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.

The Winemaker Studio: Experimental Success April 15, 2017

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting, Winterfest and tagged with Anomaly, Anthony Nappa, Bordo Antico, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, Dry Riesling, Lieb, Macari, Malbec, merlot, Nemesis Pinot Noir, New York Riesling, Peconic Bay, Raphael, Russell Hearn, sauvignon blanc, Shiraz, SuHru, The Winemaker Studio, Tredici, White Pinot Noir April 23, 2017

http://winemaker-studio.com/index.html

To celebrate April 15 NOT being tax day, we decided to return to The Winemaker Studio, where winemakers who work for some of the big wineries experiment with their own labels. It does fascinate me that people whose job is winemaking feel the need to express more of their ideas about wine with their own experiments—but when the results are as good as this, why not? On this day, the Studio was featuring the wines of Anthony Nappa, who owns the place and is also the winemaker for Raphael, and Russell Hearn, who is the winemaker for Lieb. Hearn actually has two different labels available: Suhru for one line, and T’Jara for wines whose grapes all come from one vineyard.

We stood at the bar and enjoyed chatting with our server, who seemed to know everything about all the wines. On that day, the menus offered any five of Nappa’s ten wines for $15, and all five of Hearn’s wines, also for $15. We decided to do one of each, alternating as we went, with some guidance from our server as to sequence and choices from Nappa’s list. We could also have ordered cheese or other snacks, which come from the little food store attached to the tasting room. Before we started, the server gave us glasses of chilled water, which he regularly replenished.

The room is simple. The tables are sometimes inside and sometimes outside.

One other couple entered, and we enjoyed chatting with them about where they had been that day and their love of Key West. Then a large group came in, and though they don’t usually permit groups without a reservation, since it was so quiet the server agreed to take care of them, and seated them in the food store room. We were concerned we’d lose our source of information, but he competently took care of everyone!

The sign seems clear enough…

2016 Suhru Sauvignon Blanc $20

We decided it was best to start with what was likely the lightest of the wines, and we were right. This is a really nice light sauvignon blanc, with some aromas of cat pee and asparagus. It’s a bit fruity for a sauvignon blanc, and also has lots of minerality and some saltiness. Very refreshing. Good summer sipper, or to have with clams or oysters.

2016 Nappa White Pinot Noir $19

White pinot noir? Isn’t that the wine that used to be called Anomaly? Well, yes. Apparently there was some sort of allegation of copyright infringement from a winery in Napa Valley, so Anthony Nappa had to rename his wine. The first time we had this we really liked it, then not so much the next time, but this time it was back into the plus file. The aroma combines strawberry—like a rosé, which this basically resembles—with a touch of funkiness that adds some interest. The wine is somewhat dry, with some strawberry taste as well. It would pair well with a stinky cheese, like an aged blue.

2014 Suhru Dry Riesling $18

Not sure why, but my tasting buddy insisted the smell reminded him of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. It is a strong aroma, with a touch of mineral or metal. If you like a dry riesling, this is for you. The server noted that it had .7% residual sugar, quite a contrast to the Nappa riesling we were going to taste next. I always enjoy these side by side tastings, where you try the same grapes made in different ways. Like the Suhru sauvignon blanc, this also has a bit of a salty tang, with some gooseberry taste.

2016 Nappa New York Riesling $18

So different! Made with grapes from upstate’s Sheldrake vineyard, this riesling has 1.9% residual sugar. Although it is much sweeter, it is well balanced, and would be fine with something really spicy, like Thai food. “Almost candy,” says my husband, but I get tropical fruit and spices like nutmeg, and a complex aroma that is rather alluring.

2012 Suhru Shiraz $25

Although the scent promises lots of dark fruit, the wine itself is rather light for a shiraz. I could see this with roast chicken, not steak. Nice tannins, so maybe it will age well.

2016 Nappa Bordo Antico $22

If you care about such things, you might like to know that this wine is certified organic. It is made from cabernet franc grapes, steel fermented. It smells like forest floor, with a bit of a mushroomy funk. The taste is good, fruity, direct and simple. I might pair it with duck breasts.

2012 T’Jara Cabernet Franc $30

Here we go again—same grape, different preparation—though this is a bit of a blend, 87% cabernet franc with 10% merlot and 3% cabernet sauvignon. This is oak fermented, and has lots of fruit tastes like dark plums, and a long finish. Delicious. It would complement lamb chops.

2014 Nappa Nemesis Pinot Noir $35

Why “Nemesis”? We learn that pinot noir is notoriously hard to work with, so the danger is that it could prove to be the winemaker’s nemesis. Not in this case, though it is not our favorite of the day. Made with grapes from Macari and Peconic Bay, this is a light, dry, slightly fruity red.

2013 T’Jara Merlot $28

A blend of 92% merlot, 4% cabernet sauvignon, 2% cabernet franc, and 2% malbec, the wine is aged 20 months in Hungarian oak and tastes to us more or less like a typical North Fork merlot, with lots of cherry flavor. Very nice.

Both the design on the label and the name of the label come from Australian Aborigines. Hearn is from Australia.

2013 Nappa Tredici $35

Tredici? As in three grapes: 67% merlot, 15% cabernet franc, and 18% cabernet sauvignon? Nope, as in 2013—named for the year. And why not, since it was a very good year. We smell cherries, and the taste is very much of the merlot, but with more interesting flavors than the Hearn blend. It has lots of tannins, and if we had room in the wine cellar (we really must drink more of our wine!) we might have bought a bottle to age for a few years.

