Tag Archives: pizza

Jamesport Vineyards:  Pizza and Wine Again

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

October 5, 2023

Our wait was very brief.

We were discussing the possibility of going to do a tasting while examining the refrigerator for lunch ideas, when it hit us—why not combine lunch and a tasting?  A quick check of the Internet confirmed that Jamesport Vineyards offers their “wood fired” pizza on Thursdays, and in fact they have a Thursday special, of a Margherita pie and a bottle of any of their East End label wines for $45.  So we slathered on some sun screen (not really needed, as the patio is amply shaded), put on our shoes, and headed out.

This was a perfect day for sitting outside, but I don’t know how many more of these we will have this year.

We were quickly greeted at the entrance and escorted to a table on the pretty patio, which looks out on beds of flowers, a lawn, and groupings of tables and chairs.  A number of other couples must have had the same idea, because bottles or flights of wine and pizzas appeared on most tables.  Glasses of ice water, a welcome amenity on this warm afternoon, were set on our table as we perused the menus. 

The wine menu offered three tastings, one of all whites, one all reds, and a mixed flight, of four wines for $27, which we decided to order.  There are 16 wines on the list, all available as a glass or a bottle.  Then we turned the menu over to check out the food offerings, which are quite extensive, from snack-type items like olives and cheeses to real meals, including a lobster roll.  But the main attraction is the pizzas, of which seven varieties are listed.  We decided to get the “Larry,” for $26, which features house-made mozzarella and house-made hot Italian sausage, plus tomato sauce, onions, roasted red peppers, chili oil, and fresh oregano.  It arrived at our table hot from the oven, appropriately singed at the edge, and delicious.  It is worth going there for a glass of wine and a lunch pizza any time.  The menu says one pie serves two, but we took home enough to reheat (in the oven, please, not the microwave) for dinner.  One downer: the plastic knife is totally inadequate to cut the pizza (I know, I do the NYC fold to eat mine, but my tasting buddy prefers to knife and fork his.). 

The pizza is divided into six slices, and we found one each to be enough for lunch.

Another note: no children allowed on the weekends, and no dogs except service dogs at any time.

Our waitress brought out the bottles and poured a generous amount for each taste, giving a brief spiel to describe each wine.  As we sipped and munched, we discussed what an asset wineries like this are to the North Fork.

  •  2022 Estate Albariño      $38

I am generally fond of albariños, and often order one when getting wine by the glass in restaurants.  I wish more North Fork wineries used this grape.  They tend to be crisp, with nice fruit tastes of pineapple and guava, with some notes of lemon, and this one is no exception.  The waitress says she smells banana, which we debate after she leaves.  Maybe a very ripe banana?  Very good.  I’d buy a bottle, but I think I can get it for less at Vintage, our local liquor store.

  • 2019 Estate Riesling         $35

Happily, this is not a sweet riesling, as I tend not to like sweet wines (except for dessert).  It has very little aroma, and is dry, with lots of minerality.  It is not at all fruity, but I find it has an edge to it I don’t care for.  I let my husband drink most of it.

The “East End” wines have screw caps, which I have to admit I am coming to prefer.
  • 2022 East End Rosé         $38

On the other hand, I like this rosé better than he does.  It is crisp and dry, with a touch of fizz.  It’s not very fruity, but goes well with the pizza.  It is definitely a food wine, not a sipper.

  • 2020 Estate Cabernet Franc         $36

“What I smell,” says my seasonally allergy afflicted pal, “smells good.”  I agree, and note aromas of cherry and other dark fruits plus tobacco.  The taste, however, is a little disappointing, as it is a very light red, with no depth.  But it goes the best with the pizza, and is certainly pleasant to drink.  “Not bad,” opines my fellow taster.

No surprise, no one wanted to sit inside on this beautiful day.

Reasons to visit:  beautiful outdoor setting, with lawn and flower gardens; menu of real foods, particularly the pizzas; the albariño and the rosé; excellent service; laid-back vibe (at least on a weekday).

You can see into the wine-making area from the tasting room.

Meadowlark:  Pizza Night!

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

September 8, 2023

Just one part of the capacious grounds.

