Tag Archives: Oregon Road Chardonnay

Sherwood House:  No Robin Hood Here

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

June 18, 2023

#Sherwoodhouse #winetasting #Northfork

The front area is quite pretty.

The confluence of our anniversary and Father’s Day on a sunny afternoon made us decide to brave the weekend crowds and do a wine tasting. And the crowds were definitely here, as the time of year approaches when one plans carefully for left turns.  There’s a traffic light on Cox Lane, for example.  Many of the wineries we passed had full parking lots, with cars parked on the grass in some cases, but Sherwood House was not crowded.

The building is unassuming, and easy to miss.
We were greeted promptly and given our choice of tables.

We hadn’t been to Sherwood House since 2018, when it featured a somewhat complex menu of two different owners, so we were curious to see what had changed since we’d last been there.  Not a lot externally, it turned out, but quite a lot in terms of the wines.  The tasting room is still in a house, with a rather discreet sign on Main Road (I missed it and had to turn around!), adjacent to the William Ris Gallery.  The pleasant garden area out front was occupied by a large table of bachelorettes, who were having a good time, so we asked if we could sit elsewhere.  The lovely hostess escorted us to the back deck, which we had to ourselves.  As we walked through the inside, we remembered sitting on the comfy couches in front of the fireplace on a winter visit.  The overall esthetic is modernized rustic farmhouse.

Cozy setting for winter tastings.

The tasting menu lists one flight, of six wines for $35, but the server informed us that the final red, the Sherwood Manor, is no longer available, as they are phasing it out.  It will be replaced by a merlot, which is not yet bottled.  Five wines for $30 sounded fine to us, and we sipped the cool water we were served as we waited for our flight to be prepped.  We also ordered North Fork potato chips and a dip, for $16 (a bit steep, though the dip, a blend of spinach, Greek yogurt, and lemon, with a touch of garlic, was very good).

Our snack of a very good dip and a bag of chips.

The flight came in cute little bottles, which we shared out into attractive large glasses.  After we finished, we ordered a glass of the Blanc de Blancs as we sat and finished our dip (the rest of the chips came home with us), and the server brought us clean glasses so we could share.

The flight.
  • 2020 Estate Blanc de Blancs         $60

We were glad to start with a bubbly, as it gave us a chance to toast our dual holiday.  This is a rather classic sparkling wine, with a yeasty aroma, dry, with the taste one expects from a chardonnay-based wine, of citrus, plus a bit of a funky olive-y note.  The cost, however, did give us pause.

This is my half of the full glass of bubbly we ordered after the flight. Not a lot of bubbles…
  • 2020 Brut Rosé                 $55

Another sparkling wine, this one a very light pink, made from merlot, pinot noir, and “a splash” of chardonnay.  It has not much aroma, and nice bubbles, but the taste is very light, so light as to be almost non-existent.  As my tasting buddy quipped, “I can’t even remember what it tasted like now.”

  • 2019 Oregon Road Chardonnay                  $37

Why Oregon Road?  Because that is where their vineyard is, and they do some of their winemaking at Lenz.  This is their steel-fermented chard, and it is a pretty classic North Fork chardonnay, with aromas of honeysuckle and lemon, and a nice dry taste of lemon and fruit.  It would go well with scallops.  On the other hand, you can get a liter bottle of North Fork Project chardonnay for $13 (sometimes as little as $10 if you buy three at the winery).

The back deck was a pleasant place to spend an afternoon.
  • 2019 Estate Chardonnay                $50

“Not objectionable,” says my husband.  Talk about damning with faint praise…this is their oaked chardonnay, and it is not too heavily oaked, though it does have tastes of vanilla and is somewhat creamy.  It smells sweet, with some touches of forest floor.  I generally prefer steel-fermented chards, but I don’t mind drinking this one—though again, the price seems a bit much.

This is my half of the red wine.
  • 2019 Estate Cabernet Franc         $60

The aroma is of cherries and other berries and tobacco, which seemed promising.  However, the wine is rather light and nondescript, though quite drinkable.  At a lower price it would be fine.