There are wines from a variety of winemakers available for purchase.

Reasons to visit: a chance to taste wines you won’t find elsewhere; an intimate setting with knowledgeable servers (not just this time, but every time we’ve come); the Nappa White Pinot Noir (formerly Anomaly) and Tredici; the Suhru Sauvignon Blanc and T’Jara 2012 Cabernet Franc; lots of availability of magnums, if you happen to want to buy one!

Lots of magnums!

The Studio is on Peconic Street, where you will also find a nice little food store and a gift shop.

Jamesport Vineyards: Brrr, It’s Cold Outside December 16, 2016

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting, Uncategorized and tagged with 8 Hands Farm, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, East End Cinq Red, East End Syrah, Estate Riesling, Estate Sauvignon Blanc, Jamesport Vineyards, merlot, North Fork, pinot noir, Thimeo Reserve, wine tasting December 18, 2016

http://www.jamesportwines.com/

On the coldest day so far this winter, we ventured forth to do some errands and a wine tasting. We paid our final visits until spring to Bayview (potatoes and Brussels sprouts) and Briermere (last pie for months to come, a yummy blackberry apple), and then headed to Jamesport for a tasting. In the past, we’d been there in warm weather and had enjoyed sitting outside on their pretty patio, watching families frolic in the capacious back yard and enjoying oysters. Some day, we decided, we’d have to return to try the flatbreads from their outdoor wood-fired oven. But now it was winter, very quiet, and rather chilly. The only other occupants of the tasting room were a small party enjoying a bottle of wine at one of the tables. There are a few small tables and a long bar along one side. Not much is on offer by way of merchandise aside from the wines. We stepped up to the bar, and eventually the pleasant young woman behind it came over and asked us if we wanted to do a tasting.

Plenty of room at the bar on this cold winter Friday.

Also room at the tables…

We did, but first we needed some time to peruse the menu. A tasting consists of any five of their wines for $18, so we decided to share one, even though that meant we had to skip many of the wines. The menu offers nine whites (including one sparkling), seven reds (which includes a rosé, though some places list the rosé with the whites), two dessert wines, and a non-alcoholic verjus. No guidance from the server being on offer, we made up our own minds. As Christmas music tinkled in the background, we signaled her that we were ready for our first taste.

2015 Estate Sauvignon Blanc $21.95

In the past we’ve enjoyed their steel fermented East End Sauvignon Blanc with our oysters, so we decided it was time to try their other sauvignon blanc, one that is also steel fermented but spends some time in “oak puncheons.” The aroma is mostly vegetal, with a hint of cat pee. The server describes it as “New Zealand style.” We sniff and sip. Nicely dry, with a touch of sweetness on the tongue. I taste pineapple, and my tasting buddy says he can taste the oak. Maybe a little.

2013 Estate Riesling (Dry) $25.95

Described on the menu as “trocken”—which means dry in the German style—and by our server as having “no residual sugar,” this is indeed quite dry. In fact, I find it rather sour. My husband disagrees, though he agrees with my assessment that this is not my favorite riesling. I think it smells somewhat chemical, with a whiff of apricot pits (arsenic, anyone?). I taste hard green apricots and not ripe apple. He likes it better than I do, though in general we both favor dry rieslings.

2014 East End Cinq Red $18.95

Now we move to the reds, and get a clean glass. By the way, we like their glasses very much—stemless and round-bottomed, they work well to warm the wines which, as in many places, are all served too cold. If you know French, you may already have guessed that this is a blend of five grapes—cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, syrah, and pinot noir. Our server disappears to take a phone call before we can ask her about the proportions. The bottle was just opened, which might account for a smell my husband characterizes as gasoline. I’m not sure I agree (we seem to have more differences of opinion than usual today!), but I do get a bit of a sweet chemical aroma in addition to the expected red fruit smells. We do, however, agree that the wine has more aroma than taste, and it is dry but not at all tannic. I think it is a bit unbalanced, though I like the slightly peppery note at the end. I would say just okay, a red you could have with roast chicken or lamb chops but not with Italian food or steak.

2014 Thiméo Reserve $74.95

“How is this pronounced?” we ask our server before she can disappear again, “And where did the name come from?” She replies, “Timeo, and it is named for the grandson of the French man who makes our barrels, Jean Louis Bossuet. We collaborated with him to make this wine.” While we have her, we ask about the grapes. “75% merlot and 25% cabernet franc,” she replies, and is off to the far end of the bar before we can ask her why this one is so expensive. Oh well. It smells good; we detect lots of cocoa and some of the oak. We try warming the glass in our palms to try to get a better idea of the taste, since we find it nice but not $75 nice. Lots of tannins, so perhaps it would age well. I decide to use a phrase I’ve seen lots of times, “It shows promise.” My husband says you’d have to have an awful lot of faith in promises to buy it at that price.

My favorite of the day, the syrah. We also liked the glasses.

2014 East End Syrah $18.95

Finally, a wine I really like! The menu—and our server—describe this as having been made in the “feminine style,” and therefore “not jammy.” The aroma is of warm spices, like cardamom, and dark fruit, the taste is dry but fruity. This would also pair well with lamb chops (maybe from 8 Hands Farm), but you wouldn’t want it with a very strong-flavored entrée, since it would be overwhelmed. If we needed a red, I could see getting a bottle of this.

