Tag Archives: Lenz

Lenz Winery: Party Time

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

November 4, 2023

Our friends the winery aficionados invited us to join them for the Lenz pick-up party for members, so of course we said yes.  Though we’d been to Lenz not that long ago—in August, with a friend who brought his dogs along—we were happy to see what their pick-up party was like.  We also got to try some wines we had not tried before.

Pellegrini used to do a pick-up party with generous spreads of charcuterie and cheeses, but since they now charge $35, we stopped bothering to go.  No way will we eat $35/person-worth of cheese!

The event was well attended.

When we arrived at Lenz at 5 p.m., our group was ushered into the tasting room, where tables were set with glasses—four per person—and bamboo utensils.  Soon, we were served food provided by Lombardi Love Lane Market:  a couple of ravioli, a small bowl of lentil soup, and bruschetta topped with caponata and chopped tomato and garlic.  The food was fine, especially given that it was free!

After we tried the four wines on offer, the director of sales, Jerol Bailey, made a short speech about the harvest and the wines, and then went around from table to table offering a few additional tastes.  Lenz is one of the oldest wineries on the North Fork, and they take their wines very seriously.  We liked all the wines we tasted, though some more than others. 

Jerol Bailey addressing the group.

Since this was mainly a social occasion, my notes are brief.

  •  2017 Estate Selection Chardonnay $22

I was a bit leery of this one, since it is a 100% oaked chardonnay, but even though the tasting notes described it as “buttery,” it was not overly so.  The butterscotch flavor was balanced by some nice citrus and green apple notes.

  • 2015 Old Vines Gewürztraminer $30

I remember years ago, before I started this blog, heading to Lenz to buy their gewürztraminer for Thanksgiving.  Good move.  Though it did not go well with the bruschetta, it would pair beautifully with roasted turkey and other savory dishes.  It has a lovely floral aroma and spicy tastes.  I think it would also go well with ham, since I taste a bit of cloves.

  • 2018 Estate Selection Malbec $45

Malbec is often blended with other grapes—more about that in a moment—but here it stands on its own.  They say “medium” body, though I find it rather light for a red.  Still, it is dry, with some tannins that make me think it might improve with age.  I smell olives and tobacco.

  • 2017 Estate Selection Merlot $37

So here’s the thing about Long Island merlots—just about every winery has one, or more, at varying price points.  I don’t think any of them can compete with North Fork Project merlots, at about $11 for a liter.  However, this is an easy to drink red, with good cherry taste and aroma, and goes well with the lentil soup.

  • Cabernet Sauvignon

That’s the end of the flight, but Jerol comes to our table with a couple of other reds, and so we get to try the cabernet sauvignon, which is quite delicious, with lots of red fruit and some complex tastes.  I don’t know which of the three cabernet sauvignons this is, so I don’t know the price, which could be $27, $35, or $60. As we are discussing the wines, I ask him, speaking about the malbec, why they don’t do a Bordeaux blend, given that they have all the grapes.  Next thing I know, I get another extra taste.

  • Firefly Red Blend $22

This is their red blend, with an aroma of flowers and fruit and a light, fruity, juicy taste.  Yum, and very buy-able.

Reasons to visit:  VERY dog friendly; a pleasant tasting room and outside area; a well-run pick-up party for club members; all the wines are good, to varying degrees, but I particularly liked the gewürztraminer and the Firefly Red.

Lenz Winery: Intangibles

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

July 18, 2023

The rain seemed to be holding off, and a breeze made the temperature pleasant, so we decided to do an outdoor tasting.  We also wanted to be outside because our guest had brought his dogs, and we wanted to include them in the day’s activities, so we headed to Lenz. 

Primrose and Chewbacca quite enjoyed their first winery experience.

Sometimes I wonder whether how much I like a particular wine or winery is based on certain intangible factors, like the weather, or my mood, or little facets of service.  How objective is wine tasting anyway?  So much depends upon individual likes and dislikes.  On this day, we combined the peace of the courtyard (there was only one other party there), the nice breeze, the good company, and two happy dogs with wines we generally liked, with a few extras thrown in, to decide this was a great tasting experience. 

The courtyard offers a selection of shaded and unshaded tables.

