claim to the name, so the new name is a quiet dig at them…this one’s greater than yours! We bought a bottle.

This leafy alley leads to Love Lane on one side and the parking lot on the other.

Reasons to visit: convenient location amid the shops and restaurants of Love Lane; pleasant backyard patio; Greater Than; you can buy bottles of wine from other wineries; they have a variety of special events for members.

The back patio is a relaxing place to spend some time drinking wine.

NoFo Wineaux

Wine notes from Long Island's North Fork

Tag Archives: chardonnay

Duck Walk Vineyards: Quack Quack January 12, 2019

Clovis Point: First of the New Year January 4, 2019

Peconic Cellar Door: Good Things Come in Small Packages December 7, 2018

Coffee Pot Cellars: Puppy Love December 1, 2018

Martha Clara Vineyards: Change Is Coming November 8, 2018

Sherwood House: One Stop, Two Labels October 25, 2018

Each taste comes in its own glass, by the way. Now we move on to the Hound’s Tree Flight, $25 for five tastes. We snack on our crackers and cheese a bit to clear our palates.

Bridge Lane Wine: Cans and Boxes and Kegs, Oh My! September 23, 2018

Channing Daughters: SoFo, So Good September 14, 2018

Bedell Cellars: Price/Quality Question September 8, 2018

On to Corey Creek!

Roanoke: A Highlight of Love Lane July 25, 2018