Old Field Vineyards: Counting their Chickens August 11, 2017

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

http://www.theoldfield.com/

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

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

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

I hope people heed this sign.

One rooster.

Another rooster.

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

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2014 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay $28

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

Blush de Noir $18

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

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

2014 Rooster Tail $20

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

2014 Mostly Steel Chardonnay $23

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

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

2014 Cacklin’ Rosé $16

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

2013 Merlot $26

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

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

2013 Cabernet Franc $38

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

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2010 Commodore Perry $38

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

2015 Sauvignon Blanc

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

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

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

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

Peconic Bay: Not your Typical Tasting April 29, 2017

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Atwater Estate Bubble Pinot NOir, Baco Noir, Blanc de Blancs, Brotherhood New York Red, cabernet sauvignon, Cayuga, chardonnay, Hudson Valley, Long Island, merlot, North Fork, Peconic Bay Winery, riesling, Saperavi, Seneca Lake, Standing Stone, wine tasting May 1, 2017

This sign lured us in.

The last time we went to Peconic Bay for a tasting was in 2008. Then it closed. Or did it? They continued to make wines, marketing them through the store they opened in Tanger Mall, Empire State Cellars. We loved that store, which was amply stocked with wines from many of the Long Island wineries, as well as beers and liquors and other items from all over New York State. Unfortunately, they closed. Or did they?

The door was open, so we walked in.

Recently we noticed that Peconic Bay had hung out a sign saying “Open,” and touting a new sparkling wine, so we decided to check it out. We walked into an empty tasting room on a sunny day when every winery we drove past seemed to have a large complement of limos and cars. We were enthusiastically greeted by a woman who seems to be the manager of the place as well as its only employee. Over the course of our tasting, we learned various bits of information about Peconic Bay, but not why it closed and opened—and may or may not close again.

The ciders we could have tasted.

The tasting, which includes four wines, is free. (!) Each taste is small, served in tiny plastic cups. They also offer a tasting of ciders for $5, but we decided not to do that. On the counter were also a dish of Backyard Brine bread and butter-style pickles and another of pretzel sticks with Herlocher sweet mustard for dipping.

IMG_3606 (2)

As we sipped, we learned that the tasting room had been re-opened by the owner with the mission of selling out his stock of wines. Then they decided to recreate a mini-Empire State Cellar experience, and stocked a variety of New York State beers and other products, including Twin Stills moonshine, an apple-based gin, Greenhook Gunsmith whisky, various ciders, and more. Now they may or may not have “switched gears,” in the words of our friend behind the counter, to continue to sell Peconic Bay wines and other local drinks—or not. We’ll keep our eyes on them!

We were sorry when they closed.

2012 Peconic Bay Riesling $10

Riesling is a wine I never want to buy unless I’ve tasted it, since it can be sweet or dry or somewhere in between, and taste good or…not so good. This is a very nice riesling, dry, with a bit of that cat pee smell, and a taste of grapefruit and unripe peach. Not to be sipped on its own, but it would be fine with food, and the price is certainly alluring.

2011 Blanc de Blancs $25

This sparkling wine, made using the sparkling wine bottle-sealing facility at Lenz, is made from their own chardonnay grapes. It has a bit of a yeasty caramel aroma and is pleasant, dry, and not complex. They make it using the méthode champenoise.

Atwater Estate Bubble Pinot Noir $16

From an upstate Seneca Lake winery, this is a pink sparkling wine made from 85% pinot noir and 15% Cayuga grapes. It has a bit of the strawberry taste you’d expect from a rosé, and is less sweet than I had feared. It’s light, and would be a fine casual wine if you wanted to take a sparkler on a picnic.

Brotherhood New York Red $10

Another upstate wine, this one from the Hudson Valley area, this is a light, steel-fermented red blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and baco noir (which I had to ask her to spell for me). She described this as a “Beaujolais style picnic wine,” and I agree. It would be perfect with a croque monsieur, for example, and I think I would like it chilled. You can taste the cherry from the merlot, and also a somewhat piney taste.

2014 Saperavi $30

Yes, I said four wines, but given our interest and seriousness, she felt we should try one additional wine. A silver medal winner from Standing Stone winery, this is a light, pleasant red, dry, with some tastes of pomegranate and other fruits. It’s a dark red, so I expected it to be richer than it was, but maybe it needs more aging. I researched the grape a bit, and learned it is a cold-weather tolerant grape, originally from Georgia—the country, not the state.

Reasons to visit: a quiet place (unless others figure out that they’re open again); a free tasting; some very inexpensive wines (we bought both the riesling and the Brotherhood New York Red for everyday drinking, which she gave us in a nice canvas Empire State bag); a large choice of a variety of artisanal beers and other New York State drinks. Note: don’t depend on finding them open! It they’re closed, I recommend you go across the street to Coffee Pot Cellars.

We had the room to ourselves.

Some of the many brands available there.

Mattebella: Food Friendly Wines April 23, 2017

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, Famiglia Chardonnay, Famiglia Red, Long Island, Mattebella Vineyards, merlot, North Fork wine tasting, Off-Dry Sparkling Rose, Old World Blend, petit verdot, riesling, rose, steel chardonnay April 25, 2017

http://mattebella.com/main

A view to the outdoor patio, which is even prettier in the summer when the hydrangea are in bloom.

The sun finally appeared, so we decided to head to one of our favorite outdoor tasting areas. In fact, Mattebella is almost all outside area, so I suggest that you only go there in nice weather. They have a small tasting cottage and another small indoor area, plus some covered gazebo-like seating places, but most of their seating is on the rustic patio, where you are immediately greeted, shown to a table, and handed a menu.

As soft rock played in the background (think James Taylor), we perused our choices. There are three flights: Red, which is five tastes for $20; Light, which is seven whites, a rosé, and a sparkler for $20; and Total Vertical Red, which is the same as the red flight with the addition of their most expensive red, for $26. We decided to share the basic red and the light, starting with the light.

Our very well-informed server brought a tray to our table with nine glasses on it, six of which he turned right side up in order to pour our first six tastes. He also set down a little slate tray with two slices of baguette covered with double cream brie. As far as I know, Mattebella is the only winery around here to give you actual food to go with your tasting—not just a few crackers. What’s nice about this is that you can think about how well each wine goes with food. We concluded that Mattebella’s wines are very food friendly, even the ones we were not too sure of on their own. It’s a good idea to ration your nibbles, so you can experiment with how each wine goes with the cheese and baguette.

First snack.

The first six tastes are all chardonnays, but from different years or treated differently in terms of steel or a combination of steel and oak. Our server also explained that for the chardonnay grape there’s not a lot of difference year to year, so the ways the wines vary totally depends on how they are treated.