Reasons to visit: come in the summer, when you can sit outside and enjoy music and snacks, like their wood-oven-baked flatbreads; the East End Syrah; in the past, we’ve liked their East End Sauvignon Blanc.

Plenty of room in the summer for families, dogs, and picnicers.

Plenty of room in the summer for families, dogs, and picnickers.

Through a window in the tasting room you can peep in to see the vats.

Martha Clara: Playground or Winery? September 3, 2016

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting, Uncategorized and tagged with Aromatic, Bordeaux style, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, Cote Rotie style, Entenmann's, Estate Reserve Merlot, Estate Reserve Pinot Noir, Estate Reserve Riesling, gewurztraminer, Legends, Martha Clara, merlot, Noah's Restaurant, North Fork wine tasting, Northern Solstice Blend, Northville, Northville Red, pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc, Sustainable, syrah, vintage September 6, 2016

https://www.marthaclaravineyards.com/

The capacious “backyard” of Martha Clara.

Plenty of room for dogs and children.

The parking attendant waved us on to the “additional parking” area, so we had a good view of the activities going on in back of the Martha Clara tasting room and barns. Children and dogs were running around, a couple played Frisbee, many people tossed beanbags into a whole line of targets, and a wagon hitched to horses waited to give rides. The delicious smell came from an old-fashioned Airstream camper that had been turned into a food truck. And that was a good thing, since Martha Clara no longer allows you to bring in outside food, preferring that you buy your own from their menu, catered by Noah’s Restaurant in Greenport.

Food truck!

Noah’s menu

We were there with a friend who is a member of the Marth Clara wine club, so we first headed to the Tasting Barn with its sign outside limiting it to wine club members. However, it was full, so we headed on into the main building and, not feeling like standing at the bar in the crowded main tasting room, sat at a table in the table service area. At first the server said we’d have to pay full price, but after assuring her that we had been turned away from the members-only barn she said okay—which resulted in a significant saving for our four tastings.

No room in the Members Only barn

The bars were pretty crowded, too.

We were happy to find a table in the corner, near the windows.

The sleekly bound menu offers four options for tastings, plus a variety of wines by the glass or bottle, and a bunch of snacks. The four flight menus are labeled Aromatic, Sustainable, Northville, and Vintners, and range from $14-$17 for five generous tastes (or $5-$7 for wine club members). The tables were all set with napkins, wineglasses, and water glasses, which we used both for water from the large bottle the server delivered to our table and as a dump bucket. But more on that later.

I opted for the Northville flight, mostly because it included their Syrah, a wine I often like. The two men in the party chose the Vintage flight, and our friend the wine club member decided on the Aromatic because it is all whites, and that’s what she was in the mood for. The Sustainable has a combination of reds and whites, as do the other options. I will tell about my tasting first, and then about the other wines, not all of which I tried myself.

2014 Gewürztraminer Estate Reserve $27

Gewürztraminers are tricky, because they can be very sweet or dry, with a lot or not much fruit, depending on how they are handled. This one is steel fermented, so I had hopes, but then the server explained that it was on the sweet side, and she liked it as an after dinner drink or with “spicy Thai food.” The aroma combines flowers, mineral, and creosote—you know, that smell you get from the railroad tracks on a hot summer day. Fortunately it doesn’t taste like what I imagine creosote would taste like, but rather like lychees in sugar syrup with some minerality at the end. This wine also began the Vintage tasting, and we all found it too sweet. In fact, we all dumped at least part of our serving. But if you like a sweet wine, you’d probably like this one.

2012 Cabernet Franc $27

A light ruby color, this wine is also light in body, with a red candy and wet rock aroma, and a plum taste. It would be a good burger or roast chicken wine. Aged 14 months in oak.

2013 Merlot $24

Merlot does well on Long Island, and this is no exception, a nice, light, dry red with some fruit. I like it. It smells rather oak-y, even though it only spends 12 months in oak.

2012 Syrah (Cote Rotie Style) $24

I would be very happy drinking a full glass of this one. It has aromas of red fruit and pepper, with lots of red fruit tastes, some tannins, and a dry finish. It could pair well with lamb or duck. It’s my favorite of the day, too.

2013 Cabernet Sauvignon $30

Again, you can definitely smell the oak. This is somewhat dry, with lots of cherry taste and a nice long finish.

And that was the end of my tasting. However, here are some notes on the other flights.

2013 Estate Reserve Chardonnay $27

Lots of aromas on this one, including vanilla and nutmeg, which is the first on the Vintage list. It is aged “sur lie” for ten months. If you like a smooth buttery chard, this is one for you.

2014 Northern Solstice Blend $18

I liked the bottle for this, featuring an image of a sun, which my friend saw as appropriate for this first on the Aromatic list, since it is, she said, “a perfect summer sipper.” It is a blend of about four or five grapes which the server rattled off too quickly for me to catch. We all sniffed it and agreed that it smelled like ripe pineapple, and my friend said it was “crisp and refreshing” with just a touch of sweetness.

2015 Sauvignon Blanc $22

This is a pretty typical North Fork sauvignon blanc, with honeysuckle aroma and lemon tastes, though it is a touch sweeter than some sauvignon blancs.