It had been hot all day, but by 5 o’clock it had cooled off enough to sit outside, which we were glad to notice, since that had been our plan.  With our friends the winery aficionados, we headed to Meadowlark for pizza night.  The last time we had been to that property, many years ago, it had belonged to a different winery.  Then Macari took it over, at first running it as simply a second location for tastings, but now they had rebranded it as a somewhat different type of winery.  The emphasis here is on a few wines not available at Macari, as their website says, “limited wines, and innovative winemaking techniques available only at the Meadowlark property.”  In addition, they promote the property as an ideal place for weddings and other events, with two renovated barn-like buildings and extensive beautifully landscaped lawns and gardens.  It is only open to the public Friday afternoons, Saturdays, and Sundays. 

Have rolling pizza oven, will bake!
The comfortable table where we settled in for our evening.

We pulled into the parking lot and strolled up a slight rise to where a pizza oven roared, and then checked out one building, where an oyster bar offered freshly shucked oysters, and then the wine bar, before settling at a table on the deck outside the wine bar.  Music from speakers in the shrubbery included a few Grateful Dead songs.  Inside the wine bar, we acquired four glasses of wine from the limited menu of seven, deciding on two glasses of malbec, one of cabernet franc, and one of a grüner veltliner pet-nat (No flights on Friday nights.). 

Then we ambled over to the pizza oven, operated by pizza makers from The Rolling Gold, a shop with a “brick and mortar” site in Huntington.  There were five pies on offer, and we decided on one Margherita ($18) and one White ($20).  They gave us a buzzer, and only a few sips of wine later the buzzer went off. 

The pizzas were tasty, the Margherita with a fresh-tasting red sauce and fresh mozzarella, the white with plenty of garlic and melty stracciatella cheese, the crust appropriately slightly charred.  We thought there’d be leftovers, but we only took home one slice.  We had the patio to ourselves, though there were plenty of couples and small groups scattered over the lawns, and we sat and chatted until it began to get dark. 

Yummy pies. However, we would have liked it if plates were included, instead of just napkins.

Only a few notes on the wines:

  •  Grüner Veltliner Pét-Nat 2022                   $35

I’ve never seen a grüner veltliner made into a sparkling wine, so that’s something new to me.  I didn’t get to taste it, but one friend quite enjoyed it.  Meadowlark’s tasting notes describe it as “fresh” and “lively.”

Though it had cooled off enough to make sitting outside pleasant, it was still quite humid, as you can see by the condensation on this glass.
  • 2020 Malbec      $50

Our friend and I both chose this as a good red to go with a pizza, and it was.  Dry and pleasant, with more tannins than fruit, it was a very nice wine, though not a $50 bottle.  We discussed value versus price for a while, since, we agreed, it is perfectly possible to enjoy wines that are not all that expensive, though great wines are something special.

  • Cabernet Franc “Life Force” 2020              $30

“Life Force” is the way Macari characterizes the wines they make using a concrete “egg” for aging.  Their Life Force Sauvignon Blanc is one of my favorites of their wines.  This red is rather light, with tastes of red fruit and herbs.  It also went well with the pizza, and my husband was happy with this choice.

Those are oysters in the “boat.”

Reasons to visit:  excellent pizzas; relaxed, laid-back vibe on a Friday night; beautiful grounds; dogs allowed; some interesting wines to try.  I may go back some time on a Saturday or Sunday so I can try a flight, which they serve in test tubes (!). 

The staff was busy prepping these “test tubes” for Saturday’s wine tastings.

Jamesport Vineyards: Lunchtime!

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

September 30, 2021

Our friends were coming to visit us for the first time since before the pandemic began, so we were eager to spend some time together.  Often, we’ve done a tasting and then gone out to dinner, but this time we decided to combine a tasting and lunch.  I’ve been wanting to try the pizzas from Little Oak Wood Fired Kitchen, within Jamesport Vineyard, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. 