(Two FYIs: they don’t take American Express cards, and the restroom, at least for the moment, is a port-a-pottie.)

2014 Steel Chardonnay $21

A sniff reveals scents of mineral and cucumber, and the taste is very tart and sour lemony. We immediately decided this wine needed food, and after a bite of brie we liked it much better. I could see having it with something like Coquilles St. Jacques, while my husband theorized that lobster thermidor would also work.

2012 Famiglia Chardonnay $21

This one and the next one are both fermented 20% in oak, and the rest in steel, so if you don’t like oaked chardonnays this one will be just fine. It has a slight aroma of honeysuckle and what my tasting buddy insisted was shoe polish. Mineral or metal, maybe. The taste is somewhat citrusy, not sweet, and rather subtle. Again, not a sipper, but would go well with food.

2013 Famiglia Chardonnay $23

We like this one better. It has more aroma and tastes of fresh mandarin orange (when you bite into the whole fruit, rind and all), mineral, and salt. Again, not too oaky. “A wine to think about,” opined my husband.

2012 Reserve Chardonnay $28

The next three wines are all fermented 40% in oak, so they are definitely oakier than the former two, though still not too oaky. It has a pleasant aroma of apricots and butterscotch candy with lots of tastes. I decide on bosc pear and gala apple!

2013 Reserve Chardonnay $29

This one has a slightly funky smell and the taste is just okay, with still plenty of minerality despite the oak. Again, this one benefits from being sipped with a bite of brie.

2014 Reserve Chardonnay $29

I would say pretty much the same comments about this wine as the previous one, just adding that it smells a little like sweat, though not in a bad way, and has more of a citrus flavor that that one.

The sparkling wine is in front.

2014 Riesling $22

Now our server comes out with another three bottles (carried in a milkman-like metal carrier) and fills our next three glasses. This is their first riesling, and he explains that the winemaker wanted to make a dry riesling, but found the brix content of the grapes to be too high. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brix ) As a result, he decided on an “off-dry” riesling. We don’t particularly care for this one, which is both too sweet for us but also has a metallic taste I don’t like—like touching your tongue to steel or iron. Maybe next year’s vintage will be better.

2015 Rosé $21

Pleasant, we agree, is the word for this rosé, made from merlot grapes. It spends 5-6 hours on the skins, we are informed. I think it has a bit of a smell like parmesan cheese! We taste citrus, strawberry, salt, and mineral. Crisp and nice.

2015 Off-Dry Sparkling Rose $28

If you follow me at all, you can probably tell just by the name that I’m not going to care for this sparkler, and you would be right. Too sweet! Made from syrah grapes, it has a distinct green vegetable aroma, maybe fresh peas, plus some chocolate. The taste reminds me of sweet cherries.

Bottle carrier

Now we order a red flight, and get a fresh tray with five little glasses on it. Again, the wines are very similar, all being blends in varying proportions of some combination of merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, and/or petit verdot. With this round we each get a little plate with two slices of baguette, one topped with balsamic fig jam and gorgonzola cheese, and the other with bacon jam and grana padana, plus specific instructions on which goes with which wine. Yum.

Famiglia Red $24

As their non-vintage selection, Mattebella aims for consistency with this wine, trying to have it taste pretty much the same year to year. Not a bad goal, since we like this wine very much. It’s a perfect spaghetti/pizza wine, with characteristic merlot cherry tastes, dry yet fruity.

2011 Old World Blend $43

We smell cherry, like a merlot, though this is a blend. 2011 was a difficult year, because of Hurricane Irene, but since Mattebella harvests by hand, they were able to pick and choose and get enough grapes to make their wine, though fewer cases than usual. I would say this is fairly straightforward, with soft tannins, and very pleasant to drink.

2012 Old World Blend $40

This one has no cabernet sauvignon, and instead more petit verdot, making it spicier and more interesting as far as I’m concerned. Definitely we smell and taste cherry, but also red blackberry and some minerality. Another good one.

Second round of snacks!

2008 Old World Blend $48

No petit verdot in this one! We are instructed to have it with the balsamic fig jam/gorgonzola-topped baguette slice, which is a great pairing. The wine is good, but better with the food. We smell and taste chocolate and tobacco in addition to some cherry and dark fruit.

2009 Old World Blend $46

Now we get to have the other baguette with jam and cheese, also a nice pairing. This wine definitely smells like a Bordeaux, with lots of interesting fruit. The taste has dark fruit and a touch of earthiness, and we like it very much. Excellent!

The winery is named for the owners’ children, pictured on the label.

Reasons to visit: an attractive outdoor seating area; the chance to compare the same grape or grapes over different years or treatments; free snacks!; the 2013 Famiglia Chardonnay; all the reds.

Lenz Winery: A Matter of Style December 4, 2016

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Blanc de Noir Rose, cabernet sauvignon, Catapano, Eric Fry, Estate Selection Malbec, Estate Selection Merlot, Lenz Winery, Long Island, North Fork, Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon, Old Vines Chardonnay, Old Vines Gewurztraminer, Old Vines Merlot, petit verdot, Pinot Gris, pinot noir, White Label Chardonnay, wine tasting December 6, 2016

http://www.lenzwine.com/Home.htm

In warmer weather, this courtyard might be a nice place to relax.

“Eric,” said our server, referring to Eric Fry, the winemaker for Lenz, “prefers a more austere style, with salty minerality.” We agree. If you want to understand the difference a winemaker’s choices can make, then you should definitely include Lenz in your tastings. For example, back in October we tasted Pugliese’s 2010 Blanc de Noir Nature, a rosé made from pinot noir grapes, and at Lenz we tasted their 2014 Blanc de Noir, also made from pinot noir grapes. Of course, they are different vintages, but look at the difference in taste: my notes for Pugliese (just down the street from Lenz) note a vegetable taste and aroma, while my notes for Lenz highlight a smell of minerals and salt and mushed up fruit and a taste of red grapefruit. Same grape, same “terroir,” different winemakers, different tastes. Both, I might add, quite good.

The Lenz tasting room is in an attractive wooden building with a long bar along one side and a nice array of wine-related gifts and art for sale along the other sides. They have room for tables, but don’t have any, which might be a good addition, though I did note some picnic tables in the courtyard. On this sunny winter Sunday, there were several small groups and couples at the bar, tasting the wines, chatting, and listening to the soft jazz and pop music on the sound system. I heard Frank Sinatra, among others.

Some of their gift options

The tasting menu features an Estate tasting of five wines for $12 or a Premium tasting of five of their better wines for $15, plus a few additional wines available for individual tastes, such as their sparkling wine and the rosé. Our enthusiastic and knowledgeable server suggested that he could also do an all white and/or all red tasting for us, and we decided that it would be perfect to share an all white and then an all red tasting. Together the two were $27.