Before or after your tasting you can tour the gallery.

Reasons to visit:  pleasant setting, with a pretty garden out front, a rustic porch out back, and comfy couches in front of a fireplace for winter visits; the Estate Blanc de Blancs, though overpriced, is quite good; a usual menu of snacks, with a very good dip; they use bamboo plates, which are recyclable.  Note:  they do not seem to have a web page, but you can find them on Facebook.

Wondering what to do with all your corks?

Sherwood House: Cozy by the Fire November 22, 2015

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

http://www.sherwoodhousevineyards.com/About_Us.htm

A view of the fireplace plus musicians

A view of the fireplace plus musicians

It feels as though you are walking into someone’s living room, albeit one with a bar along one side and a couple of folk-ish singers in one corner.  The fire in the stone fireplace surrounded by comfy couches is what you notice when you first enter in the winter.  The welcome from the servers is equally warm, and they do a good job of keeping track of each customer and giving information about the wines.

Sherwood House offers two menus:  the Premium Flight of four wines for $12 and the Top Reds Flight of 4 reds for $15.  They also offer cheese and/or salumi plates for $15 or $20, prepared by Lombardi’s Market in Mattituck.  We decide to share the Premium Flight, thinking we may stop back at some point to try the other one.   The pour was generous enough that we decided we had made the right decision.

Array of bottles

Array of bottles

  1. White Merlot   $19

We compared this to Anthony Nappa’s Anomaly and to various rosés we have tried, and found some similarities and some differences.  Like a rosé it has a faint strawberry aroma, though we felt the smell was a bit funkier than most, and like Anomaly it was neither a red nor a white nor a rosé, but its own thing.  The color is a very light pink, the taste is lemony and refreshingly dry (1-2% residual sugar, notes our server), and the aroma has a slight mushroomy tinge to it.  Good for summertime barbequed chicken!

You can see the pink tinge of the White Merlot.

You can see the pink tinge of the White Merlot.

  1. 2013 Oregon Road Chardonnay $19

This is an unoaked chard, a bit on the sweet side for an unoaked chard, with a touch of overripe pineapple plus lemon flavors.  “Not much to say,” opines my tasting buddy, as we swirl the wine to open up the flavors.

Generous pour.

Generous pour.

  1. 2012 Chardonnay $30

“This wine spends 12 months in second year oak barrels,” our server tells us.  I now know what this implies!  As I’ve learned, the extent to which being aged in oak affects a wine depends on whether the wine was aged in new oak barrels (in which case the oak affects it more heavily) as well as how long it was aged.  As expected, we can taste and smell some butterscotch, but not too much, and some toasty, pineappley flavors. My husband claims it reminds him of Reese’s peanut butter cups.  It’s not sweet and has some interesting layers of flavor (once we warm up our too-cold taste).  It would be great with lobster.

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  1. 2012 Oregon Road Merlot $19

A combination of 80% merlot and 20% cabernet sauvignon, the wine spends 12 months in oak.  Noting our seriousness, our server provides us with a clean glass for the red, something I always appreciate.  The aroma reminds me of perfumed soap, but fortunately it doesn’t taste like that!  We get blackberry, some cherry, some woody flavors, and no tannins.  Soft, we decide, and just okay.

  1. 2011 Cabernet Franc $45

Wait, you cry, didn’t she say you get four tastes?  Well, yes, but once again the fact that we take notes and discuss each wine seriously gets us an extra taste.  And happily, this is the best of the bunch.  Our enthusiastic server notes that the reds are “where we shine,” and I would agree as to this one.  The aroma includes some scents of forest floor and dried herbs, the taste is very cherry berry, with some tannins and some interest to it. Not sure it is worth the price, but it is a lovely wine.

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Reasons to visit:  Good place to sit in winter with a glass of wine (I’d choose a red) and listen to music while contemplating a fire in the fireplace; the 2012 chardonnay, the 2011 cabernet franc.  They also offer a blanc de blancs.

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if you get bored with your tasting you can check out the funky objets at Material Objects next door.

if you get bored with your tasting you can check out the funky objets at Material Objects next door.

