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Clovis Point:  A Civilized Afternoon

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

May 16, 2023

#Clovispoint #Blacklabelchardonnay #northfork #winetasting #nopets

Bud break has happened!

We had done our civic duty and voted in the Board of Education election, and found ourselves at 3:30 in the afternoon with nothing to do, so we took ourselves to Clovis Point.  As we sat on the shaded deck, looking out at the sunlit vines and listening to some soft classic rock, I commented to my tasting buddy that this was a very civilized way to spend an afternoon. The chairs are comfortable, and the flowers on each table are a nice touch. We also appreciated the way our tasting was served to us—in a series of little carafes, with each of us getting our own glass.  We had told our cheerful and attentive server that we’d be sharing one tasting, since it consisted of seven wines for $30.  And indeed, it was plenty, and we left feeling no pain, but also perfectly compos mentis. 

Only one other table was occupied, by a small group speaking French, who seemed to be enjoying themselves very much.  We took our time with our tastes, discussing the wines and munching on North Fork Potato Chips ($6 for a large bag).  Our server also supplied us with a plate and napkins, so we could dole out each serving.

One more note on civilization—the name “Clovis point” refers to a projectile point originally used during the Ice Age, 12,000-13,000 years ago, a mark of very early civilization!  Now you know what the meaning is of the symbol of the winery, which is found on their bottles. 

  •  2021 Sauvignon Blanc   $29

Our tasting started, as many local ones do, with the sauvignon blanc, a light, easy-to-drink white.  It has a pleasant, flowery aroma, and a bit of a funky taste, plus definite minerality.  “There’s not a lot to it,” opined my husband, and I replied that it would go well with oysters.

We really liked this way of serving a shared tasting, as it is more hygienic than sipping from the same glass. Quite civilized.
  • 2021 Chardonnay             $25

This is their steel-fermented chard, another light white, with a touch of petrichor in the aroma.  It has some lemon tastes, and actually complements the potato chips very well, which leads me to think that it would go well with charcuterie.  My tasting buddy notes that the taste is a bit floral at the end.

  • 2021 Black Label Chardonnay       $28

Some people like oaked chards, and some don’t, so this combo—80% steel and 20% barrel aged—might please everyone.  At least, it pleases me!  It smells similar to the previous chard, but the taste is different—smoother, juicier.  Mouth-watering, we decide, and buyable, though we don’t get a bottle this time. 

  • 2021 Rosé           $22.50

Interestingly, though this is 95% cabernet franc and only 5% chardonnay, the aroma reminds me of the chardonnays.  It has some typical strawberry flavor, and though my husband says he is “neither up nor down” on it, I think it is a nice summer sipper.  This is another light wine, and I could see pairing it with a Catapano goat cheese and some crackers.

  • 2020 Merlot       $29

Merlots are very common on the North Fork, and often very similar, with a taste and aroma of cherries.  This one is no exception, with also some notes of spice and pencil shavings (What, you never chewed on a pencil when you were a kid?). 

  • 2019 Cabernet Franc       $45

Oh my.  That’s quite a price jump, but, on the other hand, this is quite a wine.  The tasting notes suggest mocha and coffee, and I add complex and interesting, with a brambly aroma.  I could see pairing this with a nice steak dinner.

  • 2016 Artifact      $45

Though I caution my husband that this is a port, he complains that it is too sweet.  Well, but for a port it is not too sweet.  It is aged 44 months in neutral oak.  I think it smells a bit like licorice (I, unlike many people, like black licorice.) and berries.  Yes, I could see lingering after dinner over a glass of this, cracking walnuts and pretending to be in an English novel.  The name, by the way, is a nod to the Clovis point concept.

Lees left in the glass after drinking the port.

Reasons to visit:  pleasant outdoor area; music on the weekends; they have a menu of snacks but also allow outside food, as long as you don’t bring a cooler; the Black Label Chardonnay and the Cabernet Franc, plus the  Artifact if you want a not very sweet port.

Peconic Cellar Door: Women Rule December 20, 2019

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

https://www.peconiccellardoor.com/peconic-cellar-door

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Unlike most wineries on the North Fork, Peconic Cellar Door is owned and run by women: Alie Shaper and Robin Epperson-McCarthy. It is another of the very small tasting rooms, and in fact adjoins last week’s site, The Winemaker Studio, but is even smaller. Despite its small size, however, it offers quite an array of wines to taste, under four labels: As If Wines, Brooklyn Oenology, Haywater Cove, and Saltbird Cellars. All the wines are now under the umbrella name Chronicle, with the tag line, “Every bottle holds a story.” Ask Robin (or whomever is behind the counter) about the logo, because it tells a story, too.

