Tag Archives: teroldego

Suhru Wines: Early Return (Not Election Related)

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

November 12, 2022

This photo was taken in February, the last time I was here.

Because there are so many wineries on the North Fork, I generally don’t return to one more often than once a year.  However, my daughter and a group of her friends were having a little reunion of their group, and invited me to meet them at Suhru, which I had last been to in February.  How could I resist? 

Suhru was a perfect venue for the six of them (plus me) to get together, since they were able to sit comfortably at a table, the room was cozy and quiet, and the server combined just the right amount of service and letting be.  She started the afternoon off right by bringing us chilled bottles of water and glasses.

I still wasn’t going to blog this visit, but then I saw that the menus, both for drinks and food, had changed, so I fished some scrap paper out of my purse and jotted down a few notes.

The menu of flights has four possibilities:  Holiday Favorites ($19), Whites & Rosé ($14), and Red Wines ($19), each consisting of four tastes.  You could also put together your own four tastes for $19.  As it happened, everyone opted for the Holiday Favorites, with much discussion about who was hosting Thanksgiving and what wines would go with turkey.  We all agreed, as my daughter learned when she and her husband toured the Champagne region of France, that sparkling wines go with everything. 

The snack menu has also changed.  I was glad to see they no longer offered the measly portion of marcona almonds for $2.  The group, wanting to try local products, ordered the North Fork Cheese Plate, which, for $32, included a good-sized scoop of Goodale Farms herb chevre and a small slab of goat gouda, plus crackers, honey, and candied orange rind (all out of apricots).  They also got artichoke and lemon spread, a small container whose label we read to be sure it was okay for the lactose intolerant in the group, which came with (at least a dollar’s worth of) marcona almonds and crackers.  Plus two bags of North Fork potato chips.  It was plenty.

  •  NV Brut               $29

According to the tasting notes, this has won a number of medals, and I can see why.  It has a lovely bready aroma and tastes of ripe apple and minerals. Lots of tiny bubbles.  Everyone likes it.

  • 2020 Sauvignon Blanc                   $21

“Grassy,” says my daughter as she sniffs and sips this one, and I agree.  It reminds me of the smell of fresh-cut grass.  I also taste green apple and some minerality, and smell thyme honey.  Very nice.

  • 2021 Riesling                     $19

Our server explains that Suhru is a winery without a vineyard, and they buy all their grapes from various North Fork vineyards—except the riesling, which they buy from the Finger Lakes, a region famous for its rieslings.  I was glad this was a dry riesling, since I often find sweet rieslings undrinkable (except for dessert, or with very spicy food).  I explain the aroma, which some describe as “cat pee,” but for me reminds me of the smell of water that has had flowers in it for a bit too long.  Fortunately, it tastes better than it smells, with some stone fruit and flower notes.

  • 2021 Teroldego                $30

This and the sauvignon blanc are both new releases.  (The emphasis, by the way, is on the second syllable.)  This is an easy-to-drink red, and could go with turkey (as could all of the wines we tasted!).  It has notes of cherry and tobacco (from aging in oak), and is dry, with a touch of tannins. 

You can see how distracted I was by the lively conversation–I forgot to take a photo of the tasting until it was gone!

Reasons to Visit:  cozy, intimate tasting room with a beachy vibe; all the wines, including one I did not taste but others in the group tried, Ember; nice menu of snacks.

Suhru Wines: Shelter from the Storm

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

February 19, 2022

There’s a convenient parking lot out back.

It was the type of day when, as they say, if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.  In the morning, with some guests, we explored the Southold Winter Festival, and it was sunny though cold and windy.  We admired the ice sculptures being chiseled out of blocks of ice, stopped in to a couple of our favorite shops, and headed home to warm up and have a snack.  Then we ventured out again in the afternoon, as the sunny day turned cloudy, and snowflakes flew past us, to have a tasting at Suhru in Cutchogue.  By the time we emerged, the storm was over and it was sunny again.  (And then later another snow squall moved through!) 

There wasn’t much to the first Southold Winter Festival, but the ice sculptor was cool.

We were all glad we had ventured out, because we thoroughly enjoyed our tasting experience at Suhru’s small but well laid out tasting room, which we had to ourselves most of the afternoon.  The young man in charge of the room was attentive, engaging, and well-informed about the wines, bringing us water and making sure we had all that we needed.

Suhru is a winery without a vineyard, as the winemaker, Russell Hearn (who is also the winemaker for Leib and Bridge Lane), buys his grapes each year based on whose crop he favors.  For example, he makes wine from teroldego grapes, which were planted by Southold Farm + Cellar, who sadly had to move to Texas.  At the moment, Russell offers ten wines for tasting, with four different flight options: February Favorites, four wines for $17; Whites and Rosé, four for $14; Red Wines, four for $21, and Choose Your Own, any four for $19.  You can also ask for individual tastes, glasses, or a bottle.  Our friends went with the red flight, while my husband and I decided to choose our own adventure. 

I hadn’t been here since 2018, so I didn’t know they now have a nice lttle menu of snacks, mostly cheese and charcuterie, but also a few other items.  Our friends decided to have the Marcona almonds, which turned out to be a miniscule serving for $2, so we added a bag of North Fork potato chips. 