Pretty color, too.

2014 Blanc de Noir Rosé $24

As I noted above, we smelled a salty minerality plus mushed up fruit (a description I’m sticking to, even if that’s not a “wine word”) and agreed that this is a very dry, French-style rosé with nice acidity and a citrusy taste like red grapefruit. Though you wouldn’t want to sip it on its own, it would be a very nice summer aperitif with a cheese tray, especially if you had some brie and creamy goat cheese on it, perhaps from Catapano.

2012 Pinot Gris $25

Our server describes the style of this white as “Alsatian, with no residual sugar.” I get the idea of austere here also, as this is a very dry wine with a vegetal aroma and an almost cabbage-y taste. My husband compares it to Brussels sprouts, one of his favorite vegetables. Again, though not a sipping wine, this would go well with certain foods, such as a charcuterie platter. Nice acidity.

2010 Old Vines Gewürztraminer $30

And now, as they say, for something completely different. 2010 was a hot dry year, and, according to our server, a good year for gewürztraminer. He may be onto something. This is a delicious wine, with lots of aromas including lychees in syrup and tropical fruits. This is again a dry wine, though gewürztraminers are often somewhat sweet, and it has some sweetness and a taste like roasted pear. I observe that it would be perfect with turkey, and then flash on a memory of a number of years ago when we came to Lenz in order to buy several bottles of their gewürztraminer for Thanksgiving.

You can buy hand-decorated bottles to bring to a friend’s house.

2013 White Label Chardonnay $15

Two years ago when we came here we bought a couple of bottles of their White Label Chard, which was $15 then, so it is quite the bargain now. This is a steel-fermented chard, with an almost candy-like aroma and a dry, crisp, gooseberry taste, with a touch of pineapple. You could sip this with or without food, and it would go with any white-wine friendly dish.

2013 Old Vines Chardonnay $30

When Lenz says “old vines,” they’re not kidding, as they first planted their grapes in 1978, which makes them practically ancient by Long Island standards. Our server says that Eric wants you to “taste the year,” so ages the wine in neutral oak barrels. This is a good chardonnay to give someone who thinks they don’t like chardonnay, as it is a lovely wine. The aroma is of peaches with some vanilla, and the taste is crisp and dry with just a bit of sweetness and a taste of not-quite-ripe pear.

Lovely dark color

2013 Estate Selection Malbec $40

We get a fresh glass and switch to the reds. This is a “pre-release” wine, not yet on the tasting menu. Lots of wineries use Malbec in their blends, but not as many use it by itself. The label notes it is “unfined and unfiltered,” as are several of their reds, which goes along with the philosophy on their website of trying not to interfere too much with the natural process of turning grapes into wine. We smell lots of fruit aromas plus an undercurrent of something my husband describes as medicinal and I think of as Band-aids. Mouth-watering taste, with lots of tannins, dry, with dark ripe prune plum taste. Their tasting notes say chocolate, but I’m not getting that. Yum. Interesting wine.

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon $25

Now I get chocolate—this one smells like those chocolate-covered cherries. This is also good, with lots of dark fruit tastes and a nice acidity that would complement lamb very well. The tasting menu mentions cedar, and my tasting buddy objects, “I hate eating cedar.” Ha. I do get some woodiness. Not complex, but good enough that if we had room in our cellar we would buy some to hold for a couple of years.

Unlike some places, the labels actually give you information about the wine.

2010 Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon $50

This one also could use some aging, though it is already very good, with a slightly funky aroma that is mostly of red fruit. As we sip we note a complexity, with layers of flavors, including raspberry and other dark fruits. 2010 was a good year for reds, and this one is no exception.

2012 Estate Selection Merlot $30

Though this is mostly merlot, it also has some cabernet franc and malbec and petit verdot in it. We get the typical cherry aroma and taste of Long Island merlots. Judging by the tannins, we think this could also age well. Good.

2010 Old Vines Merlot $65

Always fun to taste the same grape from different years to see how they compare. Our server enthuses that the ’93 and ’97 merlots are still very good, noting that this one should also age well. “Don’t drink it right away,” he warns, if you buy it. We don’t—not convinced it is worth the price—but I think it would be hard to resist drinking it sooner than later, as it is another winner. Aromas and tastes of chocolate and cherry and tobacco greet us, but it is not a “fruit bomb.” Nicely dry.

You can see some of the paintings for sale, and also a sign on the beam that never fails to amuse my husband.

Reasons to visit: a nicer than usual selection of gifts, including original paintings; a lovely calm setting and knowledgeable and enthusiastic servers; all the wines if you like them dry, but especially the Old Vines Gewürztraminer, the Old Vines Chardonnay, the Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Old Vines Merlot.

You can enter and exit the courtyard through this tunnel–or go around it!

That time of year thou mayst in me behold/ When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang/Upon those boughs…

Channing Daughters: Secret Favorite November 5, 2016

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Blaufrankisch, cabernet franc, channing daughters, dornfelder, Envelope, gewurztraminer, Il Cappuccino, Long Island, malvasia bianco, Muscat de Boom, muscat ottonel, petit verdot, Rosso Fresco, Sag Harbor, sauvignon blanc, Scuttlehole Chardonnay, Scuttlehole Road, South Fork, syrah, Tocai Fruliano, wine tasting November 7, 2016

http://www.channingdaughters.com/

Outside the tasting room you are greeted by this statue made by Mr. Channing from a tree turned upside down.

I have a confession to make. Though my blog is titled Nofo for North Fork, my favorite East End winery is actually on the South Fork, just outside Sag Harbor, to be exact. Why do I like Channing Daughters so much? For one thing, I’ve never had a wine of theirs that I disliked. We joined their wine club years ago (we get the wine delivered) and are fascinated by the wide variety of different wines they offer, especially for such a small winery. According to their web site, they have “three dozen different bottlings.” Their web site is worth visiting, to learn about the interesting experiments they do. When they introduced rosés, they made six or seven different ones. I bought a case of six varieties, and we enjoyed them all. They also started making vermouths a few years ago, using local herbs where possible. They do a better job with reds than many Long Island wineries, and their Scuttlehole Chardonnay is the one against which we measure all other steel-fermented chards. In fact, we served it at our daughter’s wedding.

We also like the intimacy of the tasting room, which is augmented in the summer by some outside tables. And in the tasting room, we’ve always found the servers to be knowledgeable about the wines, happy to answer any questions guests pose to them. Certainly our server on this visit fit that description, discussing both the wines and the business of a winery with well-informed intelligence. For example, we started talking about the contrast between summer and fall crowds, especially in the Hamptons, and he discussed the challenges of staffing a tasting room for a seasonal spike in visitors.