2014 Pinot Grigio $22

And this is another great summer wine, said my friend, with some peach tastes and a touch of bubbles on the tongue. It was her favorite of her tasting.

2013 Estate Reserve Riesling $26

We were all intrigued by the smell of this one, identifying vanilla sugar cookie (even though it is steel fermented) and wet rock. Unlike the gewürztraminer, this escapes over-sweetness, and is a light and almost bubbly with some mineral taste. The Aromatic tasting should have ended with the Gewürztraminer, but my friend decided to forego it since she had already tasted it and felt she had had enough wine. As I said, the pour is generous, and we actually dumped some tastes we liked.

2014 Estate Reserve Pinot Noir $37

The Vintner tasting includes some of their higher priced wines, and we got into a discussion of value vs. cost, which I may revisit some time this winter when I don’t have a winery to review. My husband informed us that this was a Burgundy-type wine, but a bit sharp for a Burgundy. It had aromas of plum and prune, and a somewhat grapey (I know, shocking) taste. Good, but not complex.

2013 Northville Red (Bordeaux style) $27

Again, the server listed the grapes in this too quickly for note taking, but it is a Bordeaux-style blend we all liked very much. In fact, my notes include “yum,” “delicious,” “very drinkable,” “layers of flavor,” and “really nice.” We were happy when our friend bought us a bottle!

2013 Estate Reserve Merlot $35

The menu informs us that this was rated a 90 by Wine Advocate. Maybe. It has a touch of that barnyard smell we always used to get from local merlots and hardly ever sense any more, but it tastes nice, with good fruit, some cherry flavor, and is dry.

Here’s something not every winery has–a Tiki Bar!

Also, horse and wagon rides.

Reasons to visit: Lots of space to play and a relaxed, welcoming vibe; some agritainment; the Northern Solstice Blend, the Pinot Grigio, the Syrah, the Northville Red; lots of choices ; catering by Noah’s (We didn’t have any, but I like the food in the restaurant!).

The gift shop has a bunch of local products.

Palmer Vineyards: Fun Hanging Out August 20, 2016

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with Albarino, Aromatic, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, charcuterie platter, Crescent Farms duck breast, merlot, North Fork, Palmer Vineyards, Pinot Blanc, sauvignon blanc, Steel vs. Oak, Sweet, syrah, viognier, wine tasting August 25, 2016

http://www.palmervineyards.com/

The entrance to Palmer’s tasting room is in the second building on their property.

Our plans for a garden-setting wine tasting having been scuttled by a completely un-forecast deluge, we decided to head to Palmer Vineyards, which has a cozy tasting room with pub-like booths and an expansive covered veranda. We settled on the veranda where, our guests were happy to learn, their very well-behaved dog was welcome to join us. When a singer/guitarist with a folksy sixties-ish repertoire began to play, we settled in for a relaxing afternoon.

We enjoyed his performance.

The tasting menu offers four different flights, ranging from $15-$18 for four tastes each. We (three couples) decided each couple would share first a flight of whites and then a flight of reds. We gave the flights labeled “Sweet” and “Steel vs. Oak” a pass. Maybe next time. They also have a couple of local beers on tap, plus coffee. My cousin bought a $16 “charcuterie platter” for the table, which was fine but rather meager for the six of us, consisting of a few slices of two different sausages and I believe two different cheeses, plus Carr’s Water Crackers and a few other odds and ends. Since they don’t allow outside food, I think they could do a better job with their edible offerings. We didn’t try the “brick oven pizza.” However, we had an enjoyable afternoon tasting the wines, listening to the music, and chatting about everything.

The “charcuterie platter” and some whites.

2015 Albariῆo $27.99

The server informs my brother that they are the only vineyard on the North Fork to use this grape, and he may be right. Albariῆo is one of my go-to wines when I order just a glass of wine, as it is generally fairly dry with good fruit tastes, and this is no exception. Although there is some disagreement around the table, I find it delicious, with a touch of lemon at the end and tastes of apricot and apple. It smells like honeysuckle, peach, and minerals. Having it with a bite of cheese helps smooth out the sourness of the citrus at the end.

2015 Sauvignon Blanc $24.99

“Great nose,” opines my brother. “It smells like lantana flower,” says my sister-in-law. I don’t know what that smells like, unfortunately, but there is definitely a flowery aroma. The taste is rather orange-y, perhaps like a minneola. “Just lovely,” says my Canadian cousin-in-law. “It’s got some strength to it,” says my cousin. We all agree that this has the best balance of any of the whites, and would be good to sip by itself or with the scallop ceviche my brother and sister-in-law intend to make for dinner.

The bar on the veranda

2014 Viognier $24.99

Our server (we send a representative to the bar to pick up each round) thinks they are also the only ones to use this grape on the North Fork, but I happen to know at least four or five other vineyards use it. In any event, this is not a crowd pleaser. “Not a lot of character on the nose,” asserts my brother. I smell minerality and not much else. This is a light dry wine, with some earthiness. We discuss whether it would be good with the oysters we also plan to pick up, but decide maybe not.

2015 Pinot Blanc $21.99

We all smell and taste pineapple this time. Someone smells vanilla, and someone else says the smell is “earthy.” “Not integrated,” says my brother. I think it would be better with food, and take a bite of sausage. Yes, that does improve it. However, the overall opinion of the whites is “fine, but no home runs.”

