Tag Archives: merlot

Bedell Cellars 8/7/12

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

http://www.bedellcellars.com/

If someone ever gives an award to a winery for attention to design, Bedell should get it.  From the pretty flower-surrounded parking lot to the attractive type-face of their signs to the arty labels on their wines, it is clear that someone is paying attention to appearance, and doing it very well.  The tasting room is well-designed, and the outside veranda lovely.  Even the servers wear a “uniform”–checked shirts with the Bedell logo.  Happily, the wines are equally well-designed!  We are here on a warm late summer afternoon with our daughter, son-in-law, and a now 14-month-old distraction, so not all of my notes are as comprehensive as they could be.  However, many of the technical details of their wines are readily available on their web page.

There are two tasting options (as well as the usual ability to buy wines by the glass or the bottle):   The Estate tasting includes 5 wines from their lower priced line for $10, while the Premium tasting gives you 5 tastes of their higher priced wines for $15.  We opt for one flight per couple, with one pair trying the premium and the other the estate so we can taste all ten wines.  The pour is small, but since we are there at the end of the day (4:30), a couple of times we get the benefit of a little extra to empty a bottle!  The servers are very knowledgeable and pleasant, and we also enjoy chatting with another young couple with a baby in tow, and our granddaughter enjoys meeting the calm and very friendly golden lab who is allowed into the room just to say hello.

Estate Tasting:

1)  2010 First Crush White          $18

This is a mostly steel-fermented blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling that is light and tart and refreshing.  The aroma is of mineral and chalk, and the fruit is subtle but there, with a pleasant dryness.

2)  2011 Chardonnay          $25

The server explains that this wine spends some time in neutral oak barrels (in other words, in barrels that have already been used for previous fermentations, and so have lost much of their oaky taste) in order to give the wine a better texture, and indeed, it does have a pleasant mouth feel.  The tasting notes also point out that beach stones are used in the casks, which we learn help to keep the cask full.  How much, if anything, they do for the flavor is debatable.  The flavor is pleasantly citrusy.

3)  2011 Taste Rose          $18

This is a light, fairly nondescript blend of Merlot, Cab Franc and Cab Sauv.   Can’t compete with Croteaux’s roses.

4)  2010 First Crush Red          $18

This is a Beaujolais Nouveau style of light red, and would be nice slightly chilled with a roast chicken.  The aroma has some of that North Fork earthiness, but it tastes better than it smells.

5)  2009 Merlot          $20

Nice berry aroma, and a typical Long Island Merlot, though without the earth flavor that is sometimes too prevalent.

Premium Tasting

1)  2011 Sparkling Rose          $35

This is NOT a champagne-style sparkling wine, but rather one made by injecting CO2 into the tanks.  It is a refreshing blend of Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, and Merlot, but tastes a bit too much like a pink soda to me.

2)  2011 Viognier          $35

Winner!  This is a delicious white with lots of citrus and pleasing amount of complexity, despite a somewhat funky aroma.  Since I have no earlier notes on this wine, my guess is it is a new one for Bedell.

3)  2010 Gallery         $40

The Viognier grape also appears in this blend, which adds Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc to the mix.  The aroma reminds me of lemon candy, and the taste has a sweetness of ripe fruit to it, but it is a pleasant wine.

4)  2010 Taste Red          $35

Yum.  The server notes that this was aged for 12 months, and is a Bordeaux-style blend of Merlot, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Cab Franc, and Malbec.  The aroma is intensely berry berry, and the taste is lovely, with lots of fruit but dry.  Good tannins.

5)  Musee          $75  (!)

This rather pricey wine is also a Bordeaux blend, with an aroma of coffee and plum.  It spends 14 months in a combination of oak and old oak, and is a blend of Merlot, Cab Sauv, and Petit Verdot.  Though it is a good wine, with some complexity and good fruit flavor and a nice finish, we feel it is not worth the price.

Our son-in-law buys the First Crush Red, a good choice, we all agree.

Reasons to visit:  beautiful room and attractive labels; good though expensive wines; First Crush Red.

Mattebella Vineyards

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

http://www.mattebellavineyards.com/

May 19, 2012

I’m catching up on past entries, made before I started this blog.  We visited Mattebella on a beautiful sunny day, our second visit.  This is a fairly new winery, and when we came last year we were almost the only ones there, but now it is more crowded.  Chris, who with her husband owns and operates the winery, remembers us.  She’s lovely–very friendly and outgoing, happy to chat about her wines.  The vineyard is named for their children–Matt and Bella!  Although the tasting room is a tiny shack, they have plenty of chairs and tables on a rustic patio, close to the vines.  They have six wines, at $2-4 per taste, served in lovely round-bottomed glasses.  We opt to share a full flight.  Although Chris is being helped by John, who is very knowledgeable, service is slow.  We actually see one couple get up and leave, having not been served, but it is a lovely warm day and we are in no hurry.