Our selections arrived in a cute round tray, with each wine resting on its labeled spot, and we proceeded to taste clockwise.  I’ll detail my tasting first, then the two wines they had that differed from mine.

  •  NV Brut              $29

I’ve decided to try sparkling wines everywhere they are offered—last week I tasted two at Pindar—and so far, so good.  In fact, very good.  We like this dry, tasty sparkler, made in the méthode champenoise, so much that our friends add a taste to their flight after we all finish.  It has that lovely yeasty aroma of good bubbly, with tiny bubbles, and tastes of pear and maybe a touch of citrus.  Mouth-watering.  It’s a blend of chardonnay and pinot noir, according to our helpful server.

  • 2020 Pinot Grigio            $19

Although we are told that this is their “signature wine,” I am not enamored of it.  On the other hand, my tasting buddy really likes it.  As they say, there are no wrong answers in wine (well, there are, but, as they say in French, “Chacun à son gout.”)  I get lemon and green apple tastes, but also something like cardboard.  It is light and dry. 

  • 2020 Teroldego               $30

Teroldego is a Northern Italian grape, not often grown on Long Island, so I ask our server where the grapes came from, which is how I learn the vines were planted by the owners of Southold Farm + Cellar.  I was sorry to see that winery close, because they made some lovely wines, were very nice people, and had the most creative wine names I ever saw, but they had some sort of difficulties with local regulations and eventually closed up shop and moved to Texas, where they now have a winery.  In any event, I’m glad the grapes are being used, because this is a delicious wine.  It has a beautiful aroma of roses, and tastes of red raspberry and other berries.  It is a somewhat light red which would go well with charcuterie, and could even be slightly chilled to accompany seared tuna.  Last week I bought some fresh tuna steaks at Braun’s and my friend and I seared them with a pan sauce of capers, lemon, and garlic, and this would have gone well with that.

  • 2019 Shiraz        $25

When our daughter got married, we had a little wine tasting to decide which wines to serve.  We already had the white picked out—Channing Daughter’s Scuttlehole Chardonnay—but we needed a red to go with lamb.  This shiraz would definitely have been a contender.  It is a bit peppery—apparently some people compare the taste to Dr. Pepper! –which would cut the fat of the lamb nicely.  Good red fruit tastes plus something deeper.

  • 2019 Cabernet Franc      $30

“This tastes lighter than I expected,” opines our friend, who nonetheless finds the wine, which is in her tasting, not mine, quite pleasant.  It has some teroldego mixed in, we are told.  Good berry tastes.  Our friends got up to peruse the display of bottles, and were charmed to realize that they have actually tasted wine from this winery, as one with the T’Jara label is carried in their local wine shop in Queens. In fact, according to a map on the wall, Suhru ships to many of the states.

  • 2019 Ember       $25

Our friends like this so much, that I add a taste of it after I finish my flight.  This is Suhru’s Bordeaux blend, a merlot-heavy mixture including cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot, and malbec.  It is so drinkable that I resent sharing it with my tasting buddy.  Kidding.  Or maybe not.  It is complex and balanced, with aromas of fruits, including cherry, and lots of interesting fruit tastes.  The name?  They had a little competition in the family, and apparently one cousin felt ember was a good name, as it evoked the long-lasting warmth of a fire.  I can see that. I buy two bottles to take home.

The rather petite serving of almonds.

Reasons to visit:  intimate tasting room where you can sometimes interact with the owners; all the wines are good, but especially the Brut, the Teroldego, the Shiraz, and the Ember; they have a nice little menu of snacks, but don’t bother with the Marcona almonds, unless you think $2 for about ten nuts is a good price; there is a backyard patio seating area for warm weather; if you’re planning a picnic, note that they offer several of their wines in cans.

This is a fascinating shop in the Feather Hill shopping center in Southold.
Another favorite shop is About Food, where you never know what you will find.

Channing Daughters: SoFo, So Good September 14, 2018

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

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https://www.channingdaughters.com/

Friends often ask me, “What’s your favorite winery?”  I have various answers—rosés at Croteaux, whites at One Woman, reds at Pellegrini, Mattebella for sitting outside, Sherwood for the fireplace in the winter, etc.—but really, Channing Daughters is my favorite.  Unfortunately, it is on the South Fork, so we don’t get there as often as we like.  However, we had an errand that could only be done in Southampton, so off we went.  The errand finished, we took a walk around Sag Harbor, got a bite of lunch at the Golden Pear (really good sandwich), and headed to Channing Daughters.

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This line-up of bottles shows just some of the wines Channing Daughters makes.

So why do we like this winery so much?  It is the most creative, interesting winery on Long Island, growing about two dozen different grapes and mixing and matching them in unusual ways.  And we like almost all their wines. That’s why we joined their wine club, despite the inconvenience of having to be home to sign for the UPS delivery.

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Part of the outside area.