2014 Syrah $24.99

Syrah is my other wine-by-the-glass standby, and this one is an acceptable version, though not my favorite. I like syrahs to be bigger and bolder, and this one is a touch thin. It may need more time to age. The aroma is sweet, almost like a sherry. The server told my brother that this spends two years in oak, and they add a bit of viognier to “lighten it up.” It is lighter than most syrahs, with almost no finish. You wouldn’t want it with steak, but it might be nice with some Crescent Farms duck breast.

The indoor space is particularly nice in the winter.

2014 Merlot $24.99

As I explain to my guests, merlot is the Ford of North Fork reds, a generally reliable red. My brother characterizes this one as “an art opening wine,” and I see what he means. Not distinguished, but also not offensive, it has some cherry tastes with a medium body and medium tannins.

2013 Cabernet Sauvignon $28.99

Mmm. The aroma is brambly and peppery and the taste is sweeter and fruitier than expected. Soft tannins. We also note some herb and fig tastes. Yum. Just then the singer starts “Here Comes the Sun,” and indeed it does appear. A bachelorette party forms a line on the wet grass with the veiled guest of honor in the middle for a photo shoot.

The bachelorette party organizing for a photo.

2012 Cabernet Franc $28.99

Dark figs and earth and peppers with just a “soupçon of paint thinner.” Not so sure about that last bit! I like it, and it’s very nice with one of the last bits of cheese, which lends it some creaminess. It is also a wine one could sip on its own. My husband thinks it might have needed to breathe longer. We all agree it is good, and has “the most character.”

Rainy day!

Our tasting is done, the sun is out, so we leave to take a walk on the beach.

I wonder what the pooch would have said about the nose.

Reasons to visit: pleasant tasting room with cozy booths for the winter time and a breezy veranda for the summer; the sauvignon blanc, the cabernet sauvignon, and the cabernet franc; dogs are allowed on the veranda.

I like this pattern on the side of the bar.

Pellegrini Vineyards: Refuge from the Rain August 10, 2016

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with BBQ Red, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, gewurztraminer, Medley White, merlot, North Fork, oaked, Pellegrini Vineyards, petit verdot, rose, sauvignon blanc, stainless-steel fermented, wine tasting August 12, 2016

http://www.pellegrinivineyards.com/

Our view was of the rain lashing the courtyard.

The thunder was ominous, and we barely made it into the tasting room before a deluge poured from the sky. However, the menacing weather meant that on this Wednesday afternoon we had the tasting room to ourselves (though a couple of other groups arrived later). With no urgent business, we stayed for almost two hours, snacking on hummus and pretzel chips we had brought with us and chatting with our friends who confessed they were neophytes to wine tasting—though not to wine drinking. “I’m a virgin,” my friend joked, explaining that though she’d been to wineries for events she’d never actually sat down for a tasting.

In that case, I was glad I’d chosen to take our friends to Pellegrini, where you can have your tray of tastes delivered to your table and spend as long as you like discussing the wines. Our discussions ranged from the personal to the political, but we did devote some attention to the wines, which our friends generally enjoyed. They had some favorites, and others they didn’t finish, about which more later.

On this rainy Wednesday, we had the room mostly to ourselves.

A tasting includes any three wines you choose from the menu printed on a placemat, which then becomes your guide to the order in which to drink the wines, plus a sample of their rosé, for $12. Since we are wine club members, our tastings were free. We all chose a variety of different wines, so I’m going to comment on my choices first, with some briefer notes on other options.

One tray full. The oyster crackers are useful for cleansing your palate between tastes.

2015 Rosé $19.99

We decided we would all start with this, since it was one wine we had in common, so we could discuss both this particular drink and also how to think about the aroma and taste of wine. A steel-fermented blend of 35% merlot, 32% cabernet sauvignon, and 33% cabernet franc, this is a light dry rosé with a distinctively citric taste we decided was more like tangerine than lemon. It had only a faint bit of the strawberry aroma many rosés have, and lots of minerality. My friend particularly liked the pale pink color.

A tray of whites.

2014 Sauvignon Blanc $24.99

As in the past, I like this wine. It’s a crisp steel-fermented sauvignon blanc with a bit of a gooseberry aroma and nice balance of mineral and lemony citrus. I would have it with local oysters. My friend said she would too—if she liked oysters. Well, then, with scallops? Oh, yes.

2014 East End Select BBQ Red $18.99

What kind of wine do you want to serve at a barbeque? Probably something uncomplicated and easy to drink that goes well with burgers and doesn’t cost too much. Hence BBQ Red. Made from steel-fermented petit verdot, this is simple and direct and light and dry. You could even have it with hot dogs.

Mostly reds

2011 Petit Verdot $29.99

If you want to understand the difference between a wine that has been steel-fermented and one that has been aged 20 months in French oak, you might want to follow the BBQ Red with this petit verdot. This remains one of my favorite North Fork reds, with rich flavors of blueberry and other berries and dark plums, pleasantly tannic and dry. It can stand up to a steak. Our friend agrees, and this is the only glass he, who is not much of a drinker, empties.

Now here are a few notes on other wines, in no particular order, though we did spend some time explaining why the order in which you sample a tasting matters. Basically, you want to go from the lightest to the most flavorful, so you can appreciate each one as it comes.

We commandeered the big table, since we were the only ones there.