I went online and made a reservation, which required a $5 deposit on my credit card per person (promptly refunded when we arrived), for 1:30 on Thursday, the last day of September.  It was a typical fall day, warm in the sun and chilly in the shade, so we planned to sit outside.  However, shortly after being seated, we decided it was too chilly and decamped for a cozy table in an alcove within the tasting room.  The cheerful and attentive server quickly adjusted to our change.  The outside area was always very pleasant, and now it is really attractive, with more seating and pretty flower beds, so I was sorry not to sit out there, but we had a fine time inside, where we had the room mostly to ourselves.  (Outside there were a number of groups of people, including some children.)

We were handed two menus, one for wine and the other for food (the full menu is only available Thursday-Sunday).  I immediately noticed on the wine menu that our favorite Jamesport white, the Albariño, was sold out, as was our favorite red, Mélange de Trois.  Rats.  Our friends prefer whites, and I wanted to try the reds, so we each got a tasting of four wines, for $26, and they got whites and we got reds.  Then we asked for extra glasses so we could share tastes.  That does mean that we did not taste them in the recommended order, but we were served glasses of ice water, which served to cleanse our palates between tastes.

The food menu offers nine different pizzas, with options of additional toppings.  Our friends went with the traditional Margherita ($20), simply sauce, basil, and fresh mozzarella, while we opted for the Fun Guy ($24), topped with mushrooms (fungi, get it?), shallots, spinach, etc.  Both came with thin crusts, blistered around the edges, and were very tasty.  We also got an order of burrata and prosciutto to share to start with, which was delicious, though we had to request a knife so we could share it.  It sat atop a crispy slice of toasted sourdough bread.  They have some other intriguing options, like charred octopus, which I’d like to try some other time.

Burrata and prosciutto on toast

We were having so much fun with our friends, sharing stories of the past year or so, reminiscing about the past, that I have to confess my tasting notes are not as thorough as usual.  However, in general, all the wines were drinkable, but, alas, as is so common on the North Fork, somewhat high priced for the quality.  Here are the wines, in no particular order:

*2018 East End Cabernet Franc    $32

Unlike most reds, this one is fermented in steel rather than oak, which makes it a very light, clean-tasting wine.  This is a good red for someone who is not fond of reds.  Our server noted that it tastes more like a pinot than a cab franc.

The pour was generous enough that we were able to share all our tastes.
  • 2020 Estate Sauvignon Blanc      $37.75

Like most North Fork sauvignon blancs, this is citrusy and dry, a good accompaniment for oysters or clams.

The tasting room is rather small.
  • 2019 East End Field Blend White              $32.50

As I explained to our friends, the name field blend usually means that the grapes were all grown in the same field.  This blend of 32% sauvignon blanc, 32% riesling, 30% chardonnay and 6% albariño was our mutually agreed-upon favorite of the day.  It has a pleasant aroma of honeysuckle, and is both dry and fruity, with some tastes of pear and citrus.  This is a white you could drink with almost any chicken or fish dish, or even pork chops.

  • East End Syrah  $32

Syrah is one of those wines I sometimes like and sometimes do not.  This one falls sort of in the middle.  Our server informed us it has a bit of sauvignon blanc added in to lighten the taste, which it does, since sometimes syrah can be a bit overwhelming.  It has some plum taste, and almost no tannins.

  • 2019 “76” Chardonnay  $37.80

Before I could ask about the name, our server explained that the “76” refers to the particular clone of the chardonnay grape that is used in this wine, in contrast to the other chardonnay on the menu.  They age this in neutral oak barrels, which I explained means barrels that have been used before, so that they impart less of an oaky taste.  I liked this, though in general I prefer steel-aged chards, and found it pleasant, with some tropical fruit taste.

  • 2019 Estate Merlot         $35

Except for the price, I would characterize this as a good pizza wine, again, fairly light, dry, and slightly tannic.  If I came here to have a pizza and a glass of wine, this is the one I would choose.

  • 2019 “95” Chardonnay  $39.27

Ever have Werther’s butterscotch candy?  That’s what this wine reminded me of.  Too oaky for me!

  • 2019 Estate Cabernet Franc        $35

Unlike the earlier cab franc we had, this one is aged in oak, which gave it some nice tannins, but I wish it had more fruitiness. 

From the tasting room you can peer into part of the winemaking facility.