Because we are wine club members, we did not have the regular tasting. Instead, our server made sure that we got to try some of their newest releases, including the bottles that had arrived in our most recent shipment. A regular tasting consists of six wines for $14, and the pour is on the generous side. Even though I won’t be writing about most of the wines on the regular tasting menu, I don’t hesitate to recommend that people go there. You won’t be disappointed. And while you’re on the South Fork, you can also visit Wölffer Estate, if you want a second winery visit. (However, I don’t recommend Duck Walk.) Then you can drive into Sag Harbor and walk up and down Main Street, checking out the art galleries, book store, and boutiques, and ending with dinner at Il Cappuccino (or one of the other restaurants). We haven’t been there recently, but we used to be quite enamored of the garlic knots.

In Sag Harbor you can also see a film at the cinema, which shows off-beat or art house type films.

2015 Scuttlehole Chardonnay $18

As I said, this is our favorite East End chard, named for the street on which the winery is located. It is a crisp, dry, steel-fermented wine, with lots of lemon tastes and, as they say, mouth-watering acidity. It goes great with food, especially fish and seafood, like Peconic Bay scallops.

Part of the array of different wines they make.

2014 Sauvignon Blanc $23

There is a little tocai fruliano (8%) mixed in with the sauvignon blanc, and both are slightly oaked. The aroma is interesting, almost candy-like, with some floral notes, and the taste is equally complex. We discuss, and identify stone or mineral and peach and peach pit. Because it is only slightly oaked it is still quite crisp, and, like their wines in general, dry. Nice.

Envelope has a rich color.

2012 Envelope $42

Why “Envelope”? Because the idea was to “push the envelope” of what a chardonnay could be. Though “pushing the envelope” could describe what they do with many of their wines (like Research Cab, or Over and Over, or L’Enfant Sauvage), the results with this one are quite good. It is what is called an “orange” wine, though it is not quite orange, because it spends more time on the skins, giving it a deeper color than your average white. A blend of 66% chardonnay, 26% gewürztraminer, and 8% malvasia bianca, it has an almost vegetable-like aroma, which my husband compares to his favorite veggie: Brussels sprouts. Not a sipping wine, it would go great with charcuterie, where its tart edge would complement the richness of the meats.

2015 Rosso Fresco $20

This one is also on the regular tasting menu, and is their sort of all-purpose red blend, a mixture this year of 47% merlot, 30% blaufrankisch, 10% syrah, 10% dornfelder, and 3 % cabernet franc. Now that’s a blend I bet you won’t find anywhere else! I compare the aroma to funky cherry pie. The taste is of plums and other dark fruits, and is again dry, with some tannins. My tasting buddy thinks it would go well with a stew, and now that the weather is turning colder perhaps I’ll make one. Our server also mentions that the winemaker used to be a chef, so he is very attuned to making wines that go well with food.

2014 Petit Verdot $32.40 (for wine club members)

I tend to like petit verdots, so I was eager to taste this one, and I was not disappointed. Our server described it as “smoky, dark, and full-bodied,” and suggested it was a good wine to cellar. I agree. The taste makes me think of dark chocolate with a cherry inside, but it is quite tannic and I think would benefit from some aging.

2015 Muscat de Boom $30 (for a small bottle)

Funny name for a really delicious after dinner wine, this is made with muscat ottonel grapes which are partially fermented and then dosed with grape brandy. It is slightly viscous, like a thin honey, but not cloyingly sweet, and would pair well with dark chocolate and almonds. Almond Joy? Why not!

Reasons to visit: it’s one of the best wineries on Long Island; you’re on the South Fork and want to visit a winery or you’ve decided on a day trip to Montauk and want to stop at a winery on your way; the wood sculptures made by Mr. Channing; a wide variety of wines to suit every taste; the Scuttlehole Chardonnay, the Envelope, the Rosso Fresco, the Petit Verdot…actually, all their wines!

More of the array of wines.

Pindar: Sunshine on a Cloudy Day February 20, 2016

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting, Uncategorized and tagged with Autumn Gold, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, Cayuga, chardonnay, Croteaux, Feisty Acres, Long Island, merlot, North Fork, Peacock Chardonnay, Pindar, proprietary blends, Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve Merlot, Riverhead Farmers Market, sauvignon blanc, seyval, Sunflower Chardonnay, wine tasting, Winter White February 22, 2016

http://www.pindar.net/

It was a cloudy day as we headed to Pindar.

A beautifully deep rich voice singing “sunshine on a cloudy day” greeted us as we entered Pindar’s large tasting room, and that seemed like an appropriate message. It was a cloudy day, and, as the French say, “A day without wine is like a day without sunshine.” Pindar often offers musical entertainment, and is often crowded. Today, however, there were only a few couples at the bar and the tables in a room that, according to their web site, can accommodate 3,000 (!). Because of the crowds, we hadn’t been there in a few years, but this visit reminded us that we like many of their wines, though not all. Their prices also are quite reasonable, which may have something to do with the economies of scale, as they say they are the largest vineyard on Long Island.

We quite enjoyed her singing.

The menu offers 5 tastes for $10, out of 14 choices, including four characterized as “sweeter” and two dessert wines, plus another list of three “limited” wines at $3 per taste, and a sparkling wine. The list is further divided into reds, whites, and “proprietary blends,” so it took us a while and some discussion to decide what to do. We finally decided to share two tastings, first the whites, including two of the proprietary blends (marked with an * in my review), and then five of the reds. We chose to skip the rosés, as we tend to find no one’s measure up to Croteaux’s. Since the pour is rather generous, we were glad we chose to share. They also offer a selection of cheeses and crackers, and do not allow outside foods.

One view of the bar–one of the bars!

2014 Sauvignon Blanc $14.99

In general, we feel Long Island sauvignon blancs tend to go better with food, as they tend to be too lemony to just sip, and that’s true of this one as well. The aroma is of mineral and peach. Very refreshing, I could see having this with lobster, as its tartness would offset the crustacean’s richness. My husband notes that the end is too lemony for too long for his liking, especially sans food.

*Autumn Gold $10.99

This is a blend of Cayuga, Seyval, and chardonnay grapes, our server informs us, as will be our next choice, though in different proportions and different residual sugar amounts. We ask if the Cayuga is from upstate, since it is an upstate grape, and are informed that they grow all their grapes in their own vineyards. We like this better than the first wine. It has a touch of sweetness and a bit of funkiness which are well balanced with green apple and citrus tastes. I also smell some minerality. This is a very buyable wine, and we get a bottle of it to take home.