1)  08 Chardonnay          $16

An aroma of honey and, surprisingly, spinach.  We taste apricot and red grapefruit, but it is a bit sweet.  Maybe too sweet to have with a meal…but it would make a good aperitif wine, as it is nice for sipping, with a pleasant finish.

2) 09 Chardonnay          $17

A little plate of creamy brie and sliced baguette comes with this wine, and Chris urges us to taste it both before and after we have the brie. Good move.  The aroma is grassy, and a bit like white grape juice (I know, shocking, a drink made from grapes that smells like grape juice!).  The wine is tart with a light oak taste and some zingy acid at the finish.  After the brie, it is definitely less acid, with nice fruit as the flavors blend in the back of my mouth.  This wine is light, and good cold, and clearly good with brie.

Chris tells us that all their grapes are hand-picked, and they use all organic growing methods.

3) 2010 Rose          $16

This rose is 90% Merlot, with aroma and taste that reminds us of watermelon.  Actually, it reminds me of a watermelon infused with vodka I once had (and I’m not going to say anything more about that).  There’s a slight tingle, and it is a simple, nice wine, but not as good as Croteaux’s roses.

4)  Famiglia           $15

This is a good basic red table wine, which would be fine with pizza.  There’s an aroma of tobacco and dark fruits, and the taste is dry with some minerality.

5)  07 Old World Blend          $30

This is a Bordeaux blend–Merlot, Cab Franc, Cab Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot–and we bought a couple of bottles last time we were here.  The aroma includes tobacco and the earthy terroir typical of the North Fork.  The flavor is interesting, with some cherry, and a good balance of dry and sweet.

6)  08 Old World Blend          $30

Another blend–Merlot, Cab Sauvignon, and Cab Franc.  We are served a little plate of bread, cheese, and fig jam with this wine, and find that there is a fig taste in the wine that is enhanced by the fig jam.  Fascinating.  Other than that, we taste black cherry, and sense again a slight earth aroma.

We buy 2 bottles of Famiglia, one 09 Chardonnay, and one 08 Old World.  Now I just have to get some fig jam.  I wonder if Briermere carries it?

Reasons to visit:  personal service; the chance to see how some of the wines taste with food; support for a mostly-organic vineyard; Famiglia, 08 Old World Blend, 09 Chard.

The Old Field Vineyards

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

7/8/12

http://www.theoldfield.com/

Old Field is a really charming place, with a rustic feel.  In the summer, you can stand on the deck outside the tasting room or sit at a picnic table surrounded by trees and look at the chickens running around (they sometimes have eggs for sale) and the old barn buildings.  The tables are covered with calico tablecloths, decorated with pretty wildflower bouquets. In the winter we have had fascinating conversations with the owner about the history of the farm and the ghosts that sometimes haunt it!  This time we are here with our son after an afternoon on the water.  They offer three tastings:  3 whites for $4, 4 reds for $6, or a mixed tasting of 5 for $7.  The servers know a lot about the wines and are fun to talk with.  Actually, almost every time we come here we end up in interesting conversations, one time with two women who were bicycling from the South Fork, across Shelter Island, and through some of the wineries. The North Fork is great for bicycling, by the way, with good bike routes and mostly level ground.

1) 2009 Chardonnay           $20

This is a mostly steel fermented chard, but some of it spends a short time in oak.  The aroma is lemon and apricot, and the flavor is pleasant, typically chardonnay.

2)  2009 Barrel Chardonnay    $25

This one has been through malolactic fermentation, and is definitely more assertive than the first white.  It is creamy but not too buttery.

3)  Rooster Tail                    $18

We’ve often bought this red by the case, as it is a good table wine and goes well with lots of meats, especially with lamb.  The aroma is berry, and the flavor black cherry/plum.

4)  Cacklin Rose 2009          $18

Chickens–cacklin–Rosey–rose–You should be humming a tune right now if you’re of a certain age.  Anyway, this is a good rose, with aromas of strawberry and watermelon and some melony sweetness, though the finish is rather sharp.

5)  Cabernet Franc 2007       $32

This one is similar to a Pinot, with an aroma of mixed berries and some mineral.  Not a sipping wine, but would be good with food, with enough tannins to stand up to steak.  Good!

6)  2005 Merlot                    $25

The Merlot was aged 24 months in French oak, and does have the typical earthy aroma of North Fork Merlots, though not unpleasantly so.  The flavor is also somewhat earthy, and we decide it would be great with roasted portobello mushrooms for some reason.  The finish is dry.

7)  2004 Merlot                  $22

This one spent 30 months in oak, and the aroma strangely reminds us of hot pepper jelly!  The flavor also has some sweet pepper notes and a bit of mustiness.

Reasons to visit:  really rustic setting–barns!  ducks!  chickens!; Rooster Tail red wine, worth buying by the case for an everyday red; laid-back feeling; sometimes you can buy eggs, too.