Reasons to visit:  good lunch place (no outside food allowed), with excellent thin-crust pizzas and an interesting menu of other snacks; pretty outside garden area, with plenty of room for children to run around; the Field Blend White, the Estate Merlot, and the two wines that were sold out, the albariño and the Mélange de Trois.

Diliberto Winery: A Trip to Sunny Italy February 2, 2019

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Diliberto Winery:  A Trip to Sunny Italy                   February 2, 2019

https://www.dilibertowinery.com/

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The murals help you imaging you’re in Italy.

To celebrate Groundhog Day, we decided to take a trip to Italy—or at least as close as you can get on the North Fork.  We love the décor at Diliberto’s winery, where the trompe l’oeil effect of the murals reminds us of sitting in a café in a small Italian town’s main square, one of our favorite activities in Italy.  The sounds of Italian opera or pop music and the video on the screen over the piano showing scenes of the Italian countryside add to the immersive effect, a nice antidote to the recent sub-zero wind chills we’ve experienced.

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Note the sign on the “building”: Trattoria Diliberto.

In addition, the room was filled with the delicious scent of freshly made pizza, which every table but ours was enjoying.  The kitchen is almost as big as the tasting room, and they have a pizza oven where they make thin crust pizzas as well as other Italian treats (no outside food allowed).  The only problem with the pizzas was that I had trouble smelling the wines over its aroma.

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The screen shows “Visions of Italy,” a series of flyovers of Italian cities and countryside, originally produced for PBS.

The tasting room is quite small, but in the summer they have a sizeable outside area, as well as a plastic-enclosed porch for mild days.  No big groups allowed, and, most emphatically, no children. In the winter, they are only open on Saturdays and Sundays, but check their web page, since on some Sundays they feature “Sundays with Grandma,”  which involves a four-course Italian meal and live music.

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There are real roses on the tables, a classy touch.

The menu has five wines, and oddly offers three tastes for $16, or $6 per taste.  Our server, who was simply a server, with not much to say about the wines, first asked if we wanted to do two $16 tastings, until we pointed out that there were only five wines.  “Oops,” she said, “I forgot we don’t have the rosé any more.”  So we paid $28 for our five tastes, which were delivered to our table all at once, in nice little round-bottomed glasses.  She did come back to our table periodically to check on how we were liking the wines and offer us some water.

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Our panoply of tastes–we had already taken a couple of sips of the chardonnay.

Now that the prognosticating groundhogs haven’t seen their shadows, perhaps soon we’ll be enjoying some warm, Italian-like weather.

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  1. 2017 Chardonnay $32

This is a lightly oaked chardonnay, which spends five months in oak barrels, so it is not too butterscotchy.  The taste reminds me of thyme honey, which is herbier than clover honey, plus a touch of lemon.  Not bad, but not a style of chard I particularly like.  My husband says he could see it as a summer sipper on the deck.

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  1.  2017 Sauvignon Blanc                $30

We like the pretty bright yellow color of this wine, which is steel fermented.  It’s a pretty typical North Fork sauvignon blanc, with crisp green apple and lemongrass flavors, a good oyster wine.  By the way, you may notice that the prices are a bit high here. My guess is that, as such a small winery, they lack the advantage of larger scale places, which can distribute the cost of winemaking over more bottles.

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  1. 2014 Merlot $32

In general, I think Diliberto does better with his reds.  This merlot is rather light, with lots of that typical cherry flavor and some tannins.  It is served a bit too cold.  According to the menu, it is aged just one year, in a mix of new and used French oak, which might account for why it seems so light.  It seems not quite balanced to me, though it would be a fine wine to have with pizza, especially one made without tomato sauce.

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  1. 2016 Cantina $30

A cantina is usually a bar, or an informal kind of restaurant, and this wine would go fine in such a place.  A blend of 50/50 merlot and cabernet franc, it combines the cherry and pepper tastes of the two, with some hints of blackberry.  Though it has more body than the merlot, I find the finish evanesces, though the menu says it has a “smooth, lingering finished” (sic—we used my pen to correct our copies).  It’s another perfectly fine wine, and again would go well with pizza or pasta.

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Even the labels are a nod to the Dilibertos’ Italian heritage.