*Winter White $10.99 for 750 ml., $17.99 for 150 ml.

“Our most popular white,” notes our server as he pours this blend. We smell tropical fruits, and are ready to like this one but find it much too sweet for our tastes. The menu describes it as “semi-dry,” which makes us wonder about the wines they categorize as “sweeter.” You could serve it to someone who actually would prefer soda—or maybe with Thai food. We dump it.

The mysterious peacock, which may be a reference to Hera’s favorite bird.

2013 Peacock Chardonnay $9.99

There’s a pretty peacock on the label, so we ask (as we did two years ago) about the name of the wine. Still no answer! This spends eight months in French oak, and we do smell a bit of that woody smell. We don’t really care for this one, either. The taste reminds me of over-ripe bananas plus a really tart grapefruit—they say “citrus rind”—and then too much sweetness. We don’t dump, but we also are not fans.

2013 Sunflower Chardonnay Special Reserve $18.99

Why sunflower? This time we get an answer—a sunflower appeared spontaneously in the midst of the vineyard. The menu describes this as “100% new barrel” fermented, from a “special 3.9 acre vineyard block.” Sniff—vanilla and grape juice. This has more body than any white so far. I say nice. My tasting buddy says it is “not offensive at the end.” One could sip this, and it would also be good with a seafood diavolo, since it has some sweetness to it, but not too much.

2013 Cabernet Franc $21.99

Now we switch to reds, and get a new glass. Our server tells us this was just released. Hmmm…smells good. Berries, forest floor, maybe wet leaves. Tastes light, more of a roast chicken or game bird red than a steak red. It would have gone well with the quail from Feisty Acres we bought at the Riverhead Farmer’s Market and had for Valentine’s Day dinner. But it is soft, pleasant, and quite drinkable.

2013 Cabernet Sauvignon $18.99

Another pretty label, this one with Pegasus, the flying horse, on it, reminds us that Pindar is named for the Greek poet and owned by the Damianos family, who are Greek. The wine spends two years in American oak barrels, and has just been out for six months. I like the aroma, which has a bit of a black olive smell. This is another fairly light red, dry, with some tannins and tastes of stewed prune and spice, maybe allspice. My husband thinks it could use more time.

Pegasus, the flying horse

2013 Merlot $18.99

Merlot is the most popular red wine grape around here, and this is a fairly typical example of a merlot, though with more of a café au lait aroma than most. My tasting buddy says it reminds him of Hopjes candy. I’m thinking mocha. Again, nice and soft, dry at the end, with some nice fruit flavor, but not particularly interesting.

Another Greek reference--the Argo, Jason's chip.

Another Greek reference–the Argo, Jason’s ship.

2010 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon $34.99

“This,” says our server enthusiastically, “is my favorite!” Yes, I can see why. It is quite good. Oak (two years in French oak), cherry, and tobacco aromas, with lots of berry tastes, this would have gone well with the lamb chops we had last night. Very drinkable.

2010 Reserve Merlot $34.99

The menu informs us that these grapes were hand-picked and the wine spent two years in French oak. We smell black cherry and dark plum and taste lots of dark fruit tastes. Yes, it is better than their other merlot. Then again, everyone says 2010 was a very good year, especially for reds.

Lots of snacks

Reasons to visit: big room that accommodates a crowd (which might also be a reason not to go!); frequent music performances; good prices for Long Island; the Autumn Gold, Sunflower Chardonnay, 2010 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2010 Reserve Merlot; they sell cheese and crackers and other snacks; lots of choices; wines that non-wine drinkers may prefer.

Plenty of room at the bars

Pretty stained glass window

Clearly they’ve won lots of awards.

Baiting Hollow Farm Vineyard: It Helps to be First January 30, 2016

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Angel Chardonnay, Baiting Hollow Farm Vineyard, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, Farm house rescue and sanctuary, horse rescue, Long Island, merlot, Mirage, North Fork, Sweet Isis, White Satin, wine tasting February 1, 2016

http://www.baitinghollowfarmvineyard.com/

The first winery you come to on Sound Avenue, traveling west to east as most visitors do, is Baiting Hollow, and I can’t help but wonder if that has contributed to its popularity. To be fair, its tasting room is located in an attractive building that is based on what was originally a farmhouse built around 1861, it has an extensive food menu so you can easily have lunch there, and it has an attractive charity to which it donates the profits of certain wines. It also frequently features musical entertainment, welcomes limos and buses, and its wines are all crowd pleasers.

The band was warming up when we left.

The charity is interesting. They operate a horse rescue sanctuary, where they house horses which were destined for slaughter. If the day had been warmer, we might have gone out back to take a peek at them. We did spot one horse through a window. In the summer, they offer pony rides for children. A number of their wines are marked with a horse’s head on the menu. These wines are named for particular horses, and the profits from their sale are donated to their charity, as are the profits from the pony rides.

Considering their charity, this photo was not surprising. Note the clever use of a wine bottle, too.

The food menu, in addition to the expected snacks and cheese plates, also included today warm soups and chili, and such dishes as “merlot meatball sliders” for $12.99. We saw several family groups eating lunch when we were there, early in the day on Saturday.

We were glad we went early, since most of the time when we go past Baiting Hollow we are scared away by the crowds of cars and limos. Today it was nice and quiet, though a band warming up promised livelier times to come. Instead we had peace in which to savor the wines, and a server who seemed to know all about them.

The tasting menu offers several options for one ounce tastes: one taste for $4, three for $9, four for $11, or six for $16. We opted to share one six-taste flight, chosen from a menu of three whites, two rosés, four reds, and two dessert wines. Our server apologetically gave us tickets for the six, assuring us that he would remember where we were. We opted to sample our choices at a nearby table, returning to the bar for each new one.

One of the bars.

White Satin 2013 $27.99

This is a blend of a couple of different whites with an aroma of chalk or stone and peach pit. Happily, it tastes better than it smells. White Satin is a dry, fairly tart white with tastes of blood orange or tangelo and maybe kumquat, with some interest. My tasting buddy objects to the finish, saying, “I don’t want that taste in my mouth.” It would be better with food, maybe a nice fresh bluefish. I like to bake bluefish fillets on top of potatoes, with a few slices of bacon on top.

Angel Chardonnay 2013 $27.99

One of the horse charity wines, this is typical of those Long Island chardonnays which have spent some time in oak and some in stainless steel. When you smell it you can detect traces of the wood, plus some mineral and lemon aromas, and the taste includes both lots of lemony citrus and a touch of vanilla (from the oak). Nice. It would also go well with local fish, perhaps the blackfish I oven “fried” several times this fall.

