Greater Than | NoFo Wineaux

October 13, 2022

*The entrance to the patio from the parking lot is well-shaded.*

The sky was threatening rain, so I was glad I was able to park just steps from the back door of Roanoke’s Love Lane wine shop in the roomy parking lot off Pike Street. Roanoke has two tasting rooms, but the one at the vineyard is for members only. However, all are welcome to their Love Lane venue, a small but pleasant store front in the midst of Love Lane’s shops. Love Lane, by the way, is a great destination for foodies, since in one small block you have the terrific Village Cheese Shop, the Sweet Shoppe and its gourmet chocolates, Ammirati’s sandwich restaurant with its many choices, Lombardi’s Italian market, North Fork Donut Company, and Love Lane Kitchen, where the lines outside prove its popularity. Not to mention, just around the corner, Agora, a Greek market, and Good Food, where I get empanadas.

*The view out the front window, where you can see Lombardi’s market, which has all sorts of prepared foods and pizza, as well as meats, etc.*

Despite all these offerings on Love Lane, we and our guests had just had lunch at CJ’s Grill, in the Mattituck Marketplace, where the service was a bit slow, but the food was delicious and the servings were generous. This was fortunate, since the pour at Roanoke is also generous, and it was good to have a well-lined stomach. The tasting menu just has one flight listed for non-club members, of four wines for $16. We liked them all so much, and the price was so reasonable, that I bought one each of all four wines, something I have never done before.

Roanoke does have a well-shaded patio in back, where we would have sat if the weather had cooperated. However, it had turned chilly, so our party of five voted to sit inside. We had the room to ourselves, which was nice, and our server and a friend of his who was hanging out at the bar helped us push two small tables together and rearrange the chairs so we were quite comfortable. Each couple shared a tasting, with the designated driver supplied with a glass of water (which we all also got).

*Though we didn’t need any snacks, one of our guests asked for a cracker or two, and got a nice little basket of crackers.*

As I was paying for our tastings and bottles, I noticed a small list of cheeses and snacks, but I forgot to ask about their policy for bringing in food. I’ll assume dogs are probably allowed on the outside patio, but I would call and ask before coming. By the way, Roanoke also carries Wölffer Estate wines, including their very popular rosé, Summer in a Bottle.

As we sipped, one of our guests asked how this year had been, and our server told us that it looked likely to be a very good year for the harvest, as grapes enjoy the hot dry weather we had for most of the summer. Something to look forward to!

2021 Sauvignon Blanc $26

This is a steel fermented wine, with a bit of that mineral aroma steel-fermented wines get, plus a lovely floral scent. We all like the crisp, lemon-lime taste, with more depth than many sauvignon blancs. This is a very drinkable wine, and would be good with food, like a lobster roll.

2021 The Wild $23

What’s so wild about this? It uses wild yeast, which cedes some control over the result to nature, rather than using commercial yeasts. Channing Daughters also uses wild yeasts—those occurring naturally in the air and soil—for their L’Enfant Sauvage. As a result, the taste of the wine can vary from year to year. This one worked out well. A clone of chardonnay, with some muscat, it is steel-fermented, but is softer than some steel chards. Instead of citrus, it has a toasted nut flavor and a long finish. Our guests buy two bottles.

2020 > (Greater Than) $25

Why is the name of this Bordeaux-style blend the mathematical symbol for greater than? There’s a story behind it. Originally, this was called Bond, but it turned out a California winery also had a wine called Bond—a very high-end wine—and they had copyrighted the name. Uh-oh. So Roanoke asked its wine club members for alternative names, and someone came up with the idea of greater than, as in greater than the sum of its parts. And indeed it is. This is a blend of 67% cabernet franc, 19% merlot, and 14% cabernet sauvignon. The aroma includes cherries (likely from the merlot) and spice. I say nutmeg. The tasting menu compares it to a Briermere cherry tart. It’s not sweet, but it is soft, with no tannins, so it’s surely a drink-now wine. I’d have it with mac and cheese—maybe the mac and cheese from Meats Meat, also in Mattituck, just around the corner on Main Road.

2020 Marco Tulio $28

There’s a story behind the name of this Bordeaux blend as well. It is named for the father of one of the founders, who lived to be 99 years old, and died just short of his 100^th birthday. His photo adorns the bottle. This one has much more of the cherry aroma and flavor, not surprising, given that this blend is 66% merlot, 21% cabernet franc, and 13% cabernet sauvignon. This is drier than >, with some slight tannins. I taste tart plums and a little spice. I think I’d pair it with spaghetti carbonara.

Reasons to visit: cozy tasting room conveniently located in the midst of Love Lane’s food mecca; all four of the tasting menu wines; a place to buy Wölffer Estate wines.

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: Greater Than

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