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Robin was our server, and since there were no other customers, we had time to chat. There were a couple of visitors who came by just wish Robin and Alie happy holidays. Robin told us about her travels around the world to learn the craft and art of wine-making, particularly her six months in New Zealand, which influenced the style of some of her wines. She is clearly passionate about wine-making, and she and Alie have their own original ideas about it. We enjoyed all of their experiments.

The menu offers two flights, the Cellar Door flight, of five wines for $15, and the Signature Flight, of five higher-priced wines for $20. We decided to share the Signature Flight, and perhaps return for the Cellar Door, though Robin cautioned us that they change the options every month. Given that the price list includes 28 wines, I guess they can come up with quite a few permutations. We may have to go back more than once…

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Though they don’t allow outside food (or pets), the only snack on offer is packs of cookies from local baker Ali Katz. I do recommend a visit to her little bakery and food shop in Mattituck (only open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays). We’ve only been there a couple of times, but found her baked goods excellent.

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  1. 2014 As If Serendipity $35

If the name of this wine describes how it came to be, it was a fortunate accident indeed. A blend of sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, and viognier, it is aged more than one expects for a white, particularly on the North Fork, where most whites are from the most recent vintage. This wine has a floral and mineral aroma, and is nicely dry. Some notes of lemony citrus, but also more depth than one expects from a white. As we sip, I find the viognier taste, which I quite like, coming through.

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I thought this label was particularly pretty.

  1. 2017 Saltbird Migratus $27

Of course, I have to ask about the name of this wine, which comes in a bottle with a very pretty painting of birds in flight. Robin explains that it is a reference to her own migrations, away from the North Fork and back, but also to the birds she loves. The making of this wine was influenced by her time in New Zealand. Though plenty of cheap sauvignon blanc comes here from there, the wines they keep for themselves tend to be made like this one, spending six months on the lees and aged in oak. When I note a faint oak taste, she mentions that “one of the barrels” was new oak, so it came out a bit oakier than she wanted. Overall, it is a good wine, with a nice mouth feel and a taste my drinking buddy compares to “drinking flowers.” Well, it does have an aroma that combines something vegetal with flowers.

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This rose is almost like a light red.

  1. 2016 As If Courage $28

Robin calls this a rosé made from a Meritage blend. I guess it does take courage to make a rosé from merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, petit verdot, and syrah, a classic Bordeaux blend. She compares the aroma to buckwheat honey, and I agree. This is almost as much a very light red as it is a rosé. It has some strawberry and citrus tastes, but more depth (again) than your typical rosé. She suggests serving it with a pork roast, an excellent idea.

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  1. 2016 Saltbird Harbinger $36

A blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot, this is a wine they only make in good years, so there is no 2018 but will surely be a 2019. I’ve heard in several tasting rooms that this was a very good year on the North Fork, with the right amount of warm days and rain. It has some cherry taste, but is not really fruity, dry, with some tannins. Nice legs, if that means anything!

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The array of our tasting.

  1. 2014 As If Persistence $40

I’m glad they persisted with making this wine, a blend of cabernet franc, petit verdot, and cabernet sauvignon. Despite the price, we decide to buy a bottle to save in the cellar for a special occasion. I think it could age a few more years, but it is also delicious to drink now. Fruitier than the previous wine, it has some interesting flavors, and could stand up to a steak.

Reasons to visit: another small winery, where you can talk to the winemakers and learn about what inspired them and how they made each wine; we liked all the wines, but especially the Serendipity and the Persistence; they change their offerings periodically, so you can go more than once; though they don’t allow groups larger than six, if you happen to be with a group you can split up, with some going to the Winemaker Studio, connected by an open doorway and a window in the wall.

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Kontokosta Winery: Close to Greenport October 4, 2019

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

https://www.theharborfrontinn.com/kontokosta-winery

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The flowers are being blown sideways by the wind.

We had errands to run in Greenport (oil and vinegar at Vines & Branches, for one), so we decided to visit the closest winery to Greenport, Kontokosta. As we got out of our car, a gust of wind reminded us that the Long Island Sound is in sight of the tasting room, and we noted the vanes of the windmill spinning rapidly. No shortage of wind energy here!