2007 Merlot $26.99

We decide to skip the rosés and the riesling, thinking they might be too sweet for our tastes, and move on to the reds. No new glass. Sniff. “Gasoline?” says my husband, perhaps a bit influenced by all the time he spent last week behind our snow blower. I tilt more towards berries, but I get what he means. There is a sweet slightly chemical aroma. The taste is light and pleasant, with a touch of smoke but not enough to be unpleasant. While not for sipping, this would be fine with chicken or game birds.

Mirage $27.99

Another wine named for a horse, with proceeds going to the horse rescue, this is their Bordeaux blend, a mixture of cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, and merlot. Again, this is a fairly light red, not complex, dry, with berry tastes, and is pleasant enough. Though it would not stand up to a steak, it would be fine with veal or lamb. The tasting notes say “bold.” I say not so much.

Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 $28.99

You can’t tell a wine by its smell, an adage I just made up, is certainly exemplified by this wine, which smells kind of funky but tastes quite good. It’s my favorite so far, with lots of mouth-watering acidity and fruit. It is easy to drink, either as a sipper or with food, and is just the right amount of dry.

Cabernet Franc 2012 $28.99

Just as my husband wonders whether one can actually tell one North Fork red from another, we try this one. The aroma is quite different from the cab sauv—somewhat reminiscent of Cheracol, that old cough syrup, with no funkiness—and so is the taste. Lots of blackberry, we decide simultaneously, nice and dry, and less fruity than you’d expect from the aroma. If I were having roasted Crescent Farms duck breast I’d pair this wine with them.

The glass of Sweet Isis.

Sweet Isis $32.99 (for 375 ml.)

No, we did not get a free taste! I decided I wanted to taste one of the dessert wines, and my husband accidentally came back to our table with a whole glass of Sweet Isis. A taste would have been $5. The last of the horse rescue wines (thus named for a horse, not a certain group), this is a white wine dessert wine, with lots of fresh pear and apple tastes. I was concerned that a whole glass of it with no food (blue cheese would have been perfect) would cloy, but somehow as we sat and chatted and sipped it all disappeared. It was sweet, but appropriately so, and could also go with charcuterie as well as with a cheese platter. Very likable.

Food was served at this bar.

Gift items

Reasons to visit: it’s the first winery you come to; horses!; lots of food options; music; you don’t mind crowds; lots of gift items; the Angel Chardonnay, the cabernet sauvignon, the cabernet franc, the Sweet Isis.

Their rules

Macari: Still a Good One January 2, 2016

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting, Uncategorized and tagged with Bergen Road, Block "E", cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, Cuvee, Dos Aguas, Dos Aguas Red Blend, estate, Long Island, Macari, Malbec, Merlot Estate, Merlot Reserve, Michelangelo's, North Fork, petit verdot, riesling, sauvignon blanc, Sette NV, vintage, viognier January 4, 2016

http://www.macariwines.com/

The entrance

For our first winery of the new year, we headed to Macari, which we had last visited when it boasted the award of “Best Winery of 2014.” We would have been back sooner, but cancelled our visits when the attractive tasting room proved too crowded and noisy for us. This time, in the doldrums of January, there were still plenty of people, including a large group in the room off to one side, but we found a place at the bar and a smart and attentive server.

Plenty of space for large groups in the side room.

The menu offers three options—Estate, of four of their lower priced wines for $10; Cuvee, of five for $15; and Vintage, of five of their best wines for $20. Since none of the lists overlapped, we decided to share two tastings, one of the Cuvee and one of the Vintage. Because both menus included whites and reds of varying types, we wanted to alternate so as not to try to follow a riesling with a sauvignon blanc. Why? As we’ve learned, if you try to taste a light dry wine like a steel-fermented sauvignon blanc after a sweeter, more substantial wine like a riesling, you won’t be as able to appreciate the lighter wine.

Our server first wanted to pour our two tastings simultaneously, but after we explained the philosophy behind our preference she quickly caught on, and made sure to pour the wines in an order that made sense. We were particularly impressed with her ability to keep track of what we were doing since she also was serving other customers and running off to the side room as well. She also was enthusiastic about the wines, sharing her preferences and knowledge about the wine, only once having to resort to a “cheat sheet” to give us information we requested.

As we sipped, we admired the nicely done holiday decorations and the attractive labels on the wines, and afterwards we browsed the small but good collection of wine-related gifts. Note they don’t allow outside foods, and sell a variety of snack and cheese items. I’m listing the wines in the order in which we had them, marking the Vintage wines with an *.

Sauvignon Blanc ’14 $24

This is a steel –fermented sauvignon blanc, with an aroma that reminds me of the water in a vase after the flowers have begun to decay—which doesn’t sound all that appealing, but is fine when combined with citrus. Good, we decide, nicely crisp, but delicate, with a touch of sweetness—perhaps more Meyer lemon than lemon. Of course it would pair well with local oysters or clams, but if you had it with shrimp I would leave out the cocktail sauce, which would overwhelm this wine.

Sauvignon Blanc ’14 (concrete egg) $27

Ooh, this is just the sort of exercise I love: Trying two wines side by side, made from the same grapes, but treated differently. In this case, “concrete egg” refers to the egg-shaped concrete cask they use to ferment the wine, our server explains, and adds that since concrete is more porous than steel but less porous than wood, and without the flavor added by a wood cask, the results are quite different and, she thinks, better. We agree. The aroma is complex, with perhaps a hint of nutmeg or other spices and a taste that is a touch sweeter without being too sweet, with some acidity and a taste of greengage plums. No finish. Mysteriously, the label bears the word “Lifeforce.”

*Dos Aguas ’13 $27

“Dos Aguas” refers to the two waters between which the vineyards are located: Peconic Bay and Long Island Sound. Many people feel that these “two waters” contribute to the North Fork’s excellence as a grape-growing region, since they have the effect of moderating the climate. This is a blend of chardonnay, viognier, riesling, and sauvignon blanc, and is another good wine. The aroma makes me think of sticky fruits and the taste includes minerality, figs, and tangerines. Though the riesling does contribute some sweetness, it is well balanced with some acidity. It would go well with one of my favorite dishes, pasta tossed with a variety of seafood.

*Riesling ’13 $23

Ah yes, we are definitely glad that we tasted this one last of the whites, as its sweetness would have interfered with appreciating the others. This is the only wine, our server informs us, that uses grapes not grown on the estate, since the riesling grapes in this come from the Finger Lakes region (not unusual for Long Island wineries, as upstate is known for its good riesling). The aroma is honey, the taste like a green apple on the sweeter side, like a Mutsu, not a Granny Smith. “Toot suite,” jokes my husband, as he complains that this wine is sweeter than he likes. It is sweeter than a dry riesling, but I don’t find it unpleasantly so. With spicy food you’d welcome that flavor.