McCall’s Winery

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with , , ,

June 9, 2012

http://www.mccallwines.com/

This is a small winery where you are most likely to be served by Mr. and Mrs. McCall themselves, a lovely and very friendly couple, especially when it is not too busy—which unfortunately is not the case today, as there is a large party at one rustic picnic table and people at almost every other table.  This winery is right across the street from Pellegrini’s, and is located in a converted barn/stable that still keeps many of the features of its original use.  Our table, for example, is in a horse stall, with wood shavings underfoot, the aroma of which interferes a bit with the tasting!  (The McCalls also run a cattle ranch which provides high end beef, which may often be bought at Love Lane Market.)

We are here with our daughter and son-in-law and a small distraction of just over one year old, so we decide to share two tastings, an $8 flight of 3 wines and a $16 flight of 4 higher-end wines.  The pour here is generous.  They concentrate on reds, though they do have a couple of whites (which we did not taste).

1)      2011 Pinot Noir Rose                        $16

This is a pleasant, light, sipping wine, with some of the Long Island earthy aroma and not much fruit.

2)      2009 Pinot Noir                     $24

The aroma combines dark fruit with some oak.  This is a light burgundy, very pleasant, and would go well with a roast chicken.  It has some of that NoFo earthy terroir, but not too much, with nice black cherry flavor and a tart finish.

3)      2007 Pinot Noir Reserve       $60

Whew—expensive, and, we all agree, not worth it, though this does taste like a real burgundy, with lots of fruit flavor that lingers on the tongue.  There is a somewhat veggie aroma and the color is a lovely dark, um, burgundy.  We do agree that it has enough structure that it will probably cellar well.

4)      2007 Merlot                $30

This is a case where the wine is definitely worth the price.  Yummy, springs to mind.  Lots of dark ripe blackberry flavor right from the first taste, with some mid-tongue dryness and none of the earthy terroir.  Definitely buyable—which we do.

5)      2007 Ben’s Blend       $48

The aroma has that earth/dirt terroir.  Very dry, with nice fruit and some complexity.  I like it, but think it would taste better with food—like lamb chops.  However, everyone else prefers the 07 merlot.

Reasons to visit:  personalized service; good reds, especially the 07 Merlot and 07 Ben’s Blend.

Shinn Vineyard

Posted by nofowineaux in Tasting and tagged with , , ,

June 30, 2012

http://shinnestatevineyards.com/

I really want to like Shinn’s wines as much as I like the atmosphere of the tasting room and their philosophy. They believe in “sustainable farming practices,” and try to do as much by hand as possible.  They are also off the main roads, on an appealing country lane, and their tasting room is rustic—and often inhabited by a friendly dog. I’ve never encountered a limo group there, though on this warm sunny day it is crowded, with a large party out in the wine cellar area.  However, there is room at the bar for us to stand and do a tasting.  They have about 11 wines available, charged per taste, with 3 costing $8.  We opt to share two flights of 3, 3 whites and then 3 reds.

1)       2011 Sauvignon Blanc, $22

The aroma is like slightly overripe fruit.  The taste is a bit pear-y, with a fair amount of fruit and a tart aftertaste, but too sweet for me.  Very cold, it could be nice for sipping.

2)      2010 Chardonnay $19

Again, that slightly overripe fruit aroma, and this one has tastes of over-ripe pineapple, and maybe mango.  It is steel-fermented, which tends to bring out the fruit, but again, this is a bit too sweet for my taste, though others may like it.

3)      2011 Coalescence  $16

As implied by the name, this is a blend, of sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, and gewürztraminer.  The knowledgeable and friendly server tells us that this is a field pressed wine—in other words, the grapes are pressed together, rather than blending the wines after pressing.  This has a pleasantly flowery aroma—maybe a bit of honeysuckle.  Finally, a white that’s not too sweet!  This has a pleasant citrusy taste, reminiscent of blood oranges (which I’ve had a soft spot for ever since I was in Rome with a terrible cold and ate an entire bag of them).  There’s a slight tingle at the end.  We buy 2 bottles to take home.

4)      09 Estate Merlot $26

Now we start the reds.  The aroma is of berry and dirt (they probably say mineral), the typical smell of the North Fork terroir.  We taste cherry and tobacco (a little), and some mineral.  Good and nicely dry, so the fruit is there but not obtrusive.

5)      Wild Boar Doe $31

Love the name!  This is—duh—a typical Bordeaux blend of merlot, petit verdot, malbec, cabernet franc, and cabernet sauvignon.  If it weren’t $31, we would have bought it.  The aroma is lovely, with lots of cherry/berry, and the flavor also has plenty of fruit, with a nice balance of sweet and dry—not too much of either.

6)      2008 Nine Barrels Reserve Merlot $42

They only made nine barrels of this, hence the name.  This is another we would buy if not for the price.  The aroma is ripe black cherry—just delicious.  The flavor is totally mouth-filling, with again a nice balance and depth of fruit (cherry/blackberry) flavor.

Reasons to visit:  off the beaten track on a pretty country road (take me home…); the vineyard uses good organic practices; ’11 Coalescence for a white and ’08 Nine Barrels Reserve Merlot for a red; they have a bed and breakfast which gets good reviews.