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That’s my new notebook in the corner of the photo. I filled the old one!

The tasting room is large and airy, and, mostly empty on this October Friday, seemed somewhat echoey. Since we’d spent some time walking around Greenport, we decided we wanted to sit, so we took our tastes over to one of the long wooden tables. We also, feeling a bit peckish, ordered a round of St. Stephen’s 4 Fat Fowl cheese, which was $17, plus $2.50 if we wanted crackers with it. It seemed a bit chintzy to us to charge separately for crackers, but they do offer gluten free crackers as an option. No outside food allowed. The cheese was quite delicious, and more than enough for the two of us, so we had the server wrap up our leftovers to take home.

The wineries are lucky that cheese and wine is such a good combination, since cheese is an easy snack to offer. We did think it was a bit chintzy to charge separately for the crackers.

While in Greenport we amused ourselves by figuring out from what angle the pictures of Greenport were taken which appear in the new TV series “Emergence.” It’s mostly shot in New Jersey (one look at the beach where a plane crashes makes it clear it was not shot on the North Fork), but it is set in Southold and Greenport and uses shots of Front Street and Main Street for atmosphere.

A tasting consists of three one-ounce pours for $16, so we decided to do one tasting of three of the four whites, and another of three of the four reds. The servers gave us basic information on the wines, and the tasting menu had a few brief notes, but otherwise we were on our own.

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Our flight of whites.

  1. 2018 Orient Chardonnay $22

This is a fairly classic example of a North Fork chard, steel-fermented, with a floral aroma and a lemony, fruity, minerally taste. We also detected a slight salty note in this and some other wines, and wondered if the vineyard’s location so close to the Sound caused that. It went well with the soft, creamy cheese.

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That’s the Long Island Sound in the distance.

  1. 2018 Sauvignon Blanc $25

Another easy-to-drink white, this smells to me like thyme honey. The taste is a touch sweet, but not too sweet, with some pineapple taste. Sometimes sauvignon blancs have a lot of lemon taste, but this one does not. It does have a touch of minerality.

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Each glass was labeled with the wine in it, so we would know which we were tasting.

  1. 2018 Field Blend $22

As I’ve mentioned before, the name field blend implies that it is made from various grapes which all grow in the same field. This one is 50% riesling, 33% viognier, and 17% chardonnay. I detect the riesling in the aroma, which had a bit of that cat pee smell, as well as honeysuckle. We like it the best of the whites, as it is more interesting than most. I think it tastes like a Granny Smith apple, and he agrees.

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The reds.  We did not try the rose, which you can see off to one side.

  1. 2015 Cabernet Franc $29

I return our three empty glasses to the bar and order our three reds. To make sure we know what we’re drinking, the server uses a white marker of some sort to put the initials of each wine on the base of the glass. Clever. This is aged four months in Hungarian oak, she tells me. The aroma is jammy, like blackberry jam. The wine tastes like dark figs, with some nice acidity, but it is rather lean, with no finish.

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The cheese was delicious, and went well with the wines.

  1. 2015 Merlot $34

Typically, merlots around here taste and smell like cherries, and this is no exception. It has no depth, and is rather monochromatic, says my tasting pal. I agree that it would be a good pizza/pasta wine, if not for the price. I also note that it was served too cold, a common fault.

  1. 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon $29

Aged twelve months in Hungarian oak, this wine finally has some tannins. I smell black olives and pine, maybe something a bit funky. My poor husband is suffering from a major allergy attack, perhaps brought on by pollens blown on that brisk breeze, so he’s not much help in the what-does-it-smell-like department. His comment on this one is, “I can taste that it’s wine.” They do say that smell is a crucial element in taste. I taste purple plums, but I agree that it’s not very complex, though, like all the wines here, very drinkable.

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Perhaps if we’d stood at the bar we could have had more discussions about the wine.

Reasons to visit: it’s close to Greenport, which is getting quite popular these days; large tasting room with a view of Long Island Sound; menu of good cheeses (though I think the crackers should be included in the cost. What are you going to do, spread the cheese on your fingers?); all the wines are pleasant, if unexciting, but we especially liked the Field Blend white and the cabernet franc.

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Pretty view out the window.

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The grapes, covered with netting to keep critters out, look about ready to harvest. At some wineries we pass, they have already been picked.