  1. 2015 Tre $42

If I were ordering pizza and a glass of wine, this is the one I would get, even though it is $17 per glass.  As you might guess from the name, this is a blend of three grapes:  65% merlot, 20% cabernet sauvignon, and 15% cabernet franc.  It has a lovely dark color and an aroma of tobacco, spice, and candy.  It tastes good, with cherry and dark chocolate flavors and enough tannins that I think it could age some more and be even better.  It could even stand up to steak or lamb chops.

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They also lead tours of Italy.

Reasons to visit:  you like a small, intimate setting; you want to pretend you are in Italy; you like listening to opera while you sip; you appreciate a child-free setting; the Cantina and the Tre; you want a thin-crust pizza for lunch.

 

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The grounds include a room for overnight stays.

Jamesport Vineyards: No Pizza Today February 3, 2018

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

wehttp://www.jamesportwines.com/

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Don’t let the sunshine fool you–It was COLD!

In the summer, Jamesport has a wood-fired oven on the back patio, where they make thin-crust pizzas.  They also often serve local oysters, and we have enjoyed sitting outside there with a glass of white wine and a plate of oysters in the summer sun, listening to music.  However, this was the day after Groundhog Day, the icy parking lot made it clear there would be no sitting outside today, and when a couple came in seeking pizza they were referred to the restaurant Grana, just down the street.  They were offered a cheese and charcuterie plate ($42), which a couple of large parties were having at their tables. (Jamesport does not allow pets or outside food, and allows children only outside in the back yard, not in the bar area.)

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In the summer it is lovely to sit out here and enjoy music, oysters, and pizza from the wood-fired oven.

While some people might have been disappointed at the lack of pizza, they would not be disappointed in the wines.  We tried ten (well, actually eleven) and liked most of them.  The tasting menu offers any five wines for $20 from a list that includes six whites, six reds, three petillant naturels (sparkling wines), and a verjus.  We decided to share two tastings, starting with the whites and then doing reds.

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The nice-sized barn-like tasting room was surprisingly full for a mid-week winter day, but the lone server bustled about and was able to attend to everyone’s needs, including chatting with us about the wines and customizing our tasting.  I am often so impressed with the people who serve in the wineries, with their ability to keep everyone’s tastings straight, recommend wines for varying tastes, and stay cheerful throughout.

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  1. 2015 East End Chardonnay        $18.95

Through a window in the wall of the tasting room you can see the steel vats in which this chardonnay is fermented.  We sniff and identify citrus, orange, flowers, and another smell and taste we can’t quite identify until our server suggests almonds.  Yes, bitter almond it is.  We like this chardonnay, with its full taste and long finish, not too sweet, with a bit of minerality.  We discuss what to pair it with, and settle on tuna, like the lovely tuna steaks we bought at the Riverhead Farmers Market last week.

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What’s the difference between East End and Estate? At Jamesport, the former is their less expensive line. Legally, I’ve been told, “estate” doesn’t mean anything, so wineries can define it as they like.

  1. 2015 Estate Chardonnay $22.95

Oaked chards are not my favorite, but this one is not too oaky, with some lime and pear tastes, and almonds again.  Both chards have a long finish.  The tasting notes say “honey,” which I identify as the mouth feel of the wine.  I could see having this with a spicy Italian seafood dish, like a fra diavolo.

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  1. 2014 Sauvage Reserve $30.95

Our server is able to tell us that this wine uses sauvignon blanc clones, but not whether or not the word “sauvage” refers to wild yeast.  In any event, this is another nice wine, a bit on the light side even though it is aged in oak, with a taste that reminds me of a fruit salad seasoned with a bit of liqueur.  If I were here in the summer and having oysters, I’d get a glass of this, though we are told that a new vintage of this will be coming out soon, so I’d try a taste before I committed to a glass.

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See my notes before you decide which riesling to try.

  1. 2013 Estate Riesling $22.95

There are two rieslings on the menu, and we choose this one because the other is called Demi-Sec, and is described as slightly sweet.  Interestingly, this one is actually sweeter, as we discover when we tell our server it is too sweet for us.  Here, he says, try a little taste of the 2013 Demi-Sec Riesling ($22.95).  We like it better.  It is less cloying and lighter, with an aroma that reminds us of cider.  The menu describes the Estate Riesling as “crisp.”  Nope.