2014 Medley White $21.99

I wasn’t sure my friend would like this one, since she is not fond of sweet wines and this blend includes 5% gewürztraminer as well as 55% sauvignon blanc and 40% chardonnay, and I was right. She was not a fan, describing both the taste and smell as “pungent.” It did have a bit of that cat pee smell you sometimes get. She did not finish her glass, but much preferred her next taste.

2015 Stainless Steel Chardonnay $19.99

A fan of pinot grigio, our friend liked this dry, citrusy chard, which she described as “mild.” I like it too, better than their oaked chard.

2014 Chardonnay $19.99

Although this is a blend of 80% oaked chard (8 months aged) and 20% steel chard, we felt this was still too oaky for our taste.

2010 Merlot $29.99

My friends were not fond of this merlot, which they felt could have been fruitier.

2012 Cabernet Franc $29.99

Actually a Bordeaux blend of 84% cabernet franc, 7% merlot, 5% cabernet sauvignon, and 4% petit verdot, this red also was not a favorite with our friends, who perhaps found it too tannic for their taste. I think a few more years of aging would be useful.

We took advantage of a lull in the storm to head out to the parking lot, but the storm was not over!

As we headed to Greenport our phones lit up with storm and tornado warnings, so we pulled over.

Reasons to visit: as I’ve said before, a good all-around winery, with plenty of good choices in both white and red and reasonable prices; nice place to go with friends, as you can sit at a table with your tastes and bring your own snacks; the steel chardonnay, the sauvignon blanc, the petit verdot, the BBQ Red.

We couldn’t resist this photo of Deep Water Grille and deep water on Front Street in Greenport.

Greenport Harbor Brewing Company: Cold Beer Here! 7/23/16

Posted by nofowineaux in Brewery, Uncategorized and tagged with Black Duck Porter, cabernet franc, Fork and Beans, Greenport Harbor Brewing Company, Harbor Ale, merlot, North Fork, North Fork Roasting Company, OGB Dry Hop, Otherside IPA, Summer Ale July 26, 2016

http://greenportharborbrewing.com/#welcome

The flag said “Cold Beer.” Hard to resist when it’s 90 out!

Even with breezes off the bay, it was too hot to sit outside at a winery, so we decided the weather demanded some nice cold beer. Off we went to Greenport, to the original—which they now describe as the “boutique”—site of our favorite East End beer maker. They also have a huge facility in Peconic, more a beer barn than a tasting room, which is often very crowded. On Valentine’s Day weekend we walked in there and walked out, as it was clear there were no seats available plus a long line to even get a tasting.

Look for this sign on a back street in Greenport.

The slightly confusing menu.

We quickly found a place at the bar in the small upstairs space, and were soon joined by a genial couple who had not been to a beer tasting before. We had opted to share one tasting flight, and after seeing how generous the pour was, they decided to follow our example. You get six “tastes” (actually a good-sized glass) for $8.00. By the way, they no longer give you the glass to keep. The menu is somewhat confusing, as our new friends found, as they were not sure whether you get each taste for $8 or all six, or which of the many varieties listed are included. The starred ones, we explained, were in the tasting, and they are served in order from lightest to darkest, or most intense in flavor. We may have to stop in another time to try some of the other options. A line on the chalkboard separated the beers that are always available from the seasonal and/or experimental ones.

The tasting room features changing exhibits of local artists’ works.

We were also on a mission of sorts, as we had brought an empty growler—the refillable jug the brewery uses—to fill with beer for our dinner of barbecued ribs and Harbes sweet corn.

Summer Ale 5.3% (alcohol level)

Of course, since this is the first taste, it is the lightest. The color is a light gold, the taste is clean and tangy and light, not at all hoppy. It would be the perfect beer to consume after an afternoon of gardening in the warm sun, as it would go down very easily and was quite refreshing. It was also our new friend’s favorite, though not ours. We decided she and I had opposite tastes!

Summer Ale next to our growler.

Harbor Ale 5.3%

After a quick rinse with water from a pitcher, the server filled our glass with this perennial classic of Greenport Harbor. It is a reliably good beer, with a touch of bitter hops, and could certainly go with our ribs, though we were not decided yet.

Harbor Ale

OGB Dry Hop 4.1%

The menu describes this as a “Berliner Weiss,” or in other words a wheat beer. In general, I tend not to like wheat beers, and this is no exception. “Tastes like flavored water,” opines my husband. “The Germans can keep it!” I reply. The aroma and taste are both rather yeasty, with some funkiness, and it’s quite fizzy. It might go well in a shandy. We didn’t finish our portion.

Fizzy wheat beer

Otherside IPA 7.4%

I seem to recall from a former visit that “otherside” refers to California hops, but our server today seems very uninterested in giving us any details unless we ask more than once for information. He’s much more forthcoming to a young fedora-hatted couple down the bar from us. This is our favorite so far, quite hoppy, with a fuller mouth feel and more flavor than the Harbor Ale. I think we’ve found our rib accompaniment.

Otherside India Pale Ale

5. Black Duck Porter 4.7%

This is generally my favorite of their beers, I explain to the friendly couple next to us, and he agrees that he likes it. It’s a porter that would not be out of place in an English pub, with an aroma of coffee and tastes of coffee and chocolate, with just the right balance of sweet and bitter. If you like dark beer, this is the one for you—but it would not complement our ribs. Maybe it would go well with shepherd’s pie, or a plowman’s lunch of cheese and bread and pickles. We’re getting hungry, and we notice that they also no longer put out bowls of pretzels. Oh well.