Merlot Estate $15

Burnt sugar? Cinnamon toast? We discuss the smell, which in any event is not typical for a Long Island merlot. Our server lets us in on the secret that although this wine is more than 80% merlot it also has some syrah, cabernet franc, and cabernet sauvignon, which may help explain the aroma. It may also explain the taste, which is quite good for an inexpensive merlot, and makes this a good choice for a table wine. It is fairly soft, with no tannins and some acid, and would go well with veal or pork, rather than steak.

Full disclosure: We already knew we like Sette.

Sette NV $19

We are quite familiar with Sette, since we often order it in local restaurants. In fact, we just shared a bottle of it at Michelangelo’s last week, when it went well with eggplant parmesan and pasta with sausage and broccoli rabe. This is a blend of 50/50 merlot and cabernet franc (not of seven wines, as you might assume from the name, which instead refers to the town Settefratti, which was the home town of the Macari family). The smell is warm, with some spice and wood, the taste cherry with again some acid but not much tannin.

Cute drawing on the Dos Aguas.

*Dos Aguas Red Blend ’10 $30

Blend? Yes, of cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, and merlot. We smell wet hay and wood, taste pleasant dark fruits. This is a soft, easy to drink red, and would be good, I opine, to sip while cooking—and ruining the food? theorizes my husband. Ha.

*Merlot Reserve ’10 $36

After aging 26 months in French oak, this wine has more tannins than the previous reds, with a typical merlot aroma of cherry plus oak. Not powerful, but pleasant, this is a good wine if you want to introduce someone to Long Island merlots.

Apparently the Bergen Road is also available in a huge bottle.

*Bergen Road ’10 $46

Since I ask, our server looks up the proportions of this red blend: 56% merlot, 26% cabernet sauvignon, 13% cabernet franc, 3% malbec, and 2% petit verdot. A Right Bank Bordeaux. The color is quite dark, and so is the taste, with plenty of tannin and acid and delicious dark fruits. Yum.

Block “E” looks and tastes very like a sherry.

Block “E” ’12 $32 (for a small bottle)

Ice wine is supposed to be made with grapes picked after the first frost, but since that frost tends to come pretty late on the North Fork (as in it just happened), instead the grapes are picked fairly late, when they have developed quite a bit of sugar, and then frozen before being made into a dessert wine. In both color and taste this reminds us of a semi-sweet sherry, with a bit of a honey aroma. When I ask, we are informed it is made from merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, and malbec grapes. Good dessert wine, it would be nice with some almonds.

Reasons to visit: good all-around winery, with plenty of tasty options and a big room with tables for groups; nice selection of gifts; reasonable prices (if we didn’t have all the wine we need at the moment we would have bought several of the wines); the “concrete egg” Sauvignon Blanc, the Dos Aguas white and red, the Merlot Estate, the Sette, the Bergen Road.

Raphael: Better for an Event than a Tasting? December 26, 2015

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, chardeaux, chardonnay, First Label Merlot, First Label Riesling, First Label Sauvignon Blanc, La Fontana, Long Island, Malbec, North Fork, petit verdot, Raphael, sauvignon blanc, wine tasting December 28, 2015

http://www.raphaelwine.com/

With their beautiful building, modeled after an Italian monastery, and spacious tasting room, Raphael is often in use as a venue for private events. This time of year the room sparkles with Christmas lights, so it is no surprise to note that it will be closed New Year’s Eve for such an event. In fact, if you plan to go for a tasting make sure to check their web page first to make sure they are open. You may also choose to go or not depending on whether they have musical entertainment planned. The performers we heard were all quite talented and we liked their music, but not the sound level, which made conversation difficult. The other difficulty we encountered was that the servers were clearly understaffed, having to cater to a crowd around the circular bar plus many people sitting at the tables, drinking glasses of wine and listening to the music.

The menu lists 18 choices, all priced by the taste, glass, or bottle. We happened to have a coupon for two free tastings, which entitled us to three tastes each, which would have cost us $17 for the six tastes. Since we knew we already liked the Portico—which proved to be a popular after-Thanksgiving-dinner drink—we decided to focus on the standard whites and reds, skipping the reserves, the rosés, and the dessert wines. The menu mentions ratings by both Wine Enthusiast and Wine Advocate in the high 80s and low 90s for a number of the wines.

The pour is fairly generous.

2014 Sauvignon Blanc $22

We decided to start by trying their two sauvignon blancs side by side, and our request for information about the wines was referred by our server to another one who was more knowledgeable. This is the less expensive of the two, steel fermented for a shorter time, and not the preference of our server. We agree, though it is a fine example of Long Island sauvignon blanc, with lots of minerality and soft lemon taste at the end, and a refreshing acidity. It would go well in the summer, or well-iced with oysters.

2014 First Label Sauvignon Blanc $28

The tasting menu informs us that this one is “made from our oldest sauvignon blanc vines,” and it is fascinating to see that it is quite different from the previous wine, with more interesting aromas and flavors. We smell a touch of funk in the aroma, plus various fruits. The taste is complex, with a touch of sweetness at the end but plenty of mouth-watering acidity. It would complement pasta with cream sauce, we decide.

2014 Chardeaux $22

A mixture of 80% chardonnay and 20% sauvignon blanc, this wine is more interesting than a straight chardonnay, with lots of citrus and minerality, and some tastes of unripe peach. It’s a good chard for people who think they don’t like chard, and would go well with chicken kabobs.

Not sure if you can tell from this picture, but the two rieslings looked quite different.

2013 First Label Riesling $26

There are two rieslings on the menu, and since one is described as “semi-sweet” we order the other one, not being a fan of sweet wines (except when we’re talking dessert wines). As we take our first sniffs and tastes we note a chemical aroma and that it is quite sweet for a supposedly dry riesling. We get the attention of the more knowledgeable server and discover that, indeed, we have accidentally been served the sweet riesling. We put that glass aside and happily enjoy the correct pour. Really good, with kumquat orange tastes and some leather notes in the aroma. My husband—whose identification of the first pour as the wrong wine has deeply impressed our server—notes that he would not buy this for our usual use for a riesling (to go with spicy food), but that though he likes it he would prefer a riesling with more interest.

La Fontana and the fountain

2012 La Fontana $28

Now we switch to reds, and by the way we get a new glass with each taste, a practice I appreciate. La Fontana is their Bordeaux blend—merlot, cabernet sauvignon, malbec, petit verdot, and cabernet franc—but no one has information on the proportions, including the web page. A glance at the Raphael label will give you a cue as to the source of this wine’s name—a drawing of the fountain which graces the middle of the parking lot in front of the entrance. We like this one, too. The smell reminds me of cassis—the menu says blackberry and eucalyptus –and I taste some nice fruit, with oak at the end and some layers of flavor. However, compared with a French Bordeaux this is a bit on the thin side.