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By this time, we were friends with the server, so when he noted the bottle was almost empty he gave us the rest in our taste.

  1. 2015 East End CINQ Blanc $18.95

No surprise, this is a blend of five whites: chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, riesling, albariño, and pinot blanc.  We describe this as a good, everyday table wine, and our friend the server agrees.  It has a touch of sweetness, but not too much, with tastes of kiwi and peach and some minerality.  You could have it with an omelet in the morning, he suggests, which leads to various humorous comments about a day that starts like that.  How about with a quiche, I offer.  If I needed some whites at home, I might have bought this one.

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  1. 2014 East End CINQ Red $19.95

New glass as we switch to our red tasting, starting with another blend of five, this time of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, syrah, and pinot noir.  I decide it smells like a Bordeaux, and if I had to guess I would bet that it has more cabernet sauvignon than merlot.  It smells like dark fruits and berries and tastes like that, too.  It is a somewhat light red, with no depth and some tannins, and would make a perfect picnic wine.

  1. 2013 Merlot Estate $27.95

This is another easy to drink wine, with the expected cherry aroma and taste, plus some hints of dark chocolate.  It would go well with lamb or pork, but is not big enough to have with steak.

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The sign tells you how many bottles of wine you can get per acre of grapes. An acre can yield about 300 bottles!

  1. 2015 Estate Syrah $24.95

I tend to like syrahs, and I like this one, too.  I smell and taste dark fruits, especially purple plum, plus some spice, perhaps pepper.  Really dry, this has strong tannins that make me think it could age.  This wine would be fine with steak.

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  1. 2014 Estate Cabernet Franc $32.95

And aging is what I think this cab needs.  It doesn’t have much aroma.  Lots of tannins, and it is dry, but the fruit seems underdeveloped to me.  Just okay.

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  1. 2014 Mélange de Trois $34.95

If you know French, you can deduce that this is a blend of three grapes and a play on “ménage à trois”:  cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and cabernet franc.  It is aged for two years in French oak, and then another two years in the bottle.  We get into a discussion of the various grapes in this wine, and our server tells us how cabernet sauvignon does not do well every year.  In fact, last year rather than use their cabernet sauvignon grapes in their own wine, they felt they did not meet Jamesport’s standards and sold the whole crop to Premium Wine Group.  We like this wine, too, though it is more austere than luscious.  Dry, with good tannins, it has blackberry and spice tastes.  I could see having this with leg of lamb or steak frites.

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Seems like a nice selection of cheeses.

Reasons to visit:  in the summer, a big outdoor area with music and wood-oven pizza and oysters; in the winter, a cozy tasting room with cheese trays; the East End Chardonnay, the Sauvage Reserve, the East End CINQ Blanc and Red, the Mélange de Trois.  We didn’t get to try the sparkling wines, but they have three if you were interested to try them.

Diliberto Winery:  Pizza Parlor or Winery?            October 27, 2017

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

Diliberto Winery:  Pizza Parlor or Winery?

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The entrance to the indoor space. They also have an outdoor patio.

 

http://dilibertowinery.com/

The yeasty, tomatoey scent of baking pizza filled the small tasting room at Diliberto winery.  Most of the people there seemed to have come for a glass or two of red wine and one of Sal’s thin-crust pizzas.   Well, it was around one p.m. on Friday, so I guess it was lunch time.  The pizza certainly smelled and looked good, and one of the customers told us as she was leaving that it tasted good, too, recommending that we get one.  However, we were not hungry, so we settled on just a tasting.

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I waited until people left so I could get a good shot of the mural.

The tasting room at Diliberto is small, but very pretty, with trompe l’oeil paintings on the wall to give you the sensation that you are sitting in an Italian piazza.  The Visions series films, aerial views of Italy, play on the flat screen TV over the piano, and when it is quiet you can hear music from Italian operas playing in the background.  What you won’t hear is the voices of children, since Diliberto’s has a strict “No one under 21” policy, with the addendum “including children.”  They also do not allow outside food, but since most people seem to come for the $19 pizza, that’s not a problem.  The menu includes a few other food items, and on Sundays they feature a full meal—details on their web page.