Black Duck Porter

Fork and Beans 6%

“American Stout,” says the menu, and the name is explained when the server tells another couple that they actually brew this with coffee beans sourced from the North Fork Roasting Company, a coffee place in Southold that roasts their own beans and has quickly become a popular spot. This dark brew smells and tastes like a strong espresso. You could have it with breakfast and think you were getting your caffeine fix for the day! We both find it a touch too bitter. I wonder how it would taste topped with whipped cream.

Fork and Beans, as in North Fork and Roasting Company espresso beans!

Reasons to visit: the Otherside IPA, the Black Duck Porter, the Harbor Ale; a seasonally changing roster of beers; a hefty and low-priced serving of beer, given the six generous tastes for $8; the chance to fill your growler with nice fresh beer (we did take the Otherside IPA). For more of a party atmosphere, with music and food often available, you can check out their location in Peconic.

Coffee Pot Cellars: It’s the Bees Knees July 9, 2016

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting, Uncategorized and tagged with Adam Suprenant, Beasley's Blend, chardonnay, Coffee Pot Cellars, Cyser, gewurztraminer, Laura Klahr, Meritage, merlot, North Fork wine tasting, sauvignon blanc July 14, 2016

http://www.coffeepotcellars.com/

Bees feeding on honey

“Watch what happens when I pour some honey in here,” says Laura Klahr, leading a group of fascinated wine tasters over to the glass-fronted bee hive set into the wall of the Coffee Pot Cellars tasting room. As we watch, the bees gather around the stream of honey, licking it up with their tiny tongues. They seem to be enjoying their snack just as much as we enjoyed our tasting.

Laura waiting on a group

What, you may wonder, do bees have to do with wine? More than you probably think, but here the fact is that Laura is a beekeeper who happens to be married to wine maker Adam Suprenant, and Coffee Pot (named for the distinctively shaped lighthouse just off Orient Point—they don’t serve coffee) is their joint venture, where you can find his wines and her honey and beeswax products, plus one item that combines both their passions. More about that later.

As we stand at the bar in the cozy tasting room, we are treated to Laura’s stories about the wines, bees, and their adorable dog named Beasley and his opinions about wine. More about that later, too. Her lively presence makes us glad that we chose to bring our son and his fiancée with us on this tasting.

Laura consults with Beasley on his favorite blends.

The menu offers several tasting options, but I recommend you go for all six wines for $12. You won’t be disappointed. Between tastes you may want to browse the bee or wine-related gift items.

2013 Sauvignon Blanc $19.99

This is a steel-fermented white with a metal/mineral aroma, and tastes of citrus and melon with a touch of white peach. There’s a bit of top of the mouth sweetness, but overall this is dry, and would go beautifully with seafood. We imagine it would complement the oysters we had earlier at the rustic oyster bar in Greenport.

2013 Chardonnay $19.99

“The grapes work so hard to grow,” says Laura, “that we just want to celebrate them.” In order not to interfere too much with the natural flavor of the grapes, they age these in eleven-year-old oak barrels, so if you don’t care for oaked chards you may like this one. We smell fermented pineapple, with just a touch of vanilla, and taste green apple. Lovely summer sipper. Our guests opine it would go well with shrimp, or maybe brie.

Cyser $14.99

What, you may be wondering, is Cyser, and how did it get into the middle of this tasting? Cyser is Laura and Adam’s fusion of their interests, a bubbly hard cider made with honey, like a mead. I have tasted mead, and this reminds me of it a little, but it is much tarter than you would think from the ingredients and has only half a percent of residual sugar, says Laura. Our son wants to know if malolactic fermentation has taken place, so Laura gets Adam on the phone so they can chat about this possibility. Laura tells us that her bees helped pollinate the apple orchard where the apples were grown, and then a different type of bee contributed the honey. Fascinating. We enjoy it, and imagine its apple and honey taste would have gone well with the excellent pulled pork sandwich we had at First and Main—or maybe latkes! We buy a bottle as a gift. By the way, the Cyser was not listed on the menu as part of the tasting, but everyone in the room gets a taste.

2013 Gewürztraminer $21.99

So I’ve been saying for a while now that this or that wine tastes like gooseberries, and my husband kept saying, “I don’t know what gooseberries taste like.” Saturday I found gooseberries at Briermere (just before I bought the obligatory pie) and brought them home so we could all taste them. Fruit that tastes a bit like a vegetable, we decided, tart and green, but with a touch of sweetness. And…that describes this steel-fermented Gewürztraminer.

Beasley standing guard on the Coffee Pot lighthouse.

Beasley’s Blend $15.99

According to Laura, the name for this wine arose from a discussion about what kind of wine Beasley, their cute friendly dog, would go for. The label features Beasley standing guard on the Coffee Pot lighthouse balcony, and the wine inside is a good pre-dinner sipper, easy to drink with pasta dishes, for example. We smell black cherry, plum, licorice, and taste a good balance of fruit with a touch of earthiness. Good work, Beasley! Nice touch—she rinsed our glasses with a bit of red wine before moving from the whites to the reds.

2011 Merlot $19.99

These merlot grapes, we are informed, come from McCullough’s vineyard. Our son detects an aroma of blueberry, and his fiancée adds pomegranate. The taste is typically cherry, nicely dry. Perhaps if we get some pork belly from Eight Hands Farm this would go well with it.