 

Sherwood House: Just a Touch Funky September 20, 2014

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

http://www.sherwoodhousevineyards.com/

The 1860s farmhouse that houses Sherwood House's tasting room

The 1860s farmhouse that houses Sherwood House’s tasting room

Located on the Main Road in Jamesport in an 1860s farmhouse, Sherwood House’s tasting room has a homey, slightly funky atmosphere, enhanced by the fireplace in the main room, the outdoor deck areas, and the adjacent Material Objects shop which features antique and found objects of all sorts.  They also have an outdoor tasting area in their vineyard in Mattituck, which may or may not be open.  As we pulled into the parking lot we noticed an exciting sign:  raw bar.  Oh goody!  We have become enamored of the local Peconic Bay oysters.

photo (56)

The main room is homey and cozy, with soft couches in front of the fireplace (which actually has a fire in the winter), bunches of flowers, and a wooden bar along one side.  You can also opt to go outside, either to a back deck or to a front seating area with picnic tables.  On this Saturday afternoon the room also contains a singer/guitar player, strumming folk-ish songs.  As we stand at the bar we see a huge party bus pull into the parking lot, but they are clearly headed for the tasting barn out back, where we went last winter for a very enjoyable music performance.

Fireplace seating area

Fireplace seating area

The tasting menu offers three flights:  Estate, four tastes for $10; Premium, four for $12; or Top Reds, four for $15.  They also offer a taste of their brandy, $10 for a one-ounce pour.  There is some overlap amongst the offerings, so they don’t actually have 12 wines.  They also offer a cheese platter for $20, and wines by the glass for $6-12.

We decide to share a tasting of the Premium flight, and then decide whether to get another tasting or go for a glass of wine to have with a plate of oysters.

  1. 2012 Oregon Road Chardonnay                                $18

Oregon Road is the pretty back road on which their vineyard is located, where you can also find Shinn and Lieb’s tasting rooms.  This is their steel fermented chard, a pleasant but rather soft and not-crisp quaff, with tastes of sweet ripe pineapple and an aroma of sweet orange.

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  1. 2011 Chardonnay $30

Of course this smells like vanilla and ripe pear, as it is an oaked chard, with tastes of tangerine on the front, then butterscotch and vanilla.  It is surprisingly tart for an oaked chard, though it is mellow enough to make it a pleasant sipping wine.  We quite like it.

  1. 2007 Merlot $26

Since 07 was a very good year on the North Fork, we have high hopes for this merlot, but our server warns us not to get our hopes up too high.  “The 07 is at the end of its development,” he notes, “and the 08 has more growth potential.”  Sniff.  Earth, tobacco, and something organic.  Taste.  Some dark fruit, tobacco, dry but not tannic, and not much of a finish.  I would say, if you have a bottle of this, drink it now.

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  1. 2008 Merlot $34

Much better!  The tasting menu notes this scored an 87 in Wine Enthusiast Magazine, and we can see why.  “The aroma just jumped out at me,” says my husband.  Not sure what he means, but it smells delicious.  No earth, lots of fruit, and then we taste dark fruit and chocolate.  Actually, that wouldn’t be a bad pairing—this wine and some dark chocolate, maybe with a bit of raspberry in the chocolate.  This is our favorite of the day, and if we come here during the winter for a concert, I would get a glass of this.

Oysters!

Oysters!

However, we are headed for the oysters.  Though we feel it wouldn’t be the best pairing, we opt for glasses of the 2011 Chardonnay, though I would prefer a sauvignon blanc to go with oysters.  The oysters are delicious, sweet and briny and full of liquid, fresh from Peconic Bay, to the west of Robins Island, as we are told.  We spend a pleasant half hour sitting outside, enjoying our wine and bivalves and listening to the music from inside, which we appreciate much more now that it is not quite so loud.

Front porch and oyster bar

Front porch and oyster bar

Reasons to visit:  a very pleasant tasting room; an intimate setting that also can accommodate groups; the chance to browse the collection at Material Objects; the 2011 Chardonnay and the 2008 Merlot.

Back deck

Back deck