Why were the dogs happy?  In addition to not being left at home, they were quickly provided with their own water dish and then—with permission from their owner—treats from the excellent server.  In addition to pampering the pooches, she timed the delivery of our tastes perfectly, falling in with our leisurely schedule and giving us just the right amount of information about each.

The North Fork wine country is celebrating its 50th anniversary, based on its beginnings with the Hargraves’ winery, and Lenz is not far behind, this year observing their 45th year in operation.  They say the older the vines, the better the wines, and that does seem to ring true here.

After perusing the menu, we decided my husband and I would share a Summer Flight, $30 for five fairly generous samples, and our guest would have the same flight, so we could compare notes.  We could also have opted for the Grand Flight, which features five of their pricier wines for $35.  There is also a chocolate pairing flight…maybe another time.  We also got a little $2 bag of North Fork potato chips, deciding to eschew the heftier options since I had cheeses and charcuterie waiting at home (including a nice chunk of 8 Hands pâté). 

  •  2016 Sauvignon Blanc                  $27 (for the ’22)

What an auspicious start to the afternoon!  We all found this sauvignon blanc delicious, with an aroma of honeysuckle and lots of fruit tastes, with a touch of lemon on the finish.  In fact, we liked it so much that we each bought a bottle to take home.

The pour was generous enough to share.
  • 2021 Firefly Rosé                             $20

Why Firefly, we asked.  Because it is named after the owner’s boat.  Ah.  A blend of malbec, merlot, and cabernet sauvignon, this is a yummy rosé, with tastes of tropical fruit—not quite pineapple, but sort of reminiscent of pineapple. 

I didn’t stop to ask about it, but Lenz often has displays of art for sale, which I assume this was. (It was about to rain, so we left quickly.)
  • 2022 Blanc do Noir Rosé               $24

If you look on the menu, you will see that this is not included in the tasting, but our lovely server brought it out for us, saying she wanted us to taste this before the other rosé, which we did.  Power of the book or the charm of the doggies?  Who knows.  In any event, this was a very light rosé, with a slight aroma of strawberry and tastes of strawberry and cherry, ending with some citrus and acidity.  Though we like it, we find it a bit too light, and actually prefer the Firefly.

  • 2017 Estate Selection Chardonnay             $22

We had a good chat with our server about oak vs. steel-fermented chardonnays.  As I’ve mentioned before, I tend to favor steel—I don’t like that buttery, oaky taste of oaked chards—but I have had some I liked.  This one is aged 50/50 in oak and steel, so sort of the best of both worlds.  I introduce our friend to the actual wine descriptor of “cat pee aroma,” which he finds amusing, but I do detect a trace of it in this wine.  However, the wine itself is quite drinkable—our friend says smooth—with a touch of citrus and not too much oak.

  • 2015 Gewürztraminer                    $30

Another gift!  Before you move on to the reds, says our server, is there any other white you’d like to try?  Hmmm…yes, I say, how about the gewürtz?  I like One Woman’s version of this wine very much, so let’s see how Lenz does.  I sniff and sense orange blossoms, a very flowery aroma.  A sip.  This wine is not shy, I opine, by which I mean it has a lot of taste!  Ripe fruit, spice…what would you eat with it, asks our friend.  Charcuterie!  Yes, it needs food that can stand up to it. Good.

  • 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon             $27

Pleasant, is the word we settle on for this light, easy-drinking red.  It has “not much depth,” notes my husband, but not every red has to be powerful.  For example, this one would go well with roast chicken.  It has some nice berry tastes and aromas.

  • 2017 Estate Selection Merlot       $22

Last wine!  We hasten our leisurely pace, as storm clouds are starting to gather. This is a good, fairly typical North Fork merlot, with an aroma I compare to Cheracol (a cough medicine you have to be of a certain age to know), and tastes of cherry and dark berries.  Nice, and a good price, too. 

The tasting room inside is cozy.

Reasons to visit: pleasant courtyard; dogs not just allowed, but pampered; the sauvignon blanc, the Firefly Rosé, the gewürztraminer, the merlot; a menu of real food, in addition to the usual cheese, etc.; an old-school winery where they take their wine-making very seriously.  By the way, though they have a small restroom inside, they also have the most deluxe port-a-potties I’ve ever seen, with air conditioning and a real sink.

I generally avoid port-a-potties, but these were deluxe.

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.