2010 Meritage $25.99

59% merlot, 23% petit verdot, 14% cabernet franc, and 4% cabernet sauvignon; 90 points from Wine Spectator: but statistics only tell you so much. 2010 was a good year on Long Island, and this is a lovely example of a wine from that year. Delicious, we all agree, with lots of dark fruit, nice tannins, and a bit of a coffee aroma to add to the usual Bordeaux blend smells. It is getting close to time to go home and cook dinner, and we must be hungry as we start to speculate about what this wine would go well with. Lamb shish-ka-bob? Steak? Oh yes. And we buy a bottle for the cellar.

Beeswax candles

Reasons to visit: where else can you taste wine and learn everything you ever wanted to know about bees?; Laura and Adam, still wine country’s cutest couple; all the wines but especially the chardonnay, the Cyser, and the Meritage; lots of bee-related gifts (I’ve had the honey and it is excellent.).

The Old Field: Pleasant Day in the Country June 18, 2016

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with barrel chardonnay, Blush de Noir, cabernet franc, Charging Goose Sauvignon Blanc, Commodore Perry, merlot, Mostly Steel Chardonnay, North Fork, rooster tail, The Old Field Vineyards, wine tasting June 21, 2016

http://www.theoldfield.com/

The pretty porch at Old Field.

“I don’t want to leave,” I complained, but our friends had somewhere to go and we had errands to run before our dinner reservation, so reluctantly I left our comfy seats on the prettily rustic porch of the Old Field Vineyards. Old Field is a great place if you want a quiet country setting where you can see ducks and chickens and the occasional goose wander by. You can stand at the bar covered by mismatched tablecloths or go for a picnic table under the trees. We had opted for a nice round table at the shady end of the porch, where our friends set out the snacks they had brought so we munched as we tasted.

Our table in the shade

The tasting menu offers four options: four whites for $9, four reds for $10, four mixed for $8, or four “Weekend Gold” selections for $10. Both couples opted to share a white and then a red, so we could discuss our opinions as we sipped. One improvement over the last time we were here: tastes are now served in proper wine glasses, instead of the little plastic cups they used to use.

2014 Blush de Noir $16

“We had an event last week,” our friends said, “and served this out on the deck. It was great.” I can see that, as this is a very light, crisp almost white rosé with a “slatey strawberry” smell and a touch of citrus.

2013 Mostly Steel Chardonnay $20

Although our friend thought it seemed “tame” after the Blush de Noir, I quite liked this very slightly oaked chard, with just a touch of vanilla and lots of lemon flavor. It has just enough oak to take the edge off the sometimes too acid lemon flavor a steel chard can have.

2013 Barrel Chardonnay $28

The menu informs us that this is a new release, and spends seven months in French oak. You can definitely smell that vanilla aroma of an oaked chard, but this again is not overly oaked. No one, we decided, would complain if you served this. “It’s a people’s wine,” asserts our friend, who I begin to suspect is angling to be quoted in this review. Though I like it, I have to agree that it has no finish, and the taste does not linger.

Charging Goose Sauvignon Blanc $25

The menu had listed Cacklin’ Rosé as the last of the whites, but instead they’ve changed their selections to this new release. That’s fine with me, since I wanted to try this one anyway, and I never think anyone’s rosés measure up to Croteaux. We get into a rather involved discussion of the smell, which we like, and compare to hay, Meyer lemon, berries, and butter. We also like the taste, which combines berries and a mellow citrus. When I suggest it would go well with oysters, we start to plan for our next outing to include oysters, perhaps at Old Mill during Happy Hour or at Jamesport.

Rooster Tail $18

This is their un-dated merlot all-purpose pizza and pasta red, which we have bought by the case in the past. It is still good, especially for the price, with plenty of cherry tastes and an aroma of blackberries. Dry. New glasses for the reds, by the way.

2012 Cabernet Franc $36

We decide we like the smell of this one better than the taste. Not that it is bad, just that it lacks the depth the delicious aroma would seem to promise. It has lots of dark fruit taste, and we agree that if it were less expensive we would happily buy it.

Did you ever notice how many sheds and barns farms have?

2010 Merlot $26

“It blankets you with flavor and then gets out of town,” opines our friend, happy to see me writing down his words. Well, he’s right. After a slightly funky forest floor, peat mossy aroma, the taste is pleasantly cherry and other fruit, but has no staying power. Again, like the other wines, this is a drinkable but not distinguished wine.

2010 Commodore Perry $38

This one is more distinguished. Named for the illustrious ancestor of the owners, they only make this wine in good years, and 2010 was pretty universally considered to have been a very good year for Long Island wines, especially the reds, as we had a nice long warm growing season. We had bought and cellared the 2007 the last time we were here. The smell is delicious, like “a leather tobacco pouch dipped in red wine,” says our eloquent friend. Though it is a merlot, like the Rooster Tail, it has much more depth and interest. You could have it with steak or lamb chops and it would stand up to those strong meat tastes. It’s my favorite of the day.

One of the houses on the property

Reasons to visit: calm rustically bucolic setting with lots of trees and lawn space; the Blush de Noir and the Commodore Perry; a vineyard with a history worth learning about (check their web site) and admirable bio-dynamic methods.

NoFo Wineaux

Wine notes from Long Island's North Fork

Tag Archives: merlot