The tasting room is small, with a bar along one side and a few barrels on which to rest your tastes, plus some outside tables in the summer.  They carry a small selection of wine-related gifts, and offer some plain crackers as palate cleansers.  However, we’ve never been there without having interesting conversations with both the people at the bar and the servers, who are very well versed in the wines and eager to share what they know. For really complete analyses of the wines, check out their web site.

 

A tasting consists of six wines for $18, and though the wines in the tasting are listed on a chalkboard, we overheard the servers customize tastings for people based on what they like or don’t like.  As wine club members, we could have tasted any wines, but I wanted to taste the two wines which had just come in our shipment.  So we did the standard tasting plus those two.  Although we each could have had our own tasting, we decided to share in the interests of sobriety.

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The upside down tree is their logo, and references one of Walter Channing”s skills, which is carving.

  1. 2015 Vino Bianco           $20

A blend of 36% Pinot Grigio, 26% Sauvignon Blanc, 15% Tocai Friulano and 23% Chardonnay, this is a basic good white wine.  Dry and refreshing, it has, observed my husband, “lots of taste.”  Citrus, flowers, spice, fruit—I agree.  They age some of the wine in steel, some in old oak, some in new oak, then blend it all together.  As I said, they are creative!  We buy two bottles, and think about having some the next time we buy oysters.

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  1. 2016 Rosato di Sculpture Garden $25

This is one of the rosés they make.  A number of years ago, they had seven, the result of late heavy rains which made them reluctant to use the red wine grapes for reds, as the flavor would be too diluted.  So instead they made rosé.  Good move.  The rosés were so popular, they now make a bunch every year.  This one is a field blend, of 91% merlot, 6% teroldego, and 3% blaufrankisch.  Really nice.  The aroma is somewhat earthy and minerally, and it has the strawberry taste you expect plus a really nice minerality and maybe some nutmeg.  Good.

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Orange wine!

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  1. 2014 Meditazione $40

Pronouncing the name with Italian verve, our server explained all about orange wine.  This is a white wine made using the red wine method of fermenting the juice with the skins, hence the orange color.  A blend of 36% Pinot Grigio, 21% Muscat Ottonel, 14% Chardonnay, 13% Tocai Friulano, 7% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Pinot Bianco and 4% Gewurztraminer, this is not an easy wine to drink on its own.  We have it with a couple of crackers, which improves the experience.  It smells like baked oranges and tastes like apples and spices.  They suggest pairing it with game birds or sausages, and that makes sense to me.

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  1. 2017 Rosso Fresco $22

Fresh red?  Yes, because this is a light, bright red, more along the lines of a Beaujolais.  I could see serving on the deck with hot dogs.  It’s another blend, of 76% Merlot, 11% Syrah, 8% Blaufrankisch, 4% Cabernet Franc, 1% Teroldego, and is barely aged.  They even suggest serving it slightly chilled.  It would make a great summer red.

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  1. 2017 Petillant Naturel Rosato $28

I usually eschew sparkling pink wines.  Fortunately, I did not skip this one.  Wow, is it good!  Mouthwatering, bubbly, dry, with some strawberry aroma and flavor, this wines makes a good case for never dismissing any type of wine before you taste the iteration in front of you.  The servers were going into great detail on the methods used to create this wine, which included freezing the tank at one point and fermenting it in the bottle.  Just another Channing Daughter original.

 

  1. VerVino Vermouth (500 ml) $28

Yes, the tasting ends with one of the vermouths they make.  This is a somewhat sweet one, and would make a fine aperitif or dessert wine.  There’s a somewhat chemical aroma—maybe petroleum? —but fortunately the vermouth doesn’t taste like gasoline.  I get sweet apples, pears, and other fruit flavors.  Vermouth is made by adding various herbs and other ingredients to wine, and at Channing they vary them by season.  This one includes such fall produce as apples, Asian pears, pumpkin, butternut squash, calendula, sage, borage etc.

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The “wild child” name references the use of wild yeast.

  1. 2015 L’Enfant Sauvage $38

This is one of the wines in our current shipment, so I added it to the tasting.  A chardonnay made with wild yeasts, this wine has varied over the years.  Sometimes it’s my favorite, and other times…not so much.  This iteration is yummy.  Although it spends fifteen months in French oak, it doesn’t have that buttery taste I dislike in oaked chards.  I do detect a bit of that woody flavor, which reminds me of when I was a kid and I would sometimes bite my pencils, but I also get lime and baked pear.  You could have it with very assertive dishes, like spicy Chinese food, or even as an aperitif.  We buy a bottle to add to the one we already have, aging in our cellar.

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  1. 2016 Dornfelder

I wonder if this is a wine which would improve with age, since of all the wines we tried today this is my least favorite.  But they do suggest aging it in the bottle, so we will see.  A blend of 85% dornfelder and 15% pinot noir, it has red fruit aromas and flavors, but is not a really deep big red.

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Lots of choices!

Reasons to visit:  some of the best and most creative wines on Long Island; the Vino Bianco, the Rosato, the Petillant Naturel Rosato, L’Enfant Sauvage, and more; there’s always something new to try; one of the few wineries on the South Fork, so well worth a visit if you find yourself in Sag Harbor.

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Mr. Channing’s sculptures decorate the tasting room and the grounds.