2010 First Label Merlot $40

Like the Fontana, this is aged 18 months in French oak, and you can smell the oak when you sniff, as well as cherries. As it sits in the glass we start to like it better. It is fairly dry and tannic but with nice fruit. By the way, I would have liked a cracker to cleanse my palate between the whites and reds but, although there are bowls of them around the bar, there are none anywhere near us and no one offers us any. As I said, they’re busy.

The fountain–and the Italian flag!

Reasons to visit: you like to admire a beautiful room; the well-stocked gift shop; the First Label Sauvignon Blanc, the Chardeaux, the First Label Merlot, the Portico.

Tis the season

Father Christmas was guarding the well-stocked gift shop, which included food items as well.

Another view of the bar

Waters Crest: A Learning Experience October 18, 2015

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, Campania Rosso, channing daughters, Charles Demuth, Dry Riesling, Jim Waters, L'Enfant Sauvage, Long Island, Merlot Grand Vin, North Fork, petit verdot, Pinot Blanc, Red Blend, reserve chardonnay, Roanoke, sauvignon blanc, The Wild, Waters Crest Winery, William Carlos Williams, wine tasting October 23, 2015

http://www.waterscrestwinery.com/

One view of the cozy tasting room

“This was a great year for whites, but probably not for reds,” opined our enthusiastic and knowledgeable server, Adam, at Waters Crest winery, one of the semi-hidden gems of the North Fork. I love to listen to people talk about something they are passionate about, and Adam certainly fit that description. Though he is working for Waters Crest at the moment, he hopes someday to have his own winery, and meanwhile the good part about working for a small place like this is “you get to do everything.” The good part for those of us who are curious about various aspects of wine making is that the servers here have always been able to do a great job of answering our questions.

Though you can see the wine-making facility through a window in the tasting room, you may wonder where the vines are. Jim Waters buys his grapes from local North Fork vineyards, then makes the wines himself. When we first arrived we had the room to ourselves, but then a couple of small groups came in, all clearly regular customers who knew exactly what they wanted, including which cheese from the small refrigerator to get and which pizza they wanted heated up.

The tasting room is hidden in a strip of stores off Sound Avenue, with the entrance on Cox Lane, just to make finding it even harder, but they hope to soon have a spot on the Main Road, which will be great. We have been a fan of this tiny place ever since our first visit, as the wines tend to be both tasty and interesting. The room is small, but newly furnished with comfortable leather stools and chairs. The tasting menu offers all seven of their wines for $15, and so we opted to share a tasting.

2014 Sauvignon Blanc $25.99

“We treat this more like a Sancerre,” noted Adam, using cold fermentation and no oak. The aroma is quite floral, with notes of pineapple and lemon, which also describes the taste. As is often the case with this grape, it would be perfect with local oysters.

Two of the whites

2013 Pinot Blanc $24.99

What is “indigenous yeast” and how does it work? If you want to know, ask Adam! Most winemakers will treat their grapes with SO2 when they come in from the field in order to kill off the naturally occurring yeasts so that they can then introduce the yeasts they have bought, thus controlling the effect of the yeast. With this pinot blanc (and also, as we discussed, Channing Daughters’ L’Enfant Sauvage and Roanoke’s The Wild!) the natural yeasts were allowed to stay on, which also meant that fermentation took longer. The wine was fermented mostly in steel, with just a touch of oak. The result? Lovely. Aromas of green apple and minerals, with a touch of funkiness preceded a taste of tart green apple and pear salad, with some nice minerality.

2013 Dry Riesling $24.99

Dry? Bone dry! This wine is made with grapes from upstate, from Gold Seal Vineyards, but it is not at all sweet. .025 residual sugar, says Adam. Interesting flavor, with notes of citrus and stone and a touch of funkiness. Unlike most rieslings, which I would choose to have with spicy food, this would go better with duck, sausage, or, suggests Adam, knockwurst. Good call.

2013 Reserve Chardonnay $23.99

After a time of steel fermentation, this gets six months in new French oak, so it is not too buttery. You do get some typical butterscotch flavors, along with lemon and other citrus. Good, a not untypical chard.

2012 Red Blend $19.99

The mixture of 50% merlot and 50% cabernet franc is blended in the bottle after being independently fermented. This has my favorite label, inspired by the famous painting by Charles Demuth which was inspired by his friend William Carlos Williams’s poem “The great number 5.” The aroma is typically cherry, like a merlot, and so is the taste. It is fairly dry, and the tasting notes suggest some rhubarb in the flavor. In any event, it is a good barbeque wine, and would be great with burgers.

The lineup so far, with the Charles Demuth-inspired label on the far right.

2008 Cabernet Franc $39.99

“Now you can see how our wines age,” notes Adam. “The tannins have fallen off.” This has a very distinct taste, combining black pepper, tobacco, and smoke with the fruit flavors, and is balanced and mellow. I start to say roast chicken, and then we agree it would be great with lamb. The 08 is almost all gone, as they found a few cases forgotten in the warehouse!

2010 Merlot Grand Vin $59.99

After three days on the skins (which is fairly long) the wine spends two years in new French oak. It was worth waiting for! 2010 was a great year for reds on the North Fork, and this one, which garnered 90 points in Wine Spectator, is excellent, with lots of tannins, black cherry , and a delicious aroma. It could stand up to a good steak.

Nice color

2010 and 2007 Campania Rosso $56 for the ‘07

If you’re counting, you know we should be done, but as a reward for our intense interest in the wines, Adam gives us small tastes of two Bordeaux blends from two different years just to show what else they can do. These are Right Bank blends of mostly merlot, plus cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, and petit verdot. Though the only difference in the wines is how long they have aged and the year of harvest, they are quite different. The 2010 is dark red, while the ’07 is more of a garnet color. The ’10 is really good, with tannins which finally make sense to me of the term “chewy tannins” and lots of layers of flavors. The ’07 is almost over the hill, with asparagus in the aroma and a lack of depth. Though it is not bad, I would definitely choose the ’10, and drink it soon!

Our bonus tastes. It pays to be serious about your tasting!

Reasons to visit: a chance to talk to knowledgeable servers (one time it was Jim Waters himself) and learn all about the wines; the Pinot Blanc, the Red Blend, the Cabernet Franc, the Merlot Grand Vin, the 2010 Campania Rosso; no crowds on a busy weekend (though this may change once they move to a more public spot).

NoFo Wineaux

Wine notes from Long Island's North Fork

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