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The wine menu features six wines, at $4 per taste or $10 for any three tastes.  Wines are also available by the glass or bottle, with an additional charge if you want to drink the bottle in the winery.  (For example, the Chardonnay is $22 for a bottle, but $27 if you want to drink it there.)  The wines cost $8-$12 for a glass.  We decided to try all six wines, or two tastings, which the server brought to our table all at once.

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In the past, we’ve always spent time chatting with Sal Diliberto, but this time he was not in the winery.  The young woman who was waiting on the tables was very pleasant, but clearly her job was not to discuss the wines.  My guess is that he is there on Sundays, since the dinner includes a cooking demo, and he used to do those for free on the weekends.

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This sign reminded me of how my Italian friends like to reminisce about Sunday family dinners, always with “gravy”–a.k.a. spaghetti sauce.

  1. 2016 Chardonnay          $22

This is an oaked chardonnay, and, according to the menu, spends “five months in French oak,” so I was expecting lots of butterscotch and vanilla.  Not so.  I wonder if he mixes it with steel-fermented chardonnay, since it has a fair amount of citrus flavor.  My husband describes it as “refreshing.”  It is surprisingly tart, with only a hint of vanilla.  Very drinkable, and would be nice with some charcuterie.

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Our two flights were delivered all at once, and the server carefully pointed out which wine each one was.

  1. 2016 Sauvignon Blanc $19

I would have put this first in the tasting, since it is steel-fermented and quite light.  It has some asparagus aroma, and tastes more like an orange or tangerine than a lemon.  It also has a fair amount of minerality and saltiness.  “Fire Island on the beach,” began my tasting buddy, waxing poetic as he sometimes does.

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  1. 2016 Rosé $17

Now it was time for the menu writer to get poetic, describing this wine as perfect for “life on the patio with friends.”  Well, yes, if your friends are not particularly interested in taste, since this rosé has very little.  There’s nothing objectionable about this light, minerally rosé, with its taste of unripe strawberry and citrus, but we felt the aroma and taste were equally undistinguished.

  1. 2013 Merlot $19

All along I’ve been complaining that it is hard to decide how the wine smells because the aroma of pizza is so strong.  Now I think this one smells like mushrooms, and I’d think it was because of the pizza, but there are no mushrooms on it.  In any event, this is an okay merlot, rather tannic and even a bit harsh, with some black raspberry and nutmeg flavor.  No cherry taste!  We must have gotten the last glass in the bottle, as our taste has some sediment at the bottom.

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There’s some sediment on the bottom of our glass of merlot.

  1. 2014 Cantina $22

Phew, this one is much better.  A 50/50 blend of merlot and cabernet franc, this has aromas of cherry and tobacco and tastes of fruit and spice—more spice than fruit.  Light and not complex, this is the sort of red that goes well with roast chicken (like the one I am planning to make with an 8 Hands chicken tonight) or pizza and pasta.

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At Diliberto, you don’t stand at the bar for a tasting. They bring it to your seat.

  1. 2014 Tre $26

According to the menu, this one is only made in the best vintage years, of a blend of 65% merlot, 20% cabernet sauvignon, and 15% cabernet franc.  I swear it smells like eggplant, though perhaps that’s because I’m trying to decide what I will make with the lovely eggplant I bought at a farm stand this morning.  Anyway, the wine is quite good, with lots of black cherry and purple plum tastes.  Dry, with some tannins, we think it might get better with age.  My husband says it has “the backbone to deal with food,” and I suggest osso buco as a possible dish.

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The flat screen TV shows scenes of Italy. I hear the piano gets used for various musical events.

Reasons to visit:  you have a hankering for a glass of red (I suggest the Tre) and a pizza; you want a quiet, intimate setting for a tasting; the Sauvignon Blanc and the Tre; you don’t mind that they don’t allow children or outside food; you like relatively simple but well-priced wines.

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The warm weather could fool you into thinking it is still summer, until you look at the vines and see that most of the grapes have been harvested.

Riverhead Cider House:  Cider House Rules          August 24, 2017

Posted by nofowineaux in Hard Cider and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

http://www.riverheadcider.com/

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This giant apple marks the entrance to the Riverhead Cider House.

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Shortly after we entered the cavernous tasting room at the newly opened Riverhead Cider House, we decided that we were not the target audience.  Then we tasted their wares, and were sure.  That being said, if you are a twenty-or-thirty-something heading East with a group of friends who like sweet-ish mildly alcoholic drinks or local beers, you might find the Cider House to be just what you’re looking for.  As you enter, you’ll see a smaller room off to the side that can be rented for parties and a small alcove where a gift shop is located.  Then you enter the large room lined on one side by a long bar and on the other by tables made from repurposed doors (knobs and all!) and tractor seats, plus more comfortable seating areas near the fireplaces.  Twin “dueling grand pianos” are in the center of the room, and guitars hang on the walls with notes encouraging their use.  Towards the far end is another alcove occupied by a café selling pizzas, salads, sandwiches, huge pretzels, and more.  Out the back is a patio with more seating and what has become a necessity for many tasting rooms, bean bag toss games.

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I would guess that on the weekends the bar is more crowded.

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One view of the room.

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Another view, with the “dueling pianos.”

A huge sign over the bar lists the eight different hard cider flavors and the four local beers currently on tap.  As we were familiar with the beers, we decided to get two tastings of four ciders each:  what they call the Cider Master Flight, and then the other four, for $10 each foursome of two-ounce pours.  The server was quite friendly, but gave us no guidance as to the order of the tastings, which are served on a square tray, so we took them to our table and drank them in whatever order we pleased.  To accompany the tastings, we stopped into the café and bought one of their huge pretzels (and then another one, since the six of us—including two children—demolished the first in short order), which came with three dipping sauces, for $9.75.

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Our guests, who are fond of dry European hard ciders, and the two of us agreed that these were not serious ciders, but would be fine for those who like sweet fruity drinks.  We all went to the Woodside Cidery last year, and liked their ciders much better.  The children enjoyed playing on the patio (supervised by an adult, of course) and looking at some of the quirky décor, so this is one of the places you can come with children—but not with a picnic, as they forbid outside food.

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The Cider House Rules

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The patio, with the obligatory bean bag toss game.

You can also buy growlers of cider or beer to take home, at $8 for the bottle and $18 to have it filled.

The choices from the Cider Master Flight are marked with an *.

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One of our flights, composed of the ciders that are not on the Master Flight.

  1. Apple Annie

Sweet.  Tastes like apple juice.  Maybe you could have this in a mixed drink with a spicy tequila.

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You can buy the ciders by the bottle in the gift shop.

  1. *Prickly Pear Rosé

A bit on the dry side, though I don’t think it tastes much like a rosé or like a prickly pear.

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Seating on the patio.

  1. Black Cherry

If you like black cherry soda, get this one.  It even has a bit of fizz.  One of our guests, an excellent mixologist, thinks you could make a decent highball of this if you mixed it with bourbon and orange or angostura bitters.

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You can see into the room where they brew the ciders.

  1. Razz

Continuing the soda theme, this one smells and tastes like raspberry soda, though it is not cloyingly sweet.

  1. Grapefruit

We agree that this smells remarkably like Lemon Pledge.  I don’t recall what Fresca tastes like, but one of our party opines that that is what this resembles.

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The Master Flight.

  1. *Greg’s Strawberry Patch

Yuk.  Tastes like “strawberry-flavored medicine,” we hear.  Another mildly alcoholic soda-ish drink.

  1. *Founder’s Reserve

Sweet apple juice, very apple-y.

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Our partially demolished pretzel. I liked both the cheese and one of the mustard sauces.

  1. *Benjamin’s Best

We like this the best—or dislike it the least!  It is more like a wine than the others, fairly dry, and tastes more like a European hard cider than the rest.

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The café menu

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Reasons to visit:  you like sweet fruity alcoholic drinks; you are with a group and want to get pizza or huge pretzels and beer or cider; you want a place with a slightly funky vibe and a party atmosphere; the Benjamin’s Best. 

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The fireplace area looks like it would be quite cozy in the winter.

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Not sure what the statue represents, but we did heed the